Chapter 12 Sabato's Predicament

Because Juventus' players had been wantonly insulted by Sabato before the match, each of them was eager to get revenge on the field. They seemed very proactive from the beginning of the game, even the defenders frequently pushed forward to attack.

Looking at the Fiorentina players who were at a disadvantage on the field, many people were thinking that perhaps Sabato was now regretting his decision to anger Juventus.

Only six minutes into the game, Juventus took the lead.

Fiorentina's central defender Svensson was obviously frightened by Juventus' desperate offensive. When he got the ball in the backcourt, he made a mistake in the midst of the chaos and directly passed the ball to Juventus midfielder Kopa, who was pressing forward!

This mistake was fatal. After Kopa stole the ball, he swayed past the flustered Svensson, then broke into the penalty area and shot the ball into the lower left corner, facing Frey who rushed out in a hurry!

1:0!

"Juventus takes the lead! They have a fantastic start!!"

Tens of thousands of Juventus fans at the Stadio delle Alpi cheered in unison with the commentator. Sabato's pre-match remarks not only angered the Juventus players, but also angered these fans. They had no way to go to the stadium to slap Sabato in the face, so they could only use their cheers and boos to mock Sabato's ignorance.

The TV camera gave Sabato a close-up. He showed no emotional change despite being a goal behind. He sat securely on the coach's bench, not even standing up. All of this seemed to be within his calculations.

Looking at Sabato, who was sitting firmly on Mount Tai, Li Yan remembered that in the match against Lecce two weeks ago, the opponent also scored a goal at the beginning of the game, and Sabato still showed no reaction at that time.

And then…

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Before the Juventus fans' cheers could end, a counterattack from Fiorentina silenced them collectively. In the eighth minute of the game, only two minutes after Juventus' goal, Pazzini dribbled the ball on the wing. Seeing that Juventus' defense was still retreating and had not organized an effective defense in time, he crossed the ball directly, even though he was still a little far from the penalty area—because he was dribbling along the sideline!

Zhang Jun made a sudden stop while rushing forward in the penalty area, then turned around and steadily stopped the ball at his feet. At the same time, he quickly turned around again and shot!

The ball flew past Buffon's unprepared hands and into the back corner of the goal!

"Goal—in—! zhangjunsgooooooooooal! Too beautiful! Too beautiful! Two minutes! Juventus' lead only lasted two minutes! This reminds us of the league match between Fiorentina and Lecce before, the start is so similar!"

After scoring the goal, Zhang Jun rushed to the Juventus fans' stand, raised his index finger to his lips. The fans were obedient, and no one made a sound for a while.

This time, it was the turn of the thousands of Fiorentina fans to celebrate wildly.

※※※

The commentator was right about one thing, this game was indeed very similar to the one between Fiorentina and Lecce, not only the start.

Just when Juventus was thinking about how to regroup and launch a new round of offensive against Fiorentina, in the sixteenth minute, Fiorentina got a throw-in on the left side of Juventus' penalty area.

In Sabato's team, there were special people for throwing the ball, generally the two full-backs. Especially Xiang Tao, this person has amazing arm strength, his throw-in is like a grenade, he can throw it directly from the sideline to the opponent's goal, which is simply a corner kick with his hands.

This time, of course, Xiang Tao went to throw the ball. He repeatedly wiped the football in his arms until it was clean before he raised the ball, and then kept backing up to the billboard. A long-distance run-up, everyone knew that he was going to throw the free kick directly to the goal.

Sure enough, the football thrown by Xiang Tao with all his strength flew high over the Juventus defender, and then fell straight to the goal!

Zhang Jun leaned against De Rong, the Juventus defender who was defending him, and then jumped high and made a beautiful backward header!

Buffon did not expect that Zhang Jun could jump so easily to head the ball under De Rong's full defense. The football flew past him and into the near corner of the goal!

