Chapter 298: One Goal Away

「Groningen, Oosterpark Stadium.」

When the referee blew the final whistle, the Feyenoord players all raised their hands, celebrating their team’s victory.

The scoreboard clearly displayed the final score of the match: zero to two.

As is customary, the home team’s score came first, and the away team’s second.

Although Groningen was very resilient, they ultimately couldn’t withstand Feyenoord’s relentless assault.

As the team with the strongest and fiercest attack in the Eredivisie this season, Feyenoord completely controlled the game from the first minute, repeatedly threatening Groningen’s goal.

But the home team still managed to stubbornly fend off wave after wave of attacks.

In the thirty-fifth minute, the Brazilian center-back Bahia scored from a corner kick.

Afterward, the two teams were once again locked in a stalemate, and Feyenoord couldn’t find another opportunity to score.

It wasn’t until the eighty-ninth minute that Hoffs scored another for Feyenoord, sealing the two-nil victory over Groningen.

But this match had no bearing on the overall league situation.

Kuyt and Kalu both looked very relaxed. The team had won, so they were in high spirits, chatting as they walked off the pitch.

But as they approached the away team’s technical area, they both clearly sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere.

“What’s going on?” Kuyt asked, surprised.

Suddenly, an ominous feeling welled up inside him. The first name that popped into his head was Yang Yang.

“Yang Yang scored!” Gullit said bitterly.

“He scored?” Kuyt was a little surprised, but on second thought, it seemed normal.

‘So what if he scored? It’s normal for Yang Yang to score a goal.’

But Gullit’s next words sent him into a full-blown panic.

“He scored two!”

“What?” Kuyt’s face fell.

“Yang Yang scored two?” Kalu, standing beside him, was just as shocked.

This was completely unexpected.

“How is that possible?” Kalu was skeptical. ‘Could the news be wrong?’

For most of this season, Yang Yang had usually scored one goal per game. His form was steady, not marked by frequent explosive performances. Could he really have scored two goals in one match?

“It’s absolutely true. He scored one in the thirty-ninth minute and another in the sixty-second. He’s at twenty-eight goals now.”

‘Twenty-eight goals!’

Kuyt felt his head spin. It all felt so surreal.

‘He’d been too relaxed during this match!’

Yes, that was it. He had been too relaxed, letting his guard down!

Van Gaal had said that Yang Yang was the type of player who would never give up until the very last moment, but he hadn’t believed him.

Yang Yang’s rise to fame happened just last December. In the final round of the Champions League group stage, Ajax played an away game against the Belgian side, Bruges. It was seventeen-year-old Yang Yang’s debut for Ajax, and in the final few minutes, he scored three consecutive goals to help Ajax turn the tables on Bruges and advance to the knockout stage.

You could say that match indirectly paved the way for Ajax’s legendary championship win.

In UEFA’s official review of the season, that match was a hot topic of discussion for everyone.

At the time, the barely seventeen-year-old Yang Yang had left a deep impression on everyone with his incredibly tenacious fighting spirit.

And now, Yang Yang had been tempered by a Champions League final, won an Asian Cup title, and led Ajax into the UEFA Cup final as an undisputed starter. He was far more mature now than he was a year ago.

‘How could he possibly give up early?’

‘How could he allow himself to give up with two rounds still left to play?’

Kuyt realized he was wrong!

Hopelessly wrong!

He had severely underestimated Yang Yang—not just his skill, but his unyielding will to fight.

Even when he was three goals behind with only two rounds left in the league, even when everyone in the Netherlands and even all of Europe thought he had already lost the race for Top Scorer, he was still fighting his way back, bit by bit, with his hard work.

Just a one-goal difference now!

What a dangerous number!

Kuyt’s expression changed drastically, startling everyone, including Gullit.

“Dick, don’t be nervous, don’t get agitated, and don’t panic. You need to stay calm. You still have a one-goal lead,” Gullit advised.

Kuyt took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

He knew very well that he couldn’t lose his composure now. He had to seize his chances in the final round and score—and the more, the better. Only then would he be safe, would his lead be secure.

‘That Yang Yang guy is terrifying. Even though he has the UEFA Cup final midweek, given his current form, there’s no guarantee he won’t have another explosive performance in the final round. A one-goal lead isn’t safe at all.’

‘Even scoring one more goal in the final round might not be enough. He has to score as many as possible.’

‘A hat trick would be best!’

Kuyt looked up and exhaled deeply, forcing his emotions and his mind to quiet down.

“Dick, our last round is an away game against Nijmegen. This damn schedule gives us two consecutive away games at the end, which is a disadvantage. Meanwhile, Ajax will be at home against Groningen.”

