Chapter 11 A Stroke of Genius

Zhou Yi didn't even look at the ball as Li Xiang passed it to him, as if he didn't care if he received it successfully.

He turned his head toward Yang Muge on the other side and shouted, "Forward, Yang Muge! Run forward, press up!"

Yang Muge didn't understand why Zhou Yi wanted him, a defensive midfielder, to press forward. If he did, what about the gap behind him?

But he didn't question Zhou Yi's decision. If Zhou Yi wanted him to run, there must be a reason. He would just run.

So, he ran forward.

Yang Muge's sudden forward insertion caught the Borussia Dortmund youth team players a bit off guard. The two midfielders had originally planned to come up and block Zhou Yi head-on.

But now, Yang Muge's sudden forward insertion increased the number of players China had in the attack from five to six—two forwards plus four midfielders, all four midfielders had come up.

The Borussia Dortmund youth team's defensive pressure immediately increased.

They had to send one of their midfielders to intercept Yang Muge.

Just as Yang Muge ran forward, Zhou Yi received the ball.

Götze retreated from the front and ran straight at Zhou Yi.

He intended to steal the ball from behind.

But Zhou Yi seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. Instead of stopping the ball and waiting for Götze to pounce, he directly poked the ball forward and dribbled ahead!

Götze missed.

The missing Götze didn't continue to chase. He wasn't good at defense anyway, and he didn't like participating in defense. Trying once was enough. He'd leave the rest to his more professional teammates.

He noticed that his teammate, defensive midfielder Jebermann, had already blocked Zhou Yi's path. Instead of chasing back, he might as well wait in front for his teammates to intercept the ball and pass it up for a counterattack.

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He Ying had originally been on the edge of the penalty area, preparing to seize a shooting opportunity.

When he saw Zhou Yi suddenly dribbling the ball, he didn't continue to wait there. Instead, he turned around and ran back.

From the domestic training camp until now, two months of contact had taught him that Zhou Yi's physical confrontation was weak. As soon as an opponent leaned on him, he was likely to lose the ball.

If he really intended to dribble into the dragon's pool alone, he would definitely fail, and he had to go out and support him.

However, he wasn't sure if Zhou Yi would pass the ball to him. He could only gamble.

But just as he reached the edge of the penalty arc, he saw Zhou Yi had already sent the ball over, a ground ball.

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Zhou Yi didn't really intend to dribble into the penalty area. Instead, he decisively passed the ball when he met Jebermann, passing it to He Ying who was retreating to support him.

He passed the ball to the most crowded part of the center, which didn't seem like a good choice.

"Idiot!" Liang Qiqi sneered on the bench. With China's strength, they were still trying to force the center? He was waiting for He Ying to lose the ball and be hit with a counterattack! Then, he would pay the price for his stupidity!

Liang Qiqi was still waiting for Zhou Yi to make a mistake and be substituted. Now, he saw an opportunity.

What made him laugh even harder was that after passing the ball, Zhou Yi didn't pull away. Instead, he headed for He Ying, diving into the most crowded part of the center himself!

Ha! Could this idiot not see that Borussia Dortmund's players were all converging on the center to surround him!

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When Liang Qiqi was off the field, he could see the situation on the field more clearly, perhaps because he was no longer in the thick of it.

That's right, when the Borussia Dortmund youth team saw Zhou Yi pass the ball to He Ying in the center, they naturally followed the ball and converged on the center.

Defenders and midfielders all swarmed up.

Now, Zhou Yi was still diving inside. It didn't seem like a smart choice at all…

He Ying received Zhou Yi's pass, but he couldn't turn around because the Borussia Dortmund youth team's center back was right behind him, having run out with him.

Actually, he didn't have to come out to support Zhou Yi. He could have just stood there and let Zhou Yi pass the ball. If Zhou Yi didn't pass, it was Zhou Yi's problem. If Zhou Yi lost the ball, it was still Zhou Yi's problem. It had nothing to do with him. As a striker, he should naturally be at the front, ready to seize opportunities to shoot.

But he didn't know what he was thinking at the time, so he ran out. As a result, he changed from facing the direction of attack to facing away from it, and he put himself in the opponent's encirclement.

At this moment, he saw that Zhou Yi had also rushed in with the ball, rushing into the encirclement that everyone else was avoiding!

Was he crazy?!

As He Ying wondered, he saw Zhou Yi beckoning to him, gesturing with his hand. At the same time, Zhou Yi shouted, "Turn around and run!"

Hearing this, it was as if a flash of lightning had struck He Ying's mind, and he suddenly understood what Zhou Yi was going to do.

So, without saying a word, he passed the ball back to Zhou Yi, and then he turned around, slipping past the Borussia Dortmund youth team's center back who was defending him.

Everyone's attention and eyes were drawn to the rolling ball, turning with the ball toward Zhou Yi.

Before receiving the ball, Zhou Yi made a move to lead the ball into the penalty area from the left—his body was leaning to the left, and his right foot was raised, facing the ball, as if he was going to lead the ball.

