Chương 6: Breaking Through an Entire Defense Line
On the sidelines, including assistant coach Blancas, the members of the coaching staff were impressed by Lin's recent brilliant breakthrough.
Especially the Messi-like dribbling move made them start discussing it.
"That move just now really looked like Messi's!"
"Yeah, he really unleashed the power of that dribble!"
"Laphiniya made a good choice. If he hadn't moved sideways, the opponent would have easily gone past him on his left!"
"Absolutely, Lin's feint was so convincing. That shoulder drop coupled with the shift in body weight was extremely deceptive. Defending Messi against such feints requires strong anticipation to have any chance at one-on-one defense!"
The discussion heated up, but as they talked, the topic shifted from Lin to Messi.
Lin's recent move wasn't anything out of the ordinary—there were many who could execute that move.
However, to execute it as brilliantly and deceptively as Messi—such players were few and far between in the soccer world!
According to the coaching staff, Lin's move bore a striking resemblance to Messi's, at least 70 to 80 percent.
"Heh, Messi's influence among young players is massive! Not just in the youth team but in the entire La Masia training camp, there's a bunch of players emulating his style!"
"Yes, many imitate Messi. It's not just in La Masia, but there's been a global surge in the Messi imitation trend."
"You know, recently, many young players from various countries have joined our La Masia, and when they join, they are tagged with almost the same titles—like the Japanese Messi, the Korean Messi, and so on."
One of the youth training coaches chuckled, "These 'Messis' from different countries— if they could reach 70 to 80 percent of Messi's skill—it's enough to become a soccer superstar!"
"Haha, why, it's impossible! There is only one Messi in this world; no one can reach his level!"
As a player from the La Masia training camp, many coaches on the field had brought him up—everyone had a deep impression of Messi.
Messi's unique style of playing is a result of his exceptional talent. Without that kind of gift, others can't hope to successfully imitate him.
That's precisely why Lin's recent breakthrough caught the coaches' eyes.
While many imitated Messi, very few pulled it off with such a resemblance that one got the feeling of watching Messi play. The game continued, and after Lin successfully broke past Laphiniya, he had neared the edge of the penalty area.
The main team's central defender, Banyak, didn't want him to get any closer to the penalty area. So he immediately stepped forward, blocking Lin's path to the inside of the field, preventing him from cutting inside for a shot or a pass.
Currently, there was only one attacking team player inside the penalty area, with three defenders.
Moreover, the substitute forward was only 175 cm tall, while the defending players were all over 180 cm in height.
If Lin was squeezed near the baseline, his chance of threat with a pass was unlikely, with a higher probability of the defenders clearing the ball.
Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Lin immediately assessed his position, preparing for a pass.
This move earned praise from the sidelines:
"Lin played it smart. He knew his escaping skills weren't strong, so he had to pass quickly."
"Yes, the main team's defensive midfielder isn't far from him and is already catching up. If his pass was a bit late, he could've been involved in a scramble, possibly losing the ball."
"However, it seems the players on the substitute side are a bit slow. There's no one nearby to receive his pass; Banyak and the other defenseman have cut off his route to pass it to the forward."
"It looks like he can only pass it back. But if he does so, this attacking opportunity would be wasted!"
"Passing it back would waste the chance. Not passing back would likely result in losing the ball and a counterattack. So, relatively speaking, passing back is slightly better!"
"Why are you guys so conservative? He just made a beautiful breakthrough. He could do it again at this point!"
A young coach clearly had a different opinion. Compared to the others' conservatism, he was clearly more aggressive.
If Lin could successfully break through Banyak's defense, he could create a two-on-two chance. At that point, the remaining two defenders would certainly come over to intercept him. Consequently, the opposition's double-team on the substitute forward would backfire.
At that point, Lin could either take a shot himself or pass it to the forward—giving him more options.
"So, what will he choose?"
The coaches were very curious about Lin's decision!
Lin chose to break through!
Banyak, born in 1995, was a young player, but he was experienced in defense.
He didn't stand still, nor did he recklessly charge ahead; instead, he held his ground, maintaining a suitable distance, slowly retreating, forcing the opponent to decelerate.
The distance isn't far, so if the opponent were to take a shot, the defender could disrupt or block their movements.
This significantly increases the chance of blocking the ball.
Moreover, if the attacker falls into his rhythm and is forced to slow down, the threat would greatly diminish because it's difficult to dribble from a standstill.
Furthermore, with other defenders on the opposing team sprinting back, the attacker would get caught if they slowed down.
Therefore, Lin couldn't fall into the opponent's trap, slow down or stop.
To deal with the backward defending style of Banyak, a move from Messi's arsenal is very effective—a feint and change of direction.
While Banyak lifted his foot to retreat, Lin flicked the ball to the right.
This move made the coaches on the sidelines think of his previous breakthrough, they believed Lin was repeating the same trick.
"Oh no, he made a mistake. The ball flick was too big!"
Seeing the ball roll quite far away, the coaches felt a bit regretful.
At this distance, the defending player could directly intercept the ball.
Sure enough, thinking that the opponent had made a 'mistake,' Banyak immediately stretched out his raised left foot to poke the ball.
But just as he thought he could touch the ball first, a foot quickly knocked the ball at a faster speed, diverting it to the other side.
Banyak gaped in astonishment—how did the opponent do that?
Was the previous move not a mistake, but a trap set specifically for him?
In a very short time, having touched the ball twice with his right foot, Lin gently cut the ball with the outside of his left foot.
The ball came to Banyak's right side, but at this point, Lin's left foot hadn't touched the ground yet, and his right foot couldn't move; he could only watch as Lin gently knocked the ball again with the inside of his left foot, changing the ball's direction, and rolling it forward.
Taking advantage of this, Lin bypassed Banyak and promptly observed the positioning of the defenders before decisively taking a shot.
This shot was very sudden, and the two defenders behind couldn't cover the angle in time, and the goalkeeper didn't expect him to change the angle and shoot.
And by the time he saw Lin take the shot and tried to save it, it was already too late.
The ball flew into the upper right corner of the goal at not a particularly fast speed, bouncing into the net at a tight angle between the crossbar and the post.
This was theoretically a blind spot; even if the goalkeeper was prepared, it would be very difficult to save.
The score on the field now stood at 1:0, with the substitute team unexpectedly taking the lead.
After a brief pause, the players from the substitute team swarmed towards Lin in a frenzy.
Lin was startled and was about to escape, but there was no way he could!
He was piled on by a group of substitute players, forming a human mountain on top of him.
Meanwhile, the main team's players stood with their hands on their hips, their expressions complex.
They had witnessed Lin's entire process from breaking through the sidelines to scoring in the penalty area, and except for midfielder Laphini, who possibly underestimated the opponent and was easily bypassed, the others didn't make any mistakes.
But the opponent scored an unreasonable goal, which made them unable to even blame their teammates.
At this time, back in the office, Enrique, who had just received the information, was exploring which team to send Lin to and was completely unaware of what was happening on the field.
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