The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1

Chapter 244 Time Sometimes Is a Cycle

“buuuuut!!!”

"A hat trick! A hat trick on Gaio's 18th birthday! He did it!!"

"This is a stroke of genius! Gaio!! My God, who could have predicted this score before the match? This top-of-the-table clash has turned into a one-sided massacre by Bastia. I believe this is completely unexpected."

The TF1 commentator was very excited, "If you watch the replay carefully, you can also see a detail: Gaio scored with a right-footed shot. As we all know, when facing Gaio, French teams usually defend his left side, forcing him to use his right foot. Marseille's defense did just that this time."

But now, Gaio has responded!
So what if he's weak on his foot? He can still produce high-quality shots!
Previously, a Bastia reporter had reported that Gaio had been working on improving his weaknesses in daily training, with the most important aspect being training his weaker foot.

With a historically great talent like Gaio's, developing a balanced footwork is entirely possible with enough practice. Many players rely too much on their dominant foot, developing a path dependency and being unwilling to overcome negative feedback and put in the hard work of training their weaker foot.

Finally, the TF1 commentator, watching Gaio surrounded by Bastia players, exclaimed, "After three consecutive losses, Bastia has adjusted and is back to form. Gaio is still Gaio, and he keeps scoring! With this goal, Marseille has proven that they have no strength to compete with Bastia for the top spot."

Unexpectedly, after a third of the season, Marseille seems to be falling behind, with Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain coming from behind with great momentum.

I predict that the final Ligue 1 title race will be between these three teams!

The fans at Sunset Cafe disagreed with the commentary.

They shouted, "We are number one!"

In the eyes of Bastia fans now, they have no rivals in Ligue 1. The reason they lost was simply because the team was too tired and not in good form.

Meanwhile, the fans were drinking and full of praise, but when it came down to it, all they said was, "Gaio is really amazing."

A three-goal lead allowed Bastia fans to relax.

This time it's a real first place, not just a temporary one.

Hagi Begic clearly knew this, and as he turned around, his gaze fell on the stands behind the bench, where Chatham was beaming with excitement.

Haji Begitch raised his arms in celebration toward Chatham, who returned the applause.

Although the two of them disagreed on many things, the final outcome was ultimately good.

First in Ligue 1!

After scoring, Gaio didn't rush to the nearest stand this time, but instead ran straight to the front of the long horizontal stand in the casual section, where his family was.

Yang!! You are my idol!

When he rushed over, he heard his younger brother Rwandeep's excited voice.

Even his younger siblings, who were originally in school, were celebrating enthusiastically on the sidelines.

The youngest siblings were originally sponsored by Chelsea, but after Gaio left Bastia, he took the money and stopped accepting Chelsea's sponsorship, returning the previous sponsorship fees to Chelsea.

However, Chelsea refused to accept the money. The Chelsea representative stated, "You were once a Chelsea player, and this is your right. Even if you become the world's richest person, we have no reason to take this money back."

Gaio rushed to the edge of the stands and excitedly celebrated with his younger siblings.

The parents were so moved that tears welled up in their eyes.

On the night of their child's eighteenth birthday, having achieved such success, it's truly difficult for parents to control their emotions.

If it weren't for the railing between the stands and the field, they would have loved to hug Gaio.

Bastia's teammates surrounded Gaio in the center, celebrating excitedly.

Tears finally streamed down Gaio's mother's face, which was filled with emotion.

Time sometimes comes full circle. A year ago on this day, she was also shedding tears—Gaio was imprisoned for robbery.

But a year later, Gaio has become Bastia's darling and the future of French football.

Tears flowed uncontrollably.

These tears are soaked with the fear of a year ago, and reflect the glory that seems like a lifetime ago a year later.

Pierre put his arm around her and patted her shoulder to comfort her.

Pierre, being a man, didn't have as many thoughts as his wife; he was simply proud of Gaio.

At least now, if he goes out and says that Gaio is his son, he will receive countless praises.

"You have raised a good son."

"If French football wants to win the championship, it has to rely on Gaio."

