novelODS Chapter 35 Tell me, what's the score?
Chapter 35 Tell me, what's the score?
The match has reached the 82th minute.
Villarreal, who had been suppressed for most of the game, finally managed to get a decent chance to advance the ball in a chaotic scramble.
Villarreal's striker Ruben received a barely passable clearance from his teammate just outside the penalty area.
He didn't dare stop the ball to observe, because he knew that if he was even half a second slower, Atletico Madrid's defenders would collide with him directly.
Ruben chose to force his way into the penalty area.
Atletico Madrid defender Miranda had been anticipating this move.
Just as Ruben took a long touch, Miranda decisively went down and slid his right foot across the turf to make a sliding tackle.
However, the moment she released it, Miranda sensed something was wrong.
Miranda quickly glanced at her seat.
Fortunately, it was still some distance from the restricted area.
It's a free kick!
"Beep—!"
The referee, with his whistle in his mouth, blew it forcefully.
The referee ran over, pointed to the location of the foul, and awarded Villarreal a direct free kick approximately 25 meters from the goal.
Santi Cazorla strode forward, his legs feeling extremely heavy.
He bent down and picked the ball up from the grass with both hands.
Cazorla used the hem of his jersey to wipe the grass and dirt off the ball's surface bit by bit.
He bent down and placed the ball with utmost seriousness on the white spray dot sprayed by the referee.
After adjusting the position of the valve core, Cazorla stood up.
He turned his head and looked at his teammates, who were already exhausted, demoralized, and panting heavily.
……
at the same time.
The away fans' section at the highest point of the stands at Calderón Stadium.
The yellow contingent, which was originally packed with two or three thousand people before the start of the match, had almost completely disappeared after Atletico Madrid scored their sixth goal in a row.
Rows of plastic seats were empty, littered with crushed light sticks and empty water bottles.
Only a very few people remained sitting there.
Fifteen-year-old Rodri stood alone beside the iron railing at the very edge of the stands.
He gripped a yellow banner, already soaked with sweat, tightly in both hands, his knuckles turning bluish-white from the excessive force.
Rhodes' eyes were red-rimmed, with very obvious tear stains at the corners.
His gaze swept across most of the court, fixed intently on Cazorla, who was standing in front of the penalty spot.
"Put it in..."
Rodri kept muttering to himself, his voice filled with sobs.
"At least one of them has to come in...!"
He gripped the banner tightly, as if it were his last straw.
"There won't be any problem, this is the Little Giant's specialty—free kicks!"
……
on the field.
Cazorla looked at the Atletico Madrid players forming a wall in front of him.
His thoughts were instantly drawn back to those extremely painful extra training sessions of the past.
That was on countless evenings after the entire Huangqian team finished training.
The coaches and teammates had already showered and gone home, leaving the entire training base deserted.
Cazorla stood alone outside the penalty area line on the training field, dragging his right Achilles tendon, which had undergone several surgeries and was extremely fragile.
He neatly arranged fifty soccer balls on the ground.
Run-up, curl shot.
Pick up the ball, then take a chip shot.
He felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his right ankle and Achilles tendon, so he sprayed himself with a cooling spray twice and gritted his teeth to continue training.
He walks fifty times a day, rain or shine.
This is the source of his confidence in establishing himself in La Liga.
He firmly believed that his free-kick technique could definitely break down the defense of any team.
……
Just then.
Li Jing strode over and stood side by side with Gabi, Falcao, and a few others, forming an extremely thick human wall.
After the positions were arranged, Li Jing suddenly turned his head.
He looked at Courtois, who was standing in the middle of the goal line, and raised his chin in a highly provocative manner.
Li Jing seemed to remember something.
This team has more than just one bug like him.
Looking at it from a later perspective.
At this point, the most terrifying bug in Atletico Madrid's squad was not Falcao, their record signing at the time.
It's another one.
Courtois, still young, was known as the "Little Belgian Prodigy".
At that time, he had not yet become Real Madrid's wall of sighs.
He is also a close friend of De Bruyne.
In short, it was a super gamble for Atletico Madrid.
Li Jing watched Real Madrid win the title in the 22 season.
So he knew that this was the real cheat.
Then, Li Jing pointed to the spot where he was standing.
Courtois immediately understood the mockery in Li Jing's eyes.
This was a reminder to him that Huang Qian's last stand had arrived, and if he couldn't stop them, the shutout bonus he had just mentioned would immediately be lost.
Courtois's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing Li Jing's reminder.
