Chapter 86: A Fire Infused Goal

Yang Pan retreated to get the ball then made a long pass to Zhang Jun. But unfortunately, Zhang Jun was helplessly defeated by Luo Bin’s gigantic size so the ball was headed away by Luo Bin.

“Zhang Jun was closely guarded by Luo Bin. Speaking of which, Luo Bin’s an excellent marksman mid defender.”

“Correct, in the second year of his senior year, he played a major role in the defense line. Whether if it is ability in air defense or marksman ability. His overall abilities are all excellent. During that year in Zhong Yuan High School, there were two mid defenders, one of them was behind the back while the marksman defender was him. Therefore, it’s reasonable for Sun Lai Hong to use him to mark on Zhang Jun. From the current point of view, besides the turnings and shootings, it’s going to be difficult for Zhang Jun to gain another chance. As the ‘1’ in ‘451’, once the opponent is frozen, their offense is likely to reach a dead end. The coach’s task on Luo Bin has been done brilliantly.”

“However, it seems that everyone’s long awaited “Zhang Li showdown” will not be expected anymore.”

“There’s no other way to it. This is the final and it also concerns who will get the right to participate in the national competition in Shanghai next February. None of the coaches dared to do anything against the tactical arrangements in order to fulfill the audience’s wishes. Even the goal medal coach, Sun Lai Hong is no exception.”

“There are some regrets to it!”

“Indeed. The audiences always want to watch a passionate game with beautiful goals. However, coaches must first consider the benefits of their teams, if they can’t score, it’s no use if it’s a beautiful kick or not. In fact, at the beginning of Zhong Yuan High School’s selection on defensive-based tactics, they were somewhat obsessed with the admiration of the game but they continued to dominate throughout their country and became the current high school soccer deserved hegemony. At the French World Cup last year that I believe everyone has watched, the German team’s coach said a very reasonable speech: We don’t kick attractively but those who do are the ones who went home earlier than us.”

“His speech sure is reasonable, appearance and utilitarian can never be united!”

When the two commentators discussed eloquently, it seemed that they forgot that in 1998, it was Germany that planted to plat the most offensive game and the game was full of passion. A newly born cattle was not afraid of the ferocious tiger of Croatia. And the Shu Guang of today, their experience is similar to Croatia!

In the end, whoever gets to be the winner, it was still too early to conclude anything.

After seeing the accuracy of Li Yong Le’s long pass, the defenders of Shu Guang didn’t dare to pressure them anymore. Also, Zhang Jun’s sharp knife was put on a scabbard by Luo Bin so he couldn’t reveal his edge. The game entered a stage of stalemate.

“The game is a bit boring, perhaps it’s because of the finals. Both teams are playing cautiously in this period of time.”

Kaka took the ball and Li Yong Le followed him as close as a shadow. He passed since there was no other better ways to break though the opponent’s defense. He could only make a short-rage shot to try his luck. And the result was just as expected, under Li Yong Le’s interruption, the soccer ball was hit like an airplane.

The game was passed ten minutes in the absence of any threatening shots and passing errors. There’s only ten minutes left until the end of the first half, the score was still even 0: 0.

“This is so boring! It’s not as good as Ding Ding and Shu Guang’s semi-final game!” Another dissatisfied fan cried out.

“It is the finals, both sides are making sure they won’t lose a point, otherwise there wouldn’t be anything to discuss about champions, would it?”

“As the saying goes, didn’t we come here to watch a wonderful performance of the game?”

“How can this world have the best of both things!”

Chen Hua Feng listened to the conversation between the two of them beside him and he agreed in his heart. The demands of fans and coaches were sometimes inevitably conflicted. If the coach changed his style at the request of the fans, it would be idiotic! Back in the top 10 games of 1997, the fans shouted, “change Li Tie!” and the coach really did change Li Tie out from the game, hence the consequences were astonishing.

However, Chen Hua Feng still felt some regrets. The finals have been really dull and wouldn’t it shocking if it was over? Can the energetic spirit of Shu Guang avoid this very moment?

He made a wry smile and shook his head.

The first half of the match was about to end and time was moving into injury time. The dullness of this moment allowed the fans from the stands reduced their passionate cheers and their screams were lessening by a lot too.

