Chapter 38: Helping a Player Score Is Hard, But I

fuckno!

Seeing the situation turn bad, team captain Ramselaar rushed straight to the referee.

“That shouldn’t be a red card, right?”

“He spiked him!”

Referee Semark made his stance clear—he immediately sent off the Utrecht player who came forward to defend his teammate.

Van der Maarel’s foot landed on Marinus’s chest.

And his studs were angled upward.

This was an undisputed red-card offense.

“Mark”

Tang Ye walked over and placed his hand on Van der Maarel’s shoulder.

This was the first time Tang Ye had witnessed a teammate being sent off on the pitch.

Though it wasn’t himself being sent off, Tang Ye could feel Van der Maarel’s emotions.

He must be devastated!

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry…”

Van der Maarel pressed his hand against his chest, continuously apologizing to Tang Ye and Balazet beside him.

Utrecht was currently leading by one goal.

Their advantage could vanish completely because Van der Maarel’s straight red card was off the pitch!

Because Utrecht now had only ten men on the field!

Tang Ye and Balazet followed Van der Maarel to the sideline; Ten Hag gripped Van der Maarel’s hand and offered brief comfort, then called Tang Ye over.

“Play it safe, don’t drag us down—we still have a chance, understood?”

Tang Ye nodded.

He knew the situation was critical!

At this moment, he absolutely could not drag them down!

Bad news came one after another: Zwolle earned a direct free kick at the spot where Van der Maarel fouled.

The free kick was given to Brahma to take.

He didn’t shoot directly—he passed it to the back post, where Becker was positioned.

Becker headed it in.

In just three minutes, Utrecht fell from heaven to hell.

In the locker room, Van der Maarel watched this on TV—his heart turned cold.

If this continued, Zwolle would score again.

Three points turned to zero—Van der Maarel became the scapegoat!

【Damn, the chain reaction from this red card is over】

【Shit, the odds flipped—hurry up and bet on Zwolle to win outright, or we’ll lose everything, even our underwear】

【I fucking hate it—why did this defender charge up like that???】

【Idiot commentator, still saying Utrecht wins 3-0 away—I’m unsubscribing right now!】

“No no, I’m just a small streamer, how was I supposed to know Utrecht would get a red card? Don’t blame me, okay?”

Wang Chao was now the most miserable one.

He was the leader.

If the leader gets the direction wrong, he gets roasted!

On screen, Verdywick ran with the ball toward the center circle.

They refused to celebrate.

They wanted to use the remaining time to turn the tables on Utrecht!

“It’s okay, it’s okay, come on, come on!”

Ramselaar clapped and shouted encouragement.

He was the team captain.

At this moment, he had to step up and motivate his teammates!

“Don’t drag us down, don’t drag us down…”

Tang Ye remembered Ten Hag’s words, moving while thinking about what to do next.

He wanted to assist, and he wanted to score.

Most of all, he wanted to win!

Originally, Tang Ye hadn’t cared deeply about winning or losing, but today’s match was different.

Seeing Van der Maarel’s heartbroken expression, Tang Ye felt deeply, deeply pained.

Before Tang Ye could think further, Zwolle launched an attack—forward Ryan Thomas sprinted down the left flank with blistering speed.

Ramselaar began his one-on-one marking of Thomas.

“Help! Help!”

Ten Hag shouted at Tang Ye.

Ramselaar might not stop Thomas—Ten Hag needed Tang Ye to move to the flank!

But Tang Ye didn’t do it.

His instinct told him Thomas was about to pass—running over now wouldn’t just be too late, it would make him a fool, easily toyed with by Zwolle’s players in the middle.

Tang Ye abandoned the help defense and moved toward Marinus’s position.

Tang Ye was betting—betting that Thomas would pass to Marinus.

He was right—Thomas feinted past Ramselaar and slid a horizontal pass to Marinus in the center.

At the moment of the pass, Tang Ye accelerated, lunged sideways, and cleared the ball straight to Stride’s feet.

wow!

Stride rushed forward immediately.

Ahead, Balazet was reaching out to him!

A sharp “thwack” rang out—Stride launched a long pass toward the right baseline.

Balazet was fast—he, like Thomas, took the ball on the flank and immediately charged the defense.

The defender assigned to him was Brahma!

Tang Ye spat out the grass in his mouth and sprinted forward.

Can’t drag us down!

Balazet reached the baseline, his attention fixed on the left flank on Aale.

Aale raised his left hand, pointing his right finger toward the arc.

It was his signal.

Balazet understood the signal!

“Triangle back to Tang Ye!”