He suddenly spread his legs apart, lowering his center of gravity to a great extent.
Courtois raised his hands and slammed his two large goalkeeper gloves together.
"Snapped!"
An extremely loud sound of leather striking each other.
Courtois roared at Li Jing in front of him.
"Li! You guys form a human wall and hold your ground! Block the near corners! Absolutely no one is allowed to block my view!"
He patted his chest, his tone filled with extreme belligerent excitement.
"Beep—!"
The referee looked at the positions of both sides and blew the whistle to allow free throws.
Cazorla stood behind the ball and took a deep breath.
He began his run-up, his steps extremely precise.
Three steps later, Cazorla's left foot slammed heavily on the side of the ball, and his right leg swung back dramatically.
He met the bottom of the ball with his right foot and swished it with incredible precision and power from the inside!
"Bang!"
The ball emitted a loud thud as it was struck, and instantly soared into the air.
The ball flew through the air past the highest point of the human wall that Li Jing and the others had deliberately lowered their heads to avoid.
Immediately afterwards, the ball, with extremely strong inward spin, drew a beautiful and bizarre arc in the air.
It headed straight for the absolute top right corner of the goal!
Upon seeing the trajectory of the ball, the entire stadium held its breath.
This trajectory doesn't even require any so-called football match experience.
Even if you call Xu Jingyu over, you can see that this ball is going extremely far towards the corner!
The moment Cazorla completed his kick, he completely relaxed.
He confidently raised his hands high, ready to turn around and celebrate his goal.
As a veteran who has practiced this move for many years, his feel for the ball told him that its trajectory was perfect.
This is a blind spot that is theoretically impossible to defend.
Absolutely no goalkeeper in all of Europe could save a free kick of this quality from that distance!
The ball plummeted rapidly in everyone's sight, about to disappear into the white net.
In that extremely brief moment.
Courtois's massive body, standing at a towering 1.99 meters, suddenly began to move!
He made an extremely accurate judgment on the ball's landing point half a second before it even cleared the wall of players.
He pushed off hard with both legs on the grass in front of the goal line!
Courtois was lifted into the air, stretching his body completely out in mid-air.
He pushed his extremely long wingspan to its absolute limit.
"Bang!"
A crisp and solid impact rang out in the quiet stadium.
Courtois' right glove fingertip, at an extremely extreme position, forcefully poked the bottom of the ball!
The ball's original trajectory, which was heading towards the corner, was directly altered by this external force.
The football bounced upwards by more than ten centimeters and slammed heavily against the lower edge of the crossbeam!
"when!"
The ball hit the crossbar and bounced straight out of bounds.
An incredibly absurd one-handed diving save, accomplished entirely through terrifying physical prowess!
The entire Calderon Stadium fell into an extremely brief silence for that one second.
Then.
Tens of thousands of Atlético Madrid fans erupted in a tremendous roar and applause that could have blown the roof off the stadium.
Cazorla's hands, which were raised in mid-air in preparation for celebration, froze completely in an instant.
His eyes widened as he stared intently at the white beam that was still swaying slightly from the impact.
Cazorla's face was filled with disbelief, his jaw was slightly agape, and he even forgot to breathe.
His lips trembled violently a few times, and he uttered a curse word.
"How the hell... how could he have been pounced on like that?"
Cazorla turned to look at Courtois, who had just stood up from the grass, his voice filled with despair.
"That big Belgian guy, can he fly?!"
The away team's fan section at the highest point of the stands.
Rhodes stood by the railing and witnessed the scene.
His legs completely lost all strength at that moment.
With a "thump".
Rodri slumped down onto the hard plastic chair.
The yellow banner, a symbol of hope, that he had been clutching tightly in his hand, slipped from his fingers and fell onto the dusty aisle of the stands.
Large tears streamed down Rhodes’ face.
He held onto the last vestige of dignity for Villarreal as a team.
And his own unrealistic dream that football could conquer all.
Courtois's extremely unreasonable lunge smashed it to pieces.
"It's over..." Rhodes covered his face and cried out, "We've lost even our last shred of dignity."
"What is all this...?"
Courtois was unaware of this at the time.
His slap shattered the football dream of a future Ballon d'Or winner.
It's not that the money was completely wiped out, but at least it was a few years too late.
……
Courtois quickly got up from the grass.
He also turned his head to look at the still swaying beam, and felt a wave of fear wash over him.
Cazorla's free kick was of an absurdly high quality. If he had jumped even a fraction of a second slower, the ball would have been a sure goal.
