Chapter 14: Taking the Initiative

Recently, Evergrande's performance has been less than satisfactory, but Dai Zhiwei has been riding high, scoring in every match and firmly securing his place in the starting lineup. In every sense, he has achieved both fame and fortune.

As his reputation began to grow and he became one of the team's attacking trident, the Evergrande club recognized Dai Zhiwei's bright future and financial potential. After consulting with head coach Cannavaro, they proactively contacted Jin Chang to discuss a new contract for Dai Zhiwei.

After negotiations, a new four-year contract was signed. His annual post-tax salary jumped from the original 840,000 to 3 million, and his goal bonuses and appearance bonuses were now second only to the likes of Goulart and Yu Hanchao—an impressive wage for a young player at that time.

The most important aspect for Evergrande was the increase in Dai Zhiwei's release clause. The original 30 million clause no longer seemed secure, so the new contract raised it to 80 million yuan. There was also a 300,000 signing bonus—enough for Dai Zhiwei, an automobile enthusiast, to finally own a car of his own.

He spent the entire signing bonus on a new car—a hybrid BMW X1. Though it bore the BMW badge, it was hardly a luxury model, but for now, it was all Dai Zhiwei could afford.

Before buying the car, Dai Zhiwei almost imagined himself living out the cliché scenes of a rebirth novel—it always took at least one to three chapters to buy a car. But reality was not so dramatic; there simply weren’t so many idle people looking down on others.

With his new car, Dai Zhiwei felt a bit embarrassed in front of Xu Weixiang, the friend who always joked with him, but at least he no longer had to take a Didi ride to every training session.

Dai Zhiwei was walking a bright, correct path lately, but the next round of the Chinese Super League was a must-win for Evergrande. The team had been in a slump—after suffering their first league defeat of the season away to Jianye, losing 1–2, they were then defeated midweek in the AFC Champions League by Kashima Antlers by the same score. Two consecutive losses across two competitions left Cannavaro facing a serious crisis of confidence.

Having gone through two straight defeats in both the league and the Champions League, Evergrande could no longer afford to lose to Liaoning. At the pre-match press conference, Cannavaro was even questioned by the media about the possibility of being dismissed.

But after more than twenty years in football and having won World Player of the Year, Cannavaro was unfazed by such pressure. He simply stated that seeing Evergrande under pressure would only make their opponents more nervous.

Liaoning, Evergrande’s opponent, had remained unbeaten in their first four rounds with two wins and two draws, collecting eight points. Before the match with Evergrande, their club, Hongyun, offered a five-million-yuan bonus to motivate the team to defeat their rivals.

Evergrande’s starting lineup:
Goalkeeper: Li Shuai
Defenders: Zhang Linpeng, Feng Xiaoting, Mei Fang, Li Xuepeng
Midfielders: Zheng Zhi, Wang Shangyuan, Huang Bowen
Forwards: Dai Zhiwei, Goulart, Elkeson

Liaoning Hongyuan’s starting lineup:
Goalkeeper: Zhang Lu
Defenders: Ding Jie, Mitchell, Yang Shanping, Ding Haifeng
Defensive Midfielders: Zhang Ye, Qin Sheng
Midfielders: Yang Chaoshen, James, Yang Yu
Forward: Qiuka

In their last three encounters, Liaoning Hongyuan had the upper hand with two wins and a draw. Hosting the travel-weary Evergrande, they naturally felt confident. Yet, from the very first whistle, the match unfolded quite differently.

“What a chance! Dai Zhiwei receives Zheng Zhi’s long pass and charges swiftly toward the Liaoning Hongyuan penalty area!”

In the fourth minute, Zheng Zhi intercepted a Liaoning attack in Evergrande’s half and sent a long ball over the top, pushing it deep into Liaoning’s territory.

At the start, Liaoning had thrown themselves into attack, even pushing their defensive midfielders up. As a result, Zheng Zhi’s long ball sailed over every Liaoning defender and landed in open space, rolling slowly toward the arc of the penalty area.

The ball was more than twenty meters from Zhang Lu, the goalkeeper, nearly ten meters from the nearest Liaoning defender, and over a dozen meters from Dai Zhiwei. At this moment, both Dai Zhiwei and the Liaoning defenders sprinted madly toward the ball, but Dai Zhiwei’s astonishing speed was on full display for the Liaoning fans.

