Chapter Thirty-Six: Opponent

  Inside Novarello, the training base of Novara.

  A fast-moving free kick flew over the "wall" and sped towards the top right corner of the goal. Just as the ball was about to fly into the net, a pair of large hands suddenly appeared, heavily hitting the side of the football.

  Bang!

  The football crashed heavily against the goalpost and flew out of bounds quickly.

  "Good ball!"

  The teammates who were watching on the sidelines all started applauding.

  This free kick was fast and had a sharp angle, showing that the player who took it has a very solid foundation in set pieces. Faced with this high-level free kick, the goalkeeper reacted extremely quickly, his movements were standard, demonstrating his excellent goalkeeping skills.

  This attack and defense can be said to be: shooting beautifully, defending wonderfully! No wonder the teammates watching from the sidelines couldn't help but cheer.

  "Marco, that's enough for today!" The goalkeeper lay on the ground, panting and beckoning to the player who was taking the free kick. After 50 defensive free kicks in training, he clearly felt a bit overexerted.

  "Samir, you've cleared three more than yesterday!" Marco Rigoni chuckled, bending down to pick up the football at his feet and walking off the training pitch with it under his arm.

  Rigoni is the number one free kick specialist of Novara, his ability to take free kicks is far better than that of Garofalo, a teammate of Chievo. He has scored many free kicks in his career. Therefore, when Samir Ujkani asked for special training on defending free kicks, coach Tesser arranged for Rigoni to practice with him.

  Wuyikani lay on the grass, no longer having the strength to get up. As for Rigoni, he could only hum a couple of times in response. Lifting his head to gaze at the vast, cloudless blue sky, Wuyikani's thoughts drifted to their next opponent.

  "Chu Jiang?" Uika muttered the name under her breath. The obscure Chinese pronunciation made even Uika feel a bit dizzy.

  Novara coach Tesser is a very professional football coach, his focus on the game has reached an almost paranoid level. Before each match, Tesser will specifically summarize the technical characteristics and habitual actions of the opponent's most threatening players in a video, which he hands over to goalkeeper Ujkani, asking him to study it carefully.

  As usual, before each game, Tessler handed Uikani the data of the opponent's number one star player, usually a forward, with only a few being an attacking midfielder. This time, unexpectedly for Uikani, Tessler asked him to study his fellow goalkeeper!

  This video is very short, only about ten minutes long, and it's all about Chu Jiang's penalty kick.

  Tessler told him that the ace of the Torino team was Bianchi, a player with strong ability but relatively dependent on the team's offensive system. Tessler was confident that he could disrupt the Bulls' offense by relying on his own defensive organization, thereby minimizing Bianchi's threat to the team. However, when it came to Chujang's free kicks, Tessler was at a loss. For such a master of free kicks, Tessler had few options and could only rely on his trusted goalkeeper Ujkani.

  After repeatedly watching Chujang's videos, Uika Ni summarized some experiences. Four times positioning the ball, Chujang used his right foot every time. Except for that one in Crotone, all of Chujang's free kicks were arcing shots kicked with the inside of his right foot, fast and flat, just enough to clear the wall. Moreover, the shooting angle was always chosen on the side where the wall defended, making it very difficult for the goalkeeper to defend.

  Generally speaking, even the most skilled players need a bit of luck when taking free throws, and the quality of their shots can be somewhat inconsistent. However, such flaws were not found in Chu Jiang's free throws. Whenever he took a shot, it was as if he was a precision machine, with a consistently high level of accuracy that was astonishing to behold.

  Otherwise, how could he have scored four free kicks in a row, all of which hit the goal? A 100% shooting rate makes people can't help but sigh, this is simply a monster!

  After watching it repeatedly for several times, Uijikane came to a conclusion that made him extremely depressed, which was that Chu Jiang basically had no obvious weaknesses. In order to defend against his serve, there was only one way, and that was to improve his own serve defense level. Only by improving his own level could he have the opportunity to react accurately and in time; otherwise, he could only rely on luck...

