Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 454: 454. I Asked You to Score

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”Koke.”

”Lance, what’s wrong?”

”Tell me, I just want to win the sextuple, why is it so hard? It was clearly within reach!”

In the locker room, Koke stared at Lance with wide eyes, checking to see if he was joking. It would be one thing if he were just talking about the La Liga or Champions League titles, but what does a sextuple even mean? In over 100 years of professional football, there has only ever been one sextuple winner.

Koke didn’t even have the energy to complain about Lance.

But Lance wasn’t trying to humblebrag. He truly felt that a higher power, be it God, Heaven, or the Creator, was clearly messing with him. He’d already won the treble, so surely the sextuple wasn’t far off? Lance really thought it would all be easy.

But then, Griezmann and Torres both left the team, followed immediately by a crisis at the start of the season.

At halftime, it was Sevilla 2-0 Atlético Madrid.

That’s right. 2-0. Yet another game where they were trailing.

”Could it be that I have a ’playing from behind’ buff?”

One or two comeback games might be exciting, but always trailing is just ridiculous, isn’t it? Fate might not be tired of arranging this, but I’m tired of playing it. Who the hell wants to play from behind if they can play with the lead?

While Lance was doubting himself, commentators Jian Jun and Instructor Zhang in the live broadcast room were reviewing the first half with the audience. LeSports had spent a fortune to acquire the online broadcasting rights for the 2016 UEFA Super Cup and the 2016 Spanish Super Cup. The broadcast had at least 100 million views, surpassing the 2015 League of Legends S5 World Championship. More people were watching Lance strive for the UEFA Super Cup than had watched SKT’s Lee Sang-hyeok win the championship.

However, what everyone got instead was another nerve-wracking match.

Jian Jun gave a helpless smile: ”Instructor Zhang, what do you think was the main problem for Atlético in the first half?”

”Hehehe.” Instructor Zhang began with his classic chuckle. ”This Atlético side, well, their ability to seize opportunities simply isn’t as good as... Sevilla’s. With two key players like Griezmann and Torres gone, the chemistry in the frontline has taken a huge hit. The two newcomers can’t keep up with Lance’s thinking for now. Take this play, for example.”

Replays of several Atlético attacks from the first half appeared on the screen.

”Look, although Lance is positioned as a forward, he’s playing more like a midfielder. Several of his passes were of masterclass quality. Unfortunately, his teammates couldn’t get on the end of them.”

Whether it was ángel Correa or the new teammates Gaitán and Gameiro, none of them could grasp Lance’s sense of opportunity. They were always half a beat slow to start; they only moved after Lance’s pass arrived. How could they possibly catch up?

”Indeed, with the major adjustments to Atlético’s frontline in less than a month, it’s hard to build chemistry. So, what should Atlético do if they want to turn things around today?”

Instructor Zhang smiled: ”They might as well just be more direct. Just loft the ball into the box, play it behind the defense. Put Lance at the tip of the spear and just trust his individual ability.”

”Alright, the second half is about to begin. Let’s head back to the field and see if Lance can continue to perform miracles in the second half...”

Jian Jun encouraged the fans with his high-spirited commentary.

”Oh? We see that right at the start of the second half, Atlético is the first to make a substitution!”

As expected, Simeone couldn’t sit still. The newcomer Gameiro, after a poor performance, was substituted off, and the one coming on is the defensive midfielder Saúl.

”Lance, just charge forward. We’ve got your back.”

”Alright, I’m counting on you guys.”

Lance nodded.

Beep!

The second half begins.

Lance only has 45 minutes left. If they can’t turn it around after 45 minutes, the dream of the sextuple will be completely shattered.

Lance had a rough time in the first half. According to the tactics, he had to do everything in the midfield. Saúl’s introduction finally liberated Lance. Standing in the advanced forward position, he only needed to wait for the ball.

Lance felt as if he had returned to his first year at Bayer Leverkusen, when he made a name for himself in the Bundesliga relying solely on the [Nagi Seishiro] template. Now, with Saúl, Koke, and Gabi behind him, and Gaitán and Correa assisting on the wings.

Atlético’s second-half tactics were simple; in Simeone’s words: ”I don’t care what situation you’re facing, I have only one requirement: pass the ball into the box! Don’t worry about how hard it is for your teammate to receive it, just pass! As for how to receive it, Lance will figure that out himself! Do you understand?!”

