Chapter 265: We Lost to Yang Yang

Chapter 265: Chapter 258: We Lost to Yang Yang

The moment Yang Yang took on two defenders and scored against the Iran Team, the scales of victory had already tipped decisively in China’s favor.

Afterward, the Chinese Team held firmly to their one-goal lead, continuing to dig in and wait for opportunities to counter-attack.

Arie Haan promptly made substitutions to further bolster the team’s defense.

The Iran Team, on the other hand, threw everything they had into their attack, and Ivanovic made a series of substitutions to strengthen their offense.

But Iran’s formation had fallen into disarray, while the Chinese Team settled into a solid defensive, counter-attacking posture.

In the subsequent half hour, the Chinese Team launched three highly threatening counter-attacks, all orchestrated by Yang Yang. Twice he set up his teammates, but unfortunately, neither Zhao Junzhe’s long-range shot nor Xu Yunlong’s attempt found the mark.

Yang Yang himself almost broke through for a one-on-one. His direct shot was parried past the endline by the goalkeeper, and the ensuing corner kick failed to create any danger.

The more Iran rushed their attacks, the more disorganized they became, until by the end, they were throwing nearly everyone forward.

But even at the final whistle, Iran couldn’t breach the Chinese Team’s goal.

One-nil. Thanks to Yang Yang’s goal, the Chinese Team had stunned Iran with an away victory.

When the referee blew the final whistle, the entire hundred-thousand-strong crowd in Azadi Stadium erupted in a deafening chorus of boos.

Countless pieces of debris and paper rained down from the stands. It was as if the Iranian fans wanted to bury the Chinese players under their boos and trash, but fortunately, a wide running track separated the stands from the pitch.

When the final whistle blew, Yang Yang was physically exhausted, but his spirit was so exhilarated that he couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“So? Is all this booing music to your ears or what?” Yang Yang asked with a booming voice.

Beside him, Zheng Zhi and the others couldn’t help but roar with laughter.

Come to think of it, it really was a beautiful sound.

Before the match, they had been filled with awe, even fear, of such an intimidating home atmosphere.

But now, they felt it was more like a compliment from their opponents, like fireworks celebrating their victory.

Overcome with emotion, they couldn’t help but turn to look at Yang Yang.

‘What an incredible teammate!’

‘It’s like he can do anything, always bringing the team a pleasant surprise.’

‘He’s so reliable, so clinical. He scored with his very first chance.’

Throughout the entire match, the Chinese Team had only taken five shots. The last was a wild attempt by Hu Zhaojun near the end, but the first four all came from Yang Yang—either chances he created for others or shots he took himself.

‘He’s just too composed! He made almost no mistakes!’

“How in the world did you do it?” Chen Tao asked curiously.

He had been substituted on in the final stages of the match; Arie Haan’s intention was to let him get a feel for the atmosphere of the final qualifying round.

Yang Yang slung an arm forcefully around his teammate’s shoulders and laughed. “It’s simple. You train. You train nonstop.”

Seeing his teammates’ looks of disbelief, Yang Yang continued, “My coaches at Ajax always taught me one thing: hard work is the fastest shortcut on a football pitch. If your fundamentals are weak, you can train to improve them. If you’re not strong enough physically, you can train for that too.”

“We’re not as naturally talented as others, so we can only make up for it with diligence and hard work. If you’re not as talented and you’re not willing to work harder than everyone else, then your opponents will just leave you further and further behind.”

As he said this, an image of the superstars at Real Madrid surfaced in his mind.

Without a doubt, every single one of them was a superstar of extraordinary talent. Yet, for all sorts of reasons, they often failed to perform at their best in many matches. And one factor that couldn’t be ignored was that they didn’t work hard enough.

He still clearly remembered that Champions League match at the Bernabéu. When the Real Madrid stars decided to run and work hard, their offense flowed like quicksilver. Ajax couldn’t stop it; they couldn’t even get close enough to foul anyone. That was a true, genuine gap in skill.

What was even scarier was that the superstars weren’t even going all out or playing at their peak.

And yet, back at Ajax’s home ground, Real Madrid had been toppled.

As he gained more experience in the professional leagues, Yang Yang began to accept certain realities, like losing.

Sometimes, in some matches, you could give it your all and still lose.

No matter what, as long as you gave it your all and left no regrets, that was enough.

But he would never allow himself to lose a match the way those Real Madrid superstars had.

After hearing Yang Yang’s speech, many of the National Team players wore thoughtful expressions.

…

…

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

It was destined to be a sleepless night.

The Chinese Team’s one-nil away victory over Iran sparked a nationwide celebration among the fans, giving them the most special gift of all during the Lunar New Year festival.

One hundred thousand Iranian fans “sent off” the Chinese Team with boos as they left Azadi Stadium, while fully-armed Tehran police provided an escort to protect the players on their way out. This “high-class treatment” became a popular topic of conversation for the fans back home.

At the post-match press conference, Iran’s head coach, Ivanovic, told the media, “We didn’t lose to the Chinese Team. We lost to Yang Yang.”

To single-handedly defeat the mighty, seemingly invincible Iran Team—what an incredible feat!

