Boosted by the [Basic Outside of the Foot] and [Bandit Coach Roar], the quality of Modric’s outside-of-the-foot strike was incredibly high!
“Modric passes with the outside of his foot; this allows him to pass the football faster to Quagliarella on the front left…
wait, this isn’t a pass!”
The football didn’t fly towards Quagliarella but carved out a C-shaped arc, heading straight for the left side of the goal.
Perugia’s center-backs and goalkeeper hadn’t expected Modric to choose to shoot directly, losing their optimal window to defend.
Swish!
The football slipped past the Perugia goalkeeper’s outstretched fingers a step earlier and drilled into the net.
The next moment, the sparse pockets of pink in the stands suddenly erupted.
“GOAL!”
“Modric!
The shepherd boy from Croatia has breached Perugia’s goal once again!”
“If his earth-shattering long shot in the first leg carried a bit of luck…”
“…then this time, his goal fully demonstrates his intelligence and fine technique!”
“It seems the Famine Knight isn’t famished at all!”
“This shot was so sudden; Perugia completely didn’t anticipate it.”
“One to zero!
With this, the aggregate score becomes four to two; Perugia must score two goals just to take the lead!”
Listening to her partner’s passionate commentary, Barbara felt everything was so dull and tasteless.
Dead memories began to attack her.
Was she really going to witness He Tianqi’s victory live once again?
The reason she said “again”…
Was because nine years ago, on her birthday, her father prepared a grand birthday celebration for her at the San Siro Stadium.
It happened to be the matchday for AC Milan U15 against Juventus U15, and as a result, that match became the youth football game in Italy with the highest attendance, bar none.
The pre-match birthday segment immersed the entire San Siro in happiness.
According to the plan, after ninety minutes, the victorious AC Milan U15 would invite Barbara onto the pitch to celebrate again.
Because that year’s AC Milan U15 had a stellar record, while Juve U15’s record was terrible.
The outcome was supposedly predetermined; there could be no surprises.
It was supposed to be as secure as Real Madrid playing Deportivo during their centennial celebration.
(Super Depor: Are you sure?)
But after ninety minutes, the temperature at the San Siro Stadium dropped to freezing.
The long-weakened Juve U15, led by He Tianqi—who had been called up from the U13 squad—actually “slaughtered” the AC Milan youth team.
They carved out a 13-1 scoreline!
He Tianqi had five goals and four assists, participating in nine goals.
He mocked Barbara in an alternative way and left a severe psychological shadow on the nine-year-old Barbara.
That was the worst day of Barbara’s life.
…
Back to the match.
Although Barbara’s commentary stuttered, the match on the field remained fluid.
After conceding, Perugia went all out on the attack.
In the eighth minute, Miccoli ran into an opportunity, and the Perugia midfield delivered a beautiful chipped through ball.
Unfortunately, Vidic turned his team’s penalty box into a no-fly zone, clearing it with a header.
In the fourteenth minute, Modric was brought down from behind by an opposing player while receiving the ball.
The referee didn’t blow for a foul; it was a normal physical contest, and Modric was just too soft.
Perugia gained a great opportunity from this; Miccoli took a long shot that went narrowly wide.
Just as the commentators were about to review the play and criticize Modric for being too soft, a shot of Modric throwing his hands up in a shrug to express his dissatisfaction to the referee appeared.
This tough attitude choked the commentators’ criticisms back down their throats.
In the twenty-first minute, Ribery was double-teamed while dribbling down the wing.
Modric, who should have come to support him, was entangled by an opposing defender and couldn’t break free.
Ultimately, Ribery used his individual ability to draw a foul from the opponent, winning a free kick on the wing.
Ribery originally wanted to find Modric to talk and express his dissatisfaction, believing Modric should have found a way to support him.
Instead, Modric preemptively found the opposing player who was pulling him, shrugging and questioning him.
The way he looked, it was as if he wanted to duel the guy!
Ribery quickly went over and pulled Modric away, avoiding Modric getting beaten up.
The smell of gunpowder between the two sides thickened slightly because of this.
“Strange!” Barbara said, puzzled.
“This Modric is clearly soft as hell when playing football, but why is his image in my mind gradually becoming tough and thorny?”
Many viewers chimed in, expressing that they felt the same way.
Bang!
Modric took the free kick.
Perugia had amassed heavy defenses around Filippo.
As a result, the Eastern European giant Vidic rose from the ground at the far post, throwing his head like a lion.
The football immediately flew into the goal.
“GOAL!”
“Palermo scores again!”
“What exactly is going on?”
“Perugia actually didn’t pay attention to this tall guy, Vidic!
His heading ability is outstanding!”
“With this, the aggregate score becomes five to two!”
“And Palermo also has two away goals.”
“Even if Perugia scores three consecutive goals, it will only be a tie!”
“Could Palermo really be on their way to the Coppa Italia quarter-finals?”
“Currently, six teams have already qualified for the Coppa Italia quarter-finals: four Serie A teams and two Serie B teams.”
“Except for this match between Palermo and Perugia, the two teams in the other remaining match are both Serie B teams!”
“Therefore, once Palermo advances, they will become the only lower-league team to reach the quarter-finals in this tournament!”
Unbelievable.
The Perugia fans in the stands were stunned into silence.
Three goals—how could they chase that?
Fortunately, Palermo was only a Serie C team; such teams were also prone to collapsing like a landslide, giving away three or five goals in half a game.
It was exactly this sense of belief that allowed the Perugia players to hold on.
They began to increase the intensity of their physical play.
And this tactic yielded obvious results.
In the twenty-sixth minute, Ribery was shoved down while dribbling.
The referee gave no signal.
In the thirty-third minute, Quagliarella was brought down by the opponent while making an off-the-ball run.
Still no foul called against the opponent.
It wasn’t a rigged referee, but rather the referee’s leniency in this match was quite loose.
In the forty-first minute, Perugia, who had been frequently creating threats, finally seized an opportunity.
Grosso broke through on the wing and earned a corner kick.
After the corner was taken, there was chaos inside Palermo’s penalty area; no one managed to secure the first touch.
The football scurried around everyone’s feet.
Finally, Grosso snatched a victory from the chaos, bumping the football into Palermo’s goal.
“Goal!
The aggregate score is three to five!
Perugia seems to see hope of leveling the score!”
“Grosso stepped up at a critical moment; this left-back always has highlight moments when playing against weaker teams.
However, his performance in the league is not very stable.”
A few minutes later, the first half ended.
Many people thought Perugia still had a chance.
After all, they were a Serie A team; the foundation was there, and a comeback wasn’t just a dream.
On the other side, He Tianqi was also in a tough spot in the dressing room.
He could only emphasize defense to the players, telling everyone to focus on positional defense.
But he also knew that this Palermo team would probably find it hard to completely shut down Perugia.