Awakening the Messi template, Florentino Pérez begs me to join Real Madrid

At four o'clock in the morning, Wu Shi woke up in his hotel bed.

It was still pitch black outside the window.

At breakfast, Zheng Zhi pushed an earplug case in front of him:

"These are real noise-canceling headphones, not ordinary ones. I'll put them on when I warm up."

"Is it that serious?"

You'll see when you get there.

At 10:00 AM, the team bus drove to the stadium.

Wu Shi finally understood what the captain meant—the three-kilometer road from the hotel to the stadium was lined with Liaoning football fans wearing red jerseys.

A few home fans shouted provocatively, but most stared at the team bus; the silent pressure was more suffocating than any clamor.

The bus slowly drove by, and Wu Shi saw those faces through the window:

The elderly, children, and workers in overalls all had a resolute determination to defend their home turf.

"This is called a 'silent welcome,'" Feng Xiaoting, sitting in the front row, said, turning around. "Once we get to the stadium, they'll unleash all their pent-up energy."

The stadium was already packed with people. The sound of drums was deafening.

When the Evergrande players got off the bus, a chorus of boos erupted.

It wasn't a series of scattered hisses, but a unified, as if rehearsed, chorus of voices.

"Hengda—S-Wave!"

"Go back to Guangzhou—!"

Wu Shi put on noise-canceling earplugs, and the world instantly became half quiet, but the vibration still traveled through the ground to his feet.

In the locker room, Lippi gave his final tactical instructions:

"Stay calm for the first fifteen minutes. Don't let the home team's momentum overwhelm you."

"Once they've used up their initial three tricks, it's time for us to take control."

[System notification: Environmental stress index: 98% (reached the red alert line). Heart rate monitoring: 89 beats/min (resting state). Recommendation: Take deep breaths and focus on your footwork.]

Wu Shi took three deep breaths.

In the players' tunnel, the Liaoning FC players all had shining eyes, and their captain deliberately bumped into Wu Shi's shoulder as he passed by.

The referee whistle blows.

After the match started, Liaoning FC didn't bother with any probing and immediately went into a frenzied pressing mode.

Every time a Hengda player gets the ball, at least two players will swarm to tackle him; every pass is accompanied by a fierce tackle.

In the 7th minute, Wu Shi touched the ball for the first time on the left wing, and Liaoning FC's right-back made a flying tackle—the action was very big, but he touched the ball first.

The referee signaled for the game to continue, and the home fans erupted in cheers.

The other party pretended to help Wu Shi up and teased, "Little kid, you can't handle this."

Wu Shi shook off the other person's hand and stood up.

"Welcome to Liaoning FC's home stadium!" came the voice of the opposing defender from behind.

In the eleventh minute,

Wu Shi received a pass from Zheng Zhi in midfield and had just turned around

The same right-back lunged again.

This time it wasn't a tackle, but a direct shoulder bump into Wu Shi's chest, while simultaneously poking the ball away with his foot.

"Bang!"

Wu Shi was knocked back two steps and landed hard on his backside.

The referee blew his whistle and ruled it a foul.

But the home fans weren't having it.

"Diving!"

"Get up!"

"Is the referee blind?!"

The sound almost blew the roof off.

The referee walked up to the Liaoning FC defender, gave him a verbal warning, but did not issue a card.

Wu Shi got up from the ground, feeling a tightness in his chest, and his anger surged up instantly.

He glared at the opposing defender, who winked at him with a provocative smile.

"What's wrong, little kid? Can't take it already?" the other person said in a voice only the two of them could hear. "This is just the beginning."

Wu Shi clenched his fists, blood rushing to his head.

He prepared to walk up and try to make that smiling face disappear—

A large hand suddenly pressed down on his shoulder from behind.

It's Sun Xiang.

"Don't move." Sun Xiang's voice was low and urgent.

Wu Shi turned his head and saw Sun Xiang's serious face.

"This is the opposing team's home ground, and you saw the referee's standards."

Sun Xiang speaks very quickly.

"If you make the first move, even if it's just a push, the referee will consider it a provocation against his ruling."

"The moment they fall down covering their face, you'll get the red card. That's their goal—to provoke you and get you kicked out."

Wu Shi took a deep breath, feeling his fists trembling.

"Swallow it." Sun Xiang patted his back. "Return the favor with a goal, that's the real slap in the face."

The referee walked over: "Is there a problem?"

"No," Sun Xiang answered first, pulling Wu Shi back.

Wu Shi took three deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.

But the tightness in my chest and the increasingly loud boos from the stands were like gunpowder building up inside me.

In the 13th minute, the gunpowder was ignited—but not by him.

Liaoning FC successfully intercepted the ball in the attacking third and passed it to the right wing.

The winger took two steps, and when he was still more than 30 meters away from the goal, he took a long-range shot!

The shot was actually of average quality; the ball wasn't fast, and the angle wasn't particularly sharp.

However, the Hengda goalkeeper's view was blocked by his own defender, and the ball deflected off the defender's leg!

1: 0!

The entire stadium exploded instantly!

The sounds of drums, shouts, and whistles filled the air, and red flags waved wildly.

The Liaoning football players all rushed to the sidelines to celebrate, and the head coach excitedly pumped his fist.

The right-back who had just provoked Wu Shi deliberately ran up to Wu Shi, pointed both fingers to the sky, then pointed at Wu Shi and grinned.

"How could that ball go in?!" Zeng Cheng pounded the ground in frustration.

Zheng Zhi patted him on the shoulder: "It's okay, stay calm."

But the atmosphere at the scene had already been completely ignited.

In the next ten minutes, Liaoning FC played more and more frantically, and every tackle was like a life-or-death struggle.

Although Evergrande had a higher possession rate, they struggled to mount effective attacks – once the ball reached the 30-meter zone in the attacking third, they were immediately surrounded and pressed.

In the 21st minute, Wu Shi attempted a one-two with Conca on the edge of the penalty area. As soon as the ball was passed, Liaoning's defensive midfielder made a sliding tackle, bringing him and the ball down.

The referee awarded a free kick, but did not issue a card.

"This is Liaoning FC's home ground!" The opposing midfielder said in Wu Shi's ear as he pulled him up. "Want to win here? Dream on."

Wu Shi got up. His eyes were a little red, caused by conjunctival congestion due to emotional agitation.

The system's voice kept ringing in my ears.

"Wu Shi, you must calm down, calm down, and calm down again."

The free kick was in a good position, about 25 meters from the goal, slightly to the left.

Zheng Zhi and Conca both stood in front of the ball. After exchanging a few words in hushed tones, Zheng Zhi looked at Wu Shi.

"You come," Zheng Zhi said. "Kick the arc you're used to."

Wu Shi walked to the ball.

Countless eyes were fixed on him, and hissing pierced his eardrums.

[System Analysis: Given the current free kick position, a curved shot with the outside of the foot is recommended, aiming for the top of the near post. Estimated success rate: 54%. Wind influence: Northerly wind, force 2; requires a 0.5-degree adjustment to the left.]

Run-up, kick.

The ball arced over the wall of players—but at its highest point, a sudden gust of wind slightly altered its trajectory, and it grazed the crossbar before flying out of bounds.

"Whoa—!!!" The entire audience booed in unison.

[System: Luck factor -10. However, your control of the arc still has room for improvement; your ankle trembled too much at the moment of contact with the ball just now.]

Wu Shi shook his head and ran back.

Trailing in the score and with time running out, Evergrande had 65% possession, but only managed a paltry two shots on target, both of which were harmless long-range attempts from outside the penalty area.

Liaoning FC retreated to their own half, forming an impenetrable defensive line.