On the sidelines, including assistant coach Blanco, the coaching staff members were impressed by Lin Quan's recent brilliant breakthrough.
Especially his Messi-like dribbling style, which sparked discussions among them.
"That move just now really resembled Messi!"
"Yeah, he unleashed the full power of his feints and dribbles!"
"Rafinha's decision was correct. If he hadn't moved laterally, the opponent would have definitely broken through from his left!"
"Exactly, Lin Quan's feints were so convincing. That shoulder drop combined with the change in weight distribution was extremely deceptive. Even experienced players could easily be fooled!"
"Defending against Messi requires not being deceived by his feints. You need extremely strong anticipation to have a chance at one-on-one defense!"
As they enthusiastically discussed, the topic shifted from Lin Quan to Messi.
Lin Quan's dribbling just now was actually quite ordinary; many players could pull off that move.
But executing it as well as Messi, with such deception, was rare in the football world.
In the eyes of the coaching staff members, Lin Quan's move just now resembled Messi's style, at least about seventy to eighty percent.
"Hehe, Messi's influence on young players is really significant. Not only in the youth team but also in La Masia's youth academy, there are plenty of players imitating his style!"
"Yes, there are many Messi imitators. It's not just in La Masia; there's been a wave of Messi imitations worldwide."
"You know, recently, many young players from various countries have joined our La Masia. And when they join, they're given almost the same title, like the Japanese Messi, the Korean Messi, and so on."
A youth training coach chuckled and said:
"These 'Messis' from various countries, if they could reach seventy to eighty percent of Messi's skill level, they would already be football superstars!"
"Haha, how is that possible? There's only one Messi in this world, and no one can reach his level!"
Messi, a product of La Masia's youth academy, had been coached by many of the staff members present, leaving a deep impression on them.
Messi's unique style of play was based on his extremely high talent.
Without Messi's natural talent, it was impossible for others to successfully imitate him.
And precisely because of this, Lin Quan's breakthrough just now caught the coaches' attention.
Many people imitated Messi, but few did it so convincingly that they gave the impression of Messi playing on the field.
The match continued, and after successfully breaking through Rafinha, Lin Quan had approached the edge of the penalty area.
The main team's central defender, Banyak, didn't dare let him get closer to the penalty area, so he immediately stepped forward, blocking his inside, and pushing him towards the bottom line, preventing him from cutting inside to shoot or pass.
Currently, there was only one attacking player inside the penalty area, but there were three defending players.
Moreover, the substitute team's forward was only 175 centimeters tall, while several defending players were over 180 centimeters tall.
If Lin Quan were really pushed near the bottom line, his passing threat would be minimal, and there would be a greater chance of the defenders clearing the ball.
He didn't want to waste this opportunity, so he immediately approached Banyak with the ball while observing the positions of nearby teammates, preparing to pass.
This move earned praise from several coaches on the sidelines:
"Lin is playing smartly; he knows his ability to shake off defenders isn't strong, so he mustn't stick to the ball too long and must pass quickly."
"Yes, the main team's defensive midfielder isn't far from him, and at this moment, he's already catching up from behind. If he delays the pass, he might get surrounded and lose possession."
"However, the players on the substitute team seem to be a bit slow. There's no one around him to receive the ball, and Banyak and the other defender have cut off his passing lanes to the forward."
"It seems like he can only pass back now, but if he does, this attacking opportunity will be wasted!"
"Passing back would waste the opportunity, but not passing back would likely lead to a counterattack by the opponents. Relatively speaking, passing back is the better option!"
"Why are you all so conservative? He just made a brilliant breakthrough; he can do it again now!"
A young coach clearly had a different perspective; compared to the other coaches' conservatism, he was evidently more aggressive.
As long as Lin Quan could successfully break through Banyak's defense, he could create a two-on-two opportunity. By then, the remaining two defending players would definitely come over to intercept him.
This would render the opponents' double-teaming against the substitute team's forward ineffective.
At that moment, he could either take the shot himself or pass to the forward, providing him with more options.
"So, what will he choose?"
The coaches were curious about Lin Quan's decision!
Lin Quan chose to dribble past!
Although Banyak was a young player born in 1995, his defensive experience was quite mature.
He didn't stand still or rashly rush in; instead, he held his position, maintained an appropriate distance, slowly retreated, and forced the opponent to decelerate.
This distance wasn't too far; if the opponent wanted to shoot, the defending player could extend his foot to disturb or block when the opponent adjusted his pace.
As a result, the probability of the ball being blocked was extremely high.
Moreover, if the attacking player entered his rhythm and was forced to slow down, the threat from the opponent would greatly decrease.
Because without the speed advantage, it would be difficult for the opponent to get past him.
Furthermore, the other defending players were still sprinting back. Once the attacking player slowed down, he would immediately be caught up.
Therefore, Lin Quan couldn't fall into the opponent's trap, couldn't slow down, and definitely couldn't stop.
Against a retreating defender like Banyak, Messi had a move in his arsenal that worked well, and that was feinting plus change of direction.
Seizing the opportunity when Banyak lifted his left foot to retreat, Lin Quan flicked the ball to the right.
This move reminded the coaches on the sidelines of the previous breakthrough; they thought Lin Quan was about to repeat the same trick.
"Oh no, he made a mistake; the flick was too heavy!"
Seeing the ball rolling out a bit far, the coaches felt a bit regretful.
At this distance, the defending player could directly intercept the ball.
As expected, seeing the 'mistake,' Banyak immediately stretched out his raised left foot to poke the ball.
But just when he thought he could poke the ball first, another foot hit the ball at a faster speed, knocking it to the other side.
Banyak was dumbfounded; how did the opponent do it?
Could it be that the previous 'mistake' wasn't a mistake but a trap set against him?
After touching the ball twice in quick succession with his right foot, Lin Quan lightly touched the ball with the outside of his left foot.
The ball came to the right side of Banyak, but at this moment, his left foot hadn't landed yet, and his right foot couldn't move at all. He could only watch as Lin Quan, using the inside of his left foot again, changed the direction of the ball, sending it rolling forward.
And seizing the opportunity, Lin Quan slipped past Banyak, glanced at the positions of the defending players, and decisively took a shot.
This shot was very sudden; the two defending players behind him didn't have time to cover, and the goalkeeper didn't expect him to adjust the angle and take the shot.
By the time he saw Lin Quan taking the shot, it was too late to dive and save.
The ball flew into the top right corner of the goal at a not particularly fast speed, hitting the angle between the crossbar and the post and bouncing into the net.
This was theoretically a dead angle; even if the goalkeeper was prepared, it would be very difficult to save.
The score on the field became 1-0, with the substitute team unexpectedly taking the lead.
After a moment of astonishment, the substitute players rushed towards Lin Quan like madmen.
Lin Quan was startled and tried to escape, but where could he go?
He was overwhelmed by a group of substitute players, pressed down, and piled up into a human mountain.
Meanwhile, the main team's players stood with their hands on their hips, their expressions complicated.
They witnessed Lin Quan's entire process from breaking through the sideline to scoring in the penalty area. Except for the central midfielder Rafinha, who might have been careless, the other players didn't make any mistakes.
But the opponents scored an unreasonable goal, leaving them speechless with no room to blame their teammates.
At this moment, Enrique, who had returned to the office to get some information, was studying which team to send Lin Quan to, completely unaware of what was happening on the field.
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