Super Wingstorm

December 20th, Enschede, Netherlands. Twente’s home ground, Herols Castle Stadium.

"It’s a goal!"

"Twente’s tall center-forward, Brice Nkufu, has scored the second goal of the match, completing his brace."

"The assist came from Adil Rami. The Ajax backline has given Nkuffo far too many opportunities in this match."

"Neither Heitinga nor Escude has been able to handle the high balls; they’re at a clear disadvantage. Koman needs to take this seriously, or else Ajax will have a hard time leaving Herols Castle Stadium with a result tonight."

"Two-nil! Twente extends their lead in the sixtieth minute."

...

"Koman is about to make a substitution."

"We can see the young Chinese player, Yang Yang, once again standing on the sideline. This should be Ajax’s second substitution of the match. The first was in the fifty-first minute when Koman brought on Ibrahimovic for Yakubu."

"It looks like Koman wants to take off the right winger, Victor Skora."

"The Ajax right winger didn’t have a great performance after starting the match. In the first half, Koman played him on the left, clearly hoping he and Wesley Sonck could pressure the Twente defense together, but the effect was minimal."

"After Ibrahimovic came on, Scola was moved to the right wing. Koman was obviously hoping he could be more of a threat on the right, but judging by his ten-odd minutes of play there, the results have not been ideal."

"Koman clearly can’t sit still any longer. Down by two goals, he has to bring out his most dangerous secret weapon as soon as possible."

"And there it is. Yang Yang replaces Scola. This is a like-for-like substitution."

"Twente should pay close attention to this number ninety-nine, the young Ajax player. He’s had some impressive performances coming off the bench in the last three games. Koman bringing him on as a substitute again clearly shows he’s hoping to use Yang Yang’s explosive runs and dribbling ability on the wing to tear open Twente’s defense."

"After the last Dutch Cup match against Breda, Koman jokingly said that Yang Yang was his ’golden substitute,’ his ’best twelfth man.’ But we’ll have to see if this golden substitute can surprise Koman again tonight."

"In the past three games, he came on around the seventy-fifth minute, but tonight it’s only the sixty-fourth. Including stoppage time, there are about thirty minutes left. Let’s wait and see what happens."

...

"As expected, Ajax is focusing their attack down the right flank, where Yang Yang is."

"The ball goes to Yang Yang, and Twente’s left-back, Jerome Helbeck, goes in with a vicious slide tackle."

"Oof, Yang Yang is taken down."

"The Ajax players are furious. The captain, Van der Vaart, is appealing to the referee. That was a very malicious foul."

"That was indeed a vicious tackle from Helbeck. Yang Yang had already passed the ball, but he didn’t pull back his foot. This was clearly an attempt to intimidate him, to teach Yang Yang a lesson."

"The youngster, just turned seventeen, is on the ground, and his Ajax teammates are standing up for him."

"But the referee doesn’t seem convinced, only giving Helbeck a yellow card."

"Yang Yang looks okay, but hopefully he won’t be intimidated by Helbeck."

"Let’s see this set piece for Ajax from the front. Sneijder takes it... sends it to the near post... Sunk couldn’t get a clean header on it."

...

"The clock hits seventy minutes, and in the few minutes since Yang Yang came on, we haven’t seen much of an impact from him."

"Although he hasn’t made any mistakes when receiving or handling the ball, he hasn’t been as dazzling as in the previous three matches."

"You can tell Twente has clearly started to defend against Yang Yang. That vicious foul from Helbeck earlier was likely a strong warning. Let’s just hope Yang Yang isn’t intimidated by it."

"Koman looks very anxious on the sidelines. Time is running out for Ajax."

"Ajax is making another substitution."

"There are fifteen minutes left in the match, but Koman has clearly lost his patience."

"This time, he’s bringing on Litmanen for the left-back, Maxwell."

"They’re switching to a three-man backline. Litmanen is coming on to play in the midfield."

...

"Escude wins the ball in the backfield and passes it to Litmanen."

"Let’s see Ajax’s counter-attack here."

"A pass to Van der Vaart... Ibrahimovic drops back to receive it... and plays it in behind..."

"Yang Yang is incredibly fast! He’s shaken off Helbeck and quickly runs onto the ball."

"The linesman’s flag stays down, he’s onside! This is a great ball."

"It’s a three-on-two in the final third! Let’s see how Ajax handles this."

"Yang Yang drives forward quickly down the right wing and sends a cross into the middle..."

"Van der Vaart... another pass..."

"Sunk!"

"It’s a goal!!!!"

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"

"Ajax completes an incredibly swift counter-attack!"

"On the right wing, Yang Yang fully utilized his speed advantage, carrying the ball all the way to the edge of Twente’s box. He drew in a center-back before suddenly making a square pass. Van der Vaart played a diagonal ball to the left channel, and Sunk easily followed up with a tap-in to score."