"Eight minutes! In just eight minutes, Fiorentina went from behind to overtaking! This is exactly the same as the battle with Lecce! So will the subsequent games be like this? Can Fiorentina really treat Juventus as Lecce?" The commentator of Sky TV shouted. Before the game, no one thought that this game would be so exciting.

"This is Zhang Jun's strength! Buffon is old, he can no longer perform peak duels with Zhang Jun like he did in the past..." Finally, the commentator sighed again. Back then, the confrontation between Fiorentina and Juventus, the one-on-one between Zhang Jun and Buffon was always talked about with relish. Nowadays, Zhang Jun has become the most sought-after star on the planet, while thirty-three-year-old Buffon is declining step by step.

New talents emerge from the country, each leading the way for four or five years...

※※※

The commentator predicted correctly again. The subsequent development of the game really made Juventus fans want to jump off the building in surprise, and made Fiorentina fans almost turn Stadio delle Alpi into Artemio Franchi Stadium in joy.

After Zhang Jun scored two goals in eight minutes to overtake the score, Juventus was obviously stunned. They did not expect that Fiorentina would really play like a home game at their home stadium, with great momentum and unstoppable!

In the thirty-first and thirty-second minutes, Pazzini completed two goals in two minutes. What puzzled the experts was that the scoring methods of these two goals were almost exactly the same: both were launched directly by goalkeeper Frey with a big kick, a long pass to the left, received by Gasparoni, then a cross, and Pazzini in the middle, who hit the ball in...

Throughout this process, Juventus' right back, the Dutchman De Rong, almost disappeared, completely failing to play the role he should have played. When Zhang Jun scored the second goal, De Rong's performance was not satisfactory. He completely failed to contain Zhang Jun's jump and header, not even interfering.

Watching his team trail 1:4 before the end of the first half, Hiddink was so anxious on the sidelines that he wanted to curse. He had boasted before the game that he would end Fiorentina's unbeaten record, but he did not expect to be bitten back by Fiorentina, and it hurt so much. Looking at the bloody score on the big screen, he frowned.

"Long live! 'King of the Ball' Zhang Jun! Long live! Invincible Fiorentina!!" Fiorentina fans were singing and dancing in the stands, making the Juventus fans next to them itch with hatred. If it were not for the five rows of stands in the middle, and the armed police officers blocking them, they would have rushed over and torn the other party into pieces.

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When countless TV viewers looked at the score on the screen during the half-time break, many of them could not believe their eyes. Although Fiorentina has been in the limelight recently, and they have so many excellent players in the team, Juventus is not a soft persimmon. How could they let Fiorentina score 1:4 at their home stadium?! This is incredible!

When they left the field, the Juventus players lost their arrogance at the beginning of the game. They lowered their heads one by one and quickly got into the player tunnel as if they were running away, while the Juventus fans' boos resounded over the Stadio delle Alpi.

The commentator lamented during the half-time break: "This game is over. Juventus seems to have lost all fighting spirit. Such a Fiorentina is invincible! Their consecutive unbeaten record will continue... Although we all hope that the league competition will be more intense and better-looking, Fiorentina's existence is like a monster, and no accident has room to survive in front of them. It's so terrible, who can stop them?"

During the half-time break, some reporters had already started preparing to write about this game. Before the game, they were still planning to watch Sabato's jokes and see how he would eat a football in front of all the Italians. Now it was their turn to be glad that they did not bet with Sabato. Sabato is arrogant, but he does have the capital. In Serie A, perhaps only Fiorentina can beat Juventus to the point of not being able to find their way in Stadio delle Alpi.

※※※

No one knows how Hiddink will treat these subordinates who lost his face in the locker room, but it is conceivable that it will definitely not be gentle words and kind treatment. The Juventus players who came out of the locker room had the same expression as their coach—with a straight face, looking very unhappy.

After the game, it was said that Hiddink almost smashed everything he could smash in the locker room, roaring at his players like a mad beast, denouncing them for losing the face of all Juventus fans.

It seemed that this tossing had an effect, and Juventus in the second half was obviously more active than in the first half.

