The two men's eyes gleamed, their stances radiating confidence. Both believed they could win!
Seeing this, the others around them immediately followed suit. The match between these two was full of suspense. The biggest commonality between Messi and Cao Baiming was that neither of them seemed quite human!
"I bet 50 yuan on Cao Baiming to win!!" a voice suddenly called out, drawing the attention of those around.
Teammates quickly began placing their bets.
"I bet 100 on Cao Baiming!"
"I bet on Messi, 100! His shot accuracy is beyond divine!"
"I choose Messi too."
...
In the end, Cao Baiming led Messi by a narrow margin. It seemed that within the team, people generally recognized Cao Baiming's shooting skills more.
After all, Cao Baiming could score many divine-level goals that even Messi couldn't match.
"You guys are betting so little, are you that stingy with just this much money? I'm betting ten thousand on Cao Baiming!" Henry stepped forward and said.
Cao Baiming walked up to the goal and glanced at it, instantly recalling the match he had with Mbappé previously.
That was the scene when he went for a trial with Paris Saint-Germain. Those moments seemed vivid, as if they had just happened.
"Let's compete by hitting the crossbar!"
Cao Baiming suddenly suggested, and Messi nodded faintly.
As a professional woodwork enthusiast, Messi had probably hit the crossbar more times during his time at Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain than many players his age had scored goals. This was no exaggeration.
The surrounding people cheered, their excitement surging.
"It'll be from outside the box, the arc, mid-range, facing the front. Each person gets twenty chances. The one who hits the crossbar more wins!"
"Do the goalposts and the crossbar both count?" Nelson asked from the side.
Both Messi and Cao Baiming showed expressions of surprise.
"It shouldn't matter, right? If you aim for the crossbar, can you hit the post?"
This rhetorical question stumped him. Nelson felt complicated. He wanted to say, yes, you can!
If he were to do it himself, it would likely be pure luck. But these two men's shot accuracy was at the level of a scalpel, precise to the centimeter, even millimeter.
Nelson's question had made him a laughingstock, drawing ridicule from the crowd.
However, very few people around could actually achieve it.
"Then only the crossbar counts, not the posts, to avoid any further misunderstandings."
"No problem."
Both men were ready. Messi stepped up first to take the challenge.
He walked a few steps forward, standing at the arc behind the football. Messi's back seemed to embody a master.
Everyone watched with anticipation, waiting for his spectacular performance.
They knew they couldn't participate in this kind of competition, and even if they did, it would be meaningless. But as spectators, they felt honored. After all, how many people in the entire world could witness Messi's shooting performance up close?
Taking a deep breath, Messi looked at the goal and then, with a bang, kicked the first shot.
An astonishing arc. The ball flew directly towards the crossbar, seemingly with ease. It then bounced back directly to Messi's feet.
A teammate beside him was about to pass him another ball but froze upon seeing this.
It seemed he wouldn't need it at all!
After that, out of ten shots, eight successfully hit the crossbar. Two were missed, one slightly over the crossbar and one slightly under.
Watching Messi's ten shots, everyone around was stunned. They felt insulted, as if this act of hitting the crossbar from outside the box was utterly unrealistic, let alone hitting it eight out of ten times!
At this moment, they had to believe that Messi was either a magician or an alien who had come to Earth.
However, there was not a hint of surprise or nervousness on Cao Baiming's face.
According to the format of ten shots per round, it was now his turn. Such a small competition didn't take long and progressed very quickly.
With their hearts still racing, the crowd continued to watch Cao Baiming.
Messi also moved aside, giving him space. His expression was calm and confident, quite satisfied with his performance and execution in the first ten opportunities.
For Cao Baiming to gain an advantage in this first round, he would need to hit at least nine!
That was the crossbar, which was not as simple as scoring a goal!
Mbappé had missed two out of three shots back then and still looked proud. However, Mbappé's shooting skill or technical precision couldn't compare to Messi's; they weren't on the same level.
After a brief preparation, Cao Baiming also began his challenge.
With a few clean attempts, the first five shots were all perfect. Moreover, each time, the ball bounced off the crossbar and returned to his side!
It was as if the crossbar knew him and was his good friend!
However, problems arose afterward. The sixth shot attempt failed to hit the crossbar, missing slightly. It was less than a centimeter above the crossbar.
Even to the naked eye, it seemed to have grazed the crossbar. Whether this shot counted was somewhat controversial.
However, there was no VAR in training, so everyone ultimately decided that this shot would not count as a hit.
But Cao Baiming didn't waste his remaining four chances.
The people around counted silently. It wasn't that difficult to count these ten chances. If the previous shot didn't count, Cao Baiming had hit the crossbar nine times in total!
He had surpassed Messi!
At this moment, the teammates on the field could no longer be shocked. They were accustomed to understanding the performances of these two without applying human standards.
But the competition wasn't over yet, as the rule was twenty chances per person in total. This meant there would be a second round, and Messi could even take this opportunity to make a comeback.
With Cao Baiming's enthusiastic invitation, Messi once again stood at that position.
However, after his second attempt, he still hit the target eight times. Even the missed shots were very similar to the first time.
Messi remained as consistent as ever.
At this moment, Arteta also returned to the training ground. He was about to call the players to end their break and begin the next round of tactical drills.
However, seeing Messi and Cao Baiming engaged in a shooting contest in the distance, even he became interested.
He prepared to speak but swallowed his words, standing at the sideline and watching from afar.
At this moment, Messi shook his head regretfully. He felt his chances were slim and had lost the confidence he had the first time.