Semester Assessment

Over the past month or so, Yang Yang felt that his biggest improvement lay in his mindset.

In the year since arriving in the Netherlands, he had faced setback after setback, becoming severely lacking in confidence. After joining the Almere Youth Team, he was battered so badly that he thought about giving up countless times.

But ever since he obtained the Super Training Ground, he had seen hope anew. Through grueling training sessions, he could clearly feel himself improving. Though the training was extremely monotonous and dull, this progress gave him hope.

The desire to succeed, the craving to improve—these became the driving force that kept him going.

Gradually, Yang Yang began to adapt to this kind of tedious basic training. After each session, he could almost sense the tiniest bit of progress, which gave him a great sense of accomplishment. Especially after participating in matches, he was overjoyed by his own improvement, which further solidified his determination to keep training.

The boost in strength from training, along with his increasingly outstanding performances in both practice and games, gave Yang Yang immense confidence. It also tempered his tenacious will, allowing him to dare to fight no matter the situation or opponent.

Even when he made mistakes, he could quickly turn his mindset around.

This mental fortitude served him well in the semester assessment. Even during the final thirty-minute scrimmage, when Yang Yang found himself on the opposite side from Henk Dimer and others, facing the team's starting left-back, he quickly became the primary attacking threat for his side.

With God's Perspective backing him up, every run Yang Yang made and every pass he received caused major trouble for the defender marking him. As long as he was given a sliver of space and his teammate delivered the ball accurately, he could quickly drive forward and create danger.

From the moment the teams were drawn and he was matched up against Yang Yang, the left-back had a grim look on his face. He gave it his all, yet still couldn't stop Yang Yang, who broke past him time and again. After about ten minutes, he realized his one-on-one defensive success rate was zero—a sheer humiliation, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Yang Yang had only one trick, but that seemingly simple Pendulum Dribble had been honed to perfection.

Not just in the Almere Youth Team, but even in inter-school matches, no defender could stop him.

If not for Yang Yang's poor fundamentals and frequent self-inflicted mistakes, his performance would have been even more impressive.

Fortunately, after fifteen minutes, John Rep and Van Gaal quickly reached a consensus and had Dick Van Pool sub Yang Yang off, along with Henk Dimer from the opposing side.

As for the latter, there was no need to say much—Yang Yang's strengths and weaknesses were obvious to everyone.

"That kid is strange, hard to figure out," John Rep said with a shake of his head.

In just over a month, Yang Yang felt like a completely different person to him, yet Rep couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"He stuck with basic training for over a month. You know how mind-numbingly dull that is—it's not something just anyone can endure. But he did it, and I hear he spends every waking moment training except for eating, sleeping, and going to school. His level of dedication is almost unbelievable."

Van Gaal had seen Yang Yang train with his own eyes, and his hard work and discipline earned even his admiration.

A sixteen-year-old with such willpower and self-control—Van Gaal was both impressed and curious. How far could a young man like this go? Would he ever have a chance to play professional football?

Of course, if they knew that Yang Yang even practiced in his sleep, they'd be even more stunned.

"What do you think of him?" John Rep asked with concern.

Van Gaal shook his head. "Hard to say, but I'd like to see more."

That matched John Rep's thoughts exactly.

"But at his age, having such a resilient will—at least in all the people I've seen in my life, he's one of a kind."

Van Gaal's words gave John Rep plenty to think about.

The two had once been teammates on Ajax's youth team. John Rep was a direct product of the system and later moved up to the first team, but Van Gaal wasn't accepted by Ajax and was forced to transfer elsewhere. Though he had some success, his playing career was far less illustrious than John Rep's.

After retiring, Van Gaal worked as a physical education teacher but soon landed a youth coaching job at Ajax. He made a name for himself in that field, developing top European stars like Kluivert, Seedorf, Davids, and Reiziger. In 1992, he took over as Ajax head coach, succeeding Leo Benhak.

After several years of building, under Van Gaal's leadership, Ajax heavily promoted its youth academy, and the team's strength soared. In 1995 and 1996, they reached the Champions League final both years. In 1995, they beat AC Milan 1-0 at Vienna's Happel Stadium to claim the title. In 1996, they drew 1-1 with Juventus in Rome but lost on penalties.

Those two years cemented Van Gaal's lofty status in Dutch and European football. Though he later had two unsuccessful stints coaching Barcelona and a less-than-ideal run with the Dutch National Team, his reputation remained intact.

