0037 The Commander and the Prince (Please keep reading and cast a recommendation vote)

CCTV had been broadcasting highlights of Serie A, though they had not yet begun live coverage. Previously, when they first received the footage, they were curious about the identity of this young man. After Mantovani reached out, they became even more intrigued about whether Lu Deyang was of Chinese descent or a Chinese national. This was not something that could be discussed casually on air. By October, it was finally confirmed that Lu Deyang was indeed Chinese, though the news they received remained significantly delayed.

In a new episode of the program, Song Shixiong, dressed in a suit and tie, sat before the camera and said with great enthusiasm: "We have received many letters from our viewers asking who the number seven for Sampdoria is. We have now received confirmed information: he is a Chinese player named Lu Deyang. Little Lu was adopted as a child by his uncle, who was doing business in Italy. He is an excellent student, helpful, loves life, loves sports, and demonstrated outstanding football talent from a very young age..."

The television began to play some clips of Lu Deyang’s appearances. There was no footage of the Cup Winners' Cup. Although they had obtained the recording of his debut ceremony, they chose not to air it. After all, in this day and age, those who rode motorcycles were often labeled as "drifters"—a term with a clear derogatory tone and distinct era-specific connotations, used to describe aimless young people who wandered about.

Song Xuemei threw her apron aside and said, "Look at how successful others are when they go abroad. Should we send our son abroad, too?" Lu Deyang had clearly become the "other person's child" in conversation. Li Jianguo looked at his son, who was still wearing split-crotch pants, and grinned, "Maybe our son will be successful in the future, too; after all, he takes after you." Watching their son kick a small leather ball while wearing his split-crotch pants, Song Xuemei thought that perhaps their Li Huan might one day play in Italy as well.

A few days later, news began to appear in the newspapers. Below a notification from the Football Association regarding the curbing of match-fixing, there was an introduction to Lu Deyang. The news was written with a sense of pride yet filled with modesty, perfectly capturing that quintessential nature of longing for external recognition while being too shy to show it.

In Italy, however, Sampdoria had already become the hottest favorite to win the league title this season. Lu Deyang had not played many games—he had not even finished half a season in Serie A—but his record was indisputable. One match he educated Matthaus, the next he blew past Andy Moller, and even Beckenbauer praised him as an invincible enemy for Dortmund and an artist on the pitch. *Corriere dello Sport* simply put his photo alongside Beckenbauer’s on the front page with a single-word headline: "The Emperor!"

The Sampdoria fans, however, were not entirely sold on this title. The name Sampdoria itself was derived from two clubs, and Doria was a hero of the city of Genoa, a legendary commander. Therefore, they preferred to call the team's core player the "Commander" or "Captain."

*Tuttosport* was quite interesting; they carefully analyzed a technical move from the match and wrote: "Clearly, Deyang’s spin is more elegant and effortless than Maradona’s. In terms of the move itself, the effect produced by both is similar, but visually, they are completely different. Rather than calling it a Maradona spin, we would prefer to call it the Deyang spin or the Genoa spin."

Although Naples and Turin were in different cities, the relationship between the two clubs was indeed very poor, and Naples did not have good relations with any northern teams. *Tuttosport* was quite happy to annoy the Napoli fans. Even later, when Alan's child became a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, Alan would not allow him to wear the Juventus number 7 jersey, only the Real Madrid number 7. Underlying this was the deep divide between the north and south of Italy; in the eyes of many, the south was no different from Ethiopia.

*La Gazzetta dello Sport* even called out Galliani by name several times. Berlusconi himself had asked about the matter, which had put Galliani in a rather passive position recently. Galliani could not figure it out: as the proud Vice President of AC Milan, how had he ended up in such a deteriorating situation? Looking at the bright, smiling face of Lu Deyang on television, Galliani felt he had to step up and say something. If this continued, he would become a laughingstock; how could he lead the team then?

Just before Sampdoria played Fiorentina, Galliani gave an interview. The AC Milan Vice President said: "Deyang is indeed a good player. He has developed a brand-new style of play; that way of cutting inside from the flank leaves many players unprepared. Everyone is unaccustomed to such a style, much like when the sweeper tactic was first developed. However, the situation will soon change. Many players have outstanding performances when they first land in Serie A, but once everyone is familiar with them, their radiance gradually dissipates. That is inevitable. The match against Fiorentina will be a good test. Baggio is one of the best young players right now; we shall see which of the two is better."

