Chapter 203 196: This Is the Strength of the Champions League Champion

"Good heavens, the Chinese Team has suddenly launched a quick counter-attack."

"We're seeing Yang Yang receive the ball on the right flank, dribble past two of Iran's defenders, and charge straight into the penalty area for a one-on-one with the goalkeeper!"

...

Everyone in Beijing Workers' Stadium leaped from their seats in unison, excitedly crying out Yang Yang's name.

They all stared at the pitch in disbelief, their eyes fixed on the player in the red jersey of the Chinese Team.

...

The more critical the moment, the more Yang Yang forced himself to remain calm.

Through his God's Vision, he could clearly see everyone's every move. He saw that the opposing goalkeeper was also extremely nervous.

With his right foot, the angle for a shot was so narrow it was practically impossible.

But Yang Yang could use his left foot.

In that moment, Yang Yang was suddenly incredibly grateful to Van Gaal. It was the Dutchman's constant reminders that had pushed him to keep training his left foot, which had come through for him in critical moments time and time again.

The defenders' speed, the goalkeeper's subtle movements, the ball at his feet...

It all came into sharp focus in Yang Yang's mind, painting a clear picture of what he had to do.

Facing the Goalkeeper, he quickly feigned a hard shot with his right foot. The Goalkeeper was baited into turning sideways to cover the last sliver of an angle, but Yang Yang suddenly cut the ball back to his left.

By now, Iran's covering center-back and the tracking midfielder were closing in fast.

In a slow-motion replay, one would have clearly seen them already moving to block the shot.

But with a touch from his right foot, Yang Yang instantly curled the ball with the inside of his left.

He was knocked to the ground by an Iranian defender, but the ball sailed over the goalkeeper's helpless hands, tracing a perfect arc before crashing into the left side of the net.

...

"GOAL! GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!"

"The sixty-third minute! It's the sixty-third minute, and the Chinese Team takes the lead once again!"

"A magnificent goal from our seventeen-year-old youngster, Yang Yang!"

"It's simply unbelievable! I'm at a loss for words to describe a goal like that!"

"He dribbled past two defenders to create a one-on-one, faked out the Goalkeeper, and scored with a curling left-footed shot!"

"The whole sequence was breathtakingly fast! This is our young prodigy, our hero, Yang Yang!"

...

The entire Beijing Workers' Stadium erupted!

All the fans were roaring and screaming.

The world of Chinese Football had been holding its breath for far too long.

It was just like Yang Yang himself. He'd been completely shut down by the opposition for the entire first half. He was brimming with energy but had no way to unleash it, full of pent-up frustration with no outlet.

But in that one moment, all of it exploded forth!

Yang Yang's leg was pinned under the other player's body. He struggled free, shot up, and sprinted off the pitch. He blew past all the teammates trying to celebrate with him and ran straight to the section of the stands where his parents were sitting.

He dropped to his knees on the grass once more, raising both hands high.

'I had a great celebration planned before the match, but in this moment, I've completely forgotten it.'

The goal had come so suddenly, the opportunity so fleeting. He'd barely managed to seize it. He was just too happy.

From behind, his teammates swarmed him, piling on top of him in a massive huddle.

"Attaboy, kid!"

"I'm tearing up over here!"

"My God, how did you pull that off?"

...

...

"We can see in the stands that Yang Yang's parents and sister are also incredibly emotional. His mother is covering her face, weeping."

"This is an absolutely crucial goal."

"Looking at the slow-motion replay, we can see how proactive Yang Yang was. When he saw Li Ming get double-teamed, he instantly ran over to provide an option. After that, he took the ball and drove straight down his familiar right flank, blowing past two opponents."

"And his finish when facing the Goalkeeper was incredibly calm and clever. He's a right-footed player, so he deliberately used his right foot to deceive his opponent, shaping to shoot. Instead, he cut the ball to his left foot and curled it in for the goal."

"The margins were incredibly tight. If Yang Yang had been even a fraction of a second slower on that final touch, the defenders would have blocked his angle. But he did it!"

"Right now, I just want to say one thing to Yang Yang: Well done, Yang Yang! You're a hero to all Chinese people, and we are all so proud of you!"

...

...

As he watched Yang Yang get up from the sidelines, embrace his teammates one by one, and accept their congratulations, Iran's head coach, Ivanovic, could only shake his head in resignation.

He had warned his players repeatedly. The team had even made special tactical arrangements to deal with Yang Yang and the Chinese Team's right flank. But, against all odds, the boy had still found his chance.

Looking at the goal sequence, Iran's defense was actually quite tight. They pressed high up the pitch, and the defensive line tracked back quickly.

The only problem was a lack of precision, which gave Yang Yang the opportunity to dribble past multiple players in succession.

As a result, this Chinese player blew past two defenders in a single burst and, in a situation with no clear shooting angle, still managed to fool the Goalkeeper and score with a curling shot from his weaker left foot.

Faced with a goal like that, what could he do but sigh in resignation?

