"Wele, viewers, to the 2006-07 season's fourth round of the Coppa Italia."

  "Tonight, we're live from the San Paolo Stadium in Naples."

  "Napoli, the newly promoted Serie B team, is fag Parma from Serie A."

  "The teams are lining up now, and the referee, Marelli, is about to blow his whistle."

  "Let's quickly go over the starting lineups for both teams."

  "For the home team, Napoli sticks to their tried-and-true 4-2-3-1 formation this season."

  "In goal, we have Handanovic. The bae sists of Vargas, Bonucci, Paolo avaro, and Jerge Garrick."

  "The double pivot in midfield features Biglia and Rakitic, with Gervinho, Hamsik, and Sanchez ahead of them, while i leads the line up top."

  "It's worth noting that pared to st weekend's lineup, Napoli has made a few ges."

  "Now let's take a look at Parma, who have opted for a 4-3-2-1 formation. Bucci is in goal, with Castellini, Fernando arco Rossi, and Ferroi f the bae. In midfield…"

  "The referee blows the whistle, and we're underway!"

  "Parma gets the game started."

  "Napoli immediately pushes up, pressing high, which has been their signature style this season. Look at this right from the start."

  "Parma pys the ball back to their defense, and the veteran Puese defender Couto unches a long pass to the front."

  "But Napoli intercepts it!"

  "Parma doesn't hold ba their own half either. They're quickly moving up to press as well. It looks like they want to apply pressure all over the pitch."

  …

  Standing on the sidelines he Napoli bench, Gao Shen watched as Parma pyed the ball deep into their own half, where avaro Jr. intercepted it with ease and passed it on to a teammate.

  Fag his old team, avaro seemed especially fired up tonight.

  Pioli had Parma pressing up high early, just as Gao Shen had expected. Parma didn't want to hand the initiative over to Napoli arying to disrupt their rhythm early.

  Napoli, however, were well-prepared.

  Gao Shen couldn't help but smile inwardly.

  If he were in Pioli's position, he wouldn't surrehe initiative either. He'd want to try to make an early statement by pressing high and putting Napoli under pressure.

  But Napoli's pyers, without needing any instrus from the bench, calmly passed the ball around in the midfield, as if it was sed nature to them.

  Iy, it didn't take incredible teical ability to do what Napoli was doing. Most pyers at this level Serie A or Serie B could execute quick, oouch passing and movement. The key was creating enough passing nes and ensuring the pyers were familiar with this style of py.

  As long as the passing optiohere, even a traditionally defensive pyer like Paolo avaro could look fortable moving the ball around the pitch.

  Of course, this kind of calm was only possible because Parma wasn't applying intense pressure yet. If they had been pressilessly, it would have been a different story.

  After some tidy passing in the midfield between Rakitid Biglia, they couldn't find a forward option and passed it back to Bonucci.

  Parma had fielded many young pyers tonight, including Marco Rossi and Ferroi in defense, and Paponi leading the line up front.

  When the ball reached Bonucci, young Paponi immediately pressed him, and the rest of Parma's pyers pushed up to to close dooli in their own half.

  But Bonucci didn't panic.

  He calmly trolled the ball, waiting for his forward teammates Gervinho, i, and Sao make their runs. He kept his eye on the movement up ahead, pletely unbothered by the pressure closing in on him.

  Just as Paponi was about to reach him, Bonucci stepped forward and unched a long pass.

  The ball curved beautifully through the air from the edge of Napoli's penalty box, s over the heads of Parma's defense.

  Pioli, on the sidelines, shouted, "Watch behind! Behind the right!"

  A bck blur darted past Ferroi on Parma's right fnk. It was Gervinho, sprinting at full speed to chase down Bonucci's perfect pass, streaking towards Parma's penalty area.

  In the middle, i was already charging forward, with Sanchez not far behind on the right. Hamsik was also making a te run into the box.

  "Napoli's terattack is lightning fast and incredibly well-coordinated!"

  "This has been Napoli's hallmark this seasoless defending followed by explosive, high-tempo attag."

