Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 40: 40. Son Heung-min feels inferior

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Zhan Jun’s admiration for Lance only grew with each passing moment!

Young, talented players usually possess great drive.

They are fast, technically excellent, and have a superb sense of positioning and poaching.

But they also have weaknesses: they can be emotional, prone to individual heroism, and sometimes thoughtlessly charge ahead.

If a typical young player were frequently fouled and bullied by opposing defenders, he would definitely pick a fight or shoot wildly, completely losing his composure.

Lance was different.

His mentality was unlike that of a 16-year-old; he was more like a seasoned veteran who had endured countless battles.

His game reading and judgment of the situation were overly precise.

Facing Salif Sané’s physical advantage, Lance did indeed suffer a few times.

But Lance quickly figured out his opponent’s characteristics.

He calmly juggled the ball outside the box to draw the opponent into a collision, then, at the last possible second, he executed a backheel nutmeg, even using the opponent’s momentum to complete a turn!

His subsequent curved shot was even more composed, curling a high-quality shot through a dense crowd into the dead corner!

”Let’s look at the slow-motion replay again; Lance took the ball without any panic, completing the shot calmly in an extremely short amount of time!”

”He’s simply a big-hearted player!”

Zhan Jun watched, holding his breath for Lance.

The moment he turned in the box, it was packed with people.

Hannover’s defenders were all rushing to block the shot.

Even a world-class striker might not be able to get a shot off within 0.5 seconds there.

Lance had already prepared to shoot the instant he completed his turn and found the only path to score through the gaps between the players.

In a word, too strong!

The impact was almost tangible, shaking every fan in the live stream through the screen!

”Holy cow!!”

”God Lance!!”

”That’s amazing!!!”

”Huh???”

”He scored that?”

The live stream comment section instantly flooded with thousands of messages!

Fans who had stumbled in or been pulled in by friends to watch the match were completely hyped!

Explosive!

...

This time, Lance was experienced; immediately after scoring, he ran to the Bayer Leverkusen Ultras South Stand.

Before his teammates arrived, he did a handstand side flip followed by a backflip.

After his stylish show-off, he landed with his back to the camera, thumbs pointing to the number and name on his back!

”Allow me to introduce myself to the world again! Remember my name!”

”Lu Xiao!”

Number 39 — Lance

Any fan who saw this goal on television would remember this name forever!

...

In the stands, a bearded man looked solemn and quickly pulled out his phone.

All around him were overly excited Bayer Leverkusen fans, wildly singing with black and red scarves raised high.

The excited fans, whether strangers or not, were hugging each other in celebration.

The bearded white middle-aged man finally managed to squeeze out of the crowd and went to a relatively quiet area inside the stadium to make a call.

”We have a problem. I’ll update a new report later...”

”Hmm, our previous research on him wasn’t enough. Relying solely on physicality, it might be very difficult to defend against him.”

”I know, I’ll continue to observe. If he really plays in the next round, he might become a game-changer.”

...

Bayern Munich, coaching office.

It was already dark.

Pep Guardiola still hadn’t left work; having just finished, he leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh of relief.

An email notification sounded, and the bald man casually clicked it open, sitting upright again.

He quickly turned on the TV to watch the Bayer Leverkusen vs. Hannover 96 match.

He had originally planned to wait for the recording and analyze the match frame by frame with his coaching staff.

Now, Guardiola just wanted to understand his opponent immediately, especially the rising young star, Bayer Leverkusen’s ”Oriental Prodigy,” Lance.

”I want to see what all the fuss is about!”

Next round, Bayern Munich vs. Bayer Leverkusen.

Guardiola, who was determined to build a Bayern dynasty and had achieved the treble this season, did not want to stumble here.

...

”In the 66th minute of the second half, Bayer Leverkusen still temporarily leads 1-0.”

”Lance’s stunning goal in the first half helped the team break the deadlock.”

