The thick grass at White Hart Lane, Gualin wears long HG metal studs.
The ends of the studs glint coldly, like a sharp giant blade, chopping towards Tang Long’s ankle from the side and rear.
His massive weight gives this tackle tremendous inertia!
Should this tackle injure Tang Long’s ankle, the consequences are unimaginable, either crippled or injured.
"I’m going to take you down!" Gualin was furiously aggressive.
However, as his body got closer to Tang Long and the studs were about to touch Tang Long’s ankle.
Gualin suddenly saw the shin guards under Tang Long’s white socks!
Under the thick professional football socks, the shin guards were still vaguely visible — deep blue.
Gualin’s mind made a clicking sound; the red blood rising in his heart was instantly extinguished by a basin of cold water, quelling the irrational anger.
He used all his strength to retract his foot abruptly, twisting his body, and due to the force of inertia, he started rolling on the ground like a failing drifting car.
Tang Long, while advancing with the ball, felt a murderous intent coming from behind.
Sounds got closer to his back, Tang Long knew it was the sound of Gualin’s studs lifting the turf and mud!
Tang Long cursed silently, thinking of making a quick jump to dodge.
However, just as he was about to jump, he suddenly realized that the murderous intent behind had suddenly stopped and disappeared.
Tang Long hesitated for 0.023 seconds, then accelerated with a step and continued forward.
This time, Sterling was more alert.
His diagonal insert slipped right past Tottenham’s two central defenders.
Tang Long’s pass arrived on cue, though Sterling’s shot was typically off-target, lacking both angle and power.
Goalkeeper Lori gently tipped the ball, deflecting it beyond the crossbar.
"Ah, my bad, really sorry, missed again!"
Sterling first looked annoyed, holding his head, then clasped his hands together, continuously gesturing toward Tang Long to show his apologies.
(Sterling, who wasted Tang Long’s brilliant passes three times in a row, was filled with guilt)
Tang Long didn’t pay attention to Sterling but immediately turned to look at Gualin behind him.
As Manchester City completed their final attack, the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the match.
In the 2015-2016 Premier League season, Round 1, Manchester City narrowly won 3-2 against Tottenham at away ground, taking three league points from White Hart Lane!
Tang Long walked to Gualin’s side, but before he could speak, he saw Gualin still sitting on the ground, smiling as he patted his shin guard, then pointing towards the front of Tang Long’s shin.
"Haha! You wouldn’t have expected it, already playing in the Premier League, yet we’re still wearing Inter Milan shin guards!"
Gualin said as he pulled down his two long socks, throwing the shin guards on the ground.
This pair of Inter blue-black-colored shin guards had a huge Inter logo printed on the front, with a small number 13 in the upper right corner, which was Gualin’s number at Inter Milan.
Tang Long also pulled down his two long socks and took out his shin guards, which were the same Inter blue-black color, also printed with the huge Inter logo.
There, in the top right corner, was his big number 99 at Inter.
"That’s probably why you suddenly withdrew your leg in the middle of the tackle, Gualin." Tang Long laughed, his heart enlightened.
"That’s right, even though we’ve left Italy, we still love Inter Milan. Sorry, that was reckless of me! You’ll always be my good brother, come pull me up!"
Tang Long pulled Gualin up and the two embraced each other.
Tang Long suggested exchanging jerseys.
Meeting an old Serie A teammate in the first match of the Premier League season, swapping jerseys was quite meaningful.
But Gualin shook his head, smilingly refusing.
"Tang, I don’t want your jersey, let’s swap shin guards instead!"
"What, you mean the famous Tottenham hasn’t given you shin guards yet? You have to use mine."
"Haha, what about you? Has Manchester City not given you shin guards yet? Why are you still using Inter’s?"
"I’m used to them, don’t want to change!"
"Me too, I’m used to them, don’t want to change!"
The two exchanged smiles and embraced again.
After swapping shin guards, they exchanged a few pleasantries, Gualin bid Tang Long goodbye, heading towards Ranocchia.
Tang Long watched Gualin enthusiastically running towards Ranocchia, feeling melancholic:
"Gualin is a person of deep camaraderie and loyalty, though sometimes impulsive on the field, he isn’t bad by nature, and is nostalgic. Otherwise, he wouldn’t still use the shin guards from his Inter Milan days even after coming to Tottenham."
In the instant he tackled, Gualin glimpsed Tang Long’s shin guards, making him retract his foot vigorously.
In that moment, the brotherhood forged through past battles awakened Gualin.
At that moment, calm and rationality finally defeated the devil in his heart!
This tackle, I must not make!
Tang Long’s performance was not only dazzling but also earned respect from Tottenham fans.
After the match, several players approached Tang Long, wanting to exchange jerseys with him.
But when they saw Tang Long actively walking towards his former Inter teammate Gualin, other Tottenham players were somewhat disappointed, thinking it was a no-go.
However, when they saw the two only exchanging shin guards, they suddenly felt a sense of joy!