Chapter 2: Amazing performance on the training ground
The next day was the club's training session to prepare for the weekend's 9th round match against St Gilles United. As usual, Wang Feng was the first player to arrive. After the administrator opened the training ground for him, he began to warm up.
At this time, the club's head coach, Mette Magritte, and assistant coaches also arrived to the scene. After having a look at Wang Feng, they entered the conference room to prepare for tactical explanations.
The assistant coach, busy with tasks, remarked: "Mr. Magritte, I think player Wang is very serious. I don't know if he has a chance to play in the next game."
Magritte nodded approvingly, and said: "Yes, I have never seen such a serious player in the second division, but his level is indeed too low, which is because he has not experienced systematic youth training. Look at his state today, we are also short on the wing."
Soon, the players came to the training field one after another. Many people in the team actually harboured some hostility towards Wang Feng because his hard work would bring out the idleness of others. However, since Wang Feng didn't pose a threat, no one intentionally provoked him. But today's situation is different, perhaps because of hearing the news that they were short on the wing, that fellow Paul came towards Wang Feng.
He stared at Wang Feng contemptuously, and said, "It seems that our yellow-skinned monkey doesn't have a long memory. Football is not something monkeys can play with."
After hearing this, Wang Feng was furious, and he clenched his fists, wanting to give him a hard blow.
At this moment, Renee quickly inserted between them, pushed Paul, and said: "Go away, you can only play tricks, you will become a soft-legged shrimp on the court."
After that, he stopped Wang Feng, and said in a low voice: "Wang, he deliberately provoked you. Don't be fooled by him."
Wang Feng stared at Paul viciously, and replied to Renee, "I know. I will beat him in the training match and replace him."
Renee patted him on the shoulder in satisfaction as a sign of encouragement.
The head coach also came to the training field at this time. He stared at Paul and Wang Feng closely. Seeing that Wang Feng was not provoked by him, Paul spat on the ground and didn't dare to continue pestering him, so he left.
The head coach glanced at Wang Feng with meaningful eyes, and called everyone to start warm-up training. Wang Feng also executed technical movements meticulously; jogging, taking off in place, and raising his legs high. He could clearly feel every movement. According to his physical condition, he could achieve the best state by adjusting his strength and frequency.
Then practice running back and forth with the ball. In the past, this event was Wang Feng's weak point. He often lost the ball while running and was ridiculed by his teammates.
Paul thought that today would be no exception, so he deliberately ranked in front of Wang Feng, and then whispered: "Look at my performance, rubbish."
After Paul finished the run, his results were good, and he was even prouder of being ranked in the middle.
When it was Wang Feng's turn, the head coach Magritte walked up to him and instructed: "Be sure to hold down your strength, pay attention to the control of the ball, don't be too focused on the time, first ensure that you don't lose the ball and then gradually accelerate."
Wang Feng nodded to the coach, took a deep breath, remembered the feeling of dribbling in the park yesterday in his mind, and started his run. At the beginning, it still needed fine-tuning, but the running became smoother and faster, and his speed increased gradually, yet the ball seemed to be stuck to the foot. The surrounding team members couldn't help being dumbfounded.
Is this still the Wang Feng they know? Running with the ball at this speed, I am afraid no one in the team can achieve it. When he finished the run, as expected, he ranked first in the team.
Renee couldn't help being overjoyed, smiled, and patted him on the shoulder, saying: "Okay buddy, it seems that your arduous special training has finally paid off. Is this what you told me last time, accumulation? "
Wang Feng smiled, then walked in front of Paul, and responded to his previous provocation: "This is called dribbling, rubbish."
Paul's face turned livid, but he had nothing to say for a while. In the following training, dribbling around the pole, Wang Feng also showcased his amazing speed ability.
Seeing this, the assistant coach smiled and said to Magritte: "It seems that Wang Feng's condition is very good, and his technical level has also improved. At his age, he is developing rapidly, and hard work will always bring rewards."
Magritte nodded slightly, but he planned to keep an eye on Wang Feng in his mind.
Wang Feng performed very well in passing and shooting training. After the initial adjustment, he continually made progress, which was impressive. After the basic training was completed, it was already noon, and the team members went to eat together in twos and threes, and naturally Wang Feng and Renee were together.
Renee said while walking: "Wang, you performed really well today. Did you hear that there was an opportunity last time, so you exploded?"
Wang Feng said: "When I see an opportunity, I always have to fight for it"
Renee nodded and said: "Yeah, in the beginning of the afternoon, it's the ball-scrambling training, which is also your weak point. If it doesn't work, I'll cover you; just come and grab me. The key point is when it comes to the test match. Try to score a goal for the coaches to see."
Wang Feng looked helpless: "Am I so weak? I don't need you to cover for me any more. I am very confident now. However, I will still need you in the match this afternoon. Pass me the ball when you can."
The time for lunch and the break was arriving to an end, and soon it was time to continue training. The coach divided all the players into several groups for force training. I don't know if it was intentional, but he placed Wang Feng, Paul, and Renee into the same group and had Wang Feng be the first to grab the ball.
Paul stepped on the ball and looked at Wang Feng contemptuously: "I think you just got lucky this morning, and this time I will play with you as before."
Then he kicked the ball to another player, giving him a suggestive look, the player was friends with Paul and kicked the ball back knowingly.
Just when everyone thought that Wang Feng would run around like a headless chicken between the two of them as usual, he suddenly stretched his legs and intercepted the ball. Within a minute, It was Paul's turn to grab the ball inside the circle. The eyes of the head coach on the sidelines brightened; Wang Feng's skills seemed to have improved.
On the training field, Paul stared at Wang Feng angrily. He would never have imagined that this seemingly useless guy who couldn't grab the ball on weekdays would complete the steal so quickly today. He could only obediently walk into the circle reluctantly and play the role of the monkey being teased.
Wang Feng didn't get too excited, but he seemed to understand something. Previously, his focus was solely on the ball, causing his body's reaction to be a step slower. Now, his heightened senses reminded him to pay attention to the player's body movements and actions when the ball was in play. Judging the passing path and applying the right amount of force, he found that he could break the ball as long as he stretched his feet just right.
In the next round of ball-scrambling training, many players seemed to have discussed it in advance and passed the ball to Wang Feng, catching him off guard. Paul intercepted the ball again within a few seconds. However, Wang Feng didn't mind; in fact, he felt a surge of excitement. He wanted to test the feasibility of his newfound skills.
As anticipated, when the ball reached Paul's feet again, Wang Feng observed his feinted shot, with his centre of gravity tilted to the left, creating the illusion of passing to the left. In reality, Paul intended to kick the ball to the right with his instep. Wang Feng pretended to block the left passing lane, suddenly turned to the right, and effortlessly seized the pass.
Paul was a little pissed off. He suspected that Wang Feng was deliberately targeting him. However, Head Coach Magritte's eyes gleamed with increasing brightness. Recognizing that this wasn't a coincidence, Magritte realized that Wang Feng had accurately judged Paul's intentions, resulting in a clean steal. It seemed that Wang Feng had indeed grown stronger
Training continued.
When Wang Feng received a pass from his teammate again, he accurately assessed the direction of Paul's force, deceived him with a fake move, and easily passed the ball until he received it again. After several rounds, they played tricks on Paul for minutes, leaving him standing in the circle, panting and glaring fiercely at Wang Feng.
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