Juninho clearly felt a wave of pressure pressing down on him from behind. It was almost enough to crush him, but he gritted his teeth and held on with all his strength, planting his feet firmly in the grass as he resisted the opponent's weight.
Just as Professor Fryer had taught him, once you encountered physical confrontation, as long as you held your ground against the first impact, the opponent would no longer seem so frightening.
Sure enough, after gritting his teeth and holding on, Juninho clearly felt that the opponent was not as heavy as he had imagined. He could even move his feet slightly, so he tried to nudge the ball to the right with his right foot and then turned his body. The opponent clearly had not expected this and was caught off guard, allowing Juninho to create a gap for a pass.
The young Belarusian Hleb, who had shifted to the left flank, had been closely watching the situation on Juninho's side. As soon as he saw him slip past the opponent's defensive midfielder, he immediately feinted as if he were going down the flank, tricking the opposing right-back before cutting inside.
Žigić, inside the penalty area, moved toward the right flank as if they were connected by instinct, drawing the opposing centre-back with him.
Taking advantage of the fact that Kidderminster's number 6 defensive midfielder had not reacted yet, Juninho passed the ball to the area just outside the left side of the penalty area. The weight of the pass was perfect. Even though the other opposing centre-back reacted and rushed up, the faster Hleb reached the ball a step earlier, took a touch to dodge past him, and fired a powerful shot from distance.
It had to be said that Hleb's close control was truly clever, especially the way he dodged the opposing centre-back who came to challenge him. However, his long-range shot had enough power, but lacked accuracy, and the ball sailed well over the crossbar.
Although they did not score, the fans in the stands still gave warm applause for this brilliant attacking combination by New Manchester United.
"This can be called the most beautiful attacking combination of the match so far. Essien's interception, Juninho's precise pass, combined with the movement of Žigić and Olić, who had shifted to the right, and finally Hleb's dribble. If that ball had gone in, it would have been truly beautiful!"
Scarlett was clearly full of praise for this move. She was no longer the little girl who knew next to nothing about football from over a year ago. She was now a very professional football reporter, so she could see that every player's role in this combination was crucial.
She finally began to understand a little why Ethan and Bruce valued Juninho so much. It was because he could point New Manchester United's attack in the right direction, and his passing was exactly what New Manchester United lacked the most.
A football pitch might be full of coincidences, but even coincidences had reasons behind them.
Juninho's pass just now showed Scarlett, and everyone who supported New Manchester United's decision to sign him, how astonishing the changes would be for this team once this Brazilian player integrated into New Manchester United's tactical system.
Although the sudden change did not bring New Manchester United a goal, Hleb's long-range shot still left the Kidderminster players and coaches in a cold sweat.
But soon, New Manchester United's attack came again.
It was Essien again with an interception near midfield. He passed back to Poulsen, who then passed to Juninho's feet. Facing the challenge from Kidderminster's number 6 defensive midfielder, Juninho hesitated at first, but soon calmed down.
That successful confrontation earlier had given him some confidence, so he began to perform moves in front of the opponent.
As a Brazilian, Juninho's dribbling, like his style of play, was not flashy but very practical. With a feint, he created a gap and played a long diagonal pass.
Hleb successfully beat the offside trap, accelerated to control the ball before the opposing full-back, and sent in a long cross.
In front of goal, Žigić firmly held his position, but under pressure from the opposing centre-back, he headed the ball wide while attempting to score, resulting in a goal kick.
Although there was no goal, Žigić still gave a thumbs-up to Hleb, who had delivered a beautiful cross to him.
Hleb's left and right feet were both very agile, so he could move freely on either flank. Whether he needed to go down the wing and cross or cut inside to shoot, he could do it with ease, something other players with a stronger preferred foot could not match.
Within just one minute, New Manchester United had a total of two shots, both of which caused considerable danger to Kidderminster. This immediately ignited the passion of the fans in the stands, and they began to cheer and shout for the team.
With the fans' support, the players ran even more vigorously on the pitch.
Perhaps suppressed by New Manchester United's two attacks, the Kidderminster players on the field were clearly becoming somewhat conservative. Bruce, on the sidelines, saw this and immediately waved his hand, signaling Essien to push the defensive line forward again.
Kidderminster's two starting strikers were not fast, but among New Manchester United's four defenders, Abidal, Distin, and Evra were all quick players. Evra in particular was almost the second-fastest player in the New Manchester United squad, behind only Olić.
In this way, New Manchester United did not have to worry too much about the opponent launching a counterattack when they pushed the defensive line forward.
The result of pushing the defensive line forward was that Kidderminster were pinned by New Manchester United inside their own half, unable to get past the halfway line.
However, Kidderminster were not pushovers. Trapped in their own half, their defense still looked very tenacious, but even the most stubborn defense could not withstand constant bombardment.
