Volume One: Our Own League 095: He Came Out of Nowhere and Took Over the Match

Zhuo Jun was much shorter than Yang Xin, yet he kept snatching the ball from above Yang Xin’s head again and again, a sight so astonishing it left everyone speechless.

Just how formidable was this Zhuo Jun?

Xu He almost wanted to applaud him, because his defending was truly superb.

Zhuo Jun knew he could not match Yang Xin for height, so he made full use of his strengths and avoided his weakness, sealing Yang Xin off almost perfectly with immaculate positioning and denying him every chance.

So far, Zhuo Jun’s defending had been flawless.

Yang Xin had truly been pinned down by him.

Song Yu suddenly grew intensely curious about Zhuo Jun, surprise written all over his gaze.

He had never expected to see, at Jinhuan City Seventeen High, a player with such outstanding defensive technique and such excellent defensive awareness. Aside from a few slightly unpolished defensive movements and a bit of a lack of match experience, he really possessed the makings of a top-class defender.

This was a player who stirred Song Yu’s interest.

Zhuo Jun’s football intelligence was clearly high, and his talent in defense was frankly a little frightening. Song Yu’s eyes lingered on him more and more, because they had to. Zhuo Jun had been everywhere these past few minutes.

The Class Ten team had practically pushed their entire side over the halfway line and was launching a fierce assault on Class Sixteen.

As for the Class Sixteen team, they seemed to have been prepared for this all along; they had retreated almost entirely, huddling around their own penalty area and setting up a deep defensive block, waiting for the attack to come.

And when Class Sixteen defended, Zhuo Jun was naturally the backbone.

He was not only going into the physical battles himself, but also commanding the back line, driving and controlling the whole defense. Now and then he shouted instructions to his teammates, now and then he filled in gaps for them, as if his shadow was everywhere.

The Class Sixteen team looked to be in grave danger, yet in truth they were not facing many genuinely threatening attacks, because every danger was intercepted by Zhuo Jun.

Whether in positioning, marking, stepping up, or intercepting, Zhuo Jun was outstanding, displaying remarkably complete defensive ability. He was also giving Zhang Zhen and Yang Xin a great deal of trouble. Ten minutes into the match, those two forwards had hardly any chances to shoot.

And even when they did shoot, Zhuo Jun disrupted them, so they never truly threatened the Class Sixteen goal.

Song Yu gave a slight nod; he understood now.

The reason the Class Sixteen team had reached the final was entirely because of their sharp defense. That defense was truly strong. Of course, the main reason was that Zhuo Jun was exceptionally strong.

He had not expected such a school to conceal such a promising talent.

Why had no one uncovered these gems before? If he had not appeared here today, if the nation did not strengthen the development of school football, would this promising youth, a few years from now, be sitting in some office tower in the central business district?

Indeed, our nation never lacked talent; what it lacked was eyes capable of finding it.

There were still far too few grassroots coaches.

Football’s reach was far, far too low.

For national football to truly take off, there was still a long road ahead.

Song Yu suddenly felt he ought to do something for the spread of football in the country; perhaps working in school football would be a good path.

He stared fixedly at the pitch, at Zhuo Jun.

At that moment, Zhuge, the Class Ten midfielder, got hold of the ball. He dribbled forward himself, and after only two steps he spotted Lin Xuefeng making a diagonal run from the wing into the inside channel of the box.

Lin Xuefeng’s timing was perfect, and his pace absolutely overmatched the defender. At once, he burst into the huge pocket of space in the inside channel.

A chance, a perfect chance.

Zhuge feinted as though he would keep dribbling, then suddenly slipped a through ball in stride, threading the ball straight into the inside channel of the Class Sixteen penalty area.

The moment the ball rolled out, Zhuo Jun shouted, “Watch the inside channel! One of you step up, the other fall back to cover the goal!”

In an instant, he had made the judgment and given the orders.

Unfortunately, the Class Sixteen players were nowhere near as quick in execution as Zhuo Jun wanted them to be. Their reading of the game was still far behind, and their movement did not match his instructions at all.

In a flash, Lin Xuefeng stormed into the inside channel of the box and precisely cushioned the ball to his feet.

Even Song Yu could not help exclaiming, “What a first touch!”

That touch was practically a take-on and a control in one, evading the defender who had rushed at him and settling the ball into the most comfortable shooting position. He did not need to adjust at all; he could draw back his leg and strike immediately.

This Lin Xuefeng had solid fundamentals.

Under Song Yu’s astonished gaze, Lin Xuefeng instantly swung his left leg and lashed fiercely at the ball.

With a thunderous crack, the ball screamed toward the Class Sixteen goal.

This time, even if Zhuo Jun had three heads and six arms, it would have been too late. He had no chance to intercept it; he was simply too far away.

Beautiful.

Song Yu thought it again: beautiful.

The Class Ten attack was beautiful, the combination between Zhuge and Lin Xuefeng was beautiful, and Lin Xuefeng’s run, control, and shot were beautiful as well. It was an exceedingly elegant attack.

From such point-blank range, the Class Sixteen team should have no chance at all.

This had to go in.

After all, Lin Xuefeng’s shot was of excellent quality, with a vicious angle and tremendous pace. Even the national youth team’s goalkeeper might not have reached it.

So Song Yu had already sentenced the Class Sixteen team to death.

This goal was certain.

Xu He on the sideline thought the same. He jumped to his feet, fists raised high in excitement, ready to roar and cheer.

