Chapter 736: Chapter 736
"Actually, Roma’s mentality is not bad, whether they can stop Huang Kaiwen is one thing, but it shouldn’t affect their own offense. Commenting on so many of Huang Kaiwen’s matches, I’ve noticed that those teams that only focus on defending and counter-attacking have never succeeded in preventing Huang Kaiwen from winning."
After standing up, Casillas threw the ball out.
He yelled at his teammates, "Focus, damn it, and don’t just think about attacking. If we concede too many goals, we will lose the game."
Ramos nodded in agreement.
Cannavaro, on the other hand, wore an indifferent expression, not planning to change his playing style.
Heinze, the newcomer, and the young Torres sincerely apologized to Casillas.
Casillas shook his head helplessly.
All the players of Real Madrid were hotheads.
The situation was already much better than when he first became a Real Madrid keeper. What more could he ask for?
If Pepe were here, it would have been great; even without Ivanovic, he would be more reliable than that guy Cannavaro.
Guti received the ball in the center circle, and seeing Huang Kaiwen pointing to the right flank, he quickly rubbed the bottom of the ball with his left foot to deliver a long pass.
The ball flew across half the field, heading straight for the corner flag area on the right.
Huang Kaiwen, who had run diagonally from the left flank to the right, raised his foot and easily stopped the ball.
Salah’s ball control is really superb.
Cassetti stood in front of Huang Kaiwen attempting to reach out a foot, but Huang Kaiwen moved the ball continuously under his feet, nudging it with his left foot to his right, and then back again, repeating the action and preventing Cassetti from having a chance to tackle.
He could only continuously adjust his center of gravity.
The nearby Roma fans wanted to close their eyes and not watch as their defender was being toyed with as if he was about to cramp up.
After three consecutive feints, Huang Kaiwen flicked the ball with his right foot, rapidly accelerating past Cassetti, sticking close to the sideline as he burst into the box.
Robben and Raul roamed above the defensive line, constantly adjusting their positions, ready to cut in and fight for a position.
De Rossi, who had lost his mark, ignored Robben and Raul and went for a sliding tackle in the box.
His foot accurately found the ball, sliding it from between Huang Kaiwen’s legs out to the baseline.
Huang Kaiwen kicked his right foot against De Rossi’s shin and stumbled to the ground.
Doni rushed over to lift Huang Kaiwen and asked, "Are you okay?"
"I’m fine, thank you."
Huang Kaiwen said with a smile.
De Rossi cast a plaintive look at his teammate.
Dammit, both of you fell, and you help up the opponent first?
Doni pretended not to notice De Rossi’s expression.
Serie A’s goalkeepers, especially those for strong teams—who wouldn’t fear them?
Finally finding an opportunity, why not show off his presence in front of Kevin?
There hadn’t been a connection before, but now there was one!
After getting up, Huang Kaiwen saw the Roma players as if facing a great enemy and decided not to stand inside the box.
"You’re going to take the corner kick?"
Guti approached and asked.
Huang Kaiwen nodded and made a gesture to Guti.
Guti got the message with a wink and turned to convey Huang Kaiwen’s intentions to his teammates.
Tactical corners are not that demanding in terms of set-piece skills—it’s not about accurately finding a teammate’s head in the box.
Today Roma’s offense was too strong.
Huang Kaiwen decided to score another goal early to dampen Roma’s spirit.
De Rossi’s defense was too tight, so a corner was a very good opportunity.
Doni, commanding his teammates’ positions in the box, looked forlorn.
As Brazil’s goalkeeper Doni - Alexander Marangon, and having actively extended good will, how did he end up marked by Pele’s favored successor?
Doni even wanted to rush over and ask Huang Kaiwen, by what virtue and capacity was Huang Kaiwen personally taking corners?
Roma players, following the Real Madrid players, were constantly adjusting their positions.
Even though it had been a long time since Huang Kaiwen’s tactical corners had appeared, they couldn’t afford to be careless.
In Italy, where tactics are emphasized, most teams study Huang Kaiwen’s corner kicks during tactical classes.
The Roma team even imitated them a few times and achieved good results.
Juan Santos blocked in front of Raul, his hands resting on the back of Raul’s thighs, so Raul could feel him starting to move immediately.
