Chapter 24 Whose General is This? (Ch 24)

“Whose general is this?”
On the sidelines, São Paulo head coach Rodriguez was also stunned.
Obviously, he attaches great importance to this warm-up match.
The reason why he asked Cruzeiro to play was because he knew that the opponent had a killer like Ronaldo, and he wanted to see if his players could limit his performance.
Judging from the first half of the game, Sao Paulo did a pretty good job and Ronaldo didn’t get any chances to score at all.
But what no one expected was that Cruzeiro actually had a person like Luo Yi!
He runs actively, defends solidly, and is also good at taking free kicks!
In the 1990s, information transmission technology was not yet developed enough, which resulted in a delay in most people receiving news.
Well, even if by 2025, you, Luo Yi, perform well in a U17 warm-up match, it won’t cause any waves.
So Rodriguez didn’t know Luo Yi at all, but was amazed by his performance.
“Does anyone know where this Asian player is from?” Rodriguez felt really stupid after asking the assistant coaches sitting on both sides of him this question.
Since even I don’t know the origin of that oriental face, how can the teaching assistants know…
But at this time, an assistant coach raised his hand and said, “Boss, his name is Luo Yi. He was originally from Flamengo and recently transferred to Cruzeiro. I heard that he has a good relationship with Ronaldo and the two often practice together.”
Rodriguez was stunned: “How did you know?”
“I am friends with their assistant coach Ezio and we just had a chat. Before Luo Yi transferred, Flamengo played a warm-up match with Cruzeiro and he was very successful in marking Ronaldo.”
“That’s nothing. Didn’t we prevent Ronaldo from having any chance today?”
“But we used tactics to cut off Ronaldo’s chances of getting the ball, and this Luo Yi…was defending alone.”
“What!? So awesome?” Upon hearing what the assistant coach said, Rodriguez stood up immediately.
Single-handedly defending Ronaldo???
Before today, Rodriguez had carefully studied Ronaldo’s game videos in the South American Youth Championship.
One thing he could be sure of was that in the youth team, there was definitely no player who could defend Ronaldo alone – at least not in the Sao Paulo team.
As a coach who has been involved in youth training for many years, Rodriguez knows very well that in youth team matches, as long as you are physically fit and fast enough, you can basically do it all.
Although Ronaldo is only 16 years old, he possesses super high speed and skilled dribbling skills!
This made Ronaldo feel like he was invincible in youth team competitions.
Therefore, the best way to prevent Ronaldo from breaking through and scoring goals in the game is to cut off his connection with the midfield.
Since he can’t get the ball, he naturally has no way to play to his strengths.
But what was unexpected was that Luo Yi could actually use his personal stealing ability to stop Ronaldo’s advancement in a one-on-one duel?
No wonder his favorite disciple Denilson was like a real child in front of Luo Yi and was easily controlled.
“Damn it, how come such a talent was snatched away by Cruzeiro?” Rodriguez looked at Alexandre not far away with envy and jealousy.
At this time, he had already forgotten his own Sao Paulo, whose configuration in the national U20 can be called luxurious…
—————–
There was not much time left in the first half and it was over soon.
During the half-time break, Rodriguez redeployed the team’s tactics.
First of all, we must not forget the opponent’s biggest threat: Ronaldo.
Although Luo Yi scored the goal for Cruzeiro, the free kick opportunity was created by Ronaldo through his breakthrough.
“So, we still have to continue to block their passing routes to Ronaldo and don’t let him get the ball easily against our defense line!”
The players of Sao Paulo nodded one after another: “Understood!”
“I also want to emphasize tactical discipline. Don’t stick to the ball too much and affect the team’s operating efficiency. It’s good to play like we did in the first half. Do you understand?” While saying this, Rodriguez glanced at Denilson.
The Sao Paulo players continued to nod: “Got it!”
“In addition, we must also pay attention to our defensive actions and try not to commit fouls in the 30-meter area. That Asian guy has a very strong foot and his free kicks are of a very high standard!”
This time it was goalkeeper Parent who responded first: “Yes, that’s right!”
Whether Luo Yi’s free kick level is high or not is indeed something that the goalkeeper has the deepest experience of.
You guys committed a foul, but in the end it’s the goalkeeper who suffers…
“In short, we are not leading yet, so we must not underestimate the enemy. Play well and make a good start for the new season!”
“OK!”
After all, they were the champions of the previous session, and the players still had some tactical skills and quickly understood the coach’s intentions.
