I AM the Football Star-Chapter 441 - 124: There Can Be Only One Shit-Stirrer!
"Sevajos plays for Ligue 1’s Monaco, currently the team’s starting left winger and also one of the tactical cores. Last season, he experienced a boom period in his stats, with 18 goals and 12 assists all season, which can be described as luxurious."
The commentators on various TV stations are introducing Sevajos, the goal hero, to the audience.
"Currently, Premier League’s Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, La Liga’s Real Madrid, Barça, Atletico Madrid, Bundesliga’s Bayern, Serie A’s AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus, etc., are all very interested in Sevajos."
"Sevajos is likely to join a top club next year. He is using actual performances to tell those top club bosses, hurry up, if you want me, act quickly, or else I’ll be snatched away by others!"
Sevajos starts celebrating excitedly; the most brilliant part of the goal is his breakthrough.
Although Sevajos and Mancini are both supernovas, there is still a gap in level between players of such caliber.
This can be seen from the Golden Boy Award rankings.
Mancini is ranked first or second, while Sevajos mainly floats between tenth and twentieth this year.
England Youth Team’s midfielder, striker swing player substitute Rashim, is also roughly in this range.
Therefore, being able to be compared with Mancini naturally makes Sevajos happy.
This goal, after the Italy National Youth Team players’ spirit significantly rose.
Morici once again took control, initiating several attacks in the front field.
From the scene, Italy actually miraculously gained the upper hand. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
Their front-field ball control pressure is immense, even England Team needs to defend cautiously.
Therefore, Italy Team’s ball possession rate remains high.
But England is not in a weak position; although their situation is passive, the threat still exists.
Their players generally move faster than Italy players, causing Italy Team’s attacks to seldom find gaps.
Even if there are any, they can adjust with their speed advantage.
Thus the match falls into a stalemate.
And the most feared thing about high possession is falling into a stalemate, especially when possession is lost.
Bang!
As soon as it was said, it happened. What was feared came true.
Under the pressure of Rashim’s disruptive running, Sevajos faced intensified pressure and was intercepted by Chaloba while trying to bypass two defenders.
Chaloba immediately booted the ball powerfully toward the front field.
And the Great British Imperial Star Mancini was like an arrow left the bowstring, rushing towards the ball at the first moment.
He was already in the front field, and fast; Italy’s midfielders and forwards couldn’t create any trouble for Mancini, only watching his taillights go away.
Cortino knew if he continued retreating, he’d eventually be devoured by Mancini, so he proactively sought confrontation.
However, Mancini gently nudged the ball to the side, then accelerated again.
Cortino, already not fast, was literally eaten alive by Mancini’s speed, overtaken on a curve.
Now, only Pirola stood between Mancini and the Italy goalkeeper Areola.
Last match’s Pavovsky’s shot was still fresh in memory, and Mancini, who is famous for speed and shooting skills, exhibits shooting that surpasses Pavovsky in terms of visual enjoyment.
Hence, Pirola can’t back down anymore, as they are already within Mancini’s shooting range.
Pirola prepared to press forward.
Mancini rapidly rotated his feet on the ball, performing intense cycling.
But his speed forward while cycling was still very fast.
Pirola prepared to extend his foot.
Meanwhile, Cortino chased from behind Mancini, coming on fiercely.
Bang!
Mancini suddenly nudged the ball to the right, and in a flash, shifted obviously to the right by a meter.
His burst power was astounding!
And beside him, Cortino chasing back and Pirola pressing forward collided uncontrollably.
A traffic accident on Italy’s defensive line just happened!
But Mancini remained focused; upon entering the penalty area, he sensed a gust of wind from the right.
Italy’s left-back Nikluci was very focused this time; although left behind when Mancini started, he never gave up.
And now, his efforts were finally rewarded.
With teammates’ obstruction and Mancini’s shift to the right, Nikluci saw an opportunity to halt Mancini.
He made a sideline slide tackle, trying to emulate Lu Yang’s block on Pavovsky from the previous match.
The environment matters!
The type of teammates dictates the direction of guidance you’ll receive.
This is vividly shown in Mbappe.
Mbappe was initially known only for speed, but after two years of playing alongside Neymar at Paris, his style visibly became more "irregular."
Although his footwork is still not as natural as Boss Mei’s nor as nimble as Neymar’s, a certain aura rooted in him.
On one hand, his technical options have increased; he’s integrating technique with his speed, becoming increasingly threatening.
On another hand, his footballing notions have broadened.
The same one-touch pass, though efficient, players might lose imagination due to such efficiency, but Mbappe under Neymar’s influence, his football imagination is growing day by day.
Perhaps it hasn’t fully transformed yet, but one day, it might happen.