Mexes took his position in the middle, squeezing in beside Ramos, who was a high point.
Cassetti stood by the left post to prevent Huang Kaiwen from taking a low, zero-angle shot from the corner area.
De Rossi and Pizarro both went to the far post.
Panucci stood inside the penalty area, watching Real Madrid players nearby to keep them from heading the ball and also ready to dash out of the box to block Guti, a former teammate, from taking a long shot.
Spalletti nodded in satisfaction.
The players were performing even better than he had imagined.
Huang Kaiwen started his run-up and tapped the back of the ball with the instep of his right foot.
The ball rolled from the corner flag area at a 45° angle towards the top of the penalty area.
Raul moved into position, running to the right side of the penalty area and lifted his right foot in a fake shot, allowing the ball to pass by, successfully deceiving Juan Santos.
Gago, positioned in the penalty area, attracted Panucci’s attention as he started his run, which gave Guti the chance to rush into the box.
Gago spread his legs to let the ball pass, while Guti, without adjusting, took a shot with his weaker right foot.
The quality of this shot was surprisingly high, rolling quickly from the penalty area line towards the inside of the goal’s right post.
Cassetti, who was standing near the post, stretched his foot to block, changing the direction of the ball towards the goal.
Doni cursed inwardly.
He quickly went to ground and blocked the ball; the deflected shot had nearly cost him.
Ramos rushed to contest it, and Cassetti swung his right leg, both of them hitting the ball almost simultaneously. The ball bounced more than two meters high and flew over Ramos’ head to the left side.
Mexes ran to the baseline and hooked the ball back, turned around, and found De Jong charging right into his face.
After faking twice and finding no opportunity to make a clear, Mexes, in a desperate move, quickly kicked upwards on the ball, hoping for a goal kick.
The ball went fast, and De Jong didn’t even have time to react before it hit his leg, then it rebounded again, brushing Mexes’ shin and going out of bounds.
Mexes looked down in slight regret.
He still hadn’t succeeded.
"It’s another corner for Real Madrid; Roma team should be careful,"
"Consecutive corners are the most likely time to concede a goal, after all, defenders can’t be fully concentrated every time."
Spalletti, however, felt pretty good.
If they could defend successfully once, couldn’t they do it a second time?
He waved to the field, summoning Panucci and quickly instructed, "Try to head it out for a counterattack directly. With so many Real Madrid players pushing up, a counterattack could easily lead to a goal."
Panucci nodded and dashed back to the penalty area.
This time, Huang Kaiwen had no intention of taking the corner; instead, Guti moved to the left corner area.
Seeing Huang Kaiwen positioned on the right side of the penalty area, Guti had an idea—it was still a set-piece corner.
They had practiced a few routines before the match against Roma; now was the perfect time to apply the left-side tactic.
Cassetti and Panucci didn’t dare to take it lightly, one in front and one behind, positioned in front of Huang Kaiwen.
Huang Kaiwen darted towards the goal; Cassetti and Panucci followed suit. After one step, Huang Kaiwen reversed and dashed outside the penalty area.
Almost simultaneously, Guti ran up and struck the side of the ball with his left instep.
The unprepared Cassetti and Panucci’s eyes widened as both realized there was a problem!
The curling ball from Guti’s instep headed straight for the outside of the penalty area.
De Rossi, wanting to chase after Huang Kaiwen, got blocked by Gago, who came up. Already slower to begin with, he now fell even further behind.
Huang Kaiwen, reaching the outside of the penalty area, found himself temporarily unmarked as he anticipated the ball’s landing, twisted his body towards the goal, took a step forward with his left foot, and swung his right leg in continuity.
The whole motion looked awkward, twisting his body as he forcefully struck the side of the ball with his right foot.
The ball, with strong spin and curve, swiftly flew from the back of the penalty area to the inside, grazing past Panucci’s head.
Panucci ducked instinctively, though even if he hadn’t, the ball wouldn’t have touched him.
Doni, who had adjusted his position, leaped quickly, extending his arms. His judgment was impeccable, his arms covering all angles, yet he still couldn’t reach the ball.
The ball flew into the goal from the intersection of the post and the crossbar, a world-class shot successfully tucked into the absolute corner!