Awakening the Messi template, Florentino Pérez begs me to join Real Madrid

Second half start

But when both teams re-entered the field, the home team's chants paused slightly.

Evergrande's substitutions are very noticeable.

Li Mingming and Zhang Yu sat on the bench with complicated expressions.

Instead, two composed veterans took to the field – Sun Yang and Chen Hua.

Sun Yang, positioned at left center-back, was loudly directing the young full-back's positioning: "Xiao Liu, pull back five meters! Don't stand so far forward!"

Chen Hua, positioned at right center-back, had his eyes fixed on Chen Liang opposite him.

[System Notification: Defense line experience +40. Team stability +25%. Estimated success rate in combat increased to over 55%.]

"Now that's more like a defensive line. Those guys in the first half were barely passable, let alone a fence," the mature female system added sarcastically.

Wu Shi took a deep breath and stood in the center circle waiting for the kickoff.

At the start of the second half, the Manatee continued to execute the strategy from the first half: high pressing and focusing on marking Wu Shi.

But soon, they noticed a change.

In the 47th minute, Hainiu launched a long pass from their own half directly to Chen Liang.

As soon as Chen Liang started moving, Chen Hua had already moved two steps to the side, blocking the passing lane.

At the same time, his left hand was discreetly placed on Chen Liang's waist—just like a friend's arm around his shoulder, but it made Chen Liang feel very uncomfortable.

Chen Hua easily headed the ball back to midfield.

"Good shot!" came the goalkeeper's shout from in front of the Evergrande goal, his voice much calmer.

The clearance ball landed at Wu Shi's feet.

The two Manatee players immediately flanked him, but this time, Wu Shi heard Sun Yang's roar:

"To the right! Liu Fei is running!"

Wu Shi feinted to the left, but actually flicked his right foot with the outside of his foot, accurately finding Liu Fei who was making a run down the right flank—this kid seems to be more comfortable on the right flank now that he's been switched there.

Liu Fei received the ball—this time he wasn't contemplating life, nor was he thinking about cycling.

He accelerated down the wing and crossed the ball before the Manu Grenfell's left-back could close in.

The striker from Evergrande was making a run down the middle. He jumped up with great effort, but the experienced center-back from Hainiu beat him to the ball and headed it out of bounds.

Corner kick.

Although no shot was taken, this attack, from its initiation to the final cross, only required four passes. It was concise, clear, and had a definite purpose.

Hengda's corner kick was taken by Wu Shi.

He observed the penalty area and noticed that Sun Yang and Chen Hua had both come up – the two veterans were not only defensive, but their forward runs and aerial duels during set pieces were also a threat.

Sun Yang held up two fingers to Wu Shi in the crowd, then pointed to the spot ahead.

Wu Shi understood, took a run-up, and kicked a rapidly descending, curving ball straight towards the near post.

Sun Yang suddenly made a run to shake off the defender and headed the ball at the near post!

The ball grazed the outside of the near post and went out of bounds.

"Almost!" Sun Yang shook his head, but immediately turned and ran back, shouting at the still-stunned young full-back:

"Get back on defense! Don't stand still! Quickly!"

The Manatee goalkeeper wanted to quickly take a goal kick to launch a counter-attack, but Evergrande's young players reacted quickly this time.

The counterattack failed.

"Do you see the difference? In the first half, your defense was about 'covering after being broken through,' now it's about 'anticipating and stopping.'"

"After the veterans came on, your defense went from passively taking hits to actively setting up defenses. Although your technique is still the same, you've started using your brains."

The game entered a stalemate.

The Manatees still fought fiercely, but their long passes and counter-attacks became noticeably less effective against the defense of Sun Yang and Chen Hua.

Chen Liang was relentlessly pursued by Chen Hua, and his attempts to break through were like hitting a wall. In his impatience, he made an overly aggressive move during a counter-attack and received a yellow card.

With their defense stabilized, Evergrande's midfield and attack were finally able to catch their breath.

In the 58th minute, Wu Shi received the ball with his back to goal in midfield, and two Hainiu players immediately double-teamed him.

This time, Wu Shi didn't try to take the ball head-on. Instead, he used his left heel to pass the ball back to Zhou Tao (who replaced Zhao Kai) in the defensive midfield position, while simultaneously turning and making a forward run himself.

Zhou Tao understood immediately—or rather, he was jolted awake by Sun Yang's shout of "Through pass!" from behind—

A through ball was played towards Wu Shi's forward run.

