The halftime break ended.

Lin Wanxing’s students were still chattering as they went back onto the field.

In short, they believed that a Chinese person could not possibly be a coach for a European football club, so he must be a fraud.

The young man, however, remained composed from beginning to end.

He consistently used an unhurried yet convincing tone to explain his tactical arrangements to the students. He opened a page in his notebook, drew two circles and two lines on it, simply marking running positions.

The students listened attentively, but seventeen and eighteen-year-old boys are most resistant to being bossed around, so after listening, they raised objections to the tactical arrangement.

“This is too simple, wouldn’t it be easy to defend against?”

“Yes, it is simple. Football has countless complex techniques and tactics, but the simplest is only one.”

“What is it?”

“Keep your eyes on the ball at all times, and kick it into the opponent’s goal,” the young man said.

This statement was so mystical that it left the students silent for several seconds.

But soon, they rebounded again. So throughout the entire break, the students in the rest area were clamoring back and forth, not looking at all like they had just been exhausted.

The young man’s argument to persuade the students was very simple—since they were going to lose anyway, why not give it a try?

Hot wind blew across the field as the students returned to their positions, standing near the center circle. Lin Wanxing sat under the sun shelter, suddenly unaccustomed to the feeling of quietness. She looked to her side; after finishing his halftime talk with the students, the young man hadn’t immediately left but had sat down beside her.

He was holding a bottle of mineral water.

Lin Wanxing glanced over. The young man unscrewed the cap and handed it to her.

Lin Wanxing froze. “No need, no need.”

She said this, yet her hand unconsciously reached out.

The young man then very naturally took back the mineral water and began drinking it himself.

Lin Wanxing “…”

The sunlight on the field was dazzling. The ball was set, and both sides were poised, ready to begin.

Lin Wanxing opened her bottle of water. “They all say your tactics aren’t reliable. Will they follow what you said?”

“Indeed, they aren’t reliable. A normal coach wouldn’t arrange it this way.”

Lin Wanxing “Ah, so what would a normal coach do?”

“A normal coach would ask players to first show weakness and lure the enemy in. Because after the second-half kickoff, the opponent will surely attack in force. At this time, they can look for opportunities when the opponent gets carried away with their attack, intercept the ball for a quick counterattack, and through several ground passes, deliver the ball to the forward.”

“And then?”

“If they can score, the opponent’s mindset will change dramatically. After the restart, have the players begin all-out pressing without sparing energy, launch another attack after breaking the opponent’s formation, create a goal, and equalize the score.”

The young man’s tone remained unhurried throughout. Lin Wanxing sat beside him as the shrill whistle sounded on the field. For a few seconds, she couldn’t hear what he was saying.

“Then why didn’t you arrange it that way?” Lin Wanxing asked.

“Can’t let your money go to waste. After all, I’m worth it,” he said.

The second half began with Fu Xinshu passing the ball back, maintaining the team’s possession.

The subsequent progression of the match was even more breathtaking.

Just as the young man had said, at the start of the second half, An’ning Experimental began aggressive pressing in the forward area.

Although her students still maintained possession, from Lin Wanxing’s perspective, An’ning Experimental’s constant close marking made her students struggle to defend.

It seemed that once on the field, the tactics the young man had arranged were already deleted from their minds, or perhaps their inherent distrust made them unwilling to take risks.

Whatever the reason, due to various factors, the situation on the field seemed to have returned to how it was at the end of the first half.

Each student seemed to have their energy drained again in just a few minutes. They lowered their heads, afraid of the opponent stealing the ball, their mental state becoming increasingly fatigued.

Sitting off the field, Lin Wanxing could feel the pressure from the constant collisions. The scorching sun and intense exercise would turn your brain into mush, like sitting in a box with blaring music, feeling the thump-thump of your organs resonating.

She couldn’t help looking to her side. The young man was still calm and showed no irritation that the students weren’t executing his tactics.

Just as she was about to speak, there was a sudden exclamation from An’ning Experimental’s substitute bench.

She immediately turned her head.

On the field, Qi Liang was running with the ball when, due to the high-pressure pressing, he momentarily lost focus and was tackled by An’ning Experimental.

An’ning Experimental quickly organized their attacking formation, with the middle starting to run diagonally, pulling toward the flanks.

It was An’ning Experimental’s number 10 again. After receiving the ball, he chipped it up, quickly turned, and with a smooth, natural move, broke through Yu Ming’s defense.

The penalty area was right in front of him, with the ball still in the air.

