Chapter 1 Digging Your Own Grave

Chapter 1 Digging Your Own Grave

2005 was not a big year, and the whole summer was very peaceful. Degan took Belén, Kaka, and Caroline to the Maldives for vacation, which was considered compensation for Belén.

It's just that this vacation is not as easy and fun as Digan thought. From time to time, some paparazzi with cameras will appear around them secretly. He is very keen on those shots, and he doesn't mind showing off his hot body at all. In comparison, Degan, who is so majestic on the court, is now more like a new rookie. He seems a little at a loss when facing the camera, even It's anger.

Of course Degan on the court doesn't mind these things, and the topics surrounding him have never stopped, but for his private life, Degan doesn't want to receive too much attention, but things backfired, who made him now the world's most important person? The most popular star in football, even though he is not crushing opponents on the court, he is still full of stars, and others can't ignore it even if they want to ignore it.

Of course, the outside world is most concerned about Degan's whereabouts next season. The loan contract with Atlanta has ended, but because of the first buyout clause, it is not impossible for Degan to stay in Atlanta.

Of course, this possibility was ignored by everyone. No one thought that Degan, who had already become one of the top stars, would stay in a small team with no ambitions even after becoming a double champion.

What's more, can the stingy Riodo meet Degan's current salary requirements?

Returning to Milan, in everyone's opinion, this is the best way out, AC Milan can participate in the European Champions Cup next season, and it is a rich team with a deep foundation.

Last season, AC Milan finally won the third place in the league, but in the final Champions League final, AC Milan encountered a brutal night in Istanbul.

Although Degan complained a lot about the team's management, as a Milan fan and Kaka's younger brother, he still came to the scene, hoping that his little butterfly could change some things and witness the clink of AC Milan.

Before the game started, the biggest suspense was Milan's striker combination. In the end, between Crespo and Inzaghi, Ancelotti chose the Argentine.

Liverpool's roster was beyond all pre-match predictions. Benitez did not use three midfielders, but added an offensive player, Kewell. Kewell was plagued by injuries during the season. In 2005, he played only In 7 games, he appeared in the lineup, which indeed exceeded many people's expectations. In the forward selection, Benitez used Baros, and Cisse, who scored two goals in the last round of the league, sat on the bench.

In the end, the entire process of this game met all the elements that a game that can be called a masterpiece must have, and even more. Because it not only has profound connotation, but also has rich denotation.

AC Milan's goal in the first minute, Liverpool's six-minute storm in the second half, a three-goal reversal, and Dudek's miraculous save in the penalty shootout, all these scenes were condensed into one game, and they happened in the past two European countries. The hegemony between AC Milan and Liverpool is enough to wear the classic label, and behind it is the 20th anniversary of the Heysel tragedy and the rise and fall of Liverpool's red dynasty. How can there be another one?

After 1985, Liverpool were banned from playing in Europe for seven years. Seven years in the blink of an eye, but enough for the covetous Italians to seize power. When Liverpool's European qualification was reinstated five years later, the world belonged to others.

The great red dynasty can only be recalled by fans in their dreams, and it is AC Milan, who owns the Dutch Three Musketeers, who took over Liverpool's supremacy.

For 20 years, Liverpool has been unable to really get out of the trough. The decline of Liverpool is not only a nightmare for Liverpool people, but also a nightmare for the entire English football world. In 2005, Liverpool completed their redemption in Istanbul with a miraculous six minutes.

After the game, Reuters reporter Mike Colette wrote in an article titled "2005, Unforgettable 6 Minutes of Crazy": "Although Liverpool's head coach is the Spaniard Benitez, there were only two England players on the field at that time. players, but Liverpool's victory still represents a huge success for English football."

When the half-time ended and the Liverpool people felt that the end of the world was coming, the other dressing room was immersed in uncontrollable excitement, as if dreaming back to 1994.

Although Ancelotti denied after the game that his team lost the calm that Milan should have at halftime, Gattuso's words leaked the secret of the Milanese: "The football we made made my mind flash. The word Athens, I feel we will repeat the 4-0 defeat of Barcelona."

It was also driven by the unrealistic dream of creating the largest score record in the history of the Champions League final, coupled with an extremely wrong understanding of Liverpool, AC Milan suffered a devastating blow in the second half.

