Chapter 480: Extra: Tang Ye, Felix, Dalot

【International Friendly Match, Porto Youth vs. Shandong Luneng U15 Yellow Team】

Outside the training ground, Tang Ye walked slowly, stretching his calves from time to time.

He let out a yawn.

It was already the 51st minute of the second half; the score was tied 1-1, and the head coach showed no intention of putting him on the field yet.

But this was fine too.

The outcome of this match indeed had little major impact on him, so it didn't matter.

Bang!

Number 90, Felix, fired a long-range shot, only to be brought down by a Shandong Luneng defender; the referee awarded Porto a direct free kick.

"Where is that genius of yours?"

The Porto coach approached the Shandong Luneng coach and, through a translator, conveyed his meaning: "Aren't you going to put him on? I really want to see him."

The Shandong Luneng coach pinched his nose, his expression somewhat awkward.

"What's wrong, Yang? You told me about him last year; why isn't he playing? I've already brought out our best players for you to see. Did you see that Number 90?"

"A true genius, Porto's genius!"

The Porto coach spoke very loudly, and the translator matched his tone.

Shandong Luneng was now the party feeling awkward.

Youth teams from China, Portugal, and Spain gathered annually to play training matches; last year, the Shandong Luneng coach had told Porto that they had a super genius who played for the U15 second team at just ten years old, which had startled the Porto side at the time.

The Shandong Luneng coach dared to make such a claim with great confidence, but for some reason, over the following year, the growth rate of this so-called "super genius" had gradually slowed down.

At ten, he was a top-tier genius, a top-tier genius surpassing everything.

At eleven, he was still a genius, yes, but compared to Porto's Felix, he was no longer anything special.

Yang Yang Guoen turned his head to look at Tang Ye, who was gazing around at the scenery by the sideline.

"..."

"Tang Ye, get ready to go on!"

"Wow, finally coming!"

The Porto coach appeared somewhat excited: "That must be Number 99, right? He looks quite ordinary, though at this age, one doesn't need an overly strong physique."

"Yang, can I take a look at his stats?"

Yang Yang Guoen did not refuse, but the data he provided had been redacted for confidentiality.

【Tang Ye, Shandong Luneng U15 Yellow Team】

【Date of Birth: March 2, 1999】

【Age: 11 years old】

"You're only willing to show me his age? Okay, okay, fine!"

The Porto coach waved his hand; since Yang Yang Guoen wouldn't give him the scout report, he would just have to use his own eyes to watch.

After taking off his vest and entering the field, the eleven-year-old Shandong Luneng Number 99 did not appear too short, as many Porto players were only twelve or thirteen years old themselves.

Among them, Number 90, Felix, was even the same age as him!

As soon as he entered the field, Tang Ye drifted toward the right wing, walking sometimes and running others, appearing somewhat strange.

Felix was closing in!

Here it comes!

The Porto coach focused his attention intensely, wanting to see a head-to-head confrontation between these two eleven-year-old super geniuses.

Felix dragged the ball!

The Portuguese player had originally intended to combine with a teammate, but noticing that Tang Ye had no intention of pressing up, he simply dribbled the ball forward himself.

"Accelerate!"

"Run!"

Yang Yang Guoen shouted loudly: "Tang Ye, run, run, don't defend with your eyes!"

Felix cut inside after reaching the byline, but his subsequent shot was blocked by a Shandong Luneng defender.

"Hey, Yang, there's no need to hide, is there? Having more people know about him is a good thing for you!"

The Porto coach still thought Yang Yang Guoen wanted to conceal Tang Ye's ability, which was of course an overthinking.

If a player becomes famous during their youth, it greatly benefits their future professional career.

Yang Yang Guoen certainly understood this principle.

The problem was that this was exactly how Tang Ye had been playing football for the past few months!

Transitioning from defense to attack, the Shandong Luneng players began to push forward en masse, while the Porto coach kept his eyes fixed unblinkingly on Tang Ye.

"Come on... little guy, let me see your abilities."

The defender passed the ball up, and Tang Ye moved toward it.

Porto's players came up to press!

Two players pressed simultaneously, creating intense pressure.

"Pass!"

Yang Yang Guoen shouted until his throat hurt, but Tang Ye simply didn't listen.

Glancing back, Tang Ye then extended his foot, sharply dragging the ball, which passed directly through the legs of the defending player.

"Oh shit!"

He turned and ran forward, then played a through ball to his team's winger.

He wasn't running fast, but his eyes kept looking around; except for himself, no one knew what he was looking at.

The Shandong Luneng striker approached, with Number 76, Dalot, standing before him!

"Come!"

Tang Ye's voice rang out, and his teammate immediately played a square pass.

Take the ball!

Move into the penalty area yourself!

Feint to create an angle; Dalot stepped up to cover, but Tang Ye took no protective measures, keeping possession himself.

Stepping on the edge of the penalty area!

Pass!

A teammate sprinted up from behind and gently tapped the ball into the net.

"Hiss..."

Although they had conceded a goal, the Porto coach felt no anger now, only a sense of shock.

Although they had intentionally eased up on defense earlier, this attack showed that this number 99 on the opposing side truly had real skill.

"I believe you, Yang, but just this doesn't quite make him a peerless genius; he's not as good as Felix."

Yang Yang Guoen remained silent.