Goalkeeper Feng Suo was positioned forward. Number 10 only needed to raise the ball slightly to send it smoothly into the goal.

At that moment, there was a loud “bang” in front of the penalty area as Fu Xinshu cleared the ball with a strong kick, sending it high into the air.

Everyone watched the ball flying above the field. Almost no one noticed that Hongji Eighth School’s number 21 forward, Chen Jianghe, had begun sprinting frantically.

From the sideline, it seemed like a hopeless chase.

After all, this wasn’t an intentional long pass, but a desperate clearance in a critical moment.

The ball flew first, and only then did the forward sprint toward the landing point.

Lin Wanxing’s heart was in her throat.

But soon, she, along with Chen Jianghe and everyone else in the stadium, watched helplessly as the ball grazed the sideline, bounced several times, and landed out of bounds.

He hadn’t caught up.

Chen Jianghe stopped running. He supported himself with his hands on his legs, bending over and panting heavily.

On An’ning Experimental’s substitute bench, there were sporadic sighs of relief.

Lin Wanxing watched her students on the field.

Fu Xinshu was stunned for several seconds at first.

Then, Chen Jianghe looked up from his heavy breathing and nodded firmly at Fu Xinshu.

On the field, Hongji Eighth School’s students seemed to all wake from a deep dream.

Someone looked toward the coaching area where they were sitting.

“Is this… a case of bad luck?” Lin Wanxing asked.

“No, your luck is very good.”

The young man stood up from his chair, hands in his pockets, standing at the sideline.

Lin Wanxing didn’t understand. She frowned, looking toward the field.

The ball had landed outside the white boundary line, giving An’ning Experimental a throw-in. The match resumed.

Possession changed, and the ball came to An’ning Experimental, who continued to launch a new wave of fierce attacks.

But this time, the situation on the field seemed to have changed slightly.

From Lin Wanxing’s limited football knowledge, starting with Chen Jianghe’s desperate sprint, her students’ heads had lifted a little more.

Although most were still exhausted, chasing after the ball, being pulled apart by An’ning Experimental’s ground passing combinations, their gaze was no longer limited to their feet, but occasionally looked toward places further away.

There, the forwards were making active and seemingly meaningless runs, as if ready to counterattack at any time.

It seemed that the feeling of “still having hope” gradually made every Hongji Eighth School student on the field more focused.

Perhaps because they still hadn’t scored, An’ning Experimental’s number 10 began raising his hand, asking teammates for the ball.

Defender Yu Ming stepped up to defend again.

Seeing Yu Ming running toward the left, number 10 nimbly flicked the ball to the right and accelerated past Yu Ming.

Again, it was number 10 against Yu Ming.

But this time, Yu Ming didn’t hesitate; he immediately chased back.

Meanwhile, to his horror, number 10 discovered another person had appeared in front of him.

It was hard to imagine, but the newcomer directly and precisely blocked his movement direction and with a light tap, intercepted the ball.

To be precise, this interception looked very simple—just appearing in the right position at the right time. Yet it successfully covered the gap in the defensive line, easily neutralizing the opponent’s attacking intention.

That person was Qi Liang.

However, what Qi Liang did next surprised many people. After intercepting the ball, he didn’t choose to pass to a teammate to steadily control possession and organize the next ground attack.

He quickly dribbled forward, then raised his right leg and kicked the ball hard toward the front field.

Qin Ao began to cut in diagonally. Lin Wanxing noticed this was exactly the running route the young man had drawn in his notebook earlier.

But…

In just one long breath, the ball exceeded the distance Qin Ao could chase. It flew out of bounds, hitting the green wire fence at the sideline with a loud clang.

Scattered laughter came from An’ning Experimental’s substitute bench.

On the green pitch, Qi Liang kicked the turf twice in frustration, as if blaming himself for the imprecise pass.

Further away, Qin Ao stood in An’ning Experimental’s empty half, raising his hands above his head and clapping twice to show encouragement.

Lin Wanxing stood up and walked to the young man’s side.

The subsequent match process even seemed somewhat comical.

Many times, Hongji Eighth School’s long passes looked more like clumsy forced clearances.

But Lin Wanxing saw that her students, in the rapidly changing field, were gradually focusing their minds.

They were no longer confined to defending with a narrow vision but were constantly trying to find opportunities.

One time, two times, three times.

Each “thud” sound of the long passes felt like a heavy blow to Lin Wanxing’s heart.

But it was still just a little bit short, just that little bit—that’s what Lin Wanxing thought.