I AM the Football Star

The Milan midfielder comes forward to intercept.

He passes the football to Fernandez, who has pulled back to support.

The two of them wall-pass consecutively, reaching the left flank of the penalty area.

Andrés sticks closely to Delarre, tightly following him.

Fernandez passes the ball.

Delarre receives it and takes a turning move smoothly.

Andrés frowns, realizes the situation, and immediately pulls away.

But he’s too slow!

Delarre backs into Andrés and then falls to the ground.

Andrés raises his hands high to indicate his innocence.

But the main referee’s whistle is relentless.

Front field free kick!

”He hit me!” Andrés is speechless.

Fernandez immediately walks over to pull Delarre up and praises, ”I never expected besides dribbling and passing control, your diving is also so mature.”

Delarre smiles and whispers, ”Of course, our Castilla Diving Academy is as renowned as the La Masia Film and Television Academy, both are sacred places for acting. Diving is also part of the game; sometimes we have to appropriately use the opponent’s emotions and rhythm.”

Delarre had no embarrassment.

They are all petty.

Football diving still tests acting skills. If poorly acted, the referee and fans will punish you.

But in basketball, it’s no longer diving, it’s blatant extortion.

The famous King of Porcelain’s play style drove away almost ten percent of NBA fans.

Those accustomed to the hard 1V1 overpowering of opponents with iron-blooded long jump shots cannot stand the disgrace of sportsmanship with faked ball throwing.

Suddenly, the noise in the stands grew louder.

Delarre and others are puzzled, but when they see Lu Yang walking over, they start to understand.

No one can refuse a penalty kick, a free kick, or any shot after scoring twice.

But Brother Lu has held out for so long.

To be honest, Delarre was already quite shocked.

In any team, with the lead, the team would keep creating shot opportunities for the player who scored twice.

Especially when that player is the team’s star, headliner, captain, on-field core, and locker room leader.

Except, of course, for Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.

Over in Paris Saint-Germain, after Mbappe scored twice early on, the entire team started setting up Sisi, making one have to marvel at how the king’s flag at the city’s gate changes direction; this team no longer belongs to Mbappe.

At Manchester United, before C Luo scored, the whole team set him up. But once C Luo scored, the teammates’ KPI was completed, then they all began shooting recklessly.

Delarre knows that in this match, Lu Yang actually had a lot of shot opportunities.

But he let those opportunities go to teammates in a better position.

From Lu Yang, Delarre sees no attachment to goals typical of a Golden Boot winner.

This is not scientific.

Yet, Lu Yang’s number of goals has never been low!

”Oh! Lu Yang is walking towards Delarre. Delarre takes the initiative to hand the football to Lu Yang and embraces him.”

”Is Lu Yang about to take the free kick?”

”This ball is more centralized, which is a good point. But it’s quite far from the goal, likely over thirty-two meters, so a direct shot seems unlikely.”

”Lu Yang has already scored two goals, both from direct free kicks. If he can score another free kick, he will set a brand new record.”

”A free-kick hat-trick!”

Coach Lu is excited.

Free-kick master?

Lu Yang’s demeanor suggests he doesn’t think much of that title.

Does he want to become... the King of Free Kicks?

Coach Lu looks over at Coach Jun, the latter looking rather embarrassed.

”A free-kick hat-trick is extremely difficult. Since professional football records began, only five people have accomplished such a feat. But currently active, only one has, and that’s Atlanta’s center-back Dušan Milojević!”

”And Milojević has always been known as... the King of Free Kicks!”

”If Lu Yang can score this free kick, he will become the second active player to complete a free-kick hat-trick!”

”Considering Milojević announced this summer that this season would be his last and he will retire from Atlanta at the end of the season.”

”This free-kick from Lu Yang seems to carry a special meaning!”

”The king’s legacy! Could it be starting now?”

”From Carrel to King of Long Shots and now to King of Free Kicks! Lu Yang seizing one kingly title after another; can he eventually conquer our Coach Jun?”

Coach Lu is cunning, never missing a chance to tease Coach Jun’s earlier doubts about Lu Yang’s title of free-kick master.

Scene on screen.

Lu Yang takes a deep breath and begins to step back.

At this distance, the power for a curved shot is not enough, and the trajectory is easy to predict, so it’s quite challenging.

Other shooting techniques easily go out of control, causing the football to fly into the stands.

Even Falling Leaves Ball is hard to control.

The most, most, most suitable is Lu Yang’s signature free kick.

Lu Yang finds the valve stem and carefully places the football in position.

Then, step by step, he accurately calculates his stepping back distance.

After five steps back, Lu Yang takes a step to the left, drops his arms, his entire body like a steel tower, quietly gazing forward.

Whistle!

The whistle blows.

Lu Yang starts to run.

Not fast.

But the rhythm is good.

Bang!

Lu Yang’s instep touches the ball.

The football instantly soars into the sky.

At this moment, the entire stadium is silent.

The football whistles through the air, directly over Milan’s wall, soaring skyward.

Soon, the football begins to drop rapidly, like an elevator, rising fast and falling fast.

But at this moment, the ball still has about one-third of the way to the goal.

The AC Milan goalkeeper watches the ball, highly focused.

The football keeps swaying left and right, making positioning tremendously difficult.

But he is unwilling to give up, hoping for a miracle to happen.

Even if AC Milan doesn’t win, he cannot let Lu Yang complete the free-kick hat-trick symbolizing the King of Free Kicks!

Even if he has to use his face, he will block the ball!

”Ah! The football seems too high!”

Coach Jun doesn’t particularly like or dislike; he notices the football showing signs of flying upward again in the final half-section.

The elevator ball goes straight up and down.

But if the distance is too long, after descending, the ball might fly up again, eventually floating high and missing the goal.

Therefore, the penalty distance for an elevator ball is not the farther, the better.

Beyond thirty meters, elevator shots demand very high footwork and shooting skills of players.

If the football is considered a real dragon.

Then now this dragon tries to keep its head up, defy the odds, attempting to ascend nine thousand miles.

But a mighty force presses down on the dragon’s head, not allowing it to raise.

This force is Lu Yang’s shooting power.

The two keep contesting.

Consequently, the football not only sways left and right but also shows intense and repeated up-and-down swaying in mid-air.

This is no longer an elevator!

This is a drop tower!

Bam!

The football strikes the underside of the crossbar and domineeringly enters the goal.

The dragon ultimately couldn’t escape Lu Yang’s Five Finger Mountain.

He held it down!

A long-distance elevator ball over thirty-two meters, successfully scored!

In the next moment, Lu Yang raises both his arms, looking around to enjoy in advance the fans’ cheers and applause for him.

He’s not worried about the lack of applause.

And indeed, he’s right.

The Bird’s Nest Stadium erupts with thunderous cheers, fans proudly shouting Lu Yang’s new title.

”King of Free Kicks!”