Chapter 324 - 317: Head-on Collision

Tilburg William II Stadium.

In the seventy-first minute of the match, the Chinese Team won the ball about thirty meters from their own goal. Zhou Haibin then launched a quick counter-attack with a long overhead pass.

Yang Yang sprinted forward at top speed down the left flank.

"The Chinese Team is on the counter-attack."

"The referee hasn’t blown his whistle—Yang Yang has beaten the offside trap!"

The entire William II Stadium erupted. Thousands of Chinese international students and overseas Chinese who had come specifically to cheer, as well as the local Dutch fans, all began to cheer wildly, chanting Yang Yang’s name.

Yang Yang quickly caught up to the ball on the field, bringing it under control on the left side of the penalty area.

Spain’s right-back, Juanfran, also tracked back at great speed. He had been sticking to Yang Yang like glue for the entire match.

The two of them faced off one-on-one just outside the penalty area.

Facing Yang Yang, who was steadily closing in with the ball, Juanfran was on high alert. He braced himself defensively, constantly reminding himself, ’Be careful. Don’t fall for it. His Pendulum Move is just a feint!’

As he entered Juanfran’s defensive zone, Yang Yang suddenly accelerated, then dropped his left shoulder as if to charge for the byline.

Even though Juanfran had repeatedly warned himself not to be fooled, and even though he had already fallen for the Pendulum Move twice before, when Yang Yang suddenly changed pace and feinted a charge down the left into the box, Juanfran still fell for it.

He had no idea what was happening behind him; he didn’t know if Yang Yang would choose to cross the ball after reaching the byline.

This Chinese player was skilled with both feet. He could cut inside and shoot, or go down the line and cross, making him incredibly difficult to defend against.

The moment he made his move, he saw a figure flash before his eyes.

Yang Yang cut the ball back, squeezing past Juanfran and bursting into the penalty area, almost brushing against his side.

Juanfran had been wary and reacted immediately upon realizing he’d been tricked, but Yang Yang had already charged into the box with the ball. There was nothing he could do; any defensive move would be too late.

But what he didn’t expect was that the moment Yang Yang burst into the penalty area, before he could even react, he immediately took the shot!

"Yang Yang takes the shot!"

"IT’S A GOAL!!!!"

"The seventy-first minute! The Chinese Team launched a counter-attack after winning possession. Yang Yang brought the ball in from the left flank, cut inside into the box, and, facing Juanfran’s defense, coolly decided to take the shot."

"Spain’s Goalkeeper, Ribas, managed to react, but he couldn’t stop the ball from finding the back of the net."

"This goal was very similar to the one he scored against Germany. Both times, Yang Yang cut inside from the left with the ball, created an angle, and shot. You can tell he has a real feel for this particular area of the pitch."

After scoring, an ecstatic Yang Yang ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the base of the stands. He threw his arms open to the fans who supported him, as if wanting to embrace everyone in the crowd.

This earned Yang Yang even more thunderous applause and cheers.

His teammates rushed over from behind, swarming around Yang Yang in a celebratory mob.

"That’s the third goal of the match, and the Chinese Team’s second."

"You could say this has been an absolutely brilliant match."

"Right from the start, neither side has played conservatively."

"Klauen was clearly aware that the Chinese Team’s defense wasn’t solid. Even if they went all-out on defense, they might not be able to hold off the Spain Team’s attack. After all, this UEFA European Under-21 Championship winning team had already scored sixteen goals before this game, making them the team with the most potent offense in this FIFA U-20 World Cup."

"Therefore, the German head coach chose to meet them head-on, clearly demonstrating his immense confidence in Yang Yang’s form and ability."

"And Yang Yang didn’t betray his coach’s trust. In the first half, he used a powerful breakthrough on the left flank to assist Zhou Haibin in the center of the box. Zhou Haibin’s low shot hit its mark, scoring the opening goal for the Chinese Team."

"But in the thirty-first minute, the Spain Team’s Llorente received the ball with his back to the goal and laid it off for Zamapat, who equalized for Spain."

"Neither side has held back at all. It’s been a spectacular game."

...

Yang Yang got up from the ground and hugged his teammates one by one, celebrating his sixth goal of this FIFA U-20 World Cup.

As things stood, Llorente hadn’t scored yet in this match, which meant he was currently at the top of the goalscorer leaderboard.

But most importantly, he wanted to win!

Judging from the past hour of play, Spain was indeed the stronger team.

Their midfield, composed of Fàbregas and David Silva, had firm control of possession, and their advantage was obvious.

In their last four matches, aside from the first group stage game where their possession was slightly lower than Turkey’s, the Chinese Team had maintained around fifty-five percent possession in the other three, including the match against the Germany Team.

This was something Yang Yang hadn’t expected. He never thought the team could do so well in terms of possession.

The players were running tirelessly, and most importantly, their technical fundamentals were solid.

More running meant more players available to receive the ball and link up play. On top of that, Hao Junmin and Zhou Haibin were both technical midfielders. And while Cui Peng had the feel of a reckless go-getter, his footwork was excellent, and his passes were quite creative.