Had he misjudged him? Misjudgment was not an option. The key was that he hadn't made any mistakes. He couldn't just sell a Dutchman and bring in a young player. Normally, even if Lu Deyang had talent, he would need to play for a few years; the worst case would be to buy him later. The problem was that he had risen to prominence too quickly. Galliani couldn't help but sigh. *No, Serie A cannot allow such an overpowered youngster to exist!*

Baggio, one of the parties involved, had not expected to end up in the papers just like that. On the pitch, he preferred to let his feet do the talking, and off the pitch, he was equally reluctant to explain himself. Even later, when he was not favored by national team coach Cesare Maldini—who said if Baggio could become the top domestic scorer, he would summon him back to the national team—Baggio simply replied, "Okay." He did not like being used for comparisons, especially in such situations. Baggio could clearly feel Galliani's malice, but he was simply the kind of person who did not like to explain. At the same time, he also wanted to test his skills against Lu Deyang, who was currently the talk of the town.

October 22nd. The day of the twelfth round of Serie A. On the team bus, Mancini had been quite silent. Just as they were about to get off, he sat back down. Lu Deyang was just about to disembark when he was surprised to feel Mancini pull him back from behind and ask, "Can we win today?"

Lu Deyang glanced at him. Mancini was acting very strangely today. Mancini said with some irritation, "I'm just worried about the team." Lu Deyang smiled, punched him on the shoulder, and stuffed a burger into his mouth, saying, "Don't worry, we will win."

One was 25, the other 23, and both were "nine-and-a-halfs" whose positions in the national team overlapped completely. Baggio was being hailed to the heavens by the Apennine media, so it was normal for Mancini to lack confidence. Although his previous national team career had been unsuccessful due to his personality, Baggio was his biggest competitor for the upcoming "Italy Summer" next year. It was understandable that his mood was complex at this moment. Lu Deyang had quite liked Baggio when watching football and understood his playing style well. That man had only one-and-a-half legs; it was truly not easy for him to produce the performances he did.

...

After changing into his gear in the locker room, Lu Deyang chose to draw a card.

[Ding! Because your good brother Bagnato did not win any awards in his professional career nor score a single goal, you have drawn the 1967 Ballon d'Or winner, the 1962 World Cup top scorer, and the 1965 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final (Ferencvaros vs. Juventus) single-match experience card for Florian Albert.]

*Holy crap! The originator of the "nine-and-a-half"!* The concept of the "nine-and-a-half" was proposed by Zico. The person he was referring to at the time was this very man, Albert. Interestingly, he shared a similar nickname with Beckenbauer; because of his elegant style of play, fans called him "The Emperor."

...

"The players from both teams have entered the pitch following the officiating crew. I believe everyone is eagerly anticipating the start of the match," Rossi said with excitement. He had always been a fan of Baggio, and recently he had also become very optimistic about Lu Deyang. "Fiorentina's results are not great at the moment; they are ranked outside the top ten, but underestimating them will come at a heavy price."

Fiorentina 442 (Dual Defensive Midfielders):
Goalkeeper: Marco Landucci
Defenders: Celeste, Stefano Pioli, Mario Faccenda, Alberto Di Chiara
Midfielders: Giuseppe Volpecina, Sergio Battistini, Dunga, Renato Buso
Forwards: Roberto Baggio, Marco Nappi

Sampdoria 442 (Dual Defensive Midfielders):
Goalkeeper: Pagliuca
Defenders: Marco Lanna, Vierchowod, Amedeo Carboni, Mannini
Midfielders: Lu Deyang, Pari, Dossena, Lombardo
Forwards: Vialli, Mancini

"Sampdoria's lineup remains basically stable, with no major changes from the last match against Dortmund, save for replacing one starting defender."

"Yes, the youngster Enrico Chiesa is already far behind the pace set by Deyang."

The officials stood at the mouth of the tunnel, and the players from both sides shook hands one by one. Baggio’s muscles were tense, and his gaze never left Lu Deyang. The starting strength of both sides was similar, but Baggio could not remain calm. His performance this year was critical to his national team spot, and Galliani was fanning the flames from behind the scenes. This made him inevitably nervous. After shaking hands with Pari, he saw Lu Deyang walking toward him.

What would he say? Would he show off his performance, or would he issue a challenge to his face? Players of similar age were highly competitive, especially when their positions were similar. Even if they were not on the same team, they were inevitably compared by the media. Being on the same team made it even more so. Baggio felt that since Lu Deyang had risen from Serie C2 to Serie A with such fanfare, he must be very arrogant. If Lu Deyang provoked him, how should he respond?

As Lu Deyang stood before him, Baggio moved his somewhat stiff neck a little.

*He smiled!* Lu Deyang had a very pleasant smile, and his teeth were very white. Baggio tried his best to squeeze out a smile. *He seems like a man who is easy to get along with,* was Baggio's first impression. But the next second, his mouth fell wide open. He couldn't believe his ears.

"I've always loved your style of play. Do you want to come to Sampdoria and join me?"