Especially without the ball at his feet, Dai Zhiwei, with his top speed of 96 and acceleration of 94, raced downfield and caught up to the ball, charging toward the penalty area.

“Watch out!”

As he ran, Dai Zhiwei suddenly heard Zheng Zhi’s anxious shout, accompanied by heavy breathing behind him.

Thanks to the guidance of his mentor Zhe Ping in the virtual space, Dai Zhiwei instantly realized a Liaoning player was closing in behind him, clearly preparing to slide in.

Without hesitation, Dai Zhiwei leapt up to avoid the incoming challenge. But just as he jumped, a powerful force swept his feet out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground. At the same time, the referee’s whistle rang out.

It turned out that Ding Jie, the Liaoning defender, realizing he couldn’t stop Dai Zhiwei from scoring, committed a last-ditch sliding tackle to bring him down.

A glaring yellow card appeared in the referee’s raised hand before Ding Jie, but at the same time, several Evergrande players rushed over and began shoving him. Liaoning’s other players quickly surrounded Ding Jie to shield him.

“Are you alright, Xiaowei?” Zheng Zhi asked anxiously, joined by the rest of the Evergrande players, all with worried faces.

“I’m fine—just got caught a little. Thanks for the warning.” With Zheng Zhi’s help, Dai Zhiwei got back up.

Actually, Ding Jie’s tackle wasn’t particularly malicious; his studs were down, and it was just a routine tactical foul. The anxiety among the Evergrande players was only because Dai Zhiwei had nearly broken through one-on-one.

The moment Dai Zhiwei hit the ground, every Evergrande fan’s heart clenched.

After all, in this difficult period for Evergrande, Dai Zhiwei had been the team’s sole bright spot—irreplaceable. If he were truly injured by Ding Jie’s foul, it would be a heavy blow for their supporters.

Cannavaro, tense on the sidelines, finally relaxed when he saw Dai Zhiwei rise and joke with Zheng Zhi. The coach had felt the strain as much as the fans, knowing that Dai Zhiwei was now far from insignificant, both for him and the club.

Dai Zhiwei had won Evergrande a free kick about 26 or 27 meters from goal, perfectly central. In such a position, a direct shot or a pass could be equally threatening.

Goulart, the team’s first-choice free-kick taker, stepped up without question, waiting as the Liaoning players slowly assembled their wall, occasionally glancing at his teammates jostling in the box, searching for the best option.

His gaze settled naturally on Elkeson, but with two defenders marking him closely, passing there seemed futile.

Compared to tall teammates like Zhang Linpeng and Elkeson, Dai Zhiwei, at only 175 cm, was inconspicuous in the box and knew his chances of winning an aerial duel were slim—he’d barely reach the defender’s nose if he jumped. Realizing this, he quietly drifted to the edge of the area, and his marker unknowingly let him slip away.

At the referee’s whistle, Goulart struck the ball hard. It traced a quick, shallow arc toward the penalty area.

Instantly, every player in the box craned their necks to watch the ball, hands shoving at anyone nearby.

As the ball descended, several Liaoning and Evergrande players leapt together. Both Zhang Linpeng and Qin Sheng made contact, and the ball rebounded out of the area.

James, the attacking midfielder, had been hanging around the edge of the box, ready to launch a counterattack. Seeing the ball flying his way, he shouted in his heart and dashed toward it.

Five meters!
Three meters!
One meter!

With the ball nearly at his feet, James’ face broke into a grin. He had seen that all the Evergrande players had gone forward to contest the set piece, leaving their own half wide open. He was confident that if he could reach the ball and feed it to Qiuka up front, a swift counter would teach Evergrande a harsh lesson.

But just as James raised his right foot to strike, a sudden foot flashed into view and smashed the ball, launching it like a missile toward goal.

With so many bodies in the box, Liaoning’s keeper Zhang Lu couldn’t see what was happening outside the area and had no idea the ball was already rocketing toward his net.

By the time Zhang Lu saw the ball, it was barely more than a meter from goal.