In the fifty-ninth minute, Hiddink finally couldn't bear the poor performance of his Dutch fellow, and he replaced the sleepwalking De Rong with a young full-back, Colombo.

At the same time, he replaced the injured Bojinov with veteran shooter Trezeguet.

These two substitutions were later talked about with relish, because they changed the situation on the field, and they took effect immediately!

A minute later, Trezeguet, who had just come on the field, received the ball in Fiorentina's penalty area, then swayed left and right, flashed the shooting space, raised his foot and shot low. The football dodged Frey's defense and went into the back corner of the goal!

Juventus pulled a goal back!

The singing of cheering for Juventus rang out again at Stadio delle Alpi.

"Ah ha! Trezeguet said before the game that he would shut Sabato up. Now his goal has helped the team narrow the score gap to two goals. Can he really shut Sabato up?" This goal made the commentator excited again. No one wants to see a one-sided game. Juventus has finally reignited its fighting spirit.

Sabato still did not get up from his seat. Perhaps in his opinion, facing such a good Fiorentina, even if Juventus pulls back two goals, what can they do? There is still no chance.

※※※

The most exciting part of this game began to be staged. From the sixtieth minute to the end of the seventieth minute, it was called "the crazy ten minutes." What happened in these ten minutes was enough for some people to go to heaven, and enough for the same group of people to go to hell. The excitement and stimulation of football matches were perfectly displayed in these ten minutes.

In the sixty-fourth minute, Frey wanted to repeat the old trick and kick the ball to the left side of the field, hoping that Gasparoni could receive the ball. This time, the young full-back Colombo was very alert. He took the lead in heading the ball back, and happened to head it to Van der Vaart's feet. Van der Vaart passed the ball to Kopa, and Kopa smoothly passed the ball to Trezeguet who had inserted into the penalty area. Trezeguet forcibly kicked the ball under Svensson's close interference!

The football rolled into the goal for the third time past Frey's feet...

"goooooooooooal! Too wonderful! Juventus has narrowed the score gap to only one goal!"

"frozajuven!!" The Juventus fans on the stand began to applaud in unison. After the drum-like applause, the entire stadium shouted "juven" together. At this time, Fiorentina really felt like they were in an away game. Almost everyone was their enemy, hoping they would lose and hoping to see their painful expressions.

After being scored continuously, Sabato finally couldn't sit still. He stood up from the coach's bench and paced to the sidelines, watching the field nervously.

Not far from him, Hiddink was constantly waving his hands on the sidelines to let the team press up, press up, and press up again. Scoring two goals in four minutes made him see the hope of equalizing or even overtaking.

※※※

After being scored continuously, Fiorentina also organized several counterattacks. Gasparoni's shot from the outside of the penalty area was the most threatening. His shot drew an arc, turned into the penalty area against the body of the Juventus defender, and the good Buffon jumped up and shot out like an arrow, and slapped this must-enter ball out of the baseline with one palm!

Seeing that his shot did not go in, Gasparoni stomped his feet in annoyance, but what could he do? Buffon is still the former world's best goalkeeper after all, and his power is still there.

Buffon, who blocked this must-enter goal, seemed very excited. He jumped up from the ground and roared wildly. This sound received a positive response from the Juventus fans, and the Stadio delle Alpi rang out with "juven! juven!" again.

Buffon's save greatly boosted morale, and Juventus' offense made Fiorentina exhausted, and they could no longer threaten the opponent's goal.

In the sixty-eighth minute, Juventus' midfield interception was successful and organized an attack. After three passes and two passes, the ball was passed to Trezeguet on the side. Trezeguet's performance in this game was indeed very good. He passed the ball to the front of Fiorentina's goal.

Kopa sprinted forward and leaped forward, a powerful header!

Frey's reaction was fast enough, and he managed to slap this header from close range out with one palm!

The Juventus fans on the stand did not have time to sigh, and the Fiorentina fans did not have time to cheer. Van der Vaart, who was ambushing at the back point, suddenly jumped high and headed the ball that was slapped out into the empty goal before Frey and Bonera!

