The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1

Chapter 201 What We Worship

"Papi!"

Fans gasped in amazement; the name of this former Bastia captain was now forever etched in Bastia's history.

on the big screen.

In the black and white image, Papi, with a smile on his face, speaks.

His voice then echoed from the stadium.

Wow!

The fans were even more shocked, wondering if this was an interview the team had given Papi, or something else entirely.

but,

Papi's words dispelled their doubts.

"Young men, listen to me—"

I smelled the fragrance of this grass beneath your feet in 1978, and I heard the waves that the Mediterranean Sea splashed up for every sprint we made back then.

Yes,

We were once just one step away from the championship trophy.

But what I want to tell you today is not regret, but what we are fighting for.

This island taught us something.

The rocks of Bastia are never afraid of giant waves; smallness is not a weakness, but a spark that ignites fighting spirit!
Thirty-four years ago, we set foot on the European continent carrying the cry of Bastia.

Today, you still have the whole of Bastia behind you—but never be bound by the label of 'strength' or 'weakness'. Bastia's football is always born for the 'impossible'.

And, Gaio—”

In the picture, Papi has a smile on his face.

Some fans have noticed that Papi's lip movements don't match the sounds heard at the scene, but no one has pointed it out.

They remember this legend fondly.

Even thinking,

in case,

If Papi were still alive, he would have been able to witness his beloved Bastia win the championship, achieve the treble, and compete in European competitions once again.

That would be great.

Papi, whose life ended at the age of 34, joined Bastia's youth academy at the age of 15 and officially began his first-team career at the age of 19. He dedicated his entire professional career to Bastia.

In 1981, after leading the team to Bastia's first French Cup title and fulfilling his promise to bring a championship to his hometown fans, he was finally able to retire with peace of mind, despite years of knee injuries.

He left Bastia with 455 appearances and 129 goals.

"Papi's" voice spoke softly and gently.

"Gaio, look at the captain's armband on your left arm. Wear it and always remember two things:"
First, every touch of yours carries the heartbeat of every Bastia fan;
Secondly, if your jersey is dirtier than your opponent's when the final whistle blows, even if you lose, the mountains of Bastia will bow in respect.

Failure is never terrible, just like that runner-up.

Did we lose?
Lost.

But now those old folks with white hair—they used to unload cargo with me at the port and sell their wares at the fish market, yet they pooled their money to buy standing-room-only tickets to the Netherlands to cheer me on on the night of the finals.

Let me understand.

The significance of Bastia reaching the final was never about the trophy, but about proving that small teams can also be seen.

Today it's your turn: regardless of strength or weakness, keep going step by step and let Europe remember how hard the Bastia's leg bones are!
Let Europe hear the roar of the Mediterranean!

The words fell.

In the video, Papi waves as if saying goodbye to everyone.

Thessaly Stadium.

The younger fans were fine; they just felt a fire burning in their chests and wanted to vent it.

And those older fans.

Tears were already streaming down her face.

Claude Pappy, this is their youth.

In their youthful days, this all-powerful number ten core led Bastia to conquer one opponent after another.

Despite being recruited by numerous prestigious clubs, he resolutely fulfilled his promise of "one person, one city".

clap clap clap!
There was thunderous applause.

Gaio and the other players had completed the pre-match ceremony and stood in the center circle, each of them seemingly burning with a fire in their hearts.

Bastia,

Bastia!!
The stands were filled with cheers. There was no TIFO today, no banners, and no thunderous opening.

Only the old captain's message.

The TF1 commentator, seeing this scene, introduced Claude Pappy to everyone.

"This is a fighter. The people of Bastia commemorate their legend in this way, and use that legend to inspire today's players."

"Gaião, as the successor to Bastia's number 10 jersey and as Bastia's captain, is carrying on the glory of his predecessors. Let's look forward to Bastia's performance in the Europa League this season."

In their last away game, they came from behind to defeat Viktoria Plzeň. Now, in their first Europa League home game in 34 years, they face a relatively weak Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Perhaps the outcome won't be bad.

drop! !

The referee blew his long whistle, and the match began.