Wu Shi received the ball while running, and smoothly dribbled to the left, getting past the attacking midfielder from the Hainiu team.

Suddenly, the view opened up: about 25 meters from the goal, directly facing the goal, the defending players were retreating.

The Manatee center-back immediately closed in.

Wu Shi looked up, his field of vision now fully open.

On the right flank, Liu Fei is making a high-speed run forward, and the Hainiu left-back is hesitating whether to tuck in or mark him.

On the left flank, the center forward is moving towards the edge of the penalty area.

Opportunity is fleeting.

Without hesitation, Wu Shi delivered a diagonal through ball with the outside of his right foot.

The ball landed precisely on Liu Fei's running path, like a scalpel.

One-on-one!

Liu Fei received the ball and faced the goalkeeper directly. This time, he didn't hesitate at all and shot into the far corner with his right foot!

The Manatee goalkeeper dived to make a save, his fingertips touching the ball, but he couldn't change its direction.

The ball rolled into the net!

1: 1!

"Ah—!" Liu Fei celebrated wildly by taking off his shirt, revealing his lean upper body. All the young players from Evergrande rushed over and tackled him to the ground.

The goal stands, but the referee gives Liu Fei a yellow card.

"Don't celebrate for too long! Go back! The game isn't over yet!" Wu Shi shouted.

After the score was tied, the momentum on the field began to shift.

The Manatee players were visibly agitated; they couldn't accept being held to a draw by a "youth team." They launched a more aggressive attack, pressing higher up the pitch, but this only exposed more gaps behind their defense.

In the 71st minute, Wu Shi broke through on the right side of the attacking third and was tripped by the Hainiu full-back.

The referee blew his whistle, and Evergrande was awarded a free kick in an excellent position—about 27 meters from the goal, slightly to the right.

Wu Shi carried the ball and walked towards the penalty spot.

The Tiantai Stadium fell silent instantly, and the home fans held their breath.

Everyone remembers that curving free kick in the AFC U-19 Championship final, and the media hype surrounding "Messi-style free kicks" before the match.

The system's previous sarcastic comment flashed through my mind:

"Your curves look like steel bars bent by brute force, while Messi's are natural, flowing art..."

He closed his eyes for half a second, then opened them again.

Take a running start, stabilize yourself on your left foot, and swing your right leg.

That was the "feeling" he finally found after being scolded by the system hundreds of times during the simulation training.

The ball leaves the foot.

It first spins outward, bypassing the player on the outermost side of the wall, and rushes straight towards the top of the near corner of the goal!

The Manatee goalkeeper misjudged the direction. He thought the ball would fly towards the far corner and had already moved his body to the right. By the time he saw the ball spinning towards the near corner and turned back, it was too late.

Blind spot!

The ball hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced into the net!

2: 1!

"A world-class goal!" The Evergrande fans who came with the team jumped up.

Wu Shi clenched his fist and roared, while the two veterans laughed and patted Wu Shi on the head:

"You little rascal! Those feet are beautiful!"

"Outside-of-the-foot curl shot proficiency +2%, currently 85%".

"It's starting to look decent, but don't get complacent. It's still a long way from 'effortless mastery'."

[Mission Progress Update: FA Cup "Oath of Allegiance". Completed: A (Assist), B (Goal), C (Created three clear-cut chances), D (Win). Current progress: 3/4.]

After turning the score around, Lippi made a gesture on the sidelines: tighten the defense.

Guangzhou Evergrande substituted a young midfielder who was exhausted with a defensive midfielder. They changed their formation to 4-5-1, with all players retreating to their own half.

Manatee launched a final all-out attack. The entire team pressed forward, even the goalkeeper rushed to the center circle. In the 93rd minute, a haphazard long ball from Manatee midfield was lofted into the penalty area. In the ensuing scramble, Chen Liang, ahead of Chen Hua, stretched out a foot and poked the ball into the net!

The ball slipped through the gaps in the players and rolled into the net!

The Tiantai Stadium erupted in celebration! Hainiu players celebrated wildly, Chen Liang took off his shirt and ran, and the cheers of the home fans almost lifted the roof off.

but--

The linesman raised his flag.

Offside.

The referee pointed to the center circle, indicating that the goal was disallowed.

"Beep—beep—beep"

At the same time, the final whistle blew.