Free Web NovelChapter 2035: Chapter 530: On-Site Coaching Neymar
"Yes, Santos is Pele’s boyhood club, and now they’ve got the teenage prodigy Neymar, but AC Milan have always had a ton of Brazilian elements: before there were Dida, Cafu, Serginho, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, and now Kaka is also a Brazilian player."
"Right, but Huang Kaiwen is definitely the biggest star among them. Pele has said it many times already: Huang Kaiwen’s style of play is pure Samba Football, he’s the representative figure of Brazilian football. And today Huang Kaiwen and AC Milan just happen to be up against Pele’s boyhood club, Santos."
"Alright, let’s take a look at the starting lineups for both sides."
Santos, 5-3-2 with double holding midfielders:
Goalkeeper: Rafael,
Defenders: Danilo, Delasena, Bruno Rodrigues, Duvall, Leo,
Midfielders: Enrico Pacheco, Ganso, Aráoz,
Forwards: Borges, Neymar.
AC Milan, 4-3-3 with double holding midfielders:
Goalkeeper: Buffon,
Defenders: Ramos, Godin, Nesta, Zambrotta,
Midfielders: Lars Bender, De Bruyne, Rakitic,
Forwards: Kaka, Torres, Huang Kaiwen.
They were already back in the players’ tunnel.
Only then did Huang Kaiwen remember he hadn’t drawn a card yet.
[Ding, you have obtained a 24-hour experience card: 2001–2002 Ligue 1, Round 10, Paris Saint-Germain vs Lyon, Ronaldo de Assis Moreira]
Holy shit!
Huang Kaiwen had just been wondering whether to use Pele for some live tutoring.
Didn’t expect something even nastier to drop.
Ronaldinho!
Ronaldinho’s achievements definitely can’t compare to Pele’s, but his feel for the ball is freak-level.
Up against a flashy kid like Neymar, Huang Kaiwen felt using Ronaldo for some live demonstration was perfect.
Let Neymar really see what it means to fuse tricks and actual match play.
He didn’t even hesitate before choosing to use it.
And he burned an Immunity Card along the way.
Even though Brazilian teams wouldn’t go too hard on him, Huang Kaiwen felt South American teams are never exactly squeaky clean either.
If the other side suddenly lost their heads and he got injured, that’d be so not worth it.
Following the referee team, he stepped onto the pitch again.
The atmosphere on site was almost frozen solid.
Shouts and screams were all tangled together; Huang Kaiwen was even wondering if something was wrong with his ears.
The Japanese are crazy when it comes to chasing idols, like they enjoy pinning their whole life on a star or something. Huang Kaiwen had seen related reports before, but he’d long forgotten the details.
But the fanaticism of the Japanese is absolutely real.
Because of housewives selling homes, stealing pension money to buy his photo books, the Yellow Ball King had no idea how many times he’d felt guilty.
But if the Yellow Ball King didn’t take this money, some host in Ginza might, or someone else would.
Huang Kaiwen felt it was still better that he be the one to earn it and shoulder this moral burden alone.
Before he leaves, he’ll keep releasing photobooks to satisfy the fans’ collector urges.
With fans this enthusiastic, Huang Kaiwen was even thinking about doing a Japan farewell tour before he retires, and slicing one last wave.
Just thinking about saying goodbye to such premium leeks at retirement made him involuntarily sad.
Luckily he hadn’t seriously considered retiring yet.
At 10:30 in the morning, the referee finally blew the whistle to start the match.
Torres received the ball and immediately played it sideways.
Huang Kaiwen took the ball and didn’t pass it out right away.
Borges charged straight at him, and Huang Kaiwen instantly rolled his shoulder, his body following, making the opponent too wary to dive in.
Brazilian players are very familiar with this kind of dribble.
These players all grew up watching Ronaldinho play.
But what he absolutely didn’t know was how terrifying a buffed-up Ronaldinho could be.
Enrico Pacheco immediately moved up to help defend.
Two men: one directly in front of Huang Kaiwen, one in front on his right side, clearly looking to press him together.