Hapoel Tel Aviv is well aware of the gap between themselves and Ligue 1 teams, so they do not consider themselves a third-tier team and therefore underestimate Bastia, a fourth-tier team.

Hapoel Tel Aviv won the ball, but they first tightened their formation.

Let Bastia come and take it.

Bastia showed no signs of faltering, with their forwards pressing Hapoel Tel Aviv's ball carrier from the start.

But today, Hapoel Tel Aviv's head coach Dado Avramovic's thinking is very clear.

Stay in the box to defend and look for opportunities to counterattack.

They completely positioned themselves as the weaker team.

This is the first time the two teams have faced each other in their history, and neither team is familiar with the other.

Bastia has not played in European competitions for many years.

It has been floating and sinking at a low level.

However, Bastia played very proactively in this match, perhaps inspired by the message from "Papi".

The players were full of passion.

The fans are the same; they cheer whenever the team has a great moment.

Seventh minute.

Gaião's continuous dribbling down the right flank broke through the defense of Hapoel Tel Aviv's young defensive midfielder, Goldana, as well as Antby's defense.

He cut inside and curled a shot.

Unfortunately, Gaio was trying to generate power but failed to create an angle, and the ball was caught by Armenian goalkeeper Eder.

Wow!

The Bastia fans gasped in surprise, followed by enthusiastic applause.

After Eder got up, he glanced at the team's positioning and saw no counter-attack opportunity.

So he passed the ball to the defender.

Herder is a familiar face to French fans, having played for Paris Saint-Germain from 2007 until last year.

Although he wasn't the starting goalkeeper, he still made 71 appearances for Paris Saint-Germain over four years.

He won the French Cup once with the team.

Time passed gradually amidst the siege of Bastia.

The ninth minute ended in the last second.

We've entered the tenth minute.

Boom!
dong dong! !
Suddenly, a fierce drumbeat erupted from the stands, followed by a unified shout—

"Geo!"

"Geo!!"

One sound after another, without stopping.

immediately,

Some of the fans in the North Stand took off their jerseys and went shirtless.

But when viewed from a distance...

It was clear that these shirtless fans formed a "10" shape.

Combined with the chanting of Gaio's name in the tenth minute.

The TF1 commentator quickly realized, "This is the support Bastia fans are giving to their number 10 star, Gaio."

On the field, the football didn't stop because of the commotion in the stands.

After De Bruyne passed the ball to Gaio, Gaio quickly moved forward.

Gaio understood immediately.

He feigned a dribble to make Goldana easily lose his balance, then suddenly stopped, passed the ball diagonally to the advancing De Bruyne, and then quickly advanced forward from the wing.

The song still echoed in the stands, "Papi's armband burns on your arm."

De Bruyne was entangled with another defensive midfielder, Djemba Djemba. Although he is older, his past Premier League experience is more than enough to support his defense.

after all,

This defensive midfielder with the same name as Ferguson managed to stay at Manchester United for two years and play nearly forty games.

However, De Bruyne relied on his rhythm and physical strength to prevent Djemba Djemba from taking the ball away from him.

at the same time,

Gai had created space on the wing, and De Bruyne pushed the ball to the right with the outside of his right foot.

This was completely unexpected by Jemba.

Gaio burst out of Antby's defensive zone and led the ball forward.

"Blue seawater flows in your veins." The chant from the stands gradually rose in volume.

With Gaio leading the way, Antby could no longer catch up.

Center-back Haimovic quickly moved out to defend, his tall frame completely blocking Gaio's path.

Gaio flicked the ball to the left and cut across.

It swerved from the right corner of the penalty area towards the center.

An excellent inward-cut corridor!
Haimovic knew very well how powerful Gaio's left foot was, so he quickly followed up.

Goldana, who was behind, also tried to catch up and interfere with Gaio.

But Gaio flicked his ankle, kicking the ball through Haimovic's legs, and twisted his body to rush past him on his right.

A skillful dribble past the defender near the penalty area line!

"Gaio! Gaio! Our idol!" The song reached its climax.

The singing never stopped.

No one was sitting; everyone's eyes were bright and they were eagerly waiting.

Eder's intuition told him that Gaio might shoot, but Lukaku emerging from the crowd made him wary of the team's combination play in the middle.