"goal! goooal! gooooooooooooooal!! Too incredible! Too incredible! This is simply a miracle! Juventus has equalized the score! They did it! Van der Vaart! Fiorentina has suffered a heavy blow. When they were leading 4:1, they would never have thought that the Juventus without fighting spirit could equalize the score, right?! Well done! Juventus! You have saved a game and created a classic!"

In the commentator's crazy roar, the stand at Stadio delle Alpi had long become the territory of the home team fans.

"Hiddink deserves to be a magical coach! What kind of magic did he instill in these players during the half-time break? Why did we see two completely different Juventus? Amazing ten minutes! Sabato lost in this confrontation. Now maybe everyone is looking forward to Juventus scoring another goal, completely defeating Fiorentina, and then see how Sabato will eat a football, haha!"

Just when the Juventus players were still celebrating, a huge cartoon was played on the Juventus fans' stand. The picture showed a caricatured Sabato desperately stuffing a football into his mouth, with the words below: "Mr. Sabato, let's see how you eat it!" Originally, this cartoon was prepared before the game, but I didn't expect Fiorentina to take a big lead in the first half, so they were embarrassed to put it out to slap themselves in the face. Now that Juventus miraculously equalized the score, this giant cartoon must be taken out. Now it is being constantly pulled by the fans on the stand, wantonly mocking the poor Sabato.

※※※

Li Yan also saw the banner. I believe everyone who watched this live TV broadcast saw it. The broadcasting director couldn't ignore such a dramatic scene. It seems that Fiorentina is in great danger in this game. Juventus' blitz-like offensive has completely disrupted Fiorentina. They equalized the score in just ten minutes, and after this momentum goes up, they may further expand the results...

But Li Yan is not worried about Sabato at all. He knows that with Sabato's character, even if he loses this game, he will never fulfill his pre-match promise. He is originally the kind of rogue who turns his back on others. Words like "words spoken are like water spilled" have no effect on him at all. What he believes in is "even if he spits out saliva, he must lick it back without changing his face or heartbeat." Expecting him to fulfill what he said is nonsense?

It's just that Fiorentina's unbeaten record seems to be coming to an end...

He sighed regretfully.

※※※

Just when Li Yan's sigh had not yet dissipated in the air, a dramatic scene happened again on the field.

Juventus' offensive was very strong, so most of Fiorentina's players returned to their penalty area to defend. At this time, Zambrotta passed the ball into the penalty area, and Trezeguet received the ball, but he fell to the ground. Xiang Tao, who was in front of him, quickly kicked the ball out of the siege. At this time, he heard the referee's whistle.

"Gasparoni kicked Trezeguet down from behind! This is a penalty kick!" The commentator shouted. "The referee Farina not only awarded Juventus a penalty kick, but also showed Gasparoni a yellow card! It's so dramatic. Juventus equalized the score in ten minutes, and now there is another chance to overtake!"

"frozajuven!!"

While the Fiorentina players were protesting and appealing around the referee, the Juventus players were hugging each other. For them, this was really a heart-stopping game. At the end of the first half, even they themselves did not think they could equalize the score, and now they can overtake in one go. Wonderful!

Zhang Jun pushed away the other teammates who wanted to come up. He was afraid that they would get another yellow card. He was the captain, so he could do this kind of thing. However, the referee did not want to listen to Zhang Jun's explanation. He kept shaking his head, and at the same time wrote down in his notebook the 70th minute, Fiorentina No. 6 Gasparoni fouled in the penalty area, a yellow card, and a penalty kick.

This penalty kick was naturally given to Trezeguet, who had already scored two goals, to take. He was going to stage his first hat-trick this season. As he gets older, his chances of playing have become less and less. He didn't expect that he would have the opportunity to complete a hat-trick in a game against a strong team like Fiorentina. Luck has come, and he can't stop it.

Zhang Jun's explanation and appeal were invalid, and the Fiorentina players could only accept this penalty kick unwillingly.

