Super Wingstorm

Emboldened by his success, Yang Yang began to repeatedly create dangerous opportunities on the right flank.

Whenever he got the ball on the right, he would instantly make a decision. If he saw an opening, he’d charge forward and use his dribbling skills to create a threat. If not, he’d send a cross into the box. As a last resort, he would pass back to a teammate to reset the play.

With Yang Yang’s tactical adjustment, Ajax’s frontline attack became incredibly fierce. The right flank completely transformed into the launchpad for Ajax’s offense. Both Kroen and Maduro frequently sent the ball to the right side, entrusting it to Yang Yang.

This was also largely in line with Van Basten’s strategy: Yang Yang would create threats from the right to draw the defenders’ attention, while Babel on the left and Fred Benson in the center pushed forward to attack. Kroen and Maduro would then provide a second wave of attack.

In the thirty-eighth minute, Yang Yang once again dropped back on the right flank to receive the ball. After creating some distance from the defending Reo Ramos, he spotted an opportunity. With his right foot, he quickly launched a long, diagonal pass over the opposing backline and into the penalty area.

Fred Benson made a swift run from deep, caught up to the ball, and passed it horizontally to the left. Babel followed up and tapped it in for a goal.

Three-nil.

Ajax’s tide-like offense had once again breached the Vitesse B Team’s goal.

And on the pitch, no one was more excited than Babel.

Having scored a brace in this match, he could finally hold his head high and restore everyone’s confidence in him as the team’s top player.

However, the Dutch prodigy of Surinamese descent seemed to hold a deep prejudice against Yang Yang. While celebrating with his teammates after the goal, he intentionally or unintentionally ignored Yang Yang. For his part, Yang Yang had no interest in forcing the interaction, and so the two avoided contact.

The first half ended with a three-nil lead. In the locker room, Van Basten lavished praise on the players’ performance and encouraged everyone to keep up the good work in the second half. This time, he once again singled out Yang Yang for special mention.

”In the second half, our offense will continue to focus on the right flank. Their left-back, Reo Ramos, is clearly struggling. We need to press our advantage and completely crush them.”

As Yang Yang nodded in agreement, the image of Reo Ramos surfaced in his mind. ’What an unlucky guy,’ he thought.

But that’s just how professional soccer is. The strong always rise by stepping on the shoulders of the weak.

’If I don’t want to end up like Reo Ramos someday, a stepping stone for someone else, then I have to become stronger.’

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After switching sides for the second half, Ajax maintained their offensive pressure on Vitesse.

Yang Yang remained highly active on the right wing, either dribbling past defenders to disrupt their formation or seizing opportunities to send crosses into the box and create chaos.

It was even becoming obvious that Yang Yang on the right flank and Kroen in the center were interacting frequently. Their rhythm was in sync, and their coordination was remarkably smooth, which greatly surprised Van Basten and the fans on the sidelines.

This was only Yang Yang’s second match since joining the team. To be able to perform like this was truly a pleasant surprise.

Soon, the Vitesse B Team made a substitution. They brought on a center-back for a forward, switching to a five-man defensive line with three center-backs. This meant Yang Yang on the right often had to face two defenders at once, and his dynamic performance was somewhat contained.

But Yang Yang still worked hard to find openings and create threats.

In the sixty-first minute, it was Yang Yang again. He used a Pendulum Move on the right wing to shake off a defender and quickly crossed the ball into the box. Fred Benson got to it first, but his shot was blocked out of bounds by a defender’s body.

Ajax won a corner kick.

But just as Kroen was heading toward the corner flag to take it, as was his right, Yang Yang suddenly stopped him.

”Let me give this one a try,” Yang Yang said eagerly.

The Ajax Second Team had taken several corner kicks during the match, but none were particularly effective. After all, neither Babel nor Fred Benson up front was good at headers or getting into scoring positions. The only real aerial threat was Lindegren from the defense.

With such a lineup, their corner kick attacks were easily neutralized by the opposition, yielding little result.

”You want to take it?” Kroen asked, surprised.

”Never have before. I want to give it a shot,” Yang Yang said with a smile.

He had indeed never taken a corner kick, but he had been diligently practicing his Beckham-style crossing. Plus, his crosses during this match had been very effective, so he really wanted to give it a try.

Kroen had a good impression of Yang Yang. After a moment’s thought, he finally nodded and agreed.

Still, he first glanced toward the sideline to ask for Head Coach Van Basten’s opinion, who also gave the go-ahead.

Ajax was already leading by three goals, and this corner kick was earned by one of Yang Yang’s crosses. Letting him try was fine. Besides, he had already told Demuer to warm up, preparing to substitute Yang Yang out soon.

”Letting him try is fine,” Van Basten said. He was also curious to see how well Yang Yang would take it.

”As long as he doesn’t kick it straight out of bounds,” Witzig chuckled.

But Van Schip had a different opinion. ”I actually think he’ll be able to get the ball into the box.”