John Rep deeply admired his former teammate, and he knew that Van Gaal's football philosophy held that hard work was more important than talent. He placed great emphasis on tactical discipline and player execution.

In short, a player like Yang Yang was exactly the type Van Gaal appreciated most.

After Yang Yang left the field, the beleaguered left-back finally unleashed his full power, utterly dominating the substitute right-winger who came on. He proved his own ability while making one thing crystal clear to everyone.

It wasn't that his defense was weak—it was that Yang Yang's one-on-one dribbling was just too strong.

Everyone was baffled. How could they not stop him when he only had that one move, the Pendulum Dribble?

The feeling Yang Yang gave was that every time he used it, it was different from before. There was no pattern to follow; he always adjusted based on the opponent, leaving defenders helpless.

When the thirty-minute scrimmage ended, Yang Yang listened to his teammates' complaints and smiled apologetically.

He hadn't meant to embarrass anyone, but on the pitch, his only goal was to fight for the top three.

His teammates were too strong. Henk Dimer and Nick were the team's leaders, and it was almost a given that they would take the top three spots. Yang Yang still had a long way to go in terms of fundamentals.

So, he had to rack up points in his areas of strength, playing to his advantages.

Looking around at his teammates, many of whom were on the verge of elimination, their faces filled with worry about whether their performance was good enough to avoid being cut by the coaching staff.

The scene struck a chord with Yang Yang.

Just over a month ago, he had been just like them, full of anxiety about the future. Who would have thought that a month later, he wouldn't be worried about elimination at all, but instead fighting for the top three?

All of this change came from the Super Training Ground and his own hard work.

Watching his teammates' expressions, he silently vowed to keep training and keep improving himself.

"Don't worry. With your performance today, you'll definitely pass."

Henk Dimer, standing nearby, thought Yang Yang was worried about the assessment and walked over to offer a comforting smile.

Yang Yang smiled back but didn't explain. He had once said he wanted to compete for the top three, but that had become a joke to everyone. Even now, not many believed it.

The main reason was that Yang Yang's fundamentals were truly too poor.

"A few days ago, I mentioned that matter to you—have you thought it over?" Henk Dimer asked.

Yang Yang nodded. "Sure, count me in when the time comes."

After receiving Henk Dimer's invitation, Yang Yang first discussed it with his uncle, then called his parents. Although the semester assessment hadn't happened yet, he confidently stated that he would be kept on the team.

With his son far away in the Netherlands, excelling in academics, and being scouted by a professional team on the verge of promotion to the second division, Yang Yang's parents had no real reason to make him give up football and return to China for school. They could only agree to let him stay in the Netherlands.

But they set a condition: no matter how his football career went, he had to keep his grades up. Even if he couldn't make it as a player, he could still attend a university in the Netherlands, and when he returned to China, the "overseas graduate" label would still open doors.

Yang Yang agreed readily.

This wasn't arrogance on his part. Ever since he got the Super Training Ground, he'd been full of energy every day and found his memory had become incredibly sharp. He could grasp the teacher's lecture after just one listen, and he could draw inferences and apply knowledge across different subjects.

Over the past month or so, even though he spent all his free time practicing football, his academic performance hadn't suffered—in fact, it had improved.

Yang Yang couldn't figure out the reason for this, and Old Bing hadn't given a good explanation either. It was just an unexpected bonus from the Super Training Ground.

After the morning semester assessment ended, the coaches still had to organize the scores, combine them with usual training performance, match records, and academic grades at school, then produce a final comprehensive score.

The comprehensive score wouldn't be ready until the afternoon, but many teammates had already started congratulating Henk Dimer and Nick in advance, saying they were basically guaranteed the top three spots with no surprises. Some had even made early requests for Henk Dimer and the others to get autographs from Ajax stars when they went to Talent Day.

Henk Dimer was confident of victory and accepted all his teammates' requests without refusal.

As for Yang Yang's bold claim that he would compete for a top-three spot, no one brought it up anymore after his teammates' attitudes shifted. Even if someone remembered, they didn't want to offend Yang Yang over it, but from start to finish, no one believed he could deliver on his boast.

After John Rep announced the dismissal, everyone headed back to the locker room to shower, then went their separate ways.

Yang Yang, meanwhile, dribbled a ball southward all the way back to the Skate Park, continuing his basic training.

But back in the coach's office in Almere, some disputes had arisen over the semester assessment scores.

It's a new week—I'm going to try to push hard, and I hope everyone will support me!