"Eighteen years old, an amateur player!"
The general broadcast host awkwardly read it out, "Oh, the substitute coming on is an amateur player, an eighteen-year-old youngster with no professional experience? A bit unexpected!"
And in Dragon Country, there was a commentator who was practically a human facial recognition machine. The information he held wasn't provided by a team, but meticulously researched, found, and recorded by himself beforehand.
"Oh, we see the young player now coming on as a substitute is named Lin Hao. He is actually a Dragon Descendant player; his parents moved to Brazil!"
"He is not a professional player, but he has extensive football experience. On the amateur pitches, it could be said he had no one to play with! Because, as everyone who plays knows, amateur football is just for entertainment, and most people aren't too keen on playing against opponents who are too strong, as it offers no enjoyment!"
"This counts as the first stop in his professional career, the World Cup stage. We are really looking forward to his performance!"
This shows why his commentary is worth the VIP.
On the field, after Lin Hao came on, he almost immediately felt the pressure, because he was a bit unsure where he should go.
For Brazil's throw-in, he stood in a position he understood, but Coutinho, who was taking the throw, couldn't release the ball for a long time. Finally, The main referee directly blew the whistle to stop the game, before the referee could even warn Coutinho.
Coutinho pointed at Lin Hao, "If you can't receive the ball, then get out of the way, don't take up the position!"
"I'm here, give it to me?" Lin Hao spread his hands, looking incredulous.
At that moment, Coutinho's expression was as if his hanging heart had finally died, and then he nodded in resignation, "Alright, alright, alright!"
Then he accepted The main referee's warning not to delay the game, and Coutinho passed the ball to Lin Hao's feet.
Lin Hao had already planned to turn before receiving the ball, but as soon as the ball reached his feet, a foot from behind stretched out and intercepted the ball.
In that moment, all of Lin Hao's pride vanished.
He had arrogantly thought he was a genius, that professional football wasn't a big deal, at least, that professional football outside of the top five Leagues wasn't a big deal.
On this World Cup stage, many teams would be fortunate to have one or two players from the top five Leagues. Lin Hao naively thought they weren't very good.
But the facts proved that he was the one who wasn't very good.
Perhaps everyone, including The main referee and even the fans, had seen that he couldn't receive the ball in that position, yet he didn't move, thinking he could complete a turn and dribble past someone the moment he received the ball.
So The main referee only gave a simple warning to Coutinho for delaying the throw-in.
And when the ball was intercepted, Lin Hao wanted to make amends by running back to defend, but he actually ran alongside Coutinho, meaning he was in the wrong position.
This was the most terrifying, the most disheartening thing; he couldn't even get the simplest thing right.
But this world won't let you off; it only gets worse, never the worst.
After Coutinho and his teammates successfully defended, the expected outburst of anger didn't come, though it might also have been because Fernandinho was held back.
Coutinho, however, frowned, "You seem to actually have something, don't you?"
Lin Hao had been on the field for less than two minutes and was already collapsing.
What do you mean, he has "something"? He was clearly doing a terrible job, right?
The hardest part is when you feel utterly useless, but your teammate suddenly comes over and tells you that you seem to be okay.
And you have no idea what you did right!
Lin Hao carefully recalled. He had clearly done nothing right just now, so why did Coutinho, the victim, say he was still okay?
Oh? It was his acceleration! After realizing he was in the same position as Coutinho, he accelerated forward, only to be lightly touched off the ball by someone?
"That's right!" Coutinho smiled, "But it's not the action itself, it's the thinking. You were already terrible, but you didn't collapse and could quickly think of a remedy. That's very good!"
Lin Hao still nodded somewhat blankly, because he felt that he hadn't been thinking.
What Lin Hao didn't know was that this was even more rare; his subconscious mind had already completed the thought and judgment.
However, what's more important now is… Lin Hao immediately spoke up, "Seniors, I admit it, I'm not a qualified professional player. But my offense really is quite good. Don't stop passing to me. If my offense still isn't good, I'll retire!"
With this one sentence, Lin Hao transitioned from having his pride shattered to acknowledging, "I really am not good, but I think my offense is good. I can't let my teammates give up on me, and I also need to give myself a chance, a last-ditch effort."
Although it was a last-ditch effort, being able to quickly adjust his state after his greatest pride was shattered is also the most crucial ability on the football field.
Otherwise, if you're still agonizing after conceding a goal, it's very possible that by the time you're done agonizing, another goal will have been scored!
"Alright, alright, if there's a chance, we'll definitely pass it, go!" Coutinho said impatiently.
The game continued, and what followed was, to say the least, disastrous. In this fast-paced rhythm of attack and defense, Lin Hao truly had no idea where he should be running. The full-back behind him was already cursing him out.
It wasn't until the seventy-first minute of the game that Lin Hao finally ran to the correct position. That feeling was truly like a cool breeze suddenly arriving on a hot summer day.
Even breathing became smoother.
And when he truly ran into—or rather, blundered into—a position, his teammate's pass immediately arrived.
Lin Hao's position was near the corner of the penalty area, and the ball came from William, the winger on the other side.
Lin Hao calmly controlled the ball. To be honest, controlling the ball was his forte, but even this time he was a bit nervous. Fortunately, he managed to control it steadily.
Then Lin Hao's ankle gave a gentle flick, returning the ball to Filipe on the left byline. Filipe's eyes widened slightly, a bit surprised. Filipe immediately took a shot, lofting a pass into the penalty area, back to Lin Hao.
This was almost an instinctive action. Only after passing did Filipe realize something was wrong. Lin Hao was not a professional player; his positioning couldn't be passed to in the usual way.
Sure enough, the ball was passed behind Lin Hao. Lin Hao also looked back and saw it, but at that moment, his thinking brain stopped, because this was no longer a problem that could be solved by thinking.
His body took over control, which is what is called a flash of inspiration!
Lin Hao bent his left foot back and hooked it, flicking the ball up with his heel in the air, over his head, and also over the head of the defending player. This was a beautiful chip over, and a chip over with his backheel at that.
Lin Hao immediately accelerated, chasing after the ball, while Ayala, who had just been dribbled past, now had nothing else on his mind but to take Lin Hao down.
His anger had already reached his head. The thought of being dribbled past by an amateur player made him want to kill Lin Hao, so he directly reached back and grabbed Lin Hao's collar.
Lin Hao was about to shoot, with only one supporting leg. With that pull, Lin Hao was directly knocked to the ground.
"Beep~" The main referee blew his whistle! Penalty!