Halftime, in the visiting team's locker room.
Every player was silent, and the atmosphere in the locker room was incredibly heavy.
Soto hadn't come in yet. He was talking to Vedian one-on-one. After his poor performance in the previous match, Vedian had continued to struggle in this one.
But the reasons were different.
In the last match, things simply hadn't gone his way. That was only natural, and nobody blamed him.
But this match... he was being too selfish.
The problem was, he wasn't the kind of player who could dribble past the opposition. His body couldn't take the punishment. One bump from an opponent and he lost the ball.
Clearly, Vedian was obsessed with his stats.
He had 24 goals and 10 assists. But 25+10 sounded completely different from 24+10.
He was desperate to score.
But with the team having lost several key players on the right flank, both Moric and Lu Yang were more focused on defense in this match. They needed to hold firm in the first half and let the players on the right get used to starting, then look for opportunities in the second half.
This strategy of luring the opponent in before striking, while remaining steady and going for the win, was hard for Vedian—a young Black man with little education—to understand.
He thought they should have been attacking relentlessly from the start.
As a result, he gave the ball away too often, putting the team under immense defensive pressure. Eventually, the opposition put together a beautiful move and broke through their defense.
Vedian had a problem, so Soto had gone to deal with it.
But that didn't mean nobody else had a problem.
"Guys, sorry, I want to say a few words." Lu Yang stepped forward in the locker room. "I'm not here to blame anyone. I just want to share some things I've heard that might ease your worries."
"I know the team's efforts to sign top players and even superstars have made some of you nervous. But honestly, you don't need to be. Did you know that the issue the Russell Group and the city government have been negotiating over—the new San Remo stadium—has been settled? Construction is expected to start in the second half of this year."
The players looked confused. What did that have to do with the match?
"Guys, this is a huge undertaking!" Lu Yang said. "Russell is investing a tremendous amount in this project, but the returns will be just as great. The city government agreed to give them such valuable land because Russell promised to take San Remo Football Club to a higher level!"
"Promoting a team isn't as simple as moving from Serie D to Serie C. There are all kinds of infrastructure requirements: training grounds, youth academies, administrative departments, and so on. How much do we earn in Serie D? Eight thousand euros a year? Ten thousand?"
"But as administrators at a rapidly developing club, we'd earn at least fifty thousand euros a year—and we'd be sitting in an office!"
"As San Remo grows, those administrators will have plenty of people working under them. Some of them might even become senior club executives one day. Think about it. As club legends, Moric and I are still young, but Jack, Tony, Benjamin—if any of you retire in the next few years, the club will find a place for you to keep making a difference."
"Then you'll be the club's first generation of veterans! Whether they sign Latuidi or Ancarelli, Perotta or Carlisle, it won't affect you. Understand?"
"They may be top stars, but you're San Remo legends!"
Lu Yang's words set the players thinking.
That's right. If San Remo really did grow into a major club, then as the first generation of legends who built it, they'd be club stalwarts!
Would it really be so hard to become the head coach of a youth team, the club's first scout, its business manager, the head of the supporters' association, or the club's press officer?
Not at all.
Because at that point, the club would be short on staff.
They could still have steady jobs after leaving the pitch, maybe even better opportunities than before.
The prospects were simply wonderful.
After all, most of them were around thirty. For footballers of this era, that was already the twilight of their careers.
Rather than pinning their hopes on becoming famous through a goal on the pitch, they were more optimistic about their prospects in other fields. In many lines of work, thirty was still very young.
"Of course, all of this depends on us being the ones who build San Remo into a legendary club! If we don't get promoted to Serie C next season, those stars won't come. We might keep languishing in Serie D, and talk of becoming legends will be nothing but nonsense."
"God has put the key to our fate in our hands. Whether we turn it is up to us in this match. If we win, the legend continues, and we all benefit."
"If we lose, nobody else will need to replace us. We'll keep sinking."
"Do you choose victory or defeat?"
Many of the players in the locker room fell into thought.
"Tell me loudly! Do you choose victory or defeat?" Lu Yang shouted.
"Victory!" everyone cried out together.
"Louder!" Lu Yang continued.
"Victory!"
"Have you guys not eaten?" The veins at Lu Yang's temples bulged.
"Victory! Victory! Victory!"
A thunderous roar erupted from the San Remo visitors' locker room.
