From our correspondent Davide Stoppini
December 2 – 08:19 – FIRENZE
Like a nightmare. Because nightmare was the word most used by Inter players, by Inzaghi and his staff even coldly, during the return train journey to Milan. The mind that retraced those terrible moments, the fear, the sense of helplessness, the desire to help but not actually being able to make oneself useful. Inter left Florence with heavy hearts. And yes, at least reassured after the first good news on Bove's condition. But it is difficult, indeed, impossible, to detach your head and thoughts from what happened in the 17th minute of this cursed Sunday.
fear
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It was the Inter players who were the first to realize the situation. The game was stopped, when Bove collapsed after initially getting up, he almost fell on top of Calhanoglu. And under the eyes of Dumfries, who immediately waved his arms to draw general attention, especially towards the Fiorentina bench and the Viola medical staff. The Dutchman himself, together with Barella, was among the first to help Bove. And the Nerazzurri medical staff also immediately entered the pitch to intervene. Excited moments, total confusion. Inzaghi immediately understood the gravity of the situation. He sprinted from the bench towards Bove, in his heat he even slipped and got up again. Someone was shouting to “convince” the medics to transport the stretcher more quickly towards Bove. On the other side, meanwhile, Bastoni consoled his friend Colpani, shaken like everyone else, Thuram put his hands on his head as if to cover his eyes so as not to see. And then spontaneously, among the players, the idea of forming a circle around the player on the ground was born. It was the most symbolic image of the evening, as if wanting to hug the Fiorentina midfielder, but at the same time also wanting to protect him from cameras and prying eyes.
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no playing
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It was Arnautovic, who while Bove collapsed was arguing with a fan in the stands, the first to break the silence via social media: “Come on Edoardo, we're all with you! You will come back stronger”, the beautiful message from the Austrian, which his teammates and all of Inter gradually joined in with a message of closeness. Upon returning to the locker room, immediately after the match was suspended, almost all the Fiorentina players were in tears, but even Lautaro and his teammates were unable to control all their emotions. Barella and the captain themselves, as soon as they met president Beppe Marotta, immediately pointed out that under no circumstances in the world would they ever start playing again, even in the face of positive news coming from the hospital. News that actually arrived, to lighten the evening a little. Just as the technical explanation of why the ambulance did not enter the pitch arrived: Dimarco was among the most angry on the pitch, together with Ranieri, the viola player, then once it was clarified that the protocol provides for this very procedure, tempers became they are calmed down. “I want to send a message: as president of Inter at this moment I express total closeness to Fiorentina and the boy's family – said Marotta -. Football is a community and when you experience these emotions, particularly negative ones, you have to come together This led to the decision by the players, staff, managers and referee to interrupt the match. A spontaneous gesture, it is the least that could be done, the hope is that Bove can get out of this situation quickly dramatic. I wish him a speedy recovery.” Natural wish, just as it also seemed natural to Simone Inzaghi to leave the players free after an evening like this: no training sessions are scheduled today in Appiano, work will resume tomorrow. Maybe with a lighter heart.
