Chapter Seventy-Two: The Struggle for Supremacy

“Long, let me tell you something,” Dai Guangming said, grabbing Long Bisheng before they went on the field. “I’ve noticed their average height doesn’t even reach one-sixty. Both of their center-backs are just a little over that, and I’m sure Zhou Wei and Zhang Yi have picked up on it too. In the second half, they’ll be crossing the ball more toward the goal. You’re over ten centimeters taller than them… I think you know what to do, right?”

Long Bisheng shot Dai Guangming a grateful look. “I understand.”

Dai Guangming grinned and clapped him on the back. “If I had your height, I’d feel like I was letting myself down if I didn’t get a hat-trick of headers in the second half!”

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As soon as the second half began, Hu Gantang made a beautiful tackle in the middle, winning the ball from Zhou Wenlong just as he tried to force a breakthrough. Before Chen Jian could close down, Hu sent the ball to Zhang Yi, then sprinted up the field himself.

Zhang Yi played a sharp through-ball to Long Bisheng’s feet. With his back to the goal near the center circle, Long held off the opposing defender and quickly laid the ball off to his fellow striker Zhong Tao, then spun and darted forward.

“Good, that’s much better,” Ding Yu nodded approvingly from the sidelines. “With his physique, he can be really effective in counterattacks. At the very least, with his size, it’s not easy for anyone to take the ball off him.”

“That’s true,” Coach Zhao agreed, nodding. “He’s a bit slow, but in quick counterattacks, he can serve as a relay point. As long as the others can get running, that’s enough. And even if the fast break doesn’t work, he can immediately transition into set-piece play.”

“Exactly, that’s the idea. Players like him are always practical,” Ding Yu praised.

Except for Long Bisheng, the other attacking players for Yun Jia Tianyu were all quick, but the Meixian team wasn’t slow either. After Zhong Tao carried the ball forward a few steps, he was immediately double-teamed by two defenders and had no choice but to pass it back to the onrushing Hu Gantang.

Without breaking stride, Hu Gantang poked the ball to Zhou Wei on the left wing. Zhou Wei shook off one defender, but Mu Shuo had already raced back and was marking him tightly, slowing Zhou Wei down.

“Switch to positional play! Don’t rush!” Ding Yu called from the sidelines. Zhou Wei, who’d been about to force a breakthrough, had to brake sharply, turn, and after sidestepping into space, passed the ball back to Hu Gantang.

In the middle, Hu Gantang took the ball and pressed forward, using his physical strength to shield it as Chen Jian and another defensive midfielder closed in. He knocked the ball wide to Zhang Yi on the right.

Zhang Yi collected the ball, saw that Fan Xuyang was still some distance away, quickly surveyed the penalty area, and sent a perfect forty-five-degree cross into the box!

Long Bisheng, just arriving in the box, looked up to see the ball soaring toward him.

There was no time to think—he charged two steps into the six-yard box and leaped high to meet it!

“Double up on him!” the Meixian goalkeeper shouted. Both center-backs jumped up with Long Bisheng.

But just as Dai Guangming had said, these Meixian center-backs were barely over one-sixty meters. Compared to Long Bisheng’s one-seventy-nine, their disadvantage was obvious.

Moreover, Long Bisheng’s physical strength shocked them—two players tried to outmuscle him in the air, but he still had them underneath him.

“Mark the other striker!” the Meixian keeper shouted again. Long Bisheng had already won several headers in the first half; with his height and weight, none of them could stop him. But no one expected this tall guy, after winning the header, would only look to flick it on. Meixian’s defenders, having suffered a little at first, quickly learned to block Zhong Tao instead, and Yun Jia Tianyu’s attacks turned threatening but fruitless.

Just as in the first half, seeing they couldn’t stop Long Bisheng’s headers, Meixian’s defenders tightened up on Zhong Tao, and even Zhou Wei found someone marking him when he entered the box.

But this time, with everyone watching, Long Bisheng won the first ball and, instead of flicking it on, powered a beautiful header at goal!

The Meixian goalkeeper could only watch as Long Bisheng’s header flew over his head, skimming the top of the crossbar before bouncing behind for a goal kick.

A collective sigh went up from the crowd.

“Well done,” Zhong Tao said, running over to pat Long Bisheng on the back. “Come on, let’s get back and defend.”

