Chapter 101: The Great Performance
But it's no wonder that the Nigerian player was deceived, after all, he is just a young man under 20 years old, and his experience in playing football and social experience are far from comparable to Gao Lin. The former has a difference of more than ten years, and the latter is even several times different, and it's strange if he wasn't fooled by this old fox...
But it was too late for him to regret his mistake, as Gao Jun took advantage of the situation and scored a goal that entered Nigeria's penalty area. The Nigerians, who already knew how formidable Gao Jun was, immediately rushed over to block his shooting angle. However, Gao Jun unexpectedly pulled out a curved ball with strong rotation, bypassing the opponent's interception. Unfortunately, the ball slightly deviated from the net and did not score, but it still made Nigeria's goalkeeper and defenders sweat.
Upon seeing this shot, Steve Rolley immediately stood up in the stands, his face filled with excitement. "The professor's words have indeed been taken to heart. This unstable shooting method was never used by him in the World Youth Tournament, and now not only has his shooting method become more diversified, but his two major advantages 'rational kicking' and 'accurate shooting' are still intact. The future of this kid is truly boundless, it's no wonder I've been paying attention to him for the past two years..."
Unlike the initial empty shots, Gao Jun is now frequently taking the ball to attack, and it's clear that not assigning someone to specifically defend him won't work. Even if they completely control the midfield, Gao Jun alone can still break through Nigeria's entire defense line with the ball. However, assigning someone to specifically mark Gao Jun is impossible for one person to do, and other young players like Huo Jiamin, Ge Lin, and Yu Hai also pose a significant threat in the frontcourt. Especially since Nigeria is currently trailing behind in score, their backline is already short-handed, making the problem even more severe. The result of assigning someone to mark Gao Jun is that no one can actually keep up with him...
"Gao Jun's beautiful pass, Yu Hai got rid of the defender and passed the ball to the middle road, China had three points surrounded, but unfortunately, Ai Lin kicked the ball away...". Huang Jianxiang was disappointed for a moment, then gave high praise to Gao Jun, "Today's Gao Jun is simply unstoppable, shooting, breaking through, passing, all showed extremely high standards, completely blowing up Nigeria's defense line. However, so far, I haven't seen Gao Jun have such comprehensive performance in national team matches. Maybe it's because the opponents in the World Youth Championship are young players, their physical confrontation ability is not enough to give Gao Jun more confidence. But Gao Jun is only 17 years old now, his body is still developing, I think after a few years when his body grows taller and stronger, we can also see an unstoppable Gao Jun in national team matches..."
In the first half of the game, when it was about to end, relying on Hao Junmin's beautiful dribbling breakthrough, the U23 team got a free kick opportunity in front of the goal, about 35 yards away, with a slightly biased angle. Due to the opponent's tight defense, Gao Lin did not participate in the scramble for the ball, but instead stood outside and chose to attract the opponent's defensive strength for his teammates. However, it is unknown whether good people have good rewards, as the opponent headed the ball out, but not far away, and flew towards Gao Lin. As the opponent's defender quickly filled in, Gao Lin did not have time to pass the ball down, and several of his teammates were also in offside positions at that moment, unable to find a suitable target to send the ball forward with one kick. In an instant, Gao Lin made the most correct decision...
"Gao Jun directly lifted his left foot and shot, the ball hit the crossbeam, Ai Kesen's supplementary shot, the ball went in! Ah, unfortunately, the linesman raised the flag, Ai Kesen was offside, this goal is invalid, China still leads by only one goal......" Huang Jianxiang regretted this attack while couldn't help but mock Ai Kesen's shooting again, saying his footwork was not good and he was also unlucky, it was rare to score a goal but it was blown away......
Tao Wei, who was a guest again, said a few fair words for Gao Lin, "Jianxiang, the role of the forward cannot be judged solely by goals. Although Gao Lin may not score goals, his tactical support can provide great help to the team. In fact, this national youth team's frontcourt offense is built around Gao Lin, and it can even be said that Gao Jun's position can be replaced by other players, but with much worse results. The role played by Gao Lin, no other player in this national youth team can do..."
Not long after the second half began, Ao Lin proved Tao Wei's words were not in vain. With his excellent physical quality, Ao Lin suppressed the Nigerian defender who was not inferior to himself in height, and successfully won the first point. Yu Hai inserted quickly on the left flank, welcomed the ball and shot angrily, but was incredibly blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper. However, the ball did not fly far, which made commentator Huang Jianxiang excited again...
"Ah, Gao Jun didn't receive it well, the ball bounced up, no, he turned sideways and hooked a shot, the ball is in! The ball is in! An unexpected shooting method, as always, scored! Gao Jun is indeed one who surprises us time and time again, yet never disappoints us!" Huang Jianxiang was so excited that he almost became incoherent.
But Steve Rowley on the stand was already stunned, he had long known that if Gao Jun adopted Professor's opinion and succeeded, he would definitely become a great football star who could leave his name in the history of world football, but he never thought that Gao Jun's progress would be so great in less than two years after the World Youth Championship!
Actually, Steve Rolley was misled by Wenger's initial words, thinking that changing kicking habits while maintaining the original advantages is a very difficult thing, and Gao Lin has already completed it in just two years, which naturally looks amazing. What people don't know is that Gao Lin actually has more than 20 years of kicking experience, and his original characteristics will not be lost. He only needs to practice some unconventional shooting methods, and even the shooting techniques he didn't use much in formal matches before, he already had a good foundation. It's worth noting that although Gao Lin is plain and unpretentious in formal matches, in warm-up matches and commercial matches where winning or losing doesn't matter, based on the players' natural desire to show off, he often contributes breathtaking world-waves...
With such a foundation, Gao Jun wanted to further master the natural and easy-to-use skills, let alone his outstanding ball sense. Even if he had never practiced before, he would definitely grasp the attacking techniques faster than ordinary players. Although in terms of true "talent" for on-the-ball technique, Gao Jun couldn't even make it into the top three in the youth team, but now he has more than 20 years of playing experience that has honed his ball sense, which is something that young people who have only practiced for a few years or at most ten years cannot compare to.
