There was a cheer from the stands, and it was like a goal.

In fact, it was just a warm-up for the home team to come out of the dressing room before the game.

"The first time I saw 'them.'" Magar recalled.

On the morning of the game, he and his two team-mates discussed what kind of starting line-up Milan would make.

"We simply can't concentrate during the warm-up."

"The little digital cameras in the stands were flashing all the time, and we did a couple of running exercises and then stretching for a long time in front of the billboards, just to get a closer look at the Milan players."

Hawke was warming up with Abbiati on the sidelines and he knew it didn't matter if he didn't watch the warm-up game, but it was the most difficult for some of the substitute goalkeepers. Because they didn't get a consistent chance before, now they need to prove themselves in one game. It's the equivalent of an exam, and it puts them under a lot of pressure.

Ou Chuliang also disclosed on the Jianghu-Football Network after the game: "When a person enters the team from a completely unfamiliar environment, there are many new players and substitutes on the field, everyone is very unfriendly, and they play under a bad field. It's hard to imagine how desperate you would have been at the time! ”

After the warm-up, in the tunnel of players, one of the starters of both sides was already standing.

The passage was so narrow that the players of the two teams stood side by side, and there was hardly any space in it.

Magar and Abbiati are close together, but they will never say a word to each other in their lives. Although they are very close, the two people are almost from completely different worlds, and their ideas are too far apart.

"I saw the referees who usually blow for Serie A games, and I also saw the starting players for Milan. There were Maldini, Desailly, Bierhoff, Hellwig..."Magar recalled, "I even felt like I was playing in Serie A!" ”

Before the start of the competition, Abbiati and his teammates stood in front of the photographers and took a family photo. It was almost 19 o'clock in the evening, but it was still bright.

Abbiati stands on the far left of the second row, and very few goalkeepers can stand in the middle of the team.

Helvig stood right beside him, his hands crossed over his chest, his arms squeezing even Abbiati aside.

Abbiati's left shoulder and arm drooped, his mouth open, his eyes wide, and all the fear in his heart froze in this photograph.

Many of the stadium stands are just three rows of green seats, where Magal's parents, siblings, and friends are seated. All the Catania fans came to watch the game, and they packed the cramped football stadium to the brim.

After kick-off, Milan controlled the ball from the start and did not give their opponents a chance at all.

Milan practiced their passing, both horizontally and diagonally.

The new season of 343 needs to reduce one defender and add one forward on the previous basis.

Such an attempt is dangerous, but Zaccheroni has decided that the team must do it.

Whenever Magar recalls the game, he says: "Milan were faster and better, their passes were accurate, we had to run for it!" Whenever we have players who get close to the ball, they pass it out again. ”

With the disintegration of the Dutch trio, Ruud Gullit moving to Sampdoria, Rijkaard returning to Ajax, and Basten suffering from a long-term injury. With four foreign players in the Milan squad, Boban has become a midfielder in the Milan squad and has often played a role in destroying the city.

To this day, Boban remains Milan's playmaker. But with Hellwig's arrival and Boban's age, Zaccheroni was interested in letting Boban relinquish the position.

But even then, Catania didn't have any player to snatch the ball away at Boban's feet. He has a quicker mind than most players and is an absolute highlight in midfield with his head held high like an emperor in midfield.

Less than five minutes into the game, Boban delivered a lethal behind-the-back kick. Bierhoff suddenly intervened to break the deadlock.

1-0, such a tactic is completely in accordance with Zaccheroni's request, making full use of the hole in the area of the opponent's one-third of the field.

Seeing the goal, even the Catania crowd applauded desperately.

After some observation after the opening game, they all believed that the only joy of tonight was to enjoy Milan's game. Magar even kept thinking, "Milan will score ten goals for us tonight!" ”

The game was played entirely in the home half, and Abbiati looked relatively safe at the moment, despite having only three team-mates in front of him. Zaccheroni's new tactics are bold, but they will have a numerical advantage in attack against a weak team like Catania.

Magar has been patiently waiting for his chance in midfield, with his back to the Milan goal, but ready to slam towards the Milan goal when the team launches a counter-attack.

For him, it's all he can do.

And when Catania attacks from midfield, or looks like he's about to create an attacking opportunity, Abbiati subconsciously retreats back to where they were. At this time, Magal could feel Abbiati behind him, but he could not hear any of his sounds.

Magar realised that "there was no communication between Milan's backline!" ”

But at this point he felt that this was what made Milan so strong – both the defenders and the goalkeeper knew what they were supposed to do and what they were going to do. As for Magar himself, it was difficult to concentrate fully during the game.