Arie Haan also gave high praise to Yang Yang’s performance, acknowledging his immense tactical contribution to the match.

“I believe that for many, many years to come, countless Chinese fans will still fondly recall tonight’s goal.”

“This is the start of China’s next charge for the World Cup!”

With head coaches from both sides giving him the highest of praise, the media and fans back home promptly put Yang Yang on a pedestal.

Countless fans flooded the internet with comments, singing praises for Yang Yang’s goal. They proclaimed him the country’s undisputed number-one superstar and a hero to all Chinese fans.

National Television, in a special program covering the away match in Tehran, also gave high praise to Yang Yang’s tactical value and his crucial goal.

This goal reignited the nation’s hunger for the World Cup.

A top-two finish in the four-team group would mean direct qualification for the World Cup.

It would be only the second time in the history of Chinese Football to qualify for the World Cup, a prospect that would ignite the passion of the fans back home.

And while the nation was celebrating the team’s victory in Tehran, with many fans even gathering spontaneously at Beijing Capital Airport to welcome the triumphant National Team home, they discovered that Yang Yang and several other foreign-based players were not on the flight.

This left the large crowd of fans at the airport feeling disappointed.

Yang Yang, Zheng Zhi, and the others flew directly to Europe from Tehran.

…

…

Whether in Tehran or back in Amsterdam, Yang Yang was greeted enthusiastically by fans at both airports.

Autographs, photos, words of thanks…

With the National Team having won, Yang Yang patiently did his best to fulfill the fans’ requests, especially upon his return to Amsterdam.

But unfortunately, there were simply too many fans at the airport. He couldn’t possibly satisfy everyone and could only apologize regretfully.

He hailed a taxi from the airport. Along the way, he listened to the driver ramble on about being an Ajax fan for years, how his whole family loved Ajax, and how much they all loved Yang Yang. Through it all, Yang Yang just maintained an awkward smile.

Even now, he still hadn’t gotten used to being praised to his face.

By the time he returned to Oude Kerk, it was already evening.

Yang Yang called both Ronald Koeman and Luther Carroll to let them know he would be at De Toekomst on time the next day.

Both coaches asked about his condition, clearly concerned that he might have gotten injured.

“Heitinga got injured during the Dutch National Team’s match,” Luther Carroll said with obvious frustration.

Yang Yang was taken aback for a moment when he heard the news. “Is it serious?”

“Not too serious, but he’ll definitely miss the next league match and the first leg of the UEFA Cup knockout round.”

Since Ajax had finished third in their Champions League group, they dropped directly into the UEFA Cup’s Round of 32. Their opponent had already been drawn back in December: Auxerre of Ligue 1.

They were a strong team, currently sitting fifth in Ligue 1. Their manager, Guy Roux, was a renowned figure in European football, having coached Auxerre for forty years and transformed them from a small-town club into a Ligue 1 powerhouse.

Back in 2000, Guy Roux had actually retired. The club promoted youth team coach Daniel Roland to replace him, but Auxerre only managed to finish thirteenth the following season. Consequently, Guy Roux quickly came out of retirement and led Auxerre to a third-place finish in the league the next season.

For the next two seasons, Auxerre remained a formidable team, consistently finishing around the top five in Ligue 1.

However, in last summer’s transfer market, Auxerre had lost their entire central spine.

Star center-back Philippe Mexès transferred to Rome, midfield general Olivier Kapo left for Juventus on a free transfer, and star striker Djibril Cissé went to the Reds, Liverpool. The loss of these three players was a devastating blow to Auxerre.

Of course, Auxerre still had their number 10 and core midfielder, Finnish international Teemu Tainio. And after Mexès’s departure, an eighteen-year-old rising star named Younès Kaboul had emerged on their back line.

All in all, Auxerre’s overall strength was still respectable, which was why they were able to hold fifth place in Ligue 1.

“Fortunately, the first leg is at home for us. Auxerre’s attack is decent, but they have a lot of defensive issues. Facing a team like that, we should have the advantage at home.”

Yang Yang was inclined to agree with Luther Carroll’s assessment.

Ronald Koeman was better at shaping a team’s overall defense; orchestrating the attack, on the other hand, was not his strong suit.

That’s why, whether it was the issues with Ibrahimovic and Van der Vaart last season or Wesley Sonck’s poor form this season, Ronald Koeman hadn’t managed to come up with any particularly effective solutions.

Of course, Yang Yang’s own prolific goal-scoring was thanks in no small part to Ronald Koeman’s trust in him.

“Tomorrow morning, get Jan Kruitenberg to check you over. With Heitinga injured, the club is being extremely cautious about injuries right now. For the match against Breda this weekend, you’ll either play for only sixty minutes or come on as a sub. You’d best be prepared for that.”

Ajax didn’t really have much recourse when it came to national team call-ups for major international matches; they simply couldn’t refuse.

Of course, Ajax could have refused to release Yang Yang for the AFC U-19 Championship previously, but because of Arie Haan’s influence, they ultimately agreed to let Yang Yang play for his country. To this day, Ronald Koeman still regretted that decision.

If not for the points they’d dropped during those four rounds, Ajax would be at the top of the league table right now.