I AM the Football Star

Chapter 15: Chapter 6: You’re Now Watching—The Legend of San Remo Sets Sail! (Part 2)

”The previous San Remo played too cleanly, making such defense easy to bully. The first element to change defensive quality is to let others know your might! At least in terms of momentum, you must not lose!”

The saying ’a fierce soldier is a lone bear, a fierce general is a den of bears’ explains this principle.

Sotu, the butcher, doesn’t have much, but he excels in fierceness.

And as the leader of the four butchers, he also understands how to lead a team to victory.

For example, taking the blame!

”Similarly, when they’ve done their best, even if the result is somewhat unsatisfactory, as a leader, you should stand up to shield them from the storm and encourage them to get back up,” Sotu clenched his fist, ”Set pieces and corner tactics inherently have a lot of unpredictability, which are one of the biggest troubles for defensive teams like us.”

”No matter how strong a team is, they can’t avoid conceding such goals; it’s normal, and players shouldn’t be blamed too harshly.”

Soon, the referee blew the whistle for halftime.

The first half ended.

Sotu and Tom walked towards the locker room, but as he looked at Lu Yang and Morici, about to get up and follow them, he said, ”You don’t need to come, go warm up on the field.”

The two were stunned and quickly nodded.

The stadium commentators clearly noticed this: ”Oh, our No. 23 rookie Morici and No. 24 rookie Lu Yang didn’t enter the locker room, they’re warming up! There’s no doubt that Sotu is about to make a move.”

”Fans who follow the team’s youth training surely know that Morici is San Remo’s treasure; watching him play is a pleasure, and he has the potential to become a midfield maestro.”

”As for Lu Yang, there’s no need to elaborate. He’s the player famous for his lumberjack shooting. After becoming famous with one goal, he gained many fans; some say he’s a real genius, others say he’s just lucky. Now, everyone doesn’t need to speculate; let’s wait and see!”

On the field, under the watchful eyes of nearly a thousand people, Lu Yang said to Morici, ”Do you want to give them a shock?”

Morici frowned, ”You want to play that tactic?”

Lu Yang nodded.

”We’re trailing now. If you miss your position, it’s easy...” Morici was a bit worried.

”Precisely because we’re trailing,” Lu Yang shrugged.

Morici could only nod.

...

The second half began with the sound of the whistle.

”Ding! The host’s first match appearing as a substitute, gained player skills, Super Sub!”

”Super Sub, when coming on as a substitute in the second half, all abilities increase by five percent!”

After Morici got the ball, he quickly knocked it to Lu Yang behind him, then shot like an arrow towards the opponent’s right half.

Simultaneously, Vedian, who had been called and instructed by Lu Yang after coming out of the locker room, also charged towards the opponent’s left half.

The two were like two blades, piercing through Avellino’s sides.

For a moment, Avellino’s defense was in chaos.

But likewise, Avellino’s midfield and front players also launched an attack on the ball-holder, prepared to cut off the source of this offensive threat.

After all, the kickoff just started, we weren’t ready; weren’t you ready?

Besides... San Remo’s ball-holder was their newly entered substitute center-back?

A sixteen-year-old ”Child Level” player.

Avellino’s forward was the first to rush in front of Lu Yang.

”Oh no! Quickly pass the ball!”

”Why hasn’t he passed yet?”

”It’s over; he’s going to lose the ball!”

”What! Lu Yang is actually moving the ball horizontally; this... this is absolutely not a good idea! Although it seems he’s dodged the opponent’s forward’s tackle through this horizontal dribbling, how will Lu Yang cope with the two oncoming midfielders?”

The commentator judged accurately.

The two advancing midfielders had one blocking Lu Yang’s moving path and one tackling.

Just when it seemed they were about to take the ball away.

But a surprising scene unfolded!

Lu Yang executed a V-shaped Pull, avoiding the opponent’s tackle and changing his moving path, turning from horizontal dribbling to vertical advancement.

After shaking off the opponent, there was no obstruction ahead.

