Tang Long had just returned to the substitute bench and taken his seat when Berni leaned over.
The third goalkeeper was a veteran, with nothing escaping his watchful eyes, not even things happening in the player tunnel.
"What did you just say to Mancini?"
"I asked him for some playing time."
"Did he give it to you?"
"He did, said I can go on if we're up 3-0."
Berni exclaimed in admiration, his eyes full of appreciation.
He gave Tang Long a thumbs-up and then handed him a towel.
"Let's wave these towels together and cheer them on, trying to get a goal right at the start of the second half!"
Thus, when the second half began, the Inter substitute bench was lively indeed.
With each of Inter's attacks, the sound of whooshing wind could be heard from the substitute bench.
That was Berni leading Tang Long in waving their towels.
Berni waves his towel with flair and gusto, sometimes even adding some tricks with several twists and turns, reminding Tang Long of a dragon dance.
Tang Long's towel-waving was awkward, and several times he failed to dodge and got hit on the head by Berni's towel.
He was surprised to find that Berni, on the substitute bench, was already drenched.
Sweat flew from his head like a showerhead, propelled by the towel in the air.
It seemed even more tiring than playing on the field!
However, the situation on the field wasn't as intense as Berni's towel-waving.
Rome, down 0-2, had lost much of their spirit in the second half!
Despite the 38-year-old veteran captain Totti constantly urging his Rome teammates to get back in the game.
Even personally engaging with tough tackles to express his desire for a comeback and win.
But Inter's firm defense gave them no chances.
"We've played 20 minutes into the second half, Rome has maintained ball possession but has only taken two shots!"
"Inter, on their side, has had counter-attacking opportunities, but they always seek stability, not rushing to send the ball into the box, with Palacio frequently dropping back, pairing with Hernanes as dual forwards."
"Apart from Totti, players from both Rome and Inter seem to have accepted the 0-2 result?"
"If that's the case, the match isn't very thrilling..."
The match quickly reached the 80-minute mark.
Inter was still slow to score the third goal.
This made Berni a bit anxious on the sidelines.
He was hoping for his buddy Tang Long to get on the field.
"Past him, past him, Yuto Nagatomo, get past him!"
"Icardi's got an open position, feed him the ball!"
"Quickly spread it to the flanks, there's an opportunity there!"
Berni continued waving his towel vigorously, fully engrossed as if he were the coach himself.
Tang Long, feeling somewhat down, leaned back in his chair, letting the towel rest on his shoulder.
He glanced at the clock at the Olympic Stadium.
81 minutes passed.
Mancini had already made two substitutions, leaving one last substitution opportunity.
Typically, with Mancini's cautious nature, to prevent a player getting injured in the last moments and putting the team at a 10 versus 11 disadvantage, he would be very careful about the last substitution.
Inter was still slow to score a third goal.
Both teams seemed to have no desire, hoping to end the game with this score.
Though Tang Long was doing warm-ups, he didn't hold too much hope for coming on.
Roman fans at the Olympic Stadium began to leave one after another.
The match seemed to be heading into garbage time.
But at that moment, dramatic changes occurred on the field!
Rome captain Totti seemed unwilling to waste time.
In a contest, in urgently recovering, Totti delivered a fierce tackle from behind on the ball-carrying Icardi!
Icardi, with his back turned and unprepared.
His entire body seemed to be kicked from behind, causing him to fall face down to the ground, drawing quite a painful stumble!
"Oh no!" His startled scream echoed, clutching his ankle, clearly in immense pain.
The whistle blew, and Inter captain Ranocchia had already gathered a group of brothers, surrounding the referee demanding an explanation.
Perhaps wary of Totti's status in Italian football, there was no Inter player surrounding him.
Totti calmly remained standing, prepared to accept the red card.
Off the field, Mancini squinted and watched the fallen Icardi, feeling a pang of concern!
This kid can score goals, please don't be injured, if he's hurt, the following matches...
A loud shout from the substitute bench interrupted his thoughts.
"Totti! You [expletive] [expletive]!"
It was Berni!
He was waving a towel, stomping and cursing by the sideline, pointing at Totti and swearing in Italian profanity.
Totti glanced at the referee producing a red card for him and quickly approached Berni on the sidelines.
"Who are you in Italy to dare curse me?"
Seeing the two about to brawl, Mancini quickly separated them, using an indisputable tone to rush Totti off the field.
Berni was just an unnoticed minor figure in Italian football, somebody Totti could easily disregard, but Mancini's face needed respect.
After the dispute ended, the referee didn't forget to show Berni a red card ~
Mancini helplessly held up two fingers towards Berni.
"That's the second time, only the second time, be careful!"
It turns out this was Berni's second dismissal with a red card this season.
Both cards were received from the substitute bench!
He leads the team in red card rates.
But Berni was unfazed, still swearing at Totti's departing back in the player tunnel:
"Come play like that at the Meazza, and I swear I'll act, you [expletive] [expletive]! I'm not afraid of you!"
Tang Long looked at Berni in surprise.
It was his first time witnessing Berni lose his temper, completely overturning the image of the laid-back nice guy uncle Berni in his mind.
After the double red card commotion, Inter entered into an 11 against 10.
The cautious Mancini guessed Rome had completely lost their fight.
He called Tang Long over.
"Tang, although we're still leading 2-0, but with Rome a man down, I've decided to fulfill my promise to you."
"Thanks, boss!"
"You play in Palacio's position, look for gaps, play around Icardi. That's all."
In the 84th minute of the match, Tang Long came on as a substitute!
At that moment, far away in China's Migu video streaming room, the audience exploded, and the numbers soared!
-[Finally going on after waiting more than 80 minutes]
-[If he's not on soon, I really can't hold out. Serie A's underworld early hours, torturous]
-[Looks like Mancini is quite cautious, leading 2-0, with an extra man, only now letting Tang Long on]
-[It's a good thing! Now Tang Long doesn't have to carry a burden, maybe Mancini is protecting him]
-[Alright, brothers, Tang Long is on, prelude ends, main event begins]
-[Can you believe it? I'm a Juventus fan staying up late to watch Inter play Rome, just to see Tang Long]
Totti's rough red card sparked the fighting spirit of Inter players on the field.
As soon as Tang Long came on, Inter capitalized on the numbers advantage to launch a wave of attacks.
After several passes, the ball rolled towards Tang Long on the right flank of the box.
Tang Long's first touch after coming on amazed everyone!