After the tests, three C-rank players were moved up to B-rank.
Meanwhile, Moric rose from B-rank to A-rank.
He was no longer a nobody on the team.
But some people were still just as unlucky.
Lu Yang, for example, was still C-rank.
And Baizami, despite coming up through Inter Milan's youth academy, was still B-rank.
His stats, however, were top-tier.
His dribbling, passing, and shooting might not have reached A-rank standards, but he was still no worse than Vedian.
Speed was Baizami's real specialty. He was the fastest in the entire training camp—even faster than Vedian.
But his rebellious personality and inability to learn the team's tactics were fatal flaws. Inter Milan had already confirmed as much, so his ranking remained unchanged.
After the tests, the coaching staff divided the forty-five players into groups of five and had them train together over the next few days.
The five S-rank players obviously wouldn't be grouped together. Each would lead a different team.
But Lu Yang was surprised to find himself grouped with Moric, Baizami, Versace, Soguer, and the others.
Three A-rank players!
That made their lineup one of the better ones among the nine teams.
For some reason, Lu Yang felt that Maniero's tone had changed when he read out the names in their group.
There was something fishy about it.
With the team short of players in every position, Lu Yang even wondered if Soto and Maniero had arranged this so they could get to know one another beforehand.
After all, Soguer had come up through Milan's youth academy, and Soto was a Milan legend.
Versace had come up through the Viola's youth academy, while Carlisle was close to Maniero, who in turn was close to Soto.
Could those two... be joining San Remo before the season began, too?
The more Lu Yang thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
So he asked Maniero with a look.
Maniero pretended not to notice, which only confirmed some of Lu Yang's suspicions.
In that moment, Lu Yang knew exactly how to get along with this little group.
These guys are going to be my brothers in arms!
So, during the training that followed, Lu Yang spoke up constantly.
"Soguer, how can your passing be so good? You're the best target man I've ever seen!"
"No, don't be modest, Soguer. I can practically see the shadow of that great Real Madrid striker in you!"
"Look at that clever backheel! You could play in midfield. You're almost leaving Moric with nothing to do!"
Moric's response was, What the hell?
"Versace, why are you always so versatile? Tell me, is there anything you can't do? Good heavens, you're one meter eighty-one tall, too. You could handle everything from defense to attack all by yourself!"
"Hahaha, no, no, Versace, you're too modest. Moric isn't nearly as tall as you!"
Moric ground his teeth. So this is how love disappears, huh?
In just two days, the atmosphere in Lu Yang's group had become almost unbelievably harmonious.
Even Baizami could chat with the others.
It was a far cry from the tense atmosphere in some of the other groups.
Lu Yang's leadership skills were on full display.
But there was still a problem.
During group training, Baizami really couldn't fit into the team's combinations.
His positional sense was terrible.
He never knew when to pass the ball or what the best option was.
And whenever he saw Lu Yang, Moric, Soguer, and Versace playing crisp one-touch passes, he always felt a powerful sense of inferiority.
Their beautiful passing moves always came to an end when the ball reached him.
His own passes were always ill-timed, too.
That night,
after training, Baizami was still practicing on the pitch instead of heading back to the dorm.
It was nearly bedtime, and Lu Yang hadn't found him in their room. The five of them shared the same dormitory.
Lu Yang went out looking for him and soon spotted him on the pitch.
"Hey, Baizami... are you... crying?" Lu Yang noticed that Baizami's eyes were red.
"No. It's just sweat." Baizami stubbornly denied it as he wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.
"Right. I must've been mistaken." Lu Yang sat down beside him, gazed at the sky for a while, then slowly said, "Actually... there's a kind of football that doesn't require much teamwork."
Baizami was sensitive. His spirits lifted, but then quickly sank again. "You're just trying to comfort me, aren't you? Thanks, Lu. You're a good teammate!"
Lu Yang shook his head. "I'm not trying to comfort you. At one World Cup, there was a player who, whenever he got the ball, was swarmed by several opponents. There was no way he could pass it to anyone."
"He had to play a one-man game!"
"Who was he?" Baizami asked.
"Leo Messi!" Lu Yang replied.
