Sottars and Sonke charged forward as soon as the match started. They shot out like arrows and never looked back!
They rushed past Eamonn's midfield defensive line, but this did not raise the vigilance of Eamonn's defensive midfielders, because the two defensive midfielders' focus was on Litmanin. Perhaps they thought that there were still four defenders behind them!
Four against two. Could they not defend?
However, no one expected Qin Xiong's kick in the backfield, which looked like a heavy cannon, to deal with the ball, was only halfway through its flight that everyone realized that it was a pass!
The ball flew at high speed and landed on the left side of the penalty area.
Sonke and Sottars were both in reverse offside position. Or rather, there was no reverse offside position at all. When Qin Xiong kicked the ball, the two players were at least one meter away from the opponent's defensive line. It was during the flight of the football that the two players rushed past Edmond's defensive line!
It could be said that Sottars and Sonke did not immediately realize that Qin Xiong's kick was a long pass.
However, Sonke was a striker. Rushing forward was instinctive. Sottars reacted faster during the sprint. It was a pass!
Sottars, who was faster than Sonke, ran to the landing point of the football first. Sonke also rushed to the landing point of the football. When he was almost in position, he realized that Sottars had snatched the same spot as him!
The two players had only joined Ajax this summer. Naturally, they lacked chemistry. Plus, they were both new players. It was reasonable for them to rush to the ball first if they wanted to have an outstanding individual performance.
Sonke realized that Sottars would touch the ball earlier than him. He immediately slowed down and prepared to run to the right. This way, he could widen the distance between him and Sottars and create the easiest opportunity to hit the empty goal when the two players faced the goalkeeper together.
Sottars happened to run to the landing point when the football fell rapidly. He did not have much time to think. He planned to stop the ball with his left foot and complete the technical movement to develop towards the middle. This way, his shooting angle towards the goal would be wider!
However, the ball was too fast!
The reason why this kind of heavy cannon long pass was very rare on the field was very simple. The ball's speed ensured that the flight time was short. However, the ball's speed was also very fast when it landed. The technical ability of the receiver was very high!
Not everyone could lift the ball as easily as van Basten, who could perfectly stick the ball under his feet.
Sottles tried his best to stop the ball "carefully", but he still managed to stop the ball!
It did not look like he had stopped the ball at all. It was more like he had used his left foot to change the trajectory and cross the ball to the middle.
Sonke, on the other hand, was in the midst of switching between deceleration and lateral movement. He did not expect Sottars to "kick" the ball back to him. Then, subconsciously, Sonke did not have extra time to deal with the ball comfortably. He could only use his left foot to control the ball. He did not manage to deal with the ball well with his outer instep and the football bounced back to Sottars. Moreover, the football was lifted up by his outer instep and was two meters off the ground.
Is this the cooperation between the two of them?
Of course not!
Everyone in the audience could see that both of them had made a mistake!
With such a mistake, Edmond's defensive line caught up to their positions. Teljess and Mourbrooke sandwiched Sottars. Mourbrooke, who blocked the inside position, caused Sottars to lose the opportunity to cut inside. He could only engage in a physical confrontation with his opponent, and then barely managed to use his left foot to shoot when the football fell.
As the football fell slowly, he was able to fully exert his strength and volley out with full power. Unfortunately, the deviation from the goal was a little ridiculous.
After Sottles shot, he looked at the football that flew out of the end line and raised his hand to touch his hair with a look of annoyance.
It was hard to say whether he or Sonke was the one who squandered this golden opportunity. Anyway, his stop of the ball was too big. Sonke's subconscious attempt to control the ball turned into an aerial cross ball that delayed the opportunity.
Comain's look of anticipation on the sidelines turned to dissatisfaction as he shook his head.
The golden opportunity for the two men to reverse offside was gone just like that!
However, the Ajax fans in the stadium still gave the team a round of applause.
Whether Qin Xiong's long cannon pass was intentional or unintentional, this attack was like a thunderbolt. Unfortunately, the last kick was not handled well.
Qin Xiong was not frustrated. He looked indifferent. On the football field, not every opportunity created could be grasped. Even the recognized king of football players could not turn every opportunity into a goal.
The game was like that. Create opportunities, continue to create, and do your best to grasp the opportunity. Then, score more goals than the opponent. Then, victory would come.
Edmond's entire team steadied their minds and began to try to attack Ajax after the goalkeeper kicked the ball out of the goal. Khalil tried to break through Maxwell on the right flank, but Maxwell intercepted the ball because of his lack of strength.
After Maxwell intercepted the ball, he passed it to Derrong in the middle. Derrong passed it to Qin Xiong. In front of Qin Xiong, the opposing attacking midfielder, Mihazelat, was waiting for an opportunity to move. He did not choose to force it. Instead, he immediately switched to the offense and diverted the ball to the right flank. The full-back, Trabelsi, assisted and dribbled the ball forward.
The full-back, who was seriously injured last season, had to work hard for his main position this season. The team's new signing, Grygera, seemed to have gained a foothold in the First Team. If he did not show his outstanding performance before his injury, he might say goodbye to the main position forever.
