Halftime was over.
Lin Wanxing’s students were still chattering before stepping back onto the field.
In short, they believed it was impossible for a Chinese person to coach at a European football club, so he must be a fraud.
Yet the young man remained composed from start to finish.
He explained his tactical arrangements to the students in an unhurried yet highly persuasive tone. He flipped open a page in his notebook, drew two circles and two lines, and briefly marked the running positions.
The students listened attentively, but boys of seventeen or eighteen are the most resistant to being told what to do. After listening, they raised objections to the tactical plan.
"Isn’t this too simple? Won’t it be easily defended?"
"It is simple. Football has countless complex techniques and tactics, but the simplest one is the only one that matters."
"What is it?"
"Keep your eyes on the ball and kick it into the opponent’s goal," the young man said.
This cryptic statement left the students silent for a few seconds.
But soon, they bounced back. So, throughout the break, the students in the rest area were shouting and arguing, not at all like the exhausted group they had been moments before.
The young man’s argument for persuading the students was straightforward: since they were going to lose anyway, why not give it a try?
Now they were back on the football field, taking their positions near the center circle. A warm breeze swept across the pitch. Sitting under the shade of the canopy, Lin Wanxing felt somewhat unaccustomed to the sudden quiet.
She glanced beside her. After talking with the students during the break, the young man hadn’t left immediately but had taken a seat next to her.
He was holding a bottle of mineral water.
Lin Wanxing’s gaze flickered toward it. He paused, unscrewed the cap, and offered it to her.
Lin Wanxing froze. "No, no need," she said, but her hand instinctively reached out.
The young man, however, naturally withdrew the water bottle and took a sip himself.
Lin Wanxing: "..."
The afternoon sun was glaring.
The football was placed, and the players were ready.
Lin Wanxing picked up her own bottle of water and unscrewed the cap. "They all say your tactics are unreliable. Can they really execute what you’ve laid out?"
"They are indeed unreliable. No normal coach would arrange things this way."
Lin Wanxing: "Ah, then how would a normal coach arrange it?"
"A normal coach would ask the players to feign weakness first, luring the opponent in. Because after the second half kicks off, the other side will inevitably launch an all-out attack. That’s the time to seize the moment when the opponent is carried away, intercept the ball, launch a quick counterattack, and use a few ground passes to deliver the ball to the striker."
"And then?"
"If they manage to score, the opponent’s morale will undoubtedly take a huge hit. After the restart, have the players press aggressively, sparing no energy. Once the opponent’s formation breaks down, attack again, create another goal, and level the score."
The young man’s tone remained unhurried. Sitting beside him, Lin Wanxing heard the sharp blast of the whistle on the field and, for a few seconds, couldn’t make out what he was saying.
"Then why didn’t you arrange it that way?" Lin Wanxing asked.
"I can’t let your money go to waste. After all, I’m worth it," he said.
—
The second half kicked off. Fu Xinshu passed the ball back, maintaining the football team’s possession.
The ensuing match was even more breathless.
It was exactly as the young man had said: after the second half began, Anning Experimental started pressing fiercely in the front field.Although the ball remained at her students' feet, in Lin Wanxing's view, Anning Experimental's constant close marking had worn her students down with defensive efforts.
It seemed that once on the field, the tactics the young man had just outlined were either erased from their minds or their inherent distrust made them afraid to take risks.
Whatever the reason, the situation on the field seemed to have reverted to how it was at the end of the first half.
Each student appeared to have their energy drained again within just a few minutes. They kept their heads down, fearful of opponents stealing the ball, their mental state growing increasingly exhausted.
Sitting on the sidelines, Lin Wanxing could feel the pressure from the constant collisions. Under the scorching sun and intense exercise, your mind turns to mush, like sitting in a booth with exciting music blaring, feeling the thumping resonance in your organs.
She couldn't help but glance beside her. The young man remained calm, not showing any anger that the students weren't executing his tactics.
She was about to speak when sudden exclamations came from Anning Experimental's substitute bench.
She immediately turned her head.
On the field, Qi Liang was dribbling when, under high-pressure defense, he was caught off guard and Anning Experimental slid in to steal the ball.
Anning Experimental quickly organized their offensive formation, with central players making diagonal runs, pulling wide to create space.
It was Anning Experimental's number 10 again. After receiving the ball, he flicked it up, swiftly turned, and with smooth, natural footwork, broke through Yu Ming's defense.
The penalty area was right there, the ball still in the air.
