Soon, the first half ended at 2-0, mainly because Saint-Étienne had tightened their defense against passes around Zhang Kuang, doing everything they could to stop anyone from passing to him. This reduced Zhang Kuang's chances but gave Jelen more opportunities. Unfortunately, Jelen was the sort of striker who played the odds: eight shots might produce one goal.
His conversion rate was far too low, nothing like Zhang Kuang's, which reached at least 70%. Seven out of ten shots were sure goals; ultimately, it depended on how the defenders, goalkeeper, and goal frame performed, and how many of those sure goals they could keep out.
With the first half over, the commentators offered a few halftime comments before taking a break themselves, relieving themselves, having some water, smoking a cigarette, and so on.
The fans at the stadium also needed to relieve themselves, rehydrate, smoke, and grab something to eat. Some overly excited fans might even find a corner and have a shooting contest with a friend of the opposite sex.
There was nothing strange about it. This was free Europe, after all, where such things were nothing unusual.
Never mind football stadiums-even at concerts, there were couples who could not help themselves and went into battle right there.
Both teams went into their dressing rooms, where both head coaches reviewed the half and laid out their plans. The side with the advantage was simply more composed and relaxed.
Fernandez did not even bring out the tactics board to make any arrangements. He just said a few casual words to the players.
"First, shut down their midfield lynchpin, Blaise Matuidi. That kid can play a threatening pass, a very incisive one.
"Second, shut down their leading scorer, Emmanuel Rivière. Sure, half the season has gone by and he's only scored four, but he's still their leading scorer, isn't he?"
At that, the dressing room burst into laughter.
"Third, and most importantly, maintain our first-half rhythm, then pass the ball to Zhang whenever you get the chance. He knows how to put it in the opposition's net.
"After all, he's more practiced at shooting than any of you here. Which of you can score in four different goals in one night? He can."
"Hahaha..."
Compared with the laughter-filled Auxerre dressing room, Saint-Étienne's was much more subdued. Caretaker head coach Christophe Galtier was harshly criticizing Gonzalo Bergessio, the man chiefly responsible for conceding the first goal.
"Gonzalo, can you tell me why you lost focus just as you were about to shoot? Did you receive some revelation from God?"
Christophe's loud voice dripped with sarcasm. Gonzalo felt a little wronged.
"You might not believe me, but just as I'd adjusted and was ready to shoot, I glanced at the goal, and I saw a female fan in the stands behind it pulling open her clothes... I..."
"Pfft, huh, huh, huh..."
Someone could not hold back a laugh. Christophe found it absurd and interrupted.
"Oh, shit, that's a really lousy excuse."
"Coach, hear me out. It's true..."
"Enough. Not another word. Keep your mind on the game in the second half. If you lose focus like that again, I'll throw you into the reserves until the end of the season."
"I... okay..."
"Right, after the halftime break, both teams are back on the pitch. The score is currently 2-0. Auxerre took the lead in the first half thanks to two successive goals from their new eighteen-year-old Chinese striker, Zhang Kuang...
"Dugarry, during halftime, I heard lots of women were asking for Chinese Zhang's contact details. They all want to challenge his ability to bed four women in one night. Has anyone in your circle been asking?"
Presenter Jean-Christophe Bart could not resist teasing him. Dugarry smiled.
"I did get a few calls asking whether I had Chinese Zhang's phone number. Unfortunately, I don't."
"If they really need a man like Chinese Zhang, perhaps you could fill in for him temporarily?"
"Oh, no, Bart, that joke isn't funny at all. I have a family. Of course, if I were twenty years younger, perhaps I'd give it a try."
"Ha, really? You could bed four women in one night?"
"I..."
After the second half kicked off, France 1's two commentators were not commentating on football. Instead, they were joking about sexual escapades, but the viewers enjoyed that even more.
The two teams were locked in a stalemate on the pitch anyway. Saint-Étienne had come out for the second half as though they had taken something, playing fiercely for a spell, but Auxerre were known for their defense. With Saint-Étienne's attacking strength, it was clearly difficult to threaten them.
"In the fifty-first minute, Auxerre have won a corner. In the past, corners like this weren't much of a threat from Auxerre, but since Zhang Kuang joined the team, they've become one of their attacking weapons."
Liu Jianhong explained, while Xu Yang nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, the main reason is that Zhang Kuang's heading ability is so strong. The preliminary information we've received shows that his vertical leap reaches eighty-three centimeters. Added to his height of 185 centimeters, that puts him at 2.68 meters from a standing jump. If his running leap reaches 105 centimeters, then with his height added, he can reach 2.90 meters.
"The lower edge of a standard NBA rim is 2.90 meters high. In other words, with a running jump, Zhang Kuang can reach the height of an NBA rim. If he played basketball, he could dunk easily.
"Of course, these aren't definitive figures for his jumping ability. A proper test might produce even higher results. In other words, his current jumping height is only fifteen centimeters short of the Guinness record of 120 centimeters. We don't know what Zhang Kuang's highest tested leap is."
"Yes, an ordinary footballer's standing vertical leap is only forty to fifty centimeters. Some top strikers can reach sixty or seventy, but very few exceed eighty.
"A running vertical leap of eighty to ninety centimeters is already the best of the best, yet Zhang Kuang can reach 105 centimeters. That shows just how outstanding his ability is."
As Xu Yang reeled off the figures, the viewers in front of their televisions were dumbfounded. So Zhang Kuang's jumping ability was that strong.
On the pitch, meanwhile, Saint-Étienne had taken their marking of Zhang Kuang to extremes. Three men surrounded him, one pressed against his front, another braced against his back, and a third providing cover at his side.
This kind of defending was extremely rare in football and usually only appeared at stationary set pieces such as corners.
Birsa took the corner, sending the ball toward the near post.
"The ball's heading toward Zhang Kuang. Watch Zhang Kuang... ah, he's jumped... It's in! It's in, it's in, it's in! A hat trick! Zhang Kuang has now scored three hat tricks across five consecutive matches! This is his second league hat trick..."
"Yes, his goalscoring ability is simply incredible. Never mind Asia-even in Europe, only a handful of strikers have this kind of ability. Remember, this is Ligue 1.
"Even if it ranks last among the top five leagues, it's still one of the top five. There isn't a player in Asia who can keep scoring hat tricks in the top five leagues..."
Liu Jianyou and Xu Yang were so excited that their words rattled out like machine-gun fire. Zhang Kuang's performance was simply that explosive. Scoring seemed as easy for him as eating and drinking.
This was one of the top five leagues. Never mind hat tricks-even averaging a goal per match was extremely, extremely difficult. Those were numbers only world-class elite strikers could rack up.
Leaving those legendary stars aside, under normal circumstances, a Golden Boot winner in the top five leagues would only score around twenty or twenty-odd league goals in a season. Spread across every match, that did not even amount to a goal per game.
Yet Zhang Kuang had been averaging more than two goals a game over consecutive matches and had already scored two hat tricks.
So, were those numbers explosive or what?