Chapter 160 - 153: The Third Star Skill

When the head referee blew the final whistle, the entire Amsterdam Arena erupted.

Drenched in sweat, Yang Yang heard the wave of sound from the stands, like a flash flood, rapidly sweeping over the entire stadium.

Three-nil. Ajax had ultimately secured a decisive three-goal home victory over Monaco, putting one foot in the Champions League final.

Yang Yang bent over, his hands on his knees, staring down at the grass. Sweat dripped continuously from the tip of his nose and his chin. He was completely exhausted, but his heart was full, and his mind was electric with excitement.

A three-nil victory was something no one had expected before the match, but it was a testament to Ajax’s overall strength.

Tonight’s match was the first time Yang Yang truly felt the Champions League final beckoning to him.

The Champions League final—the hallowed competition countless professional players dreamed of reaching.

At this thought, Yang Yang couldn’t help but smile.

His rational mind calmly told him that the tie wasn’t over. There was still a second leg, and anything was possible—just like Ajax’s home comeback against Real Madrid. But he was still overjoyed, still couldn’t resist the urge to laugh out loud.

The three-nil lead put Ajax one step ahead on the road to the Champions League final. It was as if they had already squeezed through the doorway to the final, firmly blocking Monaco behind them.

This was definitely something worth celebrating, even celebrating wildly.

"You won’t last in the final like this," Sneijder’s voice sounded beside him.

Yang Yang looked up to see the Dutch midfielder standing opposite him, a grin on his face. He teased, "Your stamina’s too poor. Wouldn’t we basically be playing a man down?"

"Then I’d better be a substitute," Yang Yang replied with a laugh. "As long as the team wins, I’m fine with being on the bench, or even not playing at all."

"How are we supposed to win if you don’t play?" Sneijder laughed, walking over and wrapping Yang Yang in a hug.

The two were roommates at the club and similar in age, so they had an excellent relationship. Most importantly, they often studied opponents together before matches, analyzing how to coordinate and play. This made their teamwork on the pitch more seamless and dangerous.

Sneijder wasn’t sure if Yang Yang possessed extraordinary natural talent, but he was certain of one thing: Yang Yang was absolutely the most diligent and hardworking player he had ever seen. Almost every time he saw him, he was either training or studying opponents.

If diligence and hard work could be considered a type of talent, then Sneijder was sure Yang Yang was a prodigy.

De Jong and Vermaelen suddenly popped up, dancing and gesticulating in celebration.

Soon, the captain, Van der Vaart, called his teammates over. They walked to the edge of the pitch, lining up to thank the fans in the stands.

At that moment, the fans in the stands were all chanting for the final.

Yes, they were all desperate to see the team reach the Champions League final once again, and maybe even lift the trophy.

In the other Champions League semi-final match held last night, Porto drew nil-nil at home against Deportivo La Coruña.

Compared to the clear situation between Ajax and Monaco, this matchup left all the suspense for the second leg. Who would emerge victorious was still anyone’s guess.

...

...

After the Monaco match, while the head coach went to the post-match press conference, Yang Yang took the opportunity to meet with Wei Zhen and the others in the stands.

Arie Haan gave high praise for Yang Yang’s performance after coming on as a substitute. He also stated that he and his coaching staff would study it carefully and planned to build an offensive tactic around Yang Yang for the Asian Cup.

"I’ve already requested all of your match recordings from Ajax from the past six months. This will be our most important research topic for the next two months. You need to make sure you’re in top form. I’ll be waiting for you in China."

Arie Haan’s words revealed the high regard in which he held Yang Yang.

So far, Yang Yang was the first player in the history of Chinese Football to appear and score in the Champions League, make it all the way to the semi-finals, and now possibly even reach the final.

Not just in Chinese Football, but in all of Asia, he was the first.

He was indeed still very young at seventeen, but based on the ability he displayed on the pitch, he was fully qualified for this role.

Before leaving, Wei Zhen also offered Yang Yang some encouragement, but not without reminding him to save him a complimentary ticket if he made it to the final.

Yang Yang laughed and promised he would remember.

He returned to the locker room, showered, changed, and fooled around with his teammates for a while.

This was a characteristic of the Ajax locker room. It was full of young men who, happy after a win, would mess around and always have a blast.

After what felt like a long wait, head coach Ronald Koeman finished his post-match press conference and returned to the locker room. He started by praising his players, singling out Ibrahimovic for his brace, Van der Vaart for the opening goal, and Yang Yang for his excellent performance off the bench.

Of course, he also praised the others, especially the defenders. He believed they had been outstanding throughout the match, giving the opposition no openings. This was what allowed them to keep a clean sheet and prevent the opponents from getting an away goal, an advantage that was undoubtedly crucial in a two-legged knockout tie.

