Super Wingstorm

”We won! We won!! We won!!!”

The moment the referee blew the final whistle, every player from the Ajax Second Team, both on and off the pitch, erupted in a frenzy of cheers.

The players on the bench all stormed the field, while the midfielders and defenders rushed toward the front.

Yang Yang, completely spent, lay on the grass, a feeling of light-headed weakness washing over him as if he were floating on a cloud.

’So this is what makes football so captivating,’ he suddenly realized. ’This is the very thing I’ve been relentlessly pursuing.’

Constantly challenging your limits, constantly breaking through your own barriers.

’There can’t be anything more moving than this in the whole world.’

”Hey, you, playing dead?” Vermaelen appeared above him with a grin.

”I can’t... Let me lie here for a bit.” Yang Yang waved his hand weakly. He was just too tired.

That final sprint had completely drained the last ounce of strength from his body. At that moment, he had even doubted if he could make it to the goal. Fortunately, he had. But looking back, he still felt a lingering fear.

But that was precisely why the feeling was so incredible.

There’s nothing sweeter than surviving by the skin of your teeth.

”Nope, can’t do that. We’re not letting you off the hook,” Vermaelen said with a laugh, extending his left hand.

”Give me a break,” Yang Yang said with a wry smile.

”I said no. Get up, quickly.”

Seeing Yang Yang stubbornly refusing to get up from the grass, Vermaelen got serious. ”Everyone, get over here and haul him up!”

The group erupted in laughter. Some grabbed his arms, others his legs, and they actually started to lift him. A terrified Yang Yang immediately begged for mercy, insisting he could walk on his own. He barely managed to escape the clutches of these pranksters.

Seeing Yang Yang standing, his legs trembling uncontrollably from exhaustion, everyone felt a genuine sense of admiration.

On the football pitch, strength is revered. Yang Yang might not have been the strongest player on the team, but his determination and fighting spirit were enough to leave everyone else in the dust.

And in this match, if Yang Yang hadn’t pushed on until the very end, they never would have walked away with a two-nil away victory.

***

***

On the sideline, Van Basten watched with a smile as the players swarmed Yang Yang and Vermaelen, laughing and joking as they celebrated the hard-fought victory. Then his gaze fell upon Babel, who stood beside him with a somewhat dejected look, and an idea sparked in his mind.

”Sometimes, whether it’s on the pitch or in the locker room, status and influence are things you have to fight for yourself. You earn them, bit by bit, on the field and in your daily life. They don’t just fall from the sky.”

These heartfelt and earnest words were clearly Van Basten’s advice for Babel.

Both the coaching staff and the club’s management had high hopes for Babel, but the young player seemed to be falling short of those expectations. A significant reason for this was his personality and determination.

A team is a unit, made up of twenty-odd individuals, each with their own thoughts and agendas. Even if the coaching staff repeatedly entrusted Babel with important responsibilities, would the other players be convinced if he didn’t deliver a corresponding performance and show accountability?

Yang Yang, on the other hand, was usually low-key and rarely spoke much within the team. But he was always the last to leave the training ground, trained the hardest, and his skills improved the fastest. Through one match after another, and through his performance in daily training, he had made everyone see him in a completely new light.

Even his direct competitor, Demuer, was standing there in the crowd on the field.

Yang Yang undoubtedly possessed a strong mentality. He knew exactly what he wanted and was willing to work for it. He even knew his fundamentals were lacking and was willing to discipline himself for long periods, dedicating himself to the kind of extremely tedious basic training.

Even now, he still persisted with this mind-numbingly dull, almost masochistic, basic training every single day.

This brought about a change in him that was difficult to perceive.

Even Van Basten, as the head coach of the Second Team, found it hard to notice this change. Only at certain moments would he suddenly realize that Yang had, imperceptibly, improved yet again.

It was like watching a child. He was growing by an imperceptible amount every day, something his parents would hardly notice. Only one day, when his clothes became too short and his shoes too small, would they suddenly realize he had grown up again.

”It’s been almost three months since he joined Ajax, hasn’t it?” Van Basten asked, turning his head to the side.

”Yes,” John van Schip nodded. ”Time flies. Three months have passed in the blink of an eye. The kid learns everything quickly, his progress is so obvious, he’s willing to put in the hard work, and he has such determination. It really makes you excited for his future.”

As coaches, they couldn’t wish for anything more than for their players to succeed. For them, it was also a matter of great honor.

”He’s a smart kid. His academic performance has always been top-notch. A kid like that has a limitless future,” Van Basten stated decisively.

Many people think football is played with the body and with technique. In reality, while both are important, the most crucial element is the mind. That is a professional player’s most valuable treasure.

