But the ball speed was too fast.
It didn’t drift slowly into the open space; it cut straight through with brute force.
The first half of the trajectory was incredibly accurate, heading straight for Giovanni’s running path.
But the second half drifted a bit.
Influenced by the kicking technique, the ball began to drift to the right, as if it were going to veer out of Giovanni’s most comfortable receiving range.
Someone on the River Plate bench clutched their head.
“It’s off?”
“The power on that ball is too much!”
“Can Giovanni catch it?”
The Boca Juniors center back also saw the trajectory shift and breathed a sigh of relief.
But Giovanni had already accelerated.
He was like a red and white blade, cutting through between the two defenders.
“Tobías!”
Giovanni gritted his teeth, his legs pumping frantically.
He understood this kind of ball too well.
The quality of the pass wasn’t perfect.
It even drifted in the latter stage.
But the greatest value of this ball wasn’t its comfort; it was its speed.
Fast enough that the entire Boca Juniors defensive line couldn’t get into position in time.
Fast enough that the goalkeeper hadn’t even decided whether to rush out.
Fast enough that as long as the forward dared to run, they could turn this counter-attack into a one-on-one.
Giovanni caught up.
He stopped sideways in front of the penalty area line, used the outside of his right foot to guide the ball inward, forcing the drifting trajectory back under his control.
The Boca Juniors center back lunged from behind, reaching out to pull him.
Giovanni dropped his shoulder, shaking him off by half a body length.
The goalkeeper abandoned his goal and rushed out.
In the stands, Diego Simeone’s fingers unconsciously tightened around the railing.
“Shoot.”
Giovanni looked up at the goalkeeper, and the next second, he struck the ball with his right foot.
The ball skimmed across the turf, passed by the goalkeeper’s outstretched arms, and drilled into the far corner.
The net rippled violently.
1–0!
River Plate takes the lead!
Boom!
The entire River Plate stand exploded.
Red and white scarves were thrown high into the air, and fans screamed frantically at the pitch.
“Giovanni!”
“Tobías!”
“Kill Boca Juniors!”
A group of youngsters on the River Plate bench rushed directly to the sideline, waving their arms as if they were about to take flight.
“It’s in!”
“That was awesome!”
“That long pass from Tobías pierced through the entire Boca Juniors line!”
Giovanni rushed to the corner flag area, just as he opened his arms, he turned and ran back the next second.
He didn’t immediately accept the cheers from the stands.
He rushed toward Tobías.
Tobías was still standing near the center circle, his face showing little expression, though his breathing was slightly heavy.
Giovanni rushed up and grabbed him in a hug: “Tobías!
You saw it, didn’t you?”
Giovanni’s voice was distorted with excitement, “You saw it the moment you made the interception!”
Tobías patted his back: “You ran fast enough.”
“No kidding!” Giovanni laughed, his face flushed red, “If you dare to pass, I dare to chase!”
Gate also rushed up and slapped Tobías’s shoulder hard.
“You guy, that was ruthless just now!”
Bebe pounced from the side: “I thought that ball was off, but Giovanni actually caught it!”
Another River Plate midfielder shouted: “The key was that interception on Paredes!
He was about to dribble through our entire midfield just now!”
Tobías was surrounded by his teammates.
In the last training session, his teammates’ attitude toward him had just started to change.
Today, on the pitch during the derby, this change was even more obvious.
It wasn’t politeness; it was genuine respect.
You can make an interception against Boca Juniors’ best number ten, you can pierce the entire defensive line at the first opportunity, and you can set up Giovanni for a one-on-one goal.
Then you are the midfield core.
On the sideline, Gil was already walking back and forth with excitement.
The assistant coach grabbed his arm: “Gil!
Did you see that?
Did you see that?”
Gil shook him off impatiently: “I’m not blind!”
But he couldn’t suppress the smile on his face: “This is the value I was talking about.”
The assistant coach’s voice was trembling: “Interception on the defensive end against Paredes, and finding Giovanni with one pass on the offensive end.
Although the passing technique wasn’t perfect, he saw the open space.”
Gil nodded: “Right, the most important thing is that he saw it.”
“Such a large gap isn’t something everyone can spot at the first opportunity.”
“Many players will protect the ball after an interception, pass it back, or wait for teammates to come up.”
“He’s different; his first reaction after an interception is to kill the opponent.”
The assistant coach punched the air: “That is counter-attacking awareness!”
On the other side, the Boca Juniors bench was deathly quiet.
The Boca head coach stared at the goal, then at Tobías, his expression extremely grim.
He couldn’t believe that Paredes’s advance just now had clearly torn open the River Plate midfield.
They had three lines of attack; any one of them could have resulted in a shot.
One long pass, and the whole situation instantly reversed.
“This isn’t the kind of counter-attacking judgment that should exist in the youth team league.”
The Boca Juniors assistant coach whispered.
The Boca head coach gritted his teeth: “That kid didn’t just pass randomly just now.”
The assistant coach looked at him.
The Boca head coach continued: “He saw the gap in our defensive line pressing up.
The technical quality of that ball was average, and it drifted later on, but he knew that as long as the ball speed was fast enough, Giovanni would have a chance.”
He became more annoyed as he spoke: “Sixteen years old?
Where did River Plate dig up this kind of midfielder?”
On the European scout side, it was also quiet for a moment.
The Roma scout lowered his head to record quickly, the Juve scout exchanged looks with the person next to him, and the PSG person looked directly at Tobías.
They were originally here mainly for Paredes.
Paredes’s performance at the start was indeed eye-catching; his ball control, dribbling, and passing all proved his talent.
But this sequence from Tobías was too striking.
On the defensive end, he made a frontal interception against Paredes, and on the offensive end, he immediately sent a long vertical pass, directly assisting the forward for a one-on-one goal.
In youth team matches, there are many people who can pass well, and many who can defend well.
But people who can understand the instant of the transition between offense and defense at the same time are rare.
High in the stands, Diego Simeone finally smiled.
Not the ecstatic joy of a fan, but the excitement of a coach seeing a good prospect.
“Great ball.”
The entourage looked onto the pitch: “Are you talking about Giovanni?”
“Giovanni ran well, and his handling was calm.”
Diego Simeone nodded, “But seventy percent of this goal belongs to that River Plate midfielder.”
The entourage was a bit surprised: “That high?”
“He first made an interception on Paredes.”
Diego Simeone raised his hand and pointed to the midfield, “Then he saw the gap left by Boca Juniors pressing up, and then dared to pass at the first opportunity.”
“The passing technique was average, and the trajectory drifted at the end, but the thought process was top-tier.”
“Game intelligence is something that is often harder to train than technique.”
He looked at Tobías, lowering his voice.
“If he can improve his strength, speed, and physicality later on, and continue to maintain this kind of judgment…”
Diego Simeone didn’t finish his sentence, but the entourage understood.
This boy is not simple.
On the pitch, Paredes stood near the center circle, his face very grim.
He still felt uncomfortable about being intercepted just now.
It wasn’t about being bumped away or tackled down, but about being seen through.
That feeling was terrible.
He thought he was controlling the rhythm and thought the River Plate midfield had been thrown into chaos by him.
But Tobías seemed to have been standing by the side, waiting for him to make a mistake.
What was even worse was that after stealing the ball, the opponent didn’t pause at all and pierced through Boca Juniors with one kick.
Paredes looked at Tobías, and Tobías also looked at him.
/c/DRUNK_TL(remove space between)