After the start of the second half, Sao Paulo’s midfield and frontcourt positioning became more compact, blocking Cruzeiro’s passing routes more tightly, and Ronaldo was instantly found in an isolated and helpless situation again.
Especially when Cruzeiro captain Guimaraes got the ball, he would often be quickly targeted by the opponent’s Edmilson, which made it impossible for Cruzeiro to organize its midfield attack.
As for Luo Yi, they also found that this Asian did not have the ability to carry the ball forward, and could only pass the ball safely.
Wasn’t the ball he passed to Ronaldo in the first half just a pass without any technical content? The threat was entirely due to Ronaldo’s explosive power.
Therefore, as long as they can firmly control the midfield and prevent the opponent from having the opportunity to pass the ball to Ronaldo comfortably, Cruzeiro’s attack will basically be stalled.
However, São Paulo’s offense did not improve.
Because Luo Yi is so good at running!
He has a very large coverage area in the midfield and a superb ability to intercept players, often stealing the ball from the opposing players in succession.
It can be said that Luo Yi alone turned the entire midfield upside down!
This put the game into a tense state, and in the eyes of the fans, it could be described in one word: boring.
It’s always intermittent and there are no exciting scenes. Isn’t it boring?
The game continued like this until the 80th minute.
At the end of the game, the physical energy of the young players on both sides was consumed a lot in such constant tug of war, but Luo Yi was still running all over the field.
At this time, Sao Paulo launched an attack, and their midfield core Juninho dribbled the ball forward near the center circle of their own half.
Luo Yi keenly sensed the opportunity!
Therefore, due to the decline in physical strength at this time, the two wings of Sao Paulo did not come in time to receive the pass from Ronaldinho, and the midfielder Edmilson also had not returned to his position after the last defense.
So if Luo Yi pressed forward at this time, Junior would either choose to pass the ball back to the central defender or he could only dribble forward himself.
If he passes the ball back, it slows down the pace of Sao Paulo’s attack;
And if he dribbles the ball…
Then don’t blame Luo Yi for being so ruthless!
Therefore, Luo Yi quickly moved into position and moved towards the great scholar Junio.
At this time, Junior’s choice was indeed… to dribble the ball away by himself!
Because he also discovered that his teammates were a little behind in keeping up with the pace.
Under the pursuit and blockade of the opponent, his previous several attempts to move forward were finally forced to pass the ball back, and the attack was aborted.
This time, he wanted to go straight to the source!
But this was exactly what Luo Yi wanted.
Luo Yi lowered his center of gravity slightly, and when the great scholar Ronaldinho made a fake move and tried to pass by Luo Yi, he suddenly leaned forward and hit his body heavily on the great scholar Ronaldinho.
Ronaldinho is an absolute technical player, but such players often have a shortcoming – weak confrontation ability.
Although Luo Yi’s body cannot be considered strong, the frequent confrontation exercises and strength training in this period have made him strong enough to “bully” a short guy like Ronaldinho who is less than 170cm tall.
So, everyone saw that the great player Junio ​​was knocked out and the ball was in Luo Yi’s hands.
The referee spread his hands, indicating that it was a reasonable collision, no foul, and the game continued!
Sao Paulo’s head coach Rodriguez was a little restless and started shouting on the sidelines.
He was not protesting against the referee’s decision, but was telling his disciples to be careful to defend against Luo Yi’s pass – in other words, not to let him pass the ball to Ronaldo again!
It was almost like this in the first half, Ronaldo got the ball, which eventually led to the goal!
The players on the field of Sao Paulo obviously understood this. At this moment, two players immediately stuck closely to Ronaldo, and at the same time, one player also blocked the line between Luo Yi and Ronaldo.
But what no one expected was.
After Luo Yi stole the ball, he just took a light step forward, and then just… swung his leg?
What is he going to do?
That location?
He’s going to shoot?
This is just past the top of the center circle, about 35 meters away from the goal.
This is even farther than the free kick in the first half. Does he really want to shoot?
“Damn, he really wants to shoot!”
On the court at this moment.
Luo Yi has already raised his right leg high!
By this time, Sao Paulo’s central defender Bordon reacted, but it was too late to block.
“Bang!!!”
Luo Yi kicked the football hard with his right foot, and the ball turned into a white light and rushed towards the goal of São Paulo!
Then, the football went into the net!
No one expected Luo Yi to shoot from such a long distance, and the same was true for São Paulo goalkeeper Parente.
He could only stare at the football behind him in amazement without any reaction…