Chapter 103 Goal!

Only four minutes after the second half kickoff, a goal was scored, validating the consensus of both head coaches. However, the goal was for Ajax, and Volendam was the one taking the hit.

"GOAL! GOAL!! GOAL!!! GOAL!!!! GOAL--Ibrahimović! Ajax leads 2-1!"

Another cross from Van der Meyde, and Ibrahimović flicked a header at the near post, sending the ball into the far corner! Westerveld misjudged it, watching the ball fly into his net once again. Louis Link was caught napping, letting the in-form Ibrahimović get away, leading to a costly mistake.

After scoring, Ibrahimović excitedly ran towards Van der Meyde, who had assisted him twice, and they embraced in celebration. The other teammates surrounded them, and the Ajax fans cheered wildly.

Adriaanse waved his hand in frustration. He hadn't expected Ajax to score. Louis Link was still lacking, having been outmaneuvered by Ibrahimović twice.

Now the situation was unfavorable. If Ajax controlled the tempo like they did in the first half, how would he counterattack?

"Yang Pan! Shoot more!" He seemed to be betting everything on Yang Pan, who had a goal and was in good form.

But Yang Pan…

Zhang Jun created a bit of space, and Yang Pan started to drift towards the center. Van der Vaart also moved up cleverly. Beye passed the ball ahead of Yang Pan, hoping he could shoot directly without controlling it. But with Van der Vaart's close marking, Yang Pan's long shot flew high into the nth tier of the stands, posing no threat.

Volendam, now trailing, seemed flustered and impatient. Several promising attacks were prematurely ended due to their own mistakes. The more they rushed to equalize, the harder it became. Mistakes, mistakes, and more mistakes. Even Adriaanse was pacing anxiously in his technical area.

Zhang Jun, on the other hand, continued to fall back, defend, fall back, defend. Chivu didn't press him; he was happy to take it easy.

Van der Vaart was brought down by Yang Pan during a breakthrough, and the referee awarded Ajax a free kick, showing Yang Pan a yellow card.

Van der Vaart sent the ball into the penalty area. Captain Chivu rose high, overpowering Zhang Jun, who had tracked back to defend, and delivered a powerful header!

Such a close-range header! Westerveld had already surrendered. But the ball crashed against the crossbar and bounced out of bounds!

Ajax was in high spirits, while Volendam was in a dangerous situation.

In such a critical moment, a hero was needed to step up. The question was, where was Volendam's hero?

Zhang Jun was knocked to the ground by Chivu, his mouth full of grass clippings. His clothes were stained green, and his sweat-soaked hair was plastered messily to his face – his braid had been pulled apart by Chivu. He looked disheveled, like a loser. Did his current state represent his fate against Chivu – forever suppressed, never able to rise?

Zhang Jun slowly got up, spat out the grass clippings, wiped away the sweat, picked up the rubber band from the ground, and re-tied his braid. At that moment, Chivu happened to look at him. Zhang Jun felt that the look carried a hint of mockery: Why don't you just hide in your own penalty area and never come out?

Was constantly retreating considered running away?

Zhang Jun clenched his fist.

Beye looked around and then passed the ball to Zhang Jun, who had dropped back to receive it. He probably thought he would just pass it on to someone else...

Zhang Jun took the ball, turned around, and then nudged the ball forward, suddenly accelerating! He was dribbling through himself!

Galásek didn't expect Zhang Jun to start so suddenly and was easily passed without reacting. Chivu was shocked and rushed to intercept. But Zhang Jun wasn't afraid to face him head-on. He flicked the ball with his left foot and then accelerated again to chase after it! Such a simple feint! But it was very effective. Chivu was brought down, watching helplessly as he was passed by!

"Zhang Jun shakes off Chivu! What will he do?"

While the commentator was speaking, Zhang Jun had already stormed into the penalty area like lightning!

"Mark him! Get close! Don't let him shoot!" Tiemer shouted, moving to close down the angle.

As Zhang Jun dribbled with his head down, he caught a glimpse of an orange figure sneaking in at the other end of the goal.

Tiemer's rush narrowed the distance between them and widened the defensive angle. Zhang Jun used his arm to hold off a nearby defender, while quickly swinging his left leg and gently chipping the ball! The ball passed over the already fallen Tiemer, and then…

"Zhang Jun shoots! Oh! What a pity, it slides past the goal... Oh, no! Yang Pan!"

