The internet had brought the whole world closer together, amplifying joy and deepening sorrow.
This had been especially clear over the past century, in the twenty-first century.
On November 25, 2020, Argentine football legend Diego Maradona passed away, plunging the world into grief.
But as time went by, people gradually realized that death was the final destination of every legend.
Zidane, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Kaka, Robben, Rooney, Pirlo, Lewandowski, Neymar...
The pain reached its peak after Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo departed.
No fan could accept a world without these stars.
If there really were a world with no such legends in football, then Lu Yang's purpose in life would be to show people that there was a kind of football called Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Pele, Ibrahimovic, Cruyff, Rummenigge, Kahn, Buffon, Mbappé, Haaland...
"Lu, it's you! It really is you! My god, you're so lucky, man!"
Lu Yang was shaken awake by his friend Moric. Countless people around him were looking at him with envy.
In an instant, a flood of memories came rushing back.
He had transmigrated, ending up in a parallel world in the body of someone also named Lu Yang.
Lu Yang was sixteen, an Italian-Chinese youth player in San Remo's academy, playing center-back in Serie D. He stood one meter seventy-eight tall.
He was now in the east stand of Marassi Stadium, watching this year's "Italian Football Legend Invitational."
As was customary, the broadcast crew would randomly switch to a lucky spectator, who would be invited to join the match. It meant that person was the luckiest in the world that day.
That gimmick made the Celebrity Match a huge hit every year.
And this year, Lu Yang had become the lucky boy.
But at that moment, Lu Yang showed no sign of excitement.
He kept murmuring, "There's Real Madrid, but no Cristiano Ronaldo? Barcelona, but no Messi? San Siro Stadium, but no Kaka? No Ronaldinho, no Batistuta, no Adriano, no Shevchenko, no Ibrahimovic, no Lukaku..."
"The Prince of Zebras isn't Del Piero, but Ancarelli? The Wolf King isn't Totti, but Perotta? Milan doesn't have the Three Dutchmen, but four butchers? Inter Milan doesn't have the Three Musketeers, but Juventus has one star and four arrows?"
Everything was wrong. So many things were wrong.
Lu Yang came back to himself. He looked around, listening to the noise and cheers, and watching the fans going wild for football.
But some things hadn't changed.
Soon, under the envious, jealous, and resentful gazes of countless people, Lu Yang stepped onto the field.
He was assigned to the Star Arrow Team, because it had the biggest Italian football legend playing today: Maniero!
As the undisputed brain of Juventus's one-star-and-four-arrows lineup, Maniero's deep-lying playmaking style had a huge impact on the whole football world. His long black hair still flowed freely.
"Hey, kid, don't be nervous. Just treat it like a game." Maniero gave Lu Yang a friendly pat on the shoulder. He had always been kind, and his eyes, which never seemed to open all the way, were his trademark.
Lu Yang nodded. "Thanks, Maniero. You're one of my favorite midfielders. I love your precise, rapid long passes. They're like missiles—you point, and they hit."
"Hahaha!" Maniero laughed with delight. "You don't seem like an ordinary fan. Have you played football?"
"I'm a youth player for San Remo," Lu Yang replied.
"Oh my god, really?" Maniero was even more delighted. He put an arm around Lu Yang and pointed to a bearded man on the Butcher Team. "See that guy? His name's Soto. He's an incredibly annoying midfield workhorse with absolutely no talent for football."
"Unfortunately, that nuisance is going to become San Remo's first-team coach for half a season. He's a devil who only knows how to destroy and understands nothing of the art of creation. He won't bring San Remo any luck."
"As a member of San Remo, you ought to teach him a lesson. How about scoring against him?"
Maniero was on a roll.
The man called Soto was the leader of Milan's four butchers. He did the dirty work, disrupting the opposition's midfield like a persistent nuisance.
Maniero had once been completely shut down by him. In the end, he'd been forced to drop deeper and become the team's playmaking hub. But that change had opened up new possibilities, and he'd led Juventus to the top of Europe.
The two had been bitter rivals at club level, but a perfect match for each other on the national team.
After retirement, they had grown even closer.
Lu Yang forced a smile. "Are you sure? He used to be a world-class defensive midfielder. Even though he's been retired for years, I... play center-back for my team."
