Chapter 214: Direct Free Kick Goal! A Birthday Gift at 39!

「Tom! 」

「Tom! 」

The fans in the stands were chanting Tang Ye's name, while Flores stood with his hands in his pockets, eyes locked on Tang Ye and Bruno behind the arc.

It was nearly 80 minutes; if Huang Qian scored from this free kick, the Spanish side would almost certainly lose their chance to equalize.

So, no matter who took it—Tang Ye or Bruno—they absolutely must not score!

「Huh, huhhuh…」

Tang Ye was rapidly adjusting his breathing.

Though the fans were chanting his name, Tang Ye couldn't hear them during deep cognitive focus.

He was thinking through how to handle this set-piece opportunity.

Direct shot or pass to a teammate?

Finally, Tang Ye made his choice: he raised his right hand behind his back and gave Bruno a thumbs-up.

The referee blew the whistle; Bruno sprinted forward!

「Here comes Bruno! 」

「He jumped right over it! That's a fake! 」

Both CCTV commentators held their breath as Bruno leapt over the ball—Tang Ye surged forward.

The Spanish penalty area was now in complete chaos!

Tang Ye!

Find the gap between Reyes and Duarte!

Use the spin from the 【Ward-Prowse Premium Free Kick Template】 and strike it hard.

The Ward-Prowse template is for indirect free kicks, but it's not rigid—Tang Ye could use topspin to shoot directly!

Thwack!

The ball flew fast, with rapid spin!

Its apex was just above Reyes's head when he jumped.

Then it dropped!

The goalkeeper stood frozen in place.

His view was blocked by Reyes and Aler; by the time he saw Tang Ye's shot, the ball had already reached its peak.

How could he possibly react in time!

「Gggg—ooooooo—lllllll!!! 」

「Goal! 」

「Goal! 」

「Direct free kick goal! Tang Ye, brilliant! 」

【You gained 15 Reverse Points】

「Ahh—!!! 」

Exhausted, Tang Ye sprinted as fast as he could toward the stands.

Ruiz tried to grab him from behind, but Tang Ye sidestepped to maintain his speed.

Accelerate! Accelerate!

Okay, this speed should let me slide a long way!

Push your knees forward!

Slide!

Thud!

The damp grass helped Tang Ye glide far; after completing the slide, he didn't rush to stand, but spread his arms toward the stands.

「Vamos! 」

Ruiz ran up from behind and, with Costa, knelt behind Tang Ye and wrapped their arms around his neck.

「Tom! 」

「Vamos, Tom! 」

In the camera shot, Bruno slowly walked toward Tang Ye from behind.

He wore a smile, but Bruno was unquestionably the calmest player on Huang Qian right now.

When Tang Ye gave him the thumbs-up by placing his right hand on his hip, Bruno already knew the outcome.

Tom wouldn't let his friend down!

「See? I told you—using a three-back system against us is a mistake. 」

Escribá said proudly.

「But that wasn't a through ball—it was a free kick. 」

Ma Di pointed at the Huang Qian players celebrating on the pitch.

「Same thing—the core is still Tom's passing ability…」

As he spoke, Escribá quickly realized the flaw in his own logic and added:

「But this time, he passed it straight into the net. 」

【What's left for Spain to do? Three-back? Pure showboating.】

【They wanted to counterattack, but they just pissed off Huang Qian's big brother.】

【What big brother? Tom's the youngest on the team!】

【At 17 he's a kid; at 18 he's a big brother. Normal—football kings mature early.】

「Amazing, Tom! 」

Huang Qian's players surrounded Tang Ye, celebrating wildly for their second goal.

A direct free kick goal? Rare even in the Big Five leagues!

Tang Ye rose from the ground and walked toward the stands; as the Huang Qian fans saw him approach, they instantly roared his name in unison.

Tom's name!

「Haha, come on! 」

Tang Ye reached the front row, exchanged a fist bump with the nearest fan, then headed back to his half.

「At this point, Tang Ye's free kick goal is likely the final goal of the match. 」

「Spain wants to counterattack, but their rhythm is slowly falling apart. 」

「…」

「Beep, beeeep—!!! 」

At 93 minutes, the referee blew the final whistle.