Because what the Porto coach said was, in fact, correct.

The match continued!

Since it was a training match, after going up 2:1, Shandong Luneng did not choose to defend but instead maintained their attacking intensity.

Receiving the ball on the wing, he slowly drifted toward the center.

After playing for 15 minutes, Tang Ye finally found his rhythm, and his speed increased significantly as a result.

When a defender rushed up to tackle, Tang Ye quickly executed a one-two pass with Wang Wang Ruiqi before regaining possession.

Before taking the ball, he glanced toward the opponent's defensive zone!

Bang!

He played a low, driven through-ball, targeting the shadow striker positioned on the offside line.

Unfortunately, the pass wasn't quite accurate enough, and the opponent eventually cleared the ball away.

"Hiss..."

The Porto coach's breathing gradually became rapid: "Like this, Yang, give us this kid; is 100,000 euros acceptable?"

The head coach of the Porto youth team was indeed somewhat direct, but speaking his mind so plainly was also a good thing.

"You want him?"

Yang Yang Guoen narrowed his eyes: "To be honest, what you've seen is only a part of it; 100,000 euros is absolutely not enough. You know how far China is from Portugal; do you think his parents would agree to let an 11-year-old child go to Portugal to play football?"

"120,000 euros, that's the limit, or we could make an exchange; you can choose a player from our U17 squad, and after three more years of training, they can play directly in the top-tier league!"

Proposing a player exchange indicated that the Porto coach truly wanted Tang Ye.

But Yang Yang Guoen was no fool; any U17 player Porto offered for exchange naturally wouldn't possess much potential.

It would merely be one of those eliminated players whose youth contracts were about to expire but who couldn't make it to the professional level!

"In that case, I want that defender of yours."

Yang Yang Guoen pointed at Dalot on the pitch: "Diogo Dalot, is that how you say his name? If it's him, then we can make this exchange."

"Screw you, Yang!"

The Porto coach turned red with anger instantly.

"Diogo is worth at least 5 million... no, 10 million euros! Diogo is at least a player worth tens of millions of euros; an exchange like this would definitely be a loss for us!"

He was very angry, and considering China's extremely low discovery rate of outstanding players, this deal naturally fell through.

"Alright, then there's nothing more to discuss."

Yang Yang Guoen waved his hand dismissively.

Although he didn't particularly like lazy players like Tang Ye, he would absolutely not deny Tang Ye's ability because of it.

Playing in the U15 squad at age 10 was something that had never occurred in the history of Chinese youth training; Shandong Luneng had to keep this divine beast egg in their own hands.

"What's wrong, Coach?"

Tang Ye appeared out of nowhere, startling Yang Yang Guoen: "Damn, you! What do you mean, what's wrong?"

"Uh, it's just, Coach, I saw you and that Portuguese coach pointing at me earlier; do you need me to do something?"

"..."

"I'm saying you ran too little on the field; no one plays football like you do."

"Ten laps around the pitch, go do it yourself."

"..."

Tang Ye took a step back: "Damn, Coach, please don't treat me like this..."

"There's nothing to discuss; do you know how much shame you've brought upon me by playing like this?"

"I'm sorry..."

"Then when should I run? Can I run one lap a day for ten days?"

"Now! Finish all ten laps right now!"

"Oh, oh, okay, okay."

After changing his shoes, Tang Ye returned to the training ground.

"Faster, faster! If you're too slow, it won't count!"

The coach's voice came from behind.

"No way, I feel like I'm being targeted; the coach wants to harm me."

Back in the dorm, Tang Ye started complaining to his roommate.

Luo Kang sat beside him, watching Tang Ye boot up the computer.

"What targeting?"

"It's just that I didn't run much during the match, and then he made me run ten laps after it ended. Last time it was clearly five laps, damn it. I'm not lying to you; it really was five laps."

"Uh..."

Luo Kang scratched his head: "Maybe because it's an international training match? Brother Yang cares too much about saving face. I was punished before too. I give up."

"Forget it, I won't hold it against him."

Tang Ye changed into his slippers, and just then the computer finished booting up.

"Come on, Brother Kang, CrossFire!"

"Play with you? Won't I be too noob?"

Luo Kang pointed at his own nose.

His CrossFire skill level was completely on a different tier from Tang Ye's!

"No problem, just come. I'll teach you the Li Guo jump (Ghost Jump). It's insanely cool, damn it. The brother who invented this stuff is truly a genius."

"Should I call a few more people?"

Luo Kang said: "Wang Wang Ruiqi and the others, plus Xie Weneng, though they aren't that good either."

"No problem, no problem. Everyone come, everyone come."

Tang Ye made a beckoning gesture, looking very generous.

If you couldn't play games together just because your friends were too noob, that would truly be a terrible thing.

"Forget it, let's go straight to the internet cafe to play. That way we can play and chat at the same time. Brother Kang, go call people quickly."

Right now, Tang Ye's skill level was completely on a different tier from Tang Ye's skill level a year ago.

Of course, this wasn't talking about football, but CrossFire.

"Fine, are you sure you want to take them along? They're even more of a burden than me."

"No problem. Play on my team. If we lose, it's my fault."

If you could play games with a group of good friends, then playing a bit harder wasn't something that couldn't be accepted.

When teammates play poorly, the Guangdong Gun God will step out to lead them!

(End of this chapter)