"What's wrong, is there a problem?" Paul Young asked Liam, and Liam shook his head.

"And you?" He turned his head toward Jason Bolton.

"Me neither." Jason Bolton shrugged.

"Alright then!" Paul Young walked into the goal area, pointed at his feet, and said, "You two will go one-on-one right here. Jason Bolton attacks, Liam defends. If Jason Bolton dribbles the ball out of bounds or gets intercepted by Liam, it's counted as a loss for Jason Bolton. Only if he safely gets the ball across the white line behind Liam does he win. How about it?"

Both nodded at the same time. "No problem."

"Then let's begin!" Paul Young kicked the ball to Jason Bolton and stepped out of the playing area.

Jason Bolton stepped on the ball, and Liam was already ready five meters away. The other three sat outside the field, "watching the tigers fight from the mountain."

Jason Bolton didn't rush forward with the ball. He first observed Liam and found that his defensive stance was quite standard. Although he was tall, he kept his waist very low. There was a gap between his legs, but if he tried to get past with a body feint, Liam's defensive coverage was large, and it might not succeed.

Anyone who makes it to the national tournament isn't a pushover! Jason Bolton thought, gently tapping the ball forward and leaning his body out.

Liam's body tensed up—here it comes! The national tournament's best striker, Jason Bolton...

Jason Bolton's dribbling speed wasn't fast, but it was steady. Liam couldn't find the best moment to make a move. As the distance between them gradually closed, Liam spread his legs, arms slightly open, trying to get close to increase his defensive area and put some pressure on Jason Bolton.

Now Jason Bolton had his back to Liam, shielding the ball, while Liam was right behind him, sticking close and looking for a chance to steal the ball.

Jason Bolton slowly rolled the ball with the sole of his foot. Suddenly, he faked to the right, leaning his body that way. Liam thought he was going to turn right and quickly shifted his center of gravity, but Jason Bolton used the outside of his left foot to nudge the ball left and spun in the opposite direction!

Breakthrough!

Frank Bolton and Henry Clark started cheering, but Paul Young didn't look relaxed at all.

Jason Bolton could clearly feel that the pressure from behind hadn't completely disappeared. He still couldn't relax. There were less than five meters to the white line, but he didn't dare to speed up.

After being tricked by Jason Bolton, Liam reacted incredibly fast, spinning in place and reaching out to grab Jason Bolton, taking a big step to catch up.

The two tangled together again.

This time it was a physical battle: 1.83-meter-tall Jason Bolton against 1.86-meter-tall Liam. Jason Bolton leaned his body diagonally against Liam, keeping the ball on the outside to prevent Liam's long legs from getting a chance. Meanwhile, Liam grabbed onto Jason Bolton with both hands, eyes locked on the ball, his feet restlessly harassing Jason Bolton.

They were almost at the white line. Liam knew he had to make a move, or he'd lose his chance. So he grabbed Jason Bolton with both hands, pushed off with his right foot, and slid his left foot from the inside of Jason Bolton toward the ball on the outside!

Jason Bolton noticed Liam's intent and used the outside of his right foot to nudge the ball outward a bit in advance. At the same time, he pushed off with his left foot, jumped to avoid the tackle, and then stopped the ball right on the white line—winning the first round!

Jason Bolton wanted to help Liam up, but he had already jumped up himself, patted the dirt off, and said nonchalantly, "Again!"

This time, Jason Bolton changed his previous slow dribbling approach and immediately went into a sprint, reaching Liam in just two steps. Liam was about to stick out his foot, but Jason Bolton started doing step-overs!

He did four in a row, and Liam's center of gravity shifted left and right four times accordingly. To bystanders, it looked like a flashy but impractical imitation of Denílson's signature move, but that was just their opinion. In Liam's eyes, every time Jason Bolton's foot passed over the ball, it really seemed like he was about to break through in that direction, forcing him to sway along. At high speed, the move looked even more convincing.

On the fifth time, Liam shifted a bit to the left again because Jason Bolton feinted that way, but it was still a fake. Only on the sixth did Jason Bolton really do it—he nudged the ball slightly left, then suddenly accelerated to break through! Liam's center of gravity couldn't shift back in time. By the time he turned around, Jason Bolton already had the ball on the white line.

This time, Liam had no chance at all. In Paul Young's view, this was Jason Bolton's specialty: using feints to shake off defenders and break through at high speed. It wasn't that Liam wasn't good, but with Jason Bolton's dribbling, there were hardly any high schoolers in the country who could stop him. Even Leonard Thompson had to rely on anticipation to defend, and even then, the accuracy wasn't always high.

It seemed that facing a stranger, Jason Bolton only needed one round to warm up before showing his real skills. Liam really does have some tricks up his sleeve...

In the third round, Jason Bolton again started with a high-speed dribble, reaching Liam in two steps. Just as Liam was watching out for his "step-overs," Jason Bolton suddenly dropped his left shoulder while running.

Liam's first thought was that he was going to break through in the opposite direction! For a striker with such explosive acceleration, simple and effective direction changes like this were the most common—just like Owen's brilliant goal against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup in France.

So, Liam stepped out with his left leg, trying to widen his defensive area and intercept the ball that Jason Bolton was about to push to the right in advance.