783 Swift Counterattack

At the start of the second half, Nottingham Forest tightened their defense. Inter Milan, on the other hand, took advantage of the fact that they were kicking off to launch a fierce attack on the Forest team.

Ibrahimović had a shot from inside the penalty area which struck the goalpost and bounced away. The Forest players were so startled that they broke into a cold sweat.

Following this, there was a moment of chaos in front of goal, with Rossi falling to the ground and the ball being taken by the goalkeeper, Akinfeev. The Inter Milan players immediately raised their hands to signal a foul by the Nottingham Forest players, which should result in a penalty kick. The Nottingham Forest players also raised their hands to show their innocence.

The referee made his own judgment and he gestured for Rossi to get up. Deafening boos broke out at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium.

The Inter Milan players did not protest too much because it was indeed not a foul. They had hoped to give the referee the wrong impression amid the chaos and put pressure on him to award a penalty kick in their favor. They did not expect the referee to be able to distinguish right and wrong with acuity. He had ruled against them, so there was no need to continue the situation.

After five or six minutes of chaos at the beginning of the second half, the situation was settled down.

Inter Milan attacked, but they were afraid to put give it their all in case they were unable to put the necessary amount of pressure on Forest defensive line. Nottingham Forest should be able to hold on.

Nottingham Forest had tightened their defense and so were not as strong now going forward, which gave Inter Milan the chance to attack.

One team wanted to attack, and the other side must defend. So, the game was back in balance.

※※※

Quaresma was more active than he had been in the first half. During the halftime interval, he saw hope in Mourinho's words and wanted to seize the opportunity. He had a year and a half left on his contract with Inter Milan. If he still did not turn in a convincing performance, then his departure from the Meazza stadium would be the inevitable result. He raised his hand frequently on the field to ask for the ball.

Montolivo passed the ball to him and Leighton Baines immediately leaned closer. Quaresma was not afraid of one-on-one confrontation, or even two over one. Behind Baines was Wood, the defensive midfielder they revered.

Quaresma intended to get rid of Baines first and then face Wood in a one-on-one duel. He wanted to tussle with the most hotly anticipated defensive midfielder in the football world to prove his ability to stay with Inter.

Unfortunately, Quaresma did not eventually encounter George Wood this time. He hit a wall with Baines. He was too eager to break through but forced himself to a dead end instead. Not only did he miss the opportunity to show his tactical ability, but he also could not dribble the football past the defender. It was finally jabbed out by Baines.

At least Quaresma had used his consummate skill to win a throw in for Inter Milan.

For a while after, Quaresma was obsessed with a duel against Baines down the wing, much to Mourinho's displeasure. In the end, he could no longer tolerate it and stood on the sidelines shouting Quaresma's name, reminding him not to always remain on the side of the pitch.

Quaresma also discovered the problem. If he remained on the wing, he would not be able to run into George Wood, because Wood was also in charge of central defense and could not head over to the side of the pitch.

While the Portuguese winger was more accustomed to the wing and preferred to play there, he had decided to move to the center of the pitch in order to prove to the manager that he was a good player who was battle-ready and could win the game.

The first time he came face-to-face with Wood, Quaresma used a beautiful step over move to bypass the defensive line and send the ball out. It was a clever move, even though Quaresma did not realize it at the time.

The Portuguese player was encouraged by his first successful attempt at tricking Wood into losing his center of gravity and decided to directly challenge him by breaking through the defensive line next time.

The second time, he feinted, dribbling the ball at a high speed from the edge of the pitch and cutting inside. Then, he changed direction by using his ankle and subtly controlling his speed to get past the defenders. He managed to get rid of Baines, but not Wood.

When Wood's powerful body leaned close, Quaresma suddenly felt that the football under his feet had become unmanageable.

A powerful force pressed against him, preventing him from controlling the ball. The ball bounced on the ground and Quaresma extended his leg to hook the ball while he leaned his body against Wood. Did he want to fight Wood with his body? He failed.

Wood struck Quaresma, causing him to tumble to the ground, but it was not even a foul. It was just a reasonable collision.

Quaresma was so angry at the referee's decision that he knelt on the ground and waved his fists, but no one paid attention to him.

However, the Portuguese winger was in fine form for the game. The third time he took advantage of a sudden change of direction to co-ordinate with his teammate's running position to bypass Wood.

Wood lost his balance, and Quaresma easily broke through before passing the ball to Ibrahimović. The Swedish striker swung his leg again for the shot. Akinfeev firmly caught it this time.

The goalkeeper was clearly unhappy that Wood had let their opponents break through. He held onto the football and was in no rush to send it out. Instead, he shouted, "George, what's wrong with you?"

