This Kid Is Interesting

Although Babel had deliberately kicked him, he still instinctively held back some of his strength.

It hurt badly at the moment of impact, but he recovered quickly. After hopping in place a few times, Yang Yang threw himself back into the match, already having figured out a countermeasure.

As he passed by Henk Dimer and Nick, Yang Yang briefly laid out his plan.

Both teammates understood that Yang Yang was the team's attacking spearhead, and their job was to make that spearhead sharper and deadlier, so they naturally agreed to cooperate unconditionally.

The match resumed, and both sides quickly forgot about Babel's yellow card and the minor clash between the players.

Yang Yang continued to drop back actively into midfield, patiently waiting for an opportunity.

Perhaps spurred on by the yellow card, Babel grew even more impatient up front, causing Ajax, with him as the attacking core, to run into some problems in their offense.

It was clear that this attacking core was unstable, especially when he lost his temper.

Although Almere was outmatched, after several days of targeted defensive drills, John Rep had managed to shape the team's defensive framework into a cohesive unit, which played a crucial role against Ajax's attacks.

Everyone carried out their tasks meticulously. Yang Yang also actively defended on the right side of midfield, patiently waiting for a chance to appear.

With Ajax dominating the field, Emanuelson, who had an attacking heart, began to push forward frequently.

Compared to being a left-back, he wished he could be like his former senior Davids, galloping down the left flank with flowing braids—attacking when needed, defending when required, and occasionally sneaking into the box to deliver a fatal blow.

That would be absolutely cool.

Time ticked by, and Ajax continued to dominate, launching wave after wave of attacks, but they still couldn't breach Almere's goal. The home team was forced to retreat into the thirty-meter zone for a tight defense.

It seemed only a matter of time before Almere's goal would fall.

But that seemingly predictable path was suddenly disrupted in the thirty-ninth minute.

The disruption came from an unexpected incident on the pitch.

Center-forward Babel pulled out to the left side of the box to receive a pass from a teammate, but his touch was poor. An Almere center-back poked the ball away, and Nick beat Ajax's left winger Elmas to the ball, kicking it forward to Yang Yang.

Yang Yang, originally with his back to the attacking direction, didn't go for the ball but seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, knowing no one was behind him. He quickly turned and chased after the ball's path.

With the ball lost up front and a counterattack brewing, Maduro immediately charged over to stop Yang Yang.

But unexpectedly, before Maduro could get close, Yang Yang swept the ball with the inside of his right foot, passing it horizontally to Henk Dimer, then accelerated past Maduro.

In that moment of Maduro's shock, Henk Dimer quickly played the ball back, and the two executed a beautiful one-two in the right-central area. By the time Yang Yang received the ball again, he had already crossed the halfway line, bearing down on Ajax's thirty-meter zone.

The entire stadium erupted in gasps.

In the past few games, they had clearly seen that every time Yang Yang charged forward with the ball, it yielded results, and they believed this time would be no different.

Some fans in the stands were even calling out Yang Yang's name.

Yang Yang dribbled forward rapidly, with Emanuelson sprinting back on his flank and Ajax's left center-back Vermaelen ahead of him. Both were tough opponents, especially Vermaelen.

This center-back wasn't tall, but he was agile and explosive. Yang Yang had failed to shake him off several times before.

Against an opponent like Ajax, opportunities like this might only come a handful of times in a match, and Yang Yang couldn't afford to waste any.

But how to deal with the double-team?

Entering the thirty-meter zone, Yang Yang suddenly slowed down, letting Emanuelson overshoot him.

Ajax's left-back was startled, stopped abruptly, and turned to charge back at Yang Yang.

But at that moment, Yang Yang burst into acceleration, cutting the ball inside and surging forward, leaving Emanuelson grasping at air.

Vermaelen stepped up immediately, lunging to poke the ball from Yang Yang's left foot, but Yang Yang suddenly dragged the ball back with his left foot, then gently nudged it to the right with his right, seemingly breaking to the outside.

The Belgian center-back reacted swiftly, his body nimble. His earlier lunge was just a probing feint. Seeing Yang Yang change direction, he immediately turned to block the outside route.

But to his surprise, Yang Yang gently nudged the ball with his right foot, adjusted with small steps on his left, then stepped on the ball with his right and dragged it back again, executing two consecutive changes of direction in an incredibly tight space and an extremely short time.

Faced with this sudden shift, a gap opened on Vermaelen's inside right. Yang Yang pushed the ball with his left foot and burst forward, charging past Vermaelen's right side.