Baizami frowned. "Never heard of him."
"That's all right. He plays differently from you. He's a great playmaker, and he only ended up in that kind of situation when his team was desperate. But you... your lack of tactical awareness and teamwork means you're in that same desperate situation in every game."
"Forgive me for being blunt, but what I'm saying is that you can still play useful professional football for the team without combining with your teammates. That's how Messi helped his team back then."
Baizami stood up. "Really? How?"
A rare spark appeared in his eyes.
Lu Yang nodded. "Of course! His way was to... keep dribbling, beat one opponent after another, and then smash that damn ball into the net!"
Baizami froze.
Lu Yang's words had struck a chord deep inside him.
Italian football placed great importance on tactical systems, from defense to attack.
Baizami didn't fit in here.
From his first day at Inter Milan, he had been taught to work well with his teammates.
But teamwork was a talent, too, and Baizami didn't have it.
He had thought there was only one way to play football.
It wasn't until he met Lu Yang today that he saw another side of the game.
Of course, Lu Yang didn't tell Baizami that even Messi, as brilliant as he was, could only use that style of play to get knocked out early at that World Cup.
But that was the World Cup.
For San Remo, who would be competing in Serie C next season, even a Baizami who only knew how to charge forward could be useful.
When Chelsea won the Champions League, Kante was unquestionably the biggest hero.
But Werner, the nuisance up front, had drawn away two opposing center-backs at once, and that was one of the direct reasons Chelsea scored.
His threat couldn't be ignored.
Chelsea's attack slowed in the second half partly because Manchester City finally brought on a defensive midfielder, but also because Werner had been substituted!
So charging forward again and again could absolutely have a role in team football!
That was why Lu Yang wanted to bring Baizami out of his funk. He couldn't let him sink into a sea of self-doubt and lose the sharpness he already had.
"Is there really a kind of football where you just keep dribbling past people?" Baizami asked, predictably falling back into self-doubt.
"Of course. I'll show you sometime," Lu Yang said.
This time, Baizami laughed.
How would he show him?
Lu Yang obviously wasn't as good at dribbling as Baizami.
But no matter what, Baizami understood Lu Yang's kindness.
And now he knew how he should play from here on.
Instead of trying to combine with the team, he'd be a sharp dribbler—even a goal scorer!
Star of Italy had begun airing.
A documentary-style reality show featuring forty-five young, talented players was a first for world football.
Everyone wanted to see Italy's ability to create stars.
It was also a chance to see the talent of Italy's younger generation.
After all, the Italy National Team had suffered one defeat after another in recent years. They'd long since stopped being the team that had won the World Cup twelve years ago.
"Is that Aguilar? I remember him playing in Serie A last season. He's Roma's right winger!"
"There are actually Serie A players here? This is a high-caliber lineup!"
"And there's Ceballos from Ligue 1 champions Monaco. He looks so cool when he plays. His movements are so graceful!"
"Parrott from Porto is good. He scores a lot!"
"Lam from Liverpool in the Premier League is really solid in defense. He's got the makings of a leader!"
"Hey, why is there a player from Serie D? Does that count as talent?"
"Man, you're out of the loop. That's Lu Yang! Sophia's rumored boyfriend!"
"Holy crap! It's him! What makes him so special?"
"Isn't that handsome face enough?"
"Uh... I don't want to admit it, but that actually makes a lot of sense."
Soon, everyone got to see the clash between Aguilar and Baizami.
Aguilar's abusive language had been censored, but everyone could still tell what he'd said from the movement of his lips.
Before long, a lot of people were sick of Aguilar.
That anger found an outlet when Lu Yang stepped in.
When Lu Yang defeated Aguilar cleanly, the internet erupted in cheers.
Comments poured in: "No wonder he's the man Sophia picked. He's so dominant," "You can bully anyone you want, but you can't bully a San Remo player. Now that's team spirit," and "That's what a real man looks like."
Lu Yang gained a huge number of fans in no time.
Meanwhile, in the real world, the training camp at Juventus Stadium had moved on to its next stage.
Team training!
In other words, they'd be playing actual matches.