But once it's made a save, it's made a save!
Courtois arrogantly swung his huge fist with extreme force.
He shouted at Li Jing, who was running over from the other side of the human wall.
"Did you see that, Lee?! I told you I could save that shot!"
Li Jing strode forward, extended his right hand, and gave Courtois a very heavy high five.
"Well done, Thibault."
Li Jing grinned and teased.
"Your shutout bonus for today is now completely secured."
……
Time was ticking away.
The referee held up the sign indicating stoppage time on the sidelines.
The match was in its 91st minute, which was the last minute of the game.
Just minutes earlier, Simeone had brought on substitute youngster Koke to run down the clock. Koke received a pass from Gabi on the right side of midfield.
When Kirk got the ball, his first instinct was to pass it back.
But he immediately recalled the death order Simone had given him before he went on the field, the order that had been given to him by grabbing his collar.
"Absolutely no retreating! Once you get the ball, press forward!"
Kirk gritted his teeth and gave up the idea of passing the ball back.
He dribbled the ball himself and forced his way forward along the right sideline.
Facing pressure from Villarreal defenders, Koke, before losing his balance, used the instep of his foot to pass the ball towards the center.
The ball rolled along the grass and landed at the feet of Li Jing, who was making a high-speed run from the back.
Li Jing has just received the ball.
Two Villarreal defenders immediately abandoned their original positions and sandwiched Li Jing from the left and right.
But the two men's running steps were extremely heavy, and their eyes were full of exhaustion, devoid of any fighting spirit.
Within a fraction of a second of receiving the ball, Li Jing's brain activated its fully-fledged tactical radar, operating at maximum capacity!
He didn't need to look up to see where Kirk was.
The spacing between the defenders in front and the angle of their center of gravity while running were all transformed into extremely precise geometric figures in his mind.
Just as Huang Qian's two defenders were about to close in on Li Jing, the moment came.
Li Jing subtly flicked his right ankle outwards.
Instead of breaking through, he delivered an extremely fast, low through ball!
The ball, carrying immense force, passed with unparalleled precision through the gap between the left defender's legs.
Straight through the crotch!
The ball drew a white line on the grass and was passed directly to Koke, who was unmarked at the edge of the penalty area.
As soon as Kirk got into position, the ball was comfortably fed to his dominant foot.
Without any hesitation, Koke met the rolling ball with the instep of his right foot and unleashed a powerful low shot!
The ball grazed the grass and went straight into the bottom right corner of the goal!
The substitute goalkeeper didn't even manage to fall to the ground.
"Whoosh!"
The ball hit the net, creating a white wave.
7: 0!
When Kirk saw the ball go into the net, he jumped up from the grass in excitement.
He frantically ripped at his jersey and turned to rush towards the home team's stands.
"I scored! I scored for the first team!" Koke roared at the top of his lungs.
Almost at the same second the ball went into the net.
The referee shoved his whistle directly into his mouth.
"Beep—beep—beep!"
Three long whistles signaled the end of the match.
Atletico Madrid carried out a complete and extremely bloody massacre at their home stadium.
The entire Calderon Stadium instantly erupted into an extremely deafening frenzy of celebration.
The cheers of tens of thousands of fans completely drowned out everything else.
……
at this time.
Spain.
Basque Country.
San Sebastián.
The Anoeta Stadium, home of Real Sociedad.
Griezmann is training.
At this time, Philipp, who had just taken over as head coach of the team, said to Griezmann:
"Antoine, call everyone over!"
"Training is over for today. We'll review our next opponent, Atletico Madrid, in a bit. It just ended."
The entire Real Sociedad team gathered around; they had just been training and none of them had their phones with them.
Naturally, they were unaware of the details of the match that had just taken place.
Philip remained as steady as a rock!
Like Simeone, he also took over the team temporarily during a time of crisis, and was appointed during the winter transfer window.
The day after tomorrow is his first match.
Logically, he should have been nervous.
After all, if Real Sociedad were to face one of the top teams in the league, they would be relegated to the relegation zone.
He didn't want to be fired after his first game in class, with fans yelling "Philippines" throughout the stadium.
However, he looked at the schedule.
Thankfully, I was assigned to Atlético Madrid...
Then there's no need to panic.
He's too lazy to even organize everyone to watch the games; he might as well use that time to get the team together and organize some training matches.
The opposing coach was also newly appointed, and their star player had already left.
They also had a rough time in the first half of the season.
The advantage lies with me.
"Wow!"
"What the hell is the score?"
……