"You said you'll be able to hold out for hundred and twenty minutes!"

  Iands, after witnessing Gervinho's goal, De Laurentiis ughed aloud, mog Alessio Secco.

  The Juventus sp director, sitting nearby, was nearly purple with frustration.

  Secco had boasted about Juventus' defense being capable of sting 120 minutes, only to be uhin the first 26 minutes. His words had quickly backfired, turning the se into something resembling a social death on dispy.

  Surrounded by Napoli supporters and guests, Secco felt their grinning faces turning toward him, silently encing: e on, say more! It's fine! We support you!

  Secco fought the urge to flee, cursing Deschamps internally.

  How long had it been since Deschamps took over as coach, and the man already seemed to have fotten Juventus' proud tradition of defense? Juventus had built its reputation on defense. Even if they couldn't score, they never lost their defensive sharpness!

  "That Pelle kid has good physicality. He's tall, strong, and mobile, but he's a bit raw," ented Marino with a grin.

  It was true. Despite Pelle's key assist, he still cked polish in some areas.

  "When he was iional Youth Team, our Juventus scouts had followed him, but we decided that he was relying too mu his early physical advantage. So, we didn't pursue him too aggressively. Now, looking back, our judgment was right." Secco quickly steered the versation away from the "120-minute" disaster.

  He desperately wao avoid any more discussion about his embarrassing predi.

  "Holy, selling your top scorer Caio and bringing i seems like a bad deal," Secco said, trying to sound like the expert, subtly questioning Gao Shen's transfer decisions.

  Och, though Pelle had tributed to Gervinho's goal, his overall performance wasn't particurly dominant as a traditional ter-forward.

  By modern standards, ters are often evaluated by how many goals they score. And so far, Pelle was struggling to live up to that metric.

  Both De Laurentiis and Marino kly what Secco was insinuating.

  "Please, Alessio," Marino replied with a sly grin, "don't say any more. If Pelle keeps pying well, all it proves is ohing."

  "What's that?" someone nearby asked.

  "That tomorrow, Alessio will get a new niame Italy's own Little Pelé."

  The ent drew r ughter from the crowd.

  Everyone knew Pelé wasn't just famous as a footballer but also for his "cursed predis." Calling Secco Little Pelé was implying that his predis were as reliable as Pelé's infamous jinxes.

  Secco's face darkened.

  Pelé? *Little* Pelé?

  Where am I small? he thought bitterly.

  His "120-minute" decration had barely left his lips before reality came crashing down in just 26 minutes. His face still stung from the metaphorical sp, but what could he do?

  The people iands were all promi figures, including De Laurentiis. No matter how upset Secco felt, he couldn't push back too hard. After all, they were teically his hosts.

  Just six or seven minutes after the first goal, Napoli unched atack.

  Biglia mao steal the ball from Paro at the edge of the 30-meter zone and quickly passed it wide to the left.

  Vargas sprinted forward to collect the ball and advanced up the field.

  Gervinho made a diagonal run, cutting inside and leaving the entire left fnk for Vargas.

  Seeing Marni attempting to close him down, Vargas wasted no time, whipping a diagonal cross with his left foot into the penalty area.

  Once again, Pelle was there.

  Holding off Kovac with his strength, Pelle cushiohe ball with his chest, setting it up perfectly into the open space.

  Like a bolt of lightning, Gervinho darted forward, beating Birindelli and Kovac to the ball. Gervinho mao stab the ball forward, driving into the penalty box.

  Even with Buffon narrowing the angle and standing close to the left post, Gervinho sprinted down the baseline. Just as the ball seemed about to roll out of bounds, Gervinho miraculously cut it back across the goal.

  The ball rolled towards the middle of the penalty area.

  Hamsik sprinted forward to meet it, but he was a fra too slow.

  Chiellini, thinking the threat was ralized, didn't realize that another Napoli pyer was still lurking.

  "Sanchez!!!!"

  "The ball's in again!!!!"

  "2-0!"

  "Seventeen-year-old iional from Chile, Alexis Sanchez, puts Napoli further ahead!"

  After the goal, Saurned and sprinted in celebration.

  Pyers rushed towards him, but Sanchez deftly dodged everyone, running straight to the coach's bend leaping into Gao Shen's arms. The momentum nearly sent Gao Shen crashing to the ground.

  Other pyers quickly followed, piling on top of Gao Shen.

