I AM the Football Star

However, Morici suddenly played a one-two with the overlapping Candreva, smashing into the wall and getting past Joseph.

Before Joseph could recover and tackle back, Morici lifted a scooped through ball over the top, a tribute to Zidane!

Lu Yang and Kuba clashed fiercely, bodies colliding.

Lu Yang could clearly feel that Kuba’s physical strength was no weaker than his own.

Fortunately, Lu Yang had Ironman’s buff in extra time, his attributes further boosted, barely allowing him to overpower Kuba.

Enough!

Lu Yang launched himself into the air.

Kuba was pinned down by Lu Yang, couldn’t jump, and could only watch helplessly as Lu Yang powered a header at goal!

But France’s keeper Dominic seemed provoked across the pitch by Audi; not really a world-class goalkeeper, yet he actually managed to save Lu Yang’s thunderous header.

All of Italy sank into utter despair.

Bang!

The next moment, Perrotta shoved Lande aside and smashed in the follow-up.

The ball flew back in.

Dominic’s pupils dilated to the limit, but he no longer had the strength to stop the ball from blasting into the net!

A miracle... has appeared!

”Roar!”

Perrotta rolled up from the ground and sprinted over, guaranteeing Lu Yang an open lane for a wild celebration run!

The players of the Italy Team all rushed over as well!

”It’s in! My God! The Italy Team have pulled off a last‑gasp equaliser of their own!”

”Lu Yang’s header was saved, but Perrotta’s tireless running was rewarded; his follow-up has helped Italy level the score!”

”Three–three! The score is back to three–three again!”

”The very first match of this European Cup was served up jointly by these two teams, and the score was exactly three–three! Now... everything has gone back to square one!”

”In fact, the Italy Team have now seized the advantage!”

”If this game goes to a penalty shoot-out, then the two goalkeepers’ impact on the match will be at its peak! And Audi, who has been a strong contender for the world’s number one goalkeeper for a full decade, is obviously far stronger than Dominic!”

”The only Achilles’ Heel of the France Team is their goalkeeper. Are they really going to fall short at this very position?”

The scales tilt once more!

The Italy Team seem to have the slightest of edges!

Everyone knows penalty shoot-outs are all about luck and voodoo, but when it comes to saving spot-kicks, if you have a world-class keeper and a second-rate one, Who are you going to use?

No one would choose the latter.

”This ball, the timing of Morici’s pass was perfect, and Lu Yang’s aerial ability has finally come to the fore. The only pity is that Lu Yang didn’t finish it himself!”

”Maybe his form came too early in the tournament; today Lu Yang has always been half a step away from scoring. That’s why people say sometimes peaking too early isn’t a good thing. Lu Yang is the textbook example right now.”

”But Italy’s veterans have been absolutely phenomenal. Drake, Ancelotti, Praxedes, Candreva, Perrotta, Audi... all of them have delivered stunning performances today.”

”They’ve carried Italy on their backs all the way to this moment.”

”As long as that Lu Yang, who has never let them down before, can find a goal, the Italy Team will have a real chance to beat the France Team and lift the trophy!”

”Since making his debut for the Italy Team, Lu Yang has scored in every single game!”

”But if he fails to score in the most important match of all, then what Lu Yang loses won’t just be his scoring record for the national team. What he’ll lose is a European Cup title!”

For a while, the cameras kept cutting to Lu Yang again and again.

Over and over.

Everyone knew exactly what the director’s visual language was trying to say.

This young man, can he... really make the old guard feel safe enough to hand the Italy Team over to him?

And five minutes later, this man gave his answer!

The 115th minute of the match.

The Italy Team won a corner.

It was a corner on the left side; in theory Candreva should be taking it, but Morici ran over and signalled that he wanted it.

Candreva didn’t hesitate.

Morici stood by the corner flag, looking at his teammates in the box, and held up one finger.

Lu Yang immediately drifted outwards.

”Outside! Move a bit further out, follow Lu Yang!” Zidane shouted, roughly guessing Morici’s intention.

The delivery from a corner can only really go to four zones: front post, central, back post, and central but towards the edge of the box.

The front post is good for quick darts; most of the time it’s for a flick-on or decoy.

The central zone is where you battle; it’s the widest area, where most corners land, and the prime spot for headed shots.

The back post is for picking up scraps; when the ball reaches the back post, it often means someone can shoot unmarked, which is very dangerous, so you want to intercept as much as possible in the central zone.

Central but outside is similar to central, but the pass is more about glancing the ball outwards, for someone on the edge to hit a long shot, a bit like a set-piece routine.

Right now, standing at the arc on the edge of the France Team’s penalty area was Candreva, the man who had already produced that stunning long-range strike earlier.

On Italy’s side, besides Lu Yang, Kolber and Praxedes were also moving towards the outside zone.

And that confirmed it: Morici’s signal did indeed seem to indicate ”central but outside” as the target.

Showing their hand!

Going for a straight fight!

But even the players of the Italy Team didn’t notice that after Morici lowered his arm, his fingers changed from one to two.

Was that a ”V for victory”?

No—this wasn’t for central but outside!

Bang!

Morici swung the corner in!

The next second, Lu Yang charged towards the penalty spot.

Two players from the France Team also rushed to that area.

But midway through his run, Lu Yang suddenly changed direction and darted to the front post.

The front post!

”No!” Zidane roared, trying to follow Lu Yang, but was blocked off by Kolber.

Morici’s delivery had serious pace on it.

By the time Lu Yang hit the front post, the ball was practically already at his face.

He had no time to jump—and he didn’t need to.

Because...

Lu Yang threw himself backwards.

His left leg whipped up from bottom to top, the instep catching the ball flush and brutally changing its trajectory.

An overhead kick!

Time stopped at that instant.

Only the ball moved, slowly, slowly... until it flew into the net!