The moment he was shaken off, the Belgian center-back cursed inwardly and instinctively reached out to grab, hoping to at least stop the man if not the ball. But Yang Yang seemed to have anticipated this, sidestepping to dodge the grab, leaving him clutching air.

This entire chain of events seemed to happen in the blink of an eye. All anyone saw was Yang Yang cut past Emanuelson, then shake off Vermaelen with two quick changes of direction before accelerating, forcing the ball out from between the two defenders.

At that moment, Yang Yang used the consecutive drag-and-turn move from [Ronaldo's Rush].

He hadn't fully mastered it yet, but after cutting past Emanuelson, he knew the Pendulum Dribble wouldn't fool Vermaelen. So, thinking on his feet, he used the consecutive drag-and-turn instead, and it worked wonders.

The stadium erupted in thunderous gasps.

After accelerating, Yang Yang took long strides, charging at full speed toward Ajax's penalty area.

Goalkeeper Sven Dabelima rushed out decisively, but near the penalty spot, he met Yang Yang barreling toward him. A feint from the Pendulum Dribble fooled him, and after rounding the keeper, Yang Yang calmly slotted the ball into the empty net before Ajax's right center-back could catch up.

The moment the ball rolled into the net, the entire stadium exploded with thunderous cheers.

Yang Yang leaped up from the grass in excitement, spun around, and charged toward his teammates, pumping his arms high in the air, shouting wildly to vent his exhilaration. Especially when he ran past Babel, he yelled extra loudly.

In that moment, he clearly saw the fury on Babel's face, and it felt incredibly satisfying.

The thousands of fans in the stadium were all chanting "Yang Yang" in unison.

And Yang Yang was tightly embraced by his teammates, surrounded in the middle.

"Continuous changes of pace and direction, plus dragging the ball and stepovers—he looks like he's trying to master all of Ronaldo's signature moves."

Up in the presidential box, Van Basten chuckled softly.

Many players had used that move, but none were as famous for it as Ronaldo. Whether in the Eredivisie, La Liga, or even Serie A, known for its tight defenses, Ronaldo's shifts in speed and direction, combined with his dragging stepovers, were a nightmare for every defender.

Especially when paired with his astonishing speed and explosiveness.

Aside from the Almere chairman and fans, no one was more excited than Fred Arroyo.

He was the one who had recommended Yang Yang to Ajax, and the better Yang Yang performed, the more it proved his eye as a scout.

After hearing Van Basten's words, Arroyo smiled slightly. "His two biggest idols are you, Marco, and Ronaldo."

How much Yang Yang admired Van Basten was obvious from how he'd come over to shake his hand before the match, along with his nervous expression at the time. And his way of idolizing Ronaldo was to learn Ronaldo's on-field techniques.

From the Pendulum Dribble to continuous directional changes and dragging the ball, he was making rapid progress along that path.

Van Basten had no doubt about what Arroyo said, simply because these moves relied on practice.

In truth, executing them wasn't hard. Without any defenders, countless players could do them well. But to use them as flexibly and naturally as Yang Yang just had on the pitch required relentless hard training, drilling the entire sequence into instinct.

Every player started by imitating their idols, and Van Basten was no exception. He believed Yang Yang was the same.

"This kid's interesting," Van Basten said with a smile.

With Yang Yang's goal, Almere led Ajax 1-0 at home.

The goal thrilled everyone at Almere, sparking wild celebrations, but it also served as a harsh wake-up call for Ajax, especially Vermaelen and Emanuelson.

Emanuelson knew exactly what his mistake was—he'd pushed too far forward, letting Yang Yang seize the advantage.

As for Vermaelen, he blamed himself for being so easily fooled by Yang Yang.

So after conceding, both men locked onto Yang Yang tightly. Emanuelson, in particular, stuck to him like a plaster, giving him no room to move freely.

The rest of Ajax launched a furious assault on Almere's goal, but their eagerness to equalize made them impatient. Babel made frequent mistakes up front, and Ajax failed to score before halftime, trailing 1-0 at the break.

But Almere's situation was just as tough.

Under Ajax's relentless pressure, they'd held on for nearly fifty minutes, draining their energy. When Yang Yang returned to the locker room, some teammates were even cramping up, a testament to how grueling the first half had been.

Head Coach John Rep knew his team's limits. Their first-half performance had already pushed them to the edge, and he couldn't ask for more. So during the break, he simply encouraged them to keep fighting and hold onto the 1-0 lead.