Super Wingstorm

Amsterdam Arena!

Yang Yang sat on the substitute bench, his heart pounding with excitement as he listened to the deafening roar of the fans in the stands.

He would never forget the awe he felt when John Reep led the entire team through this magnificent, spectacular holy hall of football. It was one of the driving forces that continually spurred him to work hard and improve.

Six months ago, he had desperately yearned to set foot on this pitch. Tonight, his chance had finally come.

Their opponent for this match was Utrecht, currently ranked eighth in the Eredivisie, a well-balanced team in both offense and defense.

Due to the tough midweek battle against Belgium Bruges, Ronald Koeman had made adjustments to the team’s starting lineup.

Robbent was still the starting goalkeeper. The backline was a combination of Maxwell, Escude, Heitinga, and Talabesi. The Tunisian right-back, starting for the second consecutive match, had put in a very stable performance, inspiring confidence on the right flank.

The midfield was still the trio of Van der Vaart, De Jong, and Sneijder. Up front, Oubadaie was on the right wing, Wesley Sonck was in the center, and Mitja played as the left winger.

But this Ajax attacking combination clearly lacked the ability to break down defenses. They struggled to create any real threats against Utrecht’s backline, and Wesley Sonck was left isolated and helpless up front, unable to make an impact.

Left winger Mitja was completely ineffective all game, continuing his recent slump. Head coach Ronald Koeman finally lost his patience and substituted him off directly at halftime.

Being taken off at halftime was a clear sign of Koeman’s disappointment in Mitja.

The player who came on as a substitute was the tall striker, Ibrahimovic. After scoring the clutch winner against Bruges, the Swede had shown everyone his value on the front line—a contribution that went far beyond just scoring goals.

And this time, his appearance on the pitch did indeed change the flow of the game.

But Ajax was still missing that final touch to score a goal.

Utrecht’s 4-4-2 formation was very balanced. Playing away from home, they focused on defense, making it difficult for the home team’s attack to create threats. Up front, Ibrahimovic and Wesley Sonck were in dire need of service from their teammates.

In the sixtieth minute, Utrecht’s head coach, Foeke Booy, made his first substitution of the match, bringing on left winger Joost Broerse. He was clearly looking to hit Ajax with counter-attacks in the space behind their defense.

Talabesi and Maxwell pushed up the flanks aggressively, but the two center-backs’ ability to defend against high balls was rather average. Booy was clearly trying to exploit this to launch counter-attacks.

Sure enough, after the substitution, Ajax dominated possession and held the initiative, but Utrecht began to capitalize on a few opportunities to counter-attack, creating some threats of their own. This put Ajax in an increasingly passive position.

The full-backs wanted to push up to attack but were afraid of being caught out behind them. If they didn’t push up, the offense lacked support from the wings.

Time ticked away amidst this hesitation, and Yang Yang continued to wait silently for his chance.

His attention was focused primarily on Utrecht’s left-back, Etienne Xu.

His name made it clear that he was of mixed Chinese descent. But other than his name and his complexion, there were no other visible Chinese traits about him. Even his hair wasn’t pure black, and he certainly couldn’t speak any Chinese.

He was Utrecht’s left-back, but he was right-footed.

He was 1.83 meters tall, not particularly strong, and not fast, but his defensive abilities were decent. His positioning on several defensive plays was very good. However, his attacking ability was rather average, though his 45-degree crosses were not bad.

In a one-on-one on the wing, Yang Yang was confident he could beat his opponent.

It was worth noting that Utrecht’s left center-back, Bosca Bosschat, was left-footed, while the right center-back, Sander Koeler, was right-footed. Neither was particularly tall, both standing around 1.85 meters. In terms of physical confrontation, they had absolutely no advantage against Ibrahimovic. This was a weakness Ajax could exploit.

Unfortunately, Ajax was struggling to get the ball in from the wings to Ibrahimovic’s feet, which meant they couldn’t fully utilize the Swedish striker’s tactical role up front.

Yang Yang silently observed the match, occasionally discussing the changing situation with Vermaelen, who was sitting next to him.

The Belgian center-back had also made the squad list for this match, but whether he would get to play as a substitute was anyone’s guess.

The match soon passed the seventy-minute mark, but the situation on the pitch remained unchanged.

Ronald Koeman finally couldn’t hold back any longer and decided to make another move.

Luther Carroll quickly turned and came to the front of the bench, pointing at Yang Yang. "Yang, you have three minutes. Go warm up, quickly."

Although Yang Yang had been mentally prepared, he still felt a surge of excitement. He stood up from his seat, took off his long-sleeved training shirt, handed it to Vermaelen beside him, and then gave the Belgian center-back a deliberate hug.

"Do well out there. Go for it!" Vermaelen was very envious but still offered his friend a sincere congratulations.

...

...

"Look, he’s about to go on!"

Somewhere in the stands of the Amsterdam Arena, Wei Zheng leaped to his feet when he saw Luther Carroll tell Yang Yang to go warm up, pointing at Yang Yang on the sidelines and shouting loudly.

His older brother, Wei Zhen, sitting next to him, immediately yelled to the nearby cameraman, "Quick, get a shot of that."

