Chapter 57: An Outstanding Decision

Bang, bang, bang!

Three consecutive, simple, and rapid one-touch passes unfolded through the wall-pass combination among Wei Lai, Yang Fan, and Xiang Ming.

Amidst this sequence, the ball—initially forced into a closing trap—was poked through the opponent's legs by Wei Lai with his very last touch, sending it straight into the open space at the center circle where Chen Shaojie firmly brought it under control.

The Torino Under-15 players could only swivel their heads in frustration, completely unable to match the pace either mentally or physically.

"Holy shit! That was fun!"

Xiang Ming was so excited he nearly jumped into the air.

He loved this style of play: efficient, concise, consecutive one-touch passes that treated the opposition like playground dogs.

On the Torino Under-15 bench, the coaches instantly lost their composure.

The momentum of the match was turning ominous!

They had expected to easily brush aside this makeshift squad, yet they were being played in circles.

Did these kids think they were the youth academy of Barcelona or Athletic?

"Press up! Put pressure on them! Don't let them play out so easily!"

The Torino Under-15 coach shouted fiercely.

Hearing this, the Torino Under-15 players immediately surged forward, intending to disrupt the Green Little Lions' rhythm with aggressive pressing.

At this moment, the Green Little Lions played the ball back to Wei Lai.

The Green Little Lions were charging forward, and Torino Under-15 was charging forward as well.

Both sides seemed to move in relative motion, centered entirely around Wei Lai.

Torino Under-15 wanted to intercept Wei Lai's pass.

The Green Little Lions trusted that Wei Lai would handle this distribution properly.

Wei Lai first glanced up and spotted a gap, but... he lacked the confidence to thread it through.

His passing accuracy simply wasn't at that level yet.

Fortunately, a teammate had already anticipated and followed up.

Santos sprinted along the flank, running at a modest pace with choppy steps, adjusting his body to stay balanced for any situation.

He wasn't sure if Wei Lai had seen him, or if the ball would even come his way.

Yet he was prepared at every second!

Right at that instant, Wei Lai turned his head and locked eyes with Santos almost immediately, gently pressing the ball downward at an angle.

A flat pass without any spin sailed smoothly across the grass right toward him.

It was almost a picture-perfect ground pass. Santos adjusted his footing and violently whipped his leg through the ball.

Thud!

The ball traveled in a straight line across the pitch at a forty-five-degree angle toward the open space on the opposite left flank, right into the area behind the opposing fullback.

"Great pass!"

Before the ball even touched the ground, Xiang Ming was already shouting.

Xiang Ming sprinted forward with barely any deceleration, stretching out his left leg to trap the ball two meters in front of him, keeping his stride smooth for the continuation of his sprint.

Xiang Ming and the opposing fullback burst into a footrace to chase down the ball.

However, Xiang Ming possessed the superior speed. As he neared the ball, he executed a sudden downward cut-and-stop. Before the defender could stabilize his momentum, Xiang Ming drove his supporting foot into the turf, accelerated once more, and swept directly past him.

"Danger!!——"

The Torino Under-15 coach bellowed.

Their entire defensive line plunged into instant chaos.

Luo Xiang pinned the two opposing central defenders, while He Chaozhi drifted out to the far post to prevent the opposing left fullback from tracking back.

Meanwhile, in the half-space, Chen Shaojie and Yang Fan arrived in a thunderous charge.

"Ivan!"

Teammates roared at the right center-back to step up. If Xiang Ming was left unchecked, their goal would be in mortal peril.

Ivan, the Torino Under-15 right center-back, immediately stepped forward.

It was at this precise moment that Xiang Ming’s flexible ankles worked their magic. Locking his ankle joint, he delivered a sharp, snapping cut.

He slipped a direct through-ball right past the defender.

Luo Xiang launched forward instantly, cutting across on a diagonal run.

"Don't even think about shooting!" Torino Under-15's left center-back, Giuseppe, roared as he tracked back, gluing himself to Luo Xiang to deny him any shooting opportunity.

Yet Luo Xiang did not shoot. Instead, he gently cushioned the ball with the instep of his foot, dragging Giuseppe entirely out of position.

Leaving the ball rolling right where it was, Luo Xiang and Giuseppe shifted toward the front right.

Giuseppe turned his head in utter shock. He watched as Yang Fan, who had sprinted all the way from his own half, burst completely unchecked into the penalty box and unleashed a ferocious strike straight at the bouncing ball.

Boom!!

The ball rocketed toward the goal like a cannonball, bypassing the goalkeeper before he could even react, and buried itself directly into the bottom right corner.

Swish!

In the twenty-first minute, the Green Little Lions drew first blood.

Green Little Lions 1:0 Torino Under-15.

"Holy cat!!"

Having completed his shot, Yang Fan bolted straight toward the corner flag, leaped into the air, and threw his fist down in a roar of triumph.