"That was a razor-sharp counter-attack from Ajax."

"One to two! Ajax successfully pulls one back."

"Although the young substitute Yang Yang didn’t get the assist, his role in that goal was very clear. His dribbling speed is incredible."

"Of course, the through ball from Ibrahimovic was perfectly weighted, too. The two of them seem to have excellent chemistry."

"I hear they’re neighbors and also the best of friends on the Ajax Team."

...

"They’re looking to play it to the right wing again, but the intent of the pass was too obvious."

"Twente intercepts, and Ajax quickly tracks back to defend."

"After Yang Yang came on, Ajax has clearly been trying to use the right wing as their point of attack."

"Twente is now increasing their interceptions and pressure in the midfield, especially in the center. Litmanen, Sneijder, and Van der Vaart are all finding it difficult to hold onto the ball. Ajax’s forward passing lanes are all being tightly marked by their opponents."

"Koman is signaling for the team to drop back a bit, to create space up front."

"Up front, both Yang Yang and Sunk are players who need space. Pressing the opponent too high up the pitch is actually not very beneficial for Ajax’s attack. It’s better to draw the opponent out."

...

"Another interception by Ajax."

"De Jong passes to Sneijder, who then passes to Yang Yang."

"Yang Yang receives the ball in space and takes on Helbeck directly... a beautiful Pendulum Move..."

"A very brilliant and clean piece of skill to get past his man."

"Yang Yang is dribbling down the right wing, another Ajax counter-attack."

"Let’s see what Ajax will do this time."

"A Twente center-back comes over to defend..."

"Yang Yang uses his speed to force his way through and puts in a cross..."

"That cross was a bit forced. The Goalkeeper comes out and punches the ball away."

"But the ball doesn’t travel far! Ibrahimovic follows up and hits it with a direct volley!"

"It hits a defender..."

"Wesley Sonck gets to the ball and passes it to Yang Yang..."

"Let’s see if Yang Yang has a chance here..."

"He cuts past Helbeck... Yang Yang takes the shot..."

"It’s a goal!!!!!"

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"

"In the eighty-third minute, Ajax scores their second goal of the match, successfully equalizing the score!"

"The seventeen-year-old Chinese youngster, Yang Yang, has scored the very first professional goal of his career!"

"This was a sudden opportunity. No one expected Wesley Sonck to pass up the shot himself and instead lay it off for Yang Yang. Not only was the defender, Helbeck, caught off guard, even Yang Yang himself seemed stunned. But he almost instinctively cut the ball past Helbeck and slotted it home with his right foot."

"Because he was so close to the goal, the Goalkeeper was powerless to stop it."

"We can see Yang Yang can hardly believe it after scoring. He’s standing there with no celebration, but his teammates quickly pile on top of him. No one expected him to score a goal in only his second Eredivisie match."

"On the sidelines, coach Koman also looks incredibly excited. Yang Yang’s goal is clearly a pleasant surprise, but it also gives him some relief. Because in their match, Eindhoven still hasn’t scored yet, which means Ajax’s lead at the top of the table remains at four points."

"We’ve just received the latest statistics."

"To all our viewers at home, congratulations. You are fortunate enough to witness the birth of a brand new record."

"Ajax’s seventeen-year-old Chinese youngster, Yang Yang, has scored his first career goal. At seventeen years and fifty-six days old, this makes him the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Eredivisie."

"Let’s congratulate Yang Yang, our new youngest goalscorer in Eredivisie history."

"Although this goal came somewhat suddenly, and one might even say it was lucky, Yang Yang’s reaction in the moment, especially that cut to get past Helbeck, showed real skill."

"Interestingly, before Yang Yang, the youngest goalscorer in Eredivisie history was actually from Twente. Their young player, Collins John, started in an away match against Nijmegen on September 14th and scored in the seventeenth minute, setting the new record for the youngest goalscorer in the Eredivisie."

"At the time, Collins John’s age was seventeen years and three hundred and thirty-two days, but now Yang Yang has smashed that record, lowering it to seventeen years and fifty-six days. This will make it much more difficult for any future players hoping to surpass it."

"Here, let’s once again congratulate Yang Yang on scoring his first career league goal and, at the same time, becoming the youngest goalscorer in Eredivisie history."

"Let’s also congratulate Ajax, and congratulate Koman, for discovering such a young and promising star."

"We have every reason to believe that, based on Yang Yang’s performance in the last four matches and Ajax’s outstanding ability to develop players, Yang Yang has a very exciting future ahead of him."

...

"We see that even though Ajax has tied the score, they are still pressing hard after the restart. They are clearly not satisfied with just an away draw."

"We’re seeing an Ajax team with a strong desire to win."

"The home team, Twente, has been forced to fall back and defend, but they’re still facing dangerous situations in front of their goal."

...