In the 36th minute, Evra took the ball on New Manchester United's left flank and passed it to Olić, who had dropped back to receive it. The latter played a cross-field pass to Juninho's feet.
Juninho passed back to Essien, who was positioned on the left, played a beautiful one-two with him, and then sent a through ball to the edge of the penalty area.
Hleb, who had moved to the right flank, had somehow shaken off his marker and arrived in front of the penalty area. Receiving Juninho's pass, he saw the tall opposing centre-back who had been marking Žigić rushing over and immediately feinted as if he were about to unleash a powerful shot from distance. The opposing centre-back immediately tried to throw himself in the way to block the shot.
But Hleb deftly turned, dodged past the opposing centre-back, and tried to enter the penalty area. Just at that moment, the opposing centre-back slid in with a vicious tackle from the side, bringing Hleb down along with the ball.
The referee blew his whistle decisively. He ran over, first checking on Hleb, who was holding his foot in pain. The head coach immediately called for the team doctor, and then the referee walked up to the tall opposing centre-back, pulled out a yellow card, and signaled that it was a free kick.
A chorus of boos erupted from the fans in the stadium. It was not just the Kidderminster fans, even the New Manchester United fans were booing.
The former were complaining about the yellow card, while the latter were complaining that the punishment was too light and that it should have been a penalty instead of a free kick.
Looking at where Hleb had fallen, it was inside the penalty area, so it clearly should have been a penalty!
"Slow-motion replays show that the spot where Hleb was tackled was indeed inside the penalty area. He had already entered the box. But because of the referee's position at the time, he clearly did not see it clearly, so he awarded a free kick. Now the New Manchester United players are very agitated, surrounding the referee to demand an explanation, but they should calm down at this moment."
Schmeichel, seeing his teammates anxiously surrounding the referee from the back line and fearing that something might happen, immediately ran over. He first pulled away teammates like Poulsen and Essien, and then personally walked up to the referee to intervene, signaling that this decision was definitely a mistake.
However, the referee clearly insisted that his decision was correct. After seeing Hleb stand up and jump a few times following treatment from the team doctor, clearly showing no major issue, he signaled for the match to continue.
Since it was right on the edge of the penalty area, this was an excellent position for a free kick. Unfortunately, Darren Lyons, who had the best free-kick ability in New Manchester United, was not playing in this match, which left the New Manchester United players feeling a little regretful.
"I'll take it!" Juninho walked out and said to his teammates.
All the New Manchester United players standing in the attacking third were a little surprised. This was the first time Juninho had taken the initiative to ask for something. However, they all knew that Juninho often practiced free kicks on his own after training, so everyone stepped aside, not even needing to confuse the opponent or set up a decoy.
"We can see Juninho walking over to the spot with the ball. Clearly, this free kick will be taken by him. Previously, New Manchester United's free kicks were all taken by Darren Lyons. No one has ever seen Juninho take a free kick, so I wonder how good this Brazilian player's technique really is?"
It was not just Scarlett. Clearly, all the viewers in front of their televisions were equally concerned. Was this Brazilian's technique actually good?
Juninho walked back a few steps, taking deep breaths to calm himself down.
"Ribeiro, don't be nervous. You can do it!" Ethan muttered to himself in the stands.
As if he had heard Ethan's voice, Juninho looked up at the stand where Ethan was. It was unclear whether he saw Ethan, but after turning back, he began his run-up without hesitation.
The fans in the stadium immediately went quiet. Everyone held their breath, watching Juninho run toward the ball. Then, with a solid thump, the ball seemed to ignite as it flew up from the ground with rapid spin, curling around the wall, tracing a dazzling and strange arc. Right under the eyes of nearly 2,000 fans in the stadium, and with the Kidderminster goalkeeper caught off guard, it drilled into the top-left corner of the goal.
"0-1, New Manchester United open the scoring in the 38th minute of the first half with a free kick from Brazilian midfielder Juninho. This was a breathtaking curling shot. The ball carried intense spin, traced a beautiful trajectory, and moved very quickly. The opposing goalkeeper did not even have time to make a save and could only watch helplessly as the ball flew into the top corner!"
"This is the first goal Juninho has scored for New Manchester United, and it is also an indescribably brilliant free kick. Brazil has never lacked free-kick masters. Assunção, Roberto Carlos, and others have all scored beautiful free kicks one after another, but this free kick by Juninho was undoubtedly even more exciting."
"Look at the happy scene of him picking the ball up from the bottom of the net and running across the field. It makes people look forward to just how astonishing this Brazilian international will become once he fully integrates into New Manchester United."
Scarlett was clearly excited by Juninho's free kick. As women, they always loved to marvel at such beautiful art.
Juninho's free kick was art!
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)