After Paris Saint-Germain was removed from the list, I led England to victory!

The last day of December 2018.

Arsenal's final league match of the year will be an away game against Cardiff City.

The cold December night wind swept across the stands, making the cheers of the home fans less noticeable.

The game is nearing its end. The scoreboard is frozen at 1-3, and the clock continues to tick. There are less than 100 seconds left until the 90 minutes are up.

On the field, the pace of the game slowed down for both sides.

Cardiff City's players had vacant eyes and heavy steps, each pass carried the perfunctory air of completing a task; they had been tormented enough.

Goalkeeper Etheridge stood with his hands on his hips at the edge of the penalty area, staring blankly into the distance; his soul had already drifted away from the cold grass.

It's tough, so tough. Playing for Premier League teams is so difficult.

In this match, his continuous high saves and low blocks, coupled with the helplessness of being far behind, had already drained his last bit of fighting spirit.

For Etheridge, those last two minutes were just a formality; once he got through them, he would be free.

On the Arsenal side, the players also tacitly slowed down their pace.

With a 3-goal lead, their position as league leaders is secure, and nobody wants to get injured or booked unnecessarily at the last minute.

The ball was slowly passed around among the defenders and Ramsey and Maddison in the backfield, like a frog being slowly boiled in water, as everyone was killing time and waiting for the final whistle.

After a careless back pass, the ball rolled to the vicinity of the center circle arc.

A red figure appeared there; it was Yan Yuan.

The ball was supposed to be passed around, but Yan Yuan had a new idea today. He waved to his teammates to indicate that he had a new idea.

Yan Yuan received the ball, turned around, and his movements were smooth and natural.

On the sidelines, Wenger was also curious about Yan Yuan's thoughts, as Yan Yuan's posture didn't seem like he was going to pass the ball.

Cardiff City's players seemed to accept that their opponents would continue this time-wasting passing game, and they only made a symbolic press.

"The ball is now at Yan Yuan's feet..." the Sky Sports commentator said. "Arsenal seems to be planning to control the tempo and finish the game smoothly..."

76 seconds left

75 seconds…

However, just when all was quiet and everyone thought the match would end in a near-sleeplike manner, Yan Yuan's movements paused.

His gaze did not look at any teammates seeking cooperation, nor did he lower his head to control the ball.

Those sharp eyes, like a hawk locking onto its prey on the grassland, instantly pierced through most of the field.

They pinpointed the exact direction of the Cardiff City goal!

Etheridge remained standing near the penalty spot, hands on his hips, leaning slightly forward, his center of gravity relaxed, completely unguarded.

Between him and the goal was a vast, empty, no-man's-land.

The players on both sides were mostly gathered in the center circle, and the ball was completely blocked, so he couldn't be completely sure of the ball's position.

Time seemed to stretch out infinitely at that moment.

"Wait! Yan Yuan! He stopped the ball! What is he looking at?... He's looking at the goal! My God! Is he going to shoot, from this position?!" The commentator's voice suddenly rose.

Yan Yuan leaned back slightly, his left foot firmly planted on the grass, supporting his entire weight.

His right foot, the one that had created so many goals on the pitch, was raised high behind him, his ankle taut, the inside of his foot aligned with the lower left side of the ball.

Without a run-up or any adjustment, he was right at the top of the center circle, a full sixty meters from the goal.

He struck a pose that made the hearts of everyone familiar with football history race, like an archer drawing a full bow in the middle of a battlefield!

Professor Wenger was also worried for him.

"Yan Yuan... he's going to lob from midfield?!" In the commentary booth, the experienced veteran commentator's voice suddenly rose, trembling with disbelief!

68 seconds!

next second!

"Bang—!!!"

A deep, penetrating bang ripped through the oppressive atmosphere of the stadium.

The ball seemed to come alive, transforming into a white lightning bolt with intense spinning, suddenly soaring into the air from Yan Yuan's feet.

It did not choose a low and swift trajectory, but instead leaped high, high, in an extremely elegant and powerful manner.

The lights pierced through the dim glow of Cardiff City Stadium, drawing a clear and perfect parabola across the night sky.

The entire stadium was instantly brought to a standstill!

All eyes were on them, whether it was the Cardiff City fans dozing off in the stands, the Arsenal away supporters waving flags, or the staff wrapped in thick down jackets on the sidelines.

Even the players on the field, who were originally listless, all had their eyes firmly captured by the ball that suddenly rose into the air and streaked across the sky like a comet.

Etheridge.

The goalkeeper, who had been in a "off-duty" state just seconds before, suddenly had his pupils contract.

He abruptly dropped his hands, which were on his hips!

The bewilderment and exhaustion on his face were instantly replaced by extreme terror!

He practically tumbled and crawled as he turned around, staggering and sprinting toward the goal!

"Quickly, get back!!!" A desperate roar erupted from Cardiff City's defense.

But it was all too late!

The ball was flying through the air with a strong external spin.

It flew over the halfway line, over the heads of Cardiff City's stunned defense, and over the empty half of the field.

It was as if it had broken free from the shackles of gravity, or as if it were being precisely controlled by an invisible hand, moving along that fatal arc with elegance and overwhelming force.

It fell towards the goal.

At this moment, Etheridge was frantically retreating while futilely looking up to judge where he would land.

