Would You Mind If I Play?

“Ladies and gentlemen! Good afternoon! You are now watching the finals of the National High School Soccer Championship at the sports venue in Luoyang. It is a match between Ke Da High School and Shu Guang High School. The game has been going on for seventy-four minutes. The current score is 2:1 with Ke Da in the lead. However, Shu Guang has graduallly taken the initiative. The result of the match still could not be predicted until the last second! As the match progresses, it has reached a hot climax.”

Su Fei watched Zhang Jun sprinting around. He had been closely marked,. He could only run around nonstop to create opportunities for his teammates.

Sweat flowed down her cheeks. The temperature that day was not high. She gripped the pen in her hand tightly. It was hard to keep calm when the atmosphere was almost suffocating with tension!

What is Zhang Jun thinking right now?  Once again, she looked at Zhang Jun.

“Kaka passed through! Zhang Jun is running! However, Li Yongle stretched his leg and has stolen the ball! The more he competes, the more courageous he becomes!”

Sun Laihong naturally knew why Li Yongle was so daring even after getting injured. He had spent one and a half years thinking about having a decisive confrontation with Zhang Jun. Now, there was finally a chance. Although there was not much time left, he seemed to be enjoying this confrontation. That was why his knee injury and the doctor’s words were forgotten during the confrontation. It looked like he was really prepared. He wanted to have a decisive fight with Zhang Jun for the rest of the match, regardless of victory or defeat. He only could not help the fact that Zhang Jun was influenced by the knowledge of his injury, making Zhang Jun less enthusiastic. This annoyed Li Yongle a little. He could only vent by making more aggressive moves and fight more intensely.

Zhang Jun got up from the ground. Li Yongle’s move earlier made him lose his balance and fall on his face. His head and face were covered in dirt. “Damn!” Li Yongle looked at the opponent who was been pulled up by Zhang Yang. “What is his body made of?”

He glanced at the large screen. The score 2: 1 was really dazzling. However, the little time remaining was even more dazzling.

At most, there was only seven minutes left.

Li Yongle’s been marking me so tightly and playing so aggressively. How am I supposed to score? He’s injured, yet he’s so capable. I wouldn’t dare to think what it’d be like if he was 100 % fit. 

Although Zhang Jun did not want to admit it, Li Yongle was probably more formidable than him… Wthout any support from his teammates, Zhang Jun felt like he was just running around like a useless idiot. Although he could create openings for his teammates, but was the job of a center forward limited to just creating openings for his teammates?

Zhang Jun looked up. The sun was dazzling and the blue sky looked pale…

Liang Ke loosened his collar. His heart felt heavier with every passing second. Ke Da was not only defending against his team’s aggressive attacks but also had the opportunity and surplus energy for sneak attacks. This made him feel even more fearful of the champion, Ke Da.

But Shu Guang can’t lose. 

It was not that he was eager for the honor of participation at the national level. However, he understood what nation level participation would mean to these kids, who were once weak players that played only a few matches in a year, as well as to the team.

He felt anxious but did not want to show it. If he could not to keep up, what about the others who had been running for nearly 80 minutes?

“Ren Yu De once again glanced at Liu Chao. At this moment, Liu Chao was at a disadvantage after his clash with Ren Yu De.”

Ren Yu De shook Liu Chao away with his skillful footwork and entered the penalty area. However, Deng Rui stole the ball away using his body. Ren Yu De had lost the advantage in power against the 1.85 m tall Deng Rui.

After the ball was sent away by Deng Rui’s long kick, it fell by Lin Xiaofang’s feet. There was nothing that could be done about it. The forward members of Ke Da were too short. Zhao Defeng was 1.66m tall. Zhang Yuchao was 1.70 m. He Jialin was 1.73 m. The tallest was Zhang Yulin at 1.80 m tall. Besides that, Deng Rui’s kicks were not precise. So, the ball was once again passed to Shu Guang.

Lin Xiaofang passed the ball to Chen Bo who took the ball and broke through from the side. However, he soon met Zhang Yuchao. Chen Bo knew he was less skilled compared to Zhang Yuchao and immediately passed the ball to Wang Ning.

Zhao Defeng did not attack but cleverly moved his body to block the possible path Wang Ning might use to pass the ball. However, Wang Ning did not pass the ball as he expected. Instead, he carried the ball and broke through.

It was because Wang Ning was so bold that his defenses was broken through, out of Zhao Defeng’s expectation,

Wang Ning continued to carry the ball. Lu Qing was wary of Yang Pan and did not dare to press onward. For a short while, he did not know what to do. However, Luo Bin rushed up. Since his long range shot could cause Zhang Lintao’s hand to slip, he must not leave it unattended. At this time, he could only temporarily abandon Kaka to snatch the ball either before the goal attempt or before the ball was passed.

