I AM the Football Star

Sotu’s face went dark.

Damn it!

They’re making me play the bad cop again!

If I get jumped and beaten half to death in a burlap sack on my way home in the future, you’re responsible!

But Sotu understood the logic in what Lu Yang was saying.

For a long stretch of time, books on ”success studies” were all the rage in Europe.

Later on they supposedly swept across the whole world for quite a while.

Success studies originally aimed to share successful experiences with everyone, so that readers could understand and learn from the words, actions, details, and decisions of those who had succeeded.

But later, most people who read success studies were just chasing that feeling of success, putting themselves into the story, as if they were the ones who built Apple, Microsoft, Taobao, Pinduoduo from scratch.

Immersed in the rush brought by success-study stories, your willpower will be constantly worn down.

Essentially, it’s a kind of spiritual drug!

Extremely harmful!

As for autobiographies, unless the author is trying to整理 everything they’ve learned, gained, and experienced over the years, using writing to comb through their own knowledge system...

The rest, those who keep boasting and talking themselves up in their books, are mostly people whose ambition has faded, who are tired of fighting, who’ve stopped moving forward.

It’s a sugar-coated cannonball!

It’s people trying to make the entire San Remo team feel that reaching the Champions League final and beating Real Madrid is a tremendous honor, that it’s already the most meaningful thing they’ve done this season.

If that’s the mindset, then the result of the Champions League final no longer matters. Even if they lose, it won’t feel like a regret.

But is it really... not a regret?

In competitive sports, second place is forever the biggest loser!

...

May 3rd, the Serie A Player of the Month for April was announced.

Ancelotti of Juventus was selected.

Although Juventus were knocked out of the Champions League, they then went full throttle in the league and have now caught up with Florence!

Moreover, Juventus, whose attack had been weak in the previous two seasons, have had a second spring this season thanks to Ancelotti’s complete resurgence. They’ve actually edged Florence by virtue of goal difference!

So far, Ancelotti has scored twenty-four goals and delivered ten assists in thirty-five league rounds—his all-around stats are terrifying!

He absolutely deserves this month’s Player of the Month.

On May 6th, the thirty-sixth round of Serie A kicked off.

San Remo won 3–1 with ease, keeping themselves from slipping further down the league table.

But after this match, Sotu unusually blew his top and tore into the entire team!

”What the hell are you playing out there? Were they Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid? They’re just a relegation-battling team!” Sotu roared. ”If you ignore the scoreline, this match looked like a mutual bombardment!”

”Is this the defensive level we should have?”

”I know in the past week you’ve gotten more praise than almost anyone else in the world, but do you still remember we’re currently eighth in Serie A?”

”Real performance isn’t pulling off a V-shaped Pull when you have the ball, or throwing in a rabona when you pass, or pedaling the ball ten extra times when you’re dribbling.”

”It’s that moment when you create a lethal chance, that moment when you successfully complete the team’s task!”

”I don’t want anyone relaxing even a tiny bit before the final match arrives!”

”Maybe you’re all very satisfied with reaching the Champions League final... of course, I’m even more satisfied. At the very beginning I never even thought we could come this far.”

”But I have a habit: no matter what step I’ve reached, my goal is always the next step!”

”Back in the D Division season, I once told the players on the team that I, Sotu, am not some tactical master. I’ve never believed I could wrap my head around all those messy theories.”

”But I won’t deny that I’m an outstanding Head Coach. Because I’m sure that what I can bring to a team is something those technical, academy-type Coaches can’t.”

”And that’s championship pedigree! Championship genes!”

”I, Sotu, once led AC Milan to lift the Champions League trophy, and I also once lost a European Cup final. So I understand even better what it means if we lose this match!”

”Those of you who don’t understand, I hope you never do. Because that’s enough to crush most of you!”

Sotu’s admonition had a certain effect.

During regular training, the players’ attitudes clearly became much more proper.

But some people still didn’t quite get it and felt Sotu was being overly harsh.

We’re just a village team.

If we can win the Champions League, that would be a miracle of epic proportions.

But if we don’t win it, that’s normal too, right?

It’s Bayern we’re facing!

And apparently Robben might return from injury before the Champions League final!

That means Bayern are not like Real Madrid.

San Remo faced only half of the Galaxy Battleship, but this Bundesliga aircraft carrier is at full strength!

May 10th, a special day.

At Rome City Stadium, the Italian Cup final kicked off.

The two sides facing off were Juventus and San Remo.

This was their third meeting of the season.

The first was in the Italian Super Cup, where San Remo suffered a regrettable defeat.

The second was their clash in the league, where Ancelotti underperformed and San Remo, led by Lu Yang, seized the initiative and pushed themselves into the upper reaches of the table.

Of course, later San Remo suddenly collapsed because of fighting on multiple fronts as well as Lu Yang’s absence due to injury.

Meanwhile, Juventus, who had struggled to gel at the start, are now in roaring form, locked in a fierce battle with Florence.

And coming up, in the final round of Serie A, San Remo will face Juventus once more.