Chapter 90: You may take my body, but not my contribution to Utrecht

「Ajax!」

「Ajax!」

「Ajax!」

The home team fans shouted loudly, deeply dissatisfied that the away side had equalized.

Ajax clearly dominated the play—why did Utrecht manage to equalize?

They got lucky!

Ajax fans looked down on Utrecht because they believed both of Utrecht’s goals came from luck.

On the bench, Ten Hag clenched his fists hidden in his jacket pockets.

Substituting De Jong for Amrabat was a gamble.

He was betting that Utrecht could win the match!

Three minutes after De Jong came on, he made a strong run forward; Tang Ye, sensing the opportunity, started moving early and sprinted from the center to the left flank.

De Jong continued advancing!

Tang Ye jogged forward, observing the positions of the opposing defenders ahead.

Pass it to me!

Plop!

De Jong passed to Tang Ye!

Got it!

Tang Ye’s eyes lit up—he had already scanned the field before turning.

Now just need to lay it off to the right…

Thud!

Goudé burst out from nowhere and stamped on Tang Ye’s ankle, sending him flying.

«Fuck!»

Only when the pain hit his brain did Tang Ye realize someone had tackled him.

Tackle if you must—why kick the leg?

«Beep!»

«Yellow card for Goudé—damn, Ajax committed a tactical foul!»

«Why are you always tackling my King Tang?»

«Damn it, let’s check the replay!»

On screen, Tang Ye rolled a few times, then got up.

Goudé’s tackle resembled Bazol’s from the first half—both were fast, but lacked strong impact.

Damn it…

Tang Ye was about to sprint forward to join his teammates for the corner, but his current position felt oddly familiar.

He whispered to Ramselaar.

«Can I take this one?»

?

Ramselaar stepped behind the referee’s marking line and took a quick look.

It was indeed a good set-piece position.

Ramselaar could give it to Tang Ye, but with the score tied 2-2, young academy players like him were usually vulnerable to pressure.

Uh…

Wait—no!

Ramselaar suddenly remembered: Tang Ye didn’t seem to feel pressure at all.

«Are you sure you want it?»

Ramselaar looked into Tang Ye’s eyes; Tang Ye rubbed his hands, then took the ball.

«Wo!»

The home fans in the stands began to cheer.

Ramselaar handed the set piece to Tang Ye, then sprinted straight into the box.

He didn’t even bother with a dummy!

«Huh…»

Ten Hag was surprised by Tang Ye’s initiative to take the ball.

After a moment’s thought, he realized Tang Ye must have high confidence—so Ten Hag chose to respect it.

«Beep!»

The referee blew the whistle; Tang Ye began his run-up!

Plop!

He struck the ball hard toward the back post, adding topspin; the ball dropped and slowed as it fell.

To Ramselaar!

Plop!

Ramselaar headed it in!

The ball…

In!

«Goooo——aaaaaaa——llllll!!!»

«Assist by Tang Ye!»

«Tang Ye’s second assist of the match!»

«Goal! Utrecht takes the lead!»

«Awesome!»

«Holy shit, awesome!»

«Tang Ye is awesome!»

«Ten Hag is awesome!»

The referee confirmed the goal; Utrecht’s players all sprinted toward the right corner flag.

The director switched cameras; two cameramen near the tunnel stayed glued to Ten Hag.

Ten Hag saw the camera turning toward him, turned to face the home fans’ stand, and slowly opened his arms.

Click!

The frame froze at that moment.

Ten Hag’s back was to the camera; the stands showed home fans pointing and cursing at him.

This shot gave livestream viewers a familiar feeling.

It was Titanic.

Before Ten Hag seemed to be a chasm—but he marched forward without hesitation.

Erik Ten Hag!

«Ten Hag, you’re going to jail!»

«Ten Hag, go to jail!»

The fans in the stands kept hurling abuse at Ten Hag; the Dutch coach showed complete indifference.

He turned around, resuming his earlier stance with hands in his pockets.

【Awesome, only Tang Ye can do that—damn, that was spot-on】

【Accuracy is only part of it—Tang Ye’s pass had a downward drop when slowing, making it perfect for Ramselaar; otherwise, his header wouldn’t have scored】

【Ramselaar gave the set piece to King Tang, who graciously granted him the right to shoot. King Tang, great!】

【Stupid Ajax only knows fouls—now they’re paying the price. If that #8 hadn’t fouled, Utrecht might not have scored】

【Underestimating King Tang’s set-piece ability? That’s going to cost you!】

【So, will Ten Hag get in trouble?】

【Saint Ten Hag won’t get in trouble!】

After the 80th minute, Ajax, trailing, launched a counterattack against Utrecht.

But Ajax’s momentum to score had been broken; they attacked fiercely for over ten minutes without creating a single chance. «Beep! Beep-beep—!!!»

Referee Pereira blew the final whistle; Utrecht completed a comeback victory away at Ajax!

