Forty-seventh minute.
Modric was dispossessed in the front court.
Potenza immediately pushed through the center; with just a few passes, they penetrated Palermo’s unprepared backline, interpreting what it means to lose the ball in the center, causing the most fatal outcome.
“GOAL!
Potenza scores!”
“One to zero!”
“The Pink Eagles fall!”
“Modric is practically committing a crime!
He Tianqi, who subbed him on, has paid a heavy price for this!”
On the sidelines, He Tianqi’s face was grim.
But it wasn’t directed at the shepherd boy.
This goal seemingly stemmed from Modric, but the real reason was the lack of teammates offering support.
Especially the forward, Arturo.
He Tianqi had specifically reminded Arturo in the dressing room to participate in the defense and help link up with his teammates.
After all, the other forward needs to plant himself in the penalty area to put pressure on the opponent, so what’s wrong with you, the second striker, acting as a disruptor?
Why insist on standing still in place?
“Quagliarella, go warm up!” He Tianqi stood up and also called Modric over from the pitch.
“Pick up the pace!
Don’t let the football linger with you.”
“You have a lot of possession, but if you can’t release the ball quickly, they can gain plenty of chances by tackling you.”
“Don’t worry about misplacing passes, don’t wait for your teammates’ rhythm, make them adapt to you!”
Modric nodded.
He thought he would be scolded, but he didn’t expect the head coach’s trust in him to remain unchanged.
What did he do to deserve this?
He must use 200% effort to repay this talent scout!
In the fifty-first minute, Ribéry beat his man on the right wing and passed horizontally to Modric.
Modric smoothly played a through ball.
By the time the center forward Filippo reacted, the football was almost rolling out of bounds.
Filippo pointed to his feet, meaning, don’t try all these fancy tricks, just give the ball to my feet.
In the fifty-sixth minute, Ribéry faced a double-team, and Modric went to support him.
But upon receiving the ball, he directly hit a long switch towards the space ahead on the left wing.
Brienza on the left wing couldn’t reach it, and the football flew out for a throw-in.
Arturo was complaining about why Modric didn’t pass the football to him, as he was in a closer position.
It was hard for Modric to tell Arturo that there was an opposing player lying in ambush on the passing lane to him.
In the sixty-second minute, it was Ribéry on the ball on the right wing again.
He was getting better as he played; Potenza had already dispatched two players to deal with his breakthroughs.
Ribéry distributed the ball to Modric.
The latter immediately played a wall pass back.
Ribéry instantly broke free from the two players.
He adjusted slightly and delivered a cross.
The big center forward Filippo rushed to the near post to head the ball towards goal.
The opposing goalkeeper was very focused and successfully parried the football.
But the next moment, Arturo picked up the rebound and scored.
“GOAL!
One to one!”
“Palermo finally equalizes.”
“Ribéry has finally rediscovered his sharp breakthroughs; he is very likely to become this season’s Serie C dribbling king!”
“This is the seventh goal Arturo has scored for the team; introducing him was the most correct thing Palermo did this transfer window!”
“He is the most threatening player on the pitch aside from Ribéry…
huh?”
“What?”
“He Tianqi actually wants to substitute Arturo?”
On the pitch, Arturo, who was still celebrating, was confused.
He thought He Tianqi was subbing the wrong person.
But then he realized that He Tianqi was actually replacing him with Quagliarella.
Does this kid even understand football?
Arturo went off the pitch furiously, didn’t high-five Quagliarella, and ignored He Tianqi.
He Tianqi didn’t care either, turning his head right back to directing from the sidelines.
As a head coach, what he wanted were tactical goals.
Only when tactical goals were achieved to a certain extent would he begin developing individualistic goals and luck-based goals.
In the sixty-fifth minute, Quagliarella was brought down by an opposing defender after receiving the ball.
The referee didn’t blow the whistle.
In the sixty-seventh minute, under the opponent’s interference, Quagliarella made a dribbling error and missed a good opportunity.
This made the big center forward Filippo, who was calling for the ball in the penalty area, feel exhausted.
One idiot after another, is he even playing football?
He is f*cking serving time in prison!
(Haaland: ???)
In the seventieth minute, Ribéry once again used Modric for a wall pass to complete a one-two, but this time he went down the inside, smoothly completing a cut inside.
Bang!
Ribéry spotted an opportunity and played a horizontal pass, sending the football from the right half-space to the left side just outside the penalty arc.
Quagliarella, who had stayed away from the penalty box due to poor physical strength, got a golden opportunity.
“Shoot!
Don’t dribble!
Shoot directly!
Quagliarella, shoot!” He Tianqi shouted wildly from the sidelines.
“Bandit Coach Roar” effect activated!
The opposing head coach really couldn’t stand this highly energetic young man.
From this far away, can they even hear you?
It’s unnecessary, young man!
Directing from the sidelines is all superficial; leaving the match to the players is the…
Bang!
Quagliarella met the football with an explosive volley.
The football left behind an afterimage, flying straight into the top left corner of the goal!
This time, even the commentators were a beat slow.
“GOAL!
Two to one!”
“Palermo takes the lead!”
“World-class goal!”
“The substitute youngster Quagliarella struck a brilliant world-class goal!”
“His luck is too good!
This shot almost went over!”
“This shot was very sudden; everyone thought he was going to carry the football into the penalty area.”
“Looking at it this way, using Quagliarella to replace Arturo isn’t entirely unacceptable.”
“Of course, Arturo could also pull off a shot of the same quality.”
On the pitch, Quagliarella turned to look at He Tianqi.
He heard the head coach’s voice and chose to follow it.
And the result was so beautiful.
He felt that his normal long shots never felt this good.
It was as if the head coach’s voice had magic!
“Beautifully done!” He Tianqi gave Quagliarella a thumbs up.
The Palermo players began to celebrate.
Assistant coach Arrigoni whispered on the side: “Arturo also has this kind of shooting technique.”
He Tianqi smiled: “But would Arturo appear in that position?”
Arrigoni was momentarily speechless.
The answer, of course, was no.
Arturo liked to linger in the penalty box asking for the ball, sometimes even hindering Filippo’s running space next to him; he would never stay far from the penalty area to create space for the team.
In the seventy-fifth minute, Quagliarella nearly scored with another long shot, almost killing the game.
But He Tianqi noticed that the team’s left midfielder seemed physically exhausted; he signaled Ashley Young to get ready.
Unfortunately, he was still a step too late.
In the seventy-seventh minute, the team’s left midfielder Brienza severely lacked stamina and failed to provide adequate defense, allowing the opponent to drive straight in and directly challenge Chiellini.
After Chiellini was drawn out, the opponent delivered a pass, returning a world-class goal to Palermo from the top of the penalty arc.
Two to two!
“Equalized!
Palermo is finding it hard to get a win!”
(END CHAPTER)