Chapter 11 Two Goals

Before, Borussia Dortmund had been passing the ball back and forth, making people drowsy. One would certainly think that a lot of time had passed in this possession play, but in reality, only ten minutes had passed since Borussia Dortmund's first attack encountered resistance at the start of the match.

Zhou Yi's sudden long shot woke everyone up, making them realize that the match had only just begun!

If the inability of Borussia Dortmund to break the deadlock in the first ten minutes had led them to mistakenly believe that Borussia Dortmund was in a difficult battle, then Zhou Yi's shot now brought everyone back to reality—Borussia Dortmund was leading after just ten minutes, and the situation wasn't as difficult as some people thought!

When the football flew into the goal, Mainz's players were all stunned. They turned their heads and stared blankly at the football in the goal, unable to believe what they had seen.

Mainz U19 coach Tuchel also looked at the field in shock.

Hadn't they contained Borussia Dortmund's attack?

How could the opponent have scored first?!

Next door, Jebara leaped up, raised his arms, and cheered, looking very excited.

After the match started, Jebara was worried about his team when he discovered that Mainz had adopted a highly targeted defensive strategy.

He didn't know how to adjust to break the deadlock, but Zhou Yi had solved the problem for him…

If he couldn't rush onto the field, he would have liked to hug Zhou Yi and kiss him hard.

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Zhou Yi saw the football fly into the goal, and he ran straight to the back of the Mainz goal, waving to the few Borussia Dortmund fans in the stands, celebrating the goal with them.

His teammates swarmed from behind and surrounded Zhou Yi.

"Awesome, Zhou Yi!"

"Beautiful! Well done, Zhou Yi!"

They patted Zhou Yi on the shoulders, back, and even the top of his head, cheering.

Schürrle looked at the Borussia Dortmund players who were celebrating the goal, still a little dazed—how did we fall behind?

His gaze lingered briefly on Götze, but eventually fell on Zhou Yi.

That Chinese man who wasn't particularly strong or tall.

Only now did Schürrle remember that when shaking hands before the game, this Chinese man had repeatedly emphasized his name to him.

What was it again?

Zhou Yi?

Yes, it was Zhou Yi.

Schürrle thought this final would be a contest between him and Götze, but he didn't expect Zhou Yi to emerge and steal the show.

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After his initial surprise, Tuchel frowned.

Zhou Yi's goal had many accidental factors, but a goal is a goal, and the change in score cannot be ignored, nor will it fail to be reflected on the scoreboard because of accidental factors.

What Tuchel had to consider now was what to do after the team conceded a goal.

A weakness of defensive contraction is that you can't concede the first goal.

Once you concede the first goal, you can't defend anymore. If they continued to contract and defend stubbornly, Borussia Dortmund could also pass the ball around in the backcourt, just like they had done before, and maintain this score until the end of the match. In that case, Borussia Dortmund would win a narrow victory over Mainz by one goal.

But if they didn't contract and defend, and instead pressed up to attack Borussia Dortmund… wouldn't that be exactly what Borussia Dortmund wanted?

Tuchel was now in a dilemma.

The situation in a football match really changes in an instant.

Just a minute ago, Tuchel was sitting leisurely on the coach's bench, watching Borussia Dortmund fall into a predicament. Now it was his turn to not know what to do.

Press out or not press out?

It wasn't just Tuchel who was in a dilemma, but also the Mainz players.

Before the match, the coach told them to defend steadily and wait patiently for opportunities.

But now we've conceded a goal first, what do we do?

Attack or continue to defend?

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When the match restarted, the person standing anxiously on the sidelines was Tuchel, while Jebara had retreated to the coach's bench and sat down to watch the match.

Zhou Yi's goal was completely unexpected, but he was happy to see such an "accident."

Now the ball and the problem have been kicked to Mainz's side, let's see how they respond.

If Mainz continues to defend stubbornly, Borussia Dortmund is not in a hurry. They will just deal with them like this, grinding until the end of the match. Jebara can completely accept the result of 1:0.

If Mainz chooses to attack, playing the offensive football they are good at, then the match will return to what Jebara had predicted before the match. Borussia Dortmund is most willing to play against the opponent.

As for what to do specifically, Jebara doesn't need to shout and remind his players on the sidelines. He knows that Zhou Yi, as the team's commander, will make the right choice.

In this regard, he has never disappointed himself.

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Mainz fell into chaos. Without new instructions from coach Tuchel, they could only continue to adhere to the tactics of defensive counterattack.

