Chapter 306 - 299: The Opportunity Is Really Here

The locker room was dead silent. No one spoke.

The players all sat quietly, only occasionally glancing up at Yang Yang.

After returning to the locker room from the pre-match warm-up, Yang Yang had already gotten ready.

He sat in front of his locker, head tilted back against the door, eyes closed. It was impossible to tell what was going through his mind.

Pressure?

Without a doubt. And a massive amount of it.

Professional soccer matches were inherently high-pressure. You were playing under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of fans. Anyone with a weaker mental fortitude would struggle to even stand steady, let alone perform at their usual level.

For a star player like Yang Yang, every match was in the spotlight, and pressure had long since become second nature. But tonight’s game was clearly different. Yang Yang was the focal point of all the attention.

Although they couldn’t feel it themselves, the Ajax players could all imagine that the pressure Yang Yang was carrying at this moment was definitely ten, or even a hundred or a thousand times heavier than usual.

Perhaps not even the UEFA Cup final, or even last year’s Champions League final, had put him under this much pressure.

Could he handle it?

That was a question no one could answer. Only Yang Yang himself could provide the answer on the pitch.

The referee’s bell, signaling the players to head to the pitch, rang and shattered the silence in the locker room.

That was the first bell.

The players all began to compose themselves, making their final checks and preparations before taking the field.

At that moment, Yang Yang opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the colorful cord bracelet on his left wrist.

He touched it. It felt a little rough, the craftsmanship clearly a bit amateurish, but for some reason, it brought a sense of calm to his heart.

’This lucky bracelet will bring you good luck!’

Yang Yang could almost hear Su Ye’s voice whispering in his ear.

Turning around, he found his phone in the duffel bag in his locker, opened QQ to find Su Ye, and sent him a message.

He put his phone away, closed his locker again, and turned around to find all his teammates watching him silently.

"Hey." Yang Yang sensed the stiff atmosphere and forced a smile, trying to dispel the strange mood.

"No need to be so tense, guys. Just play like we always do. Don’t go out of your way for me. Winning comes first."

Everyone nodded.

"I believe in you, man. Go for it, you’ll definitely score!"

"I’ll do everything I can to support you."

"Go for it! We all believe in you!"

"You’ve got this!"

"I won’t say anything more. Just go out there and do your thing without any worries!"

His teammates’ words of encouragement, one after another, warmed Yang Yang’s heart.

"Thanks, guys."

As he spoke, he held out his right hand.

All the players piled their hands on top of Yang Yang’s, one after another. Then they thrust them all up at once.

"Let’s go!"

Just then, the referee’s second bell rang, hurrying them along.

Time to take the field!

......

......

"Thanks for the bracelet. I’m heading out to the pitch now. Cheer for me!"

In Beijing, just as Su Ye received Yang Yang’s text, the live broadcast camera was showing the players’ tunnel.

The Ajax and Groningen players were lined up in two rows inside the tunnel. Su Ye quickly spotted Yang Yang at the back of the line. He looked resolute, yet grave, a clear sign of the immense pressure he was under for this match.

His father, Su Wenhong, was focused on the live broadcast, but his mother noticed Su Ye reading a message. "Who’s texting you at a time like this?" she asked with concern.

"Oh, no one. It’s about the game," Su Ye replied, quickly turning off his screen.

Then, watching the close-up of Yang Yang on the TV screen, he repeated silently in his mind, ’Come on! You can do it! I know you can!’

......

......

"The two teams are now walking onto the pitch."

Amidst the thunderous roar of over 50,000 fans, the two teams, led by the referee, walked onto the field.

"Leading the way is tonight’s referee, Tom van Schijndel."

"He’s a young referee, only thirty-six years old. This is his third season officiating in the Eredivisie. Tonight marks his seventeenth Eredivisie match this season. He has issued a total of fifty-seven yellow cards, three direct red cards, and one red from accumulated yellows. Relatively speaking, his officiating is quite strict."

"Of the seventeen Eredivisie matches he’s refereed, both Groningen and Ajax have played in one. Groningen lost 4-2 away to William II. In that match, he showed a total of four yellow cards—three to Groningen and only one to the home team, William II."

"Ajax’s match was a 1-0 home victory over Vitesse. In that game, he issued three yellow cards, all of them to Vitesse."

"Judging from his past officiating data, he is indeed a strict referee. However, Groningen’s head coach, Jong Yangsi, stated before the match that he has full confidence in van Schijndel’s officiating."

