“Is this guy… on drugs?”
Liu Meng, the main team's center-back, was panting heavily, his eyes fixed on Luo Xiaoxiang.
Just now, he had once again been faked out by Luo Xiaoxiang's bizarre changes in rhythm.
That feeling was too unbearable!
Luo Xiaoxiang wasn't particularly fast, and his moves weren't flashy, but he always seemed to be half a step ahead, predicting your defensive actions, and then, using the simplest and most effective method, he would slip past you.
It was as if… he could read your mind.
“Everyone, focus! He just has a slightly unpredictable running style, it’s nothing amazing! Mark him tightly, don’t let him get the ball easily!”
Captain Zhang Hao’s roar echoed across the main team’s half.
His face had turned extremely grim.
As the team’s ace, he was being suppressed on both offense and defense by a substitute he despised the most.
To him, this was a great humiliation.
He started chasing back frantically, trying to use his powerful physique and speed to limit Luo Xiaoxiang’s performance.
However, it was useless.
Luo Xiaoxiang was like a slippery fish, never engaging him directly.
As soon as you pressed him, he would immediately pass the ball, then use the moment of Misdirection to slip away from your blind spot, creating open space again.
This style of play was simply a defender’s nightmare.
Li Tiejun on the sidelines was completely dumbfounded.
He stood with his arms crossed, his body leaning slightly forward, his eyes unblinking as he watched Luo Xiaoxiang's every move.
As an experienced coach, he saw it clearly.
The core of Luo Xiaoxiang's playing style boiled down to two words — “awareness.”
An extraordinary ability to read the game, and an unpredictable running awareness.
He always appeared at the most correct time, in the most correct place.
This kind of ability cannot be taught.
Is this… what they call talent?
But why did this talent only show itself today?
Li Tiejun’s mind was filled with countless questions.
The game time ticked by, minute by minute.
The training match was nearing its end.
The score was still 1:1.
But the situation on the field had completely shifted in favor of the substitute team.
Relying on Luo Xiaoxiang, their “surprise weapon,” they were playing brilliantly on the right wing, creating several excellent opportunities.
Unfortunately, the substitute team’s forwards were lacking in their finishing ability, with several shots going wide of the goal.
“Not much time left, one last attack!”
The substitute team’s captain shouted loudly.
The ball once again came to Luo Xiaoxiang’s feet.
This time, he didn’t pass.
Because he saw that the main team’s defense, having been on the back foot for a long time, had a slight opening.
In the center, a fleeting gap appeared.
Now!
Luo Xiaoxiang took a deep breath, suddenly accelerated, and dribbled towards the center!
“Stop him!”
Liu Meng and another center-back closed in quickly like two doors, attempting to trap him.
Zhang Hao also chased back desperately from the side-rear, trying to tackle.
Three-sided pincer attack!
Luo Xiaoxiang was once again in a desperate situation.
Everyone’s hearts were in their throats.
This time, he surely had no way out, right?
However, there was no trace of panic on Luo Xiaoxiang’s face.
His gaze was exceptionally calm.
Just as the three defenders were about to converge, he moved.
He gently nudged the ball forward and to the right with his right foot.
This was a very obvious signal that he intended to break through forcefully from the right.
Liu Meng and Zhang Hao shifted their weight to the right without a second thought.
But the moment they shifted their weight, Luo Xiaoxiang’s supporting foot, his left foot, twisted inwards at an extremely strange angle.
His entire body seemed boneless, twisting its direction abruptly.
Immediately after, his right foot arced through the air, swung around to the left side of the ball, and with the outside of his foot, he struck it hard!
Rabona shot?!
No!
Even more bizarre than a Rabona shot!
Because his body was leaning to the right, but his foot was striking to the left!
This movement had completely exceeded the scope of human biomechanics.
It defied logic!
“Bang!”
The soccer ball, as if imbued with life, squeezed through the narrow gap between the two converging center-backs.
That gap was so narrow it could barely fit a soccer ball.
After passing through, the ball took a strange arc, evading the goalkeeper’s desperate dive, and nestled into the top left corner of the goal!
This shot was fast, accurate, and powerful!
And, it was full of imagination!
“Swish!”
The sound of the ball hitting the net was crisp and pleasant.
The entire stadium once again fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone seemed to be frozen in place, maintaining their original postures, unmoving.
Only one thought was in their minds.
“What… just happened?”
They only saw Luo Xiaoxiang, under the triple-team, score with a never-before-seen, acrobatic move.
That wasn’t soccer technique.
That was magic!
“Beep—beep—beep—!”
The final whistle, in this silence, sounded particularly piercing.
The assistant coach had forgotten his role as referee; he stood with his mouth agape, staring blankly at the goal, the whistle in his hand almost slipping to the ground.
2:1!
The substitute team, thanks to Luo Xiaoxiang’s last-minute decisive goal, defeated the main team!
This was an outcome no one had expected.
And the one who created this result was the least conspicuous, perennial substitute on the team.
Luo Xiaoxiang.