Chapter 1 No Suspense or Surprises

There was no suspense or surprise; the trio's second attempt also ended in failure. In the best-of-seven system, they had already lost two games.

Actually, no one expected them to win, probably including the head coach, Yebala.

After each lost game, those teammates who were being carried by them would now secretly slack off a bit, such as dragging their feet on the ground, using a little bit of strength to help them walk, so that the three short players could save some energy.

How could Yebala not know?

At first, he was strict, but now he turned a blind eye. Anyway, punishment was not the main purpose; the purpose was to hone the cooperation between these three people.

Of course, he could turn a blind eye to the punishment at the end of the game. But during the game, he was very strict. He once warned the defending players not to slack off in the game, otherwise they would lose their qualification to play in the next game.

As a result, even if Hoensch and Sobiech wanted to slack off, they didn't dare.

After losing the second game, the three of them, just like after losing the first game, turned around and returned to the center circle, picked up a soccer ball and started again.

The whistle sounded.

Zhou Yi passed the ball to Mark, Mark passed the ball to Götze, and Götze passed the ball to Zhou Yi, who had already moved forward. Zhou Yi did not stop the ball but directly flicked the ball to the left, passing it to Mark who was cutting in.

But Mark was a bit slow, or Zhou Yi passed it a bit too far—it was already difficult to say exactly whose mistake it was at a very fast pace.

But in short, there was a mistake.

"The attacking side loses three points!"

※※※

Schneider stood off the field, watching the field boredly. He didn't see Zhou Yi and Mark's failures as a joke anymore, because even the funniest joke would become boring after hearing it a hundred times, not to mention that Zhou Yi and Mark hadn't shown any embarrassment now, but were surprisingly tenacious.

Looking at the serious and stubborn Zhou Yi and Mark, it wasn't funny at all.

Schneider now regarded the process of him standing on the sidelines during the game as a very boring time. He couldn't do anything, he could only watch from the sidelines. Of course, he could choose not to watch, but after he looked away, he would soon turn back again, because there was really nothing else to watch, and it was even more boring.

He had been in the Brackel training base for almost ten years, and he was very familiar with every plant and tree here. In the eyes of fans and Dortmund admirers who came here admiringly, this was an exciting scene, but for Schneider, it could hardly be called a landscape anymore.

Another, more important reason why Schneider couldn't laugh was—since coach Yebala tortured Mark and Zhou Yi so much, he had lost his starting position. During this period, he only started once in the quarter-final of the German Youth Cup against Koblenz U19, and scored twice.

Since then, he had never started a game again, and could only come on as a substitute when some games were coming to an end, but often before he could even take a shot, the game was over.

On the other hand, Mark, whom he looked down upon, had secured a starting position in the team.

So even though Mark was kneaded and rubbed by the head coach in training, it showed that he had gained the trust of the head coach. Schneider only then understood that Yebala was not actually punishing Mark, but training Mark for a more important role.

As the saying goes, it’s called "special training."

This was a sign of importance.

On the contrary, no matter how he performed in training, the head coach wouldn't pay attention to him anymore.

Schneider still didn't understand why he played so badly in the game against Koblenz U19 that he was bid farewell to the starting lineup.

He also didn't understand what ability that kid Mark had to be a starter.

No matter how badly Mark lost in the game, he could still continue to start. Schneider really couldn't laugh.

※※※

The fourth game, if they lost again, the game would be over again. There was nothing suspenseful about it. In the past month or so of training every day, the game ended here, without exception.

It was really too difficult to score goals when three people faced six people's unreasonable close pressing and marking.

But the three people didn't complain about anything, and after the whistle sounded, they still passed the ball out.

This time it was Mark's turn to kick off. After he passed the ball to Zhou Yi, he ran forward. Zhou Yi did not pass the ball to Götze, but passed it to Mark who was running forward.

There were many such temporary changes, and it was not said that every pass had to be in the order of Zhou Yi, Mark, and Götze.

So Mark was not surprised that Zhou Yi passed the ball back to him again. After he received the ball, he passed the ball to Götze, and then changed direction and ran to the right from behind Götze.

At this time, Zhou Yi had appeared on Götze's left, and Götze had come to the center during the previous off-ball movement.

Götze made a move to pass the ball to Mark, which attracted the attention of the defending players, and they shifted slightly towards Mark.