Goalkeeper Feng Suo was positioned too far forward. Number 10 only needed to chip the ball to easily send it into the net.
Just then, a "thud" sounded near the penalty area as Fu Xinshu made a powerful clearance, sending the ball soaring high.
Everyone watched the ball arc across the sky above the field. Almost no one noticed Hongjing No. 8 Middle School's number 7, forward Chen Jianghe, starting to sprint madly.
From the sidelines, it looked like a hopeless chase.
After all, this wasn't an intentional long pass but a desperate clearance in a critical moment.
The ball had already flown up before the forward began his desperate run toward where it might land.
Lin Wanxing's heart leaped into her throat.
But soon, along with Chen Jianghe and everyone else on the field, she watched helplessly as the ball grazed the sideline, bounced several times, and landed out of bounds.
He didn't make it in time.
Chen Jianghe stopped running, hands on his knees, bending over and breathing heavily.
From Anning Experimental's substitute bench came scattered sighs of relief.
Lin Wanxing watched her students on the field.
Fu Xinshu stood stunned for a few seconds.
Then, Chen Jianghe looked up from his heavy panting and gave Fu Xinshu a firm, meaningful nod.
On the field, the students of Hongjing No. 8 Middle School seemed to jolt awake from a deep dream.
Some of them glanced toward their coaches' bench.
"Was this... a case of bad luck?" Lin Wanxing asked.
"No, your luck is very good."
The young man stood up from his chair, hands in his pockets, and took his place at the edge of the field.
Lin Wanxing didn't understand. Frowning deeply, she turned her gaze back to the field.
The ball had landed outside the white sideline. Anning Experimental took the throw-in, and the match resumed.
With possession changing hands, the ball came to Anning Experimental's feet, and they launched another fierce attack.
But this time, something seemed to have shifted slightly on the field.
From Lin Wanxing's limited knowledge of football, it appeared that starting from Chen Jianghe's desperate sprint, her students had begun to lift their heads just a little bit higher.Although most players were still wearily chasing the football, stretched thin by Anning Experimental's ground-passing combinations, their gazes were no longer confined to their feet. Instead, they occasionally looked further afield.
There, the forwards were making active yet seemingly meaningless runs, as if poised to counterattack at any moment.
This sense of "still having hope" gradually sharpened the focus of every Hongjing No. 8 Middle School student on the field.
Perhaps due to the prolonged lack of goals, Anning Experimental's number 10 began raising his hand, calling for the ball from his teammates.
Defender Yu Ming stepped up to mark him once more.
Seeing Yu Ming charging from the left, the number 10 deftly nudged the ball to the right and accelerated past him.
Again, it was the number 10 against Yu Ming.
But this time, Yu Ming didn't hesitate. He immediately turned to pursue.
Simultaneously, the number 10 froze in alarm as another player materialized before him.
It was hard to believe how precisely the newcomer cut off his path, intercepting the ball with a simple, light poke.
To be exact, the tackle looked effortless—just being in the right place at the right time. Yet it successfully plugged the defensive gap, effortlessly neutralizing the opponent's attacking intent.
That player was Qi Liang.
However, what followed left many bewildered. After winning the ball, Qi Liang didn't opt to pass to a teammate and consolidate possession to build a ground attack.
Instead, he quickly dribbled forward, lifted his right leg, and launched a long, powerful kick toward the front field.
Qin Ao began making an angled diagonal run, and Lin Wanxing noticed it was exactly the movement pattern the youth had sketched in his notebook earlier.
But...
In barely a breath, the ball soared beyond Qin Ao's reach, flying out of bounds and slamming heavily against the green wire fence beside the pitch.
A loud clang echoed.
Scattered laughter rose from Anning Experimental's substitute bench.
On the field, Qi Liang kicked the turf twice in frustration, as if blaming himself for the imprecise pass.
Further away, Qin Ao stood alone in Anning Experimental's empty half, raising his hands overhead and clapping firmly twice in encouragement.
Lin Wanxing stood up and walked over to the youth.
The ensuing phase of the match even bordered on comical.
Many of Hongjing No. 8 Middle School's long passes resembled clumsy, desperate clearances.
But Lin Wanxing understood clearly: her students were gradually honing their concentration amid the rapidly shifting dynamics of the game.
They were no longer trapped in narrow-minded defense but constantly seeking opportunities.
Once, twice, three times.
Each thud of a long pass struck Lin Wanxing's heart like a heavy blow.
Yet, it always fell just short—by that tiny margin. Or so Lin Wanxing believed.
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