Wood waved his hands and looked at Quaresma, saying nothing. This nimble kid was more difficult to deal with than he thought...

Quaresma lost in the next two one-on-one face-offs that followed.

Mourinho watched for a while on the sidelines and decided not to be silent.

He had wanted the team's offensive focus to shift to Quaresma, but he had not intended that this kid should face off against George Wood and play with individual heroism. If he continued to singlehandedly challenge, the team's attack would sooner or later be destroyed.

Taking advantage of a dead ball, Mourinho called over Quaresma who was near the sidelines. He said, "Ricardo, I instructed you to take charge of the offensive, not face off the opponent individually. Have you not played professional football before?"

Quaresma also felt that he was had been excessive in the last few minutes. He bowed his head and said, "I know, coach…"

"When you have a face-off with George Wood, you have already fallen for Tony Twain's ploy! Wood's one-on-one defense is very good. If you continue to play like this, I will have to consider bringing you off, no matter how good your form is!" Mourinho said seriously, keeping his face straight. He and Quaresma were both Portuguese, so there was no language barrier. He could be certain that Quaresma would understand what he said and did not expect him to continue playing in his own way.

"If you get it, get back on the field!" Mourinho shoved Quaresma back.

Following this, some interesting developments happened in the game. Quaresma remained as Inter Milan's playmaker, but he was no longer obsessed with challenging Wood or Baines. He would only choose to break through if the timing was right. More often than not, he would lure Wood over and then pass the ball out.

Now, Inter Milan's attack came to life.

Quaresma was no longer the endpoint of the offensive, but more like a relay station—the ball was passed to his feet and he could make his own break or pass to his teammates based on his own observation of the situation. Such an offensive approach was obviously better than letting Quaresma try his best to get past Wood.

Nottingham Forest also found it more difficult to defend. Before, they only needed to defend against Quaresma. Now they needed to defend against all the Inter Milan players. Otherwise they could be facing defeat.

※※※

"Quaresma gets the ball again! He'll choose whether to try and break through or pass..."

As soon as the voice trailed off, Quaresma chose to try and force his way through the defense. Baines planned to challenge him and force the ball out of play, but he was easily bypassed. This time, he did not choose to go to the middle and clash with George Wood, but he picked a better soft touch.

Breaking past Baines, Quaresma could pass, and he could also go straight into the penalty area. Once he entered the penalty area, the Nottingham Forest goal would be in danger.

George Wood certainly would not let that happen. He rushed over to stop Quaresma from breaking through, but also to guard against his outer instep shot.

When he saw Wood coming, Quaresma lifted his right foot. This time he did not want to shoot straight at the goal. Instead, he sent the ball to the front of the penalty area.

Cambiasso received the ball and Tiago rushed up to cover the position. Wood also turned around to dash back. Quaresma did not pose a threat without the ball, and Baines took over the task of marking him.

Tiago blocked Cambiasso's direct shot angle, but Cambiasso also did not want to shoot at goal. After he did a feint to look like he was going to charge into the penalty area, he passed the ball to the wing where Nottingham Forest's defense was the weakest.

Maicon suddenly slotted in from the side like a bullet train and received Cambiasso's pass. None of the Nottingham Forest players, including George Wood, noticed his arrival. All of their defensive attention was taken by Quaresma, Cambiasso, and Ibrahimović.

Maicon immediately controlled the incoming ball and struck it hard on the volley. The football whistled through the heavily guarded penalty area like a cannonball and flew toward the far corner of the goal!

"Maicon's long shot…" The commentator lengthened his voice. He was accompanied by cheers from the Inter Milan fans.

Everyone was convinced that the ball was heading straight for the back of the net, but there was one man who did not believe it. Akinfeev took a step to the right and then jumped. He stretched his body in the air, extended his arms and flew toward the football.

The football was cut off in the air by a pair of big hands like a scud encountering a MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile.

The commentator's voice tailed away and the cheers of the Inter Milan fans came to an abrupt end. Maicon gave a long frustrated sigh.

As he looked up at the sky, Akinfeev, who had fallen to the ground, had quickly jumped up and had thrown the ball out without hesitation—it was a chance for Nottingham Forest to fight back!

The football was thrown at Bentley's feet and he did not turn to take the ball forward. He knew that he did not have a speed advantage in the counterattack. If he were to break forward and could not find a point to pass, the ball would be intercepted by the other side. Even if he managed to protect the ball, he would also lose the opportunity for a quick counterattack. The best thing to do was not to dribble the ball himself but to pass it. But who to?

Most of his teammates were still back defending. There was no one who could make the move up the pitch. He looked up to take a glimpse and saw his captain.