Zhang Jun didn't shoot at all; he passed the ball to Yang Pan at the far post. Chivu had already chased back, but defenders have a hard time dealing with such a ball and can only try to interfere with the shooter. But Yang Pan was even faster, getting a touch first. Chivu's foot was too late, hitting Yang Pan's foot, but it was useless. The ball slammed into the net!

"GOAL!! Yes! It's Yang Pan! The tenacious Volendam equalizes! Seventy-seventh minute! Zhang Jun's sudden burst created this goal! Beautifully passing two players in a row! Chivu failed!!"

Yang Pan waved his arms forcefully, roaring to celebrate his second goal. He rarely had the chance to score two goals in a single game, but he did it in such a crucial match. He should thank Zhang Jun, whose sudden start disrupted the Ajax defense.

"Zhang Jun's sudden explosion caught Chivu and Ajax off guard. After being silent for most of the game, he announced his resurrection with a beautiful assist! There are still more than ten minutes left. What kind of surprises will he bring us in the remaining minutes?"

Chivu stood on the spot with his hands on his hips. Volendam players, having celebrated the goal, ran past him, laughing and chatting. Zhang Jun and Yang Pan celebrated alone for a moment before returning to the field.

This was just a mistake. I will definitely not give you another chance! Chivu waved his arms: "There are still more than ten minutes. We will definitely win the game! Cheer up!"

Van der Meyde had two assists, while Yang Pan had two wonderful goals. In this "secret battle" between the two, Yang Pan seemed to have a slight upper hand.

After the restart, Chivu stepped up his marking of Zhang Jun. When Zhang Jun pulled out, he remained vigilant. As soon as Zhang Jun rushed up, he would stick to him without hesitation.

As soon as Zhang Jun turned around, he saw Chivu coming up and constantly pushing him towards the outside. Another defender came up, and under their combined attack, the ball was finally lost.

…

Zhang Jun pulled out to the left wing, and Heuvel passed a through ball. Zhang Jun had only taken two steps when Chivu rushed up and made a fierce tackle, kicking the ball out of bounds, and Zhang Jun fell to the ground. But the referee didn't think it was a foul.

After withstanding a barrage of attacks from Volendam, who had just scored, Ajax was finally able to counterattack.

Van der Vaart was being marked out of the game by the in-form Yang Pan. Ajax's attacking focus naturally shifted to the right, where Van der Meyde was also in excellent form.

Van der Meyde had the ball on the right. Batre, who had been defending him all game, was having a hard time, and this time was no exception. Van der Meyde easily broke through Batre's defense with his agility. Ajax fans immediately cheered loudly. Ibrahimović was waiting in the penalty area, ready to pounce and shoot. Louis Link became nervous.

Van der Meyde seemed to be showing off. Facing Koza, who came up to cover, he didn't choose to cross the ball immediately, but tried to dribble past Koza again inside the penalty area.

He feinted with his right foot, pretending to cross, and then gently pushed the ball forward with his left foot. Then he feinted to cross again with his right foot. Seeing Koza extend his leg to block, he immediately cut back, preparing to break through behind Koza!

But a foot quickly poked away the ball that Van der Meyde had just cut back, and then that figure swept past Van der Meyde, chasing after the ball that was about to go out of bounds!

"Yang Pan has returned to the left wing, he has cut off Van der Meyde's ball!"

Van der Meyde was only stunned for a moment, then quickly chased after Yang Pan, trying to force him and the ball out of bounds. But Yang Pan stepped on the ball in front of the baseline, leaning his back against Van der Meyde, and slowly moved backwards.

"Yang Pan is very confident, this is his first head-to-head encounter with Van der Meyde!"

Yang Pan was indeed very confident. Under Van der Meyde's defense, he suddenly used his heel to flick the ball between the opponent's legs! Then he turned around suddenly! Van der Meyde was caught off guard and was passed!

No one expected that Yang Pan could turn around and get rid of Van der Meyde's close marking when he was forced to the baseline. Yang Pan calmly chased the ball, then looked up ahead and then made a direct pass!

Volendam wanted to counterattack in the last six minutes!