But then—

With a sharp slap, a tall figure at the mouth of the goal flung himself sideways through the air. Both palms met the ball with perfect precision, diverting it out beyond the end line.

Xu He and Song Yu stared, dumbfounded.

What the hell?

How had this goalkeeper saved that?

Yes, the Class Sixteen keeper, Xu Donglai, had suddenly thrown himself sideways and, with pinpoint accuracy, tipped the ball out beyond the end line.

The Class Sixteen students on the field let out a long breath. That had been close, far too close. Just moments ago they had all thought the goal was lost, that there was no saving it. Yet their goalkeeper, Xu Donglai, had descended like a god and pushed the ball away. It was breathtakingly dramatic.

They all applauded Xu Donglai.

Song Yu was deeply astonished. Xu Donglai’s positioning on that play had been good, his lateral movement swift, his timing on the dive extraordinarily precise, and above all his explosiveness had been incredibly fast, allowing him to get to the ball and push it away.

What an excellent save.

It was practically inspired.

He had played above himself.

All one could say was that Lin Xuefeng was unlucky this time, running into a goalkeeper who was in god mode.

Still, Song Yu felt the Class Ten team would score sooner or later. Up to this point, Class Sixteen had not even managed a single proper counterattack apart from defending; they posed no threat to Class Ten whatsoever, and that meant Class Ten could attack with all its strength. Once they pushed everyone forward, Class Sixteen would truly struggle to defend.

Besides, no defense is perfect. Who could guarantee that a whole match would pass without even the smallest flaw?

A corner. Class Ten had earned a corner kick.

Song Yu looked toward Lin Xuefeng at the corner flag and thought, Will you still send the ball to Yang Xin in the box this time?

He did not rate Yang Xin. The man had been completely suppressed by Zhuo Jun today, unable to make any use of his height advantage at all. Continuing to look for him was almost pointless.

At a time like this, they should really be probing somewhere else.

He wondered whether Lin Xuefeng had realized that.

Song Yu’s gaze fell on Lin Xuefeng, wanting to see what choice he would make.

On the sideline, Xu He kept gesturing toward the far post. He wanted Yang Xin to act as a decoy at the near post, drawing the attention of the Class Sixteen defenders, and then give Zhang Zhen a chance at the far post.

Lin Xuefeng suddenly began his run-up and curled a left-footed ball toward the edge of the penalty area.

No one had expected that. Everyone was startled.

Xu He stared wide-eyed at the scene. Lin Xuefeng’s idea was truly unexpected.

The ball arced to the top of the box, where Mu Yang met it. Seeing it arrive, Mu Yang did not take a touch; he swung through it first-time with a powerful volley.

With a booming crack, the ball shot out like lightning toward the upper right corner.

So fast it was almost impossible to see.

Song Yu’s eyes widened. That was a very difficult shot, but it had been executed beautifully. Mu Yang was very strong, very impressive.

In Song Yu’s view, this had to go in.

With that pace, that power, that angle, and the suddenness of the strike, almost no goalkeeper could have reached it. This had to be a goal.

Slap.

That was not the sound of a face being slapped, but the sound of Xu Donglai launching himself skyward and, with one hand, pushing the ball beyond the end line.

Saved.

Xu Donglai had again dived to the side and kept out a certain goal.

Everyone in the stadium widened their eyes in disbelief, many of them doubting their own vision, wondering whether they had seen it wrong.

“What the hell, did this guy take something today?”

Xu He could not believe it for a second.

He could save that?

That was far too fake.

Song Yu, in the stands, felt the same way as Xu He. A shot like that, even the national team’s keeper might not have reached it. Yet Xu Donglai had saved it, and more than that, his reaction had been unbelievably fast. To react to that ball at all—was it even real?

At this point, Song Yu began to take the goalkeeper seriously.

One save could be called a burst of inspiration, a flash of extraordinary form. But two? Three? Was that still just a hot streak?

Perhaps he had underestimated this keeper from the beginning.

Song Yu began studying him again.

Another corner. Class Ten had won another corner kick.

This time, Lin Xuefeng took up Xu He’s suggestion. He feinted a pass toward Yang Xin at the near post, but in truth sent the ball to the far post, toward Zhang Zhen.

Seeing the ball come in, Zhang Zhen prepared to leap for a header.

Unfortunately, Xu Donglai shot out explosively and sprang high into the air, plucking the ball away and gathering it firmly into his arms.

Song Yu and Xu He both sighed in admiration: “His judgment of the ball’s drop is incredibly precise!”

Cradling the ball, Xu Donglai immediately charged forward, then launched a powerful throw, hurling the ball swiftly toward the wing.

The fullback, Song Xiang, had already sprinted forward the moment Xu Donglai claimed the ball, ready for the counterattack.

At that moment, no one had been paying attention to him. By the time everyone noticed, it was already too late.

Class Ten had pushed their attack too high, leaving almost no one back.

Song Xiang raced onto the ball and drove forward alone, straight at goal.

The students of Class Ten were terrified by what they saw. Dangerous.

Song Xiang had broken into the box, clear through on goal.

All of Class Ten pinned their hopes on goalkeeper Wang Xu, praying desperately that they would not concede.

Wang Xu immediately rushed out to block Song Xiang.

Seeing Wang Xu charge out, Song Xiang instantly twisted his body and whipped a curling shot around him. The ball bent through the air, bypassing the panicked, diving Wang Xu and arcing toward the far bottom corner of the goal.

Danger.