"Lu, come take a photo with us!"
After the championship award ceremony, everyone was taking commemorative photos. Morici was the first to rush up to Lu Yang for a photo.
No matter how much he complains, Momo still wants to keep a memento with Lu at such a moment.
As they were taking a photo, Morici quietly said to Lu Yang, "A media guy just asked me who is stronger, Enriquez or Mancini. Guess how I answered?"
Lu Yang’s face stiffened, "You didn’t say it was me, did you?"
Morici nodded, "Bingo! How about that, do you feel my expectations for my good brother? Starting tomorrow, your name will be mentioned alongside those two geniuses. Aren’t you excited?"
"I know it might be a bit of pressure, but trust me, it’s for your own good. Pressure brings motivation. You’re doing so well now, I’m really afraid you’ll get too carried away and lose your original passion."
"So, I found you two strong rivals to keep pushing you. No need to thank me, that’s what brothers are for."
Lu Yang’s mind was going MMP, but he forced a smile and said, "Thanks a lot, huh. By the way, what do you think of Spain’s number eight right now?"
"Are you talking about Fabian Corall?" Morici remembered the Spanish midfielder well, "He’s strong. I heard he was already a main rotation player for La Liga giant Atletico Madrid last season and might become a starter this season."
"His control over the midfield is even better than mine at this stage. He can be the core of the midfield in any team and is also the kind of brain that can mesh well with all sorts of front-line players!"
"Even that red card of his was almost the best choice. Although my style is different from his, I might not be as good right now, but in the future, I won’t be any worse!"
Morici had a very clear understanding of himself.
Lu Yang said, "I don’t think so. I think you’re better than him."
Morici chuckled, "You know me well, exposing my fake modesty, good job!"
But soon, Morici’s face turned pale, "Wait a minute, you didn’t say this in front of the media, did you?"
Lu Yang replied, "I’m such a straightforward person, how could I only say false things to your face? Of course, when facing the media, I also said you’re better than him! In my heart, you’re the number one young midfielder in the world, no exceptions!"
"Damn it! Are you setting me up?" Morici gritted his teeth.
"No, that’s not it. Believe me, it’s for your own good. Pressure brings motivation... No need to thank me, that’s what brothers are for!"
Lu Yang repeated Morici’s words of comfort, then ran off, and the short-legged Morici couldn’t catch up.
Watching the figures of Morici and Lu Yang running wildly, quite a few reporters envied their genuine friendship.
Soon, the result of this year’s European Youth Championship spread across Europe.
The uneventful Italy winning the championship was simply inexplicable.
In fact, the strong teams in this year’s European Youth Championship were really numerous.
England, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, and even Poland—no matter who won the championship, people would find it reasonable.
But only Italy winning was hard to accept.
This was simply metaphysical!
Not to mention that they changed coaches before the game, the new head coach Maniero directly replaced more than half of the players.
In the Italian squad that won the European Youth Championship, half of the players had never appeared in the Italy National Youth Team before, and most of the others were just substitutes.
The result is that this hastily assembled team won the European Youth Championship.
Do you say the opponents were too weak?
Many people would definitely disagree because the lineup in this European Youth Championship was terrifyingly strong.
Enriquez, Mancini, Pavovsky, Melcan, and Corall—these players are expected to appear in next year’s European Cup!
Even Enriquez and Mancini are highly likely to become starters for the national team directly.
Dare you say they’re weak?
But Italy...how do you explain it?
You can’t say the Italy National Youth Team is strong, can you?
So far, only Sevajos from the Italy National Youth Team has been called up to the national team, and even he hasn’t actually played a match.
And the Italy National Team, among European national teams, can only be considered... third-rate!
That’s right!
Truly third-rate!
About a decade ago, they were a champion-level team. After Maniero and Sotu retired, they were first-rate. Five or six years ago, they were second-rate, but in the past one or two years, due to a new round of renovation or the so-called shortage of talent, they’ve fallen to being a third-rate team.
This evaluation is not just empty talk.
The European Cup qualifiers started last September and will end this October.
But now, it’s almost August, with only the last four qualifying matches left, and Italy is only in fourth place in the group!
Only the top two in the group get the chance to qualify directly for the European Cup finals, while the third place has to play playoffs.
Currently, Italy doesn’t even have the qualification to play in the playoffs.
What else could you call such a team but a third-rate European team?
Um... no offense, Netherlands Team.
So, basically, this win of the European Youth Championship by the Italy National Youth Team can really be called a miracle in football.
And coincidentally, this miracle includes a few "miracle veterans."
Lu Yang, Morici, Sogel, Versachi... these names inevitably make people think of certain things.
And they all performed quite well in this European Youth Championship, especially Lu Yang and Morici.