Chapter 489: Chapter 489
In the Camp Nou visitor’s locker room.
Huang Kaiwen was changing into his soccer kit.
Raul voiced his concerns, "Maybe you shouldn’t play."
"It’s okay, if I don’t feel well, I’ll ask the coach to substitute me,"
said Huang Kaiwen with a smile.
"Alright, just take care of yourself then," Raul said, nodding.
Huang Kaiwen was scratching off a lottery ticket.
It was still the second prize.
Seeing the [Expectation Value] hit 100, Huang Kaiwen chose to draw a lottery.
[Ding, you have obtained a 2008-2009 season Spanish Super Cup first-leg experience card, Valencia vs Real Madrid, David Villa single match]
This was a very well-rounded player without any major shortcomings.
Huang Kaiwen had felt Villa’s strength before, back when he was playing at Valencia.
From organizing plays to scoring, Villa could do it all exceptionally well.
Even the precious [Injury Pause Card] was used up, and the result was quite satisfactory.
Today was yet another tough day for Barça.
After the press conference, all players were warming up.
Rijkaard was clutching the starting lineup in his hand, his knuckles cracking.
Capello handed in his starting lineup at the last moment, and Huang Kaiwen’s name was glaringly on it!
the assistant coach asked.
"I don’t know, let’s hope those Thai players are effective," Rijkaard sighed.
"Ah, hehe, Capello has pulled another surprise attack. Back when he was in Serie A, Ancelotti often handed in the starting lineup at the last moment; now coaching Huang Kaiwen, Capello has learned to do the same,"
"The fans are really concerned about whether Huang Kaiwen can play, and now here’s some good news for everyone: Huang Kaiwen’s name is on the starting lineup we got."
"Today’s Camp Nou stands are as star-studded as ever. Before the match, tennis genius Nadal declared a victory for Real Madrid, interestingly, his uncle Miguel Nadal is a Barça legend who played there for eight years."
Huang Kaiwen’s bullshit.
"Damn, Huang Kaiwen, this fucker, I’m waiting in front of the TV just to find out if he’s playing, and he really fucking is."
"Faking an injury, definitely faking. My cousin also fakes injuries,"
"Huang Kaiwen might always fake injuries, but not this time; last time, Real Madrid almost got eliminated by Bayern, and he didn’t play. With Huang Kaiwen’s habit of faking, he absolutely wouldn’t miss such a match."
"Speaking of which, Huang Kaiwen was at an event a few days ago, and I saw he was quite popular there, causing traffic jams whenever he went out."
"That’s normal; I work in that city, and let me tell you, a magazine survey showed that housewives would most like to have a one-night stand with Huang Kaiwen; he’s also quite popular among college girls, I heard my colleague say he saw someone working there just to afford Huang Kaiwen’s merchandise."
"Why didn’t you go along?"
"Well, that place doesn’t welcome foreigners,"
"Damn, another day of envying this fucker Huang Kaiwen."
The players returned to the tunnel.
Coach Zhang chuckled and said, "Huang Kaiwen got quite injured when playing against Barça, but he’s in good spirits, waving hello to Ronaldinho and Messi."
"Yes, these two brilliant players have always spoken highly of Huang Kaiwen. Messi has publicly stated many times that Huang Kaiwen is the goal and motivation he pursues. In European football, especially among young players, a lot of professional players are fans of Huang Kaiwen, and his signature celebration has been mimicked frequently in major leagues."
"Huang Kaiwen’s performance is indeed commendable; let’s hope he can give his best today. Now, let’s look at the starting lineups for both teams."
Barcelona’s 343 formation:
Defenders: Puyol, Oleg Rehn, Thuram,
Midfielders: Deco, Max, Iniesta, Xavi,
Forwards: Ronaldinho, Eto’o, Messi.
Real Madrid’s 433 formation with a single defensive midfielder:
Goalkeeper: Casillas,
Defenders: Miguel Torres, Pepe, Ramos, Salgado,
Midfielders: De Jong, Diarra, Guti,
Forwards: Huang Kaiwen, Raul, Cassano.
"Barça’s formation is unusual today, their midfield is biased towards offense, seems like Rijkaard is preparing for an all-out match with Real Madrid, but seeing Huang Kaiwen playing, will he make some changes?"
