Chapter 258 - 251: More Precious Than Genius

In the fifty-sixth minute, Ajax once again attacked, entering the zone thirty meters from Utrecht’s goal.

When Sneijder received a pass from a teammate within that thirty-meter area, his path was already blocked by a Utrecht midfielder. He was forced to turn to his right and look for support on the right flank.

"Here!"

Just when Sneijder needed it most, Yang Yang suddenly appeared in an open space just to the right of center, raising his hand to call for the ball.

The Ajax midfielder passed the ball over without hesitation, while also calling out a warning.

"Careful!"

But Yang Yang, as if already prepared, met Sneijder’s pass by tapping it forward and suddenly bursting into motion.

This sudden change of pace left the Utrecht midfielder, Cruyff, lunging at empty air.

The area where Yang Yang received the ball was very awkward for the Utrecht defenders. Especially after his first touch took him past Cruyff, he could now dribble directly at Utrecht’s backline. Charisteas also reacted quickly, turning and preparing to charge forward.

Yang Yang dribbled straight at the Utrecht defense, rapidly approaching the penalty area. He then played a through ball, trying to slide it in behind the defense.

Charisteas reacted quickly as well, making a run to beat the offside trap and get on the end of the pass.

Unexpectedly, Utrecht’s French Central Defender, Tomasso, reacted even faster. He went straight to ground with a sliding tackle, forcefully intercepting the ball and preventing it from getting through.

But Yang Yang’s reaction was also incredibly fast. He immediately chased the ball, getting to it before the other central defender. With his right foot, he cut the ball from Tomasso’s tackle to his left, bypassing the second defender. Now at the top of the arc just outside the penalty area, he used the inside of his left foot to curl a shot at goal.

The ball traced a graceful parabola, dipping down before crashing into the top-left corner of the Utrecht goal.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!"

"The ball is in!!!!"

"The fifty-sixth minute! It’s the fifty-sixth minute, and Yang Yang has scored Ajax’s second goal of the match!"

"Two to zero!"

"Ajax is in a commanding position now!"

The moment Yang Yang struck that curling shot, he had a very strong feeling. ’This one’s in!’

’I hit the sweet spot! The angle was perfect! And with the trusty inside of my foot!’

When he saw that despite the opposing goalkeeper, Troll, stretching out his arms and diving in an attempt to save it, he still couldn’t stop the ball from hitting the back of the net, Yang Yang excitedly turned and sprinted out of the penalty area, running all the way off the pitch.

"Absolutely brilliant!"

"Yang Yang has been outstanding in this match tonight. Not only did he personally orchestrate the first goal, but he also scored the second goal of the match himself."

"And here’s something else worth noting: Yang Yang has had a total of five shots tonight, only two of which were on target, but he scored one goal. This is also the most shots he’s taken in a single game this season."

"You can tell this must be a deliberate arrangement by the Ajax coaching staff. Yang Yang is gradually becoming a sharp spearhead in Ajax’s attack. Not only are his individual skills excellent, but he’s also becoming more and more well-rounded. Especially over the past six months, his progress has been meteoric. He is definitely going to be the most anticipated star in the Eredivisie this season."

...

...

Upon seeing Yang Yang make that curling shot, Foeke Booy shook his head in dismay.

’Our six-game unbeaten streak at home this season... it’s over!’

From the very beginning of the match, Yang Yang had been extremely active on the right flank; Etienne Xu simply couldn’t contain him alone.

More importantly, he had originally thought Yang Yang would be weak in physical confrontations. This was the general impression everyone had of him, firstly because he was rather slight, and secondly because he was only eighteen. It was normal to be physically weaker at that age.

But unexpectedly, in several one-on-one physical battles with Etienne Xu during the match, although he was at a disadvantage, he didn’t show the kind of weakness that gets completely overpowered by a grown man.

"He’s definitely put in some serious work on his strength and conditioning!"

Foeke Booy had been a professional player himself, and he knew very well that only through sheer hard work could one achieve the kind of progress Yang Yang had made.

In all his calculations, he had overlooked one thing: Yang Yang.

An eighteen-year-old young man, full of unpredictability, was growing and improving at an extremely rapid pace.

While he was still judging Yang Yang based on his impression from the start of the season, Yang Yang proved him wrong by dominating the game, as if to say: You were wrong!

Foeke Booy’s face was filled with resignation, and his heart with a bitter feeling.

...

...

In front of the visiting team’s bench, however, Ronald Koeman leaped to his feet in excitement.

Yang Yang’s goal had completely killed the game.

"He’s improved! His progress is astonishing!" Ronald Koeman exclaimed in admiration.

In his life, he had seen countless professional players. After becoming a head coach, he had managed numerous stars. But only Yang Yang was someone he couldn’t quite figure out, someone who constantly filled him with surprise.

’Is he a genius?’

Anyone who had seen Yang Yang’s debut performances would not have considered him a genius.

