Icardi, born in 1993, is 21 years old this year.
Last year, in the summer transfer window of 2013, this Argentine forward transferred from Sampdoria to Inter Milan for 13 million euros.
In his first season with Inter, he played 23 times and scored 9 goals.
After a season of honing, Icardi's forward skills have become increasingly refined.
This season, he has appeared in all of the first 10 league games, scoring 7 goals.
With his strike partner Palacio gradually aging, he has perfectly inherited the mantle of his predecessor Diego Milito, growing into the new generation of Inter's box predator.
Looking across the entire Serie A.
Icardi's sense of smell before the goal is top-notch!
Initially, Icardi, like other teammates, thought Tang Long's assist from outside the box was a fluke.
It was just a powerful shot that coincidentally came to his feet.
However, Icardi felt a bit odd—
Was this really a coincidence?
As a top-tier striker in Serie A, Icardi's positioning is first-class.
That run just happened to coincide with Tang Long's shooting path?
"Tang, uh, I mean, were you shooting or passing just now?" He couldn't help speaking to Tang Long for the first time.
"Keep moving, if you run, you'll have it!"
"Okay."
When Genoa restarted the play.
The clock at Meazza had already reached 88:35.
Another minute passed.
The fourth official on the sideline raised the board showing 4 minutes of added time.
Genoa was fully prepared for defense anyway.
Their forwards even retreated to the defensive midfielder position.
Mancini stood on the sideline and looked around.
Genoa's penalty area was all red, crammed full.
Despite Kovacic utilizing the width of the pitch to pass back and forth, trying to mobilize the opponent.
But the opponent, determined to take a point, kept their heads down without coming out!
"Enough with the passes, lob it into the box!
Ranocchia, little Juan, charge to the center forward position!"
With a big wave of Mancini's hand, Inter switched to a five-center forward formation.
In his view, the most pragmatic approach now was to lob the ball directly into the opponent's penalty area!
A bit of a messy battle might just luck one in.
The right-wing back Yuto Nagatomo was responsible for crossing the ball.
He frequently threw the ball from a 45-degree angle into the opponent's penalty area.
Yuto Nagatomo stood at only 170 cm, the shortest on the field.
However, his stamina was very ample, allowing him to maintain stable crossing standards at the wing even in the last few minutes of the match.
And with Genoa's players crowded in the penalty area, Yuto Nagatomo was left unmarked.
So, the landing, curve, angle, and power of the ball were all exquisite!
Bang, bang, bang!
The football, like a cannonball, constantly fell into Genoa's penalty area, then was headed out, returned to Inter players' feet, and followed with continuous crosses.
In just two minutes, Inter had delivered 8 high crosses!
Unfortunately, the opponent's penalty area was so congested that none of these 8 crosses resulted in a threatening attempt on goal.
The fans on-site were jumping anxiously!
Behind Genoa's goal was the north stand, full of devoted Inter fans.
Everyone stood up and waved their fists.
"Head it into the goal!"
"Come on, Icardi, come on, Ranocchia!"
"Header, we want a header!"
"Make it a killer blow, we want a killer strike!"
"Damn it, crush Genoa, crush those Southerners!"
Tang Long advanced to near the penalty area.
He keenly realized this wouldn't work!
Yuto Nagatomo's crosses weren't very effective.
No doubt, he could make precise crosses.
However, with such straightforward passes, no matter how good you cross, it was challenging to pose any substantial threat to Genoa's goal!
Why?
Because there's no element of surprise!
Everyone knows what you're gonna do, Genoa's tall defenders are ready, just watching your ball come in.
Your passes might be accurate, but we have more defenders!
We aren't afraid of your passes.
"Keep playing like this, it's gonna end in a draw, I really don't get what they're doing, the crosses are too monotonous, how can they create threatening plays this way?"
In the box suite, Sneijder's friend asked him.
Sneijder shook his head.
"They do need to make some changes! However, even you, who don't play football, can see this logic. Do you think the players on the field don't know it?
But the current situation forces them to play this straightforward crossing game!
Within the entire Inter team, no one has the ability to break through the opponent's defense line with one kick; what they can do is use quantity over quality, continuously bombarding with high balls, and if they scrape one in, they win, that's it."
The friend nodded thoughtfully and said:
"Change? Do you mean like that U-19 player with the number 99 did before, turning a shot into a pass, a fluke, and then assisted a score?"
Sneijder blinked twice.
The words on his lips swallowed back down.
"Hey, look, that number 99 got the ball again!"
Yuto Nagatomo's cross was once again cleared by a Genoa defender.
But this time, the clearance wasn't far.
It just happened to fall towards the edge of the small penalty area where Tang Long was!
Seeing the incoming ball, Tang Long's mind heated up!
Damn it, I'll give it a volley strike!
Just as he stepped back, raised his right arm, pulled back his right leg, fixed his eyes on the football, and was about to swing it.
Tang Long was surprised to find—a sudden slowness in time!
The football seemed to descend in the air at 0.1 times the speed.
The two Genoa players lunging for a tackle seemed to lie on the ground as if they were immobile.
Even in the penalty area, Icardi maintained wide-open eyes, staring at him.
And the constant bustling noise from the north stand became as faint as the buzz of a mosquito.
Time seemingly froze!
A familiar prompt sounded—
"According to big data analysis, at this moment, a volley shot has a 63% chance of being blocked by the defensive players, a 35% chance of going astray, a 2% chance of hitting the goal frame, and a 1% chance of a goal.
At the right, our wing-back position is completely open; pass the ball unexpectedly to the flank, let the right wing-back cross, and the goal probability increases to 30%."
Tang Long immediately reacted, wanting to adjust his kick from a shot to a pass.
But it was really challenging!
His body had already been posed, and with his current football skills, it was extremely difficult to retract in an instant!
In a flash, time suddenly sped up!
Everyone on the field switched back to normal speed!
First, the bustling noise from the north stand surged into Tang Long's eardrums like a tidal wave!
Then the tackles from three Genoa defenders swooped under his eyelids in a swoosh!
He could even feel a rush of heat coming at him!
Almost instinctively, Tang Long strained to twist his body!
Using all his energy, he flicked his ankle, almost striking the bottom of the football—
The ball smashed against his outer foot!
Then soared high towards the right wing!