March 21, San Paolo Stadium.

  Ih round of Serie A, Napoli hosted A.

  When the game reached the 23rd minute, Napoli pressed A he ter circle.

  Fmini lobbed the ball to Beckham on the right, but Napoli's retreating winger, Di Maria, got there first, heading the ball forward. The Argentine winger accelerated instantly, leaving Beckham behind. After catg up to the ball, he dribbled straight toward A's penalty area.

  Di Maria's dribbling skills were outstanding, immediately drawing the attention of Zambrotta, Maldini, Favalli, and Pirlo, who scrambled to stop him. Spotting a gap at the edge of the box, Di Maria decisively cut inside.

  i made a run into the penalty area, f Maldini and Favalli to fall back, fearing that Di Maria might pass to him. However, this retreat left an opening in front of the box.

  Di Maria seized the opportunity, delivering a diagonal pass with his left foot to the right side of the penalty area.

  Sanchez raced to meet it and, before Jankulovski could close him down, struck the ball with his right foot, sending it past Dida into the .

  "GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!"

  "Sanchez with the volley! A's defense is breached—Napoli leads one-nil!"

  "In the 23rd minute, Napoli finally breaks the deadlock!"

  The eadium erupted in celebration.

  …

  After Napoli's opening goal, A tried to respond aggressively.

  Ih mihey worked the ball into Napoli's penalty area from the right, attempting to feed Pato. But Bonuctercepted the pass and quickly sent the ball to David Luiz.

  Napoli's ter-back duo, both skilled with the ball, calmly passed it out from the back.

  David Luiz dribbled out of the penalty area and unched a long ball toward the front.

  i won the aerial duel, holding off Maldini with his physicality, brought the ball down, and surged forward.

  A's defense scrambled to recover, but i carried the ball into the left side of the penalty area. Suddenly, he stopped, faking a pass to Sanchez on the right, and instead pyed the ball basik, who had arrived at the edge of the box.

  Hamsik struck the ball first-time, and it flew past Dida into the back of the .

  Two-nil!

  The San Paolo Stadium exploded with excitement.

  …

  With two quick goals, Napoli took full trol and began to dominate A.

  The Rossoneri, currently fourth in Serie A, were having a disappointing season. Ai had already announced his departure at the end of the campaign, further dampening team morale.

  A had suffered setbacks on all fronts, with their sole remaining objective being to secure a Champions League spot.

  Beyond that, there was little fight left in them.

  In the sed half, Napoli tinued creating ces. Di Maria even found himself one-oh Dida on the left side of the penalty area, but the angle was too tight, and his shot was saved.

  Although Di Maria quickly pounced on the rebound, the follow-up shot missed.

  Throughout the matapoli kept A pinned back, making it difficult for them to mount any serious offense.

  Despite several missed opportunities, Napoli ultimately secured a fortable 2-0 victory with goals from Sanchez and Hamsik.

  …

  "Hey, David!"

  After the game, Gao Shen had just finished hugging his pyers when he spotted Beckham walking ao Sheed him warmly aended his arms for a hug.

  Gao Shen still felt a sense ret for Beckham, one of his favorite pyers during his time at Real Madrid.

  Back then, after Florentino Pérez stepped doresident, the Galácticos began to fall apart. Zidane chose to retire early, and Beckham was forced to leave for Major League Soccer, though he was now on loan at A.

  "Boss, you're incredible these days," Beckham said with a smile.

  In the early days, Gao Shen had been a rookie coach, yet he'd mao take trol of the Real Madrid dressing room.

  Even then, Beckham had reized there was something special about Gao Shen.

  Now, Gao Shen had bee one of Europe's top coaches, and his bold ents before the Arsenal match had caused a worldwide sensation.

  Besides being a successful coach, Gao Shen had also bee a popur online personality.

  Thinking about this, Beckham admired him even more.

  He had set up his own Twitter at, even hiring a third-party pany to ma, but his follrowth still gged far behind Gao Shen's, who seemed to have an uny knack for attrag fans.