Villarreal won the match 2-0!

【Fun fact: In just two matches this month, Huang Qian has netted six clean goals.】

The fans were right—this month's two matches showed Huang Qian's exceptional offensive efficiency.

Villarreal's goal difference ranks second in La Liga, behind only Real and Barca!

「I told you—the birthday boy scores. 」

In the locker room, Bruno proudly told his teammates about his prediction on the bus, even asking Rodrigo to confirm it.

If he'd known Tang Ye would score, Bruno should've shouted it loud on the bus—then he wouldn't need to beg someone to back him up now.

Click-click!

Aler was taking a group photo of Tang Ye and Rodrigo in the locker room.

The players didn't care whether Bruno had truly predicted it—they only knew they'd won 2-0 today.

And Tang Ye had scored a stunning direct free kick!

Aler's phone was recording video; he picked up an empty water bottle as a microphone and walked toward Tang Ye: 「Tom, scoring on your birthday—with a direct free kick—what are you feeling right now? 」

「Hmm, Sebastián, don't do that. 」

「No no no, call me reporter—you must call me reporter. 」

「Alright, Mr. Reporter. 」

Tang Ye quickly got into character: 「My captain told me before the match that birthday boys always score, so I believed I'd score—and then… I did. 」

Bruno barged into frame, pointing his thumb at his own mouth: 「That's half my credit! Sebastián, get this in too! 」

「It's Mr. Reporter. 」

Tang Ye reminded him: 「Bruno, you got the title wrong! 」

…

SER Radio: La Liga Matchday 26—Villarreal defeats Espanyol 2-0; Tom scores a direct free kick on his birthday. Will Villarreal challenge the top two in the standings?

Attached: La Liga Standings (Matchday 26)

1. Real Madrid, 66 points.

2. Barcelona, 65 points.

3. Villarreal, 60 points.

4. Atlético Madrid, 51 points.

5. Sevilla, 47 points.

6. Real Sociedad, 47 points.

Villarreal won two in a row, but Real Madrid and Barcelona also delivered back-to-back wins.

Atlético Madrid has not widened the gap to second-place Barcelona, which is not good news.

But…

The good news is that Atlético Madrid has pulled away from Atlético Madrid.

Third place has 60 points; fourth place has only 51.

A nine-point gap means Atlético Madrid's direct qualification for next season's Champions League is very secure.

"Mr. President, I believe we've essentially achieved our league goal," said Escrivà and Roig in the office.

January and February put too much pressure on him; now, with a nine-point lead over Atlético Madrid, Atlético Madrid's head coach could finally say what he wanted to say.

"No, no, no— isn't that our league goal?"

"Huh?"

Escrivà paused: "Fernando, when I first joined this team, you said achieving Champions League qualification this season would count as success."

"That was the goal before the season started—not the goal now."

Roig corrected Escrivà's mistake.

"You didn't expect the player you rented for three million euros to win the Golden Boy Award, Férnan—things change, and so do our goals."

At the mention of the loan, Escrivà fell silent.

Roig stepped forward: "Férnan, keep pushing forward—second place in the league. Let's see if we can do it. I think we can."

"Top two in La Liga is as hard as winning Ligue 1 or Serie A."

!

Never mind.

Escrivà waved his hand—he wasn't going to argue further with Roig on this issue.

"I'm going to the cafeteria."

"Why go to the cafeteria?"

"To celebrate the birthday of the player you call your rented talent, Mr. President."

…

"Hurry up, hurry up, Tom—ready? Are you ready?"

Tang Ye sat in a chair; before him on the table stood a ten-inch cake with two Arabic numeral candles.

18!

That was Tom's current age!

Atlético Madrid players stood before Tang Ye, each filming with their phones.

"All I want to know is who bought this cake."

Escrivà didn't rush to take photos; he pointed at the cake: "How big is this? Twelve inches or ten? Guys, we have thirty people."