After the Champions League final, AC Milan was depressed for a long time. In addition to failure, they also have to endure constant speculation, questioning and rumors from the outside world. One of the biggest negative news is that AC Milan players started to celebrate during the intermission. For Milan, who lost the Champions League, the reason for failure is worse than being inferior to others. It seems that Milan is stupid and amateurish. The Milan players headed by Maldini angrily refuted this rumor, but why did they do so in 3 goals conceded in 6 minutes, still no one can explain clearly.

As an AC Milan fan, Digan obviously had a hard time forgetting such a night. Although he had experienced it once in his previous life, when he witnessed the birth of this miracle, he still felt that such a game was simply an impossible task. The incredible reversal, the eternal miracle in football history, the unsolved mystery, the night when God came.

52 seconds, this is the time taken by the old Milan captain Maldini to score the fastest goal in the 50 finals of the UEFA Champions League. Before the game, it was generally believed that four consecutive knockout games had failed There will be no more than one goal in the final between Liverpool and Milan, who have the best defense in the world.

In the 20th minute, this was the time that Kewell, who had just returned from injury, persisted on the court. From his sad expression when he left the court, Degan seemed to see his bleeding heart. Liverpool, who were one goal behind, were beaten He was forced to make a hasty transfer and replaced the veteran Smicer. After conceding a goal, Liverpool's brief offensive ended with this substitution.

Gerrard and Kewell, this is the world-class double midfielder that Liverpool is proud of. In their defensive position, the handsome young man Kaka of AC Milan is in no man's land, and he has released countless deadly direct passes. Stabbing Liverpool's heart again and again.

Finally, after several offsides and missed opportunities, Liverpool's goal was pierced twice by the opportunist Crespo in the 39th and 44th minutes.

The Milanese were celebrating, the Liverpool fans were silent, and the commentator asserted that the two teams were not at the same level.

At that time, Degan's mind was indeed blank. He already had a premonition that disaster was coming, and of course it was also the beginning of a miracle.

At the end of halftime, the TV screen locked the close-up shots on the big screen at the scene, and the dazzling 0:3 can be clearly seen on it. The commentator is still repeating their hopes. Humiliation in front of the people of the world, don't go beyond the nightmare of Barcelona swallowing Milan's four eggs.

Before the start of the second half, Hamann had already been seen, and Benitez decided to make a last-ditch effort, using Harman to freeze Kaka, and at the same time, he changed to a back three. The situation did not improve after the opening game. Traore, who was sleepwalking in the first half, continued to sleep, and Hyypia's slow pace was still easily thrown off by Kaka. The Milanese wanted to take advantage of the victory to chase the poor, broke through, made long-range free throws, and took corner kicks. For a while, Degan felt that it was more realistic to target Barcelona.

In six minutes, a person's fate can be changed in one decision, and the result of the night in Istanbul can also be changed in six minutes. Without warning, captain Gerrard sounded the counterattack horn with his rare header.

So far, lying on the warm sandy beach in the Maldives, Degan can still clearly remember that captain Gerrard kept waving his hands in the middle circle after scoring a goal, using his spirit to encourage his teammates to cheer up.

Liverpool fans started singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" again. Immediately afterwards, replacing Kewell, the veteran Smicer, whose contract will end after the game, made Dida helpless again with an impeccable long shot.

At this moment, having already learned that the club would not renew his contract with him, he pulled up the team badge on his chest, kissed affectionately twice, and then put it down. The scene began to boil. The field was immediately flooded by a sea of ​​red.

In a blink of an eye, the Milanese were still out of breath. Gerrard had already been pulled down in the penalty area of ​​Milan. He took a penalty kick. Liverpool has never had a good penalty shooter. This time, for many players, who will take the penalty that only happens once in a lifetime? What about kicking?

It was Alonso, the Spaniard who had been with the team for less than a season. Carrying everyone's hope, Alonso started, approached, one step, two steps, three steps, the ball was like an arrow out of the string, and it really flew to the lower right corner of the goal. When he was about to enter the goal, Dida stretched his long arm and pointed Jian touched the ball and saved it.