With a heart eager to stand out, Trabelsi also tried to break through. However, he had just recovered from his serious injury and his body had not recovered to its peak. He mistakenly estimated that his explosive power was still as unstoppable as before. When he changed direction to break through, he was blocked by Forfar. Then, Forfar intercepted the ball in the confrontation!
Seeing this scene, Comain shook his head in disappointment on the sidelines.
Of course, he hoped that Trabelsi could return to his peak condition. However, Trabelsi looked like a completely different player from before his serious injury. His strength had been greatly reduced!
After Forfar intercepted the ball, he immediately dribbled the ball forward and when he saw the opportunity, he moved diagonally in the direction of the penalty area in the middle. He wanted to directly send a cannonball to the striker, Borg, and directly attack the enemy!
However, he also overestimated himself and underestimated Ajax's defensive ability.
When Borg was entangled by Derrong and had difficulty even rushing into the penalty area, the young player, Van Damme, easily stepped forward to intercept his direct pass.
The ball returned to Qin Xiong's feet. He sensed that Trabelsi was not in good condition and there were faint signs of him leaving the team. He wanted to prove himself, so when he organized the offense, he would begin to reduce Trabelsi's role unless there was an excellent opportunity.
He made a mid-range pass in the midfield and sent the ball to the right winger, Snede. After cooperating with Litmanen, the Snede also tried to pass the ball to the striker, Sonke, but it was resolved by Eamonn's intensive defense.
The game played for 10 minutes. Qin Xiong organized the offense time and time again. It was very smooth in the midfield, but when the offense advanced to the front line, the success rate of the last pass was not high. The striker's last kick also lacked a better angle and opportunity to shoot.
The backbone of the Eamonn team could be said to be the two defensive midfielders on the field. Walters and Fejer were in their golden years and were the mainstays of the team. Their task today was to closely mark Litmanen and support the defense of Sonke, who was in the middle of the penalty area.
On the contrary, their two center backs, one 19 and the other 20 years old, Moybrooke and Hoivert, did not appear to be particularly outstanding. However, with the two defensive midfielders supporting the barrier in front of the penalty area, Eamonn's defensive line was still stable in the first 10 minutes. There were only the occasional frightening but not dangerous situations.
In the 12th minute of the game, the Eamonn team attacked. Before this, their counterattacks were more impatient and did not have any routines to speak of. They wanted to use a "sneak attack" to defeat Ajax. However, this method did not work, so they tried to patiently play a positional game.
The attacking midfielder, Mihazelat, dribbled the ball forward in the midfield. He dribbled well and his speed was not bad. However, against Qin Xiong, he did not intend to break through. That was not what he was good at.
Dribbling and breaking through were two independent technical abilities.
Just like in Ajax's formation, Snede's dribbling ability was excellent, but his ability to break through was only average and he rarely broke through.
Before this, the youth team's Sha Balala was also such a player. He dribbled quickly and combined well with the ball. However, it did not mean that his ability to break through when there was a defender in front of him was also very good.
Mihazelat still saw Qin Xiong as a breakthrough point, so he used his dribbling to lure Qin Xiong to the left side of the middle. His idea was to get away from De Rong!
After making sure that he had pulled a certain distance away from De Rong, he passed the ball to his teammate on the left side, Forfaro, and then immediately rushed to the place behind Qin Xiong. He wanted to complete a one-two with Forfaro. At that time, he would appear in the area slightly to the left in front of Ajax's penalty area and do the next step. Would Ajax's defenders dare to go up and intercept? Then Borg would plug in and go to the open area exposed by the defenders to intercept!
De Rong would definitely not be able to save him in time!
This was Mihazelat's idea.
But when he had just run two steps, he was shocked to find that Qin Xiong had deliberately used half of his body to block his forward path when he completed his turn.
If the two of them were at the same speed, then Mihazelat would rush forward and Qin Xiong would turn and chase after him, and he would inevitably be left behind by a small distance.
Because if he turned and started again, his speed would fall behind.
At this time, what was needed was to block!
Block the opponent's forward path so that the opponent could not speed up! Unable to burst out with acceleration!
Mihazelat never thought that Qin Xiong would actually do a near-perfect defense this time!
He did not have the slightest chance!
He was behind Qin Xiong, so naturally, he could not get a pass from Fafalo. Mihazelat was anxious and tried his best to accelerate. Just as he accelerated forward, he did not expect Qin Xiong to turn around and run past him. In front of Mihazelat, the defender, Van Damme, appeared. Van Damme passed the ball diagonally to De Jong at close range, and the latter passed it directly to Qin Xiong, who was running forward. Ajax instantly switched from defense to offense!
Qin Xiong controlled the ball and began to move forward. Without Mihazelat's defense in the Elmont midfield, the middle looked "empty"!
Because the opponent's two defensive midfielders had always regarded Litmanen as the biggest threat in the midfield!
Qin Xiong also saw this point in the 10-minute game time. He was actually happy, even though the tactical focus that Comain had emphasized before the game did not have room to play in actual combat. In the confrontation where the opponent countered every move, Ajax needed to change his offensive thinking.
As he strode forward with the ball, Qin Xiong's lips curled into a sinister smile.
Since I have Sonke and Litmanen as cover to attract the opponent's heavy defense, then can I play to my heart's content?!
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