"Remember to go home early! You have homework in the evening!"
Kai's parents sent him off on the bus to the Alcochete training base.
At first, they didn't agree with him playing football. But when Kai put the money he had earned from selling autographed footballs in front of them, both his father and mother were stunned.
Later, the admissions officer at the University of Lisbon confirmed that Kai could attend classes in "idle mode." That is, he didn't have to attend daily lessons, but his test scores had to meet the university's standards.
Fail a course once, and his scholarship for the year would be canceled. Fail more than three subjects in total, and he would be expelled.
Kai and his parents accepted the university's conditions.
Thus, Kai became the first 13-year-old college student at the University of Lisbon—without having to attend classes.
In this regard, the university had its own reasoning. They had previously hinted through the media that Kai was not allowed to play football. But Kai was not intimidated.
In reality, the University of Lisbon could not afford to turn down Kai.
"Prodigy Kai" was already famous in education circles. If the university rejected him now, it would damage its reputation.
Top universities pride themselves on inclusivity and cultivating talent. Admitting Kai would put such a label on the University of Lisbon—a level of publicity that normal channels could not achieve in years.
Hence, the university chose to give Kai special treatment.
"Damn it! Even the buses in Lisbon, Portugal are unreliable!"
Kai cursed as he jumped off the bus and ran toward the training ground.
He was late for his first training session after joining the team. Truly embarrassing.
As he entered the field, he immediately heard Triguera's angry voice:
"Farke! What the hell are they doing? Didn't I tell them to pass the ball to Cristiano?"
"Or have I lost control of the kids on your team, Maxa?"
The middle-aged coach Maxa wiped sweat from his face. "This… Cristiano just joined this summer, and the other players aren't familiar with him, so—"
"Fart!" Triguera cut him off. "I know what they're thinking. As long as Cristiano performs worse than them, they think they have a chance to become the next Quaresma, right?"
"This is vicious competition! In this environment, no one knows how to play properly, and no one dares to!"
Triguera's disappointment in youth coach Maxa was clear.
In fact, Sporting Lisbon's youth training system had some issues over the past two years.
Although they still produced stars like Figo, Simao, Quaresma, and Hugo Leal, recruitment in recent years had been disappointing. Talented players were often snatched by Benfica and Porto, forcing Sporting to attempt to re-sign some of the players they had lost.
Meanwhile, after Triguera was promoted to the first-team assistant, other youth coaches were not strong enough, and several batches of youth players didn't meet expectations.
Just as Triguera's frustration peaked, he saw Kai arrive late.
"Asshole! Why didn't you come back after dinner?" Maxa barked, trying to deflect Triguera's anger.
But Triguera immediately pushed him aside.
"Kai, you're here. Did you have any trouble getting here? Why don't you stay closer to the base? I can find a place for you. It's inconvenient to commute like this every day…"
Maxa froze. Was this really the Triguera famed for his strictness?
Triguera wasn't an ordinary coach. He had trained Lisbon's supernovas—Simao, Quaresma, and Hugo Leal. Rumor had it that if the head coach failed this season, Triguera might replace him.
This was why Maxa had so much disdain for Triguera—he hoped to join Triguera's team once he became head coach.
"Stop the game and prepare for substitutions," Triguera said to Maxa and Kai simultaneously. "Warm up quickly, or you'll be easily injured. Is ten minutes enough? If not, I'll make them wait longer."
Kai shook his head. "I ran here from the bus. No warm-up needed."
"Fine. Hurry up. I don't want to see this kind of sloppy training match again!" Triguera's disgust for certain players was obvious.
Then the players wearing red vests (numbers 10 and 11) and yellow vest number 3 were substituted.
Cristiano Ronaldo was on the red team but was still isolated and rarely received passes. The yellow team's defenders were rough, clearly trying to teach him a lesson.
This undermined Triguera's purpose for the match. He needed to assess whether Ronaldo could adapt to U14 game pace in his first year.
But the red team players seemed intent on pushing Ronaldo back to U13 level.
As Kai stepped onto the field in a red vest, the atmosphere changed.
Kai had become another low-pressure player who could rival Ronaldo.
Everyone clearly knew who Kai was. If they were jealous of Ronaldo, they just… looked down on Kai.
Nothing about Kai seemed superior to his peers—except luck.
How could such a kid be interviewed over a dozen times in a month and gain fame across European youth football?
Thanks to Kai's presence and Triguera's adjustments, Ronaldo began receiving passes from teammates and quickly scored.
The score was now 1-3, with the red team still behind.
This infuriated Triguera. Two teams of roughly equal strength, yet Ronaldo's team had conceded three goals—ridiculous.
Even if Ronaldo didn't boost the red team's strength, it wouldn't reduce it.
The U14 players' behavior was obvious, and the youth master Triguera saw through it immediately.
"Cristiano has the skill for U14, but he rarely passes. Andoa and the others dislike him for that," Maxa reported.
Andoa—the red team's number 10 who was substituted—was the top talent of this batch.
Cristiano was strong, but his pride and lack of trust in teammates were also factors. No child sacrifices themselves for others; Ronaldo needed to learn compromise.
"Oh… this Kai… holds the ball so steadily!" Maxa noticed Triguera staring at Kai and didn't know what to say.
But Kai had not done anything else remarkable yet. Triguera rolled his eyes at the flatterer.
The ball is solid? Good for you, Maxa.
Kai's true brilliance lay elsewhere—his football intelligence.
This had already been evident in the Diamond Generation Invitational Tournament, but within just one month, Kai's football IQ seemed to have skyrocketed.
His field of vision was terrifyingly wide.
Even though he hadn't touched the ball much, his stance was always sharp, making the yellow team's midfielders extremely uncomfortable.
The game shifted from the yellow team pressing the red team to the yellow team struggling to get past midfield.
This subtle shift could only be understood by true connoisseurs.
If it continued, it would only be a matter of time before the red team scored again.
Until then, ordinary observers couldn't fully judge the strength and weaknesses of both sides, or understand the reasons behind the transitions between offense and defense.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can visit my Patreon page:
Patreon.com/PhoeniXcel
I upload 2 chapters daily on Patreon!
There are 30+ advanced chapters available for you to read.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.