The Milanese hadn't reacted yet, and saw that Alonso had already lunged forward, shoveled the ball on the ground, and the ball hung in the upper corner, 3:3!

The Olympic Stadium in Istanbul was completely out of control. The camera was aimed at the stern face of Milan coach Ancerotti, and behind him were red fans who were carnival and a huge screen showing 3:3.

When a person's physical strength has been exhausted, the only thing he can rely on is his will. When the game entered overtime, Liverpool successively had Garcia and Smicer suffer from cramps, and even Gerrard's range of activities was greatly reduced. The expressions on the faces of the players changed from excitement and tension to numbness and even pain. The rhythm of both sides slowed down, and the superior technology created many opportunities, and Liverpool's door was again precarious in the wind and rain. Carragher, the central defender and vice-captain, appeared most in the camera. He stole, blocked, fought for the top again and again, fell to the ground again and again, and then got up again and again. After falling to the ground again, he struggled on the ground, but couldn't move. The team doctor came in, and he was carried out of the field. Judging from the pain on his expression, he might not be able to continue the game. At this time, Liverpool had used up three substitutions.

The commentators began to talk about the prospect of Liverpool, which lost its main central defender and played one less player. They were generally pessimistic. Just when the commentator shook his head in regret, the camera was once again aimed at Carragher. He stood up again under the eyes of everyone. , dragging a wounded leg, limped into the arena.

The commentator was discussing how long he could last, and the ball flew into the heart of Liverpool again, and with the last of his strength, Carragher stretched out his injured leg desperately and tackled the ball out of bounds before the Milan striker.

When he got up slowly, he touched his other leg, obviously because of the extreme movement just now, his other leg was also injured. Carragher, with a strained groin in both legs, ended up playing 120 minutes without Milan scoring another goal.

There is another reason for not conceding a goal, and that is God's favor. Dudek probably never dreamed of how he blocked Shevchenko's strong shot less than one meter away from the goal. It is not so much a save by him as it is that Shevchenko deliberately kicked the ball with all his strength. his face. At this time, there were only four minutes left before the end of the game.

Before entering the final penalty kick, except for the twenty-two players on the court, everyone seemed to understand what happened tonight, and penalty kicks seemed to become a routine. From the comparison of the eyes of the players of the two teams, the result is already obvious. The blurred and wandering Milan players couldn't believe what happened in the first 120 minutes, while the Liverpool fighters only had firm and murderous eyes in their eyes.

Dudek is the exception for Liverpool players, his funny pole dance, water snake waist is the only angry in the suffocating penalty shootout.

Shevchenko did not defeat the pole dance in the end, no, it should be said that he did not defeat God in the end, his last penalty two years ago made Milan win the championship, and his last penalty two years later made Liverpool two years away Reaching the top of Europe again after ten years!

The Liverpool players all rushed onto the pitch, embracing, jumping and running wildly.

Even though he had already watched one side of the TV in his previous life, Degan still couldn't believe what he saw. He even wondered if the first half was his dream, or he fell asleep after the first half. The scene of winning the championship in front of him was a dream?

There was a sad atmosphere in the stands where Milan fans gathered. Tears rolled down their faces. The Milan players in white jerseys also showed the same sadness. Behind them, a group of people in red jerseys were celebrating. The entire stadium was covered with red paper, like the sky was crying.

After the game, when everyone woke up a little bit, the Milan fans' chaotic brains were instantly angry. They were blaming, blaming everything they suspected, especially the striker.

Crespo's performance was acceptable, but Shevchenko's performance was very disappointing. The Ukrainian nuclear warhead they had high hopes for was completely misfired in this game.

"With Degan on the pitch, we would be celebrating now!"

I don't know who was the first to shout out such a voice, and then, this voice filled the crowd.

Deegan!

AC Milan's abandoned son has now become a proposition for Milan to forgive their arrogance.

After that game, Galliani called Deegan himself for the first time. Maybe he already felt that AC Milan needed a change of blood, always relying on those old guys, and it was difficult for them to reproduce the Milan dynasty of the year.

go back?

This is indeed an opportunity to go back and be the savior, to be part of Milan and create a great dynasty.

But what about after going back?

