Outside-Foot Curve!

What was that? Tang Ye frowned.

Thirty-seven years old? Forced into humiliating retirement? Bullshit, he was clearly only sixteen! This was probably someone's cheat system sent to the wrong account, but Tang Ye chose to ignore it.

Without a system, he could slack off. With a system, he could grow stronger—but he would still slack off.

Working hard was impossible. It would be impossible for the rest of his life.

"Beep!"

The match reached the 72nd minute when Go Ahead Eagles' winger committed an attacking foul, stomping on Milner's ankle.

"Fuck!"

Merent cursed loudly. "What the hell was that? That was a red card! A red card!"

The referee showed the Go Ahead Eagles player who committed the foul a yellow card. The team doctor hurried onto the pitch to treat Milner.

Merent received some bad news: Milner could no longer continue playing.

In the 74th minute, the team's starting midfielder lost his ability to continue. Merent covered his face with both hands and looked toward the bench.

"Ferlanas, you..."

Merent had just been about to send Ferlanas on from the bench when the assistant coach walked over and leaned close to whisper in his ear. "It's a friendly. Let that Chinese kid go on—it'll help our ratings!"

"You mean Tang? No, no, no, that's impossible. Our opponent is Go Ahead Eagles. How can we let him play?"

Merent looked down on players who did not work hard from the bottom of his heart. He would never let Tang Ye take the field.

"It's management's decision."

The assistant coach whispered, "We need to sell jerseys..."

Letting a Chinese player appear in a match, even if it was only a friendly, would be a huge help for Utrecht's jersey sales.

And because of Tang Ye, Utrecht's reserve team would gain quite a few Chinese fans. "Damn it!"

Merent cursed and turned to Tang Ye on the bench. "Tang, you're on!"

"Huh? Me?"

Tang Ye opened his eyes. There were only a little over ten minutes left in the match. Taking another shower just to play for ten minutes was not worth it, so Tang Ye did not really want to go on. "Sir, I haven't warmed up yet..."

"Don't talk back to me. Warm up while you play!"

Merent did not expect Tang Ye to actually accomplish anything after going on. As long as the guy obediently finished the remaining ten-odd minutes, that would be enough.

"Fine, fine."

Tang Ye tightened his laces and slowly walked toward the edge of the pitch.

At thirty-seven, you still harbored great ambitions and had stepped onto the field once more.

Though old, your aspirations stretched a thousand miles. Drawing your reward...

You obtained: Modrić's Sublime Outside-Foot Shot (Right Foot)

!!!

Modrić's outside-foot shot? Tang Ye's eyes lit up.

He had thought he would receive some ancient football star's skill. He had not expected to get a Modrić outside-foot template.

Wait!

Tang Ye suddenly thought of something.

The system was set in the year 2036, so strictly speaking, Luka Modrić really was already retired.

Awesome. The system really was something else! On camera, Tang Ye, wearing the number 99 jersey, stood at the edge of the pitch.

Holy crap, who said Tang Ye would never get a chance to play? Wasn't this his chance? Fucking awesome!

Not bad, not bad. Those seventy-plus minutes of waiting weren't wasted.

Anyone who bet on a draw or a Utrecht win is going to lose. Utrecht hasn't won a single match Tang Ye played in.

You can't put it like that. Including friendlies, Tang Ye has only played three matches for Utrecht. This is his fourth.

Three matches, a 100% loss rate. Tell me that isn't GG.

Damn it, I'm betting on a draw. I'm supporting Tang Ye!

After Tang Ye came on, the number of viewers in Huanledou's livestream suddenly began to rise. That was because an app called Dongqiudi pinned a news post after Tang Ye took the field.

"Sixteen-year-old deadweight makes his fourth substitute appearance. Come watch!"

Tang Ye had just high-fived Milner and stepped onto the pitch. He had no idea that so many people were watching him.

The match continued. Utrecht's reserve goalkeeper, Bednarek, took a set piece from the backfield, and players from both sides began battling for possession in Go Ahead Eagles' half.

Relying on their height advantage, Go Ahead Eagles won the first ball. Seeing this, Merent hurriedly called for the players on the pitch to press forward.

"Get up there! Go straight at them!"

All of Utrecht's players were now in the opponent's half, while Go Ahead Eagles had possession. This was an extremely dangerous situation. If Utrecht failed to win the ball back, Go Ahead Eagles would have a chance to launch a counterattack.

Because Utrecht's defensive line was completely empty!

Hearing the coach urge them on, Tang Ye jogged lazily toward the player with the ball.

This kind of sluggish pressing had no real effect. The player in possession easily passed the ball away.

"!!!"

Amrabat reacted quickly, rushing forward to use his shoulder to gain position before kicking the ball away.

"Holy shit, Jesus!"

Merent let out a long breath. When he saw the other side release that pass just now, his heart had practically stopped beating.

Fortunately, Amrabat came through! "Xuuu—!!!"

"Xuuuu!!"

"Beep, beep, beep!"

The match continued, but the more than two thousand home fans in the stands were extremely dissatisfied with Tang Ye's performance. Boos erupted throughout the stadium.

From the 75th minute, when he came on, to the current 85th minute, a full ten minutes had passed. Tang Ye had touched the ball only twice, and both touches had come from dropping back to offer support.

The home fans had one question in mind: why had Utrecht spent fifty thousand euros last summer to bring this deadweight to the Netherlands?

"Karen, I told you, he can't do anything!"

Merent spread his hands at the assistant coach. "I won't say anything about friendlies, but once the official matches start, I absolutely won't let this guy play!"

After Merent finished venting, he realized Karen was not looking at him. Instead, he was pointing at the pitch.

Hm? Merent turned to look and saw Tang Ye receive a pass from defender Trupe, then turn with the ball and drive forward.

He might slack off during matches, but his ability to shield the ball was actually quite good. With a small movement, he shook off the defender who had stepped up to challenge him, then lifted his head.

"What?"

"Don't rush it! Keep possession first!"

Merent shouted, but Tang Ye ignored him completely. He swung back his right leg and whipped the ball with the outside of his foot.

Smack! A crisp strike rang out as the ball rose from the ground, flying past the ear of the defender in front of him before beginning to curve to the right.

Smack! The ball cleared the visiting side's two center-backs, hit the ground, and continued rolling smoothly to the right.

At that moment, a player in a red-and-white striped jersey burst forward.

Zaka!

"One-on-one! Tang Ye sends an outside-foot through ball into the attacking third!"

"It reaches striker Zaka!"

"The ball is perfect! Zaka stretches out his foot and brings it under control—perfect!"

"One-on-one, it's a perfect one-on-one chance!"

"The goalkeeper is coming out!"

"Zaka, shoot!"

"It's in! It's in!"

"Zaka scores, off Tang Ye's outside-foot through ball!"

Zaka was clearly the one who finished the goal, yet the director gave the camera to Tang Ye in the backfield.

An outside-foot curve created a one-on-one chance.

This was a Dutch second-tier friendly?