And when Borussia Dortmund had possession of the ball, Zhou Yi was not in a hurry. He deliberately slowed down the pace and passed the ball slowly in the backcourt, not rushing to attack forward.

Zhou Yi's approach made the Mainz players who were behind anxious and resentful towards him.

But they still had no way to deal with it, they didn't dare to press up.

Schürrle, who was at the front, was very dedicated, chasing the football and trying to intercept the ball, but this kind of activity, similar to passing drills, is an indispensable part of training for any team. The Borussia Dortmund players are very familiar with it, so they are not afraid of Schürrle's pressing alone. They passed the ball back and forth, making Schürrle waste his energy in repeated sprints.

Seeing this scene, Tuchel finally made a decision on the sidelines—for youth football, the most important thing may not be tactics, but morale.

They must not let Borussia Dortmund continue to play Schürrle around like this, as that would definitely be a heavy blow to Mainz's morale.

Schürrle's actions must be supported.

So Tuchel waved his arms on the sidelines, shouting for the whole team to press up.

They were returning to the most-played and most mature tactics of Mainz this season.

Although doing so was somewhat risky, youth players often need this kind of head-on confrontation. Because the most important factor in determining the outcome of a youth team match is often not the correct tactical arrangement, but the morale of the players.

With high morale, even if the strength is not strong enough, they can win. Conversely, with low morale, even if the strength is good, they will lose.

Tuchel made his choice.

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Sure enough, when Borussia Dortmund was still passing the ball in the backcourt, Mainz suddenly pressed up in a big way, and it wasn't just Schürrle who went up to steal the ball, but also other Mainz players.

In fact, this wave came very quickly and suddenly. If Borussia Dortmund wasn't careful, they might be directly intercepted by the opponent in the backcourt, and then launch a counterattack.

But the person in control of Borussia Dortmund's rhythm was Zhou Yi, and his vision was ninety-nine.

He saw the movements of the entire Mainz team at the first moment. When Mainz pressed up in a big way, he changed his previous strategy and suddenly turned to attack forward, connecting with Götze and Mark, who had retreated to meet him.

Quick passes and quick runs!

The three of them played the tactics they had been practicing for some time and had gradually become accustomed to.

Mainz was caught off guard and ultimately had to rely on a foul to stop Borussia Dortmund's attack.

Zhou Yi was pushed to the ground by the opponent, the referee's whistle sounded, but he didn't give the Mainz player a yellow card.

Zhou Yi sat on the ground, spread his hands, a gesture of helplessness, but with a smile on his face. He was not angry that this attack had not been successful, he was very relaxed.

The opponent's foul showed that they had no other choice but to foul, so there was nothing to worry about.

In Zhou Yi's view, after Mainz started to attack, the match had returned to the normal track predicted before the match, and the experience he had accumulated in those matches he played in the virtual world also came in handy.

He had already cracked Mainz's dense defense, so what was there to not relax about?

The only thing to worry about now was that Mainz would quickly equalize the score and restore the match to its previous state.

So they still had to strive to score. A two-goal lead is always more reassuring than a one-goal lead.

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As mentioned before, this Borussia Dortmund U19 team is not afraid of playing against any team, let alone when they are leading by one goal.

The leading Borussia Dortmund players seemed more relaxed than the Mainz players, and their performance on the field was naturally better.

The Mainz players seemed a little impatient, and they were not as patient in handling the ball in attack. When they encountered some resistance, they would often choose the simplest way to handle the ball.

On the other hand, Borussia Dortmund, with the trident as the core, could create all sorts of offensive patterns, because the three people's coordination and runs had no set patterns, and it was impossible to guess in advance how they would play next. Would they force their way through the middle with a wall pass and penetrate, or would they suddenly distribute the ball to the wing?

On the field, Borussia Dortmund had the upper hand. The predicament after the start seemed like a flash in the pan.

In the thirty-seventh minute, Borussia Dortmund's trident unleashed its power, reaching the edge of Mainz's penalty area through a series of quick passes.

Zhou Yi, who had passed the ball, continued to push forward and ran into the penalty area.

And Götze, who was supposed to receive the ball, was now deep in Mainz's encirclement. He sent the football out, sending it to Zhou Yi's feet.

Zhou Yi shot again, and the football drilled into the goal along the ground. Mainz's goalkeeper couldn't save it and could only fall to the ground, watching the football roll into the goal…

Zhou Yi, who had always been making wedding dresses for others, actually scored twice in the match!

This time, he finally didn't have to add "assist" before "scored twice"…