Gao Shen was a smooth operator, nid in the least, and always adaptable based ouation. This was a survival instinct he had honed during his previous life w in the business world.

  Deep down, he knew clearly who was genuine and who was fake. But ohing was for sure: nobody could cross his bottom line.

  There's a saying, "If you treat me well, I'll return the favor tenfold." Gao Shen lived by that motto. He was friendly, willing to cooperate with others, and even make moogether.

  But the moment someone crossed his bottom line or disrespected him, he wouldn't hesitate to flip the table.

  Whether in business or on the football pitch, having no bottom line and being overly aodating was the same as showing weakness and inviting exploitation.

  Unfortunately for a, they crossed that lioday.

  Even at the st moments of the game, Gao Shen enced his team to keep attag.

  At this point, the score was already 7-0.

  It was a massacre.

  But Gao Shen didn't relent. He demanded his team tiag, showing no mercy to a or their coach, Castori.

  The reason? a had attempted to injure one of his pyers. This was something Gao Shen could olerate.

  Whether the i was malicious or not didn't matter. What mattered was that it crossed a line fao Shen.

  And now, the only way to extinguish his anger was to bury them under an avanche of goals.

  a was down to ten men, and no matter how much they tried to pull back defensively, they simply couldn't hold out.

  Ih minute, Gao Shen made another adjustment, sending in Pelle to pair up with i as a sed ter forward. Both big men rooted themselves in a's penalty area, looking to cause havoc.

  But even that wasn't enough fao Shen.

  Towards the end of the game, he pushed David Luiz forward, essentially turning him into a makeshift striker.

  By now, Castori was on the verge of colpse.

  He couldn't uand what kind e Gao Shen held against him to unleash this kind of punishment.

  Wasn't 7-0 enough?

  Gao Shen's fury alpable, and the Napoli pyers could feel it. They tio attack with relentless iy.

  In the seinute of stoppage time, Lichtsteiner made a surging run down the right fnk and whipped in a cross. David Luiz, positioned in the penalty area, rose high and powered a header into the back of the .

  8-0!

  The Stadio San Paolo erupted in cheers once again.

  As the ball hit the he referee blew the final whistle. a barely had time to restart the match before the game was over.

  The inal stoppage time was set at three minutes, but the referee, sensing the futility of extending the match, e a minute early. He likely feared that with one more minute, a might cede yet anoal.

  The Serie B team was already broken, and with one less pyer, they were pletely dismantled. Losing even moals would have beeable.

  As the whistle blew, Gao Shen exhaled a deep breath, his anger finally subsiding.

  Behind him, his assistants stood silently.

  They had known Gao Shen for quite some time, but they had never seen him so ruthless, so violent. He had pletely crushed a, leaving no room for mercy.

  But they all knew why.

  Gao Shen had been irritated even before the match started, and the red card i had sent him over the edge.

  After taking another deep breath, Gao Shen turned around and smiled at his assistants.

  "What a great game!" he said.

  Carlo, Bueura, and the others all ughed, though the image of Gao Shen's merciless demeanor earlier was still fresh in their minds.

  How cruel!

  On the opposite side, a's coach Castori stood frozen in disbelief.

  He had lost games before, but his badly.

  Before the match, his goal had been to keep a sheet and hold off Napoli's attack. But instead, he was dealt a humiliating blow a massacre that he could never have imagined.

  At this point, he was beyond tears.

  ---

  Napoli's 8-0 sughter of a in the first round of the Coppa Italia sent shockwaves through Italian football.

  The only other team to e close to such a scoreline was Rimini, who thrashed Frosinone 6-0.

  It was ironic for Frosinone, who had been eliminated by Napoli in the first round st season, only to suffer a simir fate at the hands of Rimini this year.

  While the rest of Europe didn't pay much attention to Napoli's rout, the match caused quite a stir in Italy.

  A Serie A team demolishing a Serie B side 8-0 wasn't unheard of, but Napoli's obliteration of a articurly hy given the text.

  Before the Coppa Italia draoli had lodged a formal protest with the Italian Football Federation, arguing that the cup format was unfair to them. As Serie B champions, they shouldn't have had to participate in the first two rounds of the cup.

  As mentioned before, the Coppa Italia format often ged, and this season was no different.

  The 2007 edition of the Coppa Italia marked its 60th anniversary, and as such, the tour was given national attention. The final would be held at the Stadio Olimpi Rome, and the petition format was altered to increase suspense.

  The biggest ge was that the final would now be a sich rather than a two-legged affair.

  But the ges didn't stop there.

  This season, the petition started with 22 Serie B teams and two Serie A teams, split into 12 groups. But which two Serie A teams?

  Naturally, the two teams were chosen from the three newly promoted sides Napoli, Juventus, and Genoa.

  inally, as Serie B champions, Napoli should have started from the third round, with Juventus and Genoa pying in the first round.

