socalfunplaces Chapter 25 What if he actually manages to master it?
Chapter 25 What if he actually manages to master it?
Jiang Ming continued to slowly dribble the ball forward, just like before.
Carvalho's defense remained solid, his knees slightly bent, his center of gravity firmly planted.
Just as the two got close, Jiang Ming suddenly leaned his upper body forward, looking as if he was about to burst out of his seat.
Carvalho immediately switched feet and stepped back, preparing to come up and block the opponent, thinking to himself: This kid, why is he still thinking of relying on his body?
Before he could even finish his thought, he realized that Jiang Ming hadn't actually poked the ball.
Instead, seizing the half-second gap when he switched feet, she gently flicked her right foot forward, and the ball "whooshed" past his legs.
"What?" Carvalho was stunned for a second.
This kid actually dared to groin this legendary veteran?!
Taking advantage of his momentary daze, Jiang Ming rushed forward and caught the ball. Just then, the system notification sounded:
[Mission Objective: Accumulate 7 dribbles out of 1000 opponents]
"Nice!" Jiang Ming secretly rejoiced. His footwork skills were really effective against Carvalho!
"Not bad, kid! You've got some skills! Let's try again!" Carvalho was actually intrigued.
How could he lose to a 17-year-old?
The two of them practiced back and forth like that for an entire afternoon.
As the setting sun cast long shadows on the grass, the day's training finally came to an end.
Jiang Ming gasped for breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He looked down and opened the system panel, where the dribbling progress had reached 48/1000, which he was quite satisfied with.
The two fought nearly a hundred 1v1 matches back and forth that afternoon, and he managed to win more than forty times, which is a very high success rate.
It's a pity his physical fitness is so poor; he can only come once every half day after resting, otherwise the progress could be even faster.
He calculated in his mind that at this rate, he could complete the task in about ten days!
"Ricardo, I'll need your continued guidance from now on!" Jiang Ming called out to Carvalho, who was packing his things.
"Okay," Carvalho readily agreed.
He was happy to lend a hand to the younger players in the team during the final stage of his career, while his old bones were still able to move.
What if this kid actually masters it someday?
……
The following day, at 12 p.m. local time in France on December 2nd.
It's 2 AM China time.
Stade Louis II.
"Welcome everyone to tune in to Lay's Sports to watch this Ligue 1 Round 16 match. I'm your commentator, Sun Chen."
Sun Chen's voice came through the live stream, as steady as ever.
Viewers familiar with Lay's Sports know that their league commentary is always handled by dedicated personnel.
Each league segment has its own dedicated commentator, and they won't switch between segments randomly.
For example, Zhan Jun is a regular Premier League commentator on the platform, while Sun Chen is a dedicated commentator for Ligue 1.
"Caen is truly a dark horse this season. After 15 rounds, they have 9 wins, 1 draw, and 5 losses, accumulating 28 points and currently ranking second in the league." Sun Chen paused and explained to the audience.
"With this ranking, they are only behind Paris Saint-Germain, the French Ligue 1 champions with 41 points."
"As for Monaco, they just won 4-1 against Marseille in their last match. Now, thanks to their superior goal difference, they are just one step ahead of Angers and are ranked third in the league. Their recent form clearly indicates that they are aiming to climb up the standings."
"To put it bluntly, today's match is a crucial battle between the two teams for a Champions League spot."
With Sun Chen's introduction, the starting lineup for this match was officially displayed on the live broadcast screen:
Monaco (4-3-3):
Goalkeeper: Subasic
Defenders: Almamy Touré, Wallace, Carvalho, Coentrao
Midfielders: Fabinho, Moutinho, Pasalic
Forwards: Bernardo Silva, Carrillo, El Shaarawy
Caen (4-3-3):
Goalkeeper: Vercutre
Defenders: Al-Hadehul, Damien, Ben Youssef, Appiah
Midfielders: Ferret, Sebe, De la Plata
Forwards: Besa, Delor, Rodlin
After reading out the list, Sun Chen explained to the audience, "It's worth mentioning that Jardim didn't start Jiang Ming in this match and put him on the bench."
"Instead, Pasalic, who had just recovered from injury, took over the midfield position."