Ajax had always been well aware of this, which was why the club placed great importance on academics. However, many players didn’t seem to share this awareness. A lot of them would drop out of school at fifteen or sixteen to play football full-time and earn money—a very short-sighted move.

But Yang Yang was clearly different. Whether in the classroom or on the football pitch, his results were impressive.

Just then, Yang Yang and Vermaelen, surrounded by their teammates, slowly made their way toward the sideline.

Van Basten laughed heartily and went to meet them. He opened his arms to Yang Yang, and ignoring his own suit and the fact that Yang Yang was drenched in sweat, he pulled him into a powerful hug.

”I’m proud of you, Yang,” Van Basten said forcefully.

The words left Yang Yang feeling both flattered and deeply moved.

During his three months with the Ajax Second Team, Van Basten had given him a great deal of guidance and help, both publicly and privately. Yang Yang was also deeply impressed by the Dutch legend’s character and how he treated people.

At this moment, he felt proud to have earned Van Basten’s approval.

***

***

Ajax Second Team Advances to the Dutch Cup Round of 16!

The news hit like a bombshell in the Netherlands, quickly capturing the attention of the entire country and even the wider world of European Football. The reason was simple: everyone knew this was the first season for the first team independently managed by the legendary Dutch superstar, Van Basten.

Emerging from the first knockout round of eighty teams wasn’t particularly remarkable. But advancing from forty teams to reach the third round was no easy feat. In that third round, the Ajax Second Team was the only reserve squad left.

But now, Van Basten’s team had actually defeated Demboch, the leaders of the Eerste Divisie, in the third knockout round to reach the Round of 16. This was an exceptionally difficult achievement.

After all, Demboch had eliminated the Eredivisie team Zwolle in the second round, proving that this Eerste Divisie team was on par with Eredivisie-level squads. For Van Basten to lead a reserve team this far, his record could only be described as brilliant.

With the conclusion of the third knockout round, ten teams emerged from ten matches. They, along with six major Eredivisie powerhouses like Ajax and Eindhoven, would make up the sixteen teams for the next draw.

Many in the media were even eagerly anticipating a matchup between Ronald Koeman’s Ajax and Van Basten’s Ajax Second Team, which would surely be a titanic struggle.

Since the third round of the Dutch Cup wasn’t televised and the match itself didn’t have a huge impact, it attracted little media attention. There were very few photos, so most media reports consisted of text, perhaps accompanied by a picture of Van Basten.

But in all the written reports, a new name appeared for the first time: Number 21, Yang Yang.

A single player had turned the tide in the final moments of the match, saving the Ajax Second Team. With one goal and one assist, he helped Ajax Second Team secure an away victory. This young Ajax player was beginning to attract the attention of many professionals.

That very evening, on Amsterdam’s famous radio show, Football Online, the host Aaron Moye dedicated an entire episode to reporting on the match and on Yang Yang. He felt immensely proud of his own judgment from a few months ago.

On the show, Aaron Moye even declared that Yang Yang was becoming a rising star at Ajax.

”According to my sources, with the first team underperforming and seriously lacking players on the right wing, the question of whether to promote him is already a hot topic on Ronald Koeman’s desk.”

Having just joined Ajax from Almere a few months ago, he quickly established himself in the Second Team with outstanding performances and now seemed on the verge of joining the first team. Aaron Moye remarked that Yang Yang, who had just turned seventeen in October, was ascending like a rocket at a speed that no one could stop.

This episode also brought Yang Yang to the attention of Ajax fans in the Amsterdam area. Everyone had noticed this unfamiliar name on the radio and in the newspapers.

Would he become the hope for Ajax’s right wing?

No one knew, but everyone was eager to find out.

However, the Ajax organization seemed to be intentionally keeping things low-key. They gave no feedback to the outside world and even rejected a request from a local media outlet to interview Yang Yang.

Van Basten later told Yang Yang that this was a joint decision made by him and Van Gaal. They both felt it was not yet appropriate to expose Yang Yang to the public too early. After all, he had just turned seventeen, was still in school, and needed to focus on improving in an undisturbed environment rather than becoming an early media darling, which would do him no good.

Yang Yang deeply agreed with this and willingly accepted their decision.

For Yang Yang, the media reports had no impact on his life whatsoever. Aside from his name, not even a photo of him had been published. He could walk down the street and no one would recognize him.

The only change was that some classmates or students who had heard of him would come up and ask for his autograph when he arrived at school each morning. But the most terrifying thing was when female classmates invited him to private parties. This left Yang Yang completely flustered.

’So, should I go, or not?’

This was, apparently, a very serious question.