I AM the Football Star-Chapter 548 - 148: Italy Eliminated, There Was Never Lu in This World!
Enriquez and Mancini!
They are very likely to become the first-ever tie for the Golden Boy Award!
I don’t know who wrote the script for this rivalry of the century, but this script is indeed unbeatable.
La Liga has already started for six rounds.
Enriquez and Mancini have certainly not disappointed their supporters.
Enriquez has scored four goals and made two assists in six games for Real Madrid, in scorching form!
Mancini has scored five goals in six games for Barcelona, equally formidable!
Although neither is the leading figure of their respective teams, it is clear to everyone that they will definitely be the future core of their teams.
Real Madrid and Barça are also tied for first place on the La Liga standings, a rivalry of equals.
Such a duo has attracted many fans.
And in the last round of matches, Enriquez scored an overhead kick in the first half!
Mancini, as if hearing the fans’ calls, also produced a spectacular overhead kick goal in the 80th minute of the second half!
A response across the air!
These two goals were also rated the best goals of the sixth round by the La Liga officials!
The quality of the two goals actually has some differences.
Enriquez’s move was more graceful, and the accuracy of the overhead kick was higher.
But Mancini’s shot was from a longer distance.
If you really want to rank them, Enriquez might come out on top.
But the great thing about La Liga officials is that they didn’t force a ranking but instead broke the rules and made two best goals.
This is the cleverness of La Liga.
They know how to tell a story.
And the outstanding rivalry indeed lived up to expectations, with these two overhead kicks becoming a huge hit globally!
From this point on, Enriquez and Mancini have taken the internet by storm.
If all of Italy has already fallen for Lu Yang,
Then, apart from Italy, the entire European football has already fallen for Enriquez and Mancini.
Torino Sports Paper "appropriately" stepped forward to say: "We have to say, the competition for this year’s Golden Boy Award is already out of suspense. We are fortunate to have made the right judgment, with Enriquez and Mancini ranking in our top two!"
"But we also regret that we can’t have Enriquez and Mancini exclusively on the same list because, in our view, they have created a gap in strength with all the other players behind them."
"They are a class above the rest. Putting them on the same list unfairly detracts from the achievements of other outstanding players."
"And it also deprives Enriquez and Mancini of the possibility of enjoying higher honors."
Listening to these words, one might even speculate that if Torino Sports Paper could control the rankings of the Golden Ball Award, they would place these two stars at the very top.
Luckily, Torino Sports Paper doesn’t have that power.
You ask why?
Strength is certainly part of it, but it might also be because these two stars have "invested" the most.
They represent high-end endorsements of Nike and Ah Ke, with these two brands having invested heavily in them.
Those familiar with these two sports brands know that they often make higher-level "investments" in players beyond advertising!
Given their substantial investments, they have a say in many awards.
When the data is similar, the decision of who receives the award can be manipulated.
This is more apparent in basketball.
Curry could never win FMVP in his lifetime—Ah Ke said it, and they kept their word!
Regardless of performance, FMVPs are only given to the main stars!
Except in extreme cases, there’s only one reason FMVP isn’t awarded to the main star, and that’s when capital intentionally breaks up the championship team.
Back to football, after the statement from Torino Sports Paper, Ah Ke indeed immediately followed up, publicly declaring on social media: "Enriquez is the most outstanding young player on this planet, without a doubt!"
Soon, Nike also issued a statement: "Mancini is the strongest player under twenty-two, the strongest!"
The recent frequent vocal presence of these two sports giants is actually for a reason.
The sales of HXLT, endorsed by Lu Yang, have increased a thousandfold in Europe!
Of course... that’s based on the fact that HXLT previously had almost no sales in Europe.
The sales of the indigo-colored Hunting Blade worn by Lu Yang and the subsequent release of the Flaming Hunting Blade don’t even compare to those of Ah Ke and Nike, not even to the sales of second-tier European sports brands’ shoes.
But... growth rate is a crucial metric!
Moreover, although the sales figures of Hunter Blade can’t surpass most of the major series shoes of Ah Ke and Nike, they have already caught up with the sales volume of some of their lesser-known shoes.
Even if it captures one-thousandth of the market share, it is still a gain.
How can the two giants allow an Eastern company to be so arrogant?
They know that once an Eastern company opens sales in the European market, with their prices and terrifying production capacity, the European market will soon fall.
At least the budget-friendly space will be occupied by them.
And to protect their market, the two giants have to make concessions, leading to significant losses.
Thus, the two giants, in various ways, are intentionally or unintentionally suppressing HXLT Hunting Blade sales.
They want the young fans of Lu Yang to know that they can have better idols like Enriquez and Mancini.
HXLT quickly launched a counterattack, aware of the two giants’ dirty tactics.
They published Lu Yang’s goal highlights and personal data records on their official platform.
Among them, the scenes and data comparisons of Lu Yang defeating Enriquez and Mancini head-on were brought out and emphasized repeatedly.
HXLT’s caption had only one sentence: "To know who is the strongest, you have to face them. We have faced them, so we know the strongest player under twenty-two years is not in Spain, but in Lu!"
A fierce debate erupted instantly.
What was originally a battle between Eastern and Western companies became a rivalry between Italy and parts of Spain, Catalonia, and England, partly due to Lu Yang’s crucial point of joining the Italy National Team and the narratives of the two giants.
Many Spanish football legends stood out to praise Enriquez.
Barça legends and many English legends also supported Mancini.
Meanwhile, Italian legends, of course, strongly supported Lu Yang.
Maniero, after Italy’s disappointing qualifiers, gave an interview and expressed his opinion: "I don’t know what Torino Sports Paper is thinking, but I just want to say one thing."
"For someone like Lu, wanting to stand out in Italy through football is incredibly difficult. As for the reasons, those who understand will understand."
"Italian Cup, Italian Super Cup, European Youth Championship, sixty goals in a single season, top scorer and best player in four competitions, and Man of the Match in over half of the games he participated in!"
"These honors cannot replace the glory of a top-tier league, but neither can ordinary top-tier league honors surpass them!"
"In terms of honors and statistics, Lu is more eligible for the Golden Boy Award than other players!"
"So... compared to Enriquez, who gained fame in the Real Madrid youth team at nine, and Mancini, who rose to prominence in England at fifteen, in the world of stars, there was originally no Lu..."
"But with more goals, there is Lu!"
"Italy needs goal-scorers like Lu!"
"In my heart, Lu is the strongest young star, without a doubt!"
"Lu will only not win the Golden Boy Award this year if the award doesn’t care about victory or defeat. I’ve never heard of losers being awarded higher honors!"
A stone stirred up a thousand waves.
Maniero broadened the scope of this battle with a firm stance.
So much so that all the global football media focused on the upcoming European competition matches of the three young stars.
Real Madrid and Barça’s third Champions League group match.
And San Remo’s third Europa League group match—an expedition to St. Petersburg!
