Lisbon, Alvalade Stadium.
As the event progressed, the stadium commentator became increasingly excited:
"I am honored to introduce the guests here today. They are… Barcelona midfield master—Josep Guardiola!"
"The owner of Portugal's No. 10 jersey—Rui Costa!"
"Mário Jardel, two-time Golden Boot champion in the Portuguese Super League!"
"And the presidents and executives of the three major clubs: Sporting Lisbon, Porto, and Benfica!"
Kai looked at the three stars on the screen and felt a surge of emotion.
Guardiola had been a first-class midfield star in his playing days, but there was a definite gap between him and a true superstar.
But who could have imagined that more than ten or twenty years later, he would become one of the world's top head coaches, even more powerful than many superstars?
Although Rui Costa had not shone as brightly after retirement, his status as a player in Portugal was still unquestionable. He was one of the core representatives of the golden generation of Portuguese football.
Jardel, on the other hand, was a bit underrated.
According to the evaluation standards of future data analysts, Jardel was the most impressive of the three.
He was a Copa Libertadores champion, top scorer, and best player winner.
After joining the Portuguese Super League, he led Porto to three league titles, a Portuguese Cup, and won two Super League Golden Boots.
If nothing changed, he was set to win three Portuguese Super League Golden Boots in total.
Over six years in the Portuguese Super League, he amassed five league titles, five Golden Boots, several domestic cup wins, one European Bronze Boot, and two European Golden Boots. The statistics were outrageously impressive!
However, whether in the present moment or in historical status, he was incomparable to the first two.
This was the difference between the five major European leagues and other leagues in this era.
Even Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga were weak in this period, and the Premier League lacked sufficient authority.
Only players in Serie A or La Liga could be considered true superstars!
Finally, after the Portuguese Football Association chairman gave a speech, the young players began entering the stadium.
As cameras captured the lineup, arranged from shortest to tallest, they focused on the back of the line.
Several tall talents, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, were placed at the rear.
But cameras from three media outlets quickly panned back.
These were: Morning Post, Lisbon's largest-circulation daily; Student Newspaper, the most famous publication in Portuguese education circles; and Sports Weekly, a leading Chinese football media outlet.
Reporters from other outlets glanced on skeptically.
A reporter from Morning Post said, "We cover a lot of topics—economy, politics, society, culture, entertainment, sports—and we always have graphics about Asians we can use for news."
This was reasonable.
A reporter from Student Newspaper said, "I think this Asian kid looks familiar. I feel like I've reported on him before."
"Is he Kai Deng, the 13-year-old prodigy admitted to the University of Lisbon this year under special circumstances?"
"It should be him… it can't be wrong… why is he here? Isn't he a top student? And he can play football too?"
The Sports Weekly reporter was buzzing with excitement.
Asian.
Kai Deng.
Chinese name?
Prodigy? Academic genius?
Oh, he must be Chinese!
Admitted to the University of Lisbon with a special exception?
Real or fake?
This was a national-level prodigy!
For a moment, everyone became interested in Kai.
But their attention lasted only briefly before shifting elsewhere.
Because another young player had appeared.
Portugal's young striker Hugo Almeida, Porto's prized prospect. His parents had already been taken care of! This boy was likely to be Portugal's striker for the next ten years!
Lisbon youth training center back José Fonte was the oldest and tallest player in the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the genius from Madeira, the proud striker—the next Quaresma planned by Sporting Lisbon! The next Simão!
After all players entered the stadium, starters went onto the field and substitutes to the bench.
Eusebio and Figo stood in the coaching area.
With a whistle, the game officially began.
…
"GOAL!"
"Nice goal!"
"Incredible! That's his third goal today! A hat trick!"
"This kid is definitely a super talent. I have no doubt he can become the next Quaresma or the next Simão!"
"Let's say his name, Cristiano…"
The 50,000 spectators chanted in unison: "Ronaldo!"
Just from the sound, one could almost believe that the player on the pitch was the alien Ronaldo, the one who would dominate the World Cup stage years later.
"Three to one—Figo team completely dominating!"
"If Almeida hadn't had a bad day, Figo would have scored five goals by now!"
"No, it should be seven. Chris and his teammate Amorim just wasted a single chance."
"The Panthers are completely overwhelmed. No bright spots as a team."
"That little guy named Moutinho is completely unable to carry the organizational responsibility. He lost the ball today as soon as he got it."
"There's no way—the fitness gap at this age is too big. Moutinho's skills are fine, but he's too small. It's like children playing against adults."
"And speaking of small guys, the Panthers have an even shorter boy on the bench. It's going to be a disaster."
"When that kid comes on later, I hope he won't be completely overshadowed."
In the 72nd minute, Eusebio made another substitution. He had already made one at the 50th minute, but it had little effect.
Kai walked to the sidelines, ready to play.
"Thank you!" Kai patted Moutinho, who looked utterly humiliated.
Moutinho stared blankly, completely different from his lively pre-game self.
This chatterbox had been beaten to the point of silence.
As he stepped onto the field, a voice only he could hear sounded in his mind.
"You've received rewards from past stars—the Dutchman's Applause and Young Ronaldo's Revenge Flame!"
"Dutchman's Applause: Cruyff applauds your performance. During the game, you gain Cruyff's upper body strength bonus!"
"Young Ronaldo's Revenge Flame: You defeated young Ronaldo and inspired his relentless drive. When you face Ronaldo, he will just want to dribble past you!"
Kai smiled slightly.
This was the post-game reward he had received for their game three years ago.
After each match, the system would rate his performance. Depending on the rating, the rewards varied.
In that game, Kai received an SSS-level rating, gaining these two star items.
This would be his only support in the current game.
He had missed three years of training, so his football level hadn't changed much.
Three years ago, he might have been the best among his peers.
But now, as Ronaldo had said, Kai had been surpassed by many.
Of course, Kai had strong intuition: even if he had continued football over the past three years, his level would probably be exactly the same as now.
Because this was the upper limit of "mediocrity."
At this moment, Kai was certain his original choice was correct.
A sharpened knife will never stop chopping wood.
Without the accumulation of these three years, he would have been shackled by talent.
Now, progress could be felt constantly.
Because his current talent rating was unparalleled!
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