  The most experienced defender on Parma, Fernando Couto, was the first to track back. Fag Gervinho, he had no choice but to retreat.

  But Gervinho only got faster as he approached. By the time he ehe penalty area, he stabbed the ball towards the byline, knog it past Couto before darting around him and accelerating even more.

  Couto tried to turn and chase, but Gervinho was too fast. He reached the ball just before it went out of py, now on the left side of the six-yard box, and crossed it into the middle.

  i, looking like a charging tank, surged past Marco Rossi. He met Gervinho's cross and tapped the ball into the from cle.

  The crowd at San Paolo erupted.

  "GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!"

  "In just one minute, Napoli has scored against Parma!"

  "One mio the game, and Napoli's terattack has torn Parma's defense apart."

  "Bonucci's long pass was inch-perfect, and Gervinho's run and cross were executed to perfe."

  "Despite lining up in a defensive 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation, Parma was uo keep Napoli from sg so early."

  …

  On the sidelines, Gao Shen jumped in celebration as soon as he saw i score.

  "Brilliant, Edinson!" Gao Shen shouted, full of energy.

  He turned around, ughing and exging high-fives and hugs with his coag staff.

  When he reached Guardio, the Bara legend looked pletely stunned.

  "That was… insanely fast!"

  Gao Shen ughed heartily.

  Guardio seemed genuinely baffled by what he had just witnessed.

  And Gao Shen couldn't help but feel a surge of pride.

  This was exactly what he had pnned for Parma. As soon as Parma pressed up, Napoli would immediately hit them with a long pass from Bonucci, taking advantage of the space left behind.

  If fans had only seen the game through a live broadcast, they would have been shocked at hooli's terattafolded. The moment Bonucched his long pass, three or four Napoli pyers were already sprinting forward in unison. It looked incredible.

  It was a sight to behold.

  Live viewers wouldn't have seen all this movement because the camera had been focused on Bonucci. But what they missed was that, as soon as Bonucci received the ball, Gervinho, i, and Sanchez all took off, rag towards Parma's goal. Whot to the best position first would initiate the terattack.

  Bonucci's role was to pick out that pyer with a pinpoint long ball.

  It was a simple tactic, but executed to devastating effect.

  After all, Bonucci was a master of the long pass.

  "You feeling okay?" Gao Shen asked, grinning as he put an arm around Guardio's shoulder.

  Guardio was still processing what had just happened, shaking his head. "That was… too fast, too shog."

  "Speed is everything in football!" Gao Shen said, beaming with pride.

  Speed had always been one of the most awe-inspiring elements of the game. Pyers like Kaka, Ronaldo, Owen, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Gareth Bale had left their mark on football with their blistering pace.

  "You think that was fast?" Gao Shen teased. "When we face each other iure, I'll show you something even crazier!"

  Guardio shook his head with a ugh, "If that day ever es, I'd rather not be your oppo. It's terrifying!"

  …

  The television cameras had caught the momeween Gao Shen and Guardio on the sidelines.

  "Hey, who's that standing with Gao Shen?" one entator asked. "It doesn't look like a member of Napoli's coag staff."

  As the camera zoomed in, the mystery figure was quickly identified.

  "Wait a minute, isn't that Guardio? The former Bara captain? What's he doing here in Naples? Is he w as an assistant fao Shen?"

  "Guardio's a well-known figure in Italian football, having pyed for both Brescia and Roma. If he's part of Gao Shen's coag staff, that would make sense."

  The broadcast quickly cut back to the game, but the surprise of seeing Guardio on Napoli's bench had already stirred specution.

  As fuardio, he was still ihought, repying Napoli's teratta his mind, trying to figure out how to stop something so quid devastating.

  …

  "Parma has had a disastrous start to the match, g a goal within the first minute."

  "Now Pioli faces a tough decision. Should he keep pressing high and try to equalize, or drop bad defend?"

  "Whatever Pioli chooses, it's clear that Napoli has made a strong statement tonight."

  "Gao Shen's imprint on this team is undeniable."