Chapter 239: Tremble, Ambitious One
"Ding dong."
"Please, host choose 'Training' or 'Match' mode."
"Match."
"Please, host choose pitch position: A Forward, B Midfielder, C…"
"A."
"Detected that the host's team is currently in a predicament. Matching host with the [Xia Qi Zone] attribute."
"Carry the ball down either flank into the penalty-area channel; on the corner of the box cut inside with the left foot or use the outside of the right foot to drag and stop; curl with either foot to the far corner — guaranteed!"
Awesome!
That's like two Del Pieros!
Peak Alessandro Del Piero carved out the [Del Piero Zone] on the left flank of the box; the system-granted skill is basically having a Del Piero on each side.
Xia Qi couldn't help but feel a bit of regret for Robin van Persie and held a two-minute moment of silence for him!
"Please choose 'Autonomous Mode' or 'One-Click AFK Mode'."
"Friendly reminder: During AFK, the system will automatically complete various action metrics for the host."
"One-click AFK!"
"…"
…
"CCTV-5, CCTV-5!"
Huang Jianxiang's voice came through the television, full of excitement and expectation. His partner He Wei followed: "Good evening, viewers. We are now bringing you live the fourth match of the 2014 Brazil World Cup quarterfinals — the Netherlands, the Orange, facing the Three Lions of England."
Huang Jianxiang, brimming with feeling, continued: "The match is being held at the Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador. There's less than half an hour to kickoff, and more than 67,000 seats are already packed."
To the strains of the World Cup theme, the referee led both teams out onto the field.
Huang Jianxiang excitedly said: "Viewers, now let us introduce the starting lineups for both teams."
"The Netherlands wear their traditional orange. Coach Louis van Gaal has set them in an aggressive 3-4-1-2 formation.
"The Dutch are one of the few teams at this World Cup playing three at the back.
"Their starting goalkeeper is Jasper Cillessen; the back three are Stefan de Vrij, Ron Vlaar, and Bruno Martins Indi. Left wing-mid is Daley Blind, right wing-mid is Dirk Kuyt. The three midfielders are Memphis Depay, Wesley Sneijder, and Georginio Wijnaldum. Up front are Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben.
"Depay's late runs to the back post and Sneijder's long-range strike are two of the Netherlands' other trump cards."
"England wear white. Their starting formation is 4-2-3-1… Huh — why is Wayne Rooney positioned behind Raheem Sterling and Theo Walcott, while Xia Qi is leading the line?
"Did Roy Hodgson deploy a new tactic?"
On the touchline Hodgson looked equally baffled, but he knew the cameras would cut to him for a close-up, so he quickly composed himself and put on the "I have everything under control" face.
On the other side, veteran coach Louis van Gaal looked grave.
Seeing Xia Qi playing as a center forward made van Gaal uneasy.
He had expected Hodgson to stick to the old tactics, and had prepared a targeted plan accordingly.
But Hodgson had predicted his prediction and switched formation!
Although the nominal formation was still 4-2-3-1 with the same eleven, Xia Qi's positioning had changed.
If it were any other player, van Gaal might not have worried so much.
But this was Xia Qi — not just any striker; he was a goalscoring machine even more freakish than Ronaldo was at his peak!
The attack-heavy, defense-light Dutch suddenly felt targeted.
Hodgson, you've shamed the coaching world by breaking the "don't change a winning setup" rule! Circle and curse you!
(Hodgson, in tears: I'm innocent! The players are running this!)
"Beep!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, the match has begun!"
"The Netherlands kick off. It's 5:00 p.m. local Brazilian time; the sun hasn't set yet, and the Dutch have to attack into the glare."
"Robin van Persie starts!"
He sent the ball to Sneijder behind him, then strode boldly toward England's goal…
On the pitch, Xia Qi anticipated that Sneijder would be the Oranje's attacking initiator and sprinted at Sneijder the instant the whistle blew.
Sneijder, perhaps not fully in the match yet, failed to anticipate the danger.
Think about it — Xia Qi is England's most advanced player. To press him should have been a deeper-positioned Rooney.
Van Persie played, Sneijder received, settled the ball, and looked up to scan the front.
That glance nearly cost him half his life.
The big Chinese lad, Xia Qi, was sprinting straight at him!
Yes — flying at him! A savage flying tackle!
Sneijder's brain ordered: get the ball and run! But his thigh didn't get the memo. Xia Qi stole the ball!
"Beautiful tackle!"
"No foul. That was a textbook tackle!"
"Xia Qi's defensive work-rate is outrageous — tracking back from the front."
"The ball's been fed to Rooney…"
After Xia Qi intercepted, he burst forward! Rooney carried the ball and before Memphis Depay slid in to defend, he played a forward pass.
It was into the run of Xia Qi, and the weight and timing were perfect.
Xia Qi sprinted toward the drop point with Ron Vlaar on his shoulder.