In the next second, he grabbed the hem of his jersey, pulling it up as if to celebrate by taking it off, only to be wrestled firmly to the ground by He Chaozhi.

"Old He!" Yang Fan twisted his head around. "Am I a beast or what?"

Wrapping his arms around Yang Fan, He Chaozhi laughed heartily. "Absolute beast!"

"Old Xiang!" Yang Fan shifted his gaze. "Am I good or what?"

Xiang Ming raised a thumb. "Awesome!"

Yang Fan roared in sheer excitement, "I live to trample the elite!"

Discarding fatigue, Yang Fan had made a high-speed forward surge spanning the entire length of the pitch—from his own defensive third straight into the opponent's penalty box—culminating in this glorious goal.

On the sidelines, Tong Xianfeng and Liang Xu raised their hands in joyful celebration.

The live broadcast stream erupted into a frenzy as well.

'Absolute beasts! Opening the scoring!'
'Yang Fan sprinted all the way from his own defensive line to the opponent's box! If they hadn't passed to him there, the guy would've started cursing! Hahaha!'
'Xiang Ming handled that sequence brilliantly. His first touch placed the ball ahead to trick the defender into thinking he was going down the line, then he instantly cut inside, dragged the central defender away, and played a precise through-ball. Luo Xiang’s sudden flash of inspiration—choosing not to shoot himself but setting up Yang Fan instead—made the combination play look so fluid!'
'That little foreign kid's forty-five-degree long pass was so accurate too! He initiated the whole attack, picked out Xiang Ming with surgical precision, and created a one-on-one situation!'
'Everyone played wonderfully! Absolutely wonderful play!'
'It feels like the ball movement of this Green Little Lions team is so fluid. Previously, Xiang Ming had to drop deep to receive the ball and rely on individual brilliance to create attacking chances. While that increased his highlight reel, it lacked fluidity and stifled some of his attacking instincts! But in this squad, players like Yang Fan, Chen Shaojie, Yu Jiahe, and the little foreign kid can all distribute the ball. The attacking threat is immense!'
'Look at their positioning during the attack—a textbook 3-2-2-3 formation! Three defenders anchoring the backline, the little foreign kid or Yang Fan pushing up centrally to form the midfield alongside Wei Lai, Chen Shaojie and Yu Jiahe pushing into the half-spaces, He Chaozhi and Xiang Ming hugging the flanks, with Luo Xiang constantly primed to dart forward! The entire pitch is completely opened up! Though this time it was Yang Fan who charged all the way into the left half-space to temporarily occupy Yu Jiahe's zone, Yu Jiahe quickly dropped back to cover!'

George silently lowered his head. He wrote down 'Decision-making!' in his notebook, marking it with an asterisk for emphasis.

This attacking sequence had indeed been breathtaking, executed with remarkable telepathic understanding.

Ultimately, however, the genesis of this attack was the product of sound decision-making.

And whose feet was the ball at?

Number Five!

And what had he done?

He played it back to the fullback Santos, enabling him to deliver the forty-five-degree long pass.

First question: Did this Number Five notice the open space?

Yes!

Because from the very beginning, Wei Lai had glanced back toward the opponent's half, and judging by his line of sight, there was every reason to suspect that Number Five had spotted the space in advance.

Building upon that premise, the next step in the deduction process:

Given this scenario, how should one choose to attack?

There were two possible choices.

First, exactly as Number Five chose, laying the ball off to a teammate who was facing the opponent's goal, allowing a player oriented toward the attack to execute the next phase.

Second, beating his marker first and then connecting with a long pass himself!

Yet, compared to the second option, the first was far more prompt and yielded a superior outcome.

Naturally, this was predicated on the fullback Santos also spotting that expanse of open grass.

The right choice made at the most opportune moment.

George wrote in his notebook once more.

"Possesses excellent vision, stable rhythm control, transition ability, decent ability to shake off pressure, and outstanding, decisive decision-making..."

He paused for a moment before adding, "Lacks confidence in his own distribution, or perhaps lacks faith in his long-passing technique..."

He had noticed that the Chinese Number Five had observed the openings on several occasions yet opted against a direct long ball, presumably lacking faith in his own long-passing range and choosing the safer route instead.

Yet there was no fault in that!

After all, for the defensive midfielder position, stability and safety far outweighed unnecessary risks.

George closed his notebook and exhaled softly. "What a peculiar boy!"

Vision, decision-making, tempo control, containment, coordinated defense, and a whole array of high-level attributes—even hinting at the embryonic potential of true match-reading ability.

These were exceptionally high-level traits, qualities that many professional players failed to master.

Yet, compared to these advanced gifts, his basic technical fundamentals seemed somewhat lacking by comparison.

However...

The corners of George's mouth curled upward slightly.

None of those were insurmountable problems.

Fundamentals could be drilled through repetition, but those advanced qualities could never be manufactured through practice alone—they demanded pure, unadulterated talent.