The Borussia Dortmund youth team's center back who was originally defending He Ying also naturally pounced over there, intending to block Zhou Yi's… breakthrough or shot.

But when Zhou Yi's right foot landed, he didn't lead the ball to the left. Instead, he flicked his ankle, using his toe to poke the ball to the completely opposite right!

The ball played a melodramatic "Turn Left, Turn Right" act with the Borussia Dortmund youth team's center back, rolling past him under his astonished gaze, and rolling to He Ying's feet.

He Ying, who had completed his turn, had returned to the edge of the penalty area. He received Zhou Yi's pass, and… there wasn't a single person around him—he was already behind the two Borussia Dortmund youth team defenders beside him!

And he wasn't offside!

Because the impatient Zhang Tao on the other side was rushing further forward than him, taking a Borussia Dortmund youth team center back back with him. He Ying was still in front of this Borussia Dortmund youth team defender, so naturally he wasn't offside!

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"Good ball!!" Hao Dong couldn't help but shout loudly, then slapped the assistant coach Xu Yang on the shoulder, causing the unsuspecting Xu Yang's knees to buckle and almost kneel on the ground. He rarely had such violent movements toward Xu Yang, but this time, he really couldn't help it!

Because this attack was too beautiful!

What was beautiful was that Zhou Yi directly passed the ball to He Ying in the center, while also running toward the center himself.

Everyone subconsciously avoided the heavily guarded center when attacking, but Zhou Yi did the opposite, completely catching Borussia Dortmund off guard.

Not only did he pass the ball to the center, he also went to the center himself, catching the Borussia Dortmund youth team off guard!

And his insertion completely disrupted the Borussia Dortmund youth team's defensive arrangement in the center—they were originally defending He Ying, but Zhou Yi suddenly came, and they wouldn't be able to react in time.

When they subsequently turned their defensive attention to Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi passed the ball back to He Ying. And at this time, He Ying was unmarked!

Xu Yang, who was slapped by Hao Dong and almost knelt on the ground, didn't complain. His attention wasn't on that at all. He was leaning to the side, his legs still bent, but his eyes were fixed on the field, staring at He Ying who had just received the ball.

There was a word stuck in his throat, ready to burst out at any moment.

Shoot——!

In the corner, Klopp also became nervous at this moment—he didn't want that number ten player from the Chinese team to miss this shot, it would be too much of a waste of this beautiful assist!

As for the fact that the team being scored on was his own youth team… compared to discovering a gold nugget, Klopp didn't care at all!

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He Ying received Zhou Yi's pass on the edge of the penalty area, then smoothly brought the ball into the penalty area. After that, he didn't continue to dribble the ball, but directly lifted his left foot and chipped a shot!

Not a powerful shot, but a chipped shot. He Ying chose a very calm way to handle it. The ball drew an arc in the air, bypassing the fingers of the Borussia Dortmund youth team goalkeeper who was rushing back, and then brushed past the far post and flew into the goal!

Goal!

He Ying scored twice!

After scoring, He Ying didn't daze off this time. He turned and ran to the sidelines, forcefully waving his fist in the air, venting all the emotions that were squeezing in his heart.

This was already a rare way for him to get excited. In general, he was a relatively quiet person.

After not scoring a goal in four consecutive games, He Ying, as the team's number one star, was also bearing the team's number one pressure. You couldn't see it on the surface, but in reality, all these pressures were suppressed in He Ying's heart.

Now, he vented them all through two goals.

After venting his inner emotions, he remembered how he had scored these two goals, and he planned to go find Zhou Yi.

As a result, as soon as he turned around, he was pounced on by his crazily excited teammates. As for Zhou Yi… he didn't even have time to find him.

Zhou Yi was about to go find He Ying to celebrate the goal when Yang Muge grabbed him around the waist.

"Good job, Zhou Yi!" Yang Muge excitedly hugged him and cheered. "So, you wanted me to rush forward to attract their defensive attention and reduce the pressure on you!"

"Yeah, I can't deal with them if they both come," Zhou Yi said with a smile.

"Amazing, to make so many decisions in such a short time…" Yang Muge's admiration was sincere.

Zhou Yi didn't stand on ceremony, "I'm good at this, ha!"

Just as he finished speaking, Sun Pan slapped him on the back, "Well—done——!!"

As a goalkeeper, he had rushed all the way from the backfield in front of the goal to participate in the celebration, which was really going all out.

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While the Chinese team players were frantically celebrating this goal, Xu Yang and Hao Dong hugged each other.

Neither of them concealed their inner excitement.

When they hadn't scored a single goal in the first four games, they didn't expect that the late goals would come in pairs!

In this game, they were leading the Borussia Dortmund youth team for the second time!

In the corner, Klopp wasn't at all frustrated by his youth team's loss of a goal. On the contrary, he had a smile on his face and kept muttering, "Interesting, interesting… not bad, not bad…"