Football: My AI System Provides Max-Level Predictions-Chapter 740 - 529: Left, right, up, down, 9 shallow and 1 deep, unpredictable!

Chapter 740: Chapter 529: Left, right, up, down, 9 shallow and 1 deep, unpredictable!

At first, Manchester United’s players were just surprised by Tang Long suddenly stealing the ball from De Bruyne, not caring about his shot, even thinking it was quite reckless.

Tang Long kicked from a position estimated to be about 40 meters from the goal;

Shooting from this distance, wanting to score is simply a fantasy, as ridiculous as Icardi’s mid-circle shot attempt!

Icardi was initially annoyed and alarmed by De Bruyne’s sudden interception, blaming him for not passing the ball to him earlier;

Seeing Tang Long suddenly shoot, he was shocked, fearing he might score a world-class goal before the half ended.

"Stay strong, De Gea, you can do it!"

But after the ball was kicked, seeing the not very strong force and the floating trajectory, he immediately felt relieved.

"Still say I’m not good enough? Look at your shot, it’s not much better than mine!"

At that moment, goalkeeper De Gea’s position was somewhat forward, and Tang Long kicked just as he stood on the edge of the penalty area.

Seeing the ball coming, he quickly adjusted his focus while retreating, really fearing the ball might drop directly into the goal.

But after taking two steps back to the penalty spot position, he slowed his steps, and his heart relaxed a bit.

Because De Gea saw the incoming ball, although it seemed to be dropping into the goal, the ball speed was indeed not fast, he believed he could catch it easily with both hands.

Agüero and Sterling did not move forward either, while Manchester United defenders Damian and Ashley Young also stood still.

Everyone seemed to be waiting for De Gea to safely catch the ball.

Even as before, he didn’t have to catch it, but could just lightly tap it and, once it landed, step on it with his foot, just like when Manchester City’s goalkeeper Bravo reacted to Icardi’s absurd shot.

"Ah, is this for entertainment effect?" Michael Owen sighed lightly in the Sky Sports studio.

He also did not believe the ball would pose any threat to De Gea.

Dilata even pursed her lips, knowing Tang Long indeed had an astonishing long shot, but this one seemed below standard, thinking: "What are you doing, Tang? You can’t mess around."

Ronaldo’s eyes always followed the ball’s trajectory, this ball was kicked slowly and was unexpected for Ronaldo.

However, with his understanding of Tang Long, it seemed that this move had hidden meaning, "What’s going on, let me see..."

Just when De Gea had already raised his hands high, judged the landing point, and was about to catch the ball, when it was about 15 meters away, it suddenly made a left-right swing!

"Huh?"

De Gea was startled, quickly squinted his eyes to focus on the ball;

But found it difficult to focus, because the ball wobbled extremely irregularly, like a bird fluttering left-right in the air.

Left-right, up-down, shallow-deep swings, floating unpredictably!

Tang Long, although didn’t exert much force when shooting, precisely kicked the ball into the air!

The ball in the air had no arc, originally moving straight forward, but due to force, suddenly made an irregular left-right swing near the goal, causing De Gea to be momentarily disoriented.

Such a move was extremely mastered by Lyon’s former midfielder Little Juninho, but Little Juninho kicked free kicks, Tang Long did it in open play mid-air, so it was more difficult, with greater unpredictability.

As the ball got closer, De Gea hesitated, facing the floating ball, immediately gave up the thought of catching it —

He jumped high, swinging his fists, wanting to punch the ball out of the area!

"Fxxk off!"

De Gea shouted, arms extended!

His 1.9-meter tall stature gave him great control coverage, it seemed this punch would send the ball away;

But unexpectedly, when the ball was a meter or so away, it suddenly turned right!

"Clash," a friction noise was made between De Gea’s punch and the ball’s leather surface, but he punched into thin air!

The ball bypassed De Gea’s arm, its speed gradually slowed, even bouncing before falling into the net.

[Winged Shooting Test Successful!]

Tang Long nodded slightly, his expression calm.

He knew this moment would come, even before the first-half ends, it’s a good opportunity.

Although Tang Long was calm, the other players on the field were not!

Everyone, from Manchester United, Manchester City, players off the pitch, including nearly seventy thousand Manchester United fans present, all turned their heads, with their gaze converging on Tang Long alone, everyone was stunned!

Even the referee was also immensely shocked, giving three seconds of daze before whistling to signal the goal was valid.

...

As the halftime whistle sounded, all Manchester City teammates rushed over, surrounding Tang Long.

Everyone was talking, exchanging words, excitedly discussing the shot Tang Long just made.

In their words, there was both admiration and surprise.

"De Gea was bewildered by you, Tang!"

"Haha, I initially thought it wouldn’t go in, it’s amazing!"

"How did you do it, the ball seemed to suddenly make a turn?"

"It’s practically a world-class goal!"

"Now it’s good, 1 to 1, we’ll surely take them down in the second half!"

Inside the Sky Sports studio.

Since Tang Long scored that goal, Dilata and Owen fell silent.

It’s not that they didn’t want to speak, it’s not that they didn’t want to express their thoughts and insights on Tang Long’s amazing long shot, but the small studio was entirely dominated by Ronaldo’s deep and magnetic voice, leaving no room for them.

"A full 40 meters!"

"I just knew, I knew when shooting from that position, he must have his own idea!"

"See that, he kicked, and then it goes in, scoring for him is just that simple!"

"Tang gave Icardi a hard lesson, letting him know what a true long shot is, this is the gap between two, between a top-tier player and a top-star, such a vast gap!"

Ronaldo opened his arms, measuring, "Such a big gap, an insurmountable chasm!"

"Technique, awareness, anticipation, and courage, to score such a goal, the four are indispensable!"

Owen, tired of hearing Ronaldo’s constant praise for Tang Long, disagreed and retorted:

"In my opinion, Tang Long’s shot was indeed brilliant, and the trajectory was very strange, but mainly De Gea underestimated it, his positioning was too forward, had he stood on the penalty area line, given the ball’s speed, it would’ve been impossible to score, so luck played a major role!"

Owen further explained, that such a long-distance shot, especially a mid-air one, often the player doesn’t know where it will fly, so luck cannot be ignored when it scores.

Upon hearing this, Ronaldo coldly snorted, glancing disdainfully at Owen, thinking: "You were once a Golden Ball Award striker, how can you say something so low-level? Don’t make me look down on you."

He then said, "Michael, if you truly understand Tang, if you seriously observed the entire scoring process, you would know how important anticipation is for a player at such a distance. Why can’t Icardi’s long shot score, but Tang Long can? This is the gap, far beyond what luck can cover!"

Owen’s stature was much lower than Ronaldo’s, but they were both retired players, sitting in the studio, there’s no need for hierarchy.

"Ronaldo, you give me 50 shots, I can also score a divine like Tang’s, we’ve all been professional players, we know the most exciting goals are often scored in practice, because of more shooting opportunities!"

Dilata found the atmosphere a bit tense, quickly diverted the topic: "Let’s watch the slow motion again, I have something to ask Mr. Ronaldo."

"Go ahead," Ronaldo was in good spirits, wiping his forehead sweat with a sleeve, and sat down.

"This ball, De Gea didn’t save," Dilata had many doubts, "Sure, we could blame De Gea’s error, but we saw the ball had a very distinct turn at the end, how was it kicked like that?"