Maniero was taken aback, then laughed. "Modern Football has no place for a one-meter-seventy-eight center-back, kid. I don't know how good you are, but there's a saying in the East: 'A tree dies if it doesn't move, but a person can thrive if they change their path!'"
"Go play striker. You can at least do that in this match. I need a partner who can still run and is willing to run!"
Maniero had spoken from the heart.
Even though he was retired, and even though Soto was a good friend, Maniero would never accept losing to him on the football field.
He needed someone who could keep up with his passes.
Most of the Italian legends on the field were already in their forties or fifties. Could they really outrun a teenager?
"Right, then, it's settled. Keep your wits about you. I could pass to you at any moment. If you can catch up to the ball and give it a gentle tap, you can tell your future first-team coach right to his face that he's a useless midfielder and can't defend you!"
Maniero and Lu Yang hit it off.
The commentator had clearly noticed them, and quickly zoomed in. "Oh, we can see Juventus's midfield brain, Maniero, chatting happily with this young man. They're even embracing, like old friends reunited after a long separation..."
"Wow, Soto's looking over. Is he jealous? Everyone knows he and Maniero have been best friends since retirement..."
The whistle blew.
The match began.
The crowd roared all around the stadium.
At the same time, the long-awaited voice of the system appeared in Lu Yang's mind. "Ding!"
"Legendary Footballer System activated. Checking host's stats... Attacking stats too low to assess... Defensive stats too low to assess..."
"Mental stats,
Aggression: 99
Focus: 99
Consistency: 99
Affinity: 50
Leadership: 50"
"Physical stats,
Speed: 55
Acceleration: 50
Foot strength:
Jumping:
Strength:
Balance: 50
Close control: 50
Stamina: 50
Injury resistance:
Preferred foot: both
Vision"
Two virtual panels appeared, leaving Lu Yang stunned.
He was shocked, first, that his professional ability in both attack and defense was below 50, so low that the system couldn't even assess it. He was also shocked that his mental qualities were so strong.
Every mental stat that didn't require teamwork was maxed out.
He was practically a "Kobe-type" personality.
Going by that, 50 seemed to be a threshold, perhaps the divide between professional and amateur players.
"Ding! The host has three maxed-out abilities. You have received three random gift packs. Open them?"
A lucky draw?
Without hesitation, Lu Yang opened all three in a row.
"Ding! You have received one Player-Level Trait: Backcourt Defensive Coordination."
"Ding! You have received one Superstar Talent: 'Xavi—God's Eye View'!"
"Ding! You have received one Moment Card: Lionel Messi!"
In an instant, Lu Yang's mind cleared. All the backcourt defensive concepts he'd struggled to understand in the youth academy suddenly made sense.
When passing back, try not to aim toward your own goal to avoid an own goal.
One center-back steps up while the other covers.
The center-back closing-down tactic.
The defensive line's offside trap.
The defensive line's back-pass support patterns.
Lu Yang had known about these things before, but he understood them far more deeply now.
He was sure that, in his current state, he could become the best center-back in the youth academy.
No, he could even become the best center-back on San Remo's team!
"Hm?" Lu Yang stared at his vision stat and saw that it had jumped straight from blank to 99.
This was...
"Xavi—God's Eye View," a Superstar Talent that let him perceive everything on the pitch, see everything, seize every opportunity, and become the master of the field!
Just by glancing around, Lu Yang could feel the difference.
He really could sense everything around him.
It wasn't like the bird's-eye view in a video game. He could remember everything he'd caught in a single glance, and even predict how things might develop. It was as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
It required an enormous mental capacity, strong predictive ability, broad vision, and good visual habits.
Players with God's Eye View kept turning their heads to look around whenever they had a moment to spare. Only by paying attention in ordinary moments could they take in everything in the blink of an eye and strike a decisive blow!
As for the card hovering on the interface, one side showed Messi's face, while the other showed him dribbling outside the penalty area, near the arc, surrounded by several opponents.
It was a one-use item that had to be activated manually. It would have a special effect for three to ten minutes after use.
"Hey, kid, take the ball!"
It might have felt like a long time, but in the real world, barely an instant had passed since kickoff.