Standing by the door, Soto and Vedian exchanged a glance. It looked like Soto wasn't needed to fire them up after all.
San Remo looked like a different team in the second half.
Their players fought for the ball with incredible intensity.
For them, this match and the next could decide whether many of them would enjoy a happier life for the rest of their lives.
This was a real chance to save themselves twenty years of hard work!
They had to win!
San Remo's aggressive pressing left the Ternana players completely unsettled.
They couldn't keep hold of the ball.
And once Vedian stopped messing around, Moric began organizing the attack in a disciplined fashion.
He played one dangerous ball after another.
Vedian sent in a cross from the wing, and San Remo's center forward powered a header toward goal. It nearly changed the score.
There was no doubt about it: San Remo had seized the momentum.
The seventy-seventh minute of the match.
San Remo won another corner.
Moric sent it toward the near post.
Nagy got into position to challenge, but the opponent shoved him farther forward, leaving him with no angle for a direct header on goal.
He instinctively bent down and flicked the ball backward with his head, redirecting it toward the far post.
There, Lu Yang and the opposing center-back had just landed from their jump.
The ball was about to slide past the goal.
But Lu Yang landed, sprang up again, and smashed in a Lion's Header.
Thud!
The ball slammed into the net. The opposing goalkeeper didn't even react.
"GOAL! San Remo have equalized! Lu Yang scores with a header! What a beautiful header!"
"Nagy did a fantastic job winning the first ball. When it comes to joining the attack, he's almost at the level of a top center-back."
"Of course, you can't compare him to Lu Yang at center-back. Lu Yang might be the most explosive attacking center-back in the world."
"Oh, we can see that Lu Yang isn't celebrating. He's immediately rushed into the goal to retrieve the ball."
"That's Lu Yang for you, a cool-headed butcher on the pitch. He always knows what to do and when."
"Twelve minutes remain. San Remo still have a chance."
Ternana soon restarted the match.
But as soon as they kicked off, Lu Yang closed in on them like an Iron Wall.
After the second half began, Lu Yang and Moric had switched positions.
Moric was now on the left side of defensive midfield, while Lu Yang was on the right.
That threw Ternana's strategy of targeting San Remo's right flank into disarray.
Lu Yang covered a lot of ground, and his tackles and interceptions were outstanding.
Against most defenders, a pass only needed to keep the ball fifty centimeters away from them. But against Lu Yang, you had to keep it nearly two meters away.
You also had to watch out for him suddenly accelerating after anticipating your move.
That severely cut off Ternana's passing lanes, and their attack hit a dead end.
The eighty-fifth minute.
Once again, Lu Yang made a brilliant interception.
He quickly passed the ball to Moric and surged forward.
He had barely made any runs like this in the second half.
He had devoted himself entirely to defending, leaving all the breakthroughs to Moric and Vedian.
That was why his run caught everyone off guard.
Moric and Lu Yang played a one-two, then Moric fired off a quick shot-pass—a move he excelled at.
Vedian received the ball on the wing and immediately sent in a cross.
San Remo's center forward drew one center-back away, while Lu Yang battled for the ball against the other.
But someone was holding him back from behind, and an opposing midfielder was rushing back in front of him. He couldn't turn and shoot.
Fortunately, Moric had also charged forward recklessly.
Moric received the ball and played it to Vedian, who was making a run into the area.
By then, the area around the opposing penalty box was packed.
Everyone on San Remo's side except the two center-backs and one right midfielder had pushed into this half. Even both full-backs had made it up near the penalty area.
Ternana had practically everyone back as well.
San Remo wanted to grab all three points, while Ternana didn't want to lose the single point they'd earned so late in the game. Both sides were giving it everything.
Lu Yang made a run back out, and Vedian played the ball along the ground to him. Lu Yang had his back to goal and shielded the ball against an opposing defender.
Two players marked Lu Yang, another covered Moric, and one more marked the center forward. San Remo still had no opening.
"Go!"
But just as the ball rolled toward him, Lu Yang suddenly shouted.
Moric understood at once and charged toward goal.
Many people didn't understand what Moric was doing.
He was already inside the penalty area, where there was barely any room to accelerate. At that rate, he would reach the goalkeeper before he could even get up to speed.
