Chapter 1839 - 491: Melon: Ah, I’m Dead
"Yes, Huang Kaiwen walked to the sidelines to get the goalkeeper’s jersey. He needed to give Abbiati time to warm up, since it’s quite easy for a goalkeeper to get injured when making saves without warming up first."
"AC Milan specially prepared the No. 10 goalkeeper jersey for today. We don’t know if there will be an extra name embroidered on Huang Kaiwen’s gloves after today’s penalty kicks."
Huang Kaiwen stretched his body and walked towards the goal.
Among these Juventus players, the one he was most familiar with was Toni.
Because of Toni’s large build, his movements lacked stealth.
If Toni were to take the penalty, Huang Kaiwen felt his chances of making the save would be higher.
The Juventus players were also discussing this matter.
Marchisio said directly, "Luca, why don’t you take the penalty? You’ve been teammates with Kevin."
Toni: ...
Damn!
He didn’t think his penalty-taking skills were better than Xabi Alonso’s.
Toni quickly shook his head and said, "It’s precisely because we were teammates that Kevin knows me better. I can’t take the penalty."
Krasić also shook his head.
The young blond was known as the second Nedved.
He also thought he was impressive when he played in Russia.
Until one day when CSKA Moscow met Chelsea, their entire team was turned into a sieve by Huang Kaiwen.
Marchisio looked at Barzagli.
Barzagli was originally a forward and was currently the team’s best-performing player.
"My footwork wasn’t good enough, that’s why I was transformed into a defender."
Barzagli said.
Now trailing 2-0, this penalty was crucial, and he didn’t dare to try.
Chiellini, however, wanted to try. He used to play as a midfielder and winger, but Bonucci immediately said, "Forget it, even if I were the goalkeeper, I could save your penalty."
"Then what do you suggest we do!"
Chiellini, wearing the captain’s armband, said irritably.
He didn’t expect that at this time no one would step up.
Matri raised his right hand and said, "Then I’ll do it."
"Alright, it’s you then!"
Chiellini nodded and said.
The referee, who originally wanted to urge them, stepped aside when he saw Juventus finally come to a conclusion.
"The one who stepped up is Alessandro Matri, a 26-year-old forward who came from the AC Milan Youth Camp hehe, he joined AC Milan Youth at the age of 12 and only completely transferred at 23 in 2007. It could be said that he has red and black blood running through his veins. Today, Ibrahimovic and Buffon have angered the fans of their former club, and now it’s Matri from the AC Milan Youth standing at the penalty spot. Such love-hate relationships in Serie A are countless."
"Yes, but surprisingly, the Rossoneri in the away stand applauded him."
"They must be grateful to him for staying with AC Milan for so many years. Although he didn’t manage to secure a spot in the first team, he still contributed to the club."
"Yeah, and to have the courage to stand out at this moment is quite admirable."
Matri!
Huang Kaiwen carefully recalled the characteristics of Big Eyes Ma.
Big Eyes Ma wasn’t as hard-hitting as Vieri, nor as agile as A Jiu.
But he knew a bit of everything.
This led to some people saying he had poor positioning and some saying his movement was nimble.
Typically, when taking a penalty, the shot is aimed at the opposite direction of the dominant foot.
So, in major tournaments, penalties are more often aimed at the left side, as there are more right-footed players than left-footed ones.
Plus, shooting down the middle looks risky, but the success rate is about 7 percentage points higher than aiming for the sides.
Huang Kaiwen had seen these statistics from the tactical analysts at Chelsea.
Considering Matri’s dominant right foot, he would feel more comfortable aiming for the left side.
As for the middle, Huang Kaiwen didn’t even consider it, the "risky look" would be too much for Matri to handle.
Being saved down the middle would attract more criticism.
So Huang Kaiwen figured it had to be either of the sides.
If he were Matri, he would definitely aim hard for the left side.
It was just unclear if Matri had that confidence.
Guardiola stood on the sidelines, regaining his smile.
The fact that more players paid the price eased his mind.
As for losing a famous player—
It was not a problem at all.
He had discovered over more than half a season that AC Milan, even with just 10 starting players, could still win the Serie A championship.
The Serie A teams might not have been very strong, but with Huang Kaiwen’s return, it was gradually becoming the second-best league, and their transfer budget had increased considerably. However, Milan’s strength was just too overwhelming.
As long as Huang Kaiwen didn’t perform too well today, there would be no problems.
Guardiola even thought Abbiati shouldn’t be brought on, and might as well let Huang Kaiwen play as the goalkeeper.
With him as the goalkeeper, Huang Kaiwen couldn’t possibly perform exceedingly well, could he?
Beep—
As the whistle sounded.
Matri moved.
His strides were short, and his acceleration wasn’t fast.
Huang Kaiwen had a strong premonition that it wasn’t towards the left side of the goal!
Matri’s second step, his left foot landed slightly behind the ball, without swinging his arms or turning his body, and at this moment Huang Kaiwen just shifted his weight quickly to the ground, diving towards the right side of the goal.
As Huang Kaiwen stretched out both arms, the ball happened to strike his wrist.
The power behind this shot wasn’t significant, so Huang Kaiwen didn’t face any problems.
Krasić rushed up, attempting a follow-up shot, but at a critical moment, Thiago Silva made a clean and precise tackle from the side, diverting the ball towards the baseline.
Huang Kaiwen, getting up for a second save, directly pressed the ball under him.
Huang Kaiwen got up holding the ball and roared with his arms raised.
He saved it!
The whistle blew from the midfield at that moment.
The Milan players excitedly charged towards the backfield.
"Kevin, you’re so awesome!"