Chapter 418: Chapter 418
Huang Kaiwen twisted his body to pass back, realizing it was unwise to try to dribble past three opponents in a tight space on his own.
When Huang Kaiwen ran forward, Joaquin didn’t follow him, nor did he defend Carlos.
Seeing Raul positioned forward near the midfield, Carlos immediately delivered a long pass with his left foot.
The ball soared over Valencia’s defensive line and headed straight for the end line, with Raul failing to save it before it reached the line.
"Both teams are preparing to make substitutions."
"Cassano replaces Robinho, and on Valencia’s side, Morientes comes on for Angulo. Flores probably thinks Villa’s retreat is sufficient and adds a taller presence in the box."
"Morientes, also from Real Madrid’s youth ranks, once formed a golden partnership with Raul for both club and country. Unfortunately, he was underutilized and ultimately loaned out by Real Madrid."
"Hehe, in the 2003-2004 UEFA Champions League season, the loaned Morientes led Monaco to eliminate Real Madrid, scoring 9 goals to become the season’s top scorer, although Monaco eventually lost to Mourinho’s Porto in the finals."
After the substitutions.
Valencia kicked off from their back line again.
With Angulo on the field, their tactics resembled a false nine.
Even so, they often crossed from 45 degrees into the box; with Morientes there, Valencia’s crosses became even more frequent.
This versatile and central playing style caused plenty of troubles for Real Madrid’s defense.
In the 66th minute, Joaquin crossed from the right, and Morientes, overpowering Cannavaro, headed just over the crossbar.
Capello finally lost his patience and turned back to shout at Messiah, "Get up and warm up!"
The height issue between Carlos and Cannavaro was inherent, unchangeable except by substitution.
Cannavaro’s form also left him disappointed.
Real Madrid kicked off from their back line once again.
Casillas ran up and booted the ball straight down the left flank.
When Huang Kaiwen received the pass, he extended his foot to send the ball towards the middle to Raul.
Raul immediately tapped it to Cassano.
Cassano carried the ball down the right flank, accelerating as Pallardo quickly advanced to defend.
The slightly overweight Cassano still maneuvered with agility, faking and effortlessly ditching Pallardo with a right-footed flick.
"Wow, Cassano’s dribble was beautiful!"
"Hehe, back when I was commentating on Serie A, Cassano was truly formidable. In the 1999-2000 season, in the Bari vs. Lazio match, Cassano dribbled past three defenders in a tight space—truly brilliant. Compared to the 19-year-old Cassano, he has regressed quite a bit now."
Cassano, holding the ball, looked up and saw Huang Kaiwen had moved to the center, so he immediately passed it back to Guti.
Wary of Guti attempting another direct pass, Pallardo rushed to press him.
Seeing Guti lift his foot, Pallardo instinctively stretched out his, not realizing Guti was not passing centrally but instead directly to the left.
Carlos received the ball but didn’t control it well, allowing Luis Miguel to close in on him.
Having regained control, Carlos accelerated again towards the end line, competing speedily with mixed-race defender Miguel, with negligible speed difference between them.
However, Carlos had the initial burst advantage, leading by a body length near the end line.
Without hesitating, Carlos twisted and slammed his foot against the side of the ball.
The ability to make a cross feel like a shot was rare.
The ball flew quickly toward the middle of the box, where Huang Kaiwen, spotting Ayala had already positioned himself optimally, took two steps and unleashed power with his right foot, leaping into the air.
Huang Kaiwen and Ayala jumped into the air sideward in almost identical motion.
But Huang Kaiwen’s jump was a half body length higher than Ayala’s.
In midair, Huang Kaiwen instinctively used his hands to stabilize on Ayala’s body and headed the ball.
Despite Santiago Canizares positioning himself centrally in goal, he immediately leapt sideways, yet the ball’s speed was too much.
Canizares reached his limit, his fingertips even touching the ball, but he still couldn’t stop it from drilling into the bottom right corner of the goal.
Only 2000 voices from Valencia could be heard.
Mestalla Stadium once again became the Meringue’s playground.
"Another hat trick for Kevin!!!"
"I said it before, I already mentioned, Kevin just makes it fun for himself. Left foot, right foot, and head, today Kevin scored three goals using three different body parts. I declare the type of hat trick that switches scoring body parts to be called the ’Kevin Hat Trick.’"
"Kevin scoring while riding on Ayala’s neck, this is Kevin’s retribution to Ayala."
"David Villa is an outstanding forward, performing exceptionally well today, displaying perfect technical skills with speed, strength, confrontation, and technique. But when compared to Kevin, the contest isn’t fair because Kevin is simply not from this planet."
"Spain’s offensive players will soon realize, no matter how many goals they score, facing Kevin’s team, they still can’t secure a victory!"
An excited Carlos rushed towards Huang Kaiwen.
Huang Kaiwen gestured for other teammates to come over.
Although Robinho was subbed out, his celebration plan was still quite interesting.
The key thing was it effectively alleviated the issue of teammates not being able to gather around the Yellow Ball King quickly enough.
After discussing, Cassano won a rock-paper-scissors game against Carlos.
Huang Kaiwen performed a gesture of reeling in a rod after casting.