CHAPTER 290: CHAPTER 95: WITH NO FRIENDS AHEAD, ALL SERIE A FANS CURSE YOU (13,000-WORD CHAPTER)

"Shocking Voice! The Defender of the Italian Cup Finally Emerges!"

"Respect the Game! Italian Third Division Young Player States Serie A Teams Should Not Use Substitute Lineups to Compete in the Italian Cup!"

"Only Play the Strongest! Damn! This Young Boy Did It Again!"

"Young Player Boldly Criticizes Serie A Giants, Such a Vast Perspective, the Third Division Can’t Contain It!"

"Three Goals, Two Assists! Lu Yang, Who Dominated the Italian Third Division, Also Wants to Dominate the Italian Cup!"

"Qualified! Third Division Young Player Scored Ten Goals and Seven Assists in the Cup, Dominating Both Rankings, He Has a Right to Speak on the Italian Cup!"

"Restless! Just After Achieving Internal Dominance, Lu Yang Causes Bigger Trouble for the Team?"

Headlines were released one after another.

The previous tumult around Becher’s in San Remo no longer attracted any attention.

At this moment, everyone was focused on this player named Lu Yang.

Maniero promptly stated: "The Italian Cup is the cup competition of the Italian people, a match where all domestic teams have a chance to participate and fairly compete to the end."

"This competition should be respected by all football clubs and fans in the country. But unfortunately, I haven’t seen this in many big clubs."

"I understand the pressure on big teams to compete in European competitions, to fight for the league title or the top four, or even just to avoid relegation. But I think no team, no player should give up any chance to win a championship."

"A championship is a belief, a gene. Giving up the Italian Cup won’t make Italian teams stronger; in recent years, our national clubs have always been fully prepared, but the best result was only the Champions League semi-finals."

"On the contrary, clubs from England and Spain often advance on multiple fronts, never easily giving up in domestic cup finals, and in the past five years, they have won the Champions League four times."

"Facts prove that giving up on a championship will only lead us to miss the next one, to lose more championships! It will only cause fans to repeatedly feel disappointed due to not witnessing high-level matches."

"I admire Lu Yang’s desire for the championship as a player. If I were to become the head coach of a team, every player in my squad must possess the same desire for a championship that Lu has. Without it, no matter how good they are, I won’t use them!"

"Because our love for football, our attachment to it, our unforgettable nature and respect for it, all stem from the pursuit of victory in every match and every tournament championship!"

"Of course, I know there are wins and losses in matches, only one championship, and someone will inevitably leave disappointed. But isn’t this the most crucial part of our experience with football? Not striving to lose, no one will admit it, and will only live in false self-deception... this won’t make us improve."

"If one day, we stop pursuing these, then our football will become like a certain national professional men’s basketball league, from dazzling, from unique, to optional and not seen for a long time, eventually buried in the dust of history, becoming an ordinary pastime."

"The Italian Cup is the highest honor Italian football can bestow! All Italian teams must face and respect this!"

Maniero’s words resonated deeply with many of the older generation focused on Italian football.

Of course, it also sparked refutations from some current Serie A teams.

Especially those teams with European competition tasks, top four league tasks, relegation pressure, and not yet eliminated from the Italian Cup.

Sampdoria found themselves as one such "unfortunate" club.

They are currently third from last in the league standings, on the brink of relegation with just a slight oversight.

At this time, telling them to put all their effort into the Italian Cup left them speechless.

What frustrated them even more was that they would face San Remo in the Italian Cup quarter-finals.

Sampdoria’s sporting director responded: "Serie A competition is incredibly intense, our most crucial goal this season is avoiding relegation, nothing is more important than that."

"I saw some news from San Remo, but I found it laughable."

"We are a Serie A team, we have many excellent players on our bench, and even in our reserve team, many players are capable of competing in Serie B and even becoming key players!"

"As for the Third Division... sorry, we never pay attention to it."

"San Remo seeks respect, I understand."

"But the lineup we field is not for them to decide."

"Of course, I’m certain of one thing, no matter what lineup we field, we will definitely defeat San Remo. So they needn’t worry about winning without gold content, because they simply won’t win!"

Not only Sampdoria, but many Serie A teams, especially those clubs with a history of strategically withdrawing from the Italian Cup, expressed their discontent with San Remo and Lu Yang.

"Who does he think he is? Does he think he’s playing in Serie A?"

"He’s Lu, the toughest man in Italy! This season, he’s scored forty goals and made twenty-two assists in thirty-two league and cup matches combined, who do you think he is?"

"So what? Just bullying weak teams in lower leagues, our reserve team’s central forward scored thirty-eight goals in a single Second Division season, yet he can’t even make the first team now!"

"Yeah, our young academy star went to the Belgian First Division A and won the league’s golden boot, but came back to still sit on the bench, and that’s even with preferential treatment because he’s a homegrown talent."