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Chapter 281 After the Match
Ribeiro opened his eyes naturally from his deep sleep, without any soreness, swelling, or difficulty opening them, which indicates that his sleep quality was excellent and that he truly woke up naturally.

Like a fully charged cell phone, he was full of energy. He threw off the covers and jumped right out of bed.

I felt refreshed and invigorated.

Not just this one night, but every night since he came to Tyne, in the town of Northumberland, he has slept very well.

Before coming to Tyne, everyone he met said that England was not a place for humans to live, especially northeastern English cities like Newcastle, which were cold, damp, and had a biting sea breeze...

In their descriptions, Newcastle was a hellish place of bitter cold.

But when he actually arrived here, he was surprised to find that he was able to sleep well every night, much better than when he was in Milan.

The weather in Newcastle is certainly not as good as in Milan, and the food is not as good either.

But every night here, he felt at peace and could fall asleep easily. Once asleep, he was not easily awakened.

It is said that "home is where the heart is," and he felt as if this small town east of Newcastle was his hometown.

Ribeiro jumped out of bed wearing only his underwear, his upper body bare, and then pulled back the bedroom curtains.

From his second-floor bedroom, he could see that lights were already on in several windows of the villa next door.

Although he couldn't see clearly inside, it was obvious that his neighbor had gotten up just like him, and there were even lights on upstairs and downstairs, indicating that they had gotten up even earlier than him.

Ribeiro wasn't surprised; he was used to it—it was normal for idols to be even more extreme than their fans.

Seeing that his idol had already gotten up, Ribeiro did not move, but continued to stand by the window, looking at the house over there.

Perhaps being able to live next door to his idol is the reason he can sleep peacefully every night.

After all, being able to be so close to his idol was something he had always dreamed of, and now that his wish had come true, he was naturally at ease.

After gazing at his idol's residence for a short while, Ribeiro drew the curtains again and went to take a shower and change.

After doing all this, he returned to the window and, sure enough, saw his idol warming up in the backyard.

So he immediately rushed downstairs, dressed neatly, turned left at the door, and rang the doorbell.

Soon the small gate specifically for pedestrians opened automatically.

Ribeiro knew that Wang Lie had seen him through his watch inside.

After he went in, the small door closed automatically.

When he walked around the front yard and came to the back yard, he saw Wang Lie still warming up.

He immediately came up to Wang Lie.

On the morning of the second day after the match, they would definitely get together for recovery training. There was no need to make an appointment in advance; Ribeiro could just knock on the door.

During warm-up, Ribeiro took the initiative to bring up last night's match against Wang Lie: "I scored, Wang!"

Wang Lie nodded: "A good start. Score more goals in the future."

Unexpectedly, Ribeiro had no ulterior motives at all, and said with a grin, "You don't need to worry about me not scoring."

Wang Lie was speechless: "I was worried you didn't want to score..."

“Of course I want to! If I had a better opportunity, I would definitely take it myself. But if your opportunity is better than mine, I will definitely pass the ball to you, Wang,” Ribeiro said.

"Have you forgotten, Wang? A thousand goals, a thousand goals! Your goal is to score a thousand goals!"

“I don’t remember agreeing to that,” Wang Lie said.

When Ribeiro stated his goal of scoring 1,000 goals, Wang Lie remained noncommittal and did not give a definite answer.

But Ribeiro didn't care about any of that. He asked, "Don't you want to break this record?"

He looked at Wang Lie with anticipation.

Under his gaze, Wang Lie shook his head: "Of course I want it."

Ribeiro clapped his hands happily: "So! To break this record, you need to score lots of goals. And I'll do my best to help you!"

Wang Lie hadn't expected Ribeiro to be such a career-oriented fan...

However, he was not bothered by it.

He just suddenly realized that when he first chose Tyne, it was because he wanted to participate in the World Cup and needed a team that could give him a stable chance to play so that he could score more goals and break through his physical age.

At that time, his only goal was the World Cup.

As for what will happen after the World Cup, he hasn't thought about it yet.

As for setting the goal of leading Tyne to the Champions League, it's because he wants to score more goals, which means playing more matches. Also, participating in high-level competitions will help him maintain better form before the World Cup.

That's it.

Signing Tyne to a one-and-a-half-year contract is clearly aimed at the World Cup.

So even though Tyne's club wanted to renew his contract, he didn't budge.

He'll see how things go after the World Cup.

At that time, he would most likely choose to return to China to play football, where there would be less work, more money, and he would be closer to home, allowing him to spend more time with his family – this was actually the career plan that everyone envisioned for him at the end of last year.

But Vitini's ambition—or rather, his dream—disrupted his original plans.

He has a natural love for challenges and believes that it would be very challenging and interesting to transform an ordinary, low-level team into a powerhouse.

