Chapter 153 Heavy Artillery Strike on Goal

The current Perugia was truly no longer that team of the past which had once stirred up storms in Serie A, causing headaches for all the powerhouse clubs, abruptly depriving Juventus of a championship already within their grasp on the final matchday, and defeating both the Milan and Rome giants. After being ordered to relegate to Serie C1 due to financial reasons, that club had already dissolved, its players scattering to the winds. The newly formed Perugia club merely inherited their training ground, home stadium, and history.

Just like Napoli, Perugia’s existing squad was newly assembled, but since they did not have a wealthy owner like De Laurentiis behind them, it was impossible for them to build a team composed essentially of Serie B standard players. Their players were basically all scouted from various Serie C1 teams. The current Perugia, even within the Serie C1 league, could only be considered of mid-table strength—their current ranking matched their strength rather well—sitting in ninth place, with relegation being of no concern, but promotion entirely out of the question.

Yet this season, whichever team visited the San Paolo Stadium always seemed to perform better than usual—because matches against Napoli were broadcast live via Sky Italia, and no one wanted to miss this opportunity to expose themselves to the public eye, let alone surrender easily.

Although Perugia’s players were currently only at the Serie C1 level, they were seasoned veterans who had roughed it out in the lower leagues for several years. When facing Long Bisheng, a young rookie, their experience and omnipresent petty fouls caused him a great deal of trouble.

During aerial duels, just as you prepared to jump, they would pull your jersey to prevent you from taking off, and then quickly let go—a very subtle yet highly effective little trick. There were many such petty maneuvers, and not a single one was wasted; all of them were directed at Long Bisheng, especially since his target in the penalty area was so prominent.

Compared to Long Bisheng, Calaiò appeared far more at ease. His experience surpassed Long Bisheng’s, and being small in stature made it difficult for him to be completely marked out of the game inside the box. During the first twenty minutes of the match, he was undeniably the most prominent figure, unleashing two exceptionally threatening shots that hit within the frame of the goal. Had it not been for the goalkeeper's stellar performance, he would likely have helped Napoli open the scoring long ago.

The Napoli fans in the stands continuously chanted Calaiò’s name. This homegrown Italian forward, who made his debut in Turin, had won the hearts of the Neapolitan supporters through his outstanding performances this season. Although Sosa had scored more goals than him, he was, after all, an Italian—local players were always more easily accepted by fans than foreign ones, just like how Yunjian Tianyu had exported quite a few top-tier stars to Europe over the past decade or so, yet Yunjiantianyu fans stubbornly believed that Nie Fei was still the greatest star.

Long Bisheng received the ball near the edge of the penalty area. The opposing defender stuck to him like a ghost, constantly pushing and shoving him from behind while insidiously driving his knee into the bend of Long Bisheng’s thigh. Everyone knew that if that spot was jammed, it would feel itchy and intensely uncomfortable, but such actions would never be caught by the referee, and even if seen, wouldn't easily be whistled as fouls. Therefore, Long Bisheng had no choice but to endure it.

Seeing Fontana running towards him, Long Bisheng prepared to lay the ball back to him, but suddenly a wave of numbness struck his lower back, causing him to involuntarily shudder. Losing his grip for a split second, the ball bounced away!

Calaiò saw it all with absolute clarity. At the very moment Long Bisheng was about to pass, the defender glued to him suddenly and insidiously used the cover of his body to viciously jab a thumb right into the hollow of Long Bisheng’s waist. Seeing Long Bisheng shudder, Calaiò felt his own lower back start to itch in sympathy.

"Damn it, how filthy. Poor Long," Calaiò muttered to himself, preparing to rush over and entangle the opponent holding the ball to prevent them from launching an immediate counterattack—he had already seen a Perugia midfielder running toward the loose ball. The sphere had already left Long Bisheng’s control, and it would be very difficult for him to regain possession.

Just at that moment, Long Bisheng suddenly took a giant stride forward. His stride was naturally half longer than an ordinary person's, and this time he pushed off with all his might, taking a step that could almost match two ordinary steps. After making this movement, the distance between him and the ball instantly became shorter than that of the opposing player. Then, he planted his foot on the ball, dragged it backward, and spun around with lightning speed!

The opposing player could not check his momentum, crashing right into Long Bisheng’s back, and was instantly thrown into a daze—the sensation of hitting Long Bisheng made him feel as though he had run into a wall. Leveraging the opponent's momentum, Long Bisheng smoothly took a step forward, and then abruptly swung his right leg, viciously lashing it onto the ball!

Coming so abruptly, not only did Perugia’s experienced defenders fail to anticipate that Long Bisheng would unleash a long-range shot from outside the box, but even his Napoli teammates never expected Long Bisheng to choose to shoot from distance at that exact moment.