The atmosphere was unusual that night, with Magal glancing at the goal, where there were usually a few children playing on the prince on the railing.

But tonight, a few layers of makeshift fan stands were added for the game, and you can even see the crane crane in the back. There were even spectators in the car and cockpit of the crane, and even in the nearby school opposite, there were student IDs who secretly watched the game through the window.

The tiny football stadium was packed, and half an hour after the opening half-hour, there was a joke on the bench in Milan.

"Look, what's that!" Leonardo smiled and pointed to the three gliders that were constantly circling in the air.

Everyone knows that the pilot on there is just to be able to watch the game.

Catania's home field is a bit undersized, which is actually a strong condition for Abbiati. After all, it was a bit difficult for him to get into the role at first, and he needed to find a seat where the Milan goalkeeper had a lot of range of movement. You know, before the game, even the reporters wrote: Zaccheroni will bring the distance between the back line and the goalkeeper closer!

But do journalists really understand the ball?

In a relatively small pitch with poor conditions, the Catania midfielder can send the ball into the Milan penalty area more quickly.

Since the size of the pitch is not regular, how can Abbiati adapt to his position on the pitch?

What's more, the lights are turned on at this time, which will affect Abbiati to see the ball and play normally.

When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half, everyone was happy.

Milan were in control of the game with ease and experimenting with new attacking patterns, while Catania were just one goal behind.

Abbiati managed to get through the first 45 minutes without the opposition really threatening his goal.

In the tunnel, the Catania goalkeeper approached Abbiati and asked if he could exchange shirts after the game.

Abbiati smiled, and he replied that it was no problem.

The 15 minutes of the break didn't change the game, as Milan continued to repeat their passing performances and try new 'tricks' to attack.

No one is unhappy with these seemingly "useless" attacking attempts, and the formation of the three strikers is destined for Milan to attack aggressively this season.

Journalists began to write articles from the stands, with the reporter of Sport Milano writing in his notebook: "The players of Catania were so busy in the first half that even Milan felt that the home team had given up because they had been running behind the ball for almost an hour!" ”

It was then that Catania was given a free-kick from the left.

Towards the end of the hour, one of Magal's team-mates and neighbours kicked the ball out with a "boom", and the ball crossed the air in an arc and landed in the box.

Abbiati needed to take the initiative to get the cross down, but the ball arced flatter and flatter as it fell, even coinciding with the lights on the sidelines.

Abbiati hesitated for a moment and did not choose to attack.

At the far post, a home player was unmarked and Abbiati spotted a pair of white shorts in the aftermath.

Abbiati must command loudly and bring the unmarked opposition to the attention of his team-mates at the back. But Abbiati's throat seemed to be glued, and he didn't say a word, and just stood in front of them.

The ball flew straight to Magal's right foot, and N'Goti, who was supposed to mark him, missed.

But it's not all the Frenchman's fault, who is also new to the team this season.

Magar flew up and volleyed the ball into the net without waiting for it to hit the ground.

1 to 1.

"We won, we won!" His teammates shouted as they rushed to Magal to celebrate.

"We? Did we really beat AC Milan? Surrounded by his teammates, Magill asked himself the same.

Abbiati stood in front of goal as if he had been frozen, and the situation on the pitch was as one likes to see, with a sudden goal that could change the whole game.

Magar had been working tirelessly between Milan's defenders for the previous 59 minutes, but at this moment Ngotti's defense was negligent and Maldini was out of position.

But at this time, an unpleasant thing happened on the field, Desailly began to criticize anyone and anything, and he was completely out of the game.

Amid the complaints of the Milan defenders, Magar forgot the meaning of the game, the hustle and bustle of the stadium, and the opponents.

For him, all he has in his eyes is football, only the pitch, only goals!

In the rest of the day, as soon as Milan started attacking, Abbiati would find it difficult.

In fact, he had enough time to think about the goal conceded at this point, which was Ngoti's mistake, but he was also blaming himself, why didn't he attack at that time?

With his height and bounce, he can get the ball. No matter how bad it is, you can also knock the ball away.

Now, the opponent has breached the door of Milan, and Abbiati is not ready to even know what to do.

A few minutes later, Catania had another chance to cross from a free-kick.

This time Abbiati even attacked, but the bad thing was that he didn't hit the ball away.

The two sides battled for the ball from 20 yards out, and when it looked like Albertini was about to control the ball, the Milan defence pressed forward.

Magar had a sudden premonition that his team-mate might be able to get the ball back.

In fact, it is.

The teammate was also surprised after the counter-attack, and passed the ball out without a purposeful ID. As the Milan back line was moving forward, Magill, who had successfully countered offside, suddenly rushed straight up and faced Milan's goal alone.

