"Damn! Almost got cooked in here!"
As soon as Icardi walked into the dressing room, the first thing he did was take off his shirt and throw it on the ground.
The shirt was soaked with several pounds of sweat, so heavy that when it hit the floor, it made a crisp "clap" sound!
Many players who entered the dressing room afterward also took off their jerseys.
Sweat was pouring down the players’ necks and chests like rain, filling the entire dressing room with a sour stench.
Even Berni, the third goalkeeper who sat on the sidelines, couldn’t stop complaining. He was on his third towel for wiping sweat.
Gualin, the culprit whose intercepted pass directly led to conceding a goal, was sullen and downcast.
As soon as he entered the dressing room, he went straight to the central air conditioning panel on the wall, pressing it nonstop.
A "whoosh" of air blew out, and Gualin stood on his toes, reached out, and then loudly called out the na of the stadium administrator:
"Felix, Felix, why isn’t this AC cooling?"
Captain Ranocchia was sitting on the ground, leaning against a locker, and said weakly:
"Stop yelling, the more you yell, the hotter it gets. It’s only March; the central air conditioning at the stadium hasn’t been turned on yet. Yelling is pointless."
Tang Long sat quietly in his spot, downing a full bottle of sports drink.
Not only were his teammates exhausted, but he was also equally worn out!
Starting every ga for three consecutive matches, like his teammates on the field, Tang Long was also facing severe physical endurance pressure.
In the last few minutes of the first half, his calves were trembling.
Actually, it wasn’t particularly hot—24 degrees on a sunny day isn’t too bad!
But in May, the team will face conditions over 30 degrees.
If they can’t handle today, forget about playing in May.
Today, the players’ resistance to the weather was more due to issues with physical stamina!
When physical endurance is lacking, sensitivity to external temperature increases, which is scientifically proven.
However, none of the starting players complained about being "tired," even if they kept saying they were hot.
Everyone tacitly understood each other—who isn’t tired?
They’ve all been playing together, so since the start of the season, and others for years.
Who couldn’t tell what condition everyone was in today?
After 30 minutes, everyone was out of shape because they were tired!
Heat was just an excuse for the players.
However, even if they were tired, they couldn’t admit it.
After all, it’s just the first half—wouldn’t it be embarrassing to admit being tired? And wouldn’t that lead to being substituted? So, better keep it to themselves.
Mancini, Herrera, and Chiwo, three mbers of the coaching staff, ca into the dressing room.
As soon as Mancini ca in, he frowned and twitched his nose.
Why did the dressing room sll so bad today?
Before he could say anything, Chiwo said:
"Boss, the players have serious fitness issues. I think we need to make two substitutions at the start of the second half to maintain our running ability!"
Assistant coach Herrera gave Chiwo a sideways glance but said nothing.
The boss hasn’t spoken, yet you jump in—don’t you know the rules?
Upon hearing this, those Inter starters who were wiping sweat and drinking water all looked up at Chiwo, except for goalkeeper Handanovic.
Everyone was a bit anxious.
Who will be substituted?
Mancini shook his head.
"Are you crazy, Christian? Taking two off at halfti ans no further adjustnts in the second half."
Mancini had his reasons for saying so.
Generally, unless pushed to the brink, you don’t substitute more than one player at halfti.
Because if you change two players, you’d only have one substitution left.
With Mancini’s personality, he wouldn’t use his last substitution until after the 82nd minute.
Otherwise, if a player got injured and couldn’t be replaced, you’d have to play with 10 against 11!
Gualin kept his head down, sowhat afraid to look at Mancini.
Mancini reassured him, "Gualin, look at ! I know you feel guilty, but it’s okay. You were very committed in defense, and I appreciate your sacrifice and contribution to the team."
On the other hand, Mancini pointed to the young Kovacic, "You replace Gualin at defensive midfield in the second half."
The reason for substituting Gualin was partly due to his outstanding running in the first half, covering the most distance for Inter, which severely depleted his physical stamina.
Additionally, after that error pass, Gualin kept subconsciously holding his inner thigh, making Mancini suspect a potential muscle strain.
Finally, Mancini walked over to Tang Long.
"Tang, I know you’re exhausted, but you must stay on the field! You need to rally your teammates; whether we can turn the score around depends on your orchestration."
Tang Long nodded, "Alright, I know what to do, Mr. Mancini."
Mancini gave Tang Long a thumbs-up trustingly.
Mancini had grown to like Tang Long more and more recently, realizing that he was soone who didn’t need much tactical instruction.
Just a brief encouragent was enough; leave him on the field, and he would execute everything on his own.
Walking down the player tunnel, Tang Long put an arm around Kovacic, speaking to him in a big brotherly tone:
Reviews
All reviews (0)