So his goal changed.

Not only do they need to lead Tyne to qualify for the Champions League, but they also need to win the Champions League title.

Not just the Champions League title, all titles are on his list of goals.

Therefore, he needed to stay in Tyne for a longer period of time, so he signed a five-year contract with Tyne Club at the end of the season.

As a result, Ribeiro recently set a goal of scoring 1,000 goals in his career.

Each of these goals seems outrageous when viewed individually, but when considered together, they make perfect sense.

To win the World Cup, he needs to score goals relentlessly this season to slow down his physical decline.

The more goals you score, the more games you will win.

If you win more times, does that mean you're more likely to win the championship?
Especially in a competition like the Champions League, if you can keep winning, wouldn't you become the champion in the end?
So, thinking about it this way, winning the Champions League isn't such an unbelievable goal. Besides the Champions League, with continuous victories, other competition titles have become a piece of cake.

If Tyne wins more championships, will his team gradually move closer to becoming a powerhouse?
After all, to become a powerhouse, all you need is a lot of championships, right?

As long as I win enough championships, great scholars will naturally come to my defense. What about heritage, tradition, market share, finances, influence... those were once problems, but now they are no longer problems.

Having won so many championships, is achieving the goal of a thousand goals not such a pipe dream after all?
After all, he's only a little over two hundred goals short. If he plays for another five or six years, with Wang Lie's physique and form, surely he won't be able to score even two hundred goals?
So those goals are like branches of a tree, all attached to the trunk.

Once you understand one thing, everything else falls into place; once you've mastered one, the rest will follow naturally.

It won't take any extra effort.

However, Wang Lie still needed to make something clear to Ribeiro: "Although I also really want to achieve my goal of 1,000 goals, don't sacrifice your scoring opportunities for it. After all, I can achieve the goal of 1,000 goals on my own..."

He spoke with arrogance in both his demeanor and tone, appearing pretentious and annoying.

If it weren't Ribeiro standing in front of Wang Lie, but anyone else, upon hearing Wang Lie say that, would likely turn pale with anger, thinking that Wang Lie was humiliating them.

But now, hearing Wang Lie say this, Ribeiro was actually quite pleased, and he clapped his hands vigorously:
"I knew it! You could definitely do it on your own! No problem! Don't worry, Wang! I will absolutely not diminish the value of your 1,000-goal record!"

Yes, he didn't feel that Wang Lie's statement "I can do it myself" was an insult or a denial of his help. On the contrary, he thought his idol was awesome! There was nothing in this world that he couldn't do!
Achieving a goal of 1,000 goals would be incredibly difficult for any other player; it would be a pipe dream.

To date, Arthur Eloun, who ranks second in the active player scoring list, has scored a total of 545 goals. Not to mention that he is not far from the 1,000-goal mark, he is still 215 goals away from Wang Lie.

The gap is even larger than at the beginning of the year – before Wang Lie transferred to Tyne at the beginning of this year, he had a total of 710 goals, while Arthur Eloun had 526 goals, 187 fewer than Wang Lie.

With a gap of 215 goals, and considering Arthur's age of 33, it's practically impossible for him to reach 1,000 goals.

Although Arthur, who ranks second in goals, couldn't do it, it doesn't mean Ribeiro thinks his idol, Wang Lie, couldn't.

It could even be said that Ribeiro believed only Wang Lie could do it, and would do it very easily.

So Wang Lie is right, he can do it on his own. Why would Ribeiro be unhappy just because his idol told the truth?

Seeing Ribeiro's beaming face, Wang Lie couldn't help but chuckle—he had finally found the right way to deal with this die-hard fan.

It's a little strange, but as long as Ribeiro doesn't object, it's fine...

"Alright, let's begin training, Miguel."

Wang Lie concluded the discussion about the 1,000-ball topic, and Ribeiro responded enthusiastically: "Okay, Wang!"

The energetic sound of hitting the ball soon filled the backyard.

※※※

"...After yesterday's match, Federico Papacioli was once again asked about his opinion on Miguel Ribeiro at the post-match press conference—he had been asked the same question before the match, at which time he said he wouldn't talk about players who weren't on his team before the match, but now that the match is over, the reporters clearly don't want to let him off the hook..."

When asked about Ribeiro's happiness at Tyne, Papacioli said he was pleased to see Ribeiro adapt quickly to his new environment and wished him all the best with his new team. However, he didn't want to discuss Ribeiro further, stating that his team hadn't played their best for the away game, but assured everyone that they would be at their best when they returned home.
"Furthermore, after Ribeiro won the Man of the Match award yesterday, some Milan fans burned his jersey and posted the video online. This shows that the 0-3 away loss to Tyne was a significant blow to Milan fans. However, to be honest, it's hard to judge Milan fans' method of venting their anger by burning Ribeiro's jersey, especially since some Milan fans still had Ribeiro's jersey after the training strike—I thought they would have burned it long ago..."