Wang Ning passed the ball to Li Hao’s foot and Zhao De Fend didn’t come up to snatch it, instead, he retreated. The entire team of Zhong Yuan was beginning to contract backwards.

“The entire team of Zhong Yuan is contracting their defense, perhaps the reason for it is the midfielder quickly approaching. They are thinking of maintaining this draw during the break time! However, will Shu Guang allow them to get what they want?”

When Li Hao saw this, he quickly passed the ball to Yang Pan. Yang Pan retreated to get the ball but Lu Qing didn’t come up to him. It wasn’t only Lu Qing, all of Zhong Yuan’s defense didn’t seem to be as compact and effective as it was before.

Not knowing why, Yang Pan thought of it as a good opportunity. When the midfielder was liberated, the dazzling attack power of Shu Guang could be revealed.

However, some individuals didn’t have the same idea. When Chen Hua Feng saw Sun Lai Hong stood up from the stands, an ominous premonition quietly rose from his heart.

Liang Ke saw Sun Lai Hong rising from his seat. Looking at some of the defensively relaxed Zhong Yuan high school and the members of Shu Guang sharpening their hearts, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly stood up, then he rushed to the sidelines to shout out Yang Pan’s name loudly.

But he was missing one step ahead.

“Yang Pan dribbles the ball, Shu Guang takes the chance of Zhong Yuan’s relaxed defensive to launch an attack!”

Lu Qing used his speed to follow but there wasn’t any hand movements and his body wasn’t affixed either. Yang Pan, who was relieved by the pressure and dashed towards the bottom line. Besides Zhong Yuan constant contraction and re-contraction, there was no one to stop his breakthrough.

At this time, it seemed like Yang Pan received their ecstatic encouragement, the two back defenders of Shu Guang unexpectedly pressured the middle line. Chen Bo rushed forward, thinking that Yang Pan would pass with his heel like the last time.

But Yang Pan didn’t plan to kick back the ball because he already reached the bottom line.

A pass! Lu Qing was still slowed, he didn’t stop Yang Pan’s pass.

“Kaka appeared there! Ready to receive that pass!”

However, Yang Pan’s pass was headed by the gigantic sized Deng Rui! Kaka didn’t receive the ball, when he turned around to see who got the ball, he realized Li Yong Le adjusting the ball then his feet…

“It’s coming! Li Yong Le’s battle axe long pass!”

“D.. Disastrous!” Yang Pan was in shock, he knew that it was too late for him to recover. He was careless, he forgot that his opponent was too pressuring, will the poisonous snake of Zhong Yuan give up their chance? He could only pray for An Ke to be brave or cross the goalpost to help Shu Guang through this robbery.

He Jia lin has been cruising around the frontcourt from the very beginning, awaiting for this opportunity. He pierced through the space between the mid defenders and rushed forward and the soccer ball forward from his head.

An Ke roared and went to attack. At this moment, he refused to call any back defenders back. The earlier the attack, the better the chance is to break the ball away from He Jia Lin, who was in control of the ball and hoped to lose a score.

The soccer ball fell into the restricted area, from this point of view, it seemed like He Jia Lin was getting closer. An Ke desperately jumped up and was ready to hit the ball out of mid-air. But He Jia Lin’s foot work was faster than him and as he was running, he used an unconventional move to grab the ball between the two players!

Then the ball crossed over An Ke’s stretched hands and parachuted to the empty goal behind him.

Everyone, including the players from both sides watched the soccer ball falling into the empty goal. This time, the goalpost didn’t show any compassion and Shu Guang’s goal was broken.

“In the 41st minute of the first half, Zhong Yuan used a classic long pass to counterattack. He Jia Lin made a shot to break An Ke’s ten fingers off! 1: 0! Zhong Yuan is in the lead! Li Yong Le’s accurate long pass made a wonderful goal!”

When the ball crossed over An Ke’s hands, the cheerleaders of Zhong Yuan began to celebrate in advance. Instead, He Jia Lin who scored the goal, because of the last experience, he waited until the ball went into the goal and the referee sounded. Only then he raised both his hands and ran towards the center and there, Li Yong Le opened his arms and embraced him.

At the 41st minute of the game, Zhong Yuan finally took the lead with Shu Guang, the score was 1: 0. This goal completely wiped the dullness off the field and struck the tie that has been balanced for forty one minutes, the tie was broken….

