Welcome to Sao Paulo

If Europe's Premier League was considered devil-level, then Brazil's clubs could only be called demon king-level—or hell-level.

Brazil's top domestic league began at the end of May each year, yet they had to complete all thirty-eight rounds in less than seven months, with continental cup competitions squeezed in between.

So did those teams take vacations before May?

Of course not!

If that were true, Brazil could never have produced so many footballing prodigies.

Because Brazil's territory was vast and its football clubs as numerous as fish crossing a river, every state in the country had its own state championship.

Take Sao Paulo State, for example. It had the Campeonato Paulista, where sixteen teams were divided into four groups each year for home-and-away matches.

Those matches began in January and lasted until the league ended in May.

So Brazilian football clubs had it far tougher than Premier League teams.

The key was that their income was several levels lower too. That was why Brazilian players desperately wanted to play in Europe.

But to be honest, the intensity of Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A matches was vastly different from Europe's. Most games were slow-paced enough to make people drowsy.

If they all played with the intensity of European clubs, then with Brazil's packed schedule, most players would probably spend the year injured.

The Copa Libertadores was somewhat similar to Europe's Champions League, though there were also differences.

The similarity was that both had eight groups, with the top two advancing, and their knockout stages were the same as well.

The difference was that, from the group stage through the knockout draw, there was no rule requiring teams from the same country to avoid each other.

The match between Sao Paulo and Atletico Mineiro was the final clash of the group stage.

By sheer coincidence, Sao Paulo had only four points and sat in second place, level on points with Arsenal de Sarandi of Argentina, who were third.

Atletico Mineiro, meanwhile, had earned fifteen points, locking up first place and qualification well in advance.

So, with no deep grudge between the two teams...

Sao Paulo ultimately won 2–0 and advanced alongside their good buddies from the same country, Atletico Mineiro.

What was more, Sao Paulo had struggled to break through for a long time. It was only a second-half penalty created by the future Aloisio that broke the deadlock.

A coordinated match?

Yes and no!

Football was not all about fighting and killing. Football was about human relationships, one match at a time!

Bang...! Bang...!

At eight in the morning, the sound of footballs being kicked echoed far beyond Sao Paulo's training base.

In Brazil, most clubs trained quite late. Some began after ten in the morning, while others did not start until the afternoon. Their workdays lasted only four or five hours at most, with actual training time amounting to roughly two hours.

Coming to the training ground to play football this early was truly rare.

In a security dormitory not far from the entrance to the base, a middle-aged man in his fifties was awakened by the noise. He opened his eyes and rubbed them. Rather than looking angry, he wore a long-lost smile. "Two years... my alarm clock has finally come back..."

On the training pitch, Chen Anno, dressed in training gear, was practicing set pieces. This was the task the head coach had assigned him yesterday, and he himself also wanted to improve his set-piece technique as quickly as possible.

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Every movement the youth made sent his lush black hair flying, and droplets of sweat swayed through the air with the motion of his hair.

Chen Anno possessed unparalleled talent. Not only did others know it, but he himself knew it very clearly.

In Brazil, he had seen and heard of countless talented players, but those who truly made it and fulfilled their potential were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Therefore, Chen Anno never squandered his talent simply because it was exceptional. On the contrary, he worked harder than the vast majority of players.

From the day he entered Sao Paulo at the age of seven, he had been the hardest-working player in the entire club. Every old employee at the club knew that well.

Football training was extremely tedious, but Chen Anno never grew tired of it.

He swung his leg again and again, kicking the ball over and over until he had used up all fifteen footballs on the pitch. Then he collected them and repeated the process endlessly.

"Hey... kid, coming to the training ground this early? Are you trying to steal the jobs of us old guys?"

No one knew how much time had passed. Chen Anno had already taken several breaks when figures finally began appearing on the training ground.

Chen Anno turned around and saw two players in the same training gear behind him. He knew both of them. One was Brazil national team veteran Lucio, while the other was Denilson.

Of course, this Denilson was not the one known as the Samba Dancer. Although that Denilson had also come from Sao Paulo, he had been retired for several years.

In short, Brazil had far too many people with identical names.

The Denilson standing before Chen Anno now might not have been as famous as that record-breaking Denilson, but in the eyes of their generation of youth academy players, this senior was just as formidable.

Because in Chen Anno's first year in Sao Paulo's youth academy, he had grown up constantly hearing this senior's name.

Born in 1988, Denilson had been Brazil national team captain at every youth level, from the U15 Youth Team to U19.

He had also played for Premier League giants Arsenal for five years. Unfortunately, injuries had ruined this all-round midfielder.

The impressions of the two seniors flashed through his mind. Chen Anno showed no timidity at all. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Truly formidable seniors are always role models for us young people. Only old men who have already lost their fighting spirit would worry about being surpassed by us."

Chen Anno paused, then looked at Lucio, who had spoken earlier. "So, Lucio, which kind are you?"

Both men were clearly stunned by Chen Anno's words.

"Hahaha... You're quite something, kid. Pretty interesting." The Brazil national team captain laughed heartily, amusement glinting in his eyes. "As for which kind I am, you'll find out slowly later."

"Welcome aboard, Annuo." Denilson smiled and extended his hand toward Chen Anno.

"Thank you, Denilson." Chen Anno also extended his right hand. "When I first joined Sao Paulo's youth academy, aside from Kaka, yours was the name I heard most often."

Just then, Sao Paulo's first-team players gradually began appearing on the pitch, chatting and laughing beneath the sunlight.

Clap, clap, clap...

Once the players had more or less gathered, head coach Ramalho arrived with his coaching staff.

"Alright, guys, come over here. Gather around me..."

After the players had lined up, Ramalho called Chen Anno to his side and patted his shoulder.

"This is Annuo Chen. I imagine some of you already know him well. He is a genuine product of Sao Paulo's youth academy. Starting today, Annuo will join the first team and fight alongside us.

Lucio, you're the senior here. I'm leaving Annuo to you. I hope you can help him integrate into the team as soon as possible."

"Alright, sir. No problem." Lucio nodded.

"Okay. Today's training will still be simple. Warm up with Milton first, then we'll play a five-versus-five scrimmage. Go on..."

"Annuo, wait a moment..." Ramalho called out just as Chen Anno turned to follow his teammates to warm up.

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