But Götze twisted his wrist and passed the ball to Zhou Yi.

Facing the incoming ball, Zhou Yi didn't stop the ball, but directly turned his ankle sideways and rubbed the ball passed by Götze out at an angle.

The ball flew in the air, passed over the top of the defending players, and fell towards Mark.

Facing this high ball, Mark didn't try to stop the ball with any part of his body, but directly used his head to flick the ball towards the center.

At this time, Götze, who had passed the ball to Zhou Yi, had already moved forward to the position. He stopped the ball with his chest, and then quickly transferred the ball horizontally to Zhou Yi again, and then he rushed straight forward, but not directly towards the goal, but towards the left side where Zhou Yi was, to approach him and seek cooperation with him.

The two players responsible for defending him naturally followed him there.

Zhou Yi didn't wait for the ball in place.

Through this month or so of games, he was very clear that as long as he waited for the ball in place, the ball would definitely be lost, without exception, because the other two players defended him and could completely mark him closely.

If he wanted to get the ball, he had to run, run towards the ball, and try to get the ball one step ahead.

So in fact, at the same time that Götze passed the ball to him, he ran towards the landing point of the pass—he had to run in advance, otherwise it would be difficult for him to receive the ball. This required a very good degree of tacit understanding between the passing and receiving parties, which was the most difficult part of this game, and it was also the focus of Zhou Yi's special training, to find a tacit understanding through constant practice.

In fact, Zhou Yi already knew Götze and Mark's passing and running characteristics very well, but Mark's familiarity with Götze and Götze's familiarity with Mark were not as good as his own, so the special training mainly focused on the degree of tacit understanding between them.

At the same time, Zhou Yi, as someone who was very familiar with both of them, played the most important role in the trio—he must be the one to link the other two.

Zhou Yi, who ran in advance, temporarily threw the defending players behind him, but the other party could still grab his clothes as long as he reached out, so he couldn't entangle with them. Facing the flying ball, Zhou Yi stretched out his foot and flicked the ball diagonally into the penalty area.

He didn't pass the ball to Götze who was running towards him, but to Mark!

There were two other defending players closely marking Mark, which was not a very good opening, but Zhou Yi still passed it.

Under such extreme conditions, where could there be an opening where no one was marking?

He could only pass it like this!

Mark also suddenly changed direction at the same time that Zhou Yi ran towards the ball, and turned diagonally into the penalty area.

The two defending players following him were shaken by him, but they still chased after him, and Mark did not completely get rid of the other party.

But this one shake might be enough.

When Zhou Yi passed the ball, Mark had just completed the change of direction and inserted into the penalty area.

The defending player next to him grabbed his shoulder with his hand, trying to pull him.

His body was still colliding with him.

This was really not a slack defense at all, the same intensity of defense as in actual combat!

But Mark gritted his teeth and ran forward, and was not pulled down by the other party—although he could fall in the penalty area, but a month or so of games had taught him that even if he fell in the penalty area, Yebala would not award a penalty kick, but would instead judge them to have lost. It's not like he hadn't been knocked down before...

Seeing that Mark was not so easily pulled down, the players defending him used even more strength, and Mark's body was pulled backwards.

At this moment, Mark kicked out. When he was about to lose his balance from being pulled by the other party, he swung his left leg out, and his straightened instep hit the ball passed by Zhou Yi.

With a bang, the ball flew towards the goal.

The goalkeeper standing in front of the goal was completely unprepared for Mark's sudden shot. When the ball flew over, he stood up to save it, but it was already too late. The ball drew an arc and flew over his hand! Then... it fell into the net!

At that moment, the entire training ground was silent, with only the sound of the ball rubbing against the net...

This silence was quickly broken by Zhou Yi's howl. He rushed towards Mark who was pulled to the ground and shouted: "We succeeded!!!"

Götze also ran over excitedly, and the three of them hugged each other excitedly.

"Yes, we succeeded! Whoa——!!!"

"Succeeded!!! Yeah!!! Succeeded!!"

Under the wild and excited roars of the three teenagers, the others had stunned expressions.

Even Yebala shouted and blew his whistle, forgetting to blow the whistle to signal the result of this time.

Looking at the three excited people, a flash of lightning exploded in Yebala's mind, setting off a storm!

He suddenly realized that what high pressing was difficult to break, he now had a ready-made weapon!