Super Wingstorm

”Let’s watch this Ajax attack.”

”A long pass from the backfield, finding Ibrahimovic up front.”

”The Swedish Striker has excellent physical qualities. A great first touch, and he distributes it to the left to Wesley Sonck.”

”Sonck probes on the left wing, but there’s no opening. He has to pass back to a teammate behind him.”

”Arsenal are tracking back very quickly. The Gunners are clearly wary of Ajax’s counter-attack.”

”The ball is passed to the center, to Sneijder...”

...

When the team counter-attacked, Yang Yang immediately moved closer to Ibrahimovic. He knew the Swedish Striker would win the ball and pass it out, so he needed to be there to receive it.

But the Gunners were consciously trying to sever the connection between him and Ibrahimovic. Campbell couldn’t beat Ibrahimovic in the aerial duel, but he managed to block the passing lane to the right, forcing the Swedish Striker to distribute it to Wesley Sonck on the left.

After a few passes, Ajax’s counter-attack fizzled out, but Arsenal’s defensive transition was incredibly timely.

By the time the ball came back to Sneijder’s feet, Arsenal had already set up their defensive line. Even the forward, Pires, had dropped back into his own half, ready to help defend in the midfield and backline.

Sneijder received the ball in the center of the pitch and tried passing to Maxwell on the left. The Brazil left-back couldn’t find an opening and had to pass back to Escude on the defensive line. The ball then went to Heitinga before returning to Sneijder in the midfield.

Meanwhile, Edu started to push forward, putting pressure on Sneijder.

Yang Yang was positioned on the right side of the arc at the top of the penalty area. Seeing Edu move to press, he immediately dropped back and raised his left hand, calling for the ball.

Sneijder was anxiously looking for an outlet, hesitating whether to pass backward. Suddenly, he saw Yang Yang dropping back and noticed his raised left hand, and he understood immediately.

Yang Yang dropping back with his left hand raised—didn’t that mean he wanted Sneijder to pass the ball to the right wing?

This attacking pattern was exactly the same as Yang Yang’s reverse dummy run against Eindhoven.

So, the Ajax midfielder, almost without a second thought, sent a diagonal pass toward the flank.

At almost the exact same moment, Yang Yang came to a sudden stop, shaking off Kerri who had been sticking to him like glue. He then sprinted toward the right wing, getting to the ball a step ahead and immediately facing the direction of the attack.

But Kerri was also incredibly fast. Although he was a step behind, he quickly caught up and got on Yang Yang’s inside.

Not only that, but Pires, who was tracking back, was also right behind Yang Yang, clearly intending to double-team him with Kerri.

Using God’s Vision, Yang Yang had been monitoring every player’s movement on the field, especially Pires. So, as soon as the France midfielder started to track back, he immediately chose to dribble quickly down the right wing.

Kerri was in hot pursuit, sticking tight to Yang Yang’s left side, his speed no less impressive than Yang Yang’s.

Given their positioning, Yang Yang had absolutely no chance to cut inside. And if he wanted to cross from the byline, Kerri would definitely stick a foot out to intercept. The chances of success were low; at best he’d win a throw-in, but he might also just run the ball out of play.

What was worse, Pires was right on his tail. The moment he stopped, he would be trapped in a double-team.

’What do I do?’

Yang Yang had no time to think about it. He could only rely on his instincts, and his first thought was, ’What would Ronaldo do in this situation?’

From [Ronaldo’s Foray], Yang Yang had learned many of Ronaldo’s techniques. He also regularly watched tapes of Ronaldo’s matches, studying and emulating his idol’s style from his peak.

’If it were Ronaldo, what would he choose?’

Yang Yang made his decision in an instant. He used God’s Vision to watch Pires. Suddenly, he stuck out his left leg, shielding the ball from Kerri and preventing him from making a tackle. He then came to an abrupt stop and, with his right heel, flicked the rolling ball behind him toward the center.

At that moment, Pires was stepping forward with his left foot. Caught off guard, he couldn’t get a foot out in time to block the pass and could only watch the ball slide past him. After the backheel, Yang Yang quickly turned, using his arm to shield the ball from Kerri, and accelerated to chase it down, poking it forward gently just before Pires could reach it.

The whole sequence seemed complex, but it all happened in the blink of an eye.

All the fans in the stadium were worried that Yang Yang was about to be trapped by two players. But then, unexpectedly, after a sudden stop, he burst right through the defensive gap between Kerri and Pires.

Not only did he get through, but he brought the ball with him.

In an instant, a collective gasp erupted throughout the Amsterdam Arena.

As Yang Yang hit his stride, he left both Pires and Kerri behind, charging directly toward the penalty area with the ball.

But by now, Arsenal’s captain, Vieira, had already dropped back into the box, providing cover for his two teammates. He too hadn’t expected Yang Yang to actually get the ball through. Surprised, he had missed his chance to press and could only hold his position inside the box.

Yang Yang dribbled into the penalty area, his eyes fixed on Vieira.

He had two choices now. One was to go to the byline and cross. He was right-footed, so this was his ideal option, but Vieira would surely anticipate that. The second option was not to go to the byline, but that would mean using his left foot.