"Get me an autograph."

Courtside.

Bope felt completely exhausted and slumped back onto the coach's bench.

Shaking his head in resignation, Marseille ultimately couldn't stop the brilliance of genius.

'Gaio.'

Bopp murmured the name to himself, and finally smiled, the old coach relieved.

'Well, Gaio's arrival is a boon for French football.'

If you set aside his role as Marseille's head coach, and look at Gaio again, you can only see admiration in his eyes.

For an 18-year-old to achieve this level of performance, we can expect even greater things from him.

Bopp believes that he may live to see the French team lift the World Cup again.

As for Marseille

"Alas."

Pope sighed softly.

After the celebration, back at midfield, De Bruyne gave Gaio a high-five and said, "Amazing eighteen years old."

He was three years older than Gaio. Thinking back to his own eighteen years, he was nowhere near as radiant as Gaio.
drop!
The whistle blew, and the game continued.

But countless people are still captivated by Gaio's hat trick on his birthday night.

San Sebastián, Spain.

Griezmann, who doesn't have a match tonight, decided to watch the top-of-the-table clash in Ligue 1 on a whim.

He doesn't usually watch it because the French league evokes some bad memories for him.

I feel like I've been abandoned.

The main reason is that Griezmann's initial dream was to start in France, but he was rejected by France multiple times during his youth.

More than ten Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs, including Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon, and Auxerre, rejected him from their youth academies because he was too thin, short, and frail.

Just when Griezmann was about to give up on becoming a professional player, a significant turning point occurred.

His father knew someone who played football in the Basque region of Spain, and through this friend's connections, 14-year-old Griezmann got the opportunity to try out for Real Sociedad's youth academy in 2005.

Despite facing similar skepticism due to his short stature, Griezmann impressed Real Sociedad's youth coaches during his trial with his technical talent, ball control, vision, and goal-scoring instincts.

They saw a unique ability to handle the ball in tight spaces and a distinctive footballing intelligence.

then,

Real Sociedad officially signed him, bringing him into the club's renowned Zubieta youth academy. He was placed in a host family, but due to language barriers, climate, cultural differences, and other factors, the first few years at Zubieta were not easy for Griezmann.

He was very homesick and even considered quitting.

But the encouragement from his family, especially his sister, has always been a steadfast support that has helped him persevere.

Therefore,
When you see Gaio score a hat trick, go and celebrate with his family.

Griezmann couldn't help but smile; family is always a support system.

Griezmann also envied Gaio, who was three years older than him, but he could only play for the national youth team, while Gaio had already become a core player in the national team.

Thinking of this,

Griezmann was very grateful to Gaio, because if it weren't for his advice, he might be suspended now because of that nighttime outing incident.

Simultaneously,

He wondered if Gai would come to Spain to play football. After Gai led Bastia to two victories against Atletico Madrid, Gai's name became quite popular in Spain.

Multiple media outlets have reported that Gaio has come into the sights of Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​and Atletico Madrid, with plans to bring him from France to the Iberian Peninsula.

Griezmann recalled their only time as teammates, and the thought of Gaio and his partnership filled him with the urge to be Gaio's teammate.

Watching De Bruyne and others on the television screen, Griezmann remarked, 'Playing against him must be easy, right?'

"Anthony, is this Gaio?"

Just as Griezmann was lost in thought, someone walked into the team dormitory. Griezmann turned around and saw his roommate, Carlos Vela.

“Hey, it’s Antoine,” Griezmann corrected with a smile. His name is Antoine, pronounced Antoine in French, but Bella is from Mexico and prefers to call him Anthony.

Griezmann then nodded.

Bella pressed, "So Real Madrid wants him? Okay, the score is 0-3, how many goals has Gaio scored?"

"Three!"

Griezmann spoke of Gaião with great enthusiasm, "And tonight is only his 18th birthday, and he has already completed a hat-trick. You may not usually know about Ligue 1, but Gaião's current team, Bastia, is ranked second in Ligue 1. Their opponent in this match, Marseille, is ranked first, and Gaião scored three goals against them!"