Zhang Jun ran back from the center circle to receive the ball. Chivu wanted to follow him, but he saw Koza receiving Zhang Jun. He thought that Zhang Jun was likely to pass the ball back. So he didn't go forward, but instead retreated and shouted to direct his teammates to quickly return to defense.

As expected, Zhang Jun didn't stop the ball and turn around, but passed the ball back to Koza as Chivu had predicted. With this back-and-forth exchange, most of the Ajax players had returned to their positions. Volendam had few opportunities left!

"Koza!" Zhang Jun shouted, then turned around and ran forward on the spot. Koza understood his meaning and passed the ball directly to Zhang Jun's front without hesitation.

Galásek wanted to clear the ball out of bounds in advance, but he must not have watched Zhang Jun's game against Feyenoord, because his move was still too slow. Zhang Jun poked the ball away like lightning, and Galásek's tackle only caught Zhang Jun's shadow on the ground.

"Zhang Jun counterattacks with the ball!"

"Damn it! Too rash!" Chivu cursed inwardly. Trabelsi beside him had already rushed up without hesitation.

"Trabelsi rushes up, he wants to stop Zhang Jun with a fierce tackle!"

Zhang Jun acted as if it was an instinct of his body. He didn't even look up to see the opponent. When the opponent's foot came over, he gently nudged the ball with his right foot, and the ball rolled sideways. Then he exerted force with his left foot, stomping hard, and his body almost moved parallel to the right! Trabelsi only tackled a cluster of flying grass clippings!

Chivu didn't have time to think about it. He only saw that the ball had temporarily left Zhang Jun's control. This was the only chance to intercept the ball! It wouldn't be good if he controlled the ball. In fact, Chivu could have chosen to stick to him, suppress Zhang Jun's speed, and wait for his teammates to surround him, but Chivu, who had been fighting for eighty-four minutes, seemed to have his blood rushing to his head in the midst of the cheers of 30,000 spectators.

"Chivu slides towards the ball! He wants to clear the ball!"

Yang Pan, who was still rushing from the backcourt to the frontcourt, suddenly felt that this scene was familiar. Zhang Jun's back was familiar. He stopped without realizing it.

Beye ran past him breathlessly: "Go up and support Zhang Jun! Prepare to shoot, quickly! Quickly…"

Chivu didn't hesitate to slide towards Zhang Jun, but he saw Zhang Jun stretch his body, take a big step, and then hook the ball to the left with his right foot first. At the same time, he exerted force with his left foot, stomping hard, and his body moved almost parallel to the left again!

Zhang Jun and Chivu brushed past each other!

Perhaps because of such actions twice in a row, Zhang Jun couldn't handle it and stumbled into the penalty area. Goalkeeper Tiemer decided to rush out and pounce at the ball. But as soon as he rushed out one step, he saw Zhang Jun catch up with the ball at an alarming speed, and at the same time flicked it to the right with his right foot.

Since the opponent had already taken the ball, there was no need for him to rush out. He had to follow and move from the near post to the far post. But he had only moved one step again when he saw Zhang Jun quickly swing his right leg, he was going to shoot at the far corner!

Tiemer had always been proud of his agility, but this time his quick reaction cost him his life. Good reflexes made him pounce sideways, stretching out his hands to block Zhang Jun's shot.

The night was late. Qiu Suhui poured himself another cup of coffee. He had watched Zhang Jun's goal highlights over and over three times, but he still wanted to watch them. He didn't know why, but he would rather use coffee to stay awake and watch this tape tirelessly. Could it be that he could see something very special from this tape?

No ball! Tiemer was shocked. His eyes had never left the ball. He was sure that even the fastest ball couldn't escape his eyes, but this time he really didn't see the ball!

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!" The commentator's roar startled him. Then he saw Zhang Jun stumble to the ground, open his arms, and run towards the coaching bench. He frantically looked back and saw that the ball was quietly lying in the goal behind him.

"Oh my God! My God! How did it go in?" The commentator was a little crazy. "How did Zhang Jun score that goal?"

This was probably the question of many viewers. The big screen became the focus of attention again, replaying the entire process of Zhang Jun's goal just now.

Zhang Jun's actions of passing three people in a row before shooting were basically completed in one go, without any hesitation. Especially the last two almost right-angled changes of direction made the audience marvel. Chivu, who had performed well throughout the game, was shaken off.

