Football: My AI System Provides Max-Level Predictions

Chapter 860 - 596: Itihad's Rainy Night Bears Witness to the Rise of a New King! C Luo: I Will Be the One Smiling at the Champions League Final!

For a professional athlete, what does despair truly feel like?

Perhaps it's during a critical match of life and death, where the team gives its all but falls short, forced to watch the opponents celebrate recklessly while piercing cheers stab at the heart like sharp needles.

Or maybe it's at the moment of a much-hyped scoring chance, when the sure goal flies off target, and boos surrounding like a tidal wave, drowning oneself.

At that moment, it feels like the entire world is denying you, with past confidence and pride shattered amidst the jeers.

Or perhaps it's sitting day after day on the bench, watching teammates gallop across the pitch, while you're left silently guarding the water cooler, waving a towel.

Time escapes in waiting, dreams dim in loneliness, it's a solitude and helplessness forgotten by the world.

Or maybe the team unexpectedly loses the championship despite being in a promising position.

Thinking of the overwhelming media criticism the next day, the disappointed gazes of fans, and the season's efforts gone to waste, that feeling sinks deep into an abyss of endless darkness, utterly despondent.

Yet, for C Luo, these moments of despair, which have crushed countless players, have never truly defeated him.

He is a legend of the football world, an idol revered by many. In his glorious career, he's weathered countless storms, yet remains unyielding.

But this night, in his own living room, C Luo's world seemed entirely overturned.

He maintained a squat stance, leaning forward, his nose nearly touching the TV screen, less than 10 centimeters away.

The wave of heat from the LCD TV panel burned his skin, yet it paled in comparison to the anxiety within him.

This night, filled with despair for C Luo!

A defeat so overwhelming, where all efforts vanished in an instant, and the fruits of victory were heartlessly seized by others.

The original 5-goal lead seemed enough to secure the European Golden Boot comfortably.

But now, he could only watch helplessly as Manchester City's Tang Long rampaged the pitch like a fierce beast.

One goal, another, and yet another!

Tang Long's goals pounded C Luo's heart like sledgehammers.

With each goal, C Luo's heart sank more.

When Tang Long matched his goal count, C Luo's pupils suddenly contracted, his eyes filled with disbelief and reluctance;

And when Tang Long scored the surpassing goal, snatching the European Golden Boot from right before his eyes, the Portuguese's mind went blank, leaving only the loud roaring sound of boiling water—

This sound transported him back to distant childhood memories.

Back then, born in a small town on the Atlantic Madeira Islands, he lived in poverty, the hardships of life always following him.

Every morning, his mother would boil a large pot of water because they couldn't afford milk, using boiled, cooled water paired with a rough wheat bread slice for breakfast.

Having endured a whole sleepless night, the starving little C Luo would always wake up to the sound of boiling water.

That sound accompanied his childhood, bringing fear and hunger, becoming an inescapable nightmare of his youthful memories.

Since starting his professional football career, relying on talent and hard work, step by step towards glory, the boiling water sound had disappeared for over 20 years.

Yet now, watching Tang Long celebrate on the TV, the flickering electronic fireworks on the massive display at Etihad Stadium, and the glaring words "Congratulations Tang on winning this season's European Golden Boot" brought the familiar, terrifying sound back in his mind.

"No, this isn't real!!!"

C Luo roared in rage, eyes ablaze, raising his fist to strike Tang Long's head in the TV.

But just as his fist came within a centimeter of the screen, he suddenly stopped—on the sidelines, the substitution board was raised slowly, and Tang Long was being substituted.

At this moment, the match had reached the 77th minute.

At Etihad Stadium, Tang Long signaled to Guardiola that he could leave the pitch.

Guardiola stood by the sidelines, bewildered and confused, shouting to Tang Long, "Hey, don't you want to score a few more goals?"

In Guardiola's eyes, already having broken the historical record of the European Golden Boot, every goal by Tang Long further refreshed the record—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that no forward would easily give up to score a few more goals casually.

Yet, Tang Long's eyes revealed a firmness, insisting on being substituted.

"It's enough, just one more than C Luo is enough, why score so many? Save some energy." His words were concise and powerful, as if everything was under his control.

The substitution of Tang Long unfolded smoothly as planned.

In this match, he hadn't intended to play the full game, but he held a firm belief: as long as he played every minute earnestly, he could surely achieve a comeback against C Luo in the final round.

Amidst the thunderous cheers of the entire stadium, Tang Long walked off Etihad Stadium with his head held high.

This was his final appearance on this field, full of glory and passion, for the season.

Seeing this, C Luo's fist, once moving furiously, stopped.