Wood had originally wanted to defend against Cambiasso, but Cambiasso had passed the ball to Maicon, leaving Wood with nothing to do. However, it had helped him in the long run: when Akinfeev caught the ball, only George Wood was heading in up the pitch. He broke into a sprint, looked back at Akinfeev, and made the choice to continue running forward immediately.

As he had anticipated, Akinfeev thought the same as him—this was a great opportunity for Nottingham Forest to fight back quickly!

Bentley passed the ball to the only Nottingham Forest player in his line of sight who was running forward.

By the time George Wood received the ball in the center of the pitch, he had left behind a number of Inter Milan and Nottingham Forest players. Now he had adjusted his forward direction well and was directly facing Inter Milan's goal!

Cambiasso rushed up diagonally from the back. He wanted to intercept the ball before Wood accelerated again. The worst that could happen would be a tactical foul.

Wood poked the ball forward. Instead of touching the ball, Cambiasso rammed Wood's feet. However, the man on the receiving end of the tackle did not seem to be George Wood. He only stumbled once and kept his balance. He accelerated and moved up the pitch.

"George Wood dribbles the ball and avoids Cambiasso's tackle from behind! He's sprinting forward! This is Nottingham Forest's counterattack at its best!"

The Nottingham Forest fans' cheers grew louder.

"Stop him! He's only one person!" Cambiasso, who had failed to make a decisive tackle, shouted to his teammates as he lay on the ground. He certainly understood the danger of allowing Wood to get away. However, maybe the situation was not that bad, because Nottingham Forest just wanted to fight back quickly, so there were not too many people there to support him at the moment. George Wood could not do much if he broke through to the forefront alone.

In the blink of an eye, Wood had already dribbled the ball past the center line.

Burdisso stormed up aggressively and just as he hit Wood, Wood hit the ball. But Burdisso did not care about the small matter. His target was Wood, not the football.

Wood was knocked out of his original track by Burdisso's full impact collision and deflected to the right. Did Burdisso succeed?

No!

Wood had also directed the ball to his right side when he kicked the ball away. Instead of hindering Wood, Burdisso's collision helped him and brought him closer to the football. And what about Burdisso? He used his full strength and center of gravity for the collision just now. After he collided with George Wood with a reckless mentality, he also fell to the ground, but George Wood did not fall to the ground with him.

Chivu, Milan's left-back, had no chance of keeping up with Wood as he ran at full speed. Although the football was kicked toward him, he could only watch Wood's back as the Forest player soared through his zone. Moving as fast as lightning, Wood turned into the penalty area.

Inter Milan's last line of defense was made up of two men: Samuel and the goalkeeper, César.

Samuel was smarter than Burdisso. He was not stupid enough to hit him straight on. He just blocked the inner line and forced Wood to the side. He would succeed as long as he forced him to the side.

Wood waded into the penalty area and Samuel moved toward him. He did not make a move and just ran with Wood. He was not afraid that he did not have an advantage in speed, because Wood had slowed down a while ago. He could not rush inside the penalty area.

Wood made it look like he was going to shoot, so Samuel leaned his body closer, but did not throw his entire weight into it. If Wood did not shoot again, he would not have a chance.

George Wood decided to force a shot. What about Samuel and César? He would just blow them apart!

This time Wood swung his leg again, and Samuel continued to lean his body closer to interfere. Wood shot directly at the goal!

The football whistled and flew past Samuel to charge into the near corner of the goal.

Even though it seemed as though César had the angle covered, the ball found a way through and slammed onto the nearest goalpost...

A crackling sound rang out, and the football seemed to hit the hearts of all Inter Milan fans. It was as though their hearts had collectively stopped.

The scene they were most afraid of did not happen in the next second. The ball hit the post but did not bounce into the goal. Instead, it rebounded out!

"Ss----" The gasps from the Inter Milan fans could be clearly heard at the raucous Meazza Stadium.

César laid on the ground, Samuel was on the ground, and George Wood was also on the ground. Was this the end of the attack?

No way!

"Matías Fernández!"

The Chilean appeared in the penalty area. Only Burdisso was around him, but Fernández did not even seem to notice him. He only had eyes for the rebounded football.

The boss seemed to be growling in his ear. "See that football? It's bouncing in front of you, laughing at you, telling you that you can't shoot it in, can't shoot it in, can't shoot it in! Even if it's an empty goal, you can't… shoot… it… in! You're a coward who only knows how to hold your head and cry when your first shot is blocked!"

Burdisso tried to get the ball out first to lift the siege, only to find himself unable to move after Fernández leaned in. His position was completely blocked by the Chilean.

The next thing was simple. Fernández picked up his right foot and faced Júlio César, who had gotten up from the ground. He kicked the ball hard toward the goal!

"GOOOOOOOAL!!"

The Chilean had completed his self-redemption.