Besides... three players and two walls of defenders stood between him and Lu Yang. There was no way he could get the ball.
But then—
Lu Yang didn't control the ball. He flicked it directly with his heel.
Redondo's Heel!
The ball rolled between the legs of the defender beside Lu Yang and into the penalty area.
The defender hadn't even realized what had happened. He was still glaring at Lu Yang.
The ball was moving quickly. It slipped past several defenders and appeared right in front of the goalkeeper.
The goalkeeper rushed off his line.
But a foot got to the ball first and poked it into the net.
San Remo's players threw their arms around one another in celebration!
A last-minute winner!
Lu Yang had provided the killer assist, and Moric had finished with the winning poke!
San Remo had taken a 2–1 lead!
"Oh, my God! That was absolutely out of this world!"
"Under such enormous pressure, Lu Yang still managed to play a backheel pass!"
"It was so well disguised that even after the goal, Ternana's defenders were still marking Lu Yang. They had no idea when he had passed the ball!"
"Moric's run was perfectly timed. If he had been even slightly slower, the goalkeeper would have claimed the ball first."
"That's the chemistry of San Remo's Midfield Twins! That's the two-man midfield that Maniero himself called Italy's central midfield duo!"
"Young Maniero and Butcher II have linked up in a dream combination, helping San Remo take the lead!"
"The title race is back on! San Remo have taken another step toward promotion!"
San Remo didn't let the score change again. They held on through the final five minutes and secured a hard-fought victory.
"What changed us in the second half? Yes, our head coach, Mr. Soto, certainly played a part, but... I think most of the credit goes to Lu Yang's words of encouragement." San Remo captain Rondo answered in a post-match interview. "He's a natural leader. He told us why we had to win, and that fired us up."
When interviewed, Vedian said, "I made a lot of mistakes in this match, but the coach corrected me in time. I'm glad the team managed to win."
Moric was asked about Rondo's comments. "Of course, Lu Yang has always been like this. Whether on the pitch or in the locker room, he's always there for his friends. If you hadn't brought it up, I might have forgotten that he's a year younger than me. He always makes you think he's the older brother you can trust and rely on!"
After the match, every San Remo player praised Lu Yang. It made everyone wonder what he had said during halftime.
But the reporters couldn't interview Lu Yang.
He had covered so much ground in this match that he went straight into recovery mode afterward. He needed to use every minute to regain his strength and prepare for San Remo's final match of the season.
That would be a true top-of-the-table clash!
Soon, all the matches in the thirty-seventh round had been played.
The results were surprising, to say the least.
Francavilla, sixth in the standings, had faced a relegation-threatened team and somehow let them equalize, taking just one point.
With 70 points, they were all but out of contention for direct promotion.
Even a chance to make the promotion playoffs was beginning to look remote.
Fifth in the standings was Catania, who had beaten their opponents to reach 72 points.
What made San Remo's fans cheer was Bisceglie losing a crucial match against Palermo. Arnold's goal drought continued, and it had hurt the team's overall attack.
Bisceglie had lost its chance to threaten San Remo. The team had previously ranked second, one place ahead of San Remo on the strength of its head-to-head record, but now it had dropped straight to fourth. It was level on 72 points with fifth-place Catania, and only narrowly ahead thanks to one win and one draw in their head-to-head matches.
Next round, Catania would face a weak team and was all but guaranteed to finish in the top four.
Meanwhile, Bisceglie would face sixth-place Francavilla.
Whatever the result, Catania would be assured of finishing fourth or fifth.
At this point, the teams most likely to miss out on promotion this season had become clear.
One of Francavilla and Bisceglie would probably be the unlucky team everyone had been talking about.
Of course, Palermo, in third place with 73 points, wasn't completely safe either. They were only three points ahead of Francavilla. If everyone else won and Palermo lost, Francavilla could still compare head-to-head records with them—and Palermo had the worse record against Francavilla.
After all the calculations, only Turris, with 77 points, had already secured promotion.
San Remo, in second place with 75 points, simply couldn't afford to lose.
A win would bring third-place Palermo to 76 points.
A win would bring fourth- and fifth-place Bisceglie and Catania to 75 points, and both could finish ahead of San Remo on head-to-head record.
If San Remo lost, they would almost certainly have to play in the promotion playoffs.
There was only one path before them.
They had to defeat Turris and claim the league title!