Sao Paulo State Derby

With the Confederations Cup over, the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A was about to resume, but before that, Sao Paulo still had a cup match to play.

The Recopa Sudamericana, also known as the South American Super Cup, was like the UEFA Super Cup, contested by the previous season's Copa Libertadores champion and Copa Sudamericana champion.

This match was not only a domestic clash between Brazilian clubs, but also a city derby for Sao Paulo.

There were three teams in central Sao Paulo: Sao Paulo, Corinthians, and Palmeiras.

Because Sao Paulo was located in a wealthy district, it was seen as the representative of the traditional elite class, and it was also the first football club in Brazil to own a modern stadium.

Corinthians had originally been founded by a group of working-class laborers, so it was seen as the people's team. The club also had the second-highest level of support in Brazil, behind only Flamengo.

So the Sao Paulo Derby between Sao Paulo and Corinthians was like a showdown between the people and the elites, and every meeting was extremely heated.

However, unlike the UEFA Super Cup, the Recopa Sudamericana used a two-legged home-and-away format, with Sao Paulo playing at home first and away second.

Because of a previous blog post by Xu Lang, Chen Anno had become a minor sensation back home.

Although there was no official domestic broadcast of the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, on some Happy Bean websites, there were still plenty of streamers broadcasting niche leagues from Brazil and South America.

"Good morning, brothers. You can hear my voice, right? You can hear me, yeah? Heh... There are quite a lot of people this morning. Have you all had breakfast?" the streamer Li Batian appeared on screen.

[Is the streamer showing Chen Anno's match?]

[Old Li, hurry up and get the video up. We're here to watch the match, not your big pancake face.]

"Don't rush, brothers. I'm looking. The match still has two minutes. I'm finding the feed for everyone, aren't I? I've got to find one that's clear and doesn't have too much delay."

Li Batian took his time. After about a dozen seconds, the feed appeared, and both teams' players had already entered the pitch.

"New brothers in the stream, please give the streamer a follow. You can also join the streamer's QQ group. There are recommendations in the group every day at random times. Besides South America's Brasileiro and Argentine league, there are also Europe's top five leagues..."

Li Batian went through the routine, and by the time he finished his opening spiel, the opening ceremony on the screen was already over.

[Old Li, cut the crap. Give us an exact score. Got rinsed all night yesterday. Let me win some back in the morning so I can sleep sweetly.]

[Yeah, yeah, Old Li, hurry up with the exact score. Need to win my money back.]

[First time here. The match is about to start. Shouldn't the streamer introduce the starting lineups first?]

[Exactly. What kind of streamer is this? We're here to watch Chen Anno. Is Chen Anno starting or not?]

"There is one, brothers. There'll definitely be an exact score. Because this match is the Recopa, two legs, the streamer fancies Sao Paulo to take the first step at home. Judging from the two teams' league form before this, exact score, 3–1 or 4–1."

"And the new brothers should be here purely to watch football. The streamer welcomes you all too, ha. Old fans all know the streamer never reads out starting lineups here, but since there are lots of new friends today, Old Li will make an exception. I'll look for it in a bit... Brothers, hit that follow first."

[Holy crap! Old Li rates Sao Paulo that highly? Looking at the head-to-head between these two teams, Corinthians have a huge advantage.]

[I think so too. Even over two legs, if Sao Paulo can hold a draw at home, that'd be pretty good. I'm not listening to Li Batian. I'll go with 1–1 myself.]

[The brother upstairs is right. Following that one.]

"All right, brothers, Chen Anno is starting today..."

"I'll read out the starting lineups first. For Sao Paulo...

The goalkeeper is No. 1, Ceni.

The defenders are No. 23 Douglas Pereira, No. 3 Lucio, No. 2 Rafael Toloi, and No. 16 Juan.

The midfielders are No. 10 Jadson, No. 7 Rodrigo Caio, No. 15 Denilson, and No. 8 Ganso.

The forwards are No. 21 Anno Chen, who should be Chen Anno, and No. 9 Fabiano."

"I mean, brothers, now that I've read the starting lineup to you, how many of them can you recognize?"

"For Corinthians, the goalkeeper is No. 12 Cassio.

The defenders are No. 6 Santos, No. 13 Andre, No. 4 Gil, and No. 21 Edenilson.

The defensive midfielders are No. 19 Guilherme and No. 5 Ralf.

The midfielders are No. 11 Sheik, No. 20 Danilo, and No. 17 Romarinho.

The forward is No. 9 Guerrero."

While Li Batian was still reading the starting lineups in the livestream, the match had already begun.

This was Chen Anno's first start at home today, and he was facing their city archrivals Corinthians, so he was inevitably a little excited.

Unlike the previous matches, Ramalho had set up in a 4-4-2 formation today, so Chen Anno did not appear in his familiar No. 10 position, but on the right side of a two-striker pairing.

As soon as the match started, Corinthians showed signs of taking over despite being away from home. Their whole formation pushed very high up, launching a fierce attack toward Sao Paulo's half.

Smack... smack...

With a one-two, Corinthians right-back Edenilson drove to the byline along the flank, using his pace to break directly past Juan's defense before crossing the ball into the penalty area near the end line.

Center forward Guerrero leaped high and headed at goal, and the ball flew out over the end line almost brushing the crossbar.

The veteran captain Ceni broke out in a cold sweat.

This Peruvian center forward of Corinthians really did have a good ability to attack the ball. As expected of someone who had even spent time at Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

Although he was already thirty-two this year, that jump just now was clearly a little quicker than Lucio's reaction.

"Brothers, as expected of a derby. They've gone straight to bayonets from the start, no feeling each other out at all."

Li Batian was right. This was a derby. Corinthians had already shown their attitude, and Sao Paulo, playing at home, naturally would not fall behind either.

Lucio spread the ball out to the right flank, and Jadson began to carry it forward.

The wide midfielder had only transferred to Sao Paulo last year from Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk.

Corinthians pressed fiercely, so Jadson started moving down the touchline. Chen Anno slowed down and came into the half-space, ready to offer support.

"Good ball. Chen Anno's first touch of the match, guys. Let's see what our boy Anno can really do, and whether he's as absurdly good as people online make him out to be."

Li Batian's voice rang out, and the livestream instantly exploded. After all, plenty of the fans who had come today were here for Chen Anno.

Most of those fans were still watching the match while slacking off at work.

Morumbi Stadium.

The moment Chen Anno got the ball, Guilherme stuck tight to him, trying to use his body to force him toward the sideline.

The two were very similar in height and weight, and the results of all Chen Anno's recent iron-pumping in the gym showed at once.

He first raised his left arm to hold off his opponent's pressure, then pulled the ball back with his right foot, shaping as if he were about to break through behind him.

Just as Guilherme's center of gravity shifted, Chen Anno suddenly hooked the ball back with his right foot again, then knocked it forward to the left. At the same time, his left foot pushed off the ground, and he shot out from right in front of Guilherme.

Chen Anno's instant burst was terrifying. Guilherme tried to reach out and pull him back, but he couldn't even grab the hem of his shirt. He could only watch helplessly as Chen Anno sprinted away.

After shaking off the defender, Chen Anno dribbled straight toward the penalty area along the right half-space.

Seeing that Chen Anno was about to reach the edge of the box, left back Santos had no choice but to leave Jadson and charge toward him.

"Beautiful! Chen Anno's running now! That speed is good!"