The Stadio Olimpico was usually a graveyard for visiting teams, but eight minutes into the 24th round of Serie A, it felt more like a laboratory for a 16-year-old scientist.
In Japan, the digital world was vibrating. Fans who had spent years mourning the decline of Serie A coverage were suddenly scrambling for pirated links and high-speed streams.
"Is this real?" one fan typed in the scrolling chat. "I've watched the highlights of the Fiorentina games five times, but seeing him do it live against a top-4 team like Lazio... it feels like a glitch in the Matrix."
Renzo didn't wait to "feel out" the game. Three minutes in, he received a ball on the left flank. A Lazio defender lunged in, expecting a nervous teenager to crumble. Renzo didn't even look down. With a horizontal drag-back, he turned the defender into a spectator.
Then came the Surgical Strike. Using the outside of his right boot, Renzo carved a curving through-ball that defied the laws of physics. It bypassed two defenders, landing perfectly in the stride of Mario Gómez.
Lazio's Stefan de Vrij had to produce a desperation tackle to stop the goal, but as he stood up, he looked at Renzo with genuine confusion. That ball shouldn't have been possible.
Lazio's coach, Stefano Pioli, barely had time to adjust his defense before the hammer dropped.
Aquilani, playing with a smirk, drew the Lazio midfield toward him before squaring the ball to Renzo. This was the moment the 99 Vision truly manifested. Most players take a "scanning touch" to see where their striker is.
Renzo didn't.
Before the ball even reached his feet, he had already calculated Gómez's acceleration and the gap in the Lazio backline. As the ball arrived, Renzo simply redirected it. A no-look, one-touch through-ball that traveled thirty yards along the grass, perfectly weighted.
Mario Gómez didn't have to slow down. He didn't have to adjust. The ball met his foot like a long-lost friend. Gómez took one touch into the box and unleashed a Thunderbolt into the top corner.
0-1.
The Olimpico fell into a stunned silence, broken only by the small pocket of traveling Viola fans. Gómez didn't celebrate alone; he turned and pointed both hands at Renzo, who was jogging up with a calm, almost analytical expression.
"I knew it!" Gómez roared, lifting Renzo off the ground. "I just ran, Ren! I knew you'd find me!"
Standing near the center circle, Miroslav Klose watched the celebration. The man who had played with Ballack, Özil, and Schweinsteiger stood frozen. He had seen "talent" before. He had seen "potential."
But what he just saw—a 16-year-old kid dismantling a top-tier Italian defense with a single touch—wasn't just talent. It was Historical.
"Mario wasn't joking," Klose whispered to himself, adjusting his captain's armband. "This kid isn't playing football. He's playing chess, and we're all just pieces."
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