January 11, 2014, Saturday afternoon.
More than twenty thousand Leicester City fans poured into the King Power Stadium, dyeing most of the seats in the entire stadium blue.
And the Derby County fans who accompanied the away team huddled in one section of the stands, shivering while listening to the home fans sing the Foxes’ team anthem.
Amidst the singing, players of both teams, holding hands with the young mascots, lined up from the player tunnel and slowly stepped onto the pitch.
And Ling Feng, wearing the blue Blue Foxes jacket, also stepped onto the pitch with the other substitute players.
This was his first time coming to Leicester City’s home ground, the “King Power Stadium”.
The singing of the Blue Foxes fans echoing in his ears made Ling Feng truly feel the passion of the team’s twelfth man.
Not long after coming to the substitute bench to sit down, the commentator’s magnetic voice then sounded in the stadium:
“Welcome to watch the twenty-fifth round of the English Championship League, Leicester City hosting Derby County at home.”
“The starting eleven for the home team Leicester City have not changed at all from the lineup that defeated Millwall in the last round.
The goalkeeper is still Kasper Schmeichel…”
“As for the substitute bench, there is a new young face.
The great contributor to eliminating Premier League team Stoke City in the third round of the FA Cup, eighteen-year-old youngster Ling Feng, has entered the league squad list for the first time!”
Along with the commentator’s words, the broadcasting camera on the sidelines opportunely aimed at Ling Feng sitting on the bench.
Seeing this, Ling Feng just showed a handsome, sunny smile towards the camera.
This smile, appearing in the broadcast footage, immediately melted the hearts of many female fans watching the game in front of their TVs.
Even the commentator couldn’t help but joke:
“Leaving aside football skills for a moment, what a handsome young man!”
“I think Leicester City manager Pearson is also doing this to protect his player, not wanting to spoil things by excessive enthusiasm.
I guess this young man will likely come on as a substitute late in the second half to experience the pace and intensity of the Championship league.”
“Yes, I agree with your view.
Putting an eighteen-year-old youngster with no league experience straight into the starting lineup, perhaps only that Frenchman at Arsenal would do such a thing…”
Hearing this conversation between the two commentators, Ling Feng on the bench couldn’t help but turn up the corners of his mouth.
“The Professor” Wenger’s fondness for nurturing young talents was not news anymore.
Promoting teenagers straight into the first-team starting lineup and then playing in the Premier League was also basic operation.
In comparison, him not becoming a starter for a Championship team at eighteen seemed somewhat like a failure.
Even so, Ling Feng was very confident that with his vision and passing, he was entirely capable of establishing a foothold in the Championship.
Although Pearson didn’t have Wenger’s boldness to directly use the league to level up the team’s youngsters.
But he also highly valued Ling Feng, this youth academy genius who emerged out of nowhere.
In the home dressing room, manager Pearson had told him that barring any accidents, he would come on as a substitute in the late stages of the second half and get some playing time.
Being able to promise playing time to a newcomer just promoted to the first team was enough to prove how much Pearson valued him!
When he heard the manager say this, Ling Feng even felt the envious and jealous gazes shot by the other two substitute midfielders.
What could he do?
Who told him to be so good at passing and so handsome?
…
Soon, accompanied by a long whistle from the referee, the match officially began!
Having just been defeated one-nil at home by Wigan Athletic in the last round, Derby County coming to the King Power Stadium this time to face the red-hot league leaders did not hold any advantage to begin with.
And under the loud cheers of “Blue Foxes, forward!” from over twenty thousand fans at home, the home team Leicester City firmly controlled the situation on the pitch from the very beginning.
Vardy and Nugent, two highly impactful forwards, took turns bombarding Derby County’s defensive line.
Compared to the faster Vardy, David Nugent was physically stronger and had better confrontation abilities, moving like a fish in water in the fiercely physical Championship.
If Vardy was a sharp knife plunging straight into the enemy’s heart, then Nugent was a battering ram.
In both of his seasons at Leicester City, he was able to contribute over a dozen league goals.
This season, he was still the top scorer in the Leicester City team.
Having played twenty-three matches in the league so far, he had already scored twelve goals, and his scoring efficiency was ranked high in the Championship.
However, with Ling Feng’s wonderful cooperation with Vardy in the last match, as well as his relationship with Vardy off the pitch, he felt a faint sense of crisis.
Therefore, he intended to use active running and pressing to show the manager his value within the team.
And hard work pays off, he soon found an opportunity to score!
“Nugent!!!”
“Scores with a header!
GOAL!!!”
“The score on the pitch has been rewritten!
Home team Leicester City draws first blood!”
Amidst the deafening cheers of the Leicester City fans, the first half of the match quickly ended.
The Leicester City players returned to the dressing room carrying a one-nil lead.
“Good job, boys!”
After praising the players’ performance in the dressing room and adding some details to the attacking tactics, Pearson ended the brief pep talk.
After the halftime break, the players of both sides returned to the pitch again.
Under Pearson’s waving direction, Leicester City kept Derby County in their half and continued to attack fiercely.
When the match reached the sixty-fifth minute, “Drink Water Bro” Drinkwater’s long shot from the penalty area rewrote the score to two-nil.
A two-goal lead made Pearson, standing on the sidelines, suddenly relax a lot.
Looking down at his watch, he then turned around, came to the front of the substitute bench, and waved his big hand:
“Ling!”
“Mahrez!”
“You two go warm up!”
Hearing this, Ling Feng and Mahrez, who were earnestly watching the situation on the pitch, immediately got up.
Seeing Ling Feng come to the sideline to warm up, the broadcasting camera crew on the sideline immediately aimed their camera at this “Blue Foxes New Star” hyped by the media.
“Leading by two goals, Leicester City seems to be planning to make substitution adjustments…”
Wearing an orange vest, Ling Feng’s appearance on the stadium’s big screen immediately drew applause and cheers from the majority of Leicester City fans in the stadium.
In their eyes, Ling Feng, a product of Leicester City’s academy, was their own boy.
Feeling the encouragement and enthusiasm from the fans, Ling Feng waved to the stands while warming up.
And Mahrez, who was warming up beside him, was very envious.
“Ling, the fans are all applauding for you.”
Hearing this, Ling Feng just smiled slightly, and said seriously:
“Riyad, I believe that with your strength, you will soon make the fans applaud and cheer for you too!”
After speaking, he saw Pearson waving at the two of them, so he hurriedly patted Mahrez on the shoulder and reminded:
“Let’s go, it’s our turn to go on stage and perform!”
Coming to the sideline, taking off the jacket and training pants to reveal the blue jersey underneath.
“Ling, just like in the FA Cup, after you go up, stand behind David (Nugent)…”
“Riyad, you take charge of the right side…”
After briefly arranging tactics for the two, a dead ball occurred on the pitch.
“Number 23 Ling Feng, and Number 26 Mahrez, prepare to come on…”
Accompanied by the fourth official on the sideline holding up the substitution board, Ling Feng took the lead and stepped onto the flat turf of the King Power Stadium.
Just like that, Ling Feng ushered in his debut in the English Championship!
(END CHAPTER)