But what surprised everyone was still behind. After Zhang Jun passed Chivu, he moved the ball horizontally to the right. At this time, he was parallel to the goal. Then Zhang Jun quickly swung his right leg forward. It was this action that made Tiemer think that Zhang Jun was going to shoot and pounced out without hesitation, the quality of an excellent goalkeeper, but...

Zhang Jun's right foot just glided quickly past the ball, and then stopped in front of the ball. Then Zhang Jun's left toe, behind the ball, gently rubbed the ball in front, and the ball jumped slightly forward. The back of his right heel exerted force and flicked upwards!

The ball was flicked upwards in the air! At this time, Zhang Jun exerted force with his left foot, and his body leaped upwards, opening his arms to maintain balance. His right foot quickly kicked backwards. When the ball rose to the height of Zhang Jun's waist, his right foot happened to be there. Then his right foot swept horizontally from the outside to the inside, and knocked the ball into the empty goal parallel to his body.

At this time, Tiemer had already fallen to the ground, powerless to do anything about what was happening.

The commentator was silent for about a second, and then roared incoherently: "Too wonderful! How did he do it? That Chinese is too terrible!! Scoring with his heel like that! He defeated the entire Ajax! He..."

Those neutral fans and Volendam fans cheered loudly. The best goal of the game! Oh no, it's the best goal in Europe for the entire season! They witnessed the entire process of the best goal being produced!

Chivu couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was the person who scored this goal still a normal person? The coordination of his body to that extent... The flexibility of his ankles... He was simply a monster!

Was he really the Chinese that he had defended into mediocrity for the first time?

Zhang Jun rushed into the crowd and was immediately submerged by his excited teammates. Only raised hands could be seen from the outside.

Yang Pan suddenly returned to that year in the second grade of high school. In the game against Yingcai, Zhang Jun also scored a goal like this. It was raining that day. Zhang Jun started dribbling from the midfield, passed two people in a row in the same way, and then faced Sima Hongxin and scored in this way. Rain, mud, grass clippings, hat trick... A dragon rose into the air in front of Yingcai's goal.

Zhang Jun finally managed to break free from the enthusiastic teammates. He ran to Yang Pan, who was still stunned, and shouted excitedly to him: "Yang Pan! What's wrong? We're leading! Leading Ajax!" He grabbed Yang Pan's shoulders and shook him non-stop.

Yang Pan seemed to be shaken awake. He smiled and patted Zhang Jun's head: "Yes, we are leading! Strive to win and get a championship!"

"Yes." Zhang Jun nodded. "There are three minutes left. We must win!"

The two slapped each other, and the game continued.

"The fourth official indicates three minutes of injury time, but Ajax has hardly done anything! Could it be that they were stunned by Zhang Jun's goal? The game is entering its final countdown! Volendam is expected to win their only championship this season!"

A huge cheer suddenly erupted from the stands.

Zhang Jun took the ball again, and every touch he made caused huge shouts from the stands of the Philips Stadium. In this huge shout, Chivu was a little dazed. He actually allowed Zhang Jun to turn around calmly in front of him. Yang Pan was moving to the right wing, and Heuvel was doing the same on the left. Zhang Jun swayed his upper body, flicked his feet, and then accelerated into the penalty area. Galásek and Trabelsi were unable to close the door in time, and he slipped in!

Tiemer rushed out to block in a panic, and Chivu also rushed back to chase. Zhang Jun took a shot first, but the ball hit the crossbar. When it bounced back into the field, Chivu kicked it out of bounds!

"Too bad! Volendam had a chance to extend the score!"

Zhang Jun ran back, shouting loudly: "Defend! Defend! We must defend in the last moment!" But he didn't notice that his teammates on the bench had already lined up on the sidelines. They were all waiting for the moment when the final whistle blew. The game was about to end!

Even the Ajax players had given up the game. Zhang Jun's goal was too devastating. If Yang Pan's goal was a morale killer, then Zhang Jun's goal just now was simply a confidence killer.

Sure enough, before the throw-in could be made, the referee decisively blew the final whistle, two short and one long.

The substitute players who had been waiting on the sidelines ran onto the field. Zhang Jun had just understood what had happened and was pressed to the ground by Ochou. "We won! We won! We are the champions!" He screamed excitedly.

