2005/2006 Italian Cup Round of 16, AC Milan hosting Brescia.
At that time, the Italian Cup still followed a home-and-away two-legged format every round.
For the current Italian football scene, they actually preferred playing more matches to increase influence and generate revenue.
It wasn't until Serie A began to decline that the Italian Cup slowly changed its format, shifting from two legs to a single-match knockout.
In this match, AC Milan's opponent came from the Serie B club Brescia.
Fans who love Roberto Baggio should be familiar with Brescia.
This was the team Baggio chose at the end of his career, and he helped lead this team from Serie B back into Serie A.
After four seasons at Brescia, Roberto Baggio chose to retire there.
In 2004, Italian football bid farewell to this "Il Divin Codino."Also in that year, after losing Baggio, Brescia was relegated back to Serie B in the 2004/2005 season.
Nowadays, Brescia was performing well in Serie B.
They wanted to restore their glory and push for promotion back to Serie A!And it all started from the Italian Cup. But... there was no "then."
They met the nightmare known as AC Milan in the Italian Cup.
With main players like Suker, Maldini, and Shevchenko sitting on the bench, Milan still relied on outstanding performances from Kaka, Gilardino, and Inzaghi to lead 2-0.
"Hah~~~~~~"
Suker yawned, sitting on the bench, truly bored to death.
AC Milan had enough strength to compete on three fronts. To focus on more important competitions, Ancelotti recently had Suker rest on the bench.
For AC Milan, the Italian Cup was important, but not as significant.
The league and the Champions League were the main priorities.
The Champions League wouldn't start until February.
This was Suker's most anticipated tournament.
"Don't worry, your time to shine will be in February," Maldini patted Suker's shoulder and smiled, "We'll need you when we play Bayern Munich."
Suker rolled his eyes.
Lately, Maldini liked to make big promises.
He made Shevchenko captain!Promised Pirlo he'd be the best midfielder in the world!Told Kaka he had a bright future!And now promised Suk he was a core member!
"Captain, your form can last ten more years, hang in there!" Suker said.
Maldini smiled silently.
Lately, Maldini was considering retirement.
Although Suker knew Maldini couldn't retire yet, he worried the old man might suddenly decide to become a hands-off manager.
Honestly!AC Milan needed Maldini.
Here, chaos and tricksters gathered, and only Maldini could keep things under control.
"How about I give you the captain's armband?" Maldini teased.
Suker waved his hand, interrupting, "No thanks! Wearing it once is fun, but I don't have the energy to be captain all the time!"
Suker didn't think he was cut out to be captain.
He wasn't that attentive or sensitive to teammates' feelings.
Just not cursing after mistakes was already a stretch; comforting people was out of the question.
He couldn't handle that job!
"Look at him! Andrea is good at it," Suker recommended directly.
Maldini looked toward Shevchenko.
Shevchenko was wearing glasses, studying an English book, with earphones in and silently mouthing words, as if learning.
This made Suker nervous.
After all, Shevchenko used the excuse of "children needing an English environment" to leave AC Milan.
Now this guy was studying English himself.
Nothing happens without a reason.
Shevchenko learning English clearly had a purpose, but Suk couldn't figure out what.
"Andrea is very hardworking; he's always improving," Maldini said with a smile.
Suker sighed and shook his head, then looked ahead.
Just then, Ancelotti looked at Suker and said, "Suker, warm up and go on for ten minutes!"
"Got it!"
Suker immediately got up and started warming up.
On the pitch, the game had reached the 80th minute, and AC Milan led Brescia 3-1.
The victory was practically assured.
The camera caught Suker warming up near the sideline.
"Brescia's situation is already difficult, but at this moment, Ancelotti letting Suker warm up is not good news."
At San Siro, AC Milan fans were already cheering wildly.
When Suker returned to Ancelotti's side, the coach put an arm around his shoulder and said, "Once you're on, loosen up your body first. Don't play too hard, don't get injured. Just try to find your rhythm."
Suker nodded.
Soon after, Gilardino was substituted out.
"Good luck!"
Gilardino smiled and gave a firm high-five.
