"Wow~ The Ajax players seem to be clashing. Sean looks very unhappy with Sigthórsson's decision to shoot forcefully instead of passing."
"Sean has every right to be unhappy. He was completely unmarked, and if the ball had been passed to him, it would have been a goal. But Sigthórsson chose to shoot forcefully, didn't even threaten the goal, and it was blocked directly by the defender!"
"To waste such a golden opportunity… Ajax certainly has stronger strength, but squandering chances like this is not good. However, Sean's reaction seems a bit too much. If it causes internal conflict, that would be even worse."
"Frank de Boer on the sidelines also seems to be cursing. Frank de Boer probably didn't arrange for Sigthórsson to play as a center forward in this match for him to score goals, but rather to create space for Sean and others to perform."
"The space was indeed created, but because of his own greed, it wasn't utilized! Haha~"
"Oh, Sigthórsson admitted his mistake…"
...Sigthórsson turned his head away, not making eye contact with Sean, but he did raise his hand to indicate that it was his fault.
"Tsk~"
Sean sneered. Confidence is something you either have or you don't.
Can scoring a goal really restore confidence?
However,
Seeing Sigthórsson like this, Sean believed him by three points.
That's right, scoring a goal can indeed lift one's spirits.
Although creating space and acting as a pivot are important, they are not as direct or exciting as scoring a goal.
'Heh heh~ If you want to score, just say so. Why force it when it looks like there's an opportunity, but in reality, there's none?'
Sean shook his head and didn't say anything more.
The match continued.
Although Ajax didn't score, Groningen was startled.
After restarting with a goal kick, Groningen became much more conservative overall, which undoubtedly created more trouble for Ajax's offense.
It wasn't until the 33rd minute that Sean received the ball sideways on the left flank of the front field. His first touch seemed a bit heavy, and the ball bounced a little too far.
Kieftenbeld of Groningen's eyes lit up. He lunged forward, stretching his foot towards the ball—and kicked at air!
Sean touched the ball a step ahead and dodged Kieftenbeld, successfully cutting inside.
Groningen's defensive formation was tight enough, and defensive midfielder Kieftenbeld promptly moved to block Sean.
Sean turned his head to observe the penalty area.
Kieftenbeld took the opportunity to step in front of Sean.
His right foot hadn't fully landed when Kieftenbeld saw Sean use his left foot to dribble and continue cutting inside. He quickly turned to pursue.
In his haste, his body instantly lost balance and he fell onto the grass. Fortunately, he instinctively put out his hand to brace himself, otherwise he would have face-planted.
Ajax's center forward, Sigthórsson, reacted correctly this time, making a timely run into the penalty area.
Groningen's right center-back, Bot-tequin, followed Sigthórsson, which meant Sean was no longer marked and could cut inside relatively easily to the edge of the penalty arc.
Groningen's left center-back, Kappelhof, rushed over.
Sean used the back of his right foot to push the ball and continue cutting inside.
By the time Kappelhof turned to follow and left midfielder van Nieff came to double-team, Sean had already struck the ball with his right foot.
"Boom!"
The ball soared directly towards the goal.
Groningen's goalkeeper jumped up, reaching desperately for the ball.
However, the angle of the shot was too precise, and it flew into the top left corner of the goal!
Ajax 1; 0 Groningen.
Cruyff Arena erupted in cheers, and everyone at Ajax breathed a sigh of relief.
It was the first time they had seen Sean get angry, and they thought he was losing his temper. Now it seems, it's all good, all good~
Sean glanced at Sigthórsson, then ran to the sidelines for his usual celebration.
This guy isn't bad after all. He's not completely useless.
The Ajax players joined Sean in celebration, and Sigthórsson also tagged along.
After the celebration, Sean put his arm around Sigthórsson's neck and walked back, "Buddy, are you in a hurry to score?"
Sigthórsson's body instantly tensed, then relaxed. Hearing this, he could only instinctively say, "Huh?"
"Heh~"
Sean released him, patted his shoulder, "Run into position well, then be ready ah"
With that, Sean ran off.
Sigthórsson scratched his head, looking at Sean's retreating figure with some confusion, 'What does that mean, if I'm ready, I can score?'
Things indeed went as Sigthórsson thought. In the rest of the match, not only him, but Sean himself and the other players didn't score. Ajax went into the locker room with a 1:0 lead.
Frank de Boer even specifically pointed out Sigthórsson's mistake, not overly criticizing him, but simply stating that such a mistake should not be repeated.
Sigthórsson couldn't help but touch his face, which was a bit hot!
In the second half, after the sides switched, both teams continued to battle for over twenty minutes before Groningen's players couldn't help but push further forward.
In the 67th minute, Ajax center-back Veltman successfully intercepted the ball and passed it to Blind.
Blind launched a low long pass, and the ball went straight to the front field.
Sean sprinted forward along the left wing, breaking through the opponent's defense and heading straight for the ball.
Groningen's right-back, Burnet, chased back quickly, and it looked like he would reach the ball at the same time as Sean.
Sean stepped forward with his left foot to his right, and his entire body naturally bumped into Burnet.
Burnet flew out.
Sean successfully took the ball and charged straight into the penalty area.
Before he even entered the box, Groningen's left center-back, Bot-tequin, had already moved horizontally to intercept.
Sean feigned a left-footed dribble to cut inside.
Bot-tequin decisively slowed down, to prevent Sean from cutting in behind him.
However, Sean had already changed to using the back of his left foot to push the ball, dribbling past Bot-tequin and into the penalty area.
Groningen's goalkeeper decisively rushed out.
Left center-back Kappelhof could only abandon Sigthórsson and charge towards Sean, preparing to block the far post.
Sean struck the ball with his left foot, causing both opponents to react, but then he twisted his ankle and passed the ball back in a reverse triangle to its original spot.
Sigthórsson was indeed actively running into position, but he truly wasn't ready.
A ball like this should have been shot directly.
If not a direct shot, he could have dribbled inside, evaded the opponent's center-back, and then shot.
The success rate would have been very high, definitely over 50%. If he doesn't shoot in such a situation, what kind of striker is he?
So, after the football came over, Sigthórsson instinctively stuck out his foot to stop the ball.
"Bang~"
The ball went far away after he stopped it. Sigthórsson then realized what happened, scrambled to catch up to the ball, and immediately took a shot!
Groningen's goalkeeper was already turning to make a save.
van Nieff had also tracked back and was sliding towards the goal to try and save the ball.
Unfortunately, they were still a beat too slow, and the ball found its way into the net first!
Ajax 2-0 Groningen.
Sigthórsson turned and ran towards Sean.
Sean opened his arms, calmly welcoming the excited Sigthórsson.
Sigthórsson picked up Sean and spun him around a few times, still not satisfied, patting Sean's back and laughing loudly: "Thanks, Sean, thank you very much!"
Sean used the momentum to maintain a calm expression, but his occasional wincing and gritting of teeth still revealed his predicament:
Damn it, it hurts!
Are you repaying kindness with enmity?!!!
...
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