The referee's whistle blew, and the match began!
The fans by the sidelines chanted the home team's slogan, their fervent shouts of encouragement filling the air.
Before the game, Cao Baming had learned that Wu Xue had also managed to get a ticket and was coming to watch in person. Although he couldn't spot her face among the thousands of seats in the stands, knowing she was here meant he absolutely could not afford to perform poorly today.
Cao Baming quickly retreated with the defensive line, observing the situation on the field simultaneously.
This was his first official match with the [God's Eye] ability, and the improvement was evident compared to previous training sessions.
He could see everyone's positioning and movements clearly, and even roughly guess their intentions, able to conceive of dozens of offensive strategies in his mind in an instant.
Just then, a careless mistake in midfield led to a lost ball, and Firmino seized the opportunity to launch a sudden attack, dribbling forward!
Cao Baming saw his chance, stuck out his leg, and intercepted the ball. The player could pass, but the ball had to stay!
Following this, over ten white lines appeared in his vision. Cao Baming directly chose the brightest one and passed the ball to the wing.
In an instant, the team's playing style became clear and open!
Suddenly, a system voice sounded in Cao Baming's mind.
"Ding! New mission unlocked: Successfully intercept Salah's attacks 10 times in a single match. Reward: 10 attribute points, one random talent skill card!"
Cao Baming was overjoyed.
"No problem! Ten times, it's as easy as cutting watermelons!"
This reward included both attribute points and a talent skill card. How could he not secure it?
In a moment, the ball Cao Baming had passed to the wing had, after a transfer, developed into an attack!
Ødegaard dribbled past his marker with a few feints, successfully delivering a cross.
Van Dijk leaped high, predicting the ball's trajectory, and cleared it preemptively, sending it straight back to midfield.
"As expected of a top center-back, his awareness and technique are top-notch!"
Amidst the cheers of the Liverpool fans, the ball was passed around several times and eventually reached Salah, who was known for playing like Messi. Defending him with just these few players was proving difficult!
Cao Baming's eyes flickered, and he signaled for White to switch positions, intending to mark Salah himself!
In an instant, Salah, while running, had already bypassed the defensive midfielder, not disappointing Cao Baming at all!
An exciting scene unfolded! Cao Baming was going head-to-head with Salah!
Although both sides had teammates ready to receive a pass or provide support, the fans' attention was fixed on the direct confrontation between these two players.
One was the new Premier League top scorer, the consecutive Golden Boot winner Salah, and the other was the emerging superstar defender Cao Baming. The two were finally facing each other directly!
At this moment, Cao Baming's eyes were solely focused on the system's mission reward. Salah, charging towards him, was nothing more than a piece of meat in his eyes!
He planted his feet firmly and immediately pressed forward!
Cao Baming predicted Salah's cut inside, and indeed, he didn't opt to pass.
In Cao Baming's view, the best decision at that moment was to feint past the last defender and shoot himself. Passing to any of the available options would be somewhat risky.
His opponent was a top striker; his understanding of the game should be close to his own level!
As expected, Salah was completely contained, and the ball was cleanly dispossessed by Cao Baming. This time, he didn't even need to use physical contact, intercepting the ball with a mere 60 points in defensive tackling!
This clearly demonstrated the importance of awareness. This talent was truly heaven-defying!
Salah was charging forward, and then the ball was gone!
This was the first time the Egyptian king had encountered such a situation. He had fooled countless defenders with simple body feints, but he had never seen a defender tackle his ball so cleanly!
To his surprise, Cao Baming was completely unfazed by these tricks.
You can do whatever feints you want, I just don't understand them, but I've already guessed what you're going to do next!
Salah looked dejected, almost on the verge of crying like a child.
Then, Cao Baming looked ahead, his sharp gaze sweeping across the players in his vision, both opponents and teammates.
A clear space had opened up ahead. The three players who had come to receive Salah's pass had already advanced to the side of the penalty area, so their involvement in defense was over.
According to the pre-game tactics, this was an opportunity for him to advance.
Without hesitation, Cao Baming rapidly dribbled the ball forward!
If an ordinary defender were to advance with the ball, few would bother defending or actively intercepting, which often led to defenders successfully dribbling all the way to the penalty area.
But as soon as Cao Baming picked up speed, at least three opponents rushed towards him!
Everyone knew this guy was no ordinary defender!
Cao Baming smirked, his peripheral vision glancing at the opponents' supporting defenders.
"You are all still too naive!"
Facing the approaching Fabinho and Henderson, Cao Baming directly passed the ball to Vieira beside him, who then immediately passed it back without stopping.
As Cao Baming received the ball, he had already left the two defenders behind. Facing him was Clark. Cao Baming still didn't try to break through himself but passed again, this time to the other side!
Saka received the ball!
There was some interference from the defenders this time, but Saka quickly passed the ball back to Cao Baming!
With just two one-two passes, Cao Baming had single-handedly advanced to near the penalty area!
It was worth noting that normally, only the team's absolute core center forward would execute such tactics, with teammates acting as support players to create chances for him.
Peak Messi in the Barcelona dream team had this kind of treatment, and today, it was Cao Baming!
The edge of the eighteen-yard box was just ahead! Cao Baming was met by the last line of defense, with Van Dijk stepping out to intercept him personally!
Knowing that this guy's defense was formidable, Cao Baming didn't try to force a confrontation. After receiving the ball this time, he shot immediately!
Looking at the white line labeled "99" in front of him, Cao Baming shot without even looking at the goal. After kicking the ball, he turned and walked towards his teammates, a smile on his face!
The stadium spectators were bewildered, but two seconds later, the ball calmly nestled into the top corner!
The goalkeeper dove with all his might, but it was in vain!
A deep sense of powerlessness made the goalkeeper so frustrated that he kicked the turf.
Van Dijk looked utterly embarrassed. Today, the highly praised top positional play and the "standing guard" defense had finally met their absolute nemesis!
Cao Baming didn't need to get past him; he just shot right in front of him.
"Congratulations to Arsenal for scoring the first goal! A shot from Cao Baming. The strong never look back!"
"That was a beautiful goal!"
"But thinking about it, with Cao Baming's ability... this distance is too short for him, how could he miss from less than thirty meters?"
"Indeed!"