He looked at his Iran players on the pitch. Many of them had looked down on Yang Yang, especially during halftime.

As their head coach, Ivanovic knew them all too well. The Iran players simply didn't respect the Chinese players. Even Yang Yang, a player who had scored in a Champions League final, hadn't been taken seriously.

But now, Yang Yang had made them pay.

Being completely shut down in the first half didn't matter. He had the skill and tenacity to create a lethal threat the moment he got an opportunity in the second half.

This was the quality of a Champions League winner!

His reputation was well-earned. Ivanovic regretted underestimating Yang Yang after all.

At the very least, Yang Yang had clearly improved since the Champions League final just over two months ago.

...

...

On the sidelines, Arie Haan was practically dancing with excitement.

John Reep, Luther Carroll, and Van Gaal hadn't been wrong about him.

Yang Yang was so tenacious, so hungry for victory!

"I told you! I told you he would make something happen! Just give him a chance, and he'll deliver."

As Arie Haan spoke, he couldn't help but recall something Luther Carroll had once told him.

"Van Gaal once described him, saying, 'If there's only one person left standing on the pitch at the end of the match, it will be Yang Yang.'"

Dejan nodded excitedly as well. This goal was just too crucial, too important.

It was safe to say this goal had completely changed the momentum of the game.

Meanwhile, the Chinese members of the coaching staff looked on with awkward expressions, thoroughly embarrassed.

During the previous match against Bahrain, they had questioned whether Yang Yang could even grasp the head coach's tactical intent. But after coming on as a substitute, he immediately became the standout performer on the pitch, perfectly executing Arie Haan's instructions.

And tonight, they had doubted whether he could shoulder the attacking burden left by Hao Dong. But to their surprise, Yang Yang not only did it, he did it even better.

Counting the Goalkeeper he fooled, Yang Yang had dribbled past three Iranian players. What domestic player possessed that kind of ability?

In terms of individual skill, there were a few domestic players with excellent technique. But a player like Yang Yang—one who dared to take the ball and charge directly at the opposing defense, one who dared to take on an entire backline single-handedly—was completely unheard of!

Watching him play, you could truly feel his immense confidence and tenacious fighting spirit.

"He's an incredible player," the head of the Chinese coaching staff said in admiration.

...

...

The match resumed.

Now a goal down, Iran immediately went on the attack.

Arie Haan decisively made a substitution. Wei Xin came on for the exhausted forward Li Jinyu, which allowed Zhang Yaokun to move back to center-back while Wei Xin took the right-back position.

The Chinese Team immediately switched to a 5-4-1, a defensive, counter-attacking formation they had practiced before the match.

Iran also made a quick substitution, bringing on two attacking players at once to further bolster their offense.

However, as their sustained attacks failed to break through, the Iran Team grew anxious, once again exposing the weaknesses in their defense.

In the seventy-sixth minute, the Chinese Team launched another counter-attack.

Zheng Zhi won the ball in his own half and immediately drilled a low, long pass out to Yang Yang on the right wing.

Yang Yang led the counter-attack, driving all the way to the edge of Iran's penalty area and creating a favorable three-on-two situation.

Breaking into the penalty area, Yang Yang passed it across to a better-positioned Shao Jiayi, who fired a low shot toward the bottom-left corner of the goal.

The Iran Goalkeeper reacted in a flash, making a diving save to parry the ball away.

But Yan Song, who had made a late run, was unmarked and facing an open goal. He rushed his shot and blasted the ball high over the bar.

Having missed a golden opportunity to seal the victory, Yan Song was so frustrated he looked like he wanted to cry.

Although the counter-attack didn't result in a goal, it served as a major deterrent to Iran's offensive push.

The Persian Iron Cavalry had to face a harsh reality: under the threat of such sharp counter-attacks, they would find it very difficult to break down the Chinese Team's defense quickly. They had no choice but to play more conservatively and wait for an opening.

But time was the one thing they lacked.

As the match entered the eightieth minute, Ivanovic made his final substitution, once again trying to strengthen his attack.

The Chinese Team, meanwhile, continued to maintain pressure, relying heavily on Yang Yang's sharp counter-attacks to prevent the Iran Team from committing fully to their offense, which greatly relieved the pressure on China's backline.

By the time the eighty-sixth minute arrived, the Iran Team's fighting spirit was beginning to wane.

Arie Haan then finally used his last substitution.

Forward Li Yi came on to replace Yang Yang.

The moment Yang Yang walked off the pitch, all sixty thousand fans in Beijing Workers' Stadium rose to their feet to give him a standing ovation.

Although he had been stifled by the opposition for the entire first half, unable to make an impact, he had completely unleashed his strengths in the second half, especially after being moved up to the front line.

That magnificent goal was the best proof of it.

It was also his third goal of this Asian Cup.

And every single one of them had been priceless.

Yang Yang walked off the pitch, panting for breath. He first hugged and high-fived Arie Haan and the coaching staff, then turned and bowed in gratitude to the applauding fans in Beijing Workers' Stadium.

This gesture earned him another thunderous wave of applause.