In fact, Magar was only one step ahead, and Desailly was already coming from behind, but he was not as fast as the opponent.

At this time, the ball bounced in the air, and Abbiati immediately reacted that he was standing in the "goalkeeper's vacuum". Here, his sortie will be pointless, as Magar will surely get the ball before he does.

In the end, Abbiati chose to stand still, and Magal's push shot from 12 yards out helped Catania to make it 2-1.

"I finally did it!" Magar shouted, "I'm so happy! ”

Three minutes later, Maldini equalised again with a penalty.

But a draw is not an acceptable result for Milan, not to mention that they have already scored two goals by their opponents at this time.

The situation on the pitch began to change as the home team pressed bravely. For the home team at this time, a brave attack is more meaningful than holding on to a draw.

Seeing the brave scene of the home team, the audience also felt that there might be an exciting moment, and they all vented such emotions in the stands.

But Milan is Milan, and as long as they calm down, they can easily extinguish Catania's hopes of causing an upset.

Even Magal, who scored twice, admitted that he had such concerns at the time.

But soon, something on the pitch surprised him.

"Despite the score being 2-2, Milan did not calm down! They started talking to each other, but the content was all complaining! Desailly seemed to be unable to control his emotions and he yelled at everyone, including their goalkeeper! ”

"As a player in the third division, what I'm saying may sound bad. But the truth was that the Milan defence did make serious mistakes, N'Gotti didn't put his shoulder on my shoulder when I scored the first goal, and he didn't even defend me physically throughout the game. ”

"I don't know if I'm used to fighting hard in the third division, but they really don't use their bodies to fight, which is just weird!"

In fact, the game was already chaotic, with both sides playing with a complete loss of cool heads.

This rhythm kept Abbiati backing and eventually stood directly on the goalline, and he even felt his movements become sluggish and stiff.

Ou Chuliang said on the football-Jianghu network: "Any goalkeeper, if he admits that he is responsible for conceding the goal, will endure the torment in the next game with the two emotions of indifference and restlessness intertwined!" Regardless of the outcome of this game, the night was already unsalvage for himself. ”

At the same time, he wants to prove himself again, and he is worried about his opponent's next attack. In this way, his performance will be even worse! ”

In the 78th minute of the game, the captain of Catania on the left side of the midfield changed lines when passing the ball. Magar is well aware of what to expect next, with the captain's kind of passing usually looking for space at the back post.

At this moment, Magal was desperately rushing there just in time to get a header. Abbiati saw that Desailly was marking his opponent and didn't pay much attention to it.

There was no conspiracy in itself with a foot-to-foot pass, and the ball flew into the six-yard box, where Abbiati needed to attack.

This kind of cross is definitely pediatric for Abbiati, but the goalkeeper who has a fear in everything can be seen when he defends the cross, because he always has to hesitate.

For this reason, Abbiati did not rush forward immediately, and Desailly also stood in place and did not jump.

Maybe for Desailly, he didn't know why he did it himself – maybe he was afraid of making mistakes, maybe he wanted to leave his place to Abbiati.

Looking at the slowly flying ball, Magal suddenly became unusually calm at this time, and he had plenty of time to think about his strategy.

When the ball came into view, he didn't push it directly towards goal, but stopped it directly in front of Abbiati, making it more difficult for him to predict his next move.

Just as Abbiati counted Magal's movements, the ball had already slipped into the bottom of the net.

Seeing this scene, everyone on the Milan bench fell silent, while the Massimino stadium fell into jubilation. Many fans banged the roof of the shed, and Catania's substitute goalkeeper was already piling up with other team-mates on the sidelines, celebrating each other.

What is even more surprising to the Milanese is that as a Milan veteran, Desailly is shouting at Abbiati in the penalty area at this time. Hitting a new teammate when conceding a goal is something that no one has ever seen.

Abbiati, who was reprimanded, turned pale and bowed his head without saying a word.

There were still twelve minutes left before the end of the game, but everyone knew that the end was already sealed.

For Abbiati, the road to get the stadium off was too long. Hundreds of home fans have rushed into the stadium, laughing and shouting: "We beat Milan, we beat AC Milan!" ”

Milan's players have to face the loud shouts of their opposition fans because it convinces them that everything is true.

Many fans even surrounded Abbiati and asked him for autographs or gloves, and they had no malicious intent. But for Abbiati, this time was more sad for him than hanging.

"A lot of people aren't very well educated." "They can't understand what such a defeat means for a young goalkeeper like Abbiati. You must know that next year will be the centenary of Milan. ”