"Another issue is that the tall striker Traore is suspended for this match due to accumulated yellow cards, which will likely cause some trouble for Monaco's aerial attack."
The moment the camera panned to Jiang Ming on the bench, the screen was flooded with real-time comments:
"What the heck? Jiang Ming played so well last game, why is he on the bench again this time?"
"Sigh, what else could it be but physical condition! Did you forget that he was exhausted after just over 60 minutes in the last game and had to leave the field? He's only had three days of rest, how can he possibly keep up with starting in consecutive games?"
"Let me give you a rational analysis! They're definitely trying to get Pasalic back in form after his injury! Otherwise, how can they compete against Tottenham in the Europa League next week if he's not in good form?"
"No hair, bro, I think exactly the same thing!"
……
"Beep—"
The referee blew his whistle, and the match officially began.
The Monaco fans in the stands were prepared to see their home team dominate.
After all, they have home advantage and are in good form recently, having just thrashed Marseille 4-1 away in their last match.
Caen is, frankly, a dark horse that has emerged unexpectedly. Most of the players on the team are minor players whose names are not well-known. How can they compare to Monaco?
Everyone thought Caen would obediently set up a defensive wall and retreat into a huddle.
To everyone's surprise, Caen had no intention of defending at all, but instead took the initiative to launch an attack against Monaco.
In the 12th minute of the match, Monaco took a short corner kick, and Moutinho received the ball near the byline and crossed it in.
Carrillo saw that the ball was landing perfectly and jumped up to contest the header, but he couldn't get past Caen's center-back.
There's nothing we can do about it. At 187cm, he's definitely not as good at aerial duels as Traore, who's 203cm.
"This is also a problem we discussed before the match. Monaco is indeed at a disadvantage in aerial duels in this game," Sun Chen commented at the opportune moment.
In the 28th minute of the match, Caen intercepted the ball in their own half and launched a quick counter-attack;
Left winger Besa dribbles forward, making a deft lateral dribble past Coentrao;
He cut inside to the edge of Monaco's penalty area and immediately took a shot, the ball grazing the far post and going slightly wide.
In the blink of an eye, the match reached the 35th minute, and Monaco launched another attack.
After 15 consecutive passes in midfield, the first line of defense of Caen was finally torn apart, and Pasalic received the ball at the edge of the penalty area.
Without hesitation, he launched a sudden, unexpected attack, aiming for the corner and about to unleash a world-class goal.
As a result, Caen's goalkeeper, Vercoutre, was highly focused and leaped forward, making a one-handed save to deny what seemed like a sure goal.
"What a pity..." Jiang Ming shook his head on the bench and muttered to himself, "This goalkeeper's reaction was too quick; he managed to save that."
After that, the two sides went back and forth in their attacks, but neither could seize the opportunity and they couldn't break through the other's defense for a long time.
At the end of the first half, the two teams had combined for eight shots, but the score was still 0-0.
"Come on, guys, can you aim properly before you shoot?" Yaldin said, rubbing his forehead, looking like he had a headache.
"Especially you, Coentrao! You're a full-back! Don't just rush up and shoot all the time. Do you really think you're the winger from the last game?"
Coentrao scratched his head, looking embarrassed: "Sorry, boss, I was having too much fun last game, I haven't recovered yet..."
"Cheer up, everyone." Yardin's tone turned serious.
"Make sure you seize your chances in the second half, otherwise those Caen lads might steal one from you, and then you'll have nowhere to cry."
As he spoke, he glanced at everyone present, his gaze lingering on a few substitute players, clearly considering his options for the second half.
Mbappé's eyes lit up the moment he was glanced at. He moved closer to Jiang Ming, nudged him with his elbow, and whispered in a low voice:
"Hey Jiang! The boss just looked at me! Does that mean I'm going to play in the second half?"
Jiang Ming stroked his chin, pondered seriously for two seconds, and slowly said, "It's possible, but the probability is not high."
"...?"
Mbappe was stunned for a moment, blinked, and didn't react for a long time.
Fabinho, who was drinking water nearby, almost choked on his drink when he heard this.
Just then, Yaldin opened the locker room door and knocked on the door frame.
"Alright guys! Let's get on stage!"