But it was obvious none of them thought Yang Yang could take a good corner kick. After all, this was his first time.

Corner kicks and crosses have many similarities, but there are also some differences.

For Yang Yang to volunteer to take a corner kick for the first time without any coaching, as long as the result wasn’t too ridiculous, it would be acceptable.

On the pitch, Yang Yang couldn’t guess what the coaches were thinking. His request to take the corner was a spur-of-the-moment decision to test himself. After getting Van Basten’s approval, he quickly ran to the corner.

It was a corner from the left side. Yang Yang, looking the part, placed the ball inside the arc by the corner flag just like anyone else. He then slowly backed away, parallel to the goal line, carefully observing the positions of the ball and the goal.

He noticed an interesting detail: a linesman was also positioned right on the goal line, watching. He was clearly there to see if the ball would curve out of bounds during its flight.

’This must be one of the differences between a corner kick and a regular cross,’ he thought.

Yang Yang wasn’t entirely confident about kicking a curving ball. If it actually flew completely out of bounds, it would be a huge embarrassment. So, he quickly decided to use the same technique as a long cross.

While Yang Yang was contemplating, inside the penalty area, Thomas Vermaelen saw that Yang Yang was the one taking the kick, and his heart skipped a beat. ’Isn’t this the routine we’ve been practicing every day?’

The only difference was that they had always practiced it with crosses. This time, it was a corner kick.

With this in mind, Vermaelen swapped places with Maduro, positioning himself behind the penalty spot.

As soon as the Belgian center-back was in position, he looked at Yang Yang, confident that his roommate would understand his intention.

Yang Yang did indeed understand implicitly. Guessing his teammate’s plan, he took three steps back, raised his right hand, and held up one index finger.

From a distance, Vermaelen nodded, acknowledging the signal.

Soon, at the referee’s whistle, Yang Yang took a deep breath. He approached the ball with a familiar rhythm and familiar steps. He planted his left foot at a forty-five-degree angle to the ball and swung his right foot through with lightning speed.

The crowd heard a loud THWACK as the ball shot off the instep of Yang Yang’s right foot. It traced a high arc before rapidly dipping down toward the far post.

Chaos erupted in the box. The defenders had no idea where the kick was going. By the time they read the ball’s trajectory, they saw an Ajax player had already dashed out from the back, leaped high in front of the right post, and met the descending ball with a powerful header.

Vermaelen watched the ball fly closer and closer. Although it was Yang Yang’s first time taking a corner, he had steadily delivered the ball to the exact area they had agreed upon, allowing Vermaelen to charge in and challenge for the header.

The ball solidly met Vermaelen’s forehead, changed direction, and smashed into the Vitesse B Team’s goal.

”AHHHHHH!”

The whole stadium erupted in cheers.

After landing, Vermaelen threw his hands in the air, shouting in celebration. He excitedly ran out of the penalty area, sprinted all the way to Yang Yang, and slid to his knees before him at the corner flag in a gesture of worship.

He was just too excited!

This was his very first goal for Ajax.

As a center-back, he knew better than anyone how difficult it was to score. Yet, he had only played two matches, and he already had a goal. How could he not be ecstatic?

The referee’s whistle confirming the goal sent all the fans in the stadium into another round of cheers.

Yang Yang was also incredibly excited. He dropped to his knees in front of Vermaelen, and they embraced tightly.

This was the fruit of their recent training and the chemistry they had built. Vermaelen’s run had fooled everyone.

The Belgian center-back’s ability to anticipate the ball’s path and his outstanding heading ability were on full display in that goal.

The Ajax teammates crowded around them. Kroen, in particular, gave Yang Yang a light punch on the arm and complained with a hint of playful jealousy, ”Hey, are you trying to steal my job as the corner kick taker now?”

But soon after, the Danish midfielder pulled both Yang Yang and Vermaelen into a tight hug, one arm around each.

They were all young players in the prime of their youth. No one would take something like that too seriously.

For the young players of Ajax, at this moment, the most important thing was winning. Victory.

Van Basten and his two assistants watched with faces full of shock. Even Van Schip, who had the most faith in Yang Yang, hadn’t expected his very first corner kick to result in an assist.

”So, tell me, should we praise Vermaelen for his great positioning, or praise Yang for the quality of his corner?” Witzig asked with a wry smile.

Van Basten and Van Schip looked at each other and both burst out laughing.

It didn’t matter who they praised. As long as Ajax scored, everything was good.

Amid the frenzied celebration, Van Basten made a substitution.

In the last match, he had given Yang Yang thirty minutes. This time, he was giving Demuer thirty minutes in turn.

This had all been decided before the match. The main consideration was that Yang Yang was only sixteen. Although he needed match experience to develop, too many games and too much fatigue weren’t good for him.

But Demuer’s mood as he took the field was nothing like Yang Yang’s had been. He knew very well that with Yang Yang’s performances getting better and better with each game, the starting spot for the right winger position was slipping further and further away from him.