At this point, Vedian had already run into a very large gap on the left.

Before the opponent’s other midfielder rushed up to defend, Lu Yang kicked the football out.

”Great ball!” Sotu’s eyes brightened.

The adventurous center-back holding the ball tactic was truly bold.

But high risk brings high rewards.

After passing the opponent, Lu Yang’s passing conditions were excellent.

If he were a midfielder, the opponent’s defensive approach wouldn’t be so overconfident, instead prioritizing cautious prevention of passes. Precisely because he was a center-back, there was the current opportunity.

But soon, Sotu nearly spat out blood.

Because Lu Yang’s long pass was somewhat lacking.

Besides being forceful, it also leaned slightly to the left.

Fortunately, Vedian’s speed was fast enough to eventually intercept the football before the opponent’s right-back, but he was hit by the opponent’s right-back as a result.

Vedian’s physical condition wasn’t great, unable to break free from the opponent’s sudden acceleration, as soon as contact was made, he was bounced away.

But Vedian managed to sweep the football to the top of the penalty arc before falling.

There, with Morici also rushing in at high speed, bow and arrows drawn.

A vigorous shot!

Right into the upper right corner of the net!

The opposing goalkeeper didn’t even have time to attempt a save.

Everything happened too quickly!

”GOAL! It’s a goal! We’ve equalized the score!” The commentators were ecstatic, ”This was a deliberate lightning goal! From the initiator Lu Yang to the breakthrough man Vedian, then to the scoring star Morici, it was a perfect cooperative goal!”

”Oh, this is a shocking record, thirteen seconds! This goal only took thirteen seconds, it’s also the fastest goal in the second half in the history of the Italian D League! Even in Italian professional football, it’s the fastest second-half goal record!”

”Look at Lu Yang’s ball control; it’s mesmerizing. This is not the way a center-back should play, yet here it is! The perfect V-shaped Pull, fooling everyone, then a long pass...”

”Vedian was so fast; he continuously surpassed the opponent’s center-back and right-back during off-ball running. The final cross was also just right, sweeping to the center, the best choice! He knows how to harness his speed and passing; he’s very smart, he deserves the title of genius!”

”I must remind everyone that this is Vedian’s fifth assist this season, twelve goals, five assists; he’s simply versatile!”

”Rookie Morici, officially on the field for thirteen seconds, scored with his second touch; scoring in his debut match, today’s game is already complete for him!”

”Look at his shooting technique; shooting directly without stopping the ball demands very high skill from the shooter, a small slip and it could fly off. His free-kicks must be excellent; he has everything a midfielder needs!”

The commentary ignored the shortcomings of Lu Yang’s long pass, lavishly praised the three goal heroes, knowing what fans love to focus on; this was especially appreciated by Lu Yang.

”Hey, Lu, that long pass of yours...” Vedian was a bit regretful; had the pass been a bit more precise, he could have gone directly one-on-one, such a pity.

”Don’t mention the pass and we’re still friends!” Lu Yang swiftly interrupted Vedian’s sentiment.

After all, his pass wasn’t up to professional standards.

If Morici had done it, it would have been better.

Of course, if it were Morici, the opponent wouldn’t have given him that passing opportunity; by the time he broke free to find the passing chance, Vedian might have already been offside.

This ball, everyone played a part!

Avellino’s players looked as if they had eaten dung.

For heaven’s sake, how do you defend against this?

A center-back taking control, doing a midfielder’s job.

A defensive midfielder advancing, acting like a forward midfielder.

And a sprinting athletics star, crossing into football; can’t it be simpler, play football in a simpler way?

”Celebrate, we haven’t celebrated yet!” Vedian, with his rich scoring experience, reminded the two young chicks.

Lu Yang and Morici reacted to this, rushing to the corner area together.

Morici shouted at the camera, ”Attention, attention!”

Lu Yang chimed in, ”You’re now watching...”

Both shouted together, ”The Legend of San Remo! Setting Sail!”