I AM the Football Star

The only good news, probably, is that Sotu knows those two helpers are basically useless. Anyone trying to recreate the San Remo miracle through those two has definitely got it wrong.

He simply doesn’t get that the San Remo miracle was a performance initiated and led by the core players.

Don’t say other players or assistant coaches, it didn’t even have much to do with him as the Head Coach.

To the point that, tactically, Sotu doesn’t even do as much as Maneroduo.

And what Maniero does is far less than what Lu Yang does.

”We can’t afford any more injuries, otherwise our goal of finishing top four in the Serie A this season will be very hard to achieve.” Old Tom said anxiously.

San Remo’s playing style... was never exactly peaceful to begin with.

Their players love to fight for the ball, and Frontal Pressing up front is one of the big weapons Lu Yang brought to the team’s front line.

But with more pressing comes more collisions, more clashes, and emotions gradually boiling over.

Add to that Talista, this dirty bastard who loves hanging around the edge of the rules, and the chances of conflict go way up.

Seventeenth minute.

Lam and the dropping Savio went into a fierce challenge.

Morici’s pressure was strong enough that the opponent played a hospital ball; Savio and Lam both had about a fifty–fifty chance of getting to it.

Bang!

The two crashed into each other, then both grabbed their shins and rolled on the ground.

The ball bounced toward Morici, who, after pressing, had kept running at Savio for a second wave of pressing.

Morici turned and lashed a pass.

The Main Referee didn’t blow the whistle, instead signaling advantage.

Looks like, in his judgment, on that tackle just now, Savio was the one who committed the foul.

Fans who watch a lot of football know that when a player stays down for a long time, the team in possession is supposed to kick the ball out of play to give the Main Referee time to check on the player’s injury, thus showing their sportsmanship.

But the team in possession can also choose not to put the ball out, and just keep playing until the Main Referee stops the match.

This approach isn’t necessarily against sportsmanship, because after so many years of evolution, to dodge responsibility and also to protect themselves, players rolling a few times after going to ground and not getting up right away has pretty much become a standard ”skill” everyone uses.

So unless the player looks especially painful and really has stayed down too long, both the Main Referee and the teams are allowed to keep playing.

A lot of those ”medical miracles” everyone knows about were born in exactly this kind of context.

So after Morici released the ball, chaos erupted up front.

Talista, watching the ball’s trajectory while running, went into a heavy collision with Kuba.

After just one clash, Talista’s stunningly handsome face showed a rather complicated and twisted expression.

In simple terms... ”Holy shit, I can’t knock this guy over?”

And Kuba also felt his own advantage.

As the ball was about to drop, Kuba thought the win was in the bag.

But his opponent, Talista, is the new number one Divine Striker in Serie A after Gutierrez left!

Brother Ta is also a Spain international, okay?

Bang!

Talista suddenly leaned back into Kuba, smashing into him; Kuba took Talista’s impact square on, pain shooting through his abdomen, almost making him lose his future kids.

Kuba almost died on the spot, getting hit into a rigid state.

His eyes bulged wide; this f*cking...

You can bump me, but can you not do it straight on like that?

It’s really embarrassing!

Can you honestly say that in that split second you didn’t feel a little stirred—uh, no... a sting in your heart?

In the blink of an eye, right after the collision, Talista calmly rose for a header, back to goal, nodding the ball left.

And the onrushing Lu Yang, at the edge of the right side of the penalty area, took it and unleashed a rocket.

Batigoal!

The ball flew through like no one was there, straight into the net.

Atlanta’s keeper didn’t put up any resistance to the ball at all.

One–nil!

San Remo lead at home.

Lu Yang has just scored his twenty-ninth goal in the Serie A!

Surpassing last year’s Talista, he’s become the player with the most goals in his first season In Serie A.

After conceding, Atlanta’s players all felt miserable.

But Milo维奇, the defensive commander, noticed Kuba’s condition was a bit strange, like... he’d crashed?

”What’s up with you? You don’t look right.” Milo维奇 went over to talk to Kuba.

”Urgh...” Kuba dry-heaved. ”Nothing, it’s just that Talista guy makes me feel kinda sick.”

Milo维奇 said, ”That guy’s like that, downright low, but don’t let his little tricks get to you. By the way, why are you sticking your ass out?”

Kuba said awkwardly, ”My little brother’s not in a good state right now. If I straighten my back at this moment, it’s gonna look super embarrassing.”

Milo维奇 froze for a second, then immediately got it.

Men... we’ve all been there.

Too impulsive.

Milo维奇 swept a glance over the stands but didn’t spot any female fans dressed super revealing and looking outrageously seductive: ”Who did you see like that? Are San Remo’s female fans really that high quality?”

Kuba was speechless to the point of choking.

If it were because of a female fan, that’d be fine.

But it was because of that beast of a striker.

Am I... could it be... bent?

Kuba was almost scared to tears.

But everyone’s attention wasn’t focused on Kuba.

Because after the goal, the cameras immediately swung over to Lam, who’d just gone down.

Lam still hadn’t gotten up.

He was sitting on the grass, clutching his chest, eyes reddened, looking like he was struggling to breathe.