Chapter 18 (2/2)

The ball flew towards his target, never leaving the ground. And with his vision blocked by those in front of him, it was too late for the Tong Xing keeper when he finally saw where the ball was going. He attempted a diving save, but the ball went into the net just one step ahead of him.

“Goal!” After scoring, the typically quiet Li Yongle exploded with a rare roar.

3: 0!

Li Yongle had scored his first goal in his high school soccer career―a goal that most certainly sealed the win for his team. From making off with the ball and scoring by himself, he took the first steps towards his dream.

While the game was essentially decided, Lin Ling was not about to give up. It was his final year and he would not let it end like this. He risked being injured as he made an aggressive break for it, away from Li Yongle’s sliding tackle, lobbing the ball over Deng Rui.

“He’s gonna pass!” Luo Bin shouted to stop Zhang Yang, who was running up for a block.

But…

With a whirl of his feet, Lin Ling volleyed the ball inside the box! It was a shot! Lin Ling, who usually passed the ball unselfishly made a shot himself!

“Oh no…” Luo Bin was not able to finish his sentence as the ball flew to the upper right corner of the goal.

Zhang Lintao dived to the side and pushed the ball out towards the baseline with a wonderful one-hand save.

Corner kick.

Luo Bin, who was still feeling the jitters, patted Lintao on the back. “Many thanks!”

The keeper merely beat the dust off his body and said matter-of-factly, “There wouldn’t even be a corner if he didn’t shoot so suddenly.”

Lin Ling stared in shock at the opposition’s keeper. He thought that his effort was perfect―it was a surprise shot, coupled with the angle, power and speed. Somehow it was still saved by the goalie who went on to say what essentially meant: if it had not been for the lack of preparation, the ball would have been caught without much fuss. He was obviously underestimating him!

On the stands, Zhou Peng was alarmed.

That’s not good! Lin Ling has made a shot on the goal by himself! That semi-final a year ago, Lin Ling did not even make an attempt on the goal. He merely organized the team’s offensive in total calmness. Shooting is not his specialty. If this keeps on, Tong Xing will crumble!

Of course, Lin Ling would not have been able to hear his thoughts. He only had one thought, I’m angry! Would all his three years not be a waste if he was being belittled by a first year? You think my shots are easy saves? Then I’ll let you have a taste! He clenched his teeth and his face displayed visible anger.

Li Yongle noticed and knew at once that Lin Ling would not be much of a threat anymore. When the other team’s No. 10 tried to score earlier, he had managed to catch Zhang Lintao by surprise. He knew what his own goalkeeper was capable of after playing together with him for two months. There were 83 members in the Zhongyuan soccer team―and after setting aside the five goalies―the remaining 78 outfield players had never scored from the outside box against him. Even their team’s best shooter, Zhang Yuchao had his 25-m shots blocked. For a person who had such an iron grip on the goalkeeper’s position to be in a team like Zhongyuan’s, how could he concede against just anyone?

…

Zhang Jun was fouled and fell for the umpteenth time; it was perfectly reasonable that he would be given such “great care” by the opponents after his performance in the last two games. Whenever he got possession, the opponents would use any means necessary to stop him from entering the box, including fouling him. On the last few occasions however, he would quickly pick himself up after falling―but this time, he was not able to stand.

The referee whistled to summon the medical officers onto the pitch. After Zhang Jun was stretchered off the field, his boots as well as knee-high socks were removed and dumped aside.

Liang Ke was appalled at the sight of Zhang Jun’s purpling right ankle. “How did this happen?” He pinched that region of the foot lightly and Zhang Jun gritted his teeth in terrible pain.

Yang Pan looked at the swollen bone and searched his memory of the past week―stopping at the first goal of the match against their opponents seven days ago.

With a whirl of his foot he shot the ball precisely to Zhang Jun, who welcomed it with a volley that went in with a loud bang. That bang. He knew how powerful his own foot was and so did Zhang Jun―it had knocked goalposts down and sent goalkeepers into the net along with the ball. It was no laughing matter to divert the shot head-on, but Zhang Jun did. How could his foot not be hurt? Then, there was the further intensive training they went through for the past week. Even Xie Yu, who had the best stamina within the team, was left gasping for air, much less Zhang Jun who was injured? With the current game, the opponent’s rough style of play and the fouls on him, his injury would have surely…

When Zhang Jun suggested the idea to Yang Pan himself, he believed that it was an impossible feat. But the idiot still did it―did he really not think about the consequences? Was it only to break the stalemate? What other reason was there? And in that moment, Yang Pan raised his head to see Su Fei’s concerned gaze and realized something. He sighed and returned to the pitch.

Zhang Jun was not coming back into the game. As expected, the signboard was lifted pitch-side: Shu Guang, No.11, out; Liu Lei, No.16, in.

A striker was subbed off for a defensive midfielder as Liang Ke made a change to the team formation.

Liu Lei conveyed the coach’s intentions as soon as he got into the field. “Yang Pan, Ren Yu De! You two are moving up to the striker’s position!”

The pair compiled and Shu Guang went from a 442 formation to 433. It appeared that Liang Ke did not make the shift out of helplessness; the coach always reminded himself that Zhang Rui was already a third-year student and he was leaving soon. What would happen when he left? Furthermore, Ren Yu De’s skills and Yang Pan’s speed were a good fit for strikers; pushing them up front with twenty-five minutes left may just yield surprising results.

After keeping Zhang Jun company for a while, Su Fei returned to her seat―she was not to be overly concerned of a single player as manager. That was why she had to stay on her task of keeping records despite her worries.

She noted the incident down in her notebook:

“No.11, Zhang Jun, subbed off due to injury in the fifty-fifth minute.”