However, Wang Ning was no fool. He charged in and quickly kicked the ball to Kaka, that very person Luo Bin just only abandoned!

“Sh*t!” Luo Bin did not expect him to be so quick-witted. He could not turn back against the inertia.

Kaka was left unmarked!

Zhang Jun sped outwards, in response, to support Kaka. Li Yongle would naturally follow. At this moment, Yang Pan also quickly approached from the side.

Sure enough, Kaka passed the ball.

He flexed his leg and passed the ball, but not towards Zhang Jun. Instead, he had passed the ball in an arc towards Yang Pan at the side of the field!

Zhang Yang turned around to chase but it was in vain. Once Yang Pan started his dashing run, there were not many that could stop him.

At the same time, Zhang Jun turned around and went into the penalty area. After Kaka passed the ball, he ran towards the goal mouth too.

Before the ball landed Yang Pan kicked it towards the front of the goal.

As Zhang Jun ran he also brought Li Yongle with him. The ball flew towards Kaka at the back post! As the ball approached, with the landing spot in mind, Kaka moved to firmly shield it from Deng Rui. When it arrived he took the shot!

However, the ball flew just slightly above the crossbar. At the same time a loud sigh and also applause could be heard from the stands.

An Ke looked up at the dazzling sun in the pale sky as he wiped his sweat.

We’re still lagging behind. Mum and Dad are also watching at the stands. Maybe we’ll really lose this time… I guess that’s alright as well. This way, Lil’ Sis won’t need to feel sad any longer.

Sister. An Ke smiled as he thought of his little sister. At first, just to show off, he demonstrated few tricks with the ball. As a result, she fell in love with soccer. She even cut her hair and sneaked out for some street soccer. She totally did not carry herself like a lady. It was like what she said: in the final analysis it was his fault. This would not have happened if she had not come into contact with soccer. If not for his introduction, today she would have been a cute and obedient girl. This was his failure as a brother.

The voices at the stands suddenly roared. An Ke lifted his head and saw Zhao Defeng approaching again with the ball. He Jialin was reenergised again. Zhang Yuchao and Zhang Yulinalso advanced from the sides, bolstered with their stamina.

“Ke Da is still trying to increase their score. They are not missing any chance for a counterattack despite the little time left!”

Zhao Defeng once again faced Wang Ning and repeated the same trick to deceive Wang Ning. As Wang Ning shifted his equilibirum in response, Zhao Defeng moved towards the opposite direction.

“The same move is useless against a great player!” Wang Ning shouted in his heart. Wang Ning stretched out his right leg but could not reach the ball. Instead, he tripped Zhao Defeng.

“Beep!” The referee immediately whistled. He quickly ran to the foul spot and stood there. He then pointed towards Shu Guang’s goal.

“Ke Da has won a free kick at 26 m! Remembering that Ke Da has scored their second goal with a free kick during the second half of the game, the players from Shu Guang are becoming nervous. Although Li Yongle has not come forward because of his injury, the one standing in front of the ball is the free kick expert, Zhao Defeng! Both his left and right feet are able to shoot with great precision! The current spot is his most favored position. If they score again, it would be like annoncing Shu Guang’s death penalty!”

The human wall was quickly assembled. Shu Guang no longer had any time to dawdle.

Zhao Defeng stood quietly in front of the ball and watched Shu Guang’s human wall. He was accustomed to studying the opponent’s wall. He would utilise any small gap to give his opponent a devastating blow.

Everyone held their breath, fearing that any small movement would interfere with the ball’s flight path.

An Ke actually caught a glimpse of He Wen at Ke Da’s substitute bench. She stood up and looked over nervously. He felt that it was ridiculous for himself to still be distracted by his sister in such a tense moment.

If only I had never exposed her to soccer…

Zhao Defeng moved! He ran only one step up to the ball. His left foot stepped firmly beside the ball. He then swung his right foot backwards and raised the back of his body. He raised his left hand. His right leg swung forward with the toes pointing down. The inside of his right foot slammed ruthlessly against the lower right side of the ball. The ball flew high into the sky along with a splash of grass.

At that moment, the entire spectators were silent.

This might have been Zhao Defeng’s best free kick. His strength, the angle, the bend and speed were all excellent.

Sun Laihong even rushed to the sidelines and raised his arms, preparing to charge into the field to cheer for victory.

If I had never exposed her to soccer…’

“Brother, soccer is really fun!” He Wen’s childlike voice rang in his ears…

During the moment everyone around was cheering, He Wen saw an unforgettable moment in her life.

An Ke shot out as though he was fired from a bow. His speed was shocking!

The ball flew in a beautiful arc, easily bypassing Shu Guang’s wall that had jumped up, and headed for the right side of Shu Guang’s goalpost.

Was the ball faster or was An Ke faster?

