Tang Long, Shaqiri, Santon, and the other forwards rushed into his arms.
Ranocchia, the captain who towered over them, wrapped them all up in his arms as if they were a group of children.
When his deep blue eyes appeared on the two enormous screens at Stadio San Paolo,
the male fans fell into complete silence!
They'd already conceded? Boom, boom, boom—another one! That's it, it's over!
Only the handful of female fans in the stadium let out excited fangirl screams...
Icardi glanced sideways at the giant screen, where Ranocchia's handsome profile filled the frame.
He swallowed hard!
A sour feeling welled up inside him.
It wasn't that he was jealous of his captain for being better-looking.
It was just...
Even the center-backs were scoring from open play!
Center-backs!
Ranocchia had charged all the way from the back to the opposing penalty area and blasted in a ferocious header!
And he, the team's star striker, its top scorer,
was stuck on the bench.
At that moment, Icardi's hunger for a goal made his whole body itch like he was in heat.
A hundred million tiny ants seemed to crawl all over his heart~
It was driving him crazy!
Forget what people said about the Coppa Italia not mattering.
Even if this were just a preseason friendly,
he still wanted to play!
The Argentine striker sprang up from the bench.
"Herrera, I want on! I can't wait anymore—right now!"
Assistant coach Herrera had been clapping. When Icardi suddenly appeared in front of him, he froze, then pointed at the stadium clock and said,
"What's the rush? We agreed you'd go on at 75 minutes. Wait a little longer—it's almost time!"
"Wait my ass!" Icardi swore. "I'm in great shape. If you don't put me on, you can leave me out of