Chapter 44: I Specifically Had Tang Practice Shooting Extra Shots the Night Before Last
The second half begins!
Due to Groningen’s relentless pressing in the first half, their players were nearly drained of energy.
According to Ten Hag’s prediction, Groningen would likely slow down the pace in the second half.
And indeed, the reality matched Ten Hag’s expectation perfectly!
Teammates exchanged passes back and forth along the wings, while Tom stayed hidden in the center, searching for an opening and rubbing his hands in anticipation.
Hss—
It feels like…
There might just be a chance!
“Tom!”
Ramseelaar called out, stepping on the ball with the front of his foot before flicking it toward Tom.
It was a diagonal pass, not placed precisely.
But it didn’t matter—there were no defenders near Tom, so he easily controlled the ball.
After settling it, he looked up, a radiant smile lighting his innocent face.
“Hey, no!”
John grew increasingly uneasy seeing Tom’s expression.
Drost was supposed to mark number 99 specifically.
Where are you now?
Smack!
Tom struck the ball with the outside of his foot.
A familiar sound echoed as Alay dashed forward.
The perfect setup from the master baker himself!
“Tom, take the shot!”
“Here we go again—that’s Tom’s third lucky kick this game!”
“Will this one go in?”
“Steady! Incredible! Tom’s long pass soared over the opposing fullback’s head and found Alay!”
The ball followed a perfect arc and slowed perfectly upon landing.
The only flaw was that Alay’s timing was a bit late; by the time the Ivorian cut inside, it was no longer a one-on-one chance.
Still, no worries—Alay was an experienced striker with many ways to handle such a ball.
He crossed to Balažic!
Balažic took the shot!
“It’s in! Balažic, amazing! Balažic’s shot!”
“Utrecht has equalized!”
“Wowww!!!”
Fans in the stands rose almost simultaneously, and Balažic’s gaze turned toward the linesman.
No offside!
Perfect!
“Beautiful!”
Balažic slid on his knees as Utrecht’s players rushed over to celebrate with him.
Tom was delighted but not overly so.
He had touched the ball three passes earlier—not credited with an assist.
So, no comeback bonus points for him.
A bit disappointing, but having helped the team equalize was worth celebrating nonetheless.
“Hahaha,”
Tom embraced his teammates, savoring the joy the equalizer brought them.
At Utrecht’s bench, Ten Hag quietly called Ayoub back from warming up.
On the field, Tom kept hugging teammates and running his hands through his hair. After the celebrations died down, he told his comrades firmly, “It’s not over yet. The game isn’t finished—we will score again.”
“We will score again; we must keep attacking!”
!!!
Alay and Balažic took a deep breath.
Tom a slacker?
Damn it, those who said Tom was lazy were fools.
Alay couldn’t see any hint of laziness in Tom.
He only saw a warrior.
A warrior hungry for goals!
The second goal of the second half kicked off, and Tom glanced at the card held by the fourth official.
Twenty minutes left!
He had twenty minutes to upgrade his treasure chest!
“Olé Olé Olé…”
“Olé Olé~ Olé~”
The atmosphere grew livelier as the players’ spirits lifted.
The game reached the 78th minute!
“Alay! Alay, run forward, speed up, Alay!”
“Damn, Alay seems a bit tired!”
“Tiblin’s catching up, Alay’s in trouble!”
“Pass it!”
“To Tom!”
“Tom, outside the box!”
“Just take a blind shot from distance!”
“…”
The live broadcast suddenly went silent because Wang Chao abruptly stood up from his chair, yanking the headset’s wire loose.
He shut his mouth, letting the stadium’s roar fill the void.
Tom’s shot from outside the box ignited the Groenhart Stadium; teammates on the bench had already rushed onto the field.
Yet Tom remained unmoved.
He was contemplating whether that goal he’d just scored was truly a great goal.
[You have earned 10 comeback points]
[Double goal bonus: 10 comeback points]
[Portuguese Advanced Treasure Chest → Portuguese Superstar Treasure Chest]
Perfect!
“Great shot!”
Tom cheered for himself, then dashed out with Balažic and Amrabat.
“Tom!”
Bang bang!
“Tom!”
Bang bang!
The edge of the stands was incredibly noisy; Alay had to shout loudly to make sure Tom could hear him, “How do you feel right now?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know how to say it?”
Tom, with his hair tousled by teammates, felt a bit dazed.
He couldn’t put into words his excitement.
Simply put,
It was the thrill of upgrading an advanced treasure chest into a superstar chest!
[6666]
[Master, are you a forward or a midfielder?]
[Damn, two starts, four goals—King Tom is ruthless!]
[Someone didn’t believe in King Tom before; he didn’t visit the foot massage parlor for a month afterward.]
[The People's Football King!]
…
With no commentary, Wang Chao could only type in the chatroom.
[Full-time! Utrecht wins 3-2 at home against Groningen. King Tom scores twice! Brothers, I gotta change my mic with the money I earned today, or I won’t be able to broadcast next time.]
After the match, as the team’s head coach, Erik Ten Hag took his seat in the press room.
Facing eight reporters, Ten Hag looked relaxed.
It was a hard-fought victory, but often such tough wins reveal the greatness of a coach.
Reporters offered congratulations on Utrecht’s win.
After the pleasantries, questions turned directly to Ten Hag.
“Mr. Erik, we noticed you had Ayoub warming up on the sidelines at the start of the second half, but after Tom scored, you called Ayoub back to the bench. Were you planning to substitute Tom initially?”
“No, of course not,”
Ten Hag quickly shook his head.
Admitting that would mean he lacked the ability to analyze the game.
He wouldn’t admit anything unfavorable to himself!
“I had Ayoub warm up mainly as a distraction. The opponents thought I was going to take Tom off, and so did the fans and you reporters. This deception caused the opponents to misarrange their tactics, which was the fundamental reason we scored our second goal.”
!!!
The reporter took a deep breath.
No wonder he was only a sports journalist and not a coach.
Such tactical mind games were beyond his imagination!
“Tom scored twice today, his second brace this season. What do you have to say about that?”
Ten Hag didn’t rush to answer but smiled.
“To be honest,”
“Just the night before yesterday, I specially had Tom practice shooting more.”
…