11:30 am.
The originally sunny weather began to turn gloomy.
But at the gate of Southampton High School, it was an unprecedented scene.
It is estimated that the number of students' parents at the school gate is at least three or four hundred, and is still growing rapidly.
Not only parents, but also many residents living near the school have taken leave specifically for today's game.
Most of them graduated from Southampton High School, so they not only watched the football games of their children's schools, but also returned to their alma mater to watch the games of their alma mater teams.
Football is honor! It doesn't matter if you miss lunch, it doesn't matter if you don't work for a day, it doesn't matter if it rains, but you can't miss this once-in-a-century home semi-final game of Southampton High School! Southampton High School is open to parents at 12 noon, and there is still half an hour before they are allowed to enter, but they line up early in advance just to see the Milwaukee Bucks and to grab a good seat to watch the game in advance.
At the front of the line were a few parents with out-of-shape bodies and even bald heads.
They were still wearing old, ill-fitting Bucks Steelers jerseys.
They are former players of the Milwaukee Bucks. Now, they are no longer young and have become fathers, but their faces are still filled with excitement.
Football is their youth!
The dream they didn't realize is now very likely to be realized by the new generation of Bucks Steelhorns players! After learning that the parents were coming early, Southampton High School also made security measures early. Dozens of security personnel placed iron fences on both sides of the school gate and left an open area at the main entrance to welcome the Rosal High School Angel Wings team and important guests.
The parents lined up obediently and waited patiently.
When the Milwaukee Bucks lined up at the school gate under the leadership of Coach Carter, all the parents at the school gate were excited!
The situation got a little out of control! Almost all the parents were cheering crazily: "Stag Steel Horn!"
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
"My little fawns, come on!"
"Little ones, don't let your dads down!"
"Top Four, Top Four! Dad wants the top four in the country!"
"If you can make it to the semi-finals, Dad will call you Dad!"
"If you win the top four, Dad will take you to all the bars in Southampton!"
"Little guys, don't hide anything today, just beat them hard!"
The parents seem even crazier than the players!
In comparison, the Bucks Steelers were a bit reserved.
...This football culture is so wild and so real.
Gu Ran couldn't help but secretly think in his heart that perhaps only these parents could so legitimately and proudly call the players of the Bucks Steelhorns "little brats".
In this context, far from being a curse word, brat is a sign of proud approval from the parents!
"Chris! I'm your dad! I'm your dad! I'm your dad!"
"Fuck you!" Rusty bar yelled angrily, "Who the hell took advantage of me... Hey, Dad, are you really here? Are you really here to watch me play football?"
Rusty was so excited that tears immediately flowed down his cheeks! The other parents and players of the Bucks Steelhorns burst into laughter.
Gu Ran couldn't help but secretly complain: How can such a vulgar communication between father and son still feel passionate?
I must have been led astray by them...
Luckily no one said that to me.
I heard the parents continue to discuss:
“…Which one is Gu Ran?”
"Is there even a need to ask? There is only one Chinese person in the entire Milwaukee Bucks team! He's the one standing in the last row."
"Oh my god! He is really handsome! No wonder my daughter sleeps with his photo every night..."
"I heard that the Milwaukee Bucks were able to advance to the top eight in the country this time, all thanks to this Chinese kid!"
"Tsk, can such a handsome guy play football well? He must be just boasting, right?"
"I don't know anything else, but my son calls him Chinese Dad."
"Hey - Gu, you better kick well. If you do well, I will let my daughter sleep with you!"
"Gu, if you play well, uncle can even sleep with you!"
"Kid, it's not a big deal. As long as you play well, I can sleep with you!"
Holy shit…
Southerners are too tough.
Being surrounded by so many parents and discussing the issue of whether to sleep with their children or not, Gu Ran suddenly felt like a social dead end.
...By the way, that auntie is pretty good-looking.
Bah!
My thoughts are dangerous! Don't push aunt!
Although I am actually over 30 years old...
Then Minato yelled angrily, "Mom—don't do this!!!"
Gu Ran: ...
"Hi, Gu! I'm your Uncle Andrew!"
Hearing this shout, Gu Ran's whole body tensed up, and he quickly looked in the direction of the voice. Sure enough, he saw a familiar pair of figures in the crowded crowd: Andrew and Sally! Gu Ran quickly waved to them, "Hi, Uncle Andrew, Hi, Aunt Sally, long time no see!"
...We are all civilized people! Please don't say rude words, and please don't make me die again!
Then Andrew said very politely: "Long time no see, Gu! We came here today to watch you play football! You are our pride! We are here to cheer for you!"
Gu Ran breathed a sigh of relief.
