Chapter 263: I'll be up front waiting for your pass

Chapter 263: Chapter 256: I’ll be up front waiting for your pass

The pattern repeated: two sharp drumbeats, then a wave of shouts.

The Iran Team fans had been pressuring the Chinese Team this way ever since the players took the field.

The Chinese Team had pulled everyone back into their own half, even retreating into their final thirty meters to focus completely on defense.

Yang Yang was the lone man roaming up front, but his main role was to harass the opposing center-backs and back line.

With his midfield and defense completely pinned down, it was hard for him to create any chances on his own.

But as the lone striker, he couldn’t drop back too deep.

First, he never knew when the midfield and defense might suddenly create a chance to counter. If an opportunity arose and he had dropped back too deep, it would be a waste of his teammates’ hard work.

Second, if even he dropped back, there would be no one to occupy Iran’s back line. The Iran Team would inevitably surge forward, pressing even higher up the pitch, which would pose a fatal threat to the Chinese Team.

This was especially true if Iran managed to establish control around the edge of the Chinese Team’s final thirty meters. Then, the Chinese Team would be like fish in a barrel, ready to be picked off at any moment.

From that position, a single successful pass was often all it took to create a scoring opportunity.

So, no matter how ferocious the Iran Team’s attack became, Yang Yang remained near the halfway line, stubbornly refusing to retreat a single step.

Iran had no answer for this, nor did they dare leave Yang Yang unmarked. They knew all too well that if any Chinese Team player managed to get the ball in behind their defense, Yang Yang could create a lethal scoring chance in an instant.

One man, pinning down an entire back line. That was Yang Yang’s tactical value on the pitch.

As for whether the midfield and defense could hold out, that was all up to his teammates.

…

…

Since taking charge of the Chinese Team, Arie Haan’s approach had been to first fix the defense, then the midfield, and finally, rebuild the attack.

With Yang Yang’s meteoric rise, the team’s offensive problems became less severe. However, Li Tie’s major injury threw all of the team’s plans into disarray. The midfield was now packed with three defensive-minded players: Xiao Zhanbo, Zhao Junzhe, and Hu Zhaojun.

Shao Jiayi was on the left wing, with Xu Yunlong on the right.

This midfield lineup made Arie Haan’s intentions perfectly clear: defense.

Defend at all costs!

In the opening phase of the match, the Chinese Team players looked nervous. Influenced by the home crowd, they seemed unable to play freely.

This was a chronic problem for the Chinese Team—they were notoriously slow starters.

But they had all committed to the same strategy before the match, and as the game got underway, everyone quickly found their footing.

Khalimi, the newly crowned Asian Footballer of the Year, was incredibly active from the opening whistle.

In a pre-match interview with the Chinese media, Khalimi had already declared his intention to avenge their Asian Cup loss on home soil.

According to reports in the Iranian media, Khalimi had revealed that he wanted to defeat Yang Yang to prove his Asian Footballer of the Year title was well-deserved.

The Asian Footballer of the Year award only considers players who play in Asian leagues. Therefore, players like Yang Yang from China, Lee Yong-Soo and Park Ji-sung from South Korea, and Xiaoye Sheng Er from Japan were all ineligible.

This was especially true for Yang Yang.

As the winner of both the European Golden Boy Award and the Asian Cup MVP, Yang Yang’s ineligibility for the Asian Footballer of the Year was widely seen as a blow to the prestige of Asia’s top individual honor. Consequently, many felt Khalimi’s win was undeserved.

For that very reason, Khalimi came into this match fired up and determined to prove himself.

From the very start of the match, he was a whirlwind of action, weaving left and right and repeatedly driving toward the Chinese Team’s penalty area, posing a significant threat.

Li Weifeng, fresh off an injury, and Zheng Zhi, returning from suspension, were rocks in the penalty area. They organized the defense with discipline, giving neither Khalimi nor the rest of the Iran Team any clear-cut chances.

After Iran’s initial onslaught, their attack gradually slowed, and many of their problems began to show.

With players like Khalimi, Ali Daei, Candie, Madavi, and Hashemian, the Iran Team looked star-studded on paper. In reality, however, they lacked cohesion. Their attacks seemed ferocious, but they created few genuinely dangerous opportunities.

The Chinese Team was outmatched in terms of skill, but their playstyle was tenacious. Crucially, every player was on the same page: defend at all costs.

After being forged in the fires of the Asian Cup and the World Cup qualifiers, everyone believed that as long as Yang Yang was on the field, the Chinese Team had a chance.

And all they had to do was protect their goal.

For any team, the most terrifying thing on the pitch isn’t a powerful opponent; it’s a lack of hope.

With hope, even the weakest team can unleash surprising strength.

And that is what makes the sport of football so captivating.

…

…

「February 9th. The first day of the Lunar New Year.」

But unlike previous years, this year, countless fans across the nation sat anxiously at home, glued to their TVs, watching this crucial first-leg match of the final qualifying round.

The Asian Cup champions, China, were playing away against Asia’s top-ranked team, Iran.

Many people often cursed the National Team on a daily basis, but tonight, they all sincerely hoped that the Chinese Team, playing far away in Tehran, could bring them a special gift for the New Year.

