Skillful Fighters, No Cowards

"Dejan!!!"

"Dejan!!!"

"Dejan!!!"

The away fans' stands were already showing their passion during the warm-up of both teams' players.

From the moment Dejan Lu first appeared on the field, his career had been like a rocket booster.

Even before the winter break, Dejan Lu had already become one of Sampdoria's favorite players.

Roma's head coach, Luigi Radice, watched the field and said to his assistant, "He's very popular, isn't he?" "Yes, and he's made AC Milan look quite foolish," the assistant quipped.

Luigi Radice was a Milan legend. He had played for Milan for 10 seasons and even coached them in the early 80s, but unfortunately, his performance was so poor that he was fired not long after.

"A genius," Radice remarked with a sigh.

As a player, he was also considered a genius as a left-back; few players could break through him head-on.

He was part of that Milan team that lifted the first Champions League trophy in the Apennines with Cesare Maldini. However, his career ended early due to injury.

Every time he saw a talented young player, he couldn't help but feel a sense of regret.

Playing football in that era didn't earn much more than a regular job; it was purely out of love.

It was precisely because of that love that the regret was even greater.

That's why he never left the football world.

After warming up, both teams' players returned to the tunnel.

The ball boy next to Dejan Lu was noticeably older, but that was normal. Sometimes ball boys were even taller than the players, which was truly awkward.

"Young man, what's your name?" Dejan Lu asked casually.

"Francesco Totti!"

Puff...

Dejan Lu quickly looked down.

Indeed, you could already see the makings of the future Wolf King in his features.

"Is my name funny?" Totti asked, slightly displeased.

"No, sorry," Dejan Lu replied. "I just remembered someone I know."

"Oh, I see," Totti wasn't angry and instead asked happily, "If I want to become a big star, do you have any good advice?"

"Read more books, and don't date women who work in television," Dejan Lu said sincerely.

Besides his unfortunate marriage, Totti's education level was also a bit of a joke. Many footballers had low levels of education.

But Totti's way of speaking was indeed unique, and he was under so much scrutiny that the media always liked to pick on him.

"Let's go, time to come out," Pari reminded him, looking back.

Dejan Lu nodded and pulled Totti out with him.

This kid was probably 12 or 13 years old and already almost 1.7 meters tall, growing quite quickly.

Once they were on the field and in position, Dejan Lu asked, "Francesco, do you want to play for Sampdoria? I have a friend named Marco Lanna, I can introduce you when you have time."

At 11 PM, the referee blew the whistle for the start of the match right on time.

As soon as the game started, the Roma players showed an extremely excited state.

Pezzotti said with some concern, "It might not be a good thing to let Dejan start today; those Roma players are not easy to deal with."

"It's fine. They shouldn't play too rough in the opening stages. We'll substitute Dejan after he scores two goals," Boskov said dismissively.

Wasn't Dejan Lu scoring quickly enough?

Perhaps before the Roma players could even find a chance to get angry, the team would already be leading by several goals.

"The pace of the game is a bit fast today," Rossi nodded and said. "Yes, Roma definitely wants to get points at home. They know they can't give Sampdoria a chance to build their attack slowly, so they're trying to disrupt Sampdoria's rhythm."

"Dejan sent a cross directly from the wing, but unfortunately, there's no one in the box."

Luigi Radice watched the field, unable to help but shake his head.

He always felt that this young man, Dejan Lu, was no ordinary person.

Although he had consistently displayed skill beyond his peers, his style of play was always changing.

Changing his tempo was one thing, useful for dribbling past opponents.

But why the hell would he change his playing style? What was the point of that?

There were even newspapers saying Dejan Lu would get lost in his second year in Serie A. Damn it, just you wait and see. If Dejan Lu's performance drops, I'll conduct the next match from the sidelines doing handstands.

No wonder Rivera kept recommending Dejan Lu to Milan.

If he had discovered Dejan Lu earlier, he would have recommended him to his old club as well.

He was driven out of Milan eight years ago in such a humiliating fashion; it was the perfect opportunity to do something to win back the hearts of the Rossoneri.

A few minutes later, Sampdoria organized another attack.

Dossena passed the ball to Pari as soon as he received it. Pari immediately played a through ball forward.

Dejan Lu, standing sideways in the frontcourt, didn't turn. He simply extended his right foot and gently chipped the ball from underneath.

Thwack—

The ball flew directly over the heads of Antonio Comi and Sebastiano Nela, soaring past Rome's entire backline.

Sivori knew immediately it was bad. He rushed out of his goal.

But Vialli's reaction was faster than he anticipated. After the ball bounced, Vialli leaped up and lifted his right foot high, successfully lobbing the ball over Sivori's head. The ball trickled into the empty net.

"Boo!"

"Boo!"

"Boo!"

The Red Wolves fans were going insane.

They hadn't expected their team to concede so early in the match.

And the goal itself was inexplicable. There were seven players in their own half, and only Vialli near the penalty box. Dejan Lu, with a subtle chip pass while sideways, managed to create a one-on-one situation for Vialli, who then sent the ball into the net.

This kind of goal was unacceptable to them.

It was utterly ridiculous.

It was like two football hooligans ready to throw down, and just as the opponent uttered a threat, you had a heart attack.

"Goal!!!!!"

"Goal!!!"

"Vialli!"

"Vialli received Dejan's chip pass and scored. This attack was very simple. Pari passed the ball to Dejan, Dejan found a gap in Rome's defense, and successfully created a golden opportunity for Vialli."

"Rome's defense has no gaps? Perhaps that's just what we see. The vision of a genius and an ordinary person will never be the same. Dejan sent the ball into the box without even turning."

Vialli excitedly ran towards Dejan Lu.

He threw an arm around Dejan Lu's neck.

That goal was incredible.

Previously, when he partnered with Roberto Mancini, they would set each other up.

Although their coordination was good, the passes weren't this incisive.

Vialli hadn't even considered that Dejan Lu would do something like that, especially with Rome's defenders all back in their own half.

But the goal happened so easily, it was real.

Mancini, watching from the stands, had a dark expression.

He increasingly felt that his team's position was precarious.

What were these two up to while he was away?

"Go to Sampdoria, not Sampdoria..."

As Mancini was grumbling to himself, he noticed a kid beside him muttering.

"You're going to get beaten up sitting in the Rome stands saying that," Mancini warned.

"You're the one who's going to get beaten up by showing up here!"

Totti retorted.

What was a Sampdoria player doing in the home stands?

Mancini's face darkened. This kid was really not cute.

The team had ticket allocations, but he had lost his ticket.

After arriving with the whole team today, he had just randomly bought a ticket, not expecting it to be in the Rome stands.

Fortunately, he was wearing a baseball cap.

"I heard you're thinking about playing for Sampdoria? I'm the team's second captain, you know," Roberto Mancini said with a touch of pride.

"Hmph, I'm the captain of the Roma youth team," Totti retorted dismissively. "Dejan invited me to play for Sampdoria, and I'm still considering it. But seeing you, I don't think Sampdoria is all that special. And just so you know, the second captain isn't a real captain."

Roberto Mancini couldn't help but gasp.

What an annoying kid.

What on earth did that bastard Dejan see in him?

For the first time, Roberto Mancini felt someone had a worse mouth than him.

If it weren't for the fact that they were in the main stands, he would have broken his rule and beaten up a minor today.

Thanks to Lao Mei for the "Cooking Wine with Heroes" tip.

Thanks to all the big shots for their support.

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