  "Sometimes, I wonder if you said all that just to gain followers," Beckham teased, slinging an arm around Gao Shen's shoulders like they were old friends catg up.

  In truth, they often chatted privately on Twitter.

  "Damn, you figured me out?" Gao Shen replied, pretending to be caught i.

  Beckham was about to respond when Zidane approached.

  The two former teammates, who had shared a great retionship during their pying days, exged pleasantries.

  Gao Shen stood off to the side, their versation while refleg on their trasting paths.

  Both were football legends, yet they had chosen very different dires.

  Zidane had dedicated himself eo football, while Beckham pursued the path of a global ercial star. His move to Major League Soccer art of a strategy to enhance his brand and facilitate business ventures.

  Over time, the Beckham family became a cultural phenomenon, leveraging his fame to build a lucrative empire.

  Zidane, oher hand, stayed focused on football and ter led Real Madrid to great success, ting his lega football history. In terms of wealth and social prestige, however, he couldn't pare to Beckham.

  It wasn't a matter ht , just personal choices.

  From a coag perspective, though, Gao Shen could uand Ferguson's frustration with Beckham.

  Beckham could have achieved even more in football.

  Still, his influend ability to trahe sport were undeniable. He had ehe upper echelons of society, something even football is like Bebauer could never have imagined.

  …

  "You've beey high-profile tely."

  After parting ways with Beckham, Gao Shen headed to the visiting team's dugout to shake hands with Ai.

  Naturally, the two exged some friendly bahey were familiar enough to poke fun at each other.

  Even if Gao Shen's team had won och, a little teasing was harmless.

  "High-profile? I don't think so," Gao Shen replied with monoce.

  Ai's expression darkened. He looked like he wao kick Gao Shen.

  Damn it, just because I'm older and rounder now, don't think I've lost my edge. Ba the day, I was a world-css midfielder!

  Are y to show off in front of me? Looking for trouble?

  For some reason, Gao Shen and Mourinho both enjoyed seeing Ai in this flustered state.

  Maybe it was because his chubby, good-natured demeanor made him seem like a human pung bag.

  "What I'm really worried about now is the iional break," Gao Shen said, shifting the versation.

  With 28 rounds pyed, the league was about to pause for over a week for iional fixtures. From March 22 to April 5, there would be no club games.

  When the pyers returned, Napoli would immediately head north to face Sampdoria, a tough oppo.

  And right after that would be the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals in London.

  With so many fixtures piling up, Napoli's squad was being pushed to its limits.

  This was why Mourinho was eagerly waiting for Napoli to falter. Inter no longer had European itments and could focus solely on Serie A.

  Napoli, however, had to juggle the league, the Champions League, and even the Coppa Italia at the end of April. The sheer number of games posed a daunting challenge.

  Ai uood Gao Shen's predit.

  "Iional breaks are always tricky, especially at this stage of the season. The pyers are already exhausted and more proo injuries. If someone es back hurt, there's nothing the club do."

  Gao Shen nodded, letting out a long sigh.

  Pyers representing their national teams was a matter of pride, something he couldn't deny them.

  But Arsenal was fag the same challenges.

  "At least you don't have as many distras," Gao Shen said, sighing again.

  Ai had been about to offer words of encement, but hearing this, his expression soured, and he swallowed his response.

  He'd rather choke than fao Shen after that.

  "You're unbelievable!" Ai huffed. "I'm leaving!"

  "e on, stay a bit longer. I'll buy you a drink."

  "Drink? After listening to your nonsense? I'd rather leave!"

  With that, Ai stormed off.

  Gao Shen couldn't help but ugh.

  Ai truly was the perfect stress reliever. Whenever Gao She pressured or frustrated, talking to him instantly lifted his mood.

  But the s Gao Shen voiced were real.

  Scheduling iional games at the end of March, when pyers were already stretched thin, was a genius move by FIFA. They left clubs to deal with the aftermath.

  Whenever Gao Shen thought about it, he felt the urge to curse.

  Still, no matter what, he was determio win at the Emirates Stadium!