Chinese Football was rotten to the core!

But no matter how bad it got, it was still *their* Chinese Football.

Who wouldn’t hope for a pleasant surprise?

Especially with Yang Yang on the team!

As the match began and the Iran Team launched a frenzied assault on China, fans watching on TV had their hearts in their throats. Even through the screen, they could feel the terrifying pressure of Iran’s Devil’s Home Ground from the sheer volume of the crowd.

They were clearly outmatched.

There was no doubt about that.

But the players on the pitch were clearly giving it their all. Every single one of them was fighting and running their hearts out.

The commentator on National Television suggested that Yang Yang should drop back into the midfield to help link up play, recalling his excellent performance in that role during the Toulon Cup.

But the guest analyst, Coach Zhang, disagreed. He argued that Yang Yang’s greatest tactical value was staying high up the pitch. If he dropped back, Iran would push their entire team forward, surging into the space he vacated, putting the Chinese Team in even greater danger.

“For many years, Chinese Football hasn’t produced a player with such exceptional individual skill,” Coach Zhang said. “Yang Yang, by himself, can tie down Iran’s entire back line. We’ve never had a player like him in Chinese Football, not now and not in the past.”

“Football is a team sport of eleven players. Yang Yang is already fulfilling his role to the absolute maximum. The key now is whether his teammates can hold firm in defense and get the ball out to him.”

“Arie Haan said it himself before the match: without Yang Yang, the Chinese Team as a whole isn’t strong enough to make a run for the World Cup. But with him, they have a chance to qualify. Still, you can’t win a match with just Yang Yang. The whole team of eleven needs to work together.”

“It may seem unfair to place such a heavy burden on an eighteen-year-old, but we have to admit it: Yang Yang is the hope of this National Team.”

The first half ended in a 0–0 stalemate!

Iran had created plenty of chances but failed to convert any of them.

The Chinese Team, on the other hand, had managed only a single shot the entire first half, a clear indicator of just how miserably they were being pinned down by the Iran Team.

If winning the Asian Cup had lulled everyone into a sense of unrealistic optimism, then the previous match against Kuwait and this one against Iran served as a harsh reminder of the Chinese Team’s true level.

Only by being realistic—knowing one’s own strengths and the enemy’s—could they hope to advance further.

…

…

Yang Yang staggered into the locker room, gasping for breath.

He could feel the exhaustion radiating from his teammates. They were all spent.

The long journey, the different climate, the disrupted daily routines, the Devil’s Home Ground… and then there was Iran’s terrifying skill.

The Iran Team they faced tonight was Iran at its absolute strongest.

Yang Yang could feel his teammates’ confidence draining away, bit by bit. It was a perfectly normal psychological reaction.

To be so thoroughly dominated for an entire half without managing a single shot… it was like being trapped in your own half of the pitch and getting beaten senseless. The despair was something no outsider could possibly imagine.

It was like a helpless child facing a hulking brute. How could they possibly fight back?

People aren’t made of steel. No one has an unbreakable will, especially not a National Team infamous for its mental fragility.

“Everyone did a fantastic job!” Arie Haan said as he entered the locker room, his expression grave.

“We were very solid in defense during the first half. We didn’t give them a single real chance. That’s good. Believe me, Iran will get more and more desperate. What we need most right now is patience and perseverance.”

“Once they get desperate, they’re bound to make mistakes. And their mistakes will be our opportunity!”

Arie Haan spoke with passion, but the players looked listless, unable to muster any enthusiasm.

This made the entire coaching staff anxious. This kind of morale would be disastrous for the second half.

They understood how the players felt, but this was precisely the time they needed to rally.

“Do you guys trust me?”

Yang Yang suddenly looked up, his gaze sweeping over his National Team teammates.

His sudden question made everyone look at him in surprise. Even Arie Haan and Dejan were confused.

“If you trust me, then just give me one chance. When we go out for the second half, keep fighting. Just get me the ball upfield. I don’t care if it’s a high ball, a low ball, to the left, or to the right. As long as you get it to me, I’ll control it. And if I can control it, I will put it in their net!”

Yang Yang practically spat out the words, his teeth clenched.

This was completely out of character for him, but he had been pushed to his limit.

It didn’t matter whether he was just boasting. What mattered was that the National Team players had to find their fighting spirit again.

Football is a team sport. They couldn’t beat Iran by relying only on him, or only on Zheng Zhi, Zhao Junzhe, Shao Jiayi, and a few others.

So, Yang Yang decided he had to step up.

He wanted to win!

Yang Yang’s supremely confident declaration jolted the national players.

‘If there’s a chance, who doesn’t want to win?’

‘Who wants to lose?’

‘Who wants to get cursed out all the time?’

And now, Yang Yang had given them that hope.

“I trust you!” Zheng Zhi stood up.

“Me too!” Zhao Junzhe got to his feet.

“Count me in!” Shao Jiayi stood as well.

“Count me in!”

“Me!”

“Me!”

“Me!”

Soon, every single player in the locker room was on their feet.

Yang Yang’s eyes were bloodshot. He stared intently at his teammates, his jaw still clenched.

“Then I’ll be up front, waiting for your pass!”