  Even David Luiz joined in, ag as a self-appoiraffic director," shouting, "You, e here! And you, get dowoo!"

  Before long, Gao Shen was buried beh a mountain of his ecstatic pyers.

  The San Paolo stadium erupted in jubition. Within ten minutes, Napoli had scored twice.

  "We've seen that both goals were created in simir fashion."

  "Pelle was the key!"

  "This tall and powerful Italiaer has progressively improved as the game has gone on, especially i ten minutes. He's settled in, finding his rhythm."

  "Kovac, at just 1.8 meters, is struggling to hahe 1.9-meter-tall Pelle. Juventus's defeup is f Kovac to go one-oh Pelle, which must be incredibly frustrating."

  "With the tight deferucture Juventus is employing tonight, Pelle's strengths are perfectly suited. It's remi of hba was used at Chelsea."

  ...

  Iands, when Sanchez ed Napoli's sed goal, De Laurentiis, Marino, and the nearby Napoli fans and guests leapt to their feet, celebrating wildly.

  The game had been tough, but Juventus were now being pushed back relentlessly, and their offense seemed toothless.

  This wasn't surprising though. From Deschamps' lineup, it was clear he hadn't itted to attag.

  If Deschamps had had any ambition, he wouldn't have left Bodinov isoted up front.

  At the very least, he should have started with a 4-4-2.

  "Alessio, you and Deschamps don't get along, do you? Is this his way of punishing you?" De Laurentiis quipped.

  Mhter erupted around them.

  What a jinx!

  Secco had just criticized Pelle, and now Pelle had helped orchestrate anoal. Even though he hadn't assisted directly, his tribution to the py was undeniable.

  "Yeah, based on this lineup, it seems like Deschamps doesn't even want to win. Why else would he leave Bodinov so isoted when he has world-css strikers like Trezeguet and Sarayeta avaible?" Marino added, stoking the fmes.

  In football, this kind of trash talk was a on on its own.

  After all, Napoli's biggest petition in Serie B was Juventus. If they could knock Juventus down now, the rest of the season would bee signifitly easier.

  Secco wasn't stupid. Even though he was humiliated, he wasn't going to fall for De Laurentiis and Marino's bait.

  But he was thinking: Why did Deschamps choose to py with just Bodinov up front?

  Before the game, Deschamps had emphasized his desire to sign Van der Vaart and Savio. Now, instead of starting Trezeguet or Sarayeta, he had opted for Bodinov. What was going on? Was Deschamps trying to send a message by underperf on purpose, pushing Secco to support his transfer requests?

  That thought lingered in Seind like a poison.

  ...

  Eventually, Gao Shen emerged from beh the pile of pyers, his clothes stained and covered with grass.

  The pyers returo their positions as the game was about to restart.

  Carlo, Bueura, and the rest of the coag staff chuckled as they helped up Gao Shen's outfit. There was something endearing about the way the pyers celebrated with their coach.

  After all, who wouldn't ugh a little when the boss got fttened in such a lighthearted way?

  But this also showed the high regard the pyers had fao Shen.

  Every one of them had been personally recruited by him. These weren't household names, but under Gao Shen's leadership, they had bee integral to Napoli's tactics. The camaraderie built during pre-season training had earned Gao Shen their full respect.

  "Respect?" Gao Shen snorted. "How about you go out there ahem show you some 'love' too?"

  Carlo and the others quickly shook their heads.

  No thanks! They wanted none of that kind of "love."

  Amid their ughter, the game resumed.

  Realistically, there wasn't much more to say about this match. From the start, Juventus had opted for a defensive, ter-attag strategy.

  The problem was, they never mao mount an effective terattack, allowing Napoli to keep hammering them with wave after wave of offense.

  It to Deschamps now to make adjustments.

  If he didn't, the game would tinue as it had from the start.

  "Deschamps is in a bind. If he makes substitutions now, it's too early. If he doesn't, he risks anoal," arked.

  Gao Shen nodded in agreement. Making a substitution in the first half could cause massive issues.

  "Sometimes the head coach faces challehere are numerous factors to sider. There's no issue with Deschamps' ability, but the fact that he 't fully utilize it right now is a major problem.

  "This is why Sacchi, Valdano, and Ai have repeatedly reminded Gao Shen that whether or not a coach perform well is closely tied to their ability to choose a team with the support of the ma."