Chapter 15 Hunting Time (added to)

On the training field, the Red Team gained possession of the ball.

Deng Kai passed the ball to the team's full-back.

The full-back sent the ball to the left winger, Ronaldo.

Ronaldo directly flicked the ball to accelerate, fully utilizing his advantage in speed.

The Yellow Team's players immediately converged around his waist to block him.

Because Ronaldo loved to cut inside and shoot.

This unconventional method always managed to pose a threat when he employed it.

But when everyone knew Ronaldo was going to cut inside, could they not stop him if one person couldn't, but two or three came over?

They...

"Huh?" Maxa was somewhat surprised; this time, Ronaldo's dribbling seemed to incorporate more elements than just speed.

But there was no need for that.

He could have directly dribbled past the first man.

Just then Ronaldo's body turned slightly to the right, as if he was going to cut inside.

But that was just a feint!

The next second, he continued to drive the ball to the byline.

Directly widening the gap between himself and the surrounding defenders.

Drive to the byline!

Ronaldo actually drove to the byline!

Maxa covered his head.

This was unscientific!

Ronaldo never drove to the byline.

At least not in the past month.

Maxa knew that Ronaldo was the subject of the team's "Next Quaresma Plan" and dared not give Ronaldo any harsh criticism; if he couldn't correct it, he simply let be.

As a result, Ronaldo played even more independently.

But now... could it be because of Trigella?

Maxa couldn't figure it out.

"Three... two... one!" Ronaldo counted silently in his heart.

He felt sad for that shorty's speed.

Too slow!

But he had to admit, Deng Kai's positioning was very good.

When Ronaldo faked a cut inside just now, turning his body to the right wasn't solely to feint.

It was to better observe the positioning of the opponent's defenders.

Previously, he had been defended by three of the Yellow Team's players in succession, losing possession of the ball.

But he wouldn't fall in the same spot again.

This time, he intended to breeze past all three!

However, Ronaldo caught sight of a forward-moving figure in the corner of his eye.

A figure ignored by the opposition, but rapidly approaching the shooting area dangerously!

Coincidentally, that person also just glanced at Ronaldo.

Their peripheral visions crossed.

Deng Kai: Pass the ball!

Ronaldo: No pass!

Deng Kai: Not passing means you don't understand football!

Ronaldo: Even if I passed, you couldn't receive it!

Deng Kai: If you don't pass, you're trash. If I can't receive, I'm trash!

Ronaldo: Fine!

In an instant, the two reached an understanding.

This level of understanding even surprised Ronaldo.

The conversation in the player's tunnel that day lingered in Ronaldo's mind for a long time. He didn't fully agree with what Deng Kai said, but he made a phone call to his mother and told her, "You've worked hard."

His mother cried for a long time on the other end of the phone.

From that moment on, Ronaldo's distaste for Deng Kai vanished.

Deng Kai had stolen a trophy from him, but in return, he gave him something even more important.

So...

"You better receive it properly!"

Boom!

Ronaldo, while running, delivered a left-foot cross, earth-shattering.

The small player chasing him was completely baffled.

Was this the same individualistic Ronaldo?

"He passed, he passed!" Maxa witnessed what he thought was the eighth wonder of the world.

"This ball seems..." Trigella frowned with concern.

It seemed like the pass... fizzled out!

Indeed!

The football drifted slightly and failed to curl properly.

Ronaldo's crossing technique... cough cough... was a bit outrageous.

Maxa watched the football as it threatened to fly out of bounds, slapping his thigh vigorously.

That level of crossing from Ronaldo.

Needed practice!

Or maybe he should have a talk with him after the game and let him play as a right winger?

Being right-footed, he'd be better at crossing from the right side.

But at the next moment... ding!

The football rebounded off the crossbar towards the penalty spot.

The Yellow Team's center-back stretched out his foot to control the ball, completely failing to check behind him.

"Watch out!"

"Behind you!"

A teammate was reminding the center back.

But it was obviously too late.

A "cheetah" pounced from behind this center back.

With a mix of snatching and nudging, forcefully and aggressively, he burst into the penalty box along with the football.

"Beautiful! Such great awareness! Leading his teammate with his movement for the cross, and even after the pass went awry, he still maintained his judgement of the football and aggressive offense!" Trigella exclaimed excitedly, clenching his fists.