As a result, the Chinese Team’s midfield was full of creativity.

With Gao Lin up front, Yang Yang on the left, and Chen Tao on the right, the Chinese Team’s entire attacking midfield and forward line was outstanding.

If one had to nitpick a weakness, it would be that the backline wasn’t stable enough. Only Feng Xiaoting was relatively reliable. The two full-backs were also on the conservative side and failed to provide enough support to the midfield and attack.

But it was precisely for this reason that Klauen had resolutely chosen to take a huge gamble and push forward to attack Spain head-on.

A match like this was incredibly draining, so after the sixty-fifth minute, Klauen substituted Zhao Xuri for Hao Junmin to strengthen the midfield’s interception and defense, but the team’s overall formation still didn’t fall back.

Sometimes, football is just like that. You have to gamble; you have to take risks.

The Ajax tradition has always advocated for taking risks.

To put it bluntly, so-called creativity is risk-taking. If you only ever play it safe, it’s hard to be creative.

Germany, for example.

...

...

"His form has been getting better and better lately."

In the stands, Radulu couldn’t help but laugh out loud after seeing Yang Yang’s goal.

This was the player he and Fred Arroyo had strongly recommended to the club. For him to become a pillar of Ajax, a core star player, in just two short years—well, some of that glory reflected back on him.

Winston Bogard nodded. "He’s recovered a lot, but he’s not at his peak yet. Besides, these past few days, aside from match days, he’s been consistently doing morning exercises every day. He hits the gym and the pool without a single break."

Speaking of which, he was filled with admiration.

He’d seen gym rats before, but he’d never seen anyone as crazy about it as Yang Yang.

Sometimes, Bogard even suspected that what Yang Yang was doing wasn’t training, but a form of self-torture.

Radulu just chuckled at the fitness coach’s shock and admiration.

He felt the same way. Back when he was scouting Yang Yang, he also felt the kid trained as if his life depended on it. But that was precisely why he was able to improve so rapidly.

"Make sure you watch him closely. We can’t have him getting injured," Radulu reminded him.

"Don’t worry. I go to his hotel every day to supervise his training in the gym and pool. Nothing will happen."

In reality, Winston Bogard didn’t really need to follow Yang Yang around anymore, as Yang Yang could train by himself. But for safety’s sake, and out of his duty as a personal coach, Winston Bogard dutifully followed Yang Yang to every match and trained with him daily.

And just as they were chatting, back on the field, the Chinese Team suddenly launched another counter-attack.

...

...

Now in the quarterfinals, every single goal was crucial.

After falling one goal behind, Spain began to mount a massive counter-offensive, increasing the intensity of their attacks and even pushing their defensive line up.

But just as Spain went all-out in an attempt to equalize again, Feng Xiaoting won the ball in the backfield. Cui Peng quickly passed it to Yang Yang on the left. Tightly marked by Spanish players, Yang Yang dribbled laterally towards the center, shook off Fàbregas, and sent a direct diagonal pass behind the defense, delivering the ball to the wide-open right flank.

Chen Tao quickly charged up the right wing and controlled Yang Yang’s diagonal pass. Facing the rapidly retreating Spanish defenders, Chen Tao suddenly accelerated towards the byline inside the box and sent a cross to the edge of the six-yard box.

Gao Lin, making a late run from behind, launched himself into a diving header from distance, directing Chen Tao’s cross straight into the goal.

Three to one!

The entire William II Stadium once again erupted in thunderous cheers.

Yang Yang immediately rushed towards Gao Lin, forcefully embracing his new teammate and congratulating him on such a spectacular goal.

Gao Lin hugged Yang Yang back just as tightly.

Although he was slightly older than Yang Yang, he was inferior in terms of both achievements and his role on the team. This had originally made him feel a bit reserved around Yang Yang, but after spending some time together, he had truly discovered what an excellent teammate Yang Yang was.

Whenever he didn’t understand something, he could go to Yang Yang, who would patiently explain and offer whatever help he could.

And under Yang Yang’s influence, the atmosphere within the entire National Youth Team was exceptionally good. Although there was competition among the players, they all got along harmoniously, which was one of the reasons the team had been able to come this far.

...

...

With a two-goal lead, the Chinese Team began to play with more patience, but they still didn’t dare let their guard down.

With only about ten minutes left, Klauen made another substitution, taking off the exhausted Chen Tao to further strengthen the team’s midfield and defensive line.

Spain, meanwhile, pushed forward en masse, launching a frenzied offensive.

In this situation, there was really no difference between losing by two goals or losing by three.

Especially in the eighty-seventh minute, when the Chinese Team’s Goalkeeper, Yang Cheng, got too nervous and made a mistake. David Silva provided the assist, and Fàbregas calmly seized the opportunity, scoring with a low shot from inside the box to narrow the score to 2-3.

Having tasted blood, Spain continued their ferocious assault.

Yang Yang, on the other hand, constantly encouraged his teammates, urging them to focus and tighten up the defensive line.

Facing a frantic Spain, the Chinese Team fell back, with almost every player defending!