I AM the Football Star

He’s actually betting on a European Cup?

Is he crazy?

”No, he’s not crazy!” Gudiola shook his head in the stands, ”No matter how bad the record is in this European Cup, Maniero won’t be stripped of his coaching qualifications, so this is his best chance to rebuild!”

”Advancing or not is not important for Italy at all. The earlier they rebuild, the faster their performance will recover in the next and subsequent major tournaments.”

”Italy has reached the point where it must force growth by pulling up seedlings. Ancelotti, Perrotta, Praxedes, Bernulin, Audi, and others may not be able to hold on until the World Cup in two years!”

”Italy’s gap is too severe; only by using enormous pressure can a batch of talented players mature quickly. Among Morici, Canyes, Sogel, Kolber, and Cortino, there are players who can create miracles and grow rapidly!”

Gudiola touched his not-so-bald head, almost revealing his true thoughts.

He glanced at Professor Winter beside him, relieved when he saw that the latter wasn’t paying attention to what he said.

”Yes, Italy was so glorious that changing generations is exceptionally difficult.” Winter also agreed with Gudiola’s guess about Maniero. He sighed, ”It’s a pity for this batch of players like Ancelotti. They’ve dominated this era of football, won every honor, but didn’t catch a good time, always lacking national glory.”

”This might become a lifelong regret of this batch of veteran players.”

If they could win the grand slam when they were young, who the hell would still want to fight hard for the championship ring when they’re old? Even considering a minimum salary signing?

If they could win the grand slam when they were young, who the hell would want to wander across major clubs just for a league championship or a Champions League?

On the field, Italy started very actively.

Especially Canyes and the forwards, they were all worried that they’d be replaced by Maniero before contributing.

Canyes made frequent forward insertions, and the recently-arrived Morici had to stay back to cover for him.

But Morici’s defensive skills are pretty good; he quickly stole possession during the defense.

Bam!

Morici passed the ball to Lu Yang, who came back to support.

Lu Yang glanced at the front field; Perrotta and Ancelotti completed a switch.

On the right, Canyes had already flown up.

Lu Yang controlled the ball under his feet and did some dribbling, then against the attacking Russian midfield, he made a direct through pass, sending the ball to the right rib area upfront.

Russia forcibly switched to a 433 formation, and their midfield still wasn’t used to it, leaving many gaps in their positioning. They had been penetrated several times today.

Ancelotti sprinted towards the ball.

This was a good opportunity; he could shoot as soon as he received the ball!

However, a dark shadow suddenly appeared on Ancelotti’s right side.

It’s Canyes!

Canyes sprinted to the spot and shot ahead of time.

”Hey!” Ancelotti shouted angrily while stretching his foot.

Both players arrived at this spot, one right and one behind, and both had the chance to shoot.

From the perspective of angle, shooting skill, team status, and positional functionality, Ancelotti should undoubtedly be the shooter.

But Canyes was fast!

Fast in one step, fast in every step.

Back at Juventus, Canyes wouldn’t have dared to contest this shot with big man Ancelotti.

Ancelotti and Audi are absolute idols in the hearts of all Juventus youth players.

But after being influenced by the ”new tactics” at San Remo, Canyes’s understanding of football has changed.

What does San Remo represent?

Morici and Lu Yang, such team supercores, often create opportunities for teammates by making runs and pulling defenses.

Once a teammate has a good shooting opportunity, there’s no need to hesitate or be humble—just go for it.

This season, Manchester City saw 15 players scoring, a reflection of this style.

Whoever is on the spot gets the shot; there’s no need to find C Luo like at Juventus or Manchester United, making the opponents’ defense easier.

There’s no right or wrong, just different philosophies.

Therefore, Canyes didn’t yield.

But Ancelotti has a striker’s pride and instinct as well.

Faced with an opportunity, Ancelotti never yielded to anyone and never needed to.

Even Wolf King Perrotta in the national team had to assist him, would he yield to Canyes?

Bam!

The ball was shot from Canyes’s foot.

It hit Ancelotti’s foot and deflected.

The Russian center-back and goalkeeper had been prepared for Canyes’s shot, blocking the far corner.

But Ancelotti’s deflection sent the ball slowly bouncing towards the near corner, like a lob shot.

The next moment, the score changed.

Three to one!

Italy leads by two goals!

Scorer: Ancelotti.

Assistant: Canyes.

”What a perfect match! Italy executed a stunning cooperation that nobody would’ve expected! Ancelotti and Canyes are truly Juventus comrades, their chemistry not even giving time a chance to react, the ball touch interval between them didn’t exceed 0.1 seconds!” The shameless commentator also gave his all.

It’s widely known that there’s no fault in scoring.

Although everyone can tell this was a dispute for shooting rights between two teammates, the commentator had no choice but to forcibly call it a cooperation.

If this ball didn’t score, Canyes would definitely be criticized miserably; no shooting skill yet was greedily contesting the shooting right.