Chapter 27: Winger Cuts Inside, Isn't it Just About Having Feet?

Aberdeen couldn't be underestimated as a strong team in the Scottish Premier League.

In the first half of the game, they struggled to adapt to the pace of the Bundesliga, coupled with being unfamiliar with the pitch, resulting in obvious off-form performances.

After the second half began, Aberdeen accelerated the game pace, using long passes and aerial bombardment tactics similar to those in the Premier League to deal with Werder Bremen.

Aberdeen's players were technically rough, definitely not matching Werder Bremen's skills.

However, their players were physically strong, had strong impact, and their center forward had outstanding heading ability.

Switching to long passes and aerial bombardment actually made their attacks more effective.

In the 56th minute of the game, Werder Bremen's defender missed a header, and Aberdeen's center forward received the ball and passed it back.

Niall McKinnon, who had just transferred from Scottish Premiership giants Celtic, followed up with a powerful shot that pierced through Werder Bremen's goal.

The score became 2-1.

On the sidelines, Coach Shaf had already stood up from his seat.

His brows furrowed, although Werder Bremen was temporarily leading.

But the situation on the field was somewhat unfavorable for Werder Bremen; the opponents' aggressive tactics had put Werder Bremen's defense in disarray.

They were in a passive defensive situation, and if this continued, they might concede another goal.

No risk, no gain. In the 63rd minute, Aberdeen sent a long pass from the backfield.

Aberdeen's center forward, under the double team of two Werder Bremen center-backs, leaped high, outmuscling the two defenders, and with a lion-like header, he scored into Werder Bremen's goal.

This goal caused an uproar among the more than 30,000 fans at the scene.

Fans held their heads in disbelief, staring incredulously at their own goal.

Shaf's expression was also grim; he kicked away an empty mineral water bottle in front of him, clearly very dissatisfied with the team's poor defense.

At this moment, he had made up his mind that before the transfer window closed, he must buy a strong defender from the market.

He couldn't stand the team's terrible defense any longer.

So, as long as it didn't exceed the team's budget, he could accept a price within five million.

On the bench, Lin Quan was also astonished.

Messi's heading ability was relatively poor, so he rarely used heading shots in training or matches.

The less one knows about heading, the more shocking it is.

The opponent's headed goal left Lin Quan feeling a little jittery; from such a distance, over fifty meters of pass, actually heading the ball into the goal.

If it were him, he'd probably be knocked out by the ball directly, and then carried off the field on a stretcher, right?

Is the opponent's head made of iron?

Wouldn't such a header cause a concussion?

This was actually the talk of an outsider who lacked heading experience. In fact, in many teams, midfielders and forwards often use headers to compete for landing points or assist teammates when defenders or goalkeepers play long balls.

For someone who doesn't know how to head the ball, getting hit by it does hurt.

But those skilled in heading know how to apply and release force, so they don't feel as uncomfortable.

Lin Quan hesitated; heading skills were still useful at times.

Especially when there's not enough space on the ground, no space for controlling the ball, and teammates send high or semi-high balls.

At such times, stopping the ball and adjusting before shooting with feet would give the defending team time to react and disrupt.

But with his height, even if he practiced heading, wouldn't he still not be able to compete for landing points?

Just as Lin Quan was lost in thought, Coach Shaf called out his name.

"Lin, warm up, get ready to go on!"

Lin Quan immediately stood up upon hearing this and rushed to warm up without a second thought.

When the team conceded the first goal, he already felt he had a chance to play.

And after conceding the second goal, he was one hundred percent sure he would get on the field.

Although the outcome of the warm-up match wasn't crucial, facing a relatively weak opponent at home, losing the match, especially in such a manner where they were leading by a large margin but then suffered a comeback defeat, would greatly affect the players' mentality.

Werder Bremen's lineup was too young, and young players were prone to psychological fluctuations.

If they couldn't stabilize the situation and win this match quickly, this defeat might pose a huge risk for their upcoming matches.

Five minutes later, Lin Quan was subbed in.

After coming on, he didn't rush to launch an attack but observed the situation.

The Aberdeen players didn't seem to pay much attention to him, a relatively unknown young player, unlike the previous match against FC Kaiserslautern where they marked him closely.

This reassured Lin Quan; with Messi's peak abilities, as long as he was given enough space to operate, once he started, he couldn't be stopped except by fouls.

The Aberdeen players didn't know Lin Quan's strength, but his Werder Bremen teammates were well aware of it.

In the 76th minute, Werder Bremen won the ball in the backfield, passed it quickly through the midfield, and it swiftly reached Lin Quan's feet.

Similar to the first half winger, Lin Quan, after receiving the ball, dashed towards the opponent's half along the wing.

Seeing this, the Aberdeen players assumed he was going to cross from the byline, so they only let their full-back defend him.

Other players consciously cut off the passing lanes between Lin Quan and Phil Grueck.

Besides preventing Lin Quan from passing to the forward, due to De Bruyne's outstanding performance in the first half, he was also targeted by the opponent, and their defensive midfielder had been marking De Bruyne closely, denying him chances to receive the ball.

Seeing the opponent's defensive positioning, Lin Quan was secretly delighted; there was a significant gap in their defense.

He made a move to accelerate towards the byline, and the defender marking him for the byline immediately accelerated to defend.

But after he retreated one step, he was shocked to find that the opponent had actually cut inside.

The Aberdeen defender immediately reached out to grab and pull Lin Quan, trying to bring him down.

But Lin Quan's speed was too fast; he wasn't even touched by the defender's jersey and cleanly bypassed him.

Seeing Lin Quan smoothly evade Aberdeen's winger, everyone on Werder Bremen's bench couldn't help but stand up.

Is it happening?

The Aberdeen full-back, seeing his teammate being bypassed, cursed inwardly and immediately moved forward to block Lin Quan, not giving him a chance to shoot.

In recent years, it's become popular for wingers to cut inside and shoot.

Speed, dribbling, and the ability to cut inside and shoot make such wingers highly sought after in today's football.

For example, Barcelona's Messi, Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as Bayern Munich's Robben and Ribery, among others.

Their market values often reach tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of euros, and they're considered irreplaceable assets that can't be bought on the market.

Because of this, Tottenham's winger Bale, who has been linked with a return to Real Madrid, is said to have a market value that has already exceeded 80 million euros.

With such a market value, Tottenham is reluctant to sell and wants to observe further.

This shows how scarce a good winger is!

However, when wingers cut inside, they often find themselves in an unfavorable position, making it easy to disrupt their attacks by seizing the right moment to intercept their passes.

The Aberdeen full-back didn't believe that a young player like Lin Quan had such good ball control; his left foot definitely wasn't as strong as his right.

So, when the ball fell to Lin Quan's left foot, he stretched out his leg.

And then he was bypassed!

Huh?

The full-back was puzzled!

Where did that little ghost in front of me go?

Such a big player?

How did he disappear?

Turning around, oh, he's in our penalty area!

Wait, why is the football in our net?

I don't know how to end this chapter, let me figure it out.

(End of this chapter)