"All five new eagles of Real Madrid took the field. Since Pepe and De Jong had transferred to Real Madrid, the number of cards they received had clearly increased. Add to that the impulsive Ramos, and the bad-tempered Guti and Cassano, well, today’s game would probably not be very peaceful."
Huang Kaiwen went out with his team.
Seeing the Huangguo Five Tigers in front, he felt a sense of relief.
Hadn’t he risked the danger of being labeled as a ball hog by suggesting transfers to Capello, just waiting for today’s match?
With these five playing together, if Puyol dared to touch him again, even at Barça’s home ground, Puyol would find it hard to walk off the field.
Today, Huang Kaiwen wanted to see who would dare to foul him maliciously!
Following behind the players, assistant coach Baldini reminded Capello, "Look at that bastard, stirring up trouble again."
Capello looked toward the Barcelona coaching bench, where Rijkaard was holding a string of beads, constantly flicking them with his thumb, muttering something.
"Ignore that clown, I have my ways."
Capello said with a cold laugh.
He turned around and rummaged through his backpack, pulling out a feng shui compass.
Capello held a mudra with his left hand and supported the compass with his right hand, stepping in the Big Dipper position, looking down at the compass to find the direction, muttering, "He is strong, let him be strong, the breeze sweeps the hillsides; he is bold, let him be bold, the bright moon shines over the river..."
He had learned a lot from TV shows and books.
The more he studied, the more Capello felt the profundity of these arts, most importantly, they very much suited his temperament.
On the field, Raul won the coin toss again.
"You’re always the best in these moments, lucky boy."
Cassano said with a smile.
Last time in the national derby, Raul had also won the coin toss against Puyol.
Raul just smiled and said nothing.
Cassano was the kind of person who got more fired up the more you talked to him.
Messi looked at Huang Kaiwen and whispered, "Good luck, play well."
Huang Kaiwen said with a smile.
At 9 p.m. sharp, the main referee blew the whistle to start the match.
Raul passed the ball horizontally to Huang Kaiwen at the kickoff, and Huang Kaiwen moved towards Messi with the ball.
The two of them were positioned opposite each other right from the kickoff.
Messi braced himself and charged at Huang Kaiwen, his smile gone.
The more Messi watched Huang Kaiwen’s game videos, the more he felt Huang Kaiwen’s terror; he had even thought that neither Pelé nor Maradona were as strong as Huang Kaiwen when the newspapers discussed the best number tens in football history.
Huang Kaiwen dribbled in short steps.
David Villa’s speed and explosiveness were a bit less than Torres’, but he was more versatile.
With skill and trait bonuses, David Villa’s speed was also fast enough, most importantly, his dribbling speed was exceptional.
Huang Kaiwen kept moving closer to Messi with the ball.
Messi’s expression grew more serious.
When they were only a meter apart, Messi, who had charged at Huang Kaiwen, accelerated again.
Even with average defensive skills, he wanted to try for a steal.
As Messi reached him, Huang Kaiwen flicked the ball with his left foot and suddenly accelerated, squeezing between Messi and the sideline.
Xavi quickly covered and charged toward Huang Kaiwen.
Huang Kaiwen once again pulled the ball horizontally with his left foot.
Max hurriedly ran towards Huang Kaiwen, but Huang Kaiwen pulled the ball with his right foot, dribbling forward towards the Barcelona penalty area.
Puyol didn’t bother with Cassano and charged towards Huang Kaiwen immediately.
Huang Kaiwen passed back to Guti, who then passed it to Miguel Torres advancing along the wing.
Torres quickly crossed from the left of the large penalty area, which Thuram got a foot to, deflecting the ball towards the left edge of the arc.
Charging up, Huang Kaiwen didn’t adjust and swung his right foot, striking the ball.
The ball, flying over the grounded tackle of Oleg Reynum, shot straight towards the right side of the goal, and Valdes, who hadn’t expected it, still maintained his crouched, legs-apart posture as the ball flew past him.
The Barça goalkeeper turned back to watch the ball hit the net.
Less than a minute into the game.
Huang Kaiwen had already breached Barcelona’s goal!
The vociferous Barça fans seemed choked, and only the excited shouts of the Meringue supporters could be heard.
Ronaldo, hands on hips, stood up front, shaking his head and laughing.
Despite Pelé favoring Huang Kaiwen, he was a bit reluctant to accept it.
But the performance on the field had proven Pelé right.
Perhaps it was as the newspapers had written: soccer is a sport where 22 people run around, and in the end, Kevin wins!