Soccer: If they're using these kinds of cheats, what's the point of training?

Lyon's goal did not make them tighten their defense; instead, it fueled their attacking desire. After scoring one goal, they wanted to score another. With a 2-0 lead, who would want to just hold on to a 1-0 lead?

Claude Pierre's tactical intentions were very clear—after taking the lead, continue to apply pressure, try to score a second goal, and then tighten up the defense, using numerical superiority to limit the arrogance.

In the seventh minute, Lyon launched another attack. Govou broke through on the right wing and crossed the ball, which Lisandro López headed towards goal, but Sorin made the save.

In the eighth minute, Bastos cut inside from the left and took a long-range shot, which grazed the crossbar and went out of bounds.

In the ninth minute, Pjanic received the ball at the edge of the penalty area, created space, and took a shot, which was blocked by Grihidin with his body.

Lyon's attacks came wave after wave, and Auxerre's defense was on the verge of collapse.

But Zhang Kuang didn't panic.

He roamed the attacking third, observing every subtle change in Lyon's defense.

Lyon's center-backs, Chris and Boumsong, positioned themselves very high, almost reaching the center circle. The two holding midfielders, Toulalan and Makon, formed a barrier in front of the penalty area, blocking all of Auxerre's central penetration routes.

But Zhang Kuang noticed something.

Although Lyon's defense pushed high up the pitch, there was a large gap between their two center-backs. Boumsong was on the left and Chris on the right, leaving a gap of seven or eight meters in the middle.

This gap wouldn't be exploited in a regular match because ordinary strikers aren't capable of directly threatening the goal from that distance.

But Zhang Kuang is no ordinary striker.

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Eighth minute.

Auxerre intercepted the ball in their own half.

Grihidin poked the ball away from Lisandro Lopez just outside the penalty area, and it rolled to Pedretti. Pedretti looked up—Zhang Kuang was lurking near the center circle, marked by Toulalan.

Pedretti did not hesitate.

A long pass.

The ball flew through the air, covering a distance of forty meters, and landed near the center circle. Zhang Kuang, with his back to Toulalan, chested the ball down.

Toulalan came up from behind and reached out to tug at the arrogant jersey.

Zhang Kuang ignored him.

The moment the ball landed, he flicked it with his left foot and turned his body to the right—passing the ball to the other side.

Toulalan was momentarily stunned, his center of gravity shifted, and his grip on the flamboyant jersey loosened. When he reached out to pull it back, he only managed to grab air.

He dribbled wildly forward.

Lyon's midfielder, Macon, charged forward from the front, his body low to the ground, ready to intercept. Zhang Kuang didn't slow down, but instead flicked the ball forward and to the right with his right foot, and Macon followed suit.

Then, with a wild left foot, he slashed the ball back.

Macon's center of gravity shifted slightly, and his body tilted slightly to the left.

It was in that very moment.

With a flamboyant right foot, he flicked the ball past the outside of Macon, then overtook the opponent from the outside.

Macon reached out to pull, but couldn't.

Zhang Kuang had already rushed over.

Now he only has Lyon's two center-backs left in front of him – Chris and Boumsong.

Approximately 35 meters from the goal.

Chris charged at him from the front, with Boumsong providing backup defense from behind.

Zhang Kuang didn't wait for them to form an encirclement.

He lifted his right foot—

"Bang—!"

The sound of that shot made the fans in the front row of the stands involuntarily shrink back.

The ball, like a cannonball, streaked straight towards the top left corner of the goal.

Lyon goalkeeper Lloris made a diving save – his reaction was quick enough, and he stretched his body to its limit.

But the ball was moving too fast.

The angle is too tricky.

The ball flew past his fingertips and slammed into the net.

1: 1.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!"

Butt's voice boomed in the commentary box, "World-class goal! Another world-class goal! Outrageous! A powerful long-range shot from about 35 meters out! Lloris had no chance!"

"In the eighth minute, Zhang Kuang equalized! This is his thirty-first league goal of the season!"

Liu Jianhong's voice boomed in the CCTV-5 studio: "Goal! Goal! Goal! Explosive! A long-range shot from 35 meters out! A world-class goal! Auxerre has equalized!"

"That goal was crucial!" Xu Yang exclaimed. "Zhang Kuang stepped up again when the team was facing its most difficult time! Lyon's high pressing, their lightning-fast goal—all their advantages vanished before Zhang Kuang's shot!"

Zhang Kuang did not perform the "Siu" celebration gesture.

He ran to the corner flag area, opened his arms, closed his eyes, and his chest heaved as he faced the away team's stands—that patch of red five-starred flags.

The red stands exploded.

"Arrogant! Arrogant! Arrogant!"

The shouts of the Chinese fans drowned out the boos of the more than 40,000 home fans, echoing throughout the Stade Gerland.

The Auxerre players rushed in from all directions.

Grishdin was the first to rush to him and jump on him. Then came Minho, Olic, Birsa, and Pedretti—they all formed a circle, surrounding the arrogant man in the middle.

On the sidelines, Fernandez pumped his fist hard.

He didn't shout or applaud; he just stood on the sidelines, his fists clenched tightly.

Lyon's head coach, Claude Pierre, stood on the other side of the field, hands on his hips, his expression frozen.

He devised a defensive strategy for a whole week before the match – targeting Zhang Kuang's headers, his long-range shots, his positioning, and his wing breakthroughs.

But what he didn't expect was that Zhang Kuang was even more ruthless than he imagined. His defensive strategies were completely useless against Zhang Kuang, especially the power of Zhang Kuang's long-range shots. Only by experiencing it firsthand could one understand how powerful they were.

This distance is known as the "long-range shooting blind spot" on the football field—not that you can't shoot from this distance, but the success rate is extremely low. Nine out of ten average players will miss the target when shooting from this distance.

But Zhang Kuang is no ordinary player.

Inside the VIP box, Platini leaned forward slightly, his gaze fixed on the figure in the white jersey number 33 on the field.

He has seen countless geniuses.

Platini himself was a genius. He had met Maradona, Zidane, Ronaldo, Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

But Zhang Kuang—this Chinese man—gave him a different feeling.

Maradona's dribbling skills are dizzying, Zidane's ball control is mesmerizing, Ronaldo's explosiveness is breathtaking, Messi's agility is amazing, and Cristiano Ronaldo's power is awe-inspiring.

Some say that arrogance is an enhanced version of Drogba, but Platini found that arrogance is a combination of all of these.

He can shoot from long range, head the ball, dribble past defenders, pass the ball, receive the ball with his back to goal, and overtake on the wing. He's not one type of player; he's a combination of all types.

Of course, aside from his lack of defensive skills and midfield playmaking abilities, he was almost an all-rounder.

He had never seen a player like this before.

Platini turned his head and glanced at the French Football Federation president, Escale, beside him; the two exchanged a look.

Escale's eyes conveyed a single message: "No matter what, we cannot let this player leave Ligue 1."

Platini shook his head slightly, but his eyes conveyed the message: "He can't be kept. Ligue 1 can't keep a player like that."

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