"I half hour, there was only oeam left on the San Siro pitch."

  "That was us, Napoli!"

  At the post-match press ference, Gao Shen's powerful decratio shockwaves through the room, leaving the gathered reporters stunned.

  So bold and anding!

  Over the past year or two, which team in Serie A would dare to say something like that in front of Inter Min?

  The reas from the media were mixed, especially among the Italiaers.

  From a media standpoint, Gao Shen's words would undoubtedly ignite public debate the following day. Whether people praised or criticized him, his statement would be widely discussed, and Gao Shen would again find himself in the ter of attention.

  Yet, no one could deny that Napoli had indeed domihe final 30 minutes of the match. If it weren't for David Luiz's mistake, Napoli could have walked away from the Meazza Stadium with all three points and a stunning eback victory.

  But, as always, there are no "ifs" in football.

  Gao Shen praised his team's performance, emphasizing how well they had executed the game pn id out by the coag staff. He hat the pyers had met his expectations, and he was satisfied with the result.

  "We're not perfect. In fact, there's no such thing as perfe in this world. But we're all striving to be the best version of ourselves, and I think that's enough."

  "In this match at the Meazza Stadium, we showed the world what Napoli is capable of. We pyed our brand of football, and we demonstrated that Inter Min is not invincible. I think that's more than enough."

  From the very beginning, Gao Shen had only orategic goal for this match: to break the shadow of their 0-3 defeat st season.

  Therefore, his pre-game strategy was clear, a draw would be acceptable.

  However, all of his preparations were geared toward winning. He couldn't tell the pyers that a draw was good enough, that would be ridiculous. So while the 2-2 result wasn't ideal, it was still within the range of outes that Gao Shen could accept. In fact, he sidered it quite satisfactory.

  When answering the reporters' questions, Gao Shen backed up his arguments with detailed data, proving that Napoli's performahroughout the match was on par with, or eveer than, Inter Min's.

  Many of the journalists in the room realized that if Gao Shen wasn't coag, he could easily be a successful nist or football analyst, providing weekly breakdowns of matches. Clubs would probably line up to hire him as a sultant.

  But, of course, not everyo the press ference leased. Some reporters fixated on David Luiz's error, calling it a gring mistake.

  This wasn't the first time the Braziliaer-back had made su error, and it wouldn't be the st time a Napoli pyer made a costly mistake.

  The most infamous i was st season when Napoli had essentially secured the title, and Gao Shen made the risky decision to instruct goalkeeper Handanovic to py further out of his box. Twice, Handanovic's passes were intercepted, nearly costing the team points. After the match, Gao Shen publicly took responsibility for the tactic.

  However, the long-term results proved the decision was right. Sihat period of training, Handanovic had bee noticeably more fident and posed with the ball at his feet, and his performances were improving.

  Gao Shen appreciated this development.

  And it wasn't just the goalkeeper, it exteo the ter-backs as well.

  Bonucci, David Luiz, avaro Jr., and even Domizzi had all experienced moments where they had to trol the ball under intense pressure from the opposition. This had bee the norm in Napoli's system.

  All of this was sidered unorthodox, eveical, by current European football standards, especially in Serie A.

  But Napoli's performances kept improving.

  Even though Napoli couldn't beat Inter Min tonight, they still held sed p Serie A.

  Gao Shen expressed his satisfa with David Luiz's overall performance.

  "Throughout the match, he pyed like an excelleer-back. I'm very optimistic about him. I believe he has the potential to bee a world-css defender. Of course, at this stage, he's not there yet."

  Regarding Luiz's mistake, Gao Shen took responsibility, expining it art of his tactical instrus.

  "In fact, if yurly watapoli games, you'll know that David Luiz is very skilled at dribbling forward. I've even joked that he's an attacker trapped in a defender's body. That's why I allow him to dribble forward when the opportunity arises—it's part of our tactical approach."

  Si was his decision to allow Luiz that freedom, Gao She responsible for the sequences.

  "Unfortunately, he made a mistake on an important occasion, and it cost us three points. I feel helpless about it, but I accept it," Gao Shen said with a ugh, signaling to everyohat he wasn't holding a grudge.

  "Mr. Gao, are you really not angry at all?" one journalist asked, sensing that Gao Shen might be proteg his pyer.

  Gao Shen smiled and shook his head. "Why should I be angry? Shouldn't it be our oppos who are more upset?"

  The reporters immediately uood. Gao Shen had achieved his strategic goal, so there was no reason for him to be angry.

  Throughout the press ference, Gao Shen vished praise on his pyers.