The current coach of AC Milan is Carlo Ancelotti. Everyone knows that he is a conservative fat man. Will he accept himself as an outsider?

Digan hesitated!

Maybe he still has a little fantasy about Riodo.

But soon, Riodo shattered his fantasy with his own hands. Pacini and Montolivo were packaged and transferred to Fiorentina. The transfer fee was only two million euros. Otherwise, if he buys out directly, he only needs to pay one million euros.

Last season, Atlanta's No. 2 striker Pazzini, Montolivo, known as Albertini's successor, was sold in this way.

The fans were angry, and Degan was even more angry!

Pacini and Montolivo were his best friends in Florence, and now his good friends are just thrown out like this.

Immediately afterwards, Albertini also left, perhaps hoping to make his career more perfect, Albertini also went to Florence and left on a free transfer.

Followed by Maxwell, this has long been expected, he moved to Inter Milan, and Atlanta can use him for half a season in vain, which is already enough.

Then there is Cassetti, who was chosen by Roma with his outstanding performance in the second half of last season. The figure of 7 million euros is enough to make Riodo's heart beat.

And Nocerino, he transferred to Palermo for 5 million euros. Before he decided to leave, he called Degan and signed the contract.

Jimenez moved to Lazio. Although after Montolivo returned from injury, he existed as a substitute player more often, but his outstanding performance still caused Lazio, who is in the rebirth stage. The idea, 6 million euros, Riodo obviously couldn't refuse.

Montero and Gamara were also a little disheartened. They chose to suspend their contract with the team early and returned to South America to continue their careers.

Falling apart, this is called falling apart!

Last season's main players turned out to be only Taibi, Lazari, and of course Digan, but he obviously won't stay.

Riodo was obviously still excited about making a lot of money, and his head was obviously not sober. He actually called Digan who was on vacation, and said boldly: "Rod! Who do you want to buy? Come in!" , just talk, I know you have the ability to discover the dusty pearl, we will build a stronger team around you in the new season!"

Digan's response to this was only two words - silly, stupid!

Degan is not a god, let alone the victor in "The Winner is King". Could it be that Riodo still expects Degan to be a scout to help Atlanta buy at a low price and sell at a high price, making a lot of money.

Although Atlanta bought a large number of players during the winter transfer period last season, the main framework of the team has not been changed.

Especially with Albertini, the midfield metronome, and his help in sorting out the midfield, this improvised team can also form a combat effectiveness in a short period of time.

Otherwise, even if there were eleven Beckhams or eleven Ronaldos, it would be useless.

Does Riodo have the ability to find another Albertini now?

Obviously this is impossible.

Immediately afterwards, what made Degan completely determined to leave Atlanta was that Mandolini also resigned. Probably because he was desperate for Riodo, Mandolini decided to leave Atlanta.

He is now a champion coach, and he has no worries about having nowhere to go. Soon he found a new job in Lazio. After making this decision, he called Digan.

"Rod! Atlanta is not the place for you. Riodo has no intention of running Atlanta into a giant. Everything he does is digging his own grave. I don't want to see my team collapse next season. Become a laughing stock in people's eyes, so I can only be a deserter!"

Degan understands Mandolini's choice very well. It's anyone's turn to choose this matter. As the head coach of the double crown, when he is preparing to show his strength in the new season, he finds out that his Chairman Miser, he hollowed out his team, and anyone who does something else will be angry.

Those who should go and those that should not go are all gone now. After a short period of glory, Atlanta was eaten up by its owner. This is simply a great irony.

Now that it's all like this, what is Degan still insisting on?

"Rods! Come to Milan! We brothers fight side by side!"

Kaka also saw that Degan was a little disappointed. As an older brother, Kaka knew his younger brother very well. He knew that Degan actually wanted to stay in Atlanta, but unfortunately things backfired.

Facing Kaka's invitation, this time, Degan couldn't say no to it, but he didn't want to agree so readily: "I still need to discuss it with my agent before making a decision, Ricardo! This has something to do with me. future!"

Kaka also knows that Degan has concerns in his heart. In the match against Milan last season, Degan was very energetic every time. His behavior is no different from a traitor in the eyes of Milan players and fans. If he chooses to go back now , is likely to encounter huge resistance