In that moment, he was extremely grateful to Van Gaal. It was because of the latter’s constant reminders that he had been diligently training his left foot for the past six months, never daring to slack off.

’Now is the time to unleash the threat of my left foot!’

Yang Yang quickly charged into the box. Vieira realized he couldn’t retreat any further and proactively moved in to challenge him.

The moment they were about to engage, Yang Yang suddenly dropped his right shoulder and knocked the ball toward the byline with his right foot, feinting as if he was going to cross.

The Arsenal captain reacted just as expected. Not only him, but everyone in the box simultaneously lunged toward the goalmouth.

But no one expected Yang Yang to suddenly shift his body, cut the ball back, and completely wrong-foot Vieira.

”Pendulum Move!!!!!!” the commentator cried out in astonishment.

In that same instant, Vieira realized he’d been duped, but it was too late to stop him.

After shaking off Vieira, Yang Yang met the ball with the inside of his left foot, curling a cross into the box.

While everyone else was rushing forward, Ibrahimovic had already noticed Yang Yang’s left hand. This was the silent understanding they had developed in training. It meant that Yang Yang wouldn’t go to the byline, because the towering Campbell was positioned at the near post. A cross from there would either have no chance or be intercepted by Campbell.

Therefore, as the Swedish Striker feinted a run forward, he suddenly stopped and ran back. The cross from Yang Yang’s left foot arrived perfectly in front of him. Unmarked, the Swede leaped high and powered a header at goal from close range.

The ball met Ibrahimovic’s forehead and flew into the Arsenal goal.

The Germany Goalkeeper, Lehman, was screened by Campbell and didn’t see the sudden shot at all. By the time he realized what had happened, the ball was already in the back of the net.

The Swedish Striker lost his balance upon landing, but he quickly used his hands to break his fall on the grass, scrambled back up, and ran toward Yang Yang on the right, his mouth wide open in unrestrained laughter.

A brace!

Could anything have made Ibrahimovic more excited than this?

He had been desperate to score for days but just couldn’t find the net. But tonight, he had scored two, and right in front of Wenger, the man he resented. It was just too satisfying!

The Swedish Striker scooped Yang Yang right up into his arms, loudly complaining nonstop, ”That was a terrible pass! You were obviously aiming for a ground pass, but you sent it to my head instead! Good thing I was quick enough to react and adjust, otherwise how would that have gone in? You need to go back and practice with that damned left foot of yours, haha...”

”Get lost, I was aiming for your head the whole time,” Yang Yang laughed and retorted.

”Yeah, right. Keep making stuff up. Why would you aim for my head? Don’t you know how bad my heading is? A bad pass is a bad pass, stop making excuses. How are you supposed to improve if you don’t admit your mistakes?”

”Oh, shut up! If you think it was so bad, give the ball back!”

”It’s in the net. Go get it yourself.”

With that, the Swedish Striker roared with laughter and sprinted toward the away team’s technical area. He hadn’t forgotten his plan: after scoring, he absolutely had to go show off in front of Wenger, celebrating wildly to make the Arsenal manager see what a foolish decision he’d made by passing on him.

Watching Ibrahimovic’s retreating figure, Yang Yang chuckled and cursed good-naturedly, ”What a guy. He’ll happily eat the food from your bowl, then curse your mother the second he puts it down.”

In reality, the Swedish Striker was just all talk. If he truly thought Yang Yang’s pass was terrible, he wouldn’t have run over to celebrate with him first. It was just his ’I’m the best in the world’ personality. Getting him to admit the goal was thanks to Yang Yang’s contribution was unthinkable.

At the very least, he would never admit it out loud.

Yang Yang knew his personality all too well. After shaking his head with a helpless laugh, he turned around, only to see Vieira staring at him with a dark expression. The ferocity in his eyes made Yang Yang’s blood run a little cold.

Clearly, the Arsenal captain was a tough character, and now he was pissed off.

Yang Yang’s Pendulum Move had made a complete fool of him. He had to bear some responsibility for the conceded goal, and naturally, he placed the blame squarely on Yang Yang.

”You better watch yourself,” Vieira growled as he walked past Yang Yang on his way back.

Yang Yang just gave a nonchalant smile. If he were afraid of Vieira, he wouldn’t have taken him on one-on-one and beaten him just now.

Earlier, Vieira had deliberately kicked him, almost forcing him out of the game. This little move was simply Yang Yang’s payback.

As for the France defensive midfielder’s threat, who knew if he was just bluffing?

Just as Ibrahimovic was running to the edge of the away team’s technical area to celebrate his goal, Ronald Koeman on the sideline finally made a substitution decision.

Ajax decided to substitute number ninety-nine, Yang Yang. But the player coming on wasn’t the already-prepared Victor Skora; it was the center-back, Vermaelen.

It was obvious. Ajax was switching to a three-center-back formation—or rather, a five-man backline—to play a defensive counter-attacking strategy.

At that moment, the entire Amsterdam Arena erupted in a sky full of applause and cheers.

Over fifty thousand fans chanted Yang Yang’s name in unison, giving him a hero’s send-off as he walked off the pitch.