“Tang Ye, receive the ball at the arc—great passing angle, Aale’s almost in the box!”

“Tang Ye, pass… shoot directly!”

“Damn…”

“Goal! Goal!”

“Goal by Tang Ye!”

“Utrecht regains the lead!”

“The scorer is… Tang Ye!”

【At 37, you showed grit and resilience, helping your team regain the lead despite being down a man】

【Reward: Comeback Points *10】

【Portuguese Low-Level Chest → Portuguese Mid-Level Chest】

“Hahaha!”

Ten comeback points and a lead—double joy slammed into Tang Ye’s mind.

His mind was empty.

Except for roaring in celebration!

In the locker room, Van der Maarel, who had already prepared to be the scapegoat, suddenly jumped off his bench.

Cleared the ball to start a counterattack + a precise shot from the arc to seal the win.

Only Tang Ye could do this!

Damn it—if he hadn’t dragged Tang Ye down, Utrecht might already be leading 3-0!

The two Dutch coaches on Utrecht’s bench waved their arms in celebration.

Playing 10 against 11, every player was tense.

But Tang Ye wasn’t.

Tang Ye’s super heart kicked in at this moment.

Down a man, yet completely calm.

That’s the basic requirement for a fraud!

“Ayoubu, come back now.”

Ten Haag raised his hand to recall Ayoubu, who was warming up in a vest, signaling the midfielder to return to his seat and rest.

Although you, Ayoubu, have fought in countless battles.

But at a time like this, we need the calmer Lazy Pig!

The match resumed; suddenly, Tang Ye rushed forward, and the Zwartewaal players, who had already wanted to win, now began to feel nervous.

Not everyone has a world-class heart!

“Come on, give it to me,” Tang Ye ran to the left flank and took the ball from Nganioni.

He turned and looked up; Zwartewaal, having learned from their earlier mistake, no longer left Aale and Barazite unmarked.

In this situation, passing would just be giving the ball away.

Tang Ye is the Lazy Pig, not the Wild Boar—he won’t make that kind of pass.

After careful consideration, Tang Ye passed the ball to Ramselaar on his right.

He was a bit tired, so he needed his teammates to do the running for him.

“Ramselaar, push forward with the ball!”

“Damn, even with one man down, Utrecht is still attacking!”

“Ten Haag’s tactics are completely crushing the opposing coach!”

“Ramselaar, there’s an opening up ahead!”

Ramselaar and Barazite combined to advance about thirty meters.

!

At this point, pushing further would bring immediate pressure from multiple Zwartewaal defenders.

Since they couldn’t advance, they had to spread the play wide.

Looking up, Ramselaar noticed Aale making a run down the left flank.

But his position wasn’t ideal, so he could only pass the ball back to Tang Ye.

“To the left!”

Ramselaar whispered, hoping Tang Ye would deliver a brilliant pass.

But Tang Ye simply dribbled forward.

Shit!

Ramselaar felt something was wrong.

Tang Ye didn’t even hear him!

“Here we go, here we go!”

Tang Ye was salivating at the sight of Zwartewaal’s goal.

Ramselaar must have bad eyesight.

Didn’t he see that huge shooting space?

Tang Ye charged forward, denying the defenders any chance to close him down, and struck with the outside of his foot.

The ball curled directly into the top-left corner of the net.

Hehe.

Another goal!

【At 37, you made your first Eredivisie start and scored two goals. You’re very satisfied with your performance today, because you know you didn’t let your teammates down.】

【Reward: Comeback Points *10】

【Bonus for brace: Comeback Points *10】

Tang Ye’s mind was flooded with 20 comeback points from the system, so he didn’t even notice Ramselaar and Aale running over to him.

“Woww!!!”

“Tom!”

“Tom!”

“Tom!”

“What’s this?”

“What’s this!”

“Damn, Tang Ye! Brace!”

“Utrecht 3:1 Zwartewaal—what the hell did I just see!”

“Outside-of-the-foot finish into the top corner!”

【Wait, is this real? A 16-year-old starter scoring two goals? Is he really pure Chinese?】

【Baidu says he’s from Guangdong—definitely pure blood.】

【Damn, did he just luck out again? Awesome! He’s flying, he’s flying!】

【He scored more than the strikers—aren’t you supposed to be a possession midfielder?】

【Man, Ten Haag owes Tang Ye at least two bows—without him starting, Utrecht would’ve been slaughtered today.】

The away team was celebrating; the broadcast camera cut to the home team’s coach, Omonde.

Omonde’s face showed no expression.