Whenever Gai makes a cross, Lukaku has an open goal.

Edel dared not attack.

He was just standing in a relatively central position near the corner.

Gaio dribbled past the defender, but Haimovic, the center-back, was too slow to turn and was completely left behind by Gaio.

Single sword!

"The fire from the north grandstand burned in my pupils."

Kill! Kill! Kill! Slash your way out of this city!

Bang!
As the song reached its climax, Gaio glanced at the center of the middle lane and unleashed a low shot that pierced through Elder's defenses.

Swish!
Football in the net!

"Gaio! Gaio! The one we worship!!"

The singing was deafening!

The entire stadium erupted in cheers, the combined roar of over 20,000 people making our eardrums ache.

Goal!
"What we worship!!"

The song ended, but it was replaced by an even more intense shout—

"Geo!"

The blue seawater permeated the entire Cesar stadium, and the air was filled with the heat of Bastia's burning passion.

The moment Gaio scored, he turned around, slid on his knees, and rushed towards the stands.

However, this time he was too excited.

The knee slide failed.

Five stripes were left behind.

But it didn't affect his handsomeness at all. He did a forward roll to get up and opened his arms to the stands.

Close your eyes.

He raised his head slightly.

Listen to the world cheering for him.

"Geo!"

"So cool!"

His teammates rushed over, clinging to him and surrounding him, their faces filled with excitement.

Less than 12 minutes.

They're in the lead!

Lukaku then pulled Gaio into his arms.

Mane, Kanté, and De Bruyne were supporting Gaio, who was all smiles.

Further on, Rothen, Angula, and others raised their arms and cheered to the fans from the outside.

The fans in the stands were so excited that their faces were flushed.

This match was a response for Bastia after 34 years.

I saw Gaio, who also wears number 10 and is also the captain, score a goal.

Older fans were moved to tears.

They didn't see Gaio's goal, nor did they see Bastia taking the lead.

What they saw was the spirited Papi, leading Bastia towards Europe in that era!

What they saw was the passion and excitement of their youth, the burning of their own youth!
Haji Begichi excitedly hugged the teaching assistants.

Chatham was in the stands, cheering wildly with Pierre and his family.

Lupp was there, shouting wildly, "Yang! Yang! Yang!!"

He was proud of his brother.

In his heart, Gaio was his lifelong idol, and no one could compare to Gaio.

The Pierre couple were equally proud.

Gaio improved his family's life not only financially, but also psychologically.

It made them extremely satisfied.

Which parent doesn't want their child to be someone they can be proud of?
Bondi.

Mbappe and Saliba were celebrating wildly in their bedroom.

After his initial excitement, Mbappe lamented, "Willian, I told you we shouldn't have been stingy with the extra money from resale tickets. The match would have been absolutely breathtaking in person. You saw it, Gaio, he was a true hero in Bastia!"

Saliba shook his head. "Kilian, I want to go too, but after deducting our travel expenses and other costs, we really don't have any extra money to buy resale tickets. As you can see, those people have already driven the resale tickets up very high."

Etang chimed in, "Kilian, William, I have five euros left. Do you need them?"

They both shook their heads.

“Etang, you can keep the money to buy whatever you like. We’ve already missed this match.” Mbappe shrugged helplessly.

Saliba then said, "Hey, Kylian, I think we can chip in and go to Spain at the end of the month!"

Madrid?

“Yes! Bastia and Atletico Madrid have Europa League matches, I think we can start raising money. I can borrow from Walker and the others.”

"it is good!"

Mbappe watched the close-up of Gaio on the broadcast and felt a surge of excitement.

The game continued on television.

Mbappe turned to look at the Gaio poster on the bedroom wall.

The poster of a thunderous roar behind him during his knee slide celebration made him yearn to grow up quickly and start playing in matches as soon as possible.

He also wanted to be like Gaio, a name cheered by the entire stadium.

He also wanted to be like Gaio, running on the court like lightning and breaking through all defenses!
"Geo!!"

The narrator's voice suddenly rose in volume.

It's not just Mbappe and others.

At this moment, all the fans in Cesar turned their attention back to Gaio.

(End of this chapter)