When Trezeguet placed the football on the penalty spot, all eyes were focused on two people, one was the French shooter, and the other was the French goalkeeper.

"If Trezeguet scores this goal, then he will stage a hat-trick, and at the same time, Juventus' chances of winning will greatly increase. And if Frey can save this penalty kick, then he will not only save the team, but also greatly improve the team's morale. There are still twenty minutes left in the game, everything is possible, anything can happen!"

While the commentator was babbling, the referee blew the whistle in his mouth, Trezeguet ran up...

Sabato squatted nervously on the sidelines, staring at the two people in front of the goal without blinking.

Trezeguet pushed and shot to the lower right corner of the goal. Frey judged correctly and threw himself in that direction, and then slapped the football out with one palm! The football that he pounced on did not bounce out of the baseline, but flew to the right side of the goal. Xiang Tao appeared at the landing point in time, and then kicked the football out of the sideline.

"He saved it! Frey saved Trezeguet's penalty kick!! It's really... unbelievable. The development of this game completely exceeded everyone's expectations!"

Those Fiorentina fans who were watching the game in front of the TV all stood up from their seats, and those who were already standing jumped high. Sabato did not jump up, he punched the ground hard. Thank God... no, thank Frey!

Gasparoni, who made the mistake, seemed to have been redeemed. He rushed to Frey and hugged him tightly. Other teammates surrounded the two of them, slapping Frey's head frantically, thanking him for his outstanding performance.

"This is a key save. He saved Fiorentina and also kept hope for Fiorentina. I believe that the next game will be more exciting!"

Trezeguet, who missed the penalty kick, stood in place in frustration, and his teammates came up to comfort him. For them, it was enough for them to be proud to equalize the score incredibly, so even if this penalty kick was not scored, they had nothing to regret. Cheer up and play the rest of the game well.

After the game, Frey's key save was proven to be the final turning point in this game—there were several turning points in this game, which also shows how ups and downs this game was.

※※※

Frey saved Juventus' penalty kick, which indeed greatly boosted Fiorentina's morale and also made them wake up from the opponent's ten-minute bombardment. Then both sides fell into a tug-of-war, and no one could break the other's door. Time passed minute by minute. When the fourth official raised the sign for three minutes of stoppage time on the sidelines, people realized that this exciting and intense game was coming to an end.

"Because the second half of the game was very smooth, the fourth official only gave three minutes of stoppage time. What can you do in these three minutes? Even if this game is a draw, Fiorentina can continue to maintain their unbeaten record, and Sabato must fulfill his promise. He must eat a football in front of all the Italians! It is said that Italian TV Station has already planned to open a special program for this purpose. I believe that most people's minds are no longer on the game itself, but are looking forward to how Sabato will face the media after the game?"

The commentator was somewhat gloating, not because he hated Fiorentina, but because people all over the world can't help but want to watch the fun.

Sabato must also know what a draw means to him, so even though Frey saved the penalty kick and both sides were entangled with each other, he did not relax at all and still stood nervously on the sidelines.

Juventus took the lead at the beginning, and then Fiorentina counterattacked frantically, taking a 4:1 lead before the half-time break. In the second half, it was Juventus' turn to go wild, scoring three goals in a row in ten minutes, equalizing the score, and there was still a penalty kick that was not scored... This game is really unforgettable. No matter who it is, it can be called a wonderful and great game—except for Sabato, who needs to eat football after the game.

When the game entered the second minute and fifty seconds of stoppage time, which was the ninety-second minute and fifty seconds of the entire game, Fiorentina launched their last attack of the game.

Klu received a precise long pass from Mascherano in the backcourt and dribbled the ball towards Juventus' penalty area. Because this was an attack from defense to attack, most of the Juventus players were still desperately retreating. However, for those who had been fighting for ninety minutes, many people were physically exhausted and could only slowly walk back, while hoping that Fiorentina's attack would fail.

