Chapter 25: 9-8 (First Update)

  A player on the bench has started warming up. It seems that head coach Lyle doesn't like the current situation of the Bulls on the court.

  As Chu Jiang walked out of the substitute bench, Olympic Stadium commentator Stefano Borelli made a timely comment.

  "Although I once boasted that I could recognize all the Bulls players, including the young players on the youth team. But at this moment, I have to admit that the young player with an Eastern face who came out for warm-ups is not familiar to me. Who is he? Maybe I should give Coach Laid a call, haha!"

  Obviously, for Chu Jiang's appearance, the entire Olympic Stadium felt strange. This was Chu Jiang's first appearance in a match in Turin. In the near future, he may be remembered by all Bulls fans, but now, he is still an absolute newcomer.

  "Oh, that new player is the young goalkeeper we just brought in from Chievo not long ago, from a far-off eastern country - China. His jersey number is 98 and he's only 17 years old, won't turn 18 until September. From his data, up to today, he doesn't even have a single professional match appearance record. Is it possible that today we will witness the first professional match of this young goalkeeper?"

  To the speculation of commentator Burrell, the Bulls fans on site responded with scattered boos. Chu Jiang smiled helplessly at the sidelines and continued his warm-up while Lyle remained expressionless as he observed the situation on the court.

  On the field, the Bulls still can't find the key to unlock the victory. Faced with Cosenza's united defense, Torino's players could only run back and forth in vain, helplessly consuming their physical strength.

  For Chu Jiang's sudden warm-up, Torino's goalkeeper Morrelo looked gloomy. Everyone could clearly see that Morrelo was very dissatisfied with the head coach's move.

  "Although, Morello's performance today was subpar. However, in general, the goalkeeper is hard to be replaced. Especially when this No. 98 player has just joined the team for a short time. Without experience, young age, and short training time with teammates, it seems that we can't find any reason for this player to play. It looks like the head coach's move was just to warn the goalkeeper on the field. Morello's mistake earlier was really too amateurish!"

  Rather than explaining the disappointing situation on the field, Borelli would rather analyze Lirida's intention to have Chujian warm up. In fact, Lirida also had this idea. At a time when the score and situation are so tense, it is not a good opportunity to train new players. Lirida thought that this Italian qualifying match would be a very simple and easy match, he could randomly substitute some new players when leading by a large margin, and even let Chujian get the chance to warm up on the field. However, Morello's low-level mistake ruined everything.

  Although Morello made a very low-level mistake, as a coach, sometimes you also have to tolerate the occasional mistakes of players. Moreover, Morello's experience is still what this team needs. Therefore, LirA decided to recall Chujang and let him continue to sit on the bench.

  "A warning would be enough for him, no need to really replace him." Laila thought.

  Morello made another mistake at this time!

  After breaking through a defender, Fiore of Cosenza brought the ball close to the penalty area. With all defenders having quickly retreated to their positions, Morello still chose an extremely reckless counter-attack. Faced with Morello's counter-attack, Fiore chose to chip the ball, which easily bypassed Morello's powerless arm and headed straight for the empty goal behind him!

  "Oh God! We're going to lose the ball again, damn it!" Borrelli exclaimed.

  Layelda quickly stood up from the substitute bench, standing at the edge of the field with a very ugly face. At the same time, all the coaches and players on Cosenza's substitute bench also stood up. Unlike Torino's substitute bench, which was silent, Cosenza's substitute bench was full of excitement, they all ran to the edge of the field, ready to celebrate their victory.

  Chu Jiang also stopped warming up at this time, standing by the field, staring intently at the football flying towards the goal.

  Just as the football was about to fly into the goal, a black figure flashed in like lightning and arrived in an instant. With one foot, he made a handsome hook shot, kicking the football out of the penalty area. What a close call!

  "Oh, Ogbonna has done it! Ogbonna is our hero! Let's take another look at the replay... Just as the ball was about to cross the goal line, Ogbonna cleared it in time. No doubt, this is an incredible save! Beautiful action, great Ogbonna! However, Moreira's mistake was too amateurish, how could he choose to attack so hastily? If Fiore didn't try to shoot and instead passed the ball to his teammate in the middle, maybe we would be trailing now!"

  Barry began his passionate and somewhat garrulous explanation at a very rapid pace.

  Cosenza's substitute players and coaches walked back to the bench with a look of despair, while only Torino coach Mazzarri remained on the sidelines with an uncertain expression.

  "Substitute!"

  Leylah couldn't take it anymore. Moreira's utterly deplorable state had completely exhausted Coach Master's last bit of patience.

  "Chujiang up, Morrello down!" Lyra ordered assistant coach Destro.

  Destro was stunned, but still did not express any dissent towards the head coach's move. Morello's performance was really too poor, and Destro couldn't find any reason to defend him.

  So, Chu Jiang and Destro stood together at the center line of the field, standing next to the fourth official. The fourth official held up the substitution electronic board high.

  Morello, down!

  Line 98, Chu Jiang, rise!

  This will be Chu Jiang's first professional match! This will be the beginning of Chu Jiang's conquest of Turin!

  "Oh my, what do we see? The Eastern Gate is going to replace Morello! Although Morello's performance today was terrible, replacing a seasoned veteran with an inexperienced newcomer is undoubtedly a huge gamble!"

  Behind the new goalkeeper, we saw a strange number, '9-8'. This number reminds me of the famous star who played for Inter Milan, Ivan Zamorano's number, '1+8'. It seems that this newcomer is expressing his determination to become the main goalkeeper through this way.

  "However, being just a little cheaper in terms of numbers is not enough. To become the main goalkeeper, we need brilliant and stable performances."