Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 57: 57. First hat trick in career!

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”Goooooal!!! Laaaaaance—”

”Qué remate tan imposible! (What an impossible shot!)”

”Goooooooooooooolazo!! (A stunning goal!)”

On Spain’s national sports channel, the Spanish commentator was wailing, celebrating Bayer Leverkusen’s magnificent goal with a pained voice.

He had just been roaring passionately for Real Sociedad’s attack.

Antoine Griezmann’s beautiful dribble had drawn a foul, and Esteban Granero’s free-kick was a good scoring opportunity.

Who would have thought that Esteban Granero’s shot would rebound off the wall, creating a counter-attack?

Simon Rolfes immediately passed to Lance.

Lance’s elegant control and dribble instantly ignited cheers at the BayArena!

Upfront, Eren Derdiyok, Andrés Guardado, and Robbie Kruse simultaneously launched a charge, forming a 4-on-3 situation.

Lance remained calm, knowing he couldn’t hold onto the ball for too long.

He intentionally accelerated and pushed the ball forward a step, and the moment Real Sociedad’s defender stepped up, he quickly poked the ball to Andrés Guardado on the left.

Andrés Guardado’s recent form in the Bundesliga had not been good, and he no longer possessed the threat of his peak.

However, he was still a core player for the Mexican national team, and his footwork was still there, performing a step-over and an outside overtake.

Real Sociedad’s center-back Mikel González rushed up but didn’t get close, only blocking the inside to prevent Andrés Guardado from cutting in, intentionally forcing him wide.

The players from both sides had instantly arrived in the penalty area, and Andrés Guardado thought, ”Not good.” He had taken a few extra touches and hadn’t been able to pass to a teammate in time.

Now the opportunity wasn’t as good.

Real Sociedad’s defense was rapidly tracking back!

Seeing Eren Derdiyok contained, and Robbie Kruse on the other side being too far, a pass to him would be uncertain.

Andrés Guardado caught a glimpse of a black phantom rapidly approaching out of the corner of his eye.

He quickly pulled the ball back and passed it!

”Puta!!”

Center-back Mikel González cursed under his breath and quickly stretched out his leg to intercept.

The cut-back pass bounced off his foot and rebounded!

Thank goodness!

Real Sociedad’s players all breathed a sigh of relief.

Most players couldn’t handle such a rebound well; even an extra second of handling would inevitably lead to being blocked by the recovering defenders.

The vast majority of failed quick counter-attacks in the world are due to imperfect details in a brief moment, leading to failure at the last minute.

Only Antoine Griezmann felt a chill in his heart.

He knew very well that such a ball would certainly not trouble that guy!

Sure enough, Lance, facing the bouncing half-volley in front of the penalty arc, and with the opposing defensive midfielder pressing him, showed no signs of slowing down or stopping the ball; he maintained his high-speed charge, using a taekwondo-style back-spinning kick to lift his left foot and bring the ball down.

He perfectly avoided the collision from Real Sociedad’s defensive midfielder Javi Prieto, then turned from the right side, rounded him, and burst into the penalty area!

!!!

If this were a comic, at this moment, Antoine Griezmann, goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, Javi Prieto, Real Sociedad’s coach Jagoba Arrasate, Real Sociedad fans... Each person’s close-up shot would appear separately on the screen, each with the same expression, their pupils shaking violently!

How could a 16-year-old player perform such an unconventional yet elegant dribbling move in a Champions League main match?

Chinese Kung-fu confirmed!

Lance’s unexpected surge into the penalty area left the sole remaining center-back, I?igo Martínez, in a panic.

For a moment, he didn’t know whether to continue defending Eren Derdiyok or go up to block Lance.

As he hesitated slightly, Lance had already surged past the penalty spot, aimed for the far corner against the onrushing goalkeeper, and swung his leg!

”Far corner?”

Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo’s brain completely crashed.

He had never been this flustered even when facing Lionel Messi!

Lionel Messi wouldn’t use such an exaggerated way to dribble past opponents!

Claudio Bravo instinctively dived for the far corner.

Unfortunately, he guessed wrong.

”Lance!! It’s in!! He took a shot himself!!”

”The goal is in!! A powerful shot into the near corner!!”

”Lance’s Champions League debut brace! The BayArena has completely become his stage!”

The happiest were the domestic fans, and the most excited was commentator Zhan Jun.

There was nothing happier than seeing a Chinese player score in the Champions League!

After watching foreigners score for so long, today, it was finally our turn, the Chinese, to shine!

Zhan Jun completely forgot that Lance was of Belgium officially.

Just ask if he has the blood of Yan and Huang! Having one such player is already good enough, why ask for more?

”After scoring, Lance is very excited, coming to the corner flag, mimicking Bruce Lee’s signature move with a side kick.”

”Hahahaha, this kid, he’s truly young!”

The flamboyant and high-spirited image made Zhang Zhidao chuckle.

It was the first time the old man, who had been commentating on the Champions League for so long, enjoyed such treatment.

...

Lance’s celebration was, of course, pre-planned; he was confident about scoring today.

He had prepared several celebration moves before the Champions League match.

