Chapter 90: The Winter Break

Chapter 90: The Winter Break

After leaving Vanessa's place, Bruno headed straight to Milan Airport. There, he bought some gifts for his family at the duty-free shop before flying back to Porto, his hometown.

This reunion was special as it brought together Bruno's father, José Fernandes, and his older brother, Ricardo Fernandes, who had also returned to Porto ahead of him. The family shared in the disbelief and joy over Bruno's performance in Italy over the past year. From the football-obsessed kid to a superstar—Bruno had made his dream a reality.

Bruno urged his father to stop commuting to Switzerland and find something more local in Porto. With Bruno's current income, supporting their retirement wouldn't be an issue, but considering their young age—only in their early forties—they weren't keen on idling away their days.

José mentioned he would consider it, given that his job in Switzerland wasn't particularly fulfilling or well-paying. If better opportunities arose, he might not return.

Bruno spent five days at home, and after Christmas, on the 26th, he left for Italy. By the 27th, he was due back with Udinese as the team reconvened to prepare for the second half of the season.

During this period, Bruno kept in touch with Vanessa over the phone. However, she hadn't mentioned coming to Portugal, indicating she hadn't made a decision yet. Thus, Bruno hadn't mentioned Vanessa to his family, given the awkwardness and uncertainty of their relationship.

Once back, Udinese's team completed their assembly and underwent a 10-day training camp. On January 6th, they faced their first match of 2014 against Verona at the Friuli Stadium.

Verona, a newly-promoted team, turned out to be the dark horse of the Serie A season. They had earned 29 points from the first 17 games, placing seventh on the leaderboard. Notably strong at home, Verona had clinched eight wins from nine games, securing 24 points—the highest home game score in Serie A, even surpassing Juventus and Udinese. However, their away game performance was much weaker, with only one win, two draws, and five losses, placing them 14th for away games.

Udinese nearly capsized at home against Verona. Perhaps rusty from a half-month break, Udinese started slowly, whereas Verona quickly got into the game. By the 39th minute, Verona was leading 2-0. However, Udinese woke up just before halftime, launching several threats and finally scoring a goal in the 43rd minute through a free kick by Bruno.

The second half saw Udinese pull even by the 51st minute with a goal from captain Di Natale. Despite Verona's attempts to regain control, the match ended 3-3, marking Verona as the only team to have drawn with Udinese this season.

Three days later, Udinese faced Inter Milan in the fifth round of the Coppa Italia at the Friuli Stadium. Both teams made extensive changes to their line-ups for this match. Only Kovacic, Nagatomo, and Guarin from Inter and Bruno, Ertl, Domizzi, and Kante from Udinese retained their starting spots from the weekend's league game.

Udinese led 32 minutes into the game with a goal facilitated by Bruno, securing a 1-0 victory. They advanced to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia, awaiting the winner between AC Milan and Spezia.

On January 13th, Udinese played against Sampdoria at Ferraris Stadium in Genoa. It was a chaotic match, and Udinese suffered a 1-3 defeat. The team appeared unprepared and disorganized, resulting in a disappointing performance following the winter break.

(End of Chapter)

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