Maniero announced in front of the players, "Lads, it's time to prove yourselves in real matches. First, we'll choose two captains, one for Team A and one for Team B."
"Each captain will pick seventeen players to make an eighteen-man squad, and then the two teams will play."
"We'll take note of players who perform well in the match. Of course, the winning team will get a performance bonus."
"The nine players who aren't picked, along with thirteen players who receive low ratings or don't get much chance to show what they can do, will be split into two new teams—Team C and Team D—and play another match."
"After that, we'll finish the selection process and choose the twenty-four-man squad. Then the team's formal training will begin."
"Of those twenty-four players, eighteen will ultimately remain. They'll face Millwall in the EFL Championship, England U19, and Arsenal in the Premier League. Under the eyes of the whole world, they'll get to show off their talent!"
"Believe me, if you're good enough, you'll soon have a chance to get a contract with a major club or go out on loan to a strong team! Now, let's begin by choosing the captains for Teams A and B."
When he finished, everyone began discussing it.
"I want to be captain of Team A. I'll lead everyone to victory. And victory means more of us will get to stay!" Aguilar stepped forward.
As a Serie A player and a twenty-three-year-old veteran, people took what he said seriously.
Others were eager to give it a try, but their chances of beating Aguilar were clearly slim.
Aguilar was chosen as Team A's captain.
As the first captain selected, he got to pick four players first.
The captain of Team B, on the other hand, would pick eight players in one go. Then the captains would take turns, with Team A's captain picking first and Team B's captain after him.
There was no doubt that this selection process favored Team A.
It was a reward for the bold.
But even Maniero hadn't expected Aguilar to go this far.
He picked the other four S-rank players!
Many of the players there gasped.
What was the point of even playing?
They might as well join Team A now. Team B didn't have a single S-rank player. How could they possibly win?
As a result, nobody wanted to be Team B's captain.
Just as things were about to stall, Lu Yang stepped forward and said, "I'm running for captain of Team B. I hope you'll choose me. I can promise I'll do everything I can to lead us to victory. Rankings don't mean everything. We can win!"
Lu Yang quickly became Team B's captain, since no one challenged him.
Most of the players wanted to be picked for Team A and enjoy an easy win.
The players Lu Yang chose were Moric, Baizami, Versace, Soguer, and four others who still seemed determined to fight.
They'd been together for over a week, so they knew one another fairly well.
About ten minutes later, the selections were over.
The nine players who hadn't been picked didn't seem too disappointed as they headed to the sidelines.
Not being picked was still better than being picked for Team B, right?
Team B was bound to lose. They'd rather wait to play for Teams C and D later.
Teams A and B moved on to the preparations, deciding on starters, substitutes, and tactics.
That put a lot of responsibility on the captains.
It was as if the captains had become coaches, too.
The five coaches began speaking quietly among themselves.
Carlisle said, "Team B is much weaker overall. There's no way Team A can lose this match!"
Ancarelli said, "That's true. Perhaps the only area where Team B isn't at a disadvantage is midfield. The trio of Moric, Lu Yang, and Versace can just about hold their own against Team A's midfield, built around Ceballos. The first two come from the same team and have great chemistry, so they can achieve more than the sum of their parts."
Perotta said, "But Team A has a dream lineup, while Team B... aside from Soguer, doesn't have a single player who can cut it!"
Taji said, "Perhaps Team B should aim to limit how many goals they lose by. That would be more realistic."
Maniero chuckled. "Not necessarily. You never know—there could be a surprise. A few of them are the kind of players we've previously identified as performers who rise to the occasion. Lu Yang, for instance, and..."
Only after Maniero said that did everyone realize that Team B did indeed have a few players with average stats who had excelled in the league.
Was it a coincidence?
After all, the idea of a player who rose to the occasion wasn't reliable to begin with, and there was no way to tell.
But if Lu Yang had been there, he would have told these mentors that it was possible to tell.
When everyone rushed to join Team A, a few of them had a fierce, defiant light in their eyes.
They disdained riding on someone else's coattails. No matter how strong their opponents were, they wouldn't shy away from a challenge.
These players were very likely the kind who rose to the occasion.
They might not be strong, but they really could be!