Chapter Twelve: The First Triumphant Victory

Nobody expected it, absolutely nobody expected it.

With Momo on the pitch, Inter Milan's attacking threat inexplicably intensified.

Fans on the sidelines screamed at the top of their lungs, while Watley in front of his television could not help but curl his lips in disdain.

Torino? A team that constantly oscillated between Serie A and Serie B, a team currently struggling desperately in the relegation zone.

For such a pushover team, did they really need to be this excited?

Looking across all of Momo's opponents, they were either third-tier teams or aging veterans nearing retirement.

As for the true value of each of his goals, Watley felt that Momo was merely a lucky Chinaman, nothing more than a guy who got lucky!

The Torino goalkeeper rushed out frantically, but all that awaited him was Momo's volley.

He paused for a fraction of a second, but when he finally wanted to leap high and claim the shot, it was already too late.

Momo turned around, raising his high-stretched arm as he sprinted away under the gaze of the arriving Torino players.

The Inter Milan players were also thrilled; it had been a long time since they had scored so early in a match. Raising their hands, they ran up and ruffled Momo's hair.

Obafemi Martins watched this scene unfold, feeling a secret wave of anxiety inside. Damn it! He had been completely overshadowed!

"Three minutes into the match, Momo has scored a goal at Torino's home ground, completing a brilliant debut. Now Christian Vieri must start worrying about his starting position."

Chen Nu's voice carried a strange tone, caught somewhere between wanting to laugh and holding it back. Well, for the time being, he could put his worries about Momo away.

The match continued. Torino now had no idea what to do. Originally, they had intended to play defensively and fight for a draw, but conceding a goal in their own stadium just three minutes into the game changed everything. What came next?

They looked toward their head coach on the sidelines, but the coach's final verdict was to stick to the original plan.

While this could hardly be called a masterstroke, it was still a rational decision. One had to realize that when trailing behind, not every manager was like Jose Mourinho, willing to make three substitutions at once and throw on three strikers.

Usually, a team would simply continue playing according to the pre-arranged tactics, and only gamble everything once the seventieth or eightieth minute arrived!

That was precisely what the Torino coach had in mind. He watched the flow of the game with great composure, while Martins proved extremely active on the pitch, drawing the attention of a large number of Torino defenders.

As the saying goes, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.

Initially, that prominent nail had been Momo, who was already thinking about retreating in glory! As a result, Martins stepped up to help draw away the incoming firepower.

Martins was exceptionally fast, but his dribbling technique was mediocre, and his ability to beat defenders looked downright clumsy. Several golden opportunities created by his teammates were squandered early on by Martins's hasty plays.

Yet, was there truly no positive effect to be found?

"Forty-one minutes into the match, this is a pass from Momo. Momo passes the ball to Martins, who, after carrying it forward, finds himself surrounded and chased by three defenders."

Martins had been quite excited upon receiving the ball, but by the time he managed to control it, he was already completely boxed in. In that predicament, Momo, the one who had passed him the ball, was waving his arms from afar.

Martins gritted his teeth and ultimately chose to pass. However, do not assume he was willingly playing the humble supporting role; he simply wanted to pass the ball back to Momo and wait for Momo to return it, executing a brilliant one-two!

Would Momo play along with his wishes? Of course not! From the exact moment he received the ball, Momo had only one target in mind: the Torino goal.

Torino had been having a very difficult time in recent years; simply put, they had no money and no players.

Without money, they could not afford good players; without good players, they could not produce good results; without good results, no one was willing to invest. When Torino became trapped in such a vicious cycle, it meant that unless a super-wealthy sugar daddy like Roman Abramovich appeared, or a heaven-defying talent emerged from their youth academy, their ultimate fate would be to sink straight to the bottom and stay there.

Torino's defense was currently the worst in Serie A. The instant Momo received the ball, a Torino player near him threw out a leg, attempting to tackle the ball from behind.

Would Momo let him have his way? As the ball arrived, Momo used the inside of his right heel to redirect it, instantly spinning his body around and gliding past the Torino player trailing him like a gust of wind.

That defender tried to reach out and grab Momo's jersey, but his effort ended in futility.

"A brilliant back-heel flick! Now, if Momo can just shake off the two defenders at the edge of the penalty box, he will unleash an extremely threatening shot."

Momo narrowed his eyes slightly. The two Torino defenders crouched slightly with solemn expressions, but right at that moment, an idea flashed through Momo's mind.

Why bother getting past them? Can I score directly from this angle? That would be so cool!

Acting on the thought instantly, Momo feigned a shot. Both Torino defenders instinctively lifted their legs, but there was no ball to block.

When they put their legs back down—well, Momo certainly didn't hold back, immediately unleashing a ferocious shot.

"Momo! Momo unleashes a fierce shot from outside the penalty box at an acute angle. Huh? The goalkeeper has thrown his entire body out in a dive."

The Torino goalkeeper launched himself forward in a desperate dive. He would reach it!

Momo's expression flickered with a hint of disappointment, but he instantly brushed it away, sprinting forward to seek an opportunity for a rebound.

However, that opportunity never materialized at all.

The Torino goalkeeper did indeed manage to touch the ball, but failed to palm it away safely. The ball struck his hand, rebounded off the goalpost, and finally rolled into the net.

"Oh! The Torino goalkeeper got a hand to the ball, but failed to keep it out. The ball hit the post and rolled into the goal. Simply incredible."

Momo raised both arms and sprinted toward the stands filled with fans. In a corner of the stands, a Chinese national flag was fluttering in the wind.

In the remainder of the match, neither team scored again. Momo completed his debut by netting two goals at Torino's home ground, making Torino's relegation battle even more arduous.

Never mind that, though; in the next match against Torino's fellow strugglers Reggina, Momo would show no mercy whatsoever either.

After the match, the *Munich Evening News* was perhaps the only publication harshly criticizing Momo. To be honest, had someone not mentioned it to him, Momo wouldn't even have noticed Watley.

Well, actually, it was mainly because the system lacked a built-in text translation function, so Momo practically never read the newspapers.

With his teammates explaining the words to him, Momo finally learned about the article published by Watley titled *A Pseudo-Genius, a Lucky Clown*.

According to Watley's rhetoric, the reason Momo was currently invincible was because whenever he faced tough opponents, he would fake an injury, whereas whenever he played well, it was exclusively against declining, second-tier level teams.

In front of those aging veterans, Momo could bounce around by virtue of his youth, but when faced with defenders in their prime, Momo would appear completely helpless.

Actually, Watley wasn't entirely wrong in saying that. Aside from scoring goals, Momo basically had no other notable strengths, but isn't that already more than enough for a striker?

So what if you are tall and strong? If you cannot score goals, it's all for nothing anyway.

As for Watley's comments about him facing aging players, Momo wasn't going to overly flatter himself, but if anyone claimed Momo was truly terrified now, that was far from the truth. In the system's training simulations, Philipp Lahm—the left-back currently rising to prominence in the Bundesliga—was at best on equal footing with him fifty-fifty.