Then I heard Aunt Sally yelling gruffly, "Gu, you're welcome!!!"
…As expected, she is my Aunt Sally.
Gu Ran covered his face and said, "I will try my best..."
Sally said proudly to the parents around her: "Gu is my daughter Sophie's boyfriend! My daughter Sophie is a future superstar, your daughters should just stand aside! Gu has always lived in my house, and he loves the lamb kidney pie I made for him the most."
"What are you bragging about..."
"That's right, is Gu really that good?"
“Do foreigners smell better? Is the moon in foreign countries rounder?”
"Humph, the kids don't really understand basketball, but we are all old fans. When the game starts, we will be able to tell at a glance what kind of quality this Chinese kid has."
"I bet he's just a show-off."
A large number of parents look down on Gu Ran.
Gu Ran did not respond to such doubts.
There was no need to respond to such things. In the future, he would become a more prominent star, and more people would question him. If he had to respond to every question, would he still be able to play football? However, Sally and Andrew were unwilling to accept this and kept arguing loudly with the parents around them.
Didi——
At this time, a bus drove up and slowly stopped at the main entrance of the campus.
The Rosal High School varsity Angel Wings team is finally here!
The door opened, and strong young men wearing suits with angel wings emblems walked down from the bus arrogantly.
Rosal High School is a famous school, and half of the players on the Angel Wings team are from Everton's youth training team. Therefore, they don't take the Bucks Steel Horns, who are from an ordinary private school, seriously at all.
This kind of arrogant attitude is already commonplace for the Bucks Steelhorns. They have also experienced more arrogant attitudes than this before.
However, the parents of the Bucks Steelhorns are not tolerant of the Angel Wings problem!
The parents at the scene booed the players of the Angel Wings team: "Bullshit Wings! Pu~ Bullshit Wings! Pu~"
"I'm your grandfather!"
"Ahhh! Stag Steelhorn will win!"
The parents used all kinds of swear words, some of which were so filthy that they could not be described in words!
The number of parents at the school gate has grown to as many as five or six hundred. With so many people surrounding the young Angel Wings players and yelling at them, not to mention the extent of the swearing, the sheer number of people and their momentum is enough to scare the Angel Wings players into looking pale.
The players of Angel Wings never expected that the parents of Southampton High School would be so violent.
In fact, the parents were being polite. If they were facing an adult professional team, it wouldn't be so simple. Shooting a bus with fireworks would be normal! The Angel Wings players immediately stopped being arrogant and lined up in front of the Bucks Steel Horns players.
Negative emotion bubbles also fell one after another under their feet.
Their negative emotions were half anger at being scolded, and half being frightened by the situation.
Gu Ran was so excited that he exclaimed in his heart!
It’s great to play football at home!
Gu Ran calmly focused his mind and quickly scanned -
The first to be scanned were Tyus Browning and Ross Barkley.
These two will become stars in the future, so there is a high chance that they will drop star-level skills.
——Tyaas Browning, that is, Jiang Guangtai, but his current name is still Tyas.
Among other Angel Wings players, Tyas is easy to recognize. He does not have a completely oriental face, but compared with native British people, his oriental facial features can still be recognized at a glance.
What’s more… As the future central defender of the Chinese national football team, Gu Ran will not admit his mistake.
A blue bubble fell under Tyas' feet.
Gu Ran concentrated his mind and took a look: Heading +1.
...This is a common skill.
As a future star, it is indeed a bit lacking that Tyas only dropped an ordinary skill.
However, defending against high balls is indeed Taias's strong point, and this skill is very practical and powerful.
Gu Ran thought quickly, then used the "heading" skill from a distance.
When the jumping attribute has not been enhanced, it is still very good to have an additional common heading skill.
Next, Gu Ran turned his attention to Ross Barkley, the captain of Angel Wings.
A full blue bubble also formed under Ross's feet.
Gu Ran concentrated his mind and took a look: Five-star disadvantage +1.
This skill is awesome!
The weak foot refers to the foot that you are not good at, and the five-star weak foot means that you can make the weak foot play at a super high level of five-star level!
As a left-footed defender, Gu Ran often needs to cut inside first and then use his dominant right foot to pass or shoot. But if he has the five-star left-footed star skill, he can use his left foot to handle the ball and complete the pass or shot at the critical moment! This is awesome!
Ross is really awesome!
Gu Ran suppressed his excitement and quickly absorbed the star skill of "Five-Star Heel Foot" into his mind.
Of course, the +1 level is not high enough, but after having this star skill, and then slowly upgrading it to the +9 level, you can become a player with no obvious disadvantages!