Because in the next leg in Monaco, not only would Monaco have to chase three goals, but they would also have to guard against an Ajax away goal. If Ajax scored just once, Monaco would need to score five, which was undoubtedly a desperate situation.

"But we absolutely cannot get complacent. Just like when we played Real Madrid. We suffered a terrible four-two loss away from home, but back at our stadium, we answered with a four-one victory that no one saw coming."

"And then there’s AC Milan and Deportivo La Coruña. Who would have thought the seemingly invincible defending champions would lose four-nil away from home?"

Ronald Koeman’s warning was very effective, especially his use of the AC Milan example.

Yang Yang wasn’t clear on just how strong the Red-Black Army was, but the Ajax players knew full well. That team was also packed with stars and had an outstanding defense. As the defending champions, AC Milan was considered one of the strongest teams in European Football, yet they had lost four-nil on the road.

The ball is round, and on the pitch, anything is possible.

Ajax was only leading three-nil; they had no right to be arrogant.

To avoid crushing his players’ confidence, Ronald Koeman also encouraged them, stating that he had great faith in their abilities and firmly believed that Ajax would be the one to reach the final.

The locker room responded with great enthusiasm.

...

...

Catching a ride with Ibrahimovic, Yang Yang and Vermaelen returned to Oude Kerk.

As soon as he got home, Yang Yang did what he always did: he locked himself in his room and entered Super Training.

The first order of business was to review the match that had just ended. The system primarily focused on analyzing Yang Yang’s performance after coming on as a substitute, critiquing his mistakes in particular and offering solutions for improvement.

The team would also conduct tactical reviews and analyses, but those focused more on the squad as a whole. This, however, was personal, far more detailed. Using match recordings, it could show Yang Yang a variety of angles and choices much more clearly and intuitively.

Reviewing the match immediately afterward while his memory was still fresh had been immensely beneficial for Yang Yang over the past year and was a major reason for his continuous improvement in games.

Only after the review was complete did Yang Yang finally say the words he had been mulling over all evening.

"I want to learn a third Star Skill."

This was something he had wanted to do for a long time, but Old Ice had forbidden it. The reason was simple: biting off more than he could chew. Especially in the second half of the season, with Yang Yang constantly competing on three fronts for Ajax, Old Ice had been even stricter, demanding that he specialize in "Ronaldo’s Rush" and "Beckham’s Crossing."

Yang Yang understood that Old Ice was looking out for him, wanting him to establish himself in the first team as quickly as possible. For a seventeen-year-old, specializing in breaking through on the wing and crossing was undoubtedly an excellent choice.

But tonight, after seeing Van der Vaart’s exceptional first touch, Yang Yang was truly inspired.

According to the bucket theory, Yang Yang had to patch up his shortcomings. This would make his overall ability and competitiveness on the pitch even stronger.

As he stated his intention, Yang Yang had already prepared a whole slew of arguments in his mind, confident he could persuade Old Ice. But to his surprise, after hearing him out, Old Ice agreed without a second thought.

"Okay."

"Huh?" Yang Yang was the one who couldn’t believe it now. He suspected he had misheard.

"I said, okay."

"Wait, you agree?"

"Did you want me to refuse?" Old Ice retorted.

Yang Yang was at a loss for words. He was discovering that this AI was not only getting smarter, but also more argumentative.

"But you’ve always refused me before. Why agree this time?" he asked, a little worried. ’Is this thing being sarcastic? Or is there some kind of trap or trick here?’

"The last time you asked was two months ago. You know yourself how intense the matches were back then. My advice at that time was that you should focus on the two Star Skills, ’Ronaldo’s Rush’ and ’Beckham’s Crossing’. And I’m sure you’re aware that specializing in these two skills has allowed you to perform better and better within the team’s tactical framework."

Yang Yang nodded. That was indeed the case.

"There’s a saying in kinesiology: technical versatility determines tactical diversity. This applies to football as well. It means that the more well-rounded your skills are, the more diverse your roles on the pitch can be, and the stronger your tactical adaptability becomes. Conversely, the more one-dimensional your skills, the weaker your tactical adaptability."

Yang Yang clearly remembered Old Ice once telling him that being a one-trick pony was a good thing for a young player, but for a mature player, it was quite awkward, even a major disadvantage, because their tactical role would be too monotonous.

Right now, Yang Yang was that one-trick pony in Ajax’s tactics—a typical right winger, a flank attacker. But he wasn’t satisfied with that. He wanted to become more well-rounded, to the point of having no weaknesses.

After all, who could guarantee that Ajax wouldn’t one day no longer need his type of right winger? If that happened, wouldn’t he be permanently benched?