Chapter 152: Chapter 151 The Last Madness of Serie A
The award podium was quickly set up.
One by one, the players of the Portugal U16 team went up to receive their awards.
Deng Kai wasn’t the captain of the team, so he simply stood to the side.
In doing so, he seemed even more modest and unassuming in his achievements.
Feng Te had already received treatment in the changing room; he wasn’t in too much trouble, just his vision was still blurry, and he needed time to rest and recover.
Ronaldo had it a bit rough.
His left eye was somewhat bloodshot, his left cheek slightly swollen, and his nose had two clumps of tissue to prevent more nosebleed.
"One, two, three..."
"We are the champions!"
A classic photo was thus preserved for posterity.
This could very possibly be the ugliest award-winning photo of Ronaldo to date.
Apart from the group awards, UEFA had announced the various individual honors before the ceremony.
Quaresma, Deng Kai, Ronaldo, Feng Te, Meireles, Iniesta, Torres, Reina, and others were named in the best team lineup.
Deng Kai, with his impressive stats of four goals and eight assists, was crowned Assist King and Best Midfielder of the tournament.
Quaresma, with nine goals and three assists, was honored as the top scorer and Best Forward of the tournament.
At the same time, Quaresma was also named the Best Player of the event.
...
"Portugal U16 Conquers Europe! Is the Golden Generation’s Prime Coming as the Diamond Generation Rises?"
"Stars Shine! Quaresma’s Stellar Goals Prolong Portugal’s Life; Chinese New Star Scores Twice to Save the Day!"
"Quaresma Named Best of the Tournament, Valuation Closes in on Ten Million Euros Without Official First Team Appearance!"
"Youth Champions League Final? Deng Kai Scores Twice in Three Minutes to Complete a Dramatic Equalizer and Winner!"
"Fiery Iberian Showdown Ends in Chaos, Red Cards Aplenty, Yellow Cards Worthless!"
"Iniesta’s Free Kicks Cause Concussions, Feng Te and Ronaldo Both Head to Hospital for Further Examinations After the Match!"
"Gabi’s Red Card for a Back-Flying Kick on Deng Kai Proved Costly! His Rashness Cost the Team Dearly!"
"Deng Kai’s Sensible Foul on Iniesta From Behind Turned Him into a Hero! His Judgement Brought the Ultimate Victory for the Team!"
"New Avenger? Arteta Refuses to Talk About Deng Kai After the Match!"
"Deng Kai in Post-Match Interview: Hi everyone, I’m Thanos!"
Portugal was very satisfied with the good results achieved by the U16 team.
All sorts of media were full of praise.
However, across the entire European continent, the U16 European Championship would at best remain in the headlines for just one day.
Especially if explosive transfer news broke out, it might not even last a day.
Deng Kai had no regrets about this.
After all, the summer of 1999 was known as the ’Little World Cup’ of the Serie A... The final frenzy!
They threw around 400 million Euros in the transfer market, causing a global sensation.
"23.9 Million Euros! AC Milan Signs Champions League’s Top Scorer, Andriy Shevchenko from Dynamo Kyiv!"
"AC Milan Looks to the Future, Bringing in Midfield Dynamo Gattuso for 8 Million Euros!"
"9 Million Euros Secure Sao Paulo’s Star Serginho, Strengthening AC Milan!"
"A Ray of Hope for the Defense? AC Milan Brings in Coloccini for 7.5 Million Euros from Boca Juniors. Can the 17-Year-Old Offer a New Look to AC Milan?"
AC Milan was rejuvenated with youthful vitality.
Parma, a strong contender in Serie A, won the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia and finished fourth in the league. They were thinking big.
Thus, they rejected other clubs’ offers for the likes of Crespo, Buffon, and Thuram.
They also spent 28 million Euro to bring in last season’s Serie A top scorer, Amoruso.
In addition, they spent 15.4 million Euro to recruit Inter Milan’s midfielder, Da Bo.
For 4 million Euro, they signed the Argentine ’Commander’ Ortega from Sampdoria.