——Before the game even started, I picked up a star skill and a practical ordinary skill. It’s so cool!
Gu Ran quickly scanned the bubbles under the feet of other players, and then selected three white bubbles of "Quick Attack and Defense Conversion Training + 10 Hours" and put them into his mind.
As a result, there are only 4 pickups left for today.
After picking up three white bubble pieces, the special training results will accumulate to 100 hours and will be automatically exchanged for 1 talent point.
The talent points accumulated in Gu Ran's mind reached 7! In this warm "welcome" atmosphere, Coach Carter and Coach Moritz on the opposite side shook hands in a friendly manner.
Coach Moritz is the coach of Everton's youth training camp, but at this time he was also very well-behaved and polite, not daring to act rashly.
Coach Carter briefed Coach Moritz on the dining location, rest time, training venue, game time and other issues one by one.
Coach Moritz expressed his gratitude for the reception from Southampton High School, and then the entire team, led by the assistant drummer, walked into the campus and headed for the cafeteria.
No Angel Wings player dared to question whether the food at Southampton High School Restaurant was good.
In addition to being afraid of being beaten by parents for showing off, they must also be aware of the consequences of the Golden Fleece not eating at Southampton High School.
"All the stag steel horns have—"
When the Angel Wings players entered the campus, Coach Carter shouted in a deep voice: "Let us pay tribute to all the parents and friends who support the Bucks Steel Horns!"
“Roar, roar, roar!”
The Bucks Steelhorns team all stood with their hands behind their backs and shouted, "Bucks Steelhorns! Fight to the bitter end!"
All the parents at the scene cheered loudly and applauded the players desperately.
The whole scene was full of excitement!
"Let's go eat!"
Coach Carter waved his hand, and the players of the Bucks Steelhorns headed to the restaurant in excitement.
The game hasn’t started yet, but the atmosphere is already full of passion!
Rusty walked while wiping tears, "My dad never watches me play football. He thinks I'm wasting my time playing football. He always says that I won't be able to get into college anyway, so I might as well work more at the car wash at home instead of playing football. I didn't expect...he would actually close the car wash today and come to watch me play football...Wow! Today! I must play well! I must let him see that his son is not a loser!"
All his friends came over and patted Rusty on the shoulder.
"Rusty, don't cry. Think positively. Maybe everyone is here to watch the game, so your dad's car wash has no business."
"Yes, think of it in a positive way. He may have come here specifically to make fun of you."
"I can't help you..."
Rusty immediately said angrily: "What kind of friends are you? I still have to be good to Gu, Gu has never hurt me!"
Gu Ran said calmly: "Why don't you call daddy quickly?"
Rusty: ??? "Gu! You've changed!"
"Hahaha!"
The players of the Bucks Steelhorns were in a mess.
Coach Carter stood leisurely with his hands behind his back, a satisfied smile on his face.
When the players entered the restaurant to eat, the huge restaurant was almost empty.
Apart from the Angel Wings team that had just arrived, there were only a few scattered students.
Gu Ran couldn't help but ask, "Why are there so few people? Could it be that the school has put the restaurant under martial law as well?"
Bread smiled and explained, "That's not the case. Why would the school not allow students to eat? This is because students go to the stadium to grab seats as soon as class is over. Compared to grabbing a good seat to watch the game, eating is not important at all."
Minato also smiled and said, "Today we can have a peaceful lunch. I heard that today's food is several levels higher than before..."
Gu Ran packed two lunches, said hello to Coach Carter, and left the restaurant early to go to the physical therapy room at the stadium.
"Annie, are you hungry?"
Seeing Gu Ran coming in, Annie immediately rushed over eagerly, clinging to Gu Ran tightly, and said coquettishly: "Gu, why did you come just now? I thought you forgot about me!"
Holy shit…
The goddess is acting like a spoiled child, it's really awesome! Gu Ran put down the food in his hand, and held Annie's skirt that was about to burst with both hands, "How could I forget you? After we finished training in the morning, we went to the school gate to welcome the opponent. As soon as the welcoming ceremony ended, I hurriedly brought lunch over to eat with you."
Annie then kissed Gu Ran contentedly, "Gu, I knew you were so good to me."
"Come, let's eat first." Gu Ran reluctantly put Annie down, "I have already told Coach Carter to arrange a seat for you in the main stand. After lunch and rest, I will take you to the main stand - then, I will go to my business."
Anne nodded, "Okay."
Gu Ran spread out the lunch box. Annie took two bites of the food from the school cafeteria and then curled her lips, "...It tastes terrible."
Gu Ran smiled indulgently, "Just make do with it for now. When we get home in the evening, you can eat whatever you want."