For the first goal, due to excessive excitement, he instinctively sprinted to the corner flag and performed a knee slide.

The second goal was a tribute to Bruce Lee, expressing his identity as a descendant of the dragon to the whole world!

This made the German and Spanish commentators repeatedly exclaim:

”Kung-fu! He really knows Kung-fu!”

Zlatan Ibrahimovi? knows taekwondo?

That’s nothing!

Lance’s kung fu was simply delightful to watch!

The replay showed Lance’s left-footed touch, turn, and breakthrough again and again, combining elegance and practicality!

Antoine Griezmann was practically on his knees.

If Lance had only scored the first goal, Antoine Griezmann would still have had the fighting spirit to equalize.

Lance’s second goal directly crushed Antoine Griezmann’s spirit.

He stood there completely lost, so much so that his performance for the rest of the first half was almost like sleepwalking.

Bayer Leverkusen proactively slowed the tempo, defending steadily and counter-attacking, and the two sides remained deadlocked until halftime.

With a 2-0 lead, the Bayer Leverkusen players looked relaxed.

Real Sociedad, however, were all bewildered, a stark contrast to their fighting spirit before the match.

...

”Excellent, excellent!! You guys did wonderfully!”

”Lance!! Well done!”

Walking into the locker room, Sascha Lewandowski excitedly high-fived every player in celebration.

Before the match, Sascha Lewandowski was actually very worried.

The fact that Real Sociedad could go from a relegation-threatened team to the top 4 in La Liga showed they had enough strength and resilience.

Sascha even prepared himself mentally for a potentially tough match.

Who would have thought that Lance’s two goals would easily decide the battle, giving Bayer Leverkusen a huge advantage!

After encouraging the players, Sascha also gave everyone a slight reminder:

”Be careful of their counter-attack; we need to stay stable in the back, and the full-backs should be careful not to push too far up. Keep pushing, there are still 45 minutes left! Don’t relax until the very last moment of the match!”

On the other side, Real Sociedad’s head coach was already speechless.

The tactics he had set up before the match were theoretically flawless.

He had considered that the 16-year-old Eastern prodigy might be strong.

But who knew, this monster was so outrageous!

...

In the second half, the morale of both teams remained unchanged.

Real Sociedad played very impatiently, even Antoine Griezmann lost his composure, dribbling blindly down the left flank and wasting many opportunities.

In contrast, Bayer Leverkusen played with increasing confidence, steadily and surely.

By the 71st minute, they got a chance to deliver a fatal blow!

”Rolfes!! A clean tackle!! Passed to Lars Bender!”

Lars Bender, Bayer Leverkusen’s midfield shield, also possessed some long-passing and organizational ability.

He initially intended to pass to Andrés Guardado on the left.

He looked up and saw Lance in a good position!

In the past, he might have chosen a conservative passing method.

But with Lance in such great form today, there was no reason to be conservative!

I’ll be aggressive!

Lars Bender boldly sent a ground pass over 40 meters, finding Lance in front of the penalty area!

”Showtime, Lance!”

Real Sociedad’s defensive midfielder Javi Prieto and center-back Mikel González converged from different directions.

They had been so bamboozled by Lance that they were even considering fouling him at this point.

As soon as Lance turned to receive the ball, he would surely be pulled down!

But the next moment, Lance didn’t turn at all.

He simply looked back at the passing line, facing the goal directly, and with an extreme backheel, gently flicked the ball upwards!

Utilizing the momentum of the fast-rolling ball, the football was miraculously flicked over his head!

In the brief moment that Mikel González instinctively looked up, Lance had already flashed past him on his left!

Javi Prieto, who was rushing in from the side, couldn’t stop his momentum and crashed into his own teammate, Mikel González!

Lance actually used his opponents to complete a ”pick and roll”!

”Eh hehehe!! This goal!!”

Zhang Zhidao watched with wide eyes, it was the first time he had seen someone with such clear thinking, bold yet meticulous!

”It’s in!! Lance—”

Could it be? Today?

Zhan Jun felt a faint expectation rising in his heart!

His heart was in his throat as he watched Lance burst into the penalty area, facing the despairing onrushing goalkeeper, and complete an elegant and delicate chip shot!

Under the gaze of fans around the world holding their breath, the ball sailed over the goalkeeper’s head, grazing the underside of the crossbar—

And precisely dropped into the net!!

”The goal is in!!! A hat-trick!!!”

”Lance’s first career hat-trick!! And also the youngest player to score a hat-trick in Champions League history!”

”He did it!”

The moment he scored, Lance seemed to hear a crisp notification sound.

But he couldn’t worry about that for now!

After waiting for so many matches, he finally got his first hat-trick!

The excited Lance could no longer suppress the thrill in his heart.

At this moment, he was just a 16-year-old kid!

The sunny youth in the camera passionately took off his jersey, revealing his firm muscles and healthy tanned skin.

Under the witness of fans worldwide, Lance sprinted to the nearest camera, and displayed the back of his jersey to the entire world!

”To all fans, familiar and unfamiliar, let me introduce myself again! My name is Lance!”

The image of ”No. 39 – Lance” in front of the camera would become a famous scene repeatedly replayed in future Champions League highlights!