Bella's face was full of disbelief, her eyes seeming to say, "That's amazing?"

Griezmann continued, "You don't understand in Spain. Gaião is now seen as the future of French football by fans in France. You know the Spanish national team is very strong, right? They won three consecutive major tournaments. But in the last World Cup qualifier, Gaião led the French team to a draw against Spain. If it weren't for the final refereeing decision, France would have won."

Vela couldn't hold back any longer; everyone knows how strong Spain is.

"No wonder the news said Real Madrid is interested in Gaio."

Gretzman became very talkative when it came to Gaio, and Bella listened with great interest.

A moment later, the door opened again, and the team's key defender, Iñigo Martinez, and goalkeeper Bravo walked in. "What are you two talking about that makes you so happy?"

Then, Griezmann told his teammates about Gaio again.

"so smart?"

“I know him. If only our Royal Society could buy him, Antoine, go and persuade him to come to our Royal Society.”

A few people were chatting.

At the same time, people kept exclaiming in surprise as they watched the TV screen, because no matter how much Griezmann said, it was not as good as seeing Gaio play in person.

“That was a really powerful shot. Inigo, are you confident you can defend against him?” Vela asked.

Inigo thought about it seriously for a moment, then shook his head and pursed his lips. "It really won't work. He's too fast."

Bella didn't ask any more questions; he was watching Gaio's movements, trying to learn something.

At the same time, I was thinking that I should watch more of Gaio's game highlights later and learn some techniques.

Following Gaio's lead, the group also discussed transfers.

Everyone is wondering where Gaio might go.

Bella asked Griezmann, "Is it possible that he'll go to Arsenal? After all, you French people all like to go to Wenger, and he's interested in you too, hasn't he? Will you go to Arsenal?"

Griezmann shook his head. "I don't know about Gaio, but I won't go to Arsenal. The club's price won't drop, and Arsenal won't pay that much for me."

Vela nodded. "That's true. The team can't do without you right now, so they definitely don't want to let you go. It would cost at least 30 million euros, and Arsenal certainly won't pay that much."

As they chatted, the competition quickly came to an end.

Gaião was substituted in the 74th minute, and his hat-trick was already quite spectacular.

When the final whistle blew, the entire Vélodrome stadium had already fallen silent.

It would be perfectly acceptable to describe it as a library.

Fiasco.

This was the only thought in the minds of Marseille fans.

The Bastia players celebrated wildly.

The TF1 commentator also said at this moment, "Congratulations to Bastia for successfully reaching the top!"

"At the same time, congratulations to Gaio! With 20 goals in 12 games, he continues to lead the Ligue 1 scoring charts. This Bastia winger, who just turned 18, is becoming a phenomenal young player in France."

This was destined to be a night for Bastia.

This time, it was a true summit.

It's no longer a temporary summit.

They were already in first place without having to wait for the other matches to finish!

The history of Bastia is being rewritten once again.

At the Sunset Cafe, a fan shouted, "From now on, the history of Bastia football will be filled with Gaio's name on every single page!"

Hahaha.

This drew laughter from everyone; it was their happiness in Bastia.

After the game.

When facing reporters, Bope was not as agitated as he had been in the locker room; he was rather calm.

"This night wasn't good enough for Marseille. The victory belongs to Bastia. I have no reason or excuse. They truly deserved the win. Gaio played exceptionally well. Congratulations to him on finishing this unique coming-of-age night with such a performance."

At this point, Bopp chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I am honored to be a part of Gaio's milestone. At least in the future, when people think of Gaio's hat-trick at the age of eighteen, they will think of Marseille, and they will think of the Marseille coach named Bopp."

The reporter was amused by Bope's remarks.

And on the other side,
When reporters tried to "guide" Hagi Begic to say that Bastia would win the championship.

Haji Begitch doesn't buy into that at all.

"We won tonight and I'm very happy, but the league season is still long. The past three-game losing streak will serve as a constant reminder that Bastia is a newly promoted team!"

(End of this chapter)