Chapter 90 - As If God Was Helping (2/2)

Xie Wei quickly sent the ball to Wang Ning. Wang Ning then took the ball and ran quickly. When he first entered the team, he was a defending midfielder. On the field, his job is to intercept the balls, and intercept some more. After intercepting the ball, he would immediately pass it to his teammates. And now, after going through the experience of numerous games, he was brave enough to make a break with the ball. He even knew how to act according to the situation on the field to decide whether to steadily carry the ball or quickly pass the ball.

Now, he was becoming even more qualified to be a defending midfielder.

Wang Ning saw that no one was coming up to attack him. The other Ke Da fullbacks were giving more attention to the other four players in front. He then decided to dash straight to Ke Da’s penalty area.

After running about twenty four meters, he suddenly made a long range shot. Although Wang Ning had the right angle, it was very easy for Zhang Lintao to catch this even with his eyes closed.

The ball flew high. Zhang Lintao positioned himself and leaned forward. His hands folded like a shovel and his legs was slightly apart.

When the ball arrived, and smashed into his palms Zhang Lintao lifted his palms slightly and curled his arms to receive the ball firmly into his arms. However, the ball spun in his arms and bounced away.

“It bumped from his hands! Zhang Lintao has made a basic mistake!”

Zhang Jun was agile like a hunting dog and dashed towards the ball. Li Yongle did not dare to be careless and tried very hard to cram outwards to make it difficult for Zhang Jun to reach the ball within a short time.

His efforts were effective. Zhang Lintao’s second reaction was quick. He lunged forward, grabbed the ball and then held it firmly with both hands under his body.

“The crisis is over! However, Zhang Lintao’s mistake was indeed puzzling!”

“Actually, it is understandable. He probably thought that Wang Ning’s shot from that distance would not pose any threat to him. So, he was imperceptibly relaxed. This led to a slight change in his movements, causing the ball to slip out of his hands.”

“One must really not relax for even a second against a team like Shu Guang!”

“Yes! Never underestimate the opponent .”

Zhang Lintao, holding the ball, then got up from the ground. Li Yongle happened to stand in front of Zhang Jun, blocking his way. He gave Zhang Lintao a questioning look. Zhang Lintao shook his head with a smile. He then patted Li Yongle’s chest and thanked him for the timely block that had saved him and the team.

He then threw the ball to Luo Bin who was known for his steadiness. Luo Bin stopped the ball firmly and then looked for Zhang Yuchao.

Ke Da attacked once again. They were powerful in such moments.

When all of his teammates had their backs facing him, Zhang Lintao did not look to the front as usual to watch the battle at the frontline. Instead, he looked down at his left hand and gently flexed his left wrist.

However, the rally cries at the stands became louder, causing him to raise his head.

“Wang Ning and Chen Bo has successfully won the ball from Zhang Yuchao in a pincer attack! Shu Guang immediately turned from defence to attack!”

Wang Ning passed the ball to the swift Yang Pan. During a counterattack, the speed of the striker was very important.

Yang Pan did not disappoint the hundreds of cheering squad members roaring off the field. He quickly took the ball to Ke Da’s court. Lu Qing chased desperately from the back while Zhang Yang was coming in obliquely in front of him.

Yang Pan easily skipped over Zhang Yang’s intercepting tackle but Lu Qing had already caught up with him.

When he finally got rid of Lu Qing, Zhang Yang appeared before him again.

“Chain… defense!” Chen Huafeng called out. In their competition last year, Yang Pan was tightly chained by Li Yongle and Zhang Yang. Most of the time it would not be effective. But, what about this year?

When Yang Pan realised this he laughed. “Last year, I was alone. However, we have a very sharp knife this year!” He did not wait for Zhang Yang to pounce on him again and passed the ball across to Zhang Jun!

“Beautiful!” Chen Huafeng praised. “As long as you pass the ball, you can break this chain!”

However, Li Yongle, who had always marked Zhang Jun, was not to be tifled with. He immediately tagged tightly onto Zhang Jun, pushing the doctor’s warning, that another collision may aggravate the injury, to the back of his mind.

However, Zhang Jun did not carry the ball into the penalty area as the others had expected. Instead, he sent it rolling to his front right with the back of his foot. There was literally nobody, neither Ke Da’s nor Shu Guang’s people, in that area. So, nobody knew why he did it.

However, Yang Pan immediately revealed the answer. He moved in at high speed and went past Zhang Yang. Zhang Jun’s pointless pass had just reached his feet. He made a minor adjustment, and shot with all his might from the penalty box corner.

The ball headed straight for the corner of the goal mouth.

In the midst of the shocking cries and cheers, Zhang Lintao once again leapt into the air and knocked the ball away with his fists.

“God’s help! Zhang Lintao had God’s help again! Yang Pan has shot seven times in this game and he managed to block six times! This is an astonishing number! It was his outstanding performance that allowed Ke Da to maintain the one-point lead till now.”

Zhang Lintao’s hand was propped on the ground. When he tried to get up he, unexpectedly, had a sharp pain shooting into his left wrist. His hand turned soft and he almost collapsed on the ground.

‘Could it be that the pre-season training was only able to improve my defensive ability but not the strength of my arm? Or perhaps Yang Pan’s shots were really unstoppable?’

‘Unstoppable shots? What a joke! There is no such thing in this world!’

Zhang Lintao suddenly jumped up from the ground, and immediately waved his fist and roared.

“Ah! Zhang Lintao seems to be very spirited today! He is bursting with confidence from continuously blocking Yang Pan’s shots! His loud roars seems to shatter Shu Guang’s remaining hope.”

“There is not much time left for the rest of the game. There is only less than ten minutes left. Shu Guang’s most destructive shots were, unexpectedly, all completely blocked. Zhang Jun is also being marked closely by Li Yongle. Looks like Shu Guang is in danger!”