Predicting the landing point of this ball is very difficult.

Because it's too high! Too far! And the rotation is too strong!

He was unable to make an accurate judgment.

His feet frantically paced back and forth in front of and behind the goal line, his center of gravity swaying precariously in fear.

He spread his arms, trying to expand his defensive area.

As the ball entered the airspace above the penalty area, it began to drop rapidly.

The intense arc created by the rotation gives it a strange and elusive trajectory!

Etheridge finally pinpointed the landing point: the top right corner of the goal!

He pushed off the ground sharply, and his body flew to the right like an arrow released from a bow.

A pair of long arms stretched to their limit!

He could even feel the airflow disturbance caused by the high-speed rotation of the sphere through his fingernails.

However, opportunities always seem to slip by just a hair's breadth.

The ball whistled past his outstretched fingertips with a whooshing sound.

From a distance of less than 5 centimeters, it plunged fiercely and precisely into the absolute dead corner of the top right corner of the goal.

"Whoosh!!!"

The crisp, heavenly sound of the ball rubbing against the net was particularly jarring in the deathly silent court.

The net trembled violently, and the white ball spun and bounced unwillingly deep inside the net before finally lying quietly inside the goal line.

Dead!

The entire room fell silent!

next second.

"strict!!!!!!"

This shout was like a volcano that had been accumulating for thousands of years suddenly erupting.

The entire Cardiff City stadium was instantly ignited by the deafening roar of Arsenal fans.

Red cannon flags were waving wildly in the away stands.

The shouts of Yan Yuan's name almost lifted the roof off.

"My God!!!!" The commentary booth erupted in chaos.

The veteran commentator's voice cracked with extreme excitement and disbelief.

"Yan Yuan lobbed a shot from the center circle with about a minute left in the game! Sixty meters away! He replicated the legend! He turned back time!"

That's right! David Beckham! 1996! Wimbledon! That incredible goal that drove the world wild! Tonight! In Cardiff! Yan Yuan! He recreated Beckham's miracle! He made the miracle happen again!!!

Inside the stadium, Arsenal's players snapped out of their initial daze and instantly erupted into a torrent of jubilation.

They surged wildly toward the figure standing at the top of the center circle, still in the pose of slightly raising his hand after taking a shot.

Aubameyang was the first to rush forward and jump onto Yan Yuan's back.

Odegaard, Aubameyang, Saka, Ashraf... everyone surrounded him, patting him hard and rubbing his hair, their faces filled with shock and ecstasy.

Yan Yuan stood still, his chest heaving violently.

The decision made in that instant, the control of the force, the grasp of the angle, the calculation of the arc...

All the sensations blended perfectly together, coursing through my body like an electric current, and the feeling of that shot was incredibly precise.

After his teammates finished their celebratory hugs, Yan Yuan opened his arms and ran around the field with them.

The camera pans across Cardiff City's goalkeeper, Etheridge. He kneels dejectedly on the goal line, hands on the ground, head bowed low, shoulders trembling slightly.

That ball, like lightning, shattered the defense he was protecting as the goalkeeper.

He couldn't even touch the edge of the ball.

The match ended abruptly in the final seconds amidst Arsenal players' wild celebrations and Cardiff City players' dazed and disoriented state.

The final whistle blew, and the score was 1-4.

But everyone's attention was no longer on the score.

……

After this game.

Yan Yuan's astonishing mid-range lob shot video spread like wildfire on social media, dominating the feeds.

Every angle, every slow-motion replay, was repeatedly played, analyzed, and awe-inspiring.

Hashtags like "#YanYuan'sClip-ShotFromTheCenterCircus", "#BeckhamReplicates", and "#PremierLeagueMiracle" instantly topped the global trending charts!

"My God! What am I seeing? This is a ball that you can only kick in a video game!!"

"Sixty meters! A god's-eye view! That footwork! That audacity! Yan! How many more surprises can you give me?!"

"I bet Etheridge's having nightmares about that ball tonight!"

"This goal reminded me of Beckham in 1996! Almost the same position! The same way! The same impact! The English legend continues!"

"Premier League Goal of the Month? No! This is absolutely the Goal of the Year! It might even be one of the best in Premier League history!"

"The Player of the Year award already has a winner—Yan's backflip goal! But this goal is even more spectacular than that backflip!"

A deluge of praise poured in like a tidal wave.

The most attention-grabbing response was undoubtedly from the legend himself, David Beckham.

Less than an hour after Yan Yuan's goal video was posted, Beckham's personal social media account reposted the video with a caption and an emoji:

[@YanYuan, this goal...unbelievable! Perfect curve, perfect timing, perfect courage! It reminds me of...well, a certain afternoon? The best way to pay tribute to a legend is to create a new one! Well done, brother! The future is yours! #tribute #incrediblegoal]

Beckham's praise and comments were like crowning this already brilliant goal with the most dazzling crown, instantly igniting a second wave of excitement.

Yan Yuan quickly responded in the comments section, his response humble and full of respect:

[@David Beckham, thank you, Mr. David! Your recognition means a lot to me! Your goal in 1996 was the starting point for every kid who plays football. Tonight, I was just trying to chase that light and pay tribute to a legend! #EnglandLegend #ThankYou]

With a like and a reply, two generations of legends exchanged a high-five across time and space on the internet.