De Bruyne and Zambrotta were both moving toward Huang Kaiwen, getting ready to receive.
Just then Huang Kaiwen pushed the ball outward with his right foot, and Enrico Pacheco instantly followed the movement.
It was a reflex action.
Right after that, Huang Kaiwen toed the ball back.
Borges, who hadn’t moved before, only now stuck his leg out.
But.
Huang Kaiwen’s right foot, which had just dragged the ball, suddenly flicked at the ankle and slung the ball straight through Borges’s legs!
In the instant Borges tried to pull his leg back, Huang Kaiwen had already squeezed through the gap between him and the touchline to collect the ball again.
Aráoz was still adjusting his position and didn’t expect Huang Kaiwen to suddenly accelerate.
Aráoz didn’t have time to fully turn and could only stick a leg out; Huang Kaiwen just nudged it with his right foot and went past him easily.
Ganso, tracking back, knew Huang Kaiwen was fast, so he didn’t hold anything back in his run, charging at Huang Kaiwen from the side.
But just as the two were about to collide, Huang Kaiwen suddenly slammed on the brakes, and Ganso lunged into empty air.
Muricy Ramalho was grimacing on the sideline.
He’d coached Shenhua Team back in ’98, so he knew a bit about China.
Precisely because of that, he was stunned by the emergence of Huang Kaiwen.
From the footage, Huang Kaiwen looked like he could do anything—never mind his own playing days, he felt even Pele couldn’t compare to Huang Kaiwen.
But seeing it live, Huang Kaiwen was even scarier than he’d imagined.
His players looked like wooden poles, getting taken on one by one.
Fortunately, their defensive line was still intact for the moment, but right then he opened his eyes wide.
Huang Kaiwen, having just dodged Ganso, nudged the ball and had already swung his right leg back.
Long shot?
Muricy Ramalho’s mouth fell open.
You had to know, Huang Kaiwen was nearly 40 meters from goal.
But the very next second, what happened on the pitch confirmed his guess.
Bang—
With a thunderous crack, the ball turned into a streak of light, flying over the heads of players from both sides, straight at the goal.
It was a long way out, so Rafael still had time to react, but the moment the Santos keeper dived, he knew something was wrong. Fuck, the ball was even higher than he’d judged.
Is it going out? freēwēbnovel.com
Rafael clung to a shred of hope.
Duang——
The huge thud of the ball smacking into the goal frame seemed to confirm his guess.
But right after, before he had time to turn his head, Rafael’s heart dropped into the abyss.
The sound of the ball bouncing on the turf proved it hadn’t flown into the stands.
Which meant: it went in!
"Goal!!!!!!!!!!"
"GoalGoalGoal!!!"
"Kevin Goal!!!"
"Only 12 seconds after kickoff, Kevin receives Torres’s pass, beats four players, and buries a world-class long-range strike!"
"Pele being here today is less about watching his boyhood club and more about watching Kevin’s live show."
"I really don’t want to put it this way, but anyone who knows football understands the gap between South American teams and European teams. Even Barca and Chel can’t stop us; who’s honestly expecting Santos to put on a beautiful game?"
"What Santos’s players have to do today is use this kickoff to showcase themselves as much as possible. Maybe one or two of the most talented will catch the eye of a European giant, but if they want to join Milan, they’ve still got a lot more to prove!"
Stunned!
Neymar stood rooted to the spot, scratching the back of his head in disbelief.
Even though he’d mentally prepared himself, he still hadn’t expected Huang Kaiwen to be this insane.
This was the opening, after all.
Their formation was neat and tidy, and the coach had even specially set them up with five at the back.
And then straight from kickoff, Huang Kaiwen didn’t bother passing to pull their shape around, just dribbled through them and let fly from distance.
That kind of crude yet brutally efficient play left a deep impression on Neymar.
Before this he’d thought he was pretty good, often playing even flashier and prettier football than Huang Kaiwen.
But only today did Neymar realize.
Just spamming tricks without scoring is completely useless.
Their efficiency levels were like heaven and earth apart!
