The car was silent for a few seconds.
Tobías looked at the street ahead, washed by the rain, but his mind was on another reality.
In 2013, the football world in Europe had changed.
The old-school romance was still there, but the trend had long since shifted elsewhere.
Giovanni suddenly asked, “Tobías, what about you?
Where do you want to go the most?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“Don’t pretend,” Giovanni said.
“A midfielder like you must want to go to Barça, right?
Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets.
A paradise for passing and control.”
Tobías shook his head.
“The times are different now.”
Giovanni raised an eyebrow.
“How so?”
Tobías said, “Modern football doesn’t give classical attacking midfielders that much space anymore.”
Giovanni slowed down, clearly interested.
Tobías continued, “In the past, a number ten could stand in the attacking midfield position waiting for the ball, relying on that final pass to solve the problem.
Masters like Riquelme could control the game with rhythm and footwork.”
Hearing Riquelme’s name, Giovanni instinctively curled his lip.
River Plate players always had a complicated expression when mentioning a Boca Juniors legend.
Tobías didn’t stop.
“But that doesn’t work now.
The pace of the game is getting faster and faster, and the pressing is getting more aggressive.”
“If an attacking midfielder can’t run, can’t press, and can’t participate in defense, they will soon be strangled by the midfield.”
Giovanni nodded.
“That’s why many number tens are moving to the wings or dropping back into midfield.”
“Exactly.”
Tobías looked at the streaks of rain under the streetlights.
“Coaches now prefer all-around midfielders who can receive the ball, advance it, pass it, and also defend.”
“Or they simply want a defensive midfielder with great coverage and fierce interception skills who can snuff out the opponent’s counterattacks.”
Giovanni laughed.
“Are you talking about yourself?”
Tobías didn’t deny it.
“If I only knew how to pass, I wouldn’t get very far in modern football.”
“Then what about your defense today?”
Giovanni immediately seized on the point.
“You didn’t have this style of cutting off passing lanes before.”
Tobías said calmly, “If you want to win, you have to fix your weaknesses.”
“Easier said than done.”
Giovanni tutted.
“I’d love to have perfect left foot, right foot, and heading skills overnight, but reality doesn’t allow it.”
Tobías looked at him.
“Your heading is not bad.”
“Of course,” Giovanni became proud again.
“I am a striker from Diego Simeone’s family.”
This place and the River Plate training base were two completely different worlds.
Both sides of the wide streets were lined with neatly trimmed greenery, the villa walls were washed shiny by the rain, and streetlights lit up one by one, shining on the wet stone roads.
Giovanni parked the car outside Tobías’s family villa.
Tobías didn’t get out immediately, but took a tightly packed small box from his bag.
“For you.”
Giovanni was stunned.
“What is it?”
“Tea.”
Tobías handed the box over.
“I brought it back this time, originally planning to share some with friends on the team.”
Giovanni took it, turning it over and over, looking at the writing on the box, and his eyes lit up.
“Real tea?”
“Yes.”
“That’s so cool!”
Giovanni immediately hugged the box to his chest as if he had received some treasure.
“My dad will definitely love it.
He always says he’s tired of drinking mate tea and wants to try something new.”
Tobías said, “Don’t put too much in at once, it will be bitter.”
Giovanni nodded seriously.
“You teach me how to brew it tomorrow.”
“Sure.”
“It’s a deal!”
Giovanni smiled happily.
“Tobías, after we beat Boca Juniors, I’ll invite you to my house to drink this tea.”
“If my dad compliments me on my taste then, I’ll tell him it was a gift from you.”
Tobías pushed the car door open.
“Win first, then talk.”
“We’ll definitely win!”
Giovanni shouted through the car window, “Two days from now, we’ll crush Boca Juniors!”
Tobías waved his hand and turned to walk into his villa.
The lights were on in the living room.
The servant heard the noise and came over to take his bag.
Tobías changed into slippers, and his gaze quickly fell on the coffee table, where several sports newspapers were placed.
The one on top had an extremely glaring front-page headline.
“Chinese National Football Team Permanently Bans Tobías, Naturalization Farce Officially Ends”
Large black characters took up half the page, with his photo underneath.
The photo was clearly cropped from training materials; the angle wasn’t great, and he looked cold and rebellious.
The content of the report was no surprise: beating teammates without cause, refusing to follow management.
Serious issues with character, permanently banned from participating in any events under the Chinese Football Association.
The same old rhetoric, exactly the same as the official website announcement.
Tobías picked up the newspaper and glanced at it casually.
If it were the day he just left the Phoenix Mountain base, he might have felt disgusted.
But now, he felt no fluctuation in his heart, not even bothering to feel angry.
He put the newspaper back on the table.
His father used to hope he would play for the national team.
His grandfather also often said that no matter where you go, you should never forget your roots.
Tobías understood them and respected them, but football couldn’t be saved by one person’s passion. New chapters come out on g.com first.
If a team was rotten from the root, then throwing his talent into it would only drag him into the mire.
This ban, instead, made the final decision for him.
From now on, he didn’t need to consider the Chinese National Football Team anymore.
No need to look back for the sake of so-called bloodlines and sentiment.
His path was at River Plate, in Europe, and in the real football world.
Just then, that familiar mechanical voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
[Host detected completing newbie task: Break free from the status of a fringe player.]
[Task evaluation: Initial brilliance.]
Tobías paused, and a semi-transparent panel popped up before his eyes.
[Distributing task rewards…]
[Top-tier midfielder Kanté’s Interception module successfully unlocked.]
The next second, an indescribable feeling surged into Tobías’s mind.
It wasn’t that his strength suddenly surged, nor did his body become stronger out of thin air.
It was more like countless defensive scenes were forcibly stuffed into his consciousness.
The orientation of the ball carrier’s shoulders, the position of the supporting foot, small movements before dribbling, and habits of looking up before passing.
When to extend a foot, when to stick close, and when to retreat to block a passing lane.
Those judgments that originally required countless matches to accumulate were now like being peeled back layer by layer and directly carved into his brain.
Tobías looked down at his legs; he didn’t move.
But he could clearly feel that as long as someone approached with the ball, he would be able to judge the opponent’s next move earlier than before.
Interception was no longer just a gambling-style lunge.
It was anticipation, positioning, pressure, forcing the opponent to deliver the ball into his trap.
The panel refreshed accordingly.
[Host: Tobías]
[Age: 16]
[Affiliation: River Plate Youth Team]
[Position: Midfielder]
[Overall Rating: 76]
[Speed: 73]
[Explosiveness: 71]
[Stamina: 69]
[Strength: 64]
[Dribbling: 74]
[Short Passing: 78]
[Long Passing: 76]
[Vision: 82]
[Ball Control: 77]
[Shooting: 63]
[Defensive Positioning: 66]
[Interception: 94]
[Blocking: 65]
[Physicality: 61]
[Mental: 80]
[Talent: God-Level Vision]
[Module: Kanté Interception Module]