  "Last season, we lost 0-3 in this stadium. This season, we drew 2-2," Gao Shen said with a fident smile. "ime we e here, I think it should be 3-0 in our favor!"

  The reporters couldn't help but feel Gao Shen's fidence radiating from him.

  Napoli was undeniably getting stronger, even on their off days.

  Before the season, many people had predicted Napoli would struggle to avation. But after just two rounds, they were he top of the league. Although their form dipped slightly afterward, they remained uen after seven rounds.

  Now, there were only three ued teams left in Serie A: Inter Min, Napoli, and Fiorentina.

  Fiorentina had three wins and four draws, pg them fifth iandings.

  Inter Min and Napoli both had four wins and three draws.

  Juventus and Roma, both with four wins, two draws, and one loss, were third and fourth, respectively, just one point behind Inter Min and Napoli.

  The challenge ahead was daunting. After two weeks of iional fixtures, Napoli would faa and Juventus back-to-back.

  That kind of schedule would be brutal for any team!

  Despite this, Gao Shen remained calm at the press ference, even joking that Napoli wasn't afraid of those two teams.

  "In fact, we have a psychological advantage over both Roma and Juventus," Gao Shen quipped.

  The room erupted in ughter.

  The phrase "psychological advantage" was inally used by Mani to py mind games with Napoli, but Gao Shen tur around and used it on his own terms.

  Last season, Napoli had demolished Juventus 5-0 and Roma 6-0, so their psychological advantage was undeniable.

  But times had ged, and Roma and Juventus were no lohe same teams Napoli had thrashed st season.

  Approag the uping games with that same mi would be a mistake.

  Gao Shen reassured everyohat he had a detailed pn but wouldn't reveal it to the public.

  …

  As Gao Shehe press ference hall, he exhaled deeply, feeling relieved.

  Iy, dealing with the media felt like fighting a war.

  Just as he was about to head back to the locker room to joieam, he saw a group of four or five people walking toward him down the corridor, deep in discussion. Leading the group was her than Inter Min's chairman, Massimo Moratti.

  Apanying Moratti were his two trusted associates, Marco Brand Gabriele Oriali.

  "Hey, Gao!" Moratti called out when he spotted Gao Shen, his face lighting up with a smile.

  "Hello, Mr. Moratti!" Gao Shen responded, walking over to shake hands with Moratti and the others.

  Gao Shen had a great deal of respect for the Inter Min chairman.

  If nothing else, Moratti's love and dedication to Inter Min earned him the admiration of everyone in football.

  Of course, his professional skills as chairman were another matter entirely.

  "That was a wonderful game tonight!" Moratti praised warmly.

  "Your Napoli left a sting impression on me, even st season. This year, I see how much you've progressed. The football your team pys is powerful, and it's exg to watch."

  "Thank you, Mr. Moratti. Your Inter Min is also an exceptional team, and you're the standard we're striving to catch up with," Gao Shen replied politely.

  "Catch up with? Or defeat?" Moratti teased with a smile.

  Gao Shen ughed awkwardly but didn't deny it. "You beat us pretty badly st season. That was the worst loss I've ever experienced as a coach."

  Moratti studied Gao Shen closely, nodding.

  Gao Shen had only been in ma for two years, but he was already regarded as one of the most promising coaches in Europe, with every move he made closely scrutinized.

  Most importantly, the teams he coached were always impressive.

  "If it hadn't been for your Braziliaer-back's mistake tonight, you might have gotten your revenge," Moratti said didly.

  Gao Shen shook his head. "Mistakes are part of the game. We didn't win in the end, did we?"

  "You should feel hoo take a point away from the Meazza Stadium," Moratti said proudly.

  But Gao Shen ughed, "Didn't you just say that without our mistakes, we should have taken away three points?"

  Moratti was momentarily stuhen burst into ughter.

  That was true.

  The president of Inter Min found himself liking this young man more and more. Not only was he handsome and eloquent, but also extremely talehe more he looked at Gao Shen, the more he appreciated him. Without hesitation, he pulled out his mobile phone and asked for his number.

  This gesture was all too familiar to Gao Shen.

  In his previous life, he often took out his phoo s QR codes, adding people o, and the like.

  Unfortunately, there was yet, so he had to settle for exging phone numbers and sendi messages.

  Sigh, it made him think of his Ate4ain.

  He had bought iPhones for the eeam, but the first geion of iPhones... well, it really was...

  Anyway, it's hard to describe how underwhelming it was!

  Once again, history proves that it's written by the victors. If Apple hadn't succeeded ter on, that first iPhone would never have been sidered groundbreaking.

  But no matter what, Gao Shen was determio keep supp Apple until he was knighted.