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Five minutes later, Yun Jia Tianyu launched another counterattack. Zhou Wei made a beautiful run down the wing but his cross was overhit. Zhang Yi managed to keep it in play near the right touchline, and, without time to check the box, lofted it straight in. Once again, Long Bisheng muscled past two defenders in the middle and met the ball with a powerful header, but this time the Meixian goalkeeper made a brilliant save, pushing it behind for a corner.

“Fan Xuyang! You mark that guy!” Chen Jian shouted, then lowered his voice, “That guy doesn’t use his hands much, seems inexperienced. You can tug him a little—just don’t let him jump. Leave the clearance to the others!”

Fan Xuyang flashed a bright grin. Though not tall, he was solidly built and confident he could manage this. Judging by the opponent’s play, he was indeed inexperienced; against such a player, height didn’t really matter.

Zhang Yi stood at the corner arc, searching for Long Bisheng in the crowd.

He didn’t need to look hard—Long Bisheng’s height made him stand out like an adult among children. He was impossible to miss.

But Long Bisheng was feeling frustrated. That black-skinned kid was glued to his side, constantly tugging at his shirt—utterly annoying!

Just as he was about to shake off Fan Xuyang, Zhang Yi sent the ball in. Long Bisheng saw it arcing toward his head and took two steps forward, ready to leap.

He tried to jump but couldn’t—Fan Xuyang had locked down his arm with a strong grip. The kid was surprisingly strong, completely preventing him from getting airborne.

“I can’t believe I’m not stronger than you,” Long Bisheng thought stubbornly, trying again, but it was too late—the ball had already sailed over his head the first time he failed to jump, and a Meixian defender headed it out for another corner.

“Hey, what were you heading for? Didn’t you see I’d already stopped him from jumping? Just clear it!” Fan Xuyang scolded his teammate, who hung his head in embarrassment.

“Hey, let me mark you again… this is great, stopping such a big guy from jumping,” Fan Xuyang thought with delight.

This time, Long Bisheng was ready for the trick. As Fan Xuyang tried to lock his arm, Long quickly lifted it, bumping into Fan’s arm before leaping up.

Fan Xuyang was a little surprised but immediately pressed against Long’s body and jumped, his elbow catching Long in the ribs. Knocked off balance, Long still got to the ball, but his header soared high over the bar.

“He’s learning, but a rookie is still a rookie,” Fan Xuyang thought smugly as Long Bisheng glared at him in frustration.

“Long, that was terrible!” Li Jie, coming back after pushing up, called out as he ran past. “Where’s the technique I taught you?”

Long Bisheng, hearing this, suddenly remembered—he’d practiced these situations with Li Jie countless times in training. Hadn’t he already experienced all these little tricks himself?

Realizing this, Long Bisheng chuckled to himself.

“Are you an idiot, grinning like that on the pitch? Have you lost your mind?” Fan Xuyang stared at Long in disbelief.

“Next time I’ll know how to handle your tricks,” Long replied as he jogged back.

“Yeah right, keep dreaming,” Fan Xuyang thought dismissively. “A rookie trying to scare me? I’ll be playing defense for the rest of the match—let’s see how you deal with my dirty tricks!”

Zhou Wenlong had already lost the ball three times to Hu Gantang, but he wasn’t discouraged; in fact, he was getting more determined.

When the ball came to him again, he wanted to take on the defense himself but was stopped by Chen Jian’s shout from behind.

“Pass it back, Wenlong!”

Zhou Wenlong had always respected Chen Jian and dared not ignore his words. He turned and passed the ball back to him.

“You mark this guy, I’ll go up,” Hu Gantang told Dan Xiaowu. He’d realized that, though Zhou Wenlong played as an attacking midfielder, he was more of a penetrative type, and most of Meixian’s build-up play actually came from the somewhat frail Chen Jian behind him.

But before he could close down, Chen Jian had already sent the ball out right to Mu Shuo, who slipped past the defensively weak Zhou Wei and, beating the defender, crossed into the box.

Li Jie and Lin Jianwei jostled for position. Lin Jianwei, though smaller and lighter than Long Bisheng, was far more experienced—a real match for Li Jie.

But this time, Li Jie got there first, heading the ball clear. Hu Gantang picked it up and launched a long ball for a counterattack. Long Bisheng leapt in the center circle to flick it on to Zhong Tao, nearly setting up a one-on-one, but Chen Jian tracked back and cleared the danger out for a throw.