The answer was soon revealed. An Ke’s fingertips touched the ball, pushing it to the outer side of the goal post across the end line!

As the cheers got louder, An Ke crashed into the goal post!

At the same time, He Wen’s heart tightened. She shouted, “Elder Brother!” She did not care about the gazes of the other members. At that moment, she was just An Ke’s sister and not the team manager for Ke Da.

Shu Guang’s team members did not cheer for their narrow escape. Instead, they all ran towards An Ke.

“It’s a great save! An Ke saved the goal with unimaginable speed and determination! It was a save right on the goal line! But he also paid a heavy price, and crashed into the goalpost! It is not clear if he could still stand up! The medics are at the sidelines. Once the referee beckoned, they would be able to enter the field!”

The referee ran over to take a look at An Ke’s injury.

However, An Ke did not go into shock from his injuries. At the instant he hit the goalpost, he heard He Wen’s scream, “Elder brother …” Was it telepathy? In any case, he was still conscious at that moment and did not faint. The effects of his crash was unavoidable, and he was in a daze when he saw the referee separating the others away from him to take a look at his injuries. But he was conscious enough to be aware that even if he was injured, he could not afford to leave the game at that point in time.

Thereupon, he quickly stood up and flashed a familiar grin at the concerned gazes.

The first one that rushed up to hold him warmly was Kaka. He shouted, “Great! It is great that you are alright!”

After that, Xie Wei was the next to pat An Ke bottocks and shouted, “Sh*t! How did you manage to do that earlier? It was classic! Even I gave up hope!”

The other teammates also scrambled to be with An Ke to bask in the camaraderie.

When the referee saw this scene, he knew what he was supposed to do. He whistled for the match to continue, starting with a corner kick from Ke Da.

As Zhao Defeng walked towards the corner flag he turned to look at An Ke who was standing in front of the goal. He still could not understand how his perfect shot was blocked. Zhang Lintao was able to block Yang Pan’s shots because he had studied Yang Pan for an entire year. He knew how Yang Pan shoot the ball, how he ran, where he preferred to shoot the ball from, the angles … As for his shot just now, even he himself did not know how it ended up so perfect, so how did An Ke stop it! An Ke had leapt into the air, and as he flew up Zhao Defeng seemed to have seen a God, a Door God…

Although Sun Laihong felt disappointed at least they were still leading. There was still a corner kick and the goalkeeper had also crashed into the goalpost. Even if he was strong, that was impossible to be inconsequential.

Zhao Defeng sent a corner kick. Luo Binhou was in front, prepared to make a header shot. However, Lin Xiaofang jumped even higher. He swung his head and headed the ball out of the penalty zone. Zhang Yuchao received the ball from outside the penalty zone. He had one of the most powerful legs in the team. Without hesitation he immediately shot towards the goal.

Chen Bo rushed over and chested the ball out of the penalty zone. He himself was knocked to the ground.

Zhang Yang got the ball and was preparing to pass it to the penalty area but it was swept away by Li Hao. Wang Ning was at the side and saw the ball being swept over. He quickly rushed in to get the ball. Lu Qing also rushed over. However, Wang Ning managed to gain control of the ball by using his body to block Lu Qing. He then sent the ball to Kaka.

Kaka carried the ball and the fight to Ke Da’s half of the field. Ke Da’s team members scrambled back to defend. Shu Guang’s crisis has ended.

An Ke shook his head. His injury earlier was not light. He was having occasional double and unstable vision. During the corner kick earlier, he did not actually do anything. His teammates did all the hard work.

He looked up and saw Li Jieguang looking at him. Li Jieguang also noticed that he was looking and gave him a thumbs up. He then patted his chest and pointed to the defenders around him. An Ke understood that Li Jieguang meant that, with them around, they would not let the opponent shoot so easily and that he could rest easy.

An Ke was touched. They all knew he was injured but they did not ask him to leave. Obviously, they still believed in him. As a player who treated the soccer field as a battleground, leaving the field would imply the end of his battle. This would be the cruelest thing that could happen. So, they allowed him to stay on the field and continue guarding the goal. That also made him believe that although the defenders were not as brilliant as the four strikers, they were also trying very hard and taking things seriously. They had never thought of giving up.

When he looked up again, he saw Liang Ke at the side asking him with a gesture, “Do you need to get treatment?” Liang Ke was not stupid enough to think that An Ke was in good health just by seeing him get up from the ground.

However, An Ke shook his head firmly.

I will not leave even if I’m seriously injured.

As long as the match isn’t over, I’ll remain here.

Everyone’s desperate. Everyone’s placed their trust in me. How can I walk away irresponsibly?

Yes, Shu Guang’s goal can only be defended by me!

An Ke grabbed his gloves tightly again. He then stood like a statue in the same place with Shu Guang’s goal behind him.