Side Story: King of Football Kings—Libo's Ambition (Please Subscribe)
A China-Japan showdown.
Ever since drawing China National Team, the Japanese media had been hyping it up like crazy.
In early anime, Chinese football had always been incredibly strong, and Japanese authors had always treated surpassing China National Team as a goal.
But Japanese football's progress over the past few years had indeed been astonishing.
More than a hundred players had gone to Europe. Forget starting lineups—even their matchday squad could almost be filled with starters from twenty-three major leagues.
Even against the world's top teams, they had the strength to put up a fight.
Unfortunately, China National Team had grown even faster and improved even more.
They had suddenly gone from a third-rate team to the world's number one—universally recognized, at that.
The Asahi Shimbun wrote: "The time has come to test the resolve of Japan's players. If they strive to deliver their very best performance, perhaps we may reach a penalty shootout. But if Kevin is in goal, even penalties will offer no chance whatsoever. In this world, there are always things that remain impossible to change, no matter how hard you fight."
Yomiuri Shimbun: "At the World Cup, we may witness a scene we do not wish to see. According to our information, quite a few housewives who bought tickets with their own money are planning to support China National Team. Japan will lose all face—Japanese women will support Japan National Team's opponents in Saudi Arabia!"
Mainichi Shimbun: "The result of the match is not important. These internationals grew up watching Kevin play. Getting to face Kevin on the pitch this time and learning from him would already be quite valuable. Of course, they must still show the determination to win. To knowingly do what cannot be done—that