”After that, facing Hannover’s defensive wall, Bayer Leverkusen temporarily has no good solution.”

”First, look at this goal! Lance!!”

”The referee blew his whistle; Lance has already been fouled for the 7th time in the match... Hannover is really targeting him today.”

Zhan Jun was worried for Lance.

Hannover’s actions were getting rougher; since normal physical contests were easily avoided by Lance, the infuriated defenders directly slide tackled.

Even if Lance’s ball control was amazing and he could dribble past anyone, either the man or the ball had to be left behind!

”Are you okay, Lance?!”

”Lance!! Are you alright?!”

”You dirty pigs!!”

Captain Simon Rolfes and Son Heung-min both came over to check on Lance.

Defensive midfielder Lars Bender simply went up and argued with the opposing defensive midfielder who committed the foul.

The team doctor quickly entered the field to check, making Sascha Lewandowski stand up abruptly, extremely nervous.

”Don’t worry, he’s fine. This kid is very clever, don’t be nervous.”

”I think you’re the one who’s nervous, aren’t you?”

Sascha gave his partner a helpless glance.

Sami Hyypi? was so flustered he couldn’t even unscrew the cap of a water bottle.

”Lance is so young, please don’t...”

So many young talents have burst onto the football scene, aside from some who were ruined by nightclubs and lack of discipline due to their professional ethics.

Most of the rest were plagued by injuries, ultimately falling like shooting stars.

Injuries are definitely a huge mountain in front of professional players!

Lance lay on his back on the grass, momentarily a bit dazed.

To avoid the tackle, Lance had jumped up at the last second, was knocked flying in the air, and landed quite hard.

The team doctor nervously checked him for a moment, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

”It’s okay, he’s fine, only his shin guard was scraped.”

”Lance, can you hear me?”

”Yes, I’m fine.”

Lance gradually recovered, was helped up by the team doctor, and tried to move his ankle; it seemed to be fine.

Seeing this, fans in front of their televisions also breathed a sigh of relief.

Facing fierce tackles from the opponent, a physically slender young player is too easily injured.

If it were anyone else, the opponent might not be so excessive.

It was simply that Lance was too threatening, forcing Hannover’s players to resort to such extreme measures.

Otherwise, no one could truly contain him.

They simply couldn’t handle him!

Lance getting up caused the entire Bayer Leverkusen stand to rise, applauding thunderously.

Even Son Heung-min, seeing such a display, couldn’t help but feel a bit sour and jealous.

”Siba, when I get tackled, why does no one care?”

As fellow East Asian players with black hair and yellow skin, Lance’s status was soaring; he had already become a hot commodity in the eyes of fans and a darling of the home stadium through his perfect performance.

”Aigo—”

Son Heung-min sighed deeply.

If he continued to play a few more matches, Lance would definitely become the most popular star due to his outstanding looks and miraculous performances.

His popularity already surpassed many within the team.

Son Heung-min felt ashamed of his inferiority.

However, looking at it from another perspective, with such a strong teammate, perhaps Bayer Leverkusen would be more competitive this season?

Everything depended on the next round, the tough match against Bayern Munich!

...

To protect Lance, Sascha simply substituted him.

Ultimately, thanks to his sole goal of the match, Bayer Leverkusen defeated Hannover 1-0 at home, achieving 4 consecutive wins across all competitions!

”Lance started today and performed excellently.”

”We might see Lance again in the Bundesliga Matchday 8 focus match, Bayer Leverkusen vs. Bayern Munich!”

”At that time, please continue to tune into the Sina Sports live stream! Zhan Jun will accompany you to watch the Bundesliga!”

Zhan Jun said so, but in reality, he knew very well.

The Sina Sports online platform would inevitably lose a large amount of traffic.

Because the next round’s Bundesliga match, Bayer Leverkusen vs. Bayern Munich, would be broadcast on CCTV5!

Lance was about to make his first appearance on CCTV5, allowing more people to witness this miracle-creating teenager!