He wasn’t like Ibrahimovic, with his naturally powerful physique. He wasn’t like Van der Vaart, who had grown up with a football at his feet and possessed transcendent talent. He wasn’t even like Sneijder, who, despite being low-key and diligent, had incredibly solid fundamentals.

Ronald Koeman still clearly remembered that when Yang Yang first arrived at Ajax, he couldn’t even control the ball properly. As a result, his teammates had to accommodate him, trying their best to play simple passes to him.

But now, he was using his first touch to get past defenders.

He was naturally right-footed, yet through sheer force of will, he had trained his left foot to be nearly as good as his right.

This season, he had already used his left foot to shoot and pass countless times.

He was not a genius, but he possessed a quality more precious than genius: his determination.

"The next two years will be extremely important for him," Luther Carroll added, nodding repeatedly.

Although he had been the first to see Yang Yang’s potential, he had never imagined back then that Yang Yang could improve to this extent.

The Yang Yang of today could no longer be content with just Ajax. He would become a jewel for Ajax, a future poster boy for the Ajax youth academy, a dazzling new star rising in European Football.

But the prerequisite was that the team had to protect him well.

"Yes, the next two years will be his period of rapid development. The heights his career can reach will depend on these two years." Ronald Koeman understood what Luther Carroll meant.

The most classic example was Van der Vaart.

The Ajax standard-bearer made his first-team debut at sixteen and became a starter at seventeen. In twenty-seven league matches, he delivered an impressive seven goals and seven assists. It was during that season that everyone believed Van der Vaart would be Ajax’s most exceptional genius since Cruyff.

Unexpectedly, in the following season, although he scored fourteen goals in twenty matches—an even better record than the previous season—a February injury completely derailed his career trajectory.

In the 2002-2003 season, Van der Vaart was constantly trying to adapt his game. He scored an impressive eighteen goals in twenty-one league matches, but everyone could clearly feel that he was no longer the same transcendent talent he once was. Furthermore, excessive injuries repeatedly hampered his growth and progress.

It was also around that time that he met Silvia, and afterward, began to frequent the Amsterdam nightlife scene.

Perhaps, for him, this was a form of escapism, but everyone knew he would never be able to live up to the expectations everyone once had for him.

The better Van der Vaart played now, the more people felt a sense of pity for him, because he could have been ten, even a hundred times better than he currently was. But professional football is just that cruel.

And now, this season’s Yang Yang was like the Van der Vaart of back then.

A single brilliant season meant nothing. He needed to perform consistently to solidify the progress he had made.

"Tell Yang and Winston that from now on, I want a physical report on Yang Yang submitted to me every morning," Ronald Koeman said with a serious expression.

To develop an extraordinary superstar was something every head coach dreamed of.

Ronald Koeman had already missed out on Van der Vaart; he didn’t want to miss out on Yang Yang too.

...

...

In the end, thanks to goals from Sneijder and Yang Yang, Ajax defeated Utrecht 2-0 in the away match.

Foeke Booy’s team suffered its first home loss of the season.

In the post-match interview, the Utrecht head coach stated that he had no complaints about the loss.

"We had no way of stopping their right winger, Yang Yang."

Ronald Koeman also praised Yang Yang, who was once again named Man of the Match, but also stated that Yang Yang still has a great deal of untapped potential. He hoped Yang Yang would continue to work hard and deliver even better performances.

With his goal in this match, Yang Yang moved up to second place on the Eredivisie’s top scorers list with twelve goals, second only to Feyenoord’s Kuyt, who had fourteen.

The Netherlands media was very excited about this, as this season’s Eredivisie was seeing a bumper crop of new talent.

The Dutch native center-forward Huntelaar, who transferred from Eindhoven to Heerenveen, had also scored eleven goals this season, and he was only twenty-one.

Meanwhile, the nineteen-year-old winger for Feyenoord, Kalu, had also scored eleven goals, tying him for third on the scorers list with Huntelaar and Perez, pushing the famous Dutch player from Eindhoven, Heise Linke, further down the rankings.

It could be said that this season’s Eredivisie was bursting with new talent, which had the domestic media in the Netherlands very excited.

Eighteen-year-old Yang Yang, nineteen-year-old Kalu, twenty-one-year-old Huntelaar, twenty-four-year-old Kuyt... it had been a long time since the Eredivisie had seen so many young players emerge at once.

And among them, the one everyone was most excited to talk about was undoubtedly Ajax’s Yang Yang.

Scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final, the European Golden Boy Award, the Asian Cup’s best player...

These many titles and accolades meant that the eighteen-year-old’s influence had long since surpassed the Dutch football scene, attracting widespread attention throughout all of European Football.

Everyone was starting to wonder if this young star, considered Ajax’s most talented since Van der Vaart and Ibrahimovic, could bring them even more surprises.

At the same time, people also wondered: when would he leave the Netherlands and officially step onto the stage of the Four Major Leagues?