After breaking the most expensive bone in Milan, the centuries-old legacy of San Siro awakened in my bones.
Maldini's iron bones, Pirlo's arc, Basten's sharpness... All burn in my blood.
But what's hotter than my inheritance are those who are waiting for me:
Cheng Cheng, a student studying abroad in Milan, left a light for me on a rainy night: "Cai Chuang, you must have thoughts while you are alive."
Old Carlo, the last night watchman in the South Stand, handed Rivera's cane to me: "Milan's bones must grow stronger even if they are broken."
Thirty-seven Chinese buddies pooled their money and flew over, shouting "Brothers are here" in the stands.
Twelve-year-old Wang Xiaochuan in the Beijing ward, wearing a "match ring", was waiting for me to score.
They said that seven weeks from a comminuted fracture to a decisive victory over Japan and South Korea was a miracle.
I said, these are all the people who are waiting for me, using their eyes as fire and their expectations as hammers to recast a broken bone from the East into steel.
Now, I'm back in red and black.
Under the San Siro underground, a century-old crown is waiting for me to be crowned.
When the Champions League drew the group of death, a reporter asked: "Are you afraid?"
I looked in the direction of San Siro——
Ninety-seven years of red and black blood flowed there,
The lamp left by Cheng Cheng was on there,
There stood the backs of thirty-seven buddies,
There echoed the breath of a child waiting for a goal.
"Afraid?"
"The eyes of 1.4 Billion people are engraved on my bones."
"What should be feared——"
"It's Europe."
Reader comments
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Everyone thought you could write well, but the result was not as good as al