Gilardino was very satisfied with scoring a goal today.
Since joining AC Milan, he had maintained a strong form.
After the high-five, Suker ran straight onto the pitch.
Seeing Suker enter, Kaka waved his arms wildly from afar, shouting:
"Suker! Suker! I'll pass the ball to you!"
Suker gave a thumbs-up.
"Make me seafood risotto tonight!"
Suker quietly lowered his thumb.
Suker only had ten minutes to perform, but people could still expect something.
Since the second half began, Ancelotti had Suker focus more on organizing and controlling possession.
Football was a team sport; every player had a role to complete the match.
Scoring wasn't the only standard!
Following the coach's orders, players were assigned to organize, control possession, advance, break through, etc.
For example, "Grealish," his job was possession control!
While controlling the ball, he controlled the game tempo, making sure the team kept possession.
Recently, Ancelotti's orders for Suker were to control the tempo and organize play.
Not that Suker couldn't score; if there was a chance, he could shoot.
But his main tasks were these two.
However, Suker was clearly tired of this.
"Suker takes the ball on the wing, Seedorf is making a run! Will Suker pass?"
No pass!
Suker stood sideways, placing the ball near his back foot, using the sideline area.
Brescia's right back, Thompson, was an English defender, strong in physical duels but relatively slow.
Suker repeatedly lightly dragged the ball, slowly moving forward, probing.
Thompson was sweating nervously.
He was wary of Suker's reputation and didn't dare slack off.
Suddenly, Seedorf started a fast run along the flank.
This distracted Thompson a little.
"Seedorf is running well!" Suker cheered silently, then quickly pushed the ball forward with his right foot and accelerated.
"Oh no!"
Thompson chased him closely.
Suker stopped suddenly and changed direction; Thompson struggled to turn.
Suker pushed the ball outward with his foot, Thompson forced to twist his body, but the next second, Suker faked again.
Thompson completely lost track.
Suker dribbled forward and broke into the penalty area, closing in on the goal.
"Suker!! With consecutive feints, he unbalanced Thompson and is approaching the goal."
Suker charged into the box; Inzaghi suddenly shouted:
"Suker!"
He was signaling Suker to pass.
But Suker's eyes locked on the goal; his calf moved lightly, and he poked the ball with his toe.
The ball slipped under the defender's legs, speeding toward the goal.
Bang!The goalkeeper reacted fast, diving to block the ball with his foot.
"That shot by Suker was very subtle, but the angle was too tight."
The ball bounced out of the box but was controlled by Gattuso.
Gattuso passed to Pirlo, who passed it back to Suker, who had dropped deep.
The meaning was clear: continue dribbling and attacking.
"This kid…"
The assistant coach grinned, "He's protesting!"
The previous ball should have been passed, but Suker didn't.
Clearly, with the tactical instructions of the past few days, he was venting his frustration this way.
Ancelotti just smiled and didn't mind.
He let Suker play like this to protect him.
If Suker kept his previous explosive style, he could continue to shine.
But Suker's playing style was too risky.
If opponents targeted him, it could cause a career-threatening injury.
Better to keep him controlled and stable, and sustain his form steadily.
After all, AC Milan wasn't solely dependent on Suker right now.
Inzaghi, Shevchenko, Kaka, Gilardino, Seedorf — all could form strong attacks.
"Suker, He shook him off again!"
Suker again dribbled past Thompson and started running near the penalty area line.
After beating two defenders, Suker suddenly shot with a curve.
The ball flew toward the top right corner.
Swish!
The ball hit the net.
"Goal!!!! Suker!!!!"
"A goal entirely made by individual skill. Brescia couldn't stop Suker, their right flank was totally broken!"
"This is Suker's ability — unparalleled dribbling skill!"
San Siro erupted in cheers.
Many fans came just to watch Suker dribble, so after his breakthrough and goal, their excitement peaked.
After scoring, Suker did not celebrate with teammates but ran to the corner.
He took off his shirt, revealing a black undershirt.
On the undershirt, white letters were written:
"Keep fighting! Duimovic!"