"Don't be angry. Use this as motivation to move forward."
Kai patted Veloso on the shoulder in the locker room, then looked at his own data.
It had been almost three months since he last checked it.
In the past three months, even during the winter break, he had been training nonstop.
The improvement was far from small.
=
Name: Kai
Age: 13
Height: 145 cm
Weight: 39.3 kg
Current team: Sporting Lisbon (U15)
Talent level: Peerless Talent (enjoying the bonus of a peerless genius)
Items worn: Guardiola's Tears, Petr Čech's Hockey Stick
Star drops in effect: The Dutchman's Applause, Young Ronaldo's Flame of Revenge, Young Ronaldo's Secret Fear, Black Panther's Scrutiny, Robin van Persie's Ambition, Actually My Name Is Not Gómez
Skills: Fierce Tackle (Blue), Backheel Pass (Blue), No-Look Pass (Blue), Outside Instep Pass (Blue), Panther Hunt (Purple), Tintin's Stream-of-Consciousness Pass (Purple),
Paradigm Yu Leap (Purple), Ine·Fried Meatball·Star (Gold)
=
Attacking runs: 62.2
Possession: 67.3
Dribbling: 59.2
Shots: 52.2
Set pieces: 53.1
Long pass: 55.3
Short pass: 70.2
Defensive runs: 56.2
Interceptions: 53.1
Steals: 40.2
Blocks: 33.1
Clearances: 38.1
Headers: 46.2
Curve: 55.1
=
Speed: 55.3
Acceleration: 59.4
Cadence: 69.1
Shot power: 52.3
Jump: 48.2
Strength: 49.2
Flexibility: 69.2
Stamina: 54.3
=
Field of view: 8
Left foot: 3
Right foot: 7
Injury resistance: 2
Condition persistence: 4
=
The increase in technical attributes wasn't surprising, because Kai's training volume was comparable to Ronaldo's.
Ronaldo's workload was the most outrageous in all of Sporting Lisbon.
Yes — the entire club, not just the youth team.
To make sure Kai and Ronaldo didn't overtrain, Trigueira regularly invited the first team's fitness coach and doctor to check their physical condition. Once signs of fatigue or injury appeared, high-load training stopped immediately.
As for the physical attributes, Kai confirmed his previous guess.
Once his body caught up in growth, even without special strength training, his physical stats — speed, acceleration, shot power, and so on — would rise rapidly.
All thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo.
The "peerless genius" bonus was truly ridiculous. His growth in every area was satisfying.
Especially his height, which had increased by a full five centimeters.
Although Kai's current height cap was 1.65 meters, the talent bonus let him reach it earlier.
A 1.65-meter player at fourteen was completely different from one who reached that height at eighteen or nineteen.
His weight had also increased by six pounds.
And that was without deliberately bulking up.
After this season, if Kai used the summer to build strength properly, his physical abilities would undergo an earth-shaking change.
If his body ever became a weakness again, it wouldn't happen until he was seventeen or eighteen.
By then, his height and physical limits would basically be solved.
…
"Okay, both teams' young players are entering the pitch."
"Earlier, the president of Sporting Lisbon made it clear that whenever the first team isn't using the Alvalade Stadium and the U15s have official matches, their home ground will be Alvalade — not the Alcochete training base!"
"This is the first club in Europe to make such an arrangement!"
"As a result, Sporting Lisbon has surpassed Benfica and Porto in youth-training reputation and become Portugal's talent factory!"
"Right now, only Ajax in the Netherlands can claim to be better at youth development."
"But don't worry — if Sporting Lisbon U15 continues in the Youth League, they'll meet Ajax sooner or later."
"Then we'll see who has the stronger youth army — Portugal or the Netherlands!"
"Oh! Kai just walked to the sideline and waved to the fans. He's holding the microphone. What does he want to say?"
At the sideline, Kai took the microphone.
"Dear Sporting fans, I miss you so much! Do you miss us?"
He stretched out the mic.
Silence…
The fans didn't expect this at all.
This kid actually wanted to stir things up?
Cristiano Ronaldo was already laughing beside him.
On the bench, a young player asked Wu Xudong, the winter signing, "I heard you're from Kai's hometown?"
Wu Xudong shook his head quickly.
"No, we're not familiar. Inner Mongolia is very far from Sichuan. In Europe terms, it's like Portugal to Germany."
His teammates nodded in understanding. That would be awkward otherwise.
Benfica's Pereira, who had played against Ronaldo before, stepped forward.
"Your friend doesn't look very smart."
Ronaldo's eyes widened.
"Don't curse — that's your friend!"
As the center of attention, Kai decided to give the fans another chance.
"Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!"
He shouted three times.
Then handed the mic out again.
This time the entire stadium roared:
"Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!"
The fans cooperated perfectly.
The earlier silence was just because Kai caught them off guard.
"Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!" Kai shouted again.
"Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!" the fans responded.
The atmosphere exploded instantly.
Watching the "Actually I'm Not Gómez" effect activate twice, Kai finally felt satisfied.
He looked at the stands.
"At least twenty thousand of you are lazy. You didn't shout my name."
"I'll allow your silence… but I'll pry your mouths open with victory, goals, and assists!"
Hahaha!
The stands burst into laughter.
This kid was arrogant as hell.
Applause rang out everywhere.
Wu Xudong looked at Kai, so relaxed and confident, full of envy — and full of hope for his own future.
…
Beep!
The whistle blew. The match officially began.
Both sides immediately entered match mode.
Especially Benfica.
They hadn't forgotten the humiliation from last time.
And Kai's pre-match show only felt more disrespectful.
Facing a strong opponent and still joking around?
Did you think we're bean bags you can bully?
In the 6th minute, Benfica's Amorim tried a long shot.
But goalkeeper Pilar stayed focused and saved it.
In the 10th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo beat his man up front and performed multiple step-overs, but the defender cleared the ball.
Sporting's striker Lorenzo fouled. Benfica got a back-field free kick.
In the 13th minute, Benfica's corner was blocked by defensive midfielder Veloso.
The Benfica fans immediately booed.
Veloso was still young and clearly shaken.
You don't want me, but you won't let me succeed elsewhere either?
Damn it.
In the 18th minute, Veloso made a key steal and passed to Kai.
After receiving the ball, Kai used a Marseille turn to dodge Amorim, then pushed forward with speed.
Benfica midfielder Alexandre knew Kai wanted to pass to Ronaldo and kept retreating to cut the lane.
But Kai's dribbling wasn't slow at all. If Alexandre kept backing off, Kai could shoot from distance.
Alexandre had no choice but to rush him.
He knew Kai would pass — but he couldn't do anything about it.
Boom!
As expected.
Kai dragged Alexandre out and slipped a through ball.
Ronaldo had already anticipated it.
He exploded forward and smashed past Pereira.
Pereira tried to grab him, but Ronaldo's acceleration was too strong.
Boom!
Ronaldo reached the ball, adjusted slightly, and blasted a low shot.
The ball flew past the defender's leg and toward goal.
Benfica keeper Vítor stepped late and couldn't stop it.
"GOAL!"
"Goal! Sporting takes the lead!"
"This one belongs to Ronaldo!"
"Cristiano Ronaldo! Cristiano Ronaldo! Cristiano Ronaldo!"
The stands turned into a sea of cheers.
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