Klu's dribbling was indeed amazing. Facing the dribbling that the football almost stuck to his feet, none of the Juventus defenders dared to kick the ball, for fear of giving Fiorentina a free kick in front of the penalty area at the last moment. You must know that Zhang Jun's free kick goal rate is surprisingly high.

In this way, two Juventus defenders "escorted" Klu all the way into the penalty area. Seeing that the defenders could not be counted on, Buffon gritted his teeth and abandoned the goal to attack.

Klu dialed the ball to the outside, and when Buffon was completely approaching him, he suddenly crossed! He and Buffon bumped into each other, but the football was successfully passed to the center of the penalty area.

Pazzini, who followed up, wanted to volley directly in the face of the empty goal, but he didn't expect that he would miss the ball! The football hit his supporting foot and bounced out. Zambrotta, who was originally defending him, was swayed by Pazzini's kick and ran past his head, rushing into the goal.

Just when people thought this crisis was over, Zhang Jun arrived on horseback. The two defenders who had been running with Klu turned to attack him, trying to block Zhang Jun's shot.

The football bounced towards Zhang Jun, but Zhang Jun did not shoot at the first time. He very skillfully used the heel of his right foot to knock the football from a narrow gap between the two defenders in a horizontal run, and then accelerated sharply!

The two defenders were caught off guard. One continued to rush forward due to inertia, and the other braked quickly and planned to turn around to destroy the football that Zhang Jun had knocked behind them. The two collided head-on! For a time, the Juventus penalty area was full of people falling on their backs.

At this moment, Buffon had pushed away Klu, who was pressing on him, and desperately ran back to the front of the goal. Zhang Jun made a small circle and successfully received the football he had knocked over. He followed by flashing past Pazzini who had fallen to the ground, swung his foot, tricked Buffon into falling to the ground, and then easily pushed the football to the back corner of the goal...

Zambrotta, who was in the goal, wanted to clear the ball, but his legs were a little shorter, and he did not hit the football. Instead, he lost his balance and fell into the goal, watching unwillingly as the football rolled into the goal and then stopped on the net.

"Boom!!!"

"Zhang—Jun—!!"

Zhang Jun, who scored the goal, seemed very excited. He ran towards the stand where the Fiorentina fans were with all his strength, and at the same time kept hitting the Fiorentina team logo on his chest with his right hand, shouting words that no one could understand.

Sabato jumped up from the ground. He was not worried about eating the football at all—he would definitely deny it. But who wouldn't want to leave arrogantly as a winner after the game?

"This is the last minute of the game! Zhang Jun scored the most critical goal! Fiorentina defeated Juventus away! He staged his second hat-trick in the last three league games! Too magical, miracle! This is the real miracle! He not only saved Fiorentina, but also saved his coach Antonio Sabato!! This madman doesn't have to worry about how to eat football!"

Buffon jumped up from the ground angrily, scolding the defenders who were timid in defense, while those defenders who were scolded by him looked helplessly at Zhang Jun's running back. Purple poured in from all directions, as if a small stream converged into a river, and the river eventually flowed into the vast sea. All the Fiorentina players rushed to the stand where the Viola fans were and celebrated the victory of this game with them.

"The 50,000 Juventus fans in the stadium couldn't believe their eyes. After their team equalized the score in ten minutes, they didn't perform badly. They once longed to defeat Fiorentina. But now everything has turned into a bubble. Zhang Jun's ruthless blow pulled them back to the cruel reality! Great game, great Zhang Jun, great Fiorentina! No one can stop them, and no one can beat them. They are invincible and invincible!"

Hiddink lowered his proud head like a defeated rooster. He couldn't believe that his team could still lose such a game. Zhang Jun... is too terrible!

There is no doubt that Sabato is a bad guy because he insulted Juventus and the fans who like Juventus. But many times, it doesn't mean that bad people will have bad luck...

On the big screen of the Stadio delle Alpi stadium, the score of 5:4 was strikingly dazzling, and even more dazzling was the three same names below the "5". This game belongs to him, and this season also belongs to him.