I AM the Football Star

This means not giving even a single chance.

Bam!

Versachi took the corner kick.

He’s got good technique, but Perotti used to do this task.

Even at San Remo, Versachi doesn’t get many opportunities to take corner kicks.

One reason is that Morici has better technique.

The other is that Versachi is somewhat tall and decent at long shots, so he’s either competing for the first drop in the big penalty area or waiting outside for a second drop to shoot from afar.

So...

Perhaps feeling a bit nervous, Versachi’s corner kick was too short.

Areola decisively came out and jumped directly.

He could pluck the stars from the sky!

Areola’s performance in both legs, having conceded six goals, wasn’t great—not entirely his fault, as there were too many miracle balls.

But if he were stronger, the team might have...

Areola swore he’d never jumped this high in his life.

He soared into the air!

He caught the football!

The moment Areola landed, Carrel seemed to connect the dots and rushed toward Areola.

But at this moment, Areola also started moving forward.

With an impressive quarterback-like evasive maneuver from rugby, he spun past Carrel.

Then he tossed the football high with his left hand.

His upper body pivoted to the left, and his lower body to the right.

The next moment, he contracted like a spring.

A super punt!

Bam!

The football flew to the Purple Lily half.

There, a figure instantly started running.

Two people closely followed him, and further outside the penalty area, two more awaited.

At this moment, everyone held their breaths.

The Florence manager immediately shouted to the fourth referee, ”Time’s up! The match is over! Quickly blow the whistle! Blow the whistle!”

The fourth referee checked the time and said, ”The earlier corner also wasted some time, and the ball has already crossed the midfield. If it was your player controlling it, the game would end.”

”But if Lu Yang controls the ball, then we must wait until this attack concludes before the main referee will blow the final whistle.”

The Florence manager, of course, knew this reasoning.

But he couldn’t suppress the growing fear in his heart.

Although the Purple Lily had ten thousand reasons to win the match...

They were facing... the San Remo Miracle!

That was Lu!

Areola’s powerful kick sent the football to about five meters outside the penalty area.

Were it a bit stronger, the Florence goalkeeper could have directly collected it.

But at this distance, he didn’t dare.

Because Lu Yang had already reached the drop point.

The Purple Lily central defender saw the football falling and knew they couldn’t let Lu Yang control it, even if they had to foul him.

Because as long as the foul wasn’t too excessive, the main referee wouldn’t even grant San Remo a free kick but would end the match directly.

Bam!

As the football dropped, the Purple Lily central defender rammed into Lu Yang.

But despite Lu Yang’s body shaking violently, he maintained his balance with flailing arms and caught the falling football.

The football instantly adhered to his instep as if glued.

95 strength!

90 balance!

At this moment, Lu Yang endured the hardest hit of his life.

Not only from the Florence central defender...

But also from the immense pressure of the miracle’s fall and Champions League exit.

Countless eyes widened.

This is...

Lu Yang turned, nudged the ball to the right, and burst forward.

In an instant, he distanced himself by at least two meters from the central defender and another defender who had come to assist.

Lifted his leg high!

A long shot from the right side of the penalty area!

The Purple Lily left-back quickly moved into Lu Yang’s shooting path, hands behind for blocking!

The camera followed the ball’s path towards the goal.

Wait!

Where’s the ball?

This is... a fake shot!

The camera quickly panned back.

Lu Yang fooled the camera!

He also fooled the left-back.

Lu Yang hooked the ball with his heel, moved leftwards, and lifted his foot again.

The camera shook once more.

Moved towards the goal.

But this time, the cameraman was quicker, only to move halfway before panning back.

Because again, it was a fake shot.

The Purple Lily right-back who came to cover anticipated this time, was not completely fooled.

Lu Yang nudged the ball, directing it towards his right foot, seemingly to break through from this side.

The camera followed him.

The Purple Lily right-back shifted his weight, but in the next moment, Lu Yang knocked the ball back to the left with his right foot.

This is a... slow-motion Fried Meatball!

The Fried Meatball is impressive because of its instantaneous double shift.

But Lu Yang intentionally controlled the pace, giving the right-back a chance to keep up.

Otherwise, an urgent Fried Meatball might have resulted in an accidental collision, like a blind cat catching a dead mouse, from the trailing right-back.

And when the ball lingered on Lu Yang’s right foot, he feigned a breakthrough to the right, causing the central defender, who returned in haste after being initially fooled, to remain guarded on Lu Yang’s right, preventing Lu from breaking through.

Thus, Lu Yang pinned down two players on the right side, then charged into the Purple Lily penalty area from the left.

At this time, the central defender who first collided with Lu Yang had maneuvered around to his side.

With a side tackle aimed at the breaking Lu Yang.

But due to close range, the tackle’s speed was not fast.

Therefore, Lu Yang had ample time to flick the ball and jump over the central defender.

Landing, Lu Yang raised his right foot high.

This was his best shooting opportunity.

A rocket shot!

The camera once again moved toward the goal.

But still no ball!

Still a fake shot!

The camera swiftly panned back.

The reason for this fake shot was that the central defender, initially misled and pinned to the right, had moved to Lu Yang’s right front while he avoided the tackle.

The moment Lu Yang lifted his foot, he jumped to block all his shooting angles.

Without him, Lu Yang would have definitely taken the shot.

But a top striker can switch seamlessly between shooting and not shooting.

Lu Yang lowered his right foot, nudging the ball slightly to make it bounce back.

Then he shifted his weight onto the right foot, lifting his left foot again.

This was nearly an on-the-spot adjustment move.

As the left foot lifted, the ball already bounced towards it.

Thus, it was almost a... drag shot!

Shooting while lifting his foot.

Not much power.

Because after a long run and multiple fake shots, Lu Yang was out of gas.

His leg felt like it was filled with lead.

The football rolled toward the goal.

The Purple Lily goalkeeper, whose view was blocked by the flying central defender, hadn’t noticed the ball coming.

And the camera had only just recovered from Lu Yang’s third fake shot, focusing back on him.

At that moment, there was only Lu Yang on TV, no football.

But Lu Yang, already excited, turned around and ran toward his own half.

While running, he took off his jersey, tossing it into the sky.

No one knew why.

Until three seconds later, the camera shifted to the inside of the goal.

A white football nestled quietly in the goal.

The countless unspoken farewells stuck in throats never had the chance to be uttered.

Because...

Goal, went in!