Before the match, he thought Ten Haag had put Tang Ye in to disrespect them.

Now he realized he was wrong.

This was Ten Haag taking Zwartewaal seriously!

Precisely because Ten Haag respected Zwartewaal enough to start Tang Ye.

This Chinese kid may play in a bizarre way, but when he gets a chance, he absolutely seizes it!

Tang Ye embraced his teammates on the sideline, and his system sent a notification.

Because of this brace, his Portuguese chest had successfully upgraded to 【Advanced】.

That meant after this match, Tang Ye could obtain the skill of a player valued between 30 million and 70 million euros.

But Tang Ye’s performance today was so outstanding that it gave him a second option.

【At 37, you are experienced and steady. You may temporarily decline this reward. If you score or assist in your next match, the chest may upgrade further. If you contribute nothing in your next match, the chest will downgrade by one level. (Valid only for next match)】

Valid only for the next match—meaning the system gave Tang Ye one extra match to upgrade his chest.

Isn’t this just investing?

As a financial master who once took out a 100,000 comeback point loan via Huabei, Tang Ye knew this was a profit.

Choose investment!

Second option activated.

Tang Ye voluntarily declined claiming the Advanced Portuguese chest after this match.

His goal: get that damn Superstar chest in the next match!

A superstar worth 70 million to 100 million euros.

That’s fundamentally different from a 30 million to 70 million euro player!

“Tom!”

“Tom!”

“Jerry!”

Someone in the away stand shouted “Jerry,” but his voice was instantly drowned out.

Full-time. Thanks to Tang Ye’s two goals, ten-man Utrecht won 3:1 away against Zwartewaal.

The Zwartewaal players were stunned. The Utrecht players were stunned too.

They led by two goals despite being down a man.

Great God was on their side today!

Post-match, the press room: Ten Haag faced ten reporters alone, utterly calm.

“Mr. Eric, congratulations on your victory today. Both in process and result, this was a very difficult match.”

The first to stand was a female reporter, praising Utrecht’s outstanding performance.

She then asked about Van der Maarel’s red card: “When Mark received his red card, as head coach, what was your emotional state?”

“No real emotion, or rather—utterly unfazed.”

Ten Haag shrugged casually, as if he’d known the result all along.

“Unfazed? You mean you believed ten-man Utrecht could beat a full-strength Zwartewaal?”

“Something like that.”

Ten Haag stretched his neck slightly: “My decision to start Tang Ye drew heavy criticism from fans. But the truth is, Tang’s start was deliberately planned.”

“Deliberately planned? What do you mean…?”

“I knew Tang would score those two goals. That’s why I put him in the starting eleven. His job was to solve our scoring problem.”

Ten Haag spoke slowly: “Honestly, Tang’s performance today was only average. He should’ve scored three, not two. In my plan, we were supposed to win 4:1 or 4:0.”

“...”

“So you already predicted Tang would score, which is why you started him?”

“You could say that,” Ten Haag nodded.

The female reporter’s eyes widened.

My God!

Tenghahezhe ……

Tailihaileba ！

「 Naniyihouhaihuirangtangshoufachuchangma ， Zaitajintianbisaiqudebucuobiaoxiandeqingkuangxia ？」

「 Zhegebunengzhuji ， Woxuyaokaolv 」

Tenghahexiangfabushidejizhejiangshuletadejingyan ：「 Yimingqiuyuanchangshangfahuideshilihendachengdushangshishoudaojiaolianzhanshuanpaideyingxiangde ， Jiuxiangjintiantangnayang 。 Suirantadetianfukenengmeiyounamechuse ， Danwohuibangzhuta ， Zheshiwozuoweizhujiaoliandezhize 」

「 Dengxiayicijihuidaolai ， Wohaishihuirangtashoufa 」

Tenghahemiandaiweixiao 。

「 Bangzhuyimingqiuyuanjinqiuhenkunnan ， Danwoyuanyifuchunuli 」

……

( Benzhangwan )

[201] Tenghahezhe ……

[202]That’s too impressive!

[203]“Will you still start Tang in future matches, given his strong performance today?”

[204]“This can’t be rushed—I need to think about it.”

[205]Teng Haha told the reporters in the press room: “A player’s on-field performance is heavily influenced by the coach’s tactical setup, just like Tang today. Though his talent may not be outstanding, I will help him—that is my duty as head coach.”

[206]“When the next opportunity comes, I will still start him.”

[207]Teng Haha smiled.

[208]“Helping a player score is difficult, but I’m willing to put in the effort.”

[209]……

[210](End of Chapter)