Chapter 70 - Trap (1/2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Liu Wei’s troops appeared to be scattered by the early goal.
But the coach himself did not appear flustered or irritated. He walked pitch side and made a hand gesture at Fan Cunjie.
His captain nodded and turned to Yao Wang, making a face.
Yao Wang nodded quietly too.
Both teams quickly assumed their respective positions as they waited to restart the game.
Although they had an early lead, Shu Guang knew that it was not exactly good.
Most of the time, teams would rather be leading just a few minutes before the match ended; that would have been better to equalize or rally against after getting an early lead.
Naturally, this would not be a problem for teams who could control the flow of the game. This in turn begged the question, amongst the two playing right now, who was the stronger squad that could freely control how the match ran?
After a brief moment of ecstasy, Shu Guang quickly calmed down.
Zhang Jun, the goalscorer glanced at the red armband on his left arm, drew a deep breath and stilled his heart as he waited for the whistle to signal for the restart.
*Beep!*
Dingding’s attack was fiercer and their formation more compact—even the back line was pressed up to the halfway line. The entire squad was viciously dropping more pressure on Shu Guang without a break.
Chen Huafeng was curious at Dingding’s boldness. It was the right response to pour forward when you were behind, but how could the defense move so high up too?
It was a stance that abandoned all protection, and Dingding was using such a death-defying move after just 20 minutes.
The spectators were also chattering away on this matter.
“Isn’t it too early for Dingding to play like this?”
“Yeah, it’s basically a move to be used in the final 15 minutes. It’s usually only effectively in a last stand. Now this…”
“Now this, what?” Viewer A asked.
“Fool! Can’t you see?” Viewer B scolded. “Dingding is playing like this against Shu Guang, who has the best forwards in Luoyang. If they keep attacking but can’t score, what do you think’s gonna happen?”
“Oh! Dingding’s gonna concede more goals.” Viewer A finally understood, but was quickly confused once more. “Then, why would they insist on such a playstyle? Aren’t they afraid of conceding?”
“I don’t know. Ahem! We’re not the coaches, why are we being so worried! Let’s just watch the game!”
The live broadcast studio.
“When did Liu Wei become so bold?” Zhou Jiansheng asked, slightly surprised.
“How so?”
“You’ll know soon…”
Fan Cunjie whirled each foot over the ball once. Seeing that Wang Ning was befuddled, he quickly made a pass to Lu Hui on the left.
However, before Lu Hui could get to it, the delivery was cut off mercilessly by Chen Bo, who delivered a long ball to Kaka.
The Brazilian made a through pass for the first time and Zhang Jun moved with it! There was only Xia Bo left in front of him. Dingding was wide open!
*Beep!*
The linesman raised his flag and whistled.
“Offside!” Wang Qiang shouted.
Zhang Jun waved, feeling a little annoyed, but he was not dissatisfied with the decision. There was a need to be cautious with Dingding moving so far up—it was easy to get an offside.
Kaka shrugged. He thought that he was being careless since he did not have the time to check if Zhang Jun was offside when he was busy making the pass.
Dingding, clearly intent on equalizing, did not slow down their assault. But, Shu Guang did not abandon their attack either after a single offside—Zhang Jun and Ren Yu De were staying active up front, prepared to receive the ball at any time and spread salt over Dingding’s wound.
Kaka took the ball off Cao Po. He looked up and saw that Zhang Jun had plenty of space and was not offside. He quickly made a through pass.
Zhang Jun moved!
But as if following Zhang Jun’s shadow, the whistle sounded.
“Offside!”
Zhang Jun stared doubtfully at the referee, not quite understanding how he had exceeded the line.
Nonetheless, the replay on the big screen clearly showed that Zhang Jun had moved half his body past the final line—the linesman had sharp eyes. The officials in the semi-finals were not a bunch of nobodies!
After seeing that, Zhang Jun realized he had nothing to say.
He still could not understand. He definitely saw the defender on the flank standing in front of him. How could he be offside as soon as he turned and touched Kaka’s pass? Could the defender have already been running to the front when he was turning?
Kaka was lost too. The other team had four defenders, but when he passed he only saw three. He could not keep his eye on their smallest guard, who seemed to be standing behind the tallest. If he passed without seeing where their last man was, Zhang Jun would very likely be offside. If he did not pass, their fearsome defensive midfielder would challenge for the ball without hesitation—holding possession meant losing it.
To be frank, their No. 8 was a difficult opponent. He could occasionally get the better of him, but not all the time. In that moment, the ball was passed, but Zhang Jun fell into their offside trap once more.
…