«Wuhu!»

Tang Ye hugged De Jong and Ramselaar.

He had been targeted by the opposition, but winning the match felt like a satisfying revenge.

Back in the locker room, Fan De found Tang Ye and told him he had been named man of the match and needed to return to the pitch for another interview.

«I’m MVP?»

Tang Ye pointed at his own nose, surprised by Fan De’s news.

Utrecht’s second goal came off the post after Tang Ye’s shot, so Tang Ye only had two actual assists.

«Aale has two goals.»

Tang Ye reminded him.

!

“It’s not just about goals and assists.”

Fan Dejia corrected Tang Ye’s mistaken view: “There are also number of offensive initiations—we launched 60% of our attacks from you, so you’re the MVP of this match.”

“I have no objections!”

A Lei raised both hands.

He spoke the truth: now A Lei’s only goal was to hold onto his Eredivisie Golden Boot with Tang Ye’s help.

For a forward like A Lei, the league Golden Boot mattered far more than match MVP.

Without further delay, Tang Ye returned to the pitch. Most home fans had already left, but the away fans chose to stay.

Looking toward the away section, Tang Ye could see a banner with his Chinese name “ Tangye ”—though it was poorly written.

It was indeed asking too much of these Dutch fans to write Chinese!

“Tang, congratulations—you’ve won the match MVP trophy. At halftime, Utrecht was down by two goals. Tang, could you briefly describe how you and your teammates felt then?”

“Oh, we felt a lot of pressure—immense pressure.”

Tang Ye held the trophy and spoke slowly.

“But we got back into rhythm. Ajax isn’t unbeatable.”

“Tom!”

“Tom!”

Tang Ye hadn’t said much, but the away fans immediately began chanting his name, making his face flush with uncontainable excitement.

After the interview, Tang Ye walked back to the locker room, clutching his newly won MVP trophy.

Bang!

He kicked the door open and held up the trophy for everyone. Ramsey and Amrabat rushed over to celebrate with him.

The players were happy, but Tang Ye soon noticed something was off.

“Has Mr. Erik finished his interview yet?”

Tang Ye’s question instantly silenced the Utrecht locker room.

The head coach had given his interview immediately after the match, followed by the MVP—yet now that Tang Ye had returned, Tenhag still hadn’t shown up.

Where was the great Mr. Erik?

The teammates stayed silent. Tang Ye turned his gaze to Fan Dejia.

“Uh…”

Fan Dejia looked awkward: “It’s not good news… but… cough, never mind. Come with me.”

Fan Dejia walked out behind Tang Ye. Barefoot and in slippers, Tang Ye followed, followed by the rest of Utrecht’s first-team players.

“What’s going on?”

As they walked, Tang Ye asked A Lei, who spread his hands: “Mr. Erik has been punished.”

“What kind of punishment?”

“The punishment for putting you on.”

Fan Dejia added, leading the players out of the Johan Cruijff Arena.

The stadium was empty. Only then did Tang Ye realize the home fans and reporters were all outside.

Two cars with fluorescent yellow paint were parked outside, marked with the letters “politie”—Dutch for “police.”

Huh?

Tang Ye hadn’t seen Tenhag’s eyes yet, but he already sensed something was wrong.

No way…

Even though Tenhag was a bastard, he was still Tang Ye’s head coach!

Tang Ye gripped his MVP trophy tightly in his right hand, anxiety rising.

I’ve gained everything—but if I lose you, what’s any of it worth?

Mr. Erik!

Tang Ye looked left and right, then followed the direction of the reporters’ cameras and spotted Tenhag emerging from the fan entrance.

Tenhag wore his own clothes, hands in his pockets, flanked by two Dutch police officers.

Click!

Click-click!

“Tenhag!”

“Tenhag, what does it feel like to be arrested?”

“Tenhag, can you answer my question? Tenhag!”

As soon as Tenhag appeared, chaos erupted. Reporters frantically tried to break through security to get direct interviews.

“Erik Tenhag~”

“Erik Tenhag~ locked up~ Erik Tenhag~ prison awaits you~”

“Utrecht has no future—only darkness awaits Tenhag~”

“Wow~”

“Erik! Tenhag!”

“Erik! Tenhag!”

The home fans began singing their newly composed “Song of Tenhag’s Imprisonment.” In the footage, Tenhag walked toward a police car, escorted by two officers.

Tenhag opened the door himself and got into the back seat.

Just as the officers were about to close the door, Tenhag suddenly leaned his upper body out.

“Erik…”

Tang Ye gripped his MVP trophy tightly.

He guessed Tenhag was about to say something farewell to the Utrecht players.

Click-click!

Click-click-click!

Camera shutters kept firing as Tenhag took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

“You can take my body, but you cannot take my contributions to Utrecht.”

He clenched his fists, raised his right hand.

“Make Utrecht great again!”

What the hell?

…

(End of Chapter)