Big Butcher Soto really was pretty clumsy. After receiving the ball, he was shown up by Maniero, who'd been lying in wait for him. Maniero didn't drop back into midfield; instead, he surged forward to press Soto.
Soto turned to shield the ball, but a veteran from the Star Arrow Team stole it from beside him. The player immediately sent a short pass to Lu Yang, the team's only "striker."
Perhaps because he was too excited, Lu Yang stood rooted to the spot.
The ball was about to slam into his back.
Then Lu Yang suddenly sprang into motion. As he charged forward, he let the ball pass between his legs instead of letting it hit him, intending to hook it from behind and bring it around in front without turning.
It was a basic move for controlling the ball while moving. Simple, but effective. Many star players used it in matches to seize the briefest chance to counterattack.
Unfortunately, Lu Yang's ball control was amateur-level. He managed to bring the ball around, but his feet tangled up, and he stumbled unsteadily.
Soto, who had just lost possession, quickly caught up and dispossessed him with a fierce tackle.
It looked fierce, but Lu Yang could tell Soto hadn't committed a single foul. His tackle had been so clean it seemed like an art.
If Maniero's attacking game was the art of killing off a match, then Soto's defense was the art of destroying one.
It was hard to say which of them was better.
As it happened, their honors were evenly matched, making them two great rivals of their era.
The Italian twin stars had given the fans of their day plenty of wonderful memories.
"GOAL! A goal! Two minutes into the match, Soto wins the ball from Lu of the Star Arrow Team, then sets up a teammate! The Butcher Team are now leading the Star Arrow Team one-nil. Maniero's under pressure! His old rival has just put together a perfect tackle-and-assist!"
Lu Yang was stunned. That was it? They'd scored already?
But he quickly understood. Just look at the other twenty-one players running around the pitch. Even the weakest of them had once been a professional player in Serie A, while the best included national-team stars like Maniero and Soto.
They'd won countless trophies and honors. Even after years of retirement, they were still far from ordinary.
It was no exaggeration to say that most of them could still play in Serie C, and Maniero and Soto could still compete in Serie B.
Given the chance, they could kill off a match. The only thing holding them back was their aging bodies.
That was the charm of legendary players.
Old soldiers never died; they simply faded away!
"Don't be discouraged, Lu. That wasn't your fault." Maniero came over and patted him on the shoulder. "I'm impressed by the way you thought about that play, even if your ball control and first touch still need work."
"You're really suited to playing up front. You've got attacking football in your blood."
"Next time, I'll send fewer passes behind you. I'll try to put the ball where you can run onto it. Use your youth to beat us old guys, Lu!"
Maniero really was the brain of the old Juventus side. From just one touch, he'd picked up on Lu Yang's style of play and the way he thought.
Encouraged, Lu Yang nodded, then looked toward the Butcher Team players celebrating.
At that moment, Soto looked over at Lu Yang too.
"He actually saw that just now!" Soto glanced at Lu Yang standing beside Maniero, filled with thoughts.
If Lu Yang hadn't fumbled when he hooked the ball, Soto never would have caught up with him.
And because Soto had left his position, the Butcher Team's midfield would have been exposed. Lu Yang could have either charged through or passed the ball, and either option would have created a serious threat.
Had that really been a coincidence?
Or could he, like Maniero, see what was behind him?
Soon, the match resumed.
The Star Arrow Team kicked off.
This time, neither side made another basic mistake.
Maniero seized his chance and played a through ball. The Star Arrow Team's attacking midfielder received it and fired a shot, leveling the score.
But Soto soon made another interception. Then, right in front of Lu Yang, who was tracking back, he finished off the move himself. The Butcher Team went back in front, two-one.
"Your defending isn't bad, but you're not fast enough," Soto told Lu Yang. "If you were playing center-back, you might have stopped that shot. But you're a striker."
Lu Yang nodded, undeterred.
It was only a Celebrity Match. Winning or losing didn't matter.
Besides...
"Ding! You have earned legendary player Maniero's praise. You have received one random Player-Level Skill."
"Ding! You have earned legendary player Soto's praise. You have received one random Player-Level Skill."
Lu Yang grinned!
The more he played, the stronger he got!
Now that was more like it!
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