"Shame about his physicality, though. He got too wobbly after contact with the center back, and in such a state of imbalance, it's difficult for him to control the football," Maxa really didn't think Deng Kai was anything special.

It was just luck.

He picked up a chance, but that's all it was—a chance.

That wobbly stride would send the football out of play in the next second.

Bang!

Before Maxa could finish speaking, the wobbly Deng Kai suddenly poked out his foot.

At that moment, Black Panther Hunt!

Control the football?

No, no need to control!

Team Captain Timo, oh crap... Eusebio can shoot at any time!

The football shot out like a bolt of lightning, zipping into the goal before the goalkeeper could react.

Two to three.

The red team scored another!

After scoring, Deng Kai looked up towards the sideline at Ronaldo, pointing at him and then giving a thumbs up.

Ronaldo didn't respond to Deng Kai but turned and walked back, his face reddening as he went.

He was embarrassed to accept Deng Kai's praise.

Because that cross was indeed ridiculous.

Of course, thanks to this attack, Deng Kai gained a clear judgement on the "smaller" and "larger" boosts provided by the system.

Based on his own ability, under the wobbly circumstances just now, it would have been nearly impossible to complete a shot, let alone score a goal.

Yet with the boost of "Black Panther Hunt," he managed to produce a high-quality, tight-angle poke shot to break through.

The stealth, surprise, accuracy, power of the shot, and the speed of the football, all far surpassed Deng Kai's normal shooting standards.

It was too strong.

Is this what they call a "significant boost"?

The system's "boost" seems a bit large.

Of course, as optimistic as Deng Kai was about Black Panther Hunt, he was pessimistic about the quality of Ronaldo's passes.

The young Ronaldo's inner caution suggested he had a small chance of delivering a fine pass to Deng Kai, and indeed, that "small" was probably really small.

Ronaldo, you need to practice passing!

...

With his face embarrassed after being proved wrong, Maxa stubbornly saved face, "This kid is really lucky."

But Trigella shook his head, "Luck? That's what the reporters said during the Diamond Generation Invitational too."

"But why does Lady Luck always favor him? Because he's cute?"

"It's because he runs tirelessly! He observes! He has the entire field mapped out in his mind, he knows where opportunities lie, he knows where he should be."

"That is top-level vision and soccer IQ!"

"He's improved a lot compared to a month ago, what caused this transformation?"

Maxa nodded repeatedly, learning, always learning.

He might be inexperienced, but he had one virtue: he listened to advice.

Soon, the game resumed.

The score was two to three, the red team a goal behind.

In terms of overall strength, there was not much difference between the two teams.

But after Deng Kai joined in, Ronaldo was clearly energized.

Especially after Ronaldo's recent crossing from the bottom, his threat had fully exploded.

The yellow team had no clue how to defend against Ronaldo anymore.

Within just ten minutes, Ronaldo scored another goal, achieving a brace and helping his team level the score.

Three to three!

"The passing of player number six is quite good, just now delivered an assist, he's entirely the material for a midfield core," Maxa's eyes sparkled.

The more talents in his team, the more it proved his coaching ability.

If the player got promoted, it was very likely that he, as a youth coach, might also get a promotion.

He kept recommending player number six to the youth academy director, believing he was the next Rui Costa.

"He has the awareness for long passes but lacks the ability."

"His vision is relatively narrow, failing to notice other good opportunities around him."

"Lacks creativity in his movement, he likes to stay in the same spot too much."

Trigella kept shaking his head.

Lisbon has really declined.

This Maxa doesn't understand football at all.

The real contributor in the red team's goals, besides the scoring Ronaldo, was Deng Kai.

Not player number six, who provided the assist.

Player number six's long passes were not strong; it was only because Ronaldo was fast enough.

Such an assist could have been done by anyone.

But most of the passing space for player number six was created by Deng Kai's coordinating.

Especially this assist, which was directly from Deng Kai's pass back.

Compared to the physically deceptive Deng Kai, the yellow team found it a lot easier to lock down player number six.

But by the time they wanted to mark Deng Kai... they found it too difficult; he was too slippery.

Of course, the yellow team didn't yet have the realization to target Deng Kai.

They were at the same level as their youth coach, still meticulously defending against player number six.

Completely unaware that the football was about to go right, carried by Deng Kai's passing and receiving.

The red team's offense was like tidal waves, not giving the yellow team a chance to breathe.

And the real tsunami was about to hit!