3rd January, Sarria Stadium, 7 PM.
Leoia would be hosting their home match here, facing Athletic Club B!
Su Jing had also appeared in the stands.
Her Camino de Santiago plan had been completely abandoned!
Watching Leon Feng walk out of the players' tunnel to the warm cheers of the home supporters, Su Jing still felt a deep sense of shock.
Yesterday afternoon Su Jing had gone to stop Leon from training, and naturally she had failed.
Faced with a stranger, Leon had remained quite friendly, as they were both fellow countrymen from the East after all.
Leon had also invited her to come and watch tonight's match.
"So many people hope for a chance where hard work will definitely be rewarded!"
"But reality often isn't like that, such a chance simply doesn't exist!"
"And yet right now, I actually have that chance, so tell me, shouldn't I give everything I've got?!"
Su Jing could still hear the words Leon had said to her yesterday afternoon echoing in her ears.
After saying those words, Leon had gone back to running laps.
Su Jing didn't fully understand everything Leon had meant, but she knew he was fighting for a chance.
Setting everything else aside, if the players of the East's national team had this kind of fighting spirit, they wouldn't be getting slammed so hard by the fans.
Although from a professional competitive standpoint, a lot of the criticism from Eastern fans was indeed just criticism for the sake of it, completely unreasonable.
But Eastern football had no right to feel hard done by either.
If they had just shown a little more fight, given how forgiving Eastern fans could be, things would never have gotten this bad.
It wasn't as if football was the only sport from the East performing poorly.
So why hadn't fans gone after other sports the same way after their losses?
There were reasons for all of it.
"But pushing yourself this hard is going to wreck your body!"
"If you pick up an injury, all your effort will have been for nothing!"
Su Jing couldn't help but call out to Leon's retreating figure, not knowing whether he had heard her or not.
Leon had heard her, and he could even feel the aching soreness in his own knees.
But to be able to keep playing on the pitch, Leon had no other choice.
Even though Leon had put in two outstanding performances in a row, that didn't mean his place as the starting goalkeeper was secure.
The first-choice goalkeeper Ituniotz was also on the verge of returning from injury.
On top of that, although Leon's body was already being pushed beyond its limits, he knew his own body well enough.
There would be minor issues, but nothing that would leave him sidelined for months at a time.
If he was only going to be out for a day or two, Leon could simply buy a bottle of [Injury Potion] from the system shop before a match.
Leon's hard work had paid off.
Just now in the dressing room, head coach Burke Abel had announced the starting lineup for this match.
"Leon!"
For the final goalkeeper slot, Burke Abel had called out Leon Feng's name.
The expression of former first-choice goalkeeper Ituniotz immediately dimmed.
Even though he had long prepared himself mentally, hearing the decision still made it hard to hide his disappointment.
The reason Burke Abel had chosen Leon, beyond his extraordinary performances over the last two matches, was that his relentless training had been an enormous factor in his favour.
"Hey!"
As the players were leaving the dressing room to head out onto the pitch, Burke Abel called out to Ituniotz.
"Don't be downhearted!"
"With Leon's talent and ability, he won't be staying at a club like ours for long!"
"You'll be back in the starting eleven before you know it!"
Burke Abel patted Ituniotz on the shoulder and walked out of the dressing room.
Ituniotz stood frozen for a moment, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
This somehow felt even more like a blow.
"Athletic Club B!"
"Balanced in attack and defence!"
"Excellent at defensive counter-attacking!"
"Exceptionally clinical in front of goal!"
"Once they score, the entire team shifts toward defending and controlling the match!"
"That is precisely why Athletic Club B currently sit at the top of the table!"
"So how will Leon deal with the opposition's clinical finishing ability in this match?"
Up in the stands, Watson was still scribbling away furiously in his notebook.
The match footage and edited clips of Leon Feng he had sent back had already caught the attention of Milan's chief scout Polly.
That was something Watson hadn't quite expected.
But it also proved he hadn't misjudged the player.
'If Leon continues to put in impressive performances over the next two matches, I'll formally recommend him and have the club sign him directly.'
Watson flicked through Leoia's fixture list.
This match against league leaders Athletic Club B naturally carried a great deal of weight.
And for the following match, Leoia would be entering the Copa del Rey last thirty-two.
The draw had yet to take place, but Leoia's opponents would in all likelihood be a La Liga side.
If Leon continued to perform well in that match, he would fully deserve a youth team contract at Milan.
Thanks to Leon currently being on a free signing with Leoia, there would be no obstacle to his departure whatsoever and he could leave at any time.
Meanwhile, back at Leoia's headquarters, operations director Robin Todd knocked on the door of the club owner Clorin's office.
"Come in!"
"Boss, we need to start thinking about Leon's contract."