  Ujkani is an excellent young goalkeeper, otherwise he would not have been a regular starter for Albania and Novara at the age of 21. His goalkeeping skills are very comprehensive, but defending set pieces is not his strong suit. Therefore, Chu Jiang's characteristics happened to hit one of his few weaknesses.

  Helpless, Wu Yikani had to find the head coach and actively asked for special training on free kick defense. After a few days of intensive training, Wu Yikani made significant progress. However, he was still unsure if he could handle Chu Jiang. Because even Rignoni, who was the best at taking free kicks in the team, still had a considerable gap with Chu Jiang...

  Two days ago, Wu Yikang actively accepted an interview with a reporter. In the interview, he expressed disdain for Chu Jiang's level and even issued a challenge to his ability to take set pieces. On the one hand, Wu Yikang did this to boost his teammates' confidence; on the other hand, he hoped to use the media's power to disrupt Chu Jiang's mental state and affect his performance. After all, Chu Jiang is only 17 years old, and his ability to cope with pressure may not be that mature.

  Wuyi Kani hopes to increase his chances of success against Chu Jiang through psychological warfare from another angle. This is a good calculation, but can he succeed?

  As training in Novara is nearing its end, pre-match training at the Turin Training Centre is also almost over.

  In training, Chu Jiang has steadily occupied the position of the main force. His continuous outstanding performance has conquered all his teammates and gained unanimous recognition from the coaching staff. Now, even substitute goalkeeper Ba Shi has defaulted to his current status. No way, Chu Jiang's performance is simply too powerful, he can't find an opportunity.

  In today's training session, Chu Jiang staged a hat-trick of free kicks again.

  The intensity of training and the formal match can't be compared, Chu Jiang's penalty kick is even more relaxed and happy. Seeing such a magical free kick show every day, Chu Jiang's teammates are already numb.

  "What a freak!" The crowd thought helplessly. However, thinking that such a "freak" was their own teammate and not on the opposing team's side, everyone couldn't help but feel relieved in their hearts. Fighting against such an unpredictable ball demon, as opponents, the pressure is not ordinary at all...

  With a whistle from assistant coach Destro, the last training session before the match came to an end.

  Chu Jiang picked up the towel from the goal and casually wiped the sweat from his forehead, involuntarily glancing towards the stands next to the training field.

  Today is a closed training session, the stands are empty and not a single person can be seen. However, just yesterday, the stands were packed with hundreds of people!

  Due to his recent outstanding performance, Chu Jiang received special treatment from the fans. In yesterday's open training session, they carefully prepared a huge banner with the words "Chu, Tiamo! (Chu, we love you)" written on it.

  Whenever Chu Jiang takes the ball, fans will be excited and whistle. Every time Chu Jiang scores a free throw, fans cheer and shout his name!

  That's what fans are like. If you give them a point of satisfaction, they will return with ten points of joy!

  Among the crowd of fans, the most eye-catching ones are a group of young female fans. They all wear low-cut T-shirts and write Chu Jiang's name and jersey number on their chests with red markers. As they cheer, they jump up and down, and then you can see Chu Jiang's name rising and falling on the "mountains".

  As the name fluctuates, Chu Jiang's mood is also fluctuating... Even his specialty, free kicks, was missed by one... Almost being substituted and conceded a goal...

  "Beauty is really a calamity!" Chu Jiang couldn't help but think.

  However, his heart surged with emotion, waves surging in his chest... Chu Jiang couldn't help but think again.

  "Can't help but say, Italian girls are really well-developed! Real people are even more beautiful than pictures! That passion, wow... Those breasts, wow... Chu Jiang's saliva is about to spill all over the floor..."

  "Wow!"

  "Here!" Chu Jiang responded subconsciously.

  "Haha!" Seeing Chu Jiang's strange and ridiculous appearance, his teammates all burst out laughing.

  De Stroth is both angry and amused.

  "There's a pre-match press conference later, the head coach wants you to get ready. Remember, don't embarrass us later, or else you'll be warming the bench for the next game!" Destro joked.