Annie smiled and said, "I want to eat...that."
Gu Ran's mind was moved, "Tonight, I'll feed you enough."
Annie chuckled, "Hateful..."
After lunch, Gu Ran rested in the physiotherapy room for another half an hour.
Annie sat next to Gu Ran, quietly looking at Gu Ran who had his eyes closed, without saying a word, her eyes full of tenderness.
After Gu Ran had rested, Annie put on a sun hat and big sunglasses and followed Gu Ran out of the therapy room.
As soon as she walked out of the player tunnel, Anne was completely stunned.
It's not even 1 o'clock yet, and the steel frame stands at the Bucks' home stadium are now filled with students and their parents!
The additional seats, which could accommodate 1,200 people, were packed to the brim. It was estimated that there were at least 1,500 people! Moreover, many parents and alumni who came later were still pouring into the stadium.
The latecomers no longer had the iron frame seats, but this did not pose a problem for them at all. They moved all the benches and desks in the classroom out and stacked them side by side. They arranged them at the connection between the four stands - benches, desks, and benches on top of desks, and they managed to make three rows of simple stand seats.
When there were no more desks, these parents brought stepladders from home...
The number of people in the entire stadium is increasing towards 2,000.
Not only that, several local bands from Southampton also came. Before the Southampton High School DJ started warming up the audience, the local bands had already started singing under the main stand.
The first song was "We Will Rock You" by Queen. All the students and parents sang along, and the atmosphere was about to explode.
As Annie followed Gu Ran towards the main stand, she exclaimed in a low voice: "Are these really all parents? Why are they even crazier than the students?"
Gu Ran smiled and said, "Today, they are fans first, and parents second."
Anne nodded in conviction.
When the security personnel in charge of the main stand saw that it was Gu Ran, they immediately let them pass.
Gu Ran said, "The first three rows of the main stand are reserved for school directors and other distinguished guests. Annie, you can sit in the fourth row."
"Okay." Annie obediently sat in the innermost seat of the fourth row of the main stand.
In this position, no one would walk through the aisle in front of her, and no one would notice her.
Gu Ran took off his sports jacket and handed it to Annie. "It might rain later. Although the main stand has a rainproof roof, you still need to wear more clothes to avoid getting sick."
"Yeah~" Annie happily took Gu Ran's coat, "Gu, come on."
Gu Ran smiled at Annie, then left the main stand and headed to the training ground to gather.
The weather was getting worse in the afternoon and it might rain at any time.
Judging from the situation, there will inevitably be a rain battle today.
But the students and parents in the stands were still enthusiastic and they had prepared their raincoats and umbrellas early.
They won't leave unless you use a knife to kill them today.
The number of students and parents has exceeded 2,200. The entire stand is completely full and can no longer accommodate anyone.
Many parents were still on the way, and for safety reasons, Southampton High School urgently closed the stadium.
Later parents could only listen to the game from outside the stands.
At 2 p.m., people began to arrive at the main stand.
Scouts from various low-level professional clubs found seats and sat down, chatting with each other: "I never thought that the Bucks Steelhorns could make it to the quarterfinals."
"Nonsense, the Bucks Steel Horns are no good. If we want to see something to watch today, we have to watch the Angel Wings."
"Angel Wings does have a lot of good players, especially the captain of Angel Wings, Ross Barkley. He is a rare technical midfielder in the UK over the years."
"I am also optimistic about Rose. Passing and controlling techniques will be the trend in the future, and Rose will definitely have a big market."
"Ahem, let's stop dreaming. A player like Ross is definitely not something that a small club like us in League One or League Two can get."
"Yes, they just go to Rosal High School to get some experience, and then they will be quickly promoted to Everton U18 team."
"Hey, have you heard? Emenalo from Chelsea Football Club is also coming to watch this game!"
"That assistant coach? He's coming too? Impossible?"
"Do you understand? Emenalo is Chelsea's assistant coach on the surface, but in fact he is an important figure in Chelsea's club recruitment. He will definitely become Chelsea's sports director in the future! In the future, when Chelsea buys and sells players, his power will even exceed that of the head coach!"
"Hiss... He's here too? I bet he's here for Ross, too."
"Shhh—he's coming!"
Emenalo, wearing a raincoat, walked onto the main stand.
All the scouts from small clubs in the main stand, regardless of whether they knew each other or not, stood up and greeted Emenalo.
Emenalo simply nodded slightly and found a seat in the first three rows and sat down.
The weather is bad today and Emenalo is exhausted from the long journey. Now he just wants to finish this game quickly, go back early to take a shower, drink a cup of hot coffee, and not miss watching the World Cup.
…
(End of this chapter)