"After the match, Ribeiro posted a picture of his Man of the Match trophy on social media. This drew a barrage of comments from Milan fans criticizing him for being ungrateful. Ribeiro didn't respond, but he also didn't close the comments section. It was as if he couldn't see them. Since leaving, Miguel Ribeiro hasn't mentioned Milan on his social media. Clearly, in Ribeiro's mind, Milan is a thing of the past, but Milan fans haven't let go. I think the next match between the two sides will be the real highlight..."

※※※

"...Deventer Gosh, an ordinary little boy playing in the Tyne youth team. Last night, during Tyne's Champions League match against Milan at home, he was part of the ball boys team and successfully held hands with Wang. Yes, that's the little guy who suddenly flashed a 'V' sign at the camera when he and Wang came on the field..."

"After the match last night, an excited Koshi posted a video on his social media account, in which he explained why he made that gesture to the camera..."

After the announcer's voice, the image of the little caddie appeared on the television screen. He excitedly said to the camera:
"...It was the King! The King made me do it! I was actually a little nervous at the time...because, uh...uh, it was the first Champions League match at Lize Park, and I was incredibly lucky to be chosen as a caddie, the King's caddie! In fact, I didn't sleep a wink the night before that match! Yes, I couldn't sleep at all! So when the King took my hand and prepared to take the field, I was so nervous that I could barely move my feet..."

"I think Wang sensed that I was nervous, so he comforted me... He smiled at me, told me to relax, and even made a joke... Finally, he told me to make a 'V' sign when the camera was on us. He said the 'V' represents victory, and if I made that gesture, it would bring good luck to the team, and the team would win..."

"We really won! But I know it wasn't because my gesture brought good luck, but because we had the king! It wasn't my gesture that brought the team victory, but the king who brought us victory!"

"That's right, good boy! It was the king who brought us victory!"

In the miners' bar, someone raised their glass towards the television and shouted happily.

Ryan then turned to Tang Lin and said, "Actually, you also brought good luck to the team, Tang. You said before the game that the team would win."

Tang Lin shrugged: "Isn't this normal? I can't exactly say the team will lose, can I?"

The group of people at the table burst into laughter.

After laughing, Robbie Dixie patted him on the shoulder: "Don't be modest, Don. So far, if you look at any of the games, we haven't lost a single one. So be confident!"

Tang Lin thought to himself, "I wasn't being modest!"

But he knew that everyone just wanted to hear auspicious words, and he didn't need to take it too seriously.

He pointed to the ongoing television news and said, "I think it's fine as it is now. I couldn't handle becoming an overnight sensation like that kid... I don't want to be an internet celebrity."

On television news, the host introduced the caddie named Devonte Gauche who became an overnight sensation, with his social media accounts gaining over 100,000 followers in a very short time.

However, due to its immense popularity, the boy's parents have temporarily closed the social media account.

His landlord, Mr. Berg, agreed: "I think you should just be the 'lucky one' of our miners' bar!"

"I agree!"

The owner, Theo Collins, who came to deliver the beer, said as he placed the beer on their table.

Ryan also has his own set of completely plausible "fallacies":
“That’s right. After all, a person’s ability is limited. If Tang becomes too famous, many people will come to him to make wishes, which will greatly weaken his ability! So it’s good as it is now!”

At another table, someone asked, "Does anyone know what that guy Dadomo said this time?"

His companion was puzzled: "Why care what that idiot said? When has he ever been right?"

"You don't understand. I just want to see what new tricks Dadomo will pull this time after we win... That's fun, fun!"

My companion searched online on his phone, then scoffed, "Nothing new, just making excuses for Milan. Like, Latanzio's injury forces Papacholi to focus on defense. Like, once Milan returns to their home ground, they'll show Tyne what 'cruelty' really means..."

"As expected, there's nothing new..." The person who inquired was also disappointed. "Sigh, I have a bad feeling—Dadomo always talks down Tyne's future, hoping he'll collapse, but I think he might collapse sooner..."

"Not at all. On the contrary, I think Dadomo is quite tenacious and won't break down easily. Whether he does a good job or a bad one, he'll still do it. And he seems to really believe in what he says; he seems very determined."

"If that's really the case, that's fine too. If one day there's no one yelling around like that, it just feels like something's missing..."

"Haha! Me too. Now, after every match, I check out what people are saying in that idiot Dadomo's comment section. It's much more enjoyable than reading the reports from the big media!"

"Yes, yes, yes! That's it! Dadomo's comment section is my source of joy!"

The guests at the table were all laughing happily.

(End of this chapter)