Even though Dejan Lu had shown enough talent, Scarla did not give him an opportunity right away.
Everything was stable with the team now, so there was no need to risk changing the starting lineup.
Italian coaches were conservative to the bone.
Dejan Lu did not care much either.
As long as the team could win and claim the Serie C championship, he would still have to rely on himself to find work in the summer. With Lu's talent, there was no way he would stay at Reggina.
When the time came, he could just go for trials with other teams.
Just looking at the team photo made it obvious that he stood out like a sore thumb.
Most of the team had long hair, and quite a few wore pencil mustaches.
After getting a slightly ahead-of-its-time buzz cut, he looked like he belonged to a different generation.
"Kid, you've been playing like the Predator lately. Did some scientist modify you?"
Giuseppe Bagnato slung an arm around Dejan Lu's shoulders and teased him.
The 1986 film Predator was hugely famous.
"I've just started to understand how I should play recently."
Dejan Lu said with a smile.
Bagnato smiled and nodded.
With the talent Dejan Lu had displayed, he definitely would not keep drifting around in the lower leagues. Still, although Bagnato was somewhat envious, he did not care too much. At twenty-nine, he no longer had many ambitions.
Playing football was only a job. If he found a better one, he would retire immediately.
Nevio Scarla glanced at his watch from the sidelines, then clapped his hands. "Tomorrow's match is against Cagliari. You all need to stay sharp."
"Okay, Coach."
"Got it."
Cagliari were currently in first place.
After twenty-two matches, they had fifteen wins, three draws, and four losses, sitting first with thirty-three points. They were only two points ahead of Reggina, who had thirteen wins, five draws, and four losses. If Reggina won this match, they could draw level with their opponents for the first time this season.
As they headed toward the locker room, a teammate immediately invited them, "Want to go sing karaoke? The Sicilians set one up here."
Calabria faced Sicily across the sea, and many things were smuggled in—so-called "duty-free goods."
"Forget it. I'm going to get some transportation."
Dejan Lu said with a smile.
Cycling to training every day wasted too much time on the road.
He had heard that a batch of motorcycles had just arrived, so he planned to take a look.
In Italy, about a quarter of households owned motorcycles. Sport bikes and street bikes coexisted, while places with vast stretches of sparsely populated land, such as the United States and Australia, had more large-displacement bikes. Thailand and Japan mostly had small street bikes.
When he went to inspect the bikes at the seaside shipping containers, he found someone he had seen at a funeral. Without much of a markup, he got himself an R100RS.
Rumor had it that the bike had been developed through wind-tunnel testing. Though it had been on the market for more than ten years, it was still selling extremely well.
Once he rode it, it felt like flying on the wind.
The next day, he got up early.
Although he had not made the starting lineup, being included in the matchday squad was still progress.
Cagliari were a team from Sardinia.
The entire team boarded a bus early in the morning and headed to Rome, a journey that took seven hours.
Then they flew from Rome to Cagliari.
With barely any rest, the entire Reggina squad was taken to Sant'Elia Stadium.
Seeing that Dejan Lu was not in great spirits, Giuseppe Bagnato said quietly, "We used to take the ferry when we came to Sardinia. That took even longer. Good thing Cagliari don't get relegated to Serie C very often."
"Yeah!"
Dejan Lu nodded in agreement.
Cross-regional matches were indeed exhausting without planes.
Their tickets came with an airline discount, making them cheaper than those for ordinary passengers, but no airline would specifically arrange a route from Reggio Calabria to Cagliari.
Every trip to Sardinia took a long time.
Giuseppe Bagnato continued, "I hope we can win the championship. If there's a title bonus, I want to move into a bigger place. A few days ago, I watched a foreign program where one house could fit forty people for a party."
"It's the same in Italy and everywhere else. Those are houses for rich people." Dejan Lu said, "I know someone named Celia. Her home can fit eight million people."