After introducing the referee, the commentator immediately moved on to the starting lineups for both teams, focusing on Ajax’s formation. Finally, the camera lingered on Yang Yang for a long time.

"Many Ajax fans in the stadium are holding up signs and banners in support of Yang Yang. They clearly have full confidence in him. They’re hoping he can continue his outstanding performance from the last two matches, and ideally, score another brace. If he does, he’ll break the legendary record set by Ronaldo ten years ago."

After the coin toss, Groningen won the kickoff.

The Ajax players began to set up their formation in their own half, preparing for the final league match of the season.

Ronald Koeman clapped vigorously from the sidelines, shouting loudly, signaling for his players to focus and play hard.

You could tell that he, the head coach, was not at ease either.

......

......

At exactly one-thirty, the referee, van Schijndel, blew the whistle to start the match.

Although Groningen had the kickoff, Ajax didn’t hesitate for a moment, immediately pressing high up the pitch.

The trident attack, led by Yang Yang, immediately put pressure on Groningen’s back line, playing aggressively.

This was in line with Ajax’s usual style. In the Eredivisie, they had never been afraid of any team.

Groningen, on the other hand, chose to drop back and defend.

Although they quickly lost possession, they still maintained a solid defensive posture in their own half.

According to the league table, Groningen currently sat in twelfth place. Their goal-scoring record was seventh best in the Eredivisie, but their goals-conceded record was thirteenth worst. They had a decent attack but a weak defense.

Perhaps because of this, their performance this season had been very inconsistent, even erratic—brilliant one match, terrible the next.

Ajax’s overall strength was undoubtedly superior. Plus, since both were Eredivisie teams who knew each other inside and out, the consensus before the match was that Ajax would win.

But if Groningen adopted a conservative, counter-attacking strategy, it would be no easy task for Ajax to simply steamroll them. At the very least, Groningen wasn’t so weak as to be a complete pushover.

For the first ten-plus minutes of the match, the game was almost completely one-sided. Ajax continuously mounted attacks, but Groningen held firm in their own penalty area, determined to keep a clean sheet.

Furthermore, Ajax’s attacks were a bit rushed, and they failed to create any clear-cut scoring chances.

In the first fifteen minutes, Yang Yang had already taken three shots, but none were on target. Two of them were long-range efforts that failed to threaten the goal guarded by Rolda.

"Yang Yang seems a bit impatient. This isn’t like his usual style."

"Of course, we can understand how he’s feeling right now. After all, in such a crucial match, anyone would be anxious. But he needs to try his best to steady his nerves and calm down."

Sneijder was clearly aware of the team’s situation and immediately signaled to Pinaar to start slowing down the tempo.

After the probing of the first ten minutes or so, everyone could see clearly that Groningen had done their homework. Their defense, in particular, was very solid, and it would be difficult for Ajax to find an opening anytime soon.

In this situation, continuing to attack at a fast pace would not only drain the players’ stamina but also easily expose their own weaknesses.

Rather than do that, it was better to slow the attack, let Groningen catch their breath a little, and perhaps even lure them out to press forward.

But Groningen had clearly seen through Ajax’s plan. They didn’t press forward, instead continuing to defend steadily in their own half, giving Ajax no opportunities whatsoever.

Because Groningen kept their three lines very tight and compact, Ajax’s offense still couldn’t create any chances.

Time ticked by. In the thirtieth minute, Ajax launched another wave of attacks, but they still couldn’t break through Groningen’s goal, which was somewhat frustrating.

Groningen had clearly laid their cards on the table. They had nothing to play for in this match; their only thought was to spoil the party for Ajax and for Yang Yang.

If they could successfully shut down Ajax and Yang Yang in this match, it would make a huge name for them.

As the match went on, Yang Yang also gradually calmed down.

He had indeed been a bit anxious at the start, wanting to swallow his opponent whole. But gradually, the opponent’s tenacity surprised him. After hitting a wall, he slowly composed himself.

Now, Ajax’s entire formation pushed forward, patiently organizing passing plays outside Groningen’s thirty-meter zone, constantly probing and waiting for an opportunity.

Everyone firmly believed that with Ajax laying siege and under such immense attacking pressure, Groningen’s defense couldn’t possibly remain flawless.

And as soon as a crack appeared in Groningen’s defense, as soon as they exposed an opening, that would be Ajax’s chance.

Both sides were in a battle of patience. The match was one-sided, but not pretty to watch.

But the Ajax fans in the stadium remained highly enthusiastic, because they knew their team was just waiting for that one chance.

And that chance really came!

In the second minute of first-half stoppage time!