With 9 million Euro, they snapped up the twenty-three-year-old forward Di Vaio from Salernitana, who scored twelve goals last season.
Moreover, Fiorentina, the "Purple Lilys," also made steady progress.
Not only did they retain their star player, Batistuta, but they also spent 14.5 million Euro to sign Chiesa.
For 12 million Euro, they signed the Silver Ball winner of 1997, Mijatović, from Real Madrid.
Of course, the most extravagant of them all has to be Inter Milan.
This summer, Inter Milan alone spent 100 million, showcasing their strength and ambition.
"Mr. 90 billion lire! The world’s number one center-forward Vieri transfers to Inter Milan, setting a transfer record!"
"Dream attacking line! Cristian Vieri teams up with Ronaldo, Baggio, Recoba, and Sammorano—next season Inter aims to score a whopping 100 goals!"
"Moratti truly loves Inter! Breaks the football world’s transfer fee record for the second time in three years!"
"Clarence Seedorf joins Inter for 24 million Euro, has Real Madrid already found a replacement?"
"19 million Euro! Inter recruits last season’s best Serie A goalkeeper—Juventus’ number one, Peruzzi!"
"Lazio makes a move! Signing the ’White Witch’ Juan Sebastian Veron for 30 million Euro, and 10 million Euro to get Simeone, the wanderer from Atletico Madrid, from Inter!"
"Vincenzo Montella transfers to Roma for 25 million Euro, aiding the rise of the Red Wolves!"
"Red Wolves add another strong player, purchasing Asia’s most expensive player, Hidetoshi Nakata, for 22 million Euro!"
Compared to the big spending of Serie A competitors, Juventus seemed somewhat shabby.
Not only did they not make any powerful signings, but they also sold their moderately effective French star, Henry, to Arsenal for 16 million Euro. Coupled with the departure of their goalkeeper, even the arrival of Zambrotta could hardly please the club’s superstar, Zidane.
Looking at the transfer fees to gauge the strength of the league, Serie A is undoubtedly in a league of its own.
This summer, of the top 20 transfers, Serie A alone claimed twelve of them and took seven of the top eight spots.
Apart from Real Madrid, who brought the French genius from Arsenal to the Bernabeu for 35 million Euro, no other transaction could compare with those of the Serie A powerhouses.
Amid these reports,
the news of Portugal’s U16 team winning the European championship gradually got drowned out.
The mainstream world was proceeding as usual.
But this didn’t mean that the world outside the mainstream view wasn’t exciting.
Chinese football, or to be precise, Chinese youth football, also experienced new changes this year.
...
Jiang Yunzhu returned to China this summer, partly for a job report and to receive a promotion and a pay raise—she is now the deputy editor-in-chief of Sports Weekly.
On the other hand, she was entrusted by Sporting Lisbon Football Club to facilitate the transfer of some outstanding players from the Wahaha team.
Trigella gave Jiang Yunzhu a list, with players that he, oh no, that Trigella wanted.
Yu Shihao, Hao Junmin, Shao Jiawei, Chen Tao, Feng Xiaoting, and others.
However, Jiang Yunzhu’s venture started off on the wrong foot.
"Our Hao child definitely needs to study, he has to attend college in the future, how can he go abroad to play football?"
"Exactly, it’s so chaotic out there, I’m not comfortable letting our Minmin go play football all by himself."
"Chengdu University of Information Technology has already agreed to admit our Jiawei as a student with special sports talent in the future. The Sports University of Beijing is also considering him now, why would we be so foolish to send our child to Portugal right now?"
"Sorry, Chen Tao is a youth player from our Quanxing Football Club, we will not compromise on the transfer fee."
"Editor-in-Chief Jiang, we recognize the sincerity of Sporting Lisbon, but we have our own training plan for Xiaoting. During his growth phase, we prefer to have him train domestically."
Due to various reasons, Jiang Yunzhu wasn’t able to finalize a deal with any of these players.
When in doubt, Jiang Yunzhu wanted to call Trigella to report the progress.
But looking at the time, she figured that Deng Kai’s medical report should be out by now, so she decided to call him first.
