Chapter 272: So Useless

Chapter 272: Chapter 265: So Useless

“Good God, Yang Yang’s form has been just incredible lately!”

“He’s scored in several consecutive matches!”

“It seems the rumors are true—Yang Yang is hungry for this season’s Eredivisie Top Scorer title.”

“After scoring that worldie just now, Yang Yang has raised his Eredivisie goal count for the season to nineteen. That makes him the highest-scoring Ajax player in a single season in the last decade.”

“What’s remarkable is that Yang Yang is only eighteen. The last eighteen-year-old to achieve such a feat in the Eredivisie was Ajax’s own Cruyff, who scored eighteen league goals in his first professional season, leading Ajax to the title.”

“But there’s another superstar in Yang Yang’s path, one whom everyone looks up to: Ronaldo.”

“Between the ages of eighteen and nineteen, Ronaldo played for Eindhoven. In his first season after joining them, ‘The Phenomenon’ scored thirty goals in thirty-two league matches, instantly making him the brightest star in European Football.”

“It’s worth mentioning that everyone knows Yang Yang’s idols are Van Basten and Ronaldo. He’s now eleven goals behind Ronaldo’s record, and with ten games left in the season, it’s not an impossible dream.”

…

…

Yang Yang’s heart was pounding with excitement as he sprinted to the sidelines.

He could clearly feel his form getting better and better. Not only was his touch growing sharper and more intense, but he also had a mysterious, almost preternatural sense of everything happening on the pitch.

Like just now—he genuinely felt he could score that long-shot.

He hadn’t thought about whether it would be a worldie, or even if it would go in. He just wanted to try.

Ronald Koeman had told him before that he now had the authority to shoot at will. The team allowed him to choose his method of attack based on the situation, even if it meant taking a direct shot.

This was the special privilege of a core player!

“What a beautiful goal!”

“My God, a worldie!”

“And with his left foot, too! I seriously feel like bowing down and worshipping him!”

“That was divine!”

His teammates swarmed him, crowding around him as many of them asked what had been going through his mind.

Yang Yang couldn’t really explain it himself. So many things had flashed through his mind, and in an instant, he had decided to shoot.

“I don’t know, I just had a feeling it would go in, so I took the shot,” Yang Yang could only explain with a smile.

Maxwell was also thrilled for him. “Looks like you’re in top form. Keep it up, score one more, and our presents will be on their way!”

At his words, the rest of the team grew even more fired up.

Yang Yang, of course, said it was no problem. He had already asked Raiola to start preparing.

Walking back from the edge of the pitch, Yang Yang felt a sudden surge of mischief. He first walked over to the home team’s coaching box, high-fiving Ronald Koeman and then Luther Carroll. Then, he looked over at Van Gaal in the distance and, grinning, held up the index finger of his right hand.

…

…

“One?” Marcel Bout was completely baffled. “What does that mean?”

Even though a goal had been scored against his team, Van Gaal found he couldn’t get angry.

He had to admit, Yang Yang’s worldie was truly magnificent. The kid was improving too fast.

Shooting from over twenty meters from the goal, to pull off a worldie like that, required not just a good feel for the ball and a clean strike, but also sufficient power in the leg swing. It was a shot that absolutely showcased a player’s all-around ability.

Over the past year, Yang Yang had never attempted a shot from beyond twenty meters, but now he had just gone and done it.

On one hand, it showed his immense self-confidence. This was likely a result of his ever-increasing goal tally this season, which made him more and more sure of himself. For a professional player, this was absolutely the most valuable asset.

On the pitch, without confidence, even the strongest player could be torn to shreds.

On the other hand, Yang Yang had shown very clear improvement in his shooting, first touch, and power.

‘Too fast!’ Van Gaal muttered to himself.

Just then, the commentator at the Amsterdam Arena mentioned Cruyff, because Yang Yang’s goal had broken a ten-year curse at Ajax—no player had managed to score more than eighteen goals.

But now, he had scored his nineteenth!

“He’s not Cruyff. He’s more difficult to deal with than Cruyff!” Van Gaal said, shaking his head with a sigh.

The baffled Marcel Bout at his side asked again, seeing as he had seen Yang Yang hold up an index finger toward Van Gaal, “What did that gesture he made just now mean?”

Van Gaal’s decent mood suddenly clouded over.

“He said before the match that he would score two goals,” Van Gaal said in a low voice. “That gesture was to remind me he’s just scored the first.”

What was more infuriating was that the goal was scored with his left foot.

Van Gaal clearly remembered that for the past two years, he had repeatedly reminded Yang Yang to train his left foot. But now the kid’s wings had hardened, and he’d used that very left foot to score a worldie against the team Van Gaal was coaching.

The famous Dutch coach now felt the frustration of having shot himself in the foot.

But who was he?

