I AM the Football Star

Canyes passes back to Lu Yang.

The Paris Saint-Germain midfield focuses their attention on Lu Yang because, at this moment, Canyes can’t continue advancing; after all, he’s the right-back.

Bam!

Lu Yang bypasses stopping the ball and makes a direct overhead through pass!

Canyes accelerates instantly, shaking off the midfield player.

The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder is taken aback, damn it... are they still going at it? Aren’t they afraid of us counter-attacking?

But upon a closer look, Lu Yang has already secured the position of right-back.

At this time, Canyes is no longer the team’s right-back, but rather... the right winger!

Switching positions!

San Remo isn’t taking risks, but they are using Lu Yang’s versatility to start positional play.

Their defense remains as steady as a mountain, and Lu Yang’s defensive capability is actually much stronger than his original position.

But by using this position change, San Remo gains suddenness in their offense.

Defending against a right winger and defending against a right-back definitely feels different.

Canyes unleashes his full power, moving extremely quickly.

The Paris Saint-Germain left-back has to choose to move inside to avoid being overtaken by Canyes in one move; otherwise, if Canyes cuts inside to the flanks, the threat will be significant.

But this defense path instead gives Canyes better space to reach the bottom line.

It’s an unavoidable issue; at crucial moments, one must defend the inside rather than the bottom line.

Bam!

After reaching the bottom line, Canyes pauses briefly, observes teammates’ positions, gives them time, and then makes an expansive cross.

Talista charges aggressively into the penalty area.

Morici follows closely behind.

Fernandez also charges into the penalty area from the left.

San Remo’s attack is quite fierce.

Paris Saint-Germain’s center-back squeezes together with Talista, and although he occupies a favorable position, he has already witnessed Talista’s cunning before.

Even Lande has suffered losses facing Talista, and this center-back considers himself slightly inferior to Lande.

So he chooses a more prudent breakout method.

Bam!

He heads the ball out to the baseline.

Maybe passing to the goalkeeper could regain possession, but what if it’s an own goal?

The more critical the moment, the more mistakes must be avoided.

San Remo thus gains a corner kick opportunity.

Lu Yang runs over from midfield to participate in this corner attack.

But Bernulin, Kaint, Morici, Canyes, Camihong are all staying outside the penalty area or even near the center circle to prevent Paris Saint-Germain from counter-attacking.

Talista is being specially guarded by Lande.

Naji is being specially guarded by Stiepelman.

However, Stiepelman has gained experience from the previous successful header, acquiring a method to defend against Lu Yang.

Conveniently, Lu Yang stands at the front line, allowing Stiepelman to choose whether to defend Lu Yang or Naji based on the situation.

A super central forward at this moment is essentially an excellent center-back, incredibly useful.

Morici stands in the corner area, contemplating how to take this kick.

Without a doubt, his primary target is Lu Yang.

It only depends on how Lu Yang plans to maneuver.

But through their rich tacit understanding, Morici realizes that Lu Yang doesn’t intend to move.

This is... standing still?

The front line?

Could it be... a bicycle kick?

Morici understands.

Soon, the main referee blows the whistle, signaling that the ball can be kicked.

Bam!

Morici sends the corner kick.

As soon as it’s out, everyone can tell, it’s aimed at the front line!

The football’s curvature isn’t high, requiring only the players to slightly jump.

Even players like Stiepelman, Naji, Lande, being tall, can manage to attack or break out just by standing on tiptoe.

This height...

Indeed, Morici clearly sees Lu Yang’s body slightly lean backward.

But quickly his smile freezes on the corner of his mouth.

Because Stiepelman directly abandons Naji behind him, moves forward a step, and leans against Lu Yang.

A bicycle kick requires leaning back; how can you hook it up without leaning back?

Lu Yang collides with Stiepelman, unintentionally on his part, while Stiepelman does so intentionally, naturally giving Lu Yang a greater counterforce.

But Lu Yang has no time to ease up; he suddenly exerts force with both feet, forcibly stabilizing himself, then adjusts his rhythm slightly, squatting slightly.

He’s about to jump!

If a bicycle kick isn’t possible, then he’ll strike with a header directly.

Heading from the front line still has a chance to score.

But then, Lu Yang feels a weight on his back.

Stiepelman presses onto him, leveraging his weight to suppress Lu Yang’s jump.

Just like when Stiepelman previously overpowered Lu Yang to score with a header, it’s almost identical.

This is his wisdom in defending Lu Yang.

Height and weight!

Tall players can move in before shorter players jump, taking advantage of their squatting stage.

Firstly, using body weight presses down the opponent, making it difficult for them to jump.

Secondly, occupying the opponent’s vertical ascent space effectively blocks the opponent’s jump.

The second point is widely used in basketball, where shorter players face the biggest issue of opponents preemptively occupying their air space, losing the opportunity to jump, unless they have strong backs and can lean back.

Stiepelman’s defensive inspiration comes from Naji’s targeting of his head, occupying the space at the endpoint of his head movement, causing him to miss many good scoring opportunities.

One payback for another.

Naji planted the seed that Lu Yang had to accept.

But Lu Yang... won’t give up!

”Ah!”

Lu Yang starts to roar, attempting to explode all his strength.

Stiepelman also feels Lu Yang’s exertion, consciously continuing to press down, even... placing a hand on Lu Yang’s shoulder.