Chapter 778: McDonald’s High School All-Star Game

As expected, Edmilson had a torn meniscus and was out for the rest of the season.

It was a foregone conclusion. Chen Yu had known it the moment he saw him.

The only small comfort for Rijkaard was that Motta’s recovery was going well. His return to the team would likely alleviate the crisis in Bar?a’s midfield.

Chen Yu’s schedule was tight, so he headed to France as planned.

There wasn’t much to say about Smichell. One look at his medical report showed that his recovery was far from what was expected.

Chen Yu made the trip in person to determine just how bad it was, since the report was outdated.

As it turned out, seeing him in person confirmed Chen Yu’s expectations: a minor tear in his left anterior cruciate ligament.

This was consistent with the medical report.

But the muscles in his left leg were a different story: tears in the rectus femoris and vastus lateralis, with extensive adhesions.

The most troublesome part was the torn and inflamed iliotibial band.

Sometimes, fascia damage is far more troublesome than muscle damage.

Muscles have a rich blood supply and heal more effectively; at worst, you get muscle fiber adhesions. But fascia, with its sparse blood supply, is difficult to heal.

Furthermore, fascia damage is usually caused by overuse, which is far more problematic than a traumatic injury.

He had been injured in early February, and the fact that he hadn’t healed after so long meant his treatment had already been delayed.

Fortunately, the problem wasn’t too severe. This type of injury was much less serious than a ruptured ACL or a torn Achilles tendon. If he went to the United States, he could probably recover in just over a month.

What Chen Yu didn’t expect, however, was that the February curse wasn’t over yet.

He arrived in France on the last day of February.

But on that very day, just after finalizing Smichell’s treatment plan and returning to his hotel, Chen Yu received a call from Lippi.

That unlucky bastard Vieri had sprained his left ankle during a training session before a friendly match between the Italy Team and the Germany Team. Word was, it was pretty bad.

After the Chinese Super League season ended last year, he returned to Europe from Shen Hua and joined Ligue 1’s Monaco Team during the winter break, all to maintain his fitness.

He had only one goal: to play in the upcoming World Cup.

But his bad luck held, and he still managed to sprain his ankle during a simple training session for a friendly match.

It just goes to show, the body gets fragile after thirty.

The Italy Team had its own doctors, of course, but since Chen Yu happened to be in Europe, Lippi’s first choice was naturally to call him.

When he saw Vieri, his foot was badly swollen.

And what’s more, there was a beautiful woman at his side.

It appeared to be Melissa Satta, one of the beautiful hosts of Italy’s hit show *Secret Exposé*.

Chen Yu gave her a puzzled look.

Before he arrived, while waiting in the airport terminal, Chen Yu had idly flipped through a gossip magazine. He seemed to recall reading that Vieri and Canalis had rekindled their old flame and had been photographed together by the French media.

What was more, the last time he’d seen Sata, she had been with Koko.

Chen Yu raised an eyebrow.

‘This is a bit of a mess.’

“Chen!”

Vieri tried to get up on his good foot to give Chen Yu a hug.

“Just stay down,” Chen Yu said, gesturing for him not to move.

Vieri said nonchalantly, “It’s nothing, just a little sprain. It won’t affect my… normal activities.”

Chen Yu frowned.

The key thing was, as he said this, he cast a subtle glance at the voluptuous Sata beside him.

“Alright, give me his chart.”

Chen Yu said to the attending physician.

‘He was used to this sort of thing. The basketball world was messy, and the soccer world was just as bad.’

‘It was common for several stars to end up with the same woman.’

‘But Chen Yu knew the deeper reasons for it.’

‘It wasn’t just that the men shared the same “hobbies.” The women who became their girlfriends knew how to keep their mouths shut, not to leak the players’ secrets, and how to take care of professionals with such irregular lifestyles.’

‘Get involved with an outsider, and you risked her leaking some dirt on you, which would be a huge headache.’

‘It was much safer to go with someone a teammate had already been with and given a glowing, thumbs-up review.’

‘And Sata, apparently, had been “certified” by Koko.’

Putting down the medical report, Chen Yu asked Vieri if he could cancel his contract with Monaco.

“Your goal is the World Cup anyway, so why not just write off the rest of the season and come with me to the United States for treatment?”

The main reason was that Chen Yu couldn’t stay in Europe for long.

He had a pile of things waiting for him back in the United States.

Especially Nowitzki. His training couldn’t be interrupted, and such a high-intensity regimen required Chen Yu’s personal supervision.

Today was the first of March, and Chen Yu couldn’t linger. He had to rush to Germany tomorrow to inspect the medical service preparations for the World Cup.

Vieri had a severe sprain that would require at least a week of treatment, and Chen Yu didn’t have the time.

Since his main goal was the World Cup and playing for Monaco was just a stopgap—he was sure to return to Serie A next season anyway—it would be better to just go to the United States and rejoin the Italy Team directly in May.

At this, Vieri’s expression changed slightly.

He first signaled for Sata and the medical staff to leave the room. Only then did he lower his voice. “Chen, I can’t. I need to play. Marcello might not pick me. He thinks I’m too old.”

“So I have to play, to show him I’m in good shape and can still score goals.”

“Chen, I’m old!”

He finished with a bitter, self-deprecating smile.

‘Chen Yu frowned slightly. Hearing Vieri call himself old at 32 sounded so tragic.’

Reaching out to pat his shoulder, Chen Yu nodded. “Alright. We’ll arrange for the United States. One week.”

‘I can be back in the United States the day after tomorrow at the earliest.’

“Actually…”

After a moment’s hesitation, Chen Yu added, “On the women front, if you could exercise a little more self-control, it would help a lot.”

‘The guy went through women faster than he went through clothes.’

‘His body was genuinely suffering from overexertion.’

‘For a professional athlete, being disciplined and staying away from women, at least a little, was the right call.’

‘Take Ronaldo, for example. As far as Chen Yu knew, he hadn’t been playing the field nearly as much in the past couple of years.’

Vieri shot him a look that said, *I get it*, then added, “But they need me. What can I do?”

Chen Yu rolled his eyes at him and said no more.

After a whirlwind tour around Europe, Chen Yu hurried back to the United States.

He had to keep a close eye on Nowitzki.

Training like this mid-season could easily lead to problems.

If he got injured and was out for the season, the Phoenix Suns’ entire season would be over.

After returning to the States, Chen Yu received an invitation.

It was for this year’s McDonald’s High School All-Star Game.

Chen Yu normally had no interest in a high school-level game like this and was even puzzled as to why the organizing committee had sent him an invitation.

But just as he tossed the invitation to his assistant to politely decline, Chen Yu suddenly remembered something: this year’s McDonald’s High School All-Star Game was special.

Because a few particular people would be participating.

Durant.

Oden!

And Curry!

Finally, many of the players from that group he’d worked with on the show two years ago would also likely be invited to this year’s McDonald’s High School All-Star Game.

‘No wonder they sent me an invitation.’

Chen Yu pulled out his phone and called Curry directly.

Sure enough, he had been selected for the game.

“Sir, will you be coming?” Little Curry asked nervously from the other end of the line.

After finding out he’d been selected, the thought of inviting Chen Yu to watch him play in person had crossed his mind.

But Curry also knew Chen Yu was incredibly busy and probably wouldn’t be interested in a high school-level game.

“It’s your game. How could I possibly miss it?”

‘Curry, Durant, Oden… Chen Yu wanted to see for himself which of them had the most potential.’