As soon as Shu Guang kicked the ball off, the referee blew the whistle that ended the first half.

Watching the players who continued to return to the lounge room, Chen Hua Feng said to himself: “The venomous snake finally spat huh? I don’t know how Shu Guang would be after getting bitten once. It makes us all looking forward to the second half match…”

“Dear viewers, the first half of the match has ended. The game will begin in 15 minutes, Zhong Yuan had a clear advantage. After five minutes, Shu Guang changed their formation and gradually regained their initiative. But for the next twenty minutes, both sides might be due to the psychological burden of the finals and played more cautiously and it became dull with fewer brilliant shots. When we all thought that we should end the gloomy first half of the match, we didn’t expect a drastic change on the court. Zhong Yuan took advantage of Shu Guang’s mistakes and attacked the city of Shu Guang with a very beautiful long-distance counterattack, leading the end of the first half!”

“Hehe! This is making us all look forward to the second half match!”

“Yes, twelve thousand points to look forward to it!”

Wang Bo turned to Su Li who had a bitter expression on his face then he patted his shoulder: “You’re worried about them?”

Su Li glanced at him: “Nonsense! If I’m not worried about them, who would I worried about?”

“Hehe! You’re worried! Don’t worry! It’s only one goal! There’s still forty minutes more!”

“Tsk tsk! Look, look! It’s only half of the match and you’re already saying they can’t win! When have you lost your confidence?”

“Confidence…”

“When Shu Guang came out, don’t you trust them anymore?”

“Captain, what Ah Gui said was right, we can’t do anything here but we can still trust them!” Li Xiao Peng said.

“Right! You’re not wrong! Captain! Isn’t trusting one another Shu Guang’s specialty?” Others excitedly replied.

“Trust…” Su Li thought awhile, “Exactly. Not only we’re simply playing soccer together, we’re still friends!”

Liang Ke didn’t blame Yang Pan for his misjudgment. Although it was his misunderstanding that pushed the team into the abyss.

Liang Ke thought that once a mistake has already been committed, excessive reproaches would be ineffective and it would be better to think of ways to make up for it.

This conceded goal made everyone a bit frustrated and all the efforts in the first 40 minutes have vanished. They all had their heads hung lowly and didn’t speak a word. Liang Ke realized that this wasn’t a good sign. In the past, when they were in a game with Guan Lin middle school, they were almost hit by the opponent’s own goals when the first half was nearly over, the situation wasn’t very dominant. But at the time of the intermission, there was laugher in everyone and some even started joking around because at that time, they were convinced that they could achieve the final victory. Is it because of how scary Zhong Yuan high school is at today’s final?

The current priority was to restore the fighting spirit and confidence in these children.

As Liang Ke was ready to talk, Kaka stood up: “Hey! Hey! Why aren’t you guys talking? An Ke, aren’t you usually the most talkative one?”

An Ke murmured a sentence: “Let’s see how you’d be like to lose this kind of goal, let’s see if you’d still have the heart to…”

Kaka smiled: “It’s only one goal right? There’s nothing big to it!”

An Ke huffed another sentence: “There’s nothing big to it? Didn’t you all do anything during the first half?”

“Hehe! The second half will be different!” Kaka smiled.

“How do you know?” Not only An Ke but the rest of his teammates raised their heads to look at Kaka.

“Intuition, it’s intuition! Intuition told me that we have to score in the second half!” Kaka pointed to his head.

“Cut-” Others waved and disdained.

Su Fei didn’t go into the lounge as usual, in the eyes of those who were familiar to her, what she did today was different from usual. She sat in the seat to collate the record of the first half.

In the first half match of Zhong Yuan High school, six shots were taken, four shorts were shot straightly, two wide kicks and there were also three corner kicks. Shu Guang had four shots to the goal, only one was shot straightly and the rest were all missed corners.

From a statistical point of view, Shu Guang wasn’t dominant and from the field, it was the same. However, Su Fei arranged these records with a calm attitude, as calm as doing homework. Since when did she have such confidence in Zhang Jun? This is the final! They already lost a goal in the first half, Zhang Jun only shot one goal. Why, why did you believe that Shu Guang will win from the beginning?

