Chapter Thirty-Four Main Force

  There are three goalkeepers available for Lierda to call up in the Torino squad, namely 32-year-old Italian Morello, 25-year-old Italian Bacchi and 17-year-old Chinese goalkeeper Chu Jiang.

  Free

  Through this month's observation, head coach Lyle has a brand new evaluation of these three people.

  Among the three, the most experienced is the old general Morello, who was also Lierda's most trusted goalkeeper. However, he failed to live up to the head coach's trust in a series of games at the beginning of the new season. In the Italian Cup qualifying match, his first mistake made the Bulls' lead disappear, and his second mistake almost lost the game. In the second round of Serie B, due to his consecutive mistakes within a short period, the Bulls' three points turned into zero, suffering two consecutive defeats. Due to this loss, Lierda's position was precarious for a time, and the head coach was under pressure.

  Morello was originally just a substitute for Torino's old gate god Sereni. Because the Bulls lost in the promotion playoffs, Sereni left the Bulls and joined an Italian team. With Sereni gone, Morello finally got the starting spot for the Bulls. However, his nervous performance proved that he was not up to the task. As a substitute, he barely passed, but as a starter, he lacked ability.

  So in Lillard's heart, Morant has already been labeled as "unqualified". Maybe later, Lillard will call him up from the reserve team again, but that would only be to let him return as a substitute, and not to let him return to his position as the main goalkeeper.

  So in the battle for the Bulls' starting point guard spot, the most senior and most opportune Moreylo was the first to be eliminated. The remaining options available for Lillard's choice are only Italian Bahsi and Chinese teenager Chu Jiang.

  Liedda couldn't help but feel a little sentimental. He still had a bellyful of resentment towards Petrachi for failing to bring Rubino from Palermo, but he didn't know that Palermo's transfer manager Rino Foschi was now even more depressed than him.

  What's going on here? In the end, everything has to start from Turin searching for a goalkeeper all over the world.

  Since Sereni left Torino, it has become a well-known fact throughout the Apennine football scene that Toro urgently needs to find a high-level goalkeeper.

  The chairman of the bull is ambitious, and has always regarded the revival of the bull as his lifelong pursuit. This season, he even strongly hopes that the bull can be successfully upgraded. Because, a general-level goalkeeper is completely disdained by the bull. What Torino needs is a first-rate goalkeeper with prestige and strength, at least not weaker than Sereni's level.

  In Serie B, although there are some good goalkeepers, who would be brainless to give away their team's guardian god to a rival? If that were the case, the club chairman would definitely be chased out by his own fans. Although there are also some good choices abroad, the Italian Football Federation has a rule that no Serie B club is qualified to introduce non-EU players. Putting aside whether foreign players can adapt to the new league environment, Turin cannot get around this rule of the Italian Football Federation.

  So, the Bulls had to choose a new main goalkeeper, and they could only select from goalkeepers in Serie A. Those who were beyond the Bulls' financial capacity were not considered; those who did not meet the Bulls' selection requirements were also not considered. After repeated screening, the final candidate was Rubini, Palermo's former main goalkeeper. To be precise, there was almost no one else who barely met the Bulls' selection requirements.

  Because of this, after the two consecutive defeats of Torino, Tuttosport was so resolute in printing a large headline: "Rubinio, are you ready?" The predicament of Torino's transfer market is well known even to the media like Tuttosport, let alone Palermo's cunning and astute transfer manager Foschi. Foschi had long been sharpening his knife, making full preparations for a raid.

  In those years, Juventus, another team in Turin, was very interested in buying Palermo's striker Amauri, to the point of being "non-negotiable". Meanwhile, Moggi took advantage of Juventus' eagerness to sign Amauri and slaughtered Juventus' transfer manager Secco, making Amauri's transfer fee reach 23 million.

  Torino quickly established their lead away from home. The scorer, Chu Jiang!

  This is the third goal scored by Chou Jiang for Gongbu!

  The home team didn't want to be outdone and soon responded in kind. In the 18th minute, Sassuolo launched a very threatening attack. Midfielder Catellani seized on Torino's defensive gap, shooting angrily from 30 meters in front of the goal. The football flew like a cannonball, heading straight for the lower corner where the post and crossbar meet.

  If it were Ba Shi guarding the gate, with such a fast ball speed, such an acute angle, and his line of sight blocked, he would have no way to react. However, Chu Jiang is different!

  With excellent anticipation and flexible reaction, at the moment when the football was about to fly over the goal line, Chu Jiang leaped up and made a diving header, barely blocking the ball out of bounds!

  Carterani covered his head and sighed! He was originally ready to celebrate the goal, but unexpectedly it was blocked by Chu Jiang! The Sassuolo coach on the sidelines had already made a celebratory gesture, but when he saw the ball being miraculously saved, he had to reluctantly put his arms back down.

  After seeing this rescue, Laila was beaming with joy and her determination to support Chu Jiang became even firmer.

  This rescue clearly affected Sassuolo's morale. Soon, the home team was more fluctuating on the field.

  30 minutes later, the Inter trio in the frontcourt made a series of combinations. Skriniar headed the high ball to Bianchi at the top of the arc, Bianchi headed it back to Ivanovic who was making a run behind him, and Ivanovic took the ball straight into the penalty area. Sassuolo's defender chased after him but hesitated to pull him down, fearing a free kick from Chongjiang. As a result, he missed the opportunity to take down Ivanovic, allowing his opponent to rush into the penalty area.

  Single-blade ball!

  Ivanovic didn't waste the opportunity, lifting his leg and shooting it into the net for his third goal in three games, also his fourth goal in five games this season!

  2: 0, Bulls lead into the second half.

  In the second half of the game, Sassuolo was powerless to resist, and soon Sgrigna scored his first goal after joining his new club. And in the last 5 minutes of the game, Chou Jiang used a free kick to score again, locking the score at 4:0!

  Bull, won a crushing victory!

  The 40-point margin of victory made all pre-game predictions meaningless. It wasn't that no one thought the Bulls would win, it's just that no one thought they'd win so easily.

  In the game, the Bulls completely controlled the field and created a lot of scoring opportunities. If not for the excellent performance of the opposing goalkeeper and the slight lack of finishing by the Bulls' attackers, this match could have ended with an even bigger score.

  After this game, Chu Jiang was unanimously elected as the best player of the whole field with two goals and several wonderful saves. His goal tally in Serie B also rose to 3, ranking among the top scorers! In the Bulls' lineup, he is also tied with Evanke, who is in excellent condition, as the Bulls' top scorer!

  Men will top the shooter list, which is a rather strange thing. Chu Jiang's three-time penalty kick, all of which scored a magical goal rate, has also become the focus of media attention. Many reporters are asking, who can stop Chu Jiang's next free kick? Who will be the next victim of Chu Jiang's free kick?

  While Chu Jiang's free kick performance in this game, which scored twice, also successfully sparked the media's interest. The media speculated that this magical Chinese teenager could break the record of Mihajlovic, a former Yugoslavia international and current Fiorentina coach known as the master of free kicks, by scoring a hat-trick with free kicks in one match!

  For a time, the controversy surrounding Chu Jiang became the hottest topic in Apennine. Young Chu Jiang also entered the vision of major media and Serie A clubs for the first time! And his handsome oriental appearance, elegant playing style, and wild celebrations after scoring goals also attracted attention from many Italian female fans.

  In Apennine, Chujiang begins to show its edge!