Chapter 55: At 16, He
Ma He sent a through ball forward, De Rong controlled it cleanly, and with Stried and Rieuwe defending him, he showed no panic, dribbling straight toward Stried’s face.
Watch this!
Tang Ye sprinted up from behind and slid to tackle De Rong, but De Rong suddenly changed direction—Tang Ye’s tackle clipped only air and instead tripped Stried.
!!!
De Rong passed to Narsingh, who delivered a through ball into the small penalty area.
Goalkeeper Ruiter rushed out, but De Rong got there first, slotting the ball into the net with a gentle push of his instep.
“Goal! Goal!”
“Luc de Rong! I told you! What did I say?!”
“Is it a striker’s goal? Eintracht is extending their lead again!”
“2:1!”
De Rong sprinted out of Utrecht’s penalty area, while Tang Ye reached down to pull Stried up: “Mine, mine—you okay? You okay?”
“...”
Stried stood up with a blank, exasperated expression.
Even if he hadn’t been tripped, he couldn’t have stopped De Rong’s run anyway.
But that’s no excuse to tackle your own teammate!
“You alright?”
Tang Ye asked Stried again, and once he confirmed his teammate wasn’t hurt, he exhaled in relief.
The camera cut to Ten Hag, Utrecht’s head coach covering his face with his right hand.
Can’t watch!
【How the hell did I tackle my own teammate?】
【That was a trip, not a tackle—big difference!】
【Eintracht is still terrifying—no wonder they’re a Champions League side. Utrecht really is just good for background noise.】
【Pity—I should’ve let my guy develop for a few more months. Otherwise, this little Eintracht team might not have beaten Utrecht.】
【Utrecht’s trash—every single one of them drags my guy down, making him so angry he starts tackling his own teammates!】
【???】
“Beep! Beep-beep!”
Half-time whistle blew. Eintracht entered the break leading 2:1.
The home team’s anthem blared again across the stadium.
It’s no exaggeration to call fans the twelfth player—the moment the anthem started, every Utrecht player’s morale took a hit.
Tang Ye patted Stried on the shoulder: “No worries, no worries. Second half, I won’t trip you—we still have a chance.”
“It’s fine, I’m not mad at you. Really. Come on, come on!”
Stried and Tang Ye slapped hands, then walked together toward the tunnel.
Ten Hag still had tactical points to stress in the locker room—remember every word he says down there; Utrecht still has a chance!
In the home locker room, Cocu paced back and forth as players ate bananas, looking relaxed.
“Apart from that goal we conceded, our overall performance was pretty solid.”
Cocu summarized, and Bruma raised his hand apologetically: “I genuinely didn’t see Aale behind me—the #99. If I had, I’d have cleared it immediately.”
If Bruma hadn’t intercepted and passed the ball to Tang Ye, the score would’ve been 2:0.
Utrecht shouldn’t have scored at all!
“No problem, it’s minor.”
Cocu waved his hand: “You can see clearly—the opponent struggles to break through our defense. In the second half, we can keep pushing for more goals. 3:1—that’s the target. Once we’re up 3:1, we switch to defense. Safer that way.”
“When I make substitutions, that’s the signal we’re switching to defense.”
Cocu crossed his arms, certain his side would score again in the second half.
“By the way, that #99.”
Cocu remembered something and emphasized it: “That #99 is weird. Just remember—if he starts strolling, you break toward the center.”
“What if he catches up?”
Bruma asked. The man across from him, Ma He, answered for the coach.
“He won’t catch him.”
Second half began. Ten Hag made a substitution.
Forward Josten replaced fullback Comboy.
Behind by a goal, Ten Hag ultimately abandoned his five-back setup.
“Oh? Two strikers become three! Ten Hag is very confident!”
“The new arrival, Josten, is also a youngster—he and Tang Ye both came from Utrecht’s reserve team, but this guy only got promoted in early November.”
Two reserve-team kids on the pitch, and Amrabat warming up on the bench.
Anyone with eyes could see: Ten Hag has no one left to use!
“Proppe! Cross low and cut it back!”
“Ma He, shoot! Fake shot! Ma He passed to Lokadia on the left!”
“Lokadia, take a shot inside the box!”
“Goal! 3:1! Eintracht leads by two!”
“Awesome!”
At the 65th minute, Eintracht extended their lead. Utrecht’s players were struggling.
Eintracht truly lived up to their Champions League status—this pace and intensity were unmatched by any other Eredivisie side.
Pfft!
Tang Ye spat his gum back into its wrapper and pulled out a fresh one.
Aale ran back from the front and asked Tang Ye for a piece of gum—chewing helped him calm down a little.
“They’re so strong...”
Tang Ye chewed his gum, watching Eintracht’s players celebrate on the flank.
Aale glanced that way too, but quickly looked away, patting Tang Ye’s shoulder: “Keep going—we still have a chance.”
After conceding, both teams made substitutions. Amrabat entered with a small note.
Two notes: one for Ramselaar, one for Aale.
Tang Ye was curious what was written on them, but he knew: if Ten Hag only wrote notes for Ramselaar and Aale, it meant personal details—nothing to do with him.
Minute 76!
“Aale drives toward the byline! Aale’s strong!”
“Back-pass to Josten!”
“Josten cuts it back!”
“Tang Ye!”
“Now it’s Tang Ye with the ball!”
Bruma saw Tang Ye in possession and immediately sprinted out of the box to tackle.
That curling shot from the first half was still fresh in his mind!
In the camera shot, Tang Ye lifted his right leg.
!!!
Bruma lunged with his foot!
Tang Ye...
Tang Ye stopped the ball, then suddenly pulled it back!
!??
“Hah!”
Realizing he’d been fooled, Tang Ye burst out laughing, sidestepped, and sprinted into the box.
Eintracht’s players finally realized something was wrong—Moreno rushed over from the side.
But it was too late!
Push it!
“GOOOO—AAAAA—LLLLLLL!!!”
“Holy shit! Tang Ye scores!”
“3:2!”
Wang Chao turned pale.
Ssshh—
Things were getting weird.
“Hahaha!”
Tang Ye was ecstatic, winking at Bruma, then sprinting toward the sideline.
Bruma’s face turned ashen.
Where’s the little player we agreed on?
At sixteen he’s already this good at lying—what will he be like in the future!
……
(End of Chapter)
End of Chapter