"Eight million?" Bagnato snapped irritably. "Do you take me for an idiot?"
While the two chatted, the situation on the pitch had already become quite unfavorable for Reggina.
Nevio Scarla's tactics were pragmatic. Especially in this era, when a win was worth two points, most Italian coaches focused on defense.
But the journey had left the players deeply fatigued, and Reggina's players occasionally made mistakes during the match.
As those mistakes piled up, Cagliari quickly found an opening and scored.
"Focus, all of you! No more mistakes!!!"
Scarla tried to rally his players.
But their physical exhaustion would not simply disappear.
They had barely managed to hold on without conceding again in the first half when, shortly after the second half began, Cagliari scored once more to make it 2–0.
Sant'Elia Stadium erupted in cheers.
As Sardinia's only team, Cagliari had spent more than a decade in Serie A before becoming a yo-yo club after Luigi Riva retired. The fans had enormous expectations for the team.
"Goal! Goal! Goal!"
In sharp contrast to Cagliari's celebrating fans was Nevio Scarla's expression. The manager felt utterly powerless, because he knew full well that the team's predicament was not a matter of willpower.
Make a substitution?
Were the substitutes not tired too?
Scarla turned and saw Dejan Lu chatting animatedly with his teammates.
He immediately held up his index and middle fingers, curling them at Dejan Lu.
Bagnato gave Dejan Lu a shove. "The boss wants you over there."
"Coach?"
Dejan Lu got up and asked.
"Warm up. Get ready to go on!"
Scarla said curtly.
At this point, he could only give Dejan Lu a try.
He had heard that Dejan Lu's previous appearances had not gone well, but conceding one or two more goals did not matter now.
What if he could show the form he had displayed in training?
In the stands, forty-five-year-old Luigi Riva looked interested.
The King of Sardinia was regarded as one of the greatest players in Italian history. Just two years earlier, he had briefly coached Cagliari.
The habits he had developed as a coach made him very familiar with the team's opponents.
Dejan Lu had only made two appearances for Reggina, but he had still left a deep impression on Riva. There were not many Chinese players in Italy.
He did not think much of Scarla's substitution.
"Come on, mate!"
Giovanni Capasso said as he was substituted off.
After embracing him, Dejan Lu jogged onto the pitch.
Once the opponents kicked off in their own half, Dejan Lu charged straight forward.
His outright speed was not particularly great, but as a fresh substitute, he still had plenty of stamina. He startled Cagliari midfielder Mariotto, who immediately passed the ball straight to Reggina midfielder Maurizio Lagi.
"Run forward!"
The moment Lagi shouted, Dejan Lu was already sprinting away.
Seeing that figure, Lagi did not hesitate and lofted an awkward ball forward.
It was not a good pass, heading straight toward the left side of the penalty area.
Fortunately, the nearby Cagliari players were focused on the middle.
When Dejan Lu charged up, no one came over to interfere.
At this position, the penalty area was still packed with players.
Without a second thought, Dejan Lu swung his left foot.
Bang—
He shot without controlling the ball first.
A volley from a tight angle!
The ball flew from the left side of the box straight toward goal. The Cagliari keeper had no time to adjust his position before the ball sailed over his head and plunged into the right side of the net.
When he turned around, all he could see was the ball bouncing behind the goal line.
Thank you all for your support!!!
It's been wonderful seeing you all again after starting this new book. The monthly votes and recommendation votes just keep coming.
Thanks to Luoying Suifeng for becoming an alliance leader. Hahaha, an alliance leader right after I posted it.
And thanks to Agou for the ten-thousand reward, and Fengqiyun Zhuiyue for two ten-thousand rewards.
Thanks as well to Zhuqing 520, Reader 161211025617055, Reader 140717183104066, and Zoldyck Oddball for their rewards.
During the new-book period, I can only take it slow. Once it goes premium, I'll unleash a burst of updates, hehe.
Before you continue