It wasn't just because they didn't expect Long Bisheng’s reaction to be so swift—being able to regain control of the ball immediately after a footwork error—but rather that in previous matches, all of Long Bisheng’s shots had been completed inside the penalty area. Although his shooting power was decent, long-range shooting required much more than just raw leg strength—looking at the goal from inside the box versus looking at the goal from outside the box were two entirely different sensations!

Precisely because it was unexpected, almost everyone failed to react in time. Compounded by the fact that they had just seen the ball leave Long Bisheng’s control, Perugia’s defenders simultaneously relaxed for a split second—seasoned veterans all knew when to slack off slightly, as this allowed their physical stamina to last longer—but now, this habitual action brought them a catastrophe.

The ball flew out from under Long Bisheng’s foot with a powerful rush of air. No one knew how much force Long Bisheng had put into this shot—the opponent's series of insidious actions had stirred anger even in his usually mild-tempered soul. Leveraging the opponent's crashing force, Long Bisheng had poured his entire body's strength into this strike. Logically speaking, such an unreserved shot had a high probability of sailing over the crossbar like an anti-aircraft missile, but this time, Long Bisheng perfectly suppressed the ball’s flight trajectory. The sphere flew rapidly into the penalty area, aiming with pinpoint accuracy toward the upper left corner of the goal!

The Perugia goalkeeper’s reaction this time appeared a beat too slow, reacting only after the ball had already flown into the box. Facing such a long-range shot possessing both superb speed, power, and angle, the outcome under such a reaction time could only be one.

"Swish!" With a soft sound—the noise of the ball flying into the goal and striking the net—a massive roar erupted into the sky above the San Paolo Stadium.

Having unleashed his full force into the shot, Long Bisheng quickly regained his balance. He did not know if this long-range shot would go in—he had never scored from distance before, and to him, the shot moments ago felt more like an outlet for pent-up frustration.

Then he watched as the ball smoothly flew into the net. The absolute moment the sphere crossed the goal line, Long Bisheng felt all the suffocating bitterness in his chest drain away completely. A rush of euphoria flooded his mind. Long Bisheng leaped into the air, violently punched the sky, and opened his mouth in a mighty roar.

Long Bisheng’s roar was swallowed by the deafening cheers, but he still felt incomparably exhilarated—so celebrating so wildly after scoring a goal felt this amazing! Why hadn't he roared like this after scoring goals in the past? What was the point of those dull, restrained celebrations!

"What a brilliant long-range shot!"

The instant Long Bisheng scored, Li Fang and the surrounding Napoli fans leaped from their seats together, raising their arms high and cheering. Yet, deep in Li Fang’s heart, a thought echoed simultaneously—since when did A-Long possess such a magnificent long-range cannon? Look at that long-range shot just now; the speed, power, angle, and suddenness were all top-tier choices. At least Li Fang had to admit to himself that he could never hit a long shot like that, because he lacked such formidable leg strength!

"This kid, when did he practice long-range shooting?" Li Fang muttered to himself.

He clearly understood what it meant if Long Bisheng had mastered long-range shooting on top of his headers, turn-and-dribbles, and link-up play. Modern football saw increasingly tight defenses inside the penalty area. In the past, forwards only needed to wait for opportunities inside the box, but nowadays that was far from enough. Outstanding center-forwards tasked with carrying the team's entire offensive burden often possessed an equally formidable long-range shot, making them all the more impossible to guard!

Who said my little brother is dull and lacks potential? At first, he could only score headers, then he gradually mastered his dribbling ability, learned how to receive the ball and turn to break through near the edge of the box, familiarized himself with the way to set up his teammates, and now he had added a long-range shot... Perhaps when he first started playing football, he was a blank sheet of paper, but through his own effort and diligence, he had filled that blank canvas with more than enough substance. When people looked back after a period of time, they would be shocked to discover that the original blank paper had begun to reveal the outline of a magnificent landscape painting...

Li Fang and Long Bisheng shared a deep bond—aside from Fan Pengfei, who was still playing back in China, Li Fang was probably the only person in the entire world who had maintained a friendship with Long Bisheng since they were five years old. However, although Fan Pengfei had grown up alongside Long Bisheng, after the age of five, he never had much intersection with him again. Only Li Fang had constantly kept his eyes on him, watching step-by-step how Long Bisheng had walked from nothing to reach this very day.

"A-Long, oh A-Long, I am now certain, and firmly believe, that you kid are a genius! At the very least, a diligent genius! Your true talent lies precisely in your diligence! That's right, for a person to succeed, relying solely on diligence is far from enough, but diligence produces results, which proves that your innate talent is no worse than anyone else's! I have never, as much as I do right now, felt such absolute confidence in your future success!"

Li Fang watched with a smile as Long Bisheng hugged and celebrated with his teammates on the pitch, a gentle smile curling the corners of his mouth.