Su Fei finally wrote the last word and breathed a sigh, then she closed the book and place it on her lap. She looked up to the clear blue sky.

In the middle of intermission, the audience was also resting their vocal chords and their voice was a lot softer to the point where nothing could be heard. Su Fei looked back at the exit of the players, there was only five minutes and she didn’t know what happened to everyone else. When she watched them off, they were all emotionless.

Sun Lai Hong clapped in satisfaction, allowing the lively lounge room to quiet down.

Everyone was listening as they looked at their smiling coach.

“Very good! Very good! You were all fantastic! Although the other side tried to counterattack by changing their arrangement but you all suppressed them beautifully!” Sun Lai Hong praised the players without hesitation. Now that he has a goal In hand, he hasn’t been confused yet to think that the overall situation was set. This is the final and anything could happen. It was necessary to further arouse the confidence of the players and improve them. Letting them firmly grasped the hope of winning in their own hands during the second half of the game.

“Liu Chao, since Ren Yu De has withdrawn, you don’t need to mark him and change to the area. I see that he wasn’t confident when he faced you as he remembered the failure last year. His physical ability is not very good for some reasons back in in junior high school. Even after two years of training, the effect isn’t very obvious. His body is already letting off steam. It can be said that in the second half, his threats will diminish over time. In the finals of such high-intensity confrontation, he is also likely to be replaced at the last minute because of his fatigue, so don’t waste your time on him. When you’re defending, pay attention to assist others and be prepared to help.”

“No problem.” Liu Chao didn’t understand either on why Ren Yu De’s renunciation was abnormal during the first half. After listening to his coach’s explanation, he now understood.

“As for Yang Pan, no matter where he withdraws to, Lu Qing will stick to him so don’t be afraid of mistakes, your speed will never lose to him. Besides, there are Zhang Yang and Deng Rui too so don’t be afraid to do it!”

Lu Qing found some confidence from the first half and competing against Yang Pan in several competitions. The person who is said to be god is no more than that. He would never successfully make a break through and that was his current idea.

“Also, Li Yong Le’s long pass! Although I know that you have performed well during trainings, I didn’t expect it to have such great power in the game for the first time. He Jia Lin’s goal proved that our arrangements are correct. The second half insists on this sneak attack!” Before the match, Sun Lai Hong made plans for it by using his contraction tactics and active errors to attract the light pressure of Shu Guang, and then use the long pass of Li Yong Le and He Jia Lin’s skilled ball control technique to attack. It was their first time to be successful and it was only because of an accident that it delayed the goal time to the 41st minute. However, Yang Pan was easily fooled that even Sun Lai Hong didn’t expect it. Was he too persistent for victory?

The insistence on this style of play in the second half actually meant that the midfielder of Zhong Yuan would be mainly responsible for defensive and enticing the enemy. This would inevitably weaken Zhao De Fen’s organizational capabilities. However, Zhao De Feng was a person with general knowledge, just as being united in a team, he didn’t compete with Li Yong Le for number 10 and for the team victory now, he would rather sacrifice himself.

“Remember this forever! Zhong Yuan’s soccer is soccer that’s never unbeaten!”

Looking at the players with a slightly more active atmosphere, Liang Ke decided to play it more passionately.

“In fact, your performance in the first half was very good! What Kaka said right, there’s only one gap in score and there’s still forty minutes in time, we wouldn’t know who the winner is for the finals. So as long as the final whistle hasn’t blow, you have to do your best to win. It is still too early to talk about failure now! You must have this confidence: Our attack power is invincible! The second half is about to begin soon, use your strength and use your strength to overcome them with the strength of victory!”

Liang Ke looked at the clock, just in time, it was time to play. He yanked open the door to the lounge and the tsunami-like cries of the stadium flooded in. Standing within this flood, Liang Ke pointed at the door and shouted:

“Shu Guang’s soccer is soccer that will win! Go! Beat them with your faith!”

PS: “Do you care if I play soccer?” interview room (the new website of ‘Do you care if I play soccer?’ special edition) is in the magic sword, my reading directory page has opened it’s connection and it’s welcoming the friends of phantom sword to be guest, if you can’t find it on other websites, you can find it in the catalogue of Magic Sword’s work. There is a link to it. Etc: Special statement: “New web forum” and “new network” have no connections so don’t misunderstand it!