Shen Ming and his family of three were also sitting nearby. They had all gotten into the stadium with tickets from Yang Yang, and their expressions were also filled with excitement.

Just three days after his debut in the UEFA Champions League, Yang Yang was about to make his debut in the Eredivisie.

Unlike last time, which was far away in Belgium, this time it was right on their doorstep.

"He’s going on. I hope he has a good performance," Shen Ming said nervously.

His cousin, Shen Yuzhu, was also extremely concerned. She knew that Wei Zheng’s brother, Wei Zhen, was a director for the sports channel of the country’s most authoritative National Television station. He had come to the Netherlands specifically to report on Yang Yang, so she naturally hoped her cousin would put on an excellent performance.

Yang Yang warmed up on the sidelines, completely unaffected by any off-field factors. He even seemed unfazed by the applause from the many fans in the stadium, simply focusing on his warm-up.

Soon, he returned to the front of the coach’s box, spoke with head coach Ronald Koeman, and then went to the sideline.

In the seventy-fifth minute, during a stop in play, Yang Yang came on as a substitute, replacing Oubadaie.

When the stadium announcer reported the substitution, the entire crowd once again erupted in fervent applause.

All the fans remembered that three days ago, in Belgium Bruges, it was Yang Yang’s appearance in the final minutes that broke the deadlock, saved Ajax, and helped the team miraculously advance from the group stage.

This time, they were also hoping Yang Yang could continue his brilliant performance from the last match.

...

...

After hugging Oubadaie on the sideline, Yang Yang quickly ran onto the pitch.

He saw Van der Vaart, Sneijder, Ibrahimovic, and Wesley Sonck all giving him knowing glances. He nodded, understanding, signaling that he would give it his all.

Taking another deep breath, Yang Yang focused his gaze on Etienne Xu in front of him.

Utrecht’s left-back had already received a yellow card in the fifty-fifth minute. Having played for seventy-five minutes, his stamina as a full-back should be considerably drained. Yang Yang could go all out without holding back.

The match restarted, and Yang Yang soon got an opportunity with the ball on the right wing.

After receiving a pass from Sneijder, Yang Yang took the ball and faced Etienne Xu directly. He suddenly accelerated, attempting to use the Pendulum Move to cut inside and break through, but Etienne Xu defended steadily, giving Yang Yang no opening and forcing him to shield the ball.

But just then, Yang Yang suddenly passed the ball out to the right flank. Talabesi made a quick overlapping run from behind and sent in a cross from the byline.

Unfortunately, Talabesi’s cross was too close to the goal and was easily collected by the opposing goalkeeper, Punk.

Eager to score, Ibrahimovic threw his arms out at his teammate in frustration, as if to say, ’I was right outside the six-yard box, why did you cross it into the goal area?’

Talabesi shook his head in frustration and jogged back with a wry smile. As he passed Yang Yang, he saw him extend a hand and made sure to give his teammate a high-five, a gesture of mutual encouragement.

Soon, Talabesi returned the favor, sending a through pass down the right flank, playing the ball straight up the line into the final third. Yang Yang received it and once again faced Etienne Xu directly, but this time he still had no opening and could only pass it back to Sneijder in the midfield to let them reset the attack.

Although neither of the two consecutive attacks created a threat, Ajax’s offense on the right wing had clearly become more active.

Through these two attacks since coming on, Yang Yang was also gradually getting a feel for the opponent’s defense.

As experienced center-backs, both of Utrecht’s defenders were familiar with Ibrahimovic, and they were also specifically marking the Swedish striker. Trying to attack through him again would not be easy.

Ajax regrouped, and the team’s three lines dropped back slightly, inviting Utrecht to push forward and thus creating space for their own attack.

The purpose of slowing the tempo was to set up a sudden burst of speed, so Yang Yang didn’t let his guard down. Instead, he patiently looked for an opportunity.

Finally, in the seventy-eighth minute, after De Jong won the ball in the midfield, Sneijder quickly played a through ball, sending it precisely behind the Utrecht defensive line. Yang Yang, understanding the intention perfectly, shook off Etienne Xu with a burst of speed and chased down the ball.

"The referee hasn’t flagged for offside. This is a promising attack for Ajax."

"Yang Yang has the ball on the right wing, but Utrecht’s left center-back, Bosschat, is not slow either. He’s tracking back very quickly."

"Let’s see what Yang Yang does this time."

"He dribbles to the edge of the box, slows down, a series of feints..."

"Sudden acceleration, a beautiful Pendulum Move..."

"Yang Yang breaks through from the right and crosses to the far post..."

"The far post is open!"

"Van der Vaart!"

"It’s a goal!!!!!!"

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"

"Ajax scores in the seventy-eighth minute! The young substitute Yang Yang forces a breakthrough on the right wing, sends a curling cross to the far post, and an unmarked Van der Vaart heads it in to score! It’s one-nil!"

"We can see that Yang Yang’s cross was of very high quality. Neither Ibrahimovic nor Sander Koeler at the near post could get to it, but Van der Vaart, unmarked behind them, seized the opportunity."

"That’s also the Ajax captain’s fifth league goal of the season."

"After coming on as a substitute against Bruges three days ago and providing two assists, the young Yang Yang has once again changed the game tonight."