Bruno rubbed his neck and stepped forward awkwardly: "I ordered it from a bakery by the pitch—I told them I wanted bubblegum flavor."

Bruno made a fatal mistake—he didn't tell the bakery staff there were thirty people!

"Wait?"

"What flavor?"

Escrivà stared wide-eyed; Bruno answered matter-of-factly: "Bubblegum—mint bubblegum. The bakery wouldn't make it until I tipped them two thousand euros."

"Jesus!"

Escrivà wanted to yell at Bruno, but seeing Tang Ye's excited expression, he decided against it.

He'd give this cake a 90.

Hmm, so 90—it's a fair score.

"Have you finished filming? I'm already hungry for this cake."

"Yes, yes, go ahead."

"Make a wish!"

"Uh… I'm done."

"Already?"

Escrivà was surprised: "Then you can blow out the candles."

"Okay!"

Tang Ye took a deep breath and blew out the candles before him.

【March 4, 2039: You've grown another year older. You are now 39. At 38, you played in the Eredivisie—an incredible achievement. But at 39, you've gone even further. It's truly beyond nature.】

【You are the only 39-year-old player currently in La Liga. Playing at 39 in La Liga is already extremely difficult, let alone returning from retirement just a year and a half ago—this is even harder.】

【Fairness mechanism triggered. You received a special item: Erling Haaland's Viking Forge.】

Tang Ye didn't know who Erling Haaland was, and it didn't matter.

What mattered was the Viking Forge.

This was Tang Ye's fourth special item, following the 【Savings Jar】, 【Sanches' Lunchbox】, and 【Casemiro's Gloves】.

"What's wrong, Tom?"

Bruno waved his hand in front of Tang Ye.

"Oh!"

Tang Ye snapped back: "I'm just thinking about how to eat this cake."

Mousquetaire extended his large hand: "Here, Tom—I'll press your head into the cake, then you can eat freely!"

"Matéo, get lost—we only have one cake!"

Ruiz pulled Mousquetaire away; Atlético Madrid's two center-backs tussled behind them.

Ale pulled out a small knife from the table: "Didn't you see this?"

"Oh, that's good."

Bruno took the knife as Tang Ye began counting slowly: "29, 30, 31, 32—we have 33 people total. Bruno, can you manage that?"

"Did you count yourself?"

Escrivà reminded him.

Uh!

Tang Ye rubbed his nose: "Then it's 34."

Bruno held the knife, staring at the cake in deep thought.

"A ten-inch cake divided into 34 portions—I don't think that's hard. What do you think, Tom?"

"I agree!"

"Then you do it."

Bruno handed the knife to Tang Ye.

Tang Ye acted decisively: he cut eight slices first, then estimated sizes with his fingers.

He cut off a small piece.

"Try it!"

"Haha, taste it, taste it!"

Teammates urged him on—they couldn't wait to tease Bruno.

Bubblegum-flavored cake!

Tang Ye brought the knife with the slice to his mouth.

"Hmm…"

He chewed twice, then looked at Ale.

"It's okay—the mint is faint, mostly… matcha? Anyway, it's pretty tasty."

Under Tang Ye's expert knife work, every Atlético Madrid player received an irregular slice of cake, each of different sizes.

But it didn't matter.

"Here."

Bruno gathered the players around Tang Ye. Tang Ye tried to stand up, but Bruno pushed him back down: "Tom, just sit."

"Three, two, one!"

"Viva Tom Tom!"

Escrivà filmed the moment for the players. After eating the cake, Tang Ye sat in his chair, lost in thought.

"What's wrong?"

Escrivà walked over and sat down at the table before Tang Ye.

Tang Ye felt awkward, but after hesitation, he spoke: "I want to hear that phrase… during the Copa del Rey final."

"What phrase?"

Tang Ye looked into Escrivà's eyes.

"Viva Tom Tom!"

Tom wanted to become MVP in the Copa del Rey final, carry his friends to victory, and become the Tom who was cheered with "Viva Tom Tom!"

But clearly, this would not be easy.

A simple calculation shows that only six days remain until the King's Cup final!

……

(End of Chapter)