His smile infuriated the already somewhat embarrassed Minko—CSKA Moscow is a top club in Russia, after all. As the team’s coach, the fact that I’m willing to personally persuade you to stay is already giving you a lot of respect, kid! Don’t push your luck!

“You think just because you scored a goal in the earlier test, you’ve got something to brag about… Let me tell you, that was just the youth team, and even they might not all be starters…”

Ethan Brooks cut him off directly: “I don’t care who you are. Even if you bring out the main defenders from the first team, I can still score over their heads!” Ethan Brooks squared off against Minko. Whether or not he could actually break through CSKA’s main defense in a real match, he absolutely couldn’t show any weakness in words—he had to stand his ground!

Minko laughed—why was he even wasting his breath arguing with an arrogant kid who didn’t know his own limits?

He shook his head. “I hope you think carefully about why you’re here. You should know better than I do. This is your opportunity. But we won’t keep giving you chances like this.”

“I don’t care about the opportunities you’re giving me. See, I’m turning you down, aren’t I?” Ethan Brooks shrugged and pursed his lips. He, Ethan Brooks, wasn’t about to accept charity. “Letting me go isn’t my loss—it’s yours.”

Minko found this big guy in front of him even more amusing.

“Our loss? Ha…”

Truly, ignorance is fearless!

He didn’t want to waste any more words on this idiot, so he turned and left.

When he got back, if Latysh asked, he’d just repeat what was said, word for word. He believed anyone with normal intelligence would be able to judge for themselves.

※※※

And that’s exactly what happened. When Latysh heard Minko’s account, he sneered: “Score a goal over Semberas, Ignashevich, and the Berezutskiy brothers? Ha!”

He laughed, and so did the others around him.

Deividas Semberas is a Lithuanian international. Though only twenty-six, he’s already played forty-three times for his national team.

Sergey Ignashevich, twenty-five, has played twenty-one times for the Russian national team and has long been their main central defender. Before Euro 2004, he withdrew from the national team due to injury, and as a result, Russia suffered a disastrous defeat in that tournament. The only thing worth mentioning is that they were the only team to beat the eventual champions, Greece…

As for the young Berezutskiy twin brothers, though only twenty-three, they’re already regulars for the Russian national team. The older brother, Alexey Berezutskiy, has played fourteen times for his country as a left back. The younger brother, Vasily Berezutskiy, has been selected ten times as a right back. Both are also the main fullbacks for CSKA Moscow.

These four make up CSKA’s main defensive line.

All of them are national team level players, and that kid from the East dares to say he can score over them?

Latysh shook his head and waved his hand. “Forget it, forget it. Not worth getting worked up over an idiot…” Now that he thought about it, he regretted using the youth team to humor a fool. Maybe the kid really was physically gifted and had a bit of talent for headers, but what does one performance prove? Anyone can get lucky. He had no interest in letting such an ignorant and arrogant person join CSKA—otherwise, it would only be a disgrace to the club.

※※※

“You just turned them down flat like that—was that really okay, Yingxiong?” After walking out the gates of the CSKA training base, Owen Brooks asked his son beside him.

“What’s wrong with it, Dad? Didn’t you notice how those people treated us? They looked at us like we were idiots or clowns!” Ethan Brooks said angrily. At the training base, his dad had told him to restrain himself, so he’d had nowhere to vent his anger. He’d been annoyed for a while, and even felt he’d been too polite to that coach—he should have said something even harsher, just to really get under his skin.

“But if you do this, you…” Owen Brooks seemed even more unwilling to let it go than his son.

“Hey, didn’t I say? If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just go home and get a job. As long as you’re willing to work these days, you won’t starve, right? I’ve thought it through, Dad. At worst, I’ll just stop playing professional football and live a different life. I used to be too down on myself, but I’ve learned a lot from this trip.” Ethan Brooks patted his father’s shoulder in a very grown-up way.

“What have you learned?” Owen Brooks asked with interest.

“Uh…” Ethan Brooks scratched the back of his head. “Too much to say all at once… But, if you want to be a hero, you can be one anywhere.”

Owen Brooks looked at his confident son and smiled.

His son used to be quite confident—physically gifted among his peers, playing for a professional club’s youth team, with a bright future ahead. But on this trip to Europe, he’d been afraid it would shatter his son’s confidence, make him give up completely, or even start to deny the twelve years he’d spent playing football…