"The whole game is over! Volendam miraculously won the Dutch Cup! The Chinese players who joined at the beginning of the season dominated the game! They are the heroes of Volendam! Dark horse Volendam has created the biggest fairy tale of this season!! They have just successfully been relegated and have now qualified for the European Union Cup next season!"

The commentator's voice could no longer be heard in the Philips Stadium, which was celebrating wildly. The Volendam fans, who were not in the majority, erupted with an impressive strength. Their shouts echoed in the Philips Stadium. Following the team's successful relegation last week, they have now won the cup and qualified for the Union Cup next season. It's really a double blessing, a series of surprises.

The moment of awarding the trophy was the most exciting. Holvergin led the players to the podium, and the players accepted the gold medals hung around their necks by the Queen of the Netherlands in turn. Then the last captain to receive the gold medal took the Dutch Cup championship trophy from the Queen. He turned around, faced the tens of thousands of fans in the stands, and raised the silver cup high!

Countless flashes of light flashed at the same time as if they had received a signal. The silver cup reflected the light from all directions, making it even more radiant.

When Zhang Jun pressed his face against the cold trophy, he smiled so hard that he couldn't close his mouth. He really didn't expect that he would help the team win a championship in his first season. Although he had been preparing for nearly a year and was full of confidence before the game, when happiness really came crashing down, his mind went blank. He only knew how to smile, constantly smile.

Yang Pan, with a gold medal in his mouth, snatched the trophy from Zhang Jun and shook it excitedly, then handed it to Beye next to him. For him, the Dutch Cup championship was just a starting point. He had a bigger pursuit – to raise the golden World Cup like this one day!

When the trophy finally returned to captain Holvergin's hands, he took the lead and ran off the podium, then raised the trophy and began to circle the field. Behind him and beside him were full of excited teammates, coaches, and club officials of all sizes.

Glittering silver confetti fell from the sky, and countless flashes of light flashed like stars. The exciting "We Are the Champions" provided the most appropriate background music for this celebration. Cheers and howls spread throughout the Netherlands through the microphones of TV reporters.

Wang Hua finally caught up with the excited Zhang Jun in the field. He didn't care about any congratulatory remarks. He went up and said: "What do you want to say?" In this extremely noisy environment, he almost shouted it out.

Zhang Jun didn't seem to see clearly which reporter was in front of him, whether it was Chinese or Dutch. He shouted: "We won! We are the champions! We won! We are the champions!" It was just this sentence over and over again.

Wang Hua knew that no matter what he asked now, Zhang Jun would answer him with this sentence. He had fallen into a kind of ecstasy, and the interview could not continue.

Yang Pan, who was being interviewed by another group of Chinese reporters on the other side, was much calmer. He talked eloquently into the reporters' microphones: "...I am very happy to have this honor. As the first group of Chinese players to win a championship abroad, I feel proud! The feeling of winning the championship? Don't ask me, go and see what Zhang Jun looks like and you will know, haha!"

Then he also very cooperatively raised the gold medal for the reporters to take pictures. It can be imagined that this photo will definitely appear in major domestic media as a symbol, rather than that one with Zhang Jun's face distorted by ecstasy - a hero must have the appearance of a hero, tall and mighty, calm and composed, not surprised by honor or disgrace...

The team celebrated in the dressing room for a long time. When they came out, it was already close to midnight, but there were still many Chinese reporters and Chinese fans waiting at the entrance of the stadium, hoping to interview them a few more times or get an autograph.

Taking advantage of the space where Zhang Jun was signing autographs for several Chinese students in front of the bus, Wang Hua squeezed in and asked: "What do you want to do most now?"

Zhang Jun, who had gradually calmed down, handed the signed card to the last student, and then smiled tiredly at Wang Hua: "I want to sleep."

A long season finally came to an end. For Zhang Jun, this first season was particularly long. He had never played football continuously for so long under such high tension. It was time to take a good rest. That first goal, the first failure, the first exchange of jerseys, the first yellow card, the first injury, the first time being so closely watched by reporters, the first time signing autographs, the first successful relegation, the first time holding up a professional football championship trophy... All this was really like a dream.

The night is late, go to sleep.