Xia Qi slowed in his run and reached out a leg to stop the ball.
Seeing Xia Qi take the ball and launch a counter, van Gaal's stomach tightened, but Xia Qi's first touch made the master coach smile.
In van Gaal's football world that touch smelled awful. To put it bluntly: technically neat, but lacking vision!
That touch robbed England's counter of real pace and danger; the Dutch defensive alarm dropped from orange to yellow.
But in the next second van Gaal's eyes nearly fell out of his head…
After stopping the ball Xia Qi turned smoothly in one motion, having been facing away from goal and from the defender Vlaar because of the chest touch — now he was facing Vlaar.
During this move Vlaar didn't recklessly lunge; he wouldn't hand over his balance so easily.
Everyone knows Xia Qi is a striker who gobbles up "kids" — prudence is reasonable.
Theo Walcott, on the right, raised a hand for the ball. Xia Qi immediately answered: he dragged the ball with his right foot and feinted a pass.
At that moment Vlaar couldn't hesitate; he took a half-step with his left foot and shifted his balance, calling loudly for teammates to watch Walcott.
While they scrambled to break the Xia–Walcott link, Xia Qi pulled the ball back and, in the space of that retracting touch, very stealthily nudged the ball with his toe.
The ball slid through the small aperture that Vlaar's half-step created between his spreading legs.
In a flash that tiny opening was seized by Xia Qi with pinpoint accuracy — an act that had veteran van Gaal marveling. As an old coach he knew how difficult that was!
Almost simultaneously, Xia Qi twisted his body like a long serpent and slid past Vlaar's right-hand side with silkiness.
Vlaar had been eaten alive by Xia Qi! Unwilling to be a mere background, Vlaar reached to haul someone down and appeal for a foul — but his hand grabbed nothing but air!
"Ah! Nutmeg dribble!"
"Vlaar has been eaten alive by Xia Qi!"
"That one-man run-per-game is back."
After the nutmeg Xia Qi kept driving forward. Vlaar, coming to his senses, chased relentlessly.
Dutch fans in the stands watched in panic as Vlaar could not close the distance to the ball-carrying Xia Qi.
"Fuck! Xia Qi runs faster with the ball than he does!"
"An aircraft carrier turning on a dime!"
Unlike disgruntled Dutch fans, England supporters leaped from their seats, pumping fists and chanting: "Charge, Xia!"
Xia Qi's dribble, the stadium's intensity, and his reputation for devastating dribbles instantly threw the Dutch backline into chaos!
They all poured toward the ball-carrying Xia Qi en masse.
Vlaar and Georginio Wijnaldum chased behind him; Bruno Martins Indi and Stefan de Vrij sprinted out of the box.
Daley Blind also came across from the flank.
Seeing this scene, van Gaal wanted to cry. He couldn't believe these morons were his disciples.
He rushed to the touchline and yelled: "Mark Walcott! Watch Xia Qi's passes."
De Vrij heard van Gaal's shout and thought it made sense; he skidded to a stop and veered to cover Walcott.
Surrounded, Xia Qi didn't pass — he drove on.
Martins Indi, preparing to stop Xia Qi, was willing even to concede a free kick in the front third.
A frontal collision risks injury, so he came in sideways to try to shepherd him.
Just before the bodies met, Xia Qi suddenly slanted a pass and simultaneously feinted and accelerated away, barely escaping Martins Indi's challenge.
That hit didn't connect but forced Xia Qi toward the right channel of the box and bought Vlaar the time to recover.
As Xia Qi closed to the ball, Vlaar slid in with a tackle — a dangerous, potentially cardable, angled rear-side tackle: proof Xia Qi had really put the Dutch defense on edge.
And yet Xia Qi still managed to accelerate again! He nudged the ball forward — this time a light push — in a position with De Vrij marking Walcott and not far from the keeper; Xia Qi dared not push the ball too far.
He pushed and accelerated, narrowly avoiding another tackle.
Dutch fans' hearts pounded; by now Xia Qi had beat three men in sequence — Vlaar alone had been nutmegged twice — a double feast! They gaped, leaning forward, eyes wide. Compared with England fans used to Xia Qi's torrent of dribbles, the Dutch crowd were greenhorns.
After evading Vlaar's sliding tackle, Xia Qi had broken to the right channel of the box.
De Vrij hesitated — he didn't know who to mark.
But in the next second Xia Qi made the decision for him.
Xia Qi struck a curled shot.
"Ding dong!"
"The Xia Qi Zone has been activated."
To the pleasant chime, the ball first flew toward the near post; after Jasper Cillessen pushed it out, it arced in a strange curve toward the far corner.
The entire flight path described an "S."
"A Kua-style curve!"
"Xia Qi nutmegged three men and curled a beautiful Kua-style arc from the right channel of the box to put England ahead!"
"With a Xia Qi like this, tell me — is Robin van Persie afraid?"
(END CHAPTER)
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