Gullit paused his analysis and looked deeply at Kuyt. “You know this team isn’t easy to beat, so…”

As he spoke, Gullit himself seemed to be losing confidence.

Groningen’s performance this season had been very unstable. At first glance, their home record was terrible, but their away record was quite good.

But upon closer inspection, it was clear they had achieved a stunning three-nil victory at home against Utrecht, but also suffered a crushing zero-four home defeat to Ajax.

They had beaten Feyenoord two-one and Breda four-one on the road, but they also had a disastrous one-five loss to Roda JC and a zero-three loss to Eindhoven.

In other words, Groningen was a highly unpredictable team with no discernible pattern, their form fluctuating wildly.

How could anyone place their hopes on a team like that?

As for Nijmegen, they had already avoided relegation and were currently in thirteenth place. But this team was a classic case of being strong at home and weak on the road. Their home form was the only reason they had secured their spot in the league, as their away record was abysmal.

But at home, Nijmegen was always a very tough opponent. And unlike other teams that had fought relegation, Nijmegen’s defensive ability was well-known in the Eredivisie. Their goals-conceded count was the sixth-best in the league, surpassed only by Eindhoven, Ajax, Alkmaar, Twente, and Utrecht.

They had conceded four fewer goals than Feyenoord, which just showed how tough they were to play against.

“Don’t worry, Dick. It’s just Nijmegen, right? We broke through their defense last time, and we can definitely do it again. I’ll pass to you, I guarantee you’ll beat Yang Yang!” Kalu encouraged from the side.

In the first leg between the two sides, Feyenoord hosted Nijmegen. Kuyt opened the scoring for the team, but the opponent equalized just before halftime. Kalu then scored the winning goal in the eighty-fifth minute.

In the end, Feyenoord narrowly defeated Nijmegen two to one.

But human memory is selective. Kalu only remembered that he and Kuyt had both scored, forgetting that the victory had been extremely precarious and that they had nearly let the opponent equalize.

Gullit and the coaching staff remembered, of course, but this wasn’t the time to spoil the mood.

Anyone could see that Kuyt was a bit flustered after hearing that Yang Yang had scored a brace. The most important thing now was to give him confidence—the confidence to score against Nijmegen in the final round.

As a former legendary player himself, Gullit knew better than anyone the importance of confidence for a professional player, especially for a goal scorer like Kuyt.

If he lost his confidence, it would be like losing his most powerful weapon. He would already be at a disadvantage before the match even began.

“Eindhoven also slipped up this round. They couldn’t manage a win away at Twente, which is pretty incredible. I bet Hiddink’s team is under enormous pressure too,” Gullit sighed.

Twente’s defense was second only to Eindhoven and Ajax, even better than Alkmaar’s. Especially at home, Ajax had a very tough game in the first round, and even the powerful offense of Feyenoord was held to a nil-nil draw away from home. It just showed how difficult Twente was to break down.

Ajax’s overall performance this season had been rather average, but they were buoyed by the sudden emergence of Yang Yang, whose form just kept getting better and whose skills were improving by leaps and bounds. The kid’s goals and assists accounted for almost half of Ajax’s total output, showing just how important he was to the Eredivisie giants. And he had single-handedly kept Ajax hot on Eindhoven’s heels.

Ronald Koeman’s ability to coach an offense was indeed average, not particularly impressive, but he was a master at organizing a defense.

So, his strategy this season could basically be summarized as: focus on defense, and leave the attack to Yang Yang and Sneijder.

And somehow, this tactic had actually worked.

With one round left in the league, Eindhoven had led for most of the season, only to stumble at the final hurdle. Their morale and fighting spirit must have taken a huge blow. Unless Ajax made a fatal mistake themselves, Eindhoven’s chances of turning things around were minuscule.

Would Ajax make a mistake?

Given Ronald Koeman’s nature and Ajax’s current form, the possibility of an unforced error was very small.

If Ajax beats Groningen, will Yang Yang score?

Could he really catch up to Kuyt in the final round?

In that moment of sighing, Gullit’s mind was flooded with thoughts and questions.

But neither Kuyt nor Kalu seemed to have any interest in Ajax overtaking Eindhoven for the title. They were far more concerned about Yang Yang and the upcoming final round.

Kuyt, especially, looked somewhat anxious.

If his three-goal lead with two rounds to go had made him feel safe, even a bit complacent, then Yang Yang closing the gap by two goals in a single round while he came up empty-handed was now making him worried.

Only one round left, and only a one-goal lead.

Facing Yang Yang’s aggressive momentum, could he hold on?

Perhaps his only advantage was that he would have a full week to rest, while Yang Yang would be distracted midweek by the UEFA Cup final.