The eccentric and untamable Van Gaal!

So, he immediately redirected all his anger onto his own players, roaring at them from the sidelines.

‘Useless! A bunch of you can’t even stop an eighteen-year-old kid!’

…

…

Though seething, Van Gaal quickly adjusted his team’s defense.

After the kickoff, Alkmaar continued with their steady defensive-counterattack tactic. Their focus was still on containing Yang Yang on the right wing. Especially after the warning shot of that worldie, the Alkmaar players became even more focused, not daring to give Yang Yang an inch of space.

Yang Yang wasn’t in a hurry either. With a one-goal lead, he patiently looked for another opportunity.

But in the thirty-eighth minute of the match, Alkmaar suddenly launched a counterattack. De Jong committed a foul on the right, giving the opposition a set-piece opportunity in their attacking half.

When Alkmaar took the free kick, the ball was sent directly into the box.

The 1.87-meter-tall center-forward, Nelis, outjumped Heitinga and headed the ball at the goal from close range!

The Dutch center-forward, who wore his hair in long braids similar to Gullit’s, hadn’t been in Van Gaal’s favor this season. Rumors were widespread that he would leave Alkmaar at the end of the season, and Van Gaal would look for another powerful, tall center-forward with good ball-holding skills.

Nelis’s performance had been inconsistent, and he had scored very few goals. But unexpectedly, at this critical moment, he dealt a fatal blow to Ajax. This not only saved Alkmaar but also improved his own chances of staying with the team.

The Ajax players, on the other hand, were frustrated by the conceded goal.

Defending against high balls had always been Ajax’s Achilles’ heel. Heitinga had also just returned from injury. When Alkmaar took the free kick, they were clearly targeting Heitinga, and Nelis used his superior physical strength to dominate him.

“It’s okay. Let’s push hard, give it a final rush before the first half ends,” Yang Yang said, comforting Heitinga.

If the first half ended one-all, Ajax’s morale would inevitably be affected.

So, no matter what, they had to take the initiative and attack in the next few minutes.

Weren’t there statistics on this?

The ten minutes after a goal is scored are a peak period for conceding or scoring again.

Yang Yang’s proposal quickly received unanimous approval from his teammates.

Back at the center circle, Yang Yang and Charisteas prepared for the kickoff. The referee was urging the celebrating Alkmaar players to return to their positions so the game could restart.

“I’ll get on the ball more on the right. You pull out of the box to receive it, then I’ll make a run into the channel and cut into the box,” Yang Yang said.

Charisteas nodded. “I’ll block the center-back for you.”

“Okay.”

…

…

The match restarted.

After Ajax kicked off, Charisteas and Yang Yang quickly launched an attack on the Alkmaar defense.

The visiting team, their morale high after equalizing, all fell back to defend, waiting for a chance to counter.

A tightened Alkmaar defense was no pushover, and Yang Yang found it hard to immediately find an opportunity.

It wasn’t until the forty-third minute of the first half that Yang Yang, dropping back again, received a pass from Maicon.

After receiving the ball, Yang Yang once again cut inside quickly, drawing the attention of several Alkmaar midfielders and defenders. But this time, he didn’t try to go it alone. Instead, he quickly passed the ball to Sneijder.

At that moment, Charisteas also quickly dropped back from the edge of the box, proactively closing the distance to Sneijder.

After receiving Yang Yang’s pass, Sneijder, without a second thought, instinctively sent it forward, delivering it precisely to the feet of Charisteas. The Greek striker used his body to shield the ball from the Alkmaar center-back before nudging it sideways with his right foot.

The ball rolled slowly into the gap between the Alkmaar center-back and the left-back, De Klerk.

The two Alkmaar defenders reacted instantly, but just as they were about to chase it down and clear it, a figure flashed before their eyes. With explosive speed, he got to the ball first and took a long stride forward.

In that instant, a collective gasp went through the entire Amsterdam Arena.

De Klerk desperately tried to catch up, but he was always a step too slow, forced to watch as the player in the white Ajax number 11 jersey burst into the penalty area with the ball.

“Yang Yang!”

“Yang Yang dribbles straight into the box, he’s one-on-one with the keeper!”

“No one is marking him, Yang Yang shoots directly!”

“It’s in!!!!!!”

“GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!”

“In the forty-third minute, Yang Yang, to the right of the penalty spot, strikes it with his right foot, and the ball goes straight into the bottom-right corner of the goal.”

“Ajax retakes the lead, two to one!”

“Yang Yang looks to be in outstanding form in this match, scoring a brace.”

“Especially with that worldie earlier, you can see he’s really fired up.”

“Although Alkmaar marked him tightly, they ultimately couldn’t stop Yang Yang. De Klerk’s speed was no match for his, and he could only watch as Yang Yang broke into the box and scored on the one-on-one.”