I never thought! I never thought!
From the data panel, Kai was actually a "physical monster"!
For most normal football players, technical ratings are usually higher than physical ratings; only players with exceptionally outstanding physiques are the other way around.
But for Kai… it was the other way around too.
Was his body really that strong?
Looking closely, apart from pace and agility, his other stats were fairly ordinary.
After studying for a long time, Kai finally realized: it wasn't that his body was strong—it was that his technical attributes were too low.
But this "low" wasn't entirely bad.
A person with low strength certainly wouldn't pass accurately—but maybe it wasn't because he couldn't aim, it was because he lacked the strength, which forced his technical movements to deform, causing inaccuracy.
This was particularly obvious in shooting.
So the current dismal data was actually good news.
It meant that as long as Kai built up his body, some of his technical attributes would naturally improve, ushering in his first period of explosive growth in strength.
This is a stage many young footballers experience during periods of rapid physical development.
The most famous example? Virgil van Dijk.
Before his rapid growth in height, he wasn't considered exceptional.
Growth in strength for young players isn't linear—it comes in phases, waves.
If your peak growth happens after sixteen or eighteen, unfortunately, you might already have been eliminated from the youth academy, with no chance to truly develop.
Most so-called "hidden gems" come from this.
Kai's current stats were nothing to worry about.
Overall, his positioning, ball control, short passing, pace, and agility were strong for his age group.
His positioning and relatively high interception stats reflected his football IQ.
Ball control and short passing reflected his ball sense and technique.
Pace and agility reflected his body control.
From this, as long as he maintained growth, a technical path in the future was absolutely possible.
And attributes like long passing, shooting, foot strength, jumping, strength, and explosiveness—though currently weak—were clearly limited by his thin physique.
There was still the possibility of a leap in growth in the future.
The future looked bright.
At this moment, Kai felt like a retail investor whose stock had hit rock bottom—every subsequent fluctuation would be a bull market!
Headlines flashed across sports media:
"Diamond Generation Invitational Tournament Concludes Successfully, Eusébio Wins Another Coaching Career Trophy!"
"3–4, Figo's Team Suffers Stoppage-Time Defeat! Thirteen-Year-Old Big-Hearted Player Scores Penalty Straight Down the Middle, Deciding the Match!"
"Ronaldo Concedes Penalty in Stoppage Time! Figo Team's Success and Failure Both Due to Ronaldo!"
"Hat-Trick Fails to Save the Team! Rising Star Ronaldo Loses Due to Inexperience!"
"One Goal, One Assist, and Forces an Own Goal! Conquers the Entire Field in Twenty Minutes, His Name is Kai!"
"Stunning! Power Boy Scores with a Grenade Throw-In!"
"Diamond Generation Invitational Tournament Best Player Kai is a Free Agent?"
"Genius Scholar Abandons Academics for Football, Enters Lisbon University Before Thirteen but Wants to Play Football?"
"Lisbon University President: Letting Kai Play Football is a Crime, His Future Goal Should Be the Nobel Prize!"
"Prodigy or Fraud? Step into the Diamond Generation Invitational Tournament to Uncover Kai's Two Faces!"
"Football Kaiser Dominates, Chinese-Portuguese Teenager Outshines Ronaldo, Portugal National Team's Number Ten Jersey Booked Fifteen Years in Advance?"
News of the Diamond Generation Invitational Tournament spread quickly.
The impact of this match was massive. Discussions erupted across the football industry.
Youth academies of major clubs immediately began sending invitations to promising young players based on this match.
Under a mature youth training system, young footballers never lack matches—but large-scale tournaments like this were different.
The scale and grandeur of the Diamond Generation Invitational Tournament even surpassed most ordinary events, reaching the level of league derbies and cup finals.
A player who performs well in such an environment is destined for greatness—something daily training and youth league matches cannot measure.
So Ronaldo, who scored a hat-trick in the final, became a hot commodity coveted by major clubs.
Unfortunately, Sporting Lisbon had already taken the initiative and arranged everything three years ago.
So much so that when Ronaldo transferred to Sporting Lisbon for an ultra-low price of $1,550, Benfica and Porto immediately criticized the deal through their media, claiming Sporting Lisbon had violated regulations and that there was a conflict of interest with Ronaldo's parents.
After all, that money wouldn't even cover two months' allowance for a genius youth player like Ronaldo.
The transaction was blatant.
Of course, youth academies don't focus on a single player—they cast a wide net.
Although Porto didn't get Ronaldo, they secured Almeida, the next most talented player in that age group.
Benfica, with its high youth training standards, saw Sporting Lisbon and Porto scooping up discarded talent, so they missed their targets and didn't bother with the remaining "crooked melons and cracked dates."
This also indirectly shows that Portuguese football during Ronaldo's generation had relatively few standout stars.
The subsequent Portugal National Team confirmed this: after the Golden Generation led by Figo and Rui Costa, stars were scarce, aside from Ronaldo.
It wasn't until the new generation—including Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Rúben Dias, João Cancelo, João Félix, Rúben Neves, Diogo Jota, Rafael Leão, André Silva—came of age that Ronaldo was already aging. Truly bad timing.
Though Deco and Pepe emerged during this period, both were naturalized Brazilian players.
Finally, Sporting Lisbon also signed João Moutinho, the youngest midfielder in the match.
Though his performance was average, he showed potential, and his small techniques were even better than Kai's in the same position.
As for José Fonte (center-back originally at Sporting Lisbon), João Pereira (right-back originally at Benfica), and Bruno Varela (goalkeeper originally at Porto), they all performed excellently.
This match earned them extra points, improving their standing in youth academies.
Conversely, Amorim, the Benfica midfielder who provided an assist, and Veloso, the Benfica center-back who performed poorly, suffered greatly—failing to impress and confirming the team's decision to clear them out.
Ultimately, neither received a youth academy contract renewal—they were cruelly discarded.
A month passed quickly.
Kai, however, had not yet received the expected flood of offers.
As Best Player of the Diamond Generation Invitational Tournament, decisive goal scorer, and key player in the comeback—no club contracts?
Outrageous!
It wasn't until Kai sold all the signed footballs he had and watched TV for a few days that he realized the reason.
Thanks to Book Friend 31806 and Alliance Leader Ou Tianming for the tips.
Kai originally wanted to say that after today's bonus update, he wouldn't owe anyone chapters—but Alliance Leader Ou's tip immediately put him in debt.
A Helmsman gets one bonus update, so an Alliance Leader should get at least ten, right?
Considering it's still early in the book, too many words would prevent ranking on Sanjiang, so three updates a day is the limit. These ten updates would be split: three over three days, the remaining seven as a sudden explosion when the book goes live.
Of course, seven updates on release is far from Kai's limit—it would just make his fingers sore, but definitely not break. You know what I mean, right!
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