Loud and clear!

Atlético suddenly found that this seemingly nonsensical football tactic was actually easier to play. Just like in the NBA. Pass the damn ball to Michael Jordan, and let Jordan handle the rest.

The Sevilla fans were very excited at first, leading Atlético 2-0 from the start. Could it be that the Champions League winners, last season’s European treble winners, were actually weaker than the Europa League winners?

Barcelona fans had already started acting arrogant on Twitter.

”I told you, the real hero of the Champions League title was Griezmann! He’s the hidden true king!”

”Without Griezmann, he’s nothing.”

”Now you finally know how important Griezmann was, right?”

These extreme Barcelona fans weren’t afraid of their own history being rewritten. If you opened their profiles and looked at their comments and posts from last season, they were mostly bashing Griezmann, saying he’d be useless without Lance. Yet it was the same group of people, who, less than six months later, were praising Griezmann to the skies.

That’s just the state of the internet these days.

Under this kind of public opinion, even the Catalan media began to write. In the press box, a reporter from Mundo Deportivo had already taken out his laptop to draft an article.

”Exposing Football’s Biggest Scam: The Fake Hero Lance! Atlético’s Real Hero Behind the Scenes Was Actually Him!”

”Only now can we finally speak the truth. The reason Atlético won the treble last season, the person truly hidden behind it all, the real core who led Atlético’s rise, wasn’t him, but the Frenchman Griezmann!”

”In this UEFA Super Cup, Sevilla’s X-X victory over Atlético is enough to prove my conclusion. Let’s combine a tactical review of this match to expose the media’s deification and reveal the truth...”

The Catalan reporter couldn’t even be bothered to watch the game for the moment. Inspiration had struck, and his hands flew across the keyboard. He hadn’t filled in the specific score yet, but Sevilla was bound to win anyway. When the time came, he’d just need to plug in the final score, and it would be a perfect press release.

The Catalan reporter had a strong premonition that his article was definitely going to go viral. Then, Barcelona’s new signing Griezmann would be the hero, and that infuriating rival who had defeated Messi time and again would finally be seen for what he truly was.

Just as he was passionately pounding away at the keyboard, a massive cheer suddenly erupted from the stadium.

”Heh heh, Sevilla must have scored again, right? Their forward line is on fire today, two goals from four shots!”

”Let me see, facing a massive 3-0 deficit and without Griezmann, can Lance still... wait!”

It wasn’t until the Catalan reporter looked up that he was left stunned.

On the field, Atlético suddenly launched a direct attack! From the midfield, Koke unexpectedly lofted a ball into the box! Two Sevilla defenders double-teamed Lance.

However, as the ball descended, Lance leaned against one defender, and deftly flicked the ball with his left foot around the other center-back, immediately followed by an astonishing piece of footwork.

”My God, is that breakdancing?”

Lance actually supported himself with one hand, using a move similar to a one-handed Thomas flare in breakdancing, his feet suspended beautifully in mid-air.

And then!

Bang!

Against such a sudden and magnificent strike, the Sevilla goalkeeper had no reaction at all.

”Goooooooal!!!”

”LAAAAAANCE!!!”

The stadium DJ was British, and even his voice cracking couldn’t hide his excitement.

”Lance really is a man of miracles! With a brilliant world-class goal in the second half, he’s helped Atlético Madrid pull one back!”

Jian Jun even jumped up. ”Lance! That ball is in! An overhead kick, with the power to move mountains! Beautiful! Simply magnificent! They should have played like this from the start!”

Instructor Zhang, an elderly man, almost had his heart give out watching the game in the middle of the night. But even at the risk of his health, Instructor Zhang didn’t regret commentating on Lance’s match.

”Holy crap, God Lance!”

”!!!”

”OHHHH!”

”What a freaking goal!!”

”It has to be my God Lance!”

Chinese netizens were also excited. Everyone stayed up late to watch Lance’s game, and the first half was so frustrating; Atlético played like garbage. It wasn’t until they changed their tactics and put Lance up front, that Lance was finally given a stage to perform.

It’s in the bag! Now that Lance has scored, can the next goal be far behind?

2-1!

Although Atlético is still trailing and might not win the title, their counterattack has already begun.