  But there was a catch.

  Juventus had already itted to pying iIM Trophy, a traditional pre-season tour featuring Juventus, Inter Min, and A. The tour cshed with the first round of the Coppa Italia.

  What happened was a ba deal between Juventus and the Italian Football Federation. Juventus iated to be excused from the first round of the Coppa Italia, and Napoli were forced to take their pce.

  The Italian Football Federation agreed to this without hesitation.

  The whole thing was kept under s until the day before the Coppa Italia draw, when Napoli were informed that they would have to py in the first round, alongside Genoa.

  Napoli's owner, De Laurentiis, was furious, and general manager Marino personally traveled to the federation's headquarters in Rome to protest.

  But nothing came of it.

  Napoli had no choice but to py two extra rounds, and with the densed schedule, it meant double match weeks for the team.

  Gao Shen had grudgingly accepted the situation, but a's dirty py during the match reignited his anger.

  He had already been upset, and now he was livid.

  ---

  After the game, Gao Shen faced the media.

  He didn't hold back, acg a's pyers of deliberately pying rough and attempting to injure his pyers. He argued that the red card wasn't just deserved it was le.

  Gao Shen also called oalian Football Federation to improve refereeing standards and protect pyers more effectively, warning that allowing dangerous tackles would only harm the appeal of Italian football in the long run.

  tally, a's coach Castori, who had just been on the receiving end of an 8-0 thrashing, was equally unhappy.

  In his post-matterview, Castori beled Gao Shen's behavior as unnecessarily aggressive.

  He cimed that the red card was a mistake, insisting that his pyer hadn't inteo harm anyone. Acc to him, the tackle on Sanchez had been trolled, and didn't warrant a sending-off.

  Castori even suggested that Napoli's pyers were guilty of simution, arguing that Sanchez had gone down too easily, fooling the referee into showing the red card.

  Gao Shen wasted no time responding.

  "Maybe he's too old, his eyesight isn't what it used to be. But don't worry, we have cameras at the Stadio San Paolo. We help him review what happened."

  Gao Shen didn't mince words. He even added a subtle jab, questioning why Napoli had to participate in the first two rounds of the petition, implying that a wasn't even a worthy oppo.

  Castori was embarrassed and angered, but the local media rallied to his defense.

  "I'm just stating facts. I don't know why the young coa Naples is so agitated. As I've said before, he's aggressive and cks gentlemanly duct. But I won't stoop to his level," Castori said.

  Gao Shen was amused.

  "I'd like to know how exactly he pns not to care about me. Will he resign from a and take over aeam that made it to the sed round?"

  "No, no, that's nht. He'll probably be fired before that happens."

  ---

  The bad-forth betweewo coaches quickly became the talk of the Italian media.

  Predictably, most of the Italian press sided with Castori, painting Gao Shen as an overly aggressive, brash young coach.

  "He win och, but he hasn't learned how to win over hearts," wrote La Repubblica.

  "He should strive to be more humble and likable," euttosport.

  "He's undoubtedly a coach with great potential, but he ime to mature. Right now, he's still going through his rebellious phase," analyzed Gazzetta dello Sport.

  Even Arrigo Sacchi, a respected figure in Italian football, weighed in ouation in his n. He aowledged that Gao Shen's anger was justified, especially given the rough foul on Sanchez. "There's no doubt that the foul was serious, and the red card was pletely deserved."

  However, Sacchi also offered some advice for the young coach. "While Gao Shen's passion is endable, he should focus more oing the team's performances speak for themselves. You 't vince everyoh words, but you silehem with results."

  Sacchi's advice was simple: keep winning. When you win enough, no one question you.

  Gao Shen took Sacchi's words to heart. There was no point in engaging in a war of words with the Italian media or with Castori. The best way to shut everyone up was to keep winning, to keep piling up victories until his critics had no choice but to aowledge his success.

  ---

  Gao Shen decided to stop responding to the media after that.

  He was still full of reseoward the Italian Football Federation and the way they hahe Coppa Italia situation. To Gao Shen, the Italian federatio no different from the bureaucratiefficy he had seen ba a. But instead of wasting more energy fighting them in the media, Gao Shen resolved to follow Sacchi's advice.

  His pn was simple: win.

  He would win, and he would keep winning, until every doubter had no choice but to admit that he was right.

  He wao see the day whealian press, and all of Italy, would have no choice but to aowledge what Napoli had achieved.

  Dissatisfied? I'll beat you och.

  His mind was clear now.

  Napoli's 8-0 victory over a was just the beginning. The season was long, and there were many challenges ahead. But Gao Shen knew what he had to do.

  And he wasn't going to stop until Napoli stood at the top of Serie A.