After signing with AC Milan, I will be the king of football!

Chapter 2281: Chapter 582: The Portuguese Witchcraft Counterattack

World-class goal!!!

Robben just scored a world-class goal with one strike.

The excited Robben rushed to the sideline, clearly wanting to give Huang Kaiwen a little scare.

When the two were still a short distance apart, he suddenly fell into a slide-knee celebration.

But the pitch was obviously pretty dry today; as soon as Robben’s knees hit the ground his body rolled forward once, ending up kneeling perfectly right in front of Huang Kaiwen.

For this kind of accident,

the Netherlands fans responded with applause.

Anyway, since Huang Kaiwen took over the Netherlands team, things have been better than in the first match.

Falling behind against Denmark and then leading tournament favorites Germany—this is already a qualitative leap.

Even though the Netherlands aren’t playing in a way that really satisfies them today,

after living through that last‑second equalizer against Denmark, the Netherlands fans have collectively lowered their expectations.

Fuck it, the National Team was literally having parties with club legends and players’ wives, gossip blowing up everywhere—things are that messy and the players can still play well enough to lead Germany, that’s already good; what more ”beautiful football” are you expecting?

People’s expectations always adjust to the environment.

Huang Kaiwen pulled the slightly embarrassed Robben up, wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pumped his fist toward the stands.

Instantly he got a roar of wild cheers in return.

Compared to Italy fans, Netherlands fans are still a bit weaker.

But in terms of figures they’re clearly more outstanding.

As they waved and shouted, surging waves kept rising and falling.

Under the cheerleader effect it all looked pretty great.

”There’s still a lot of time left in the match.”

Beckenbauer said, ”Remember? That time you got a penalty in the first minute.”

He was talking about that World Cup final.

And the one who earned and converted the penalty was Cruyff himself.

Cruyff smiled and said, ”Yeah, there’s still a lot of time left in the match.”

His words were tough, but he was more or less worried.

Cruyff doesn’t just understand tactics; he was also a successful coach.

Even though the Netherlands team is leading, the overall situation isn’t good.

A lot of problems have been exposed on the pitch.

The youngster Williams can’t even stop Müller, who’s awkwardly playing on the right—his defensive ability really isn’t up to it.

Gomes and Schweinsteiger are both in excellent form, creating several dangerous chances.

Hummels has been average defensively, but his attacking today has been great, pushing up repeatedly and playing balls in behind. Being able to assist like that and still get back into position is already pretty impressive, reminds him of peak Puyol.

The Netherlands team’s only true strong point is Robben, but whenever Lahm comes over to cover, he really gives Robben no face at all, turning Bayern’s core teammate’s dribbles into gifted possession.

He’s a bit worried the German team will switch fullbacks specifically to target Robben.

Just looking at the names on paper, Germany are stronger than the Netherlands team.

Up front the Netherlands team might have a slight edge, but they’re completely behind in midfield and defense.

And in modern football the most important thing is the midfield; big tournaments are all about defense.

That’s why Cruyff is worried.

Seen from this angle, Huang Kaiwen choosing a defense-and-counter style is actually pretty appropriate.

But he’s really afraid these Netherlands defenders won’t be able to hold.

A simple comparison and you can see it: those German defenders all have the level to join Barca; these Netherlands guys, even if he recommended them, Barca still wouldn’t take them.

The goalkeeper situation is even more obvious: Neuer is a perfect fit for Barca. If he hadn’t gone back to Germany to play for Bayern, Cruyff would’ve recommended him to Barca long ago.

The Germans kicked off again and immediately launched an offensive.

”Huntelaar’s pressing has been excellent today. As a starter he feels like a better choice than van Persie. His status in the Premier League is more stable than van Persie’s at AC Milan, and in the qualifiers he scored more goals than van Persie as well.”

”Yeah, and the main thing is Huntelaar’s positive attitude. Today he’s completely treating himself like a forward defender, and the Thiago Silva type who can pass—tactically that helps a lot.”

Löw frowned as he watched the pitch.

The Netherlands team’s intention to compress space is very obvious.

They’ve already conceded some territory, but they’re dead set on locking down the thirty meters in front of the box.

The German team keeps trying to pass their way forward, but they simply can’t connect.

De Jong and Van Bommel, that brawler pairing, are very good at tracking their men, and with shit‑stirrer Kuyt added in, they’ve turned Germany’s attacks into scattered fragments.

Löw glanced over at the Netherlands bench.

Didn’t expect Huang Kaiwen to really have some tricks.

He’s already realized the Dutch are using a chain defense, but he genuinely doesn’t have a great solution.

Germany don’t really have many strong dribblers on the wings right now. If you asked him to pull out a Ronaldo plus Quaresma combo to break them down from a point, he just can’t.

Dominating the run of play but unable to score made him even more anxious.

Löw straight up stuck his index finger in his mouth; the slightly salty taste and springy texture gave him a sudden sense of peace.

Schweinsteiger lifted a chipped pass; Gomes, under Van Bommel’s harassment, failed to bring the ball down, and Heitinga simply hoofed it clear.

The referee blew the whistle for half-time.

Löw turned and headed straight for the dressing room.

He needed to come up with something to completely change this situation.

The German players went back to the dressing room one by one.

Seeing Reus—now that was a decent option.

Reus’s dribbling ability is quite outstanding.

But Löw thought again: whatever he can see, Huang Kaiwen can definitely see too.

He had to give Huang Kaiwen some surprises.

At that moment his eyes moved to Schweinsteiger. Back then Schweinsteiger started out playing wide; with a two-way wide man like that, he’d surely have a better impact.