I Am Jose

Amidst the excitement, José waved his fist before turning to face the coach's bench under the rain cover, trying to calm his excited emotions.

By the time he turned back, José's expression had returned to calm. He began clapping his hands and shouting to the players who were winding down their celebrations, "Alright, enough of the celebration. Now focus on defense, start cutting them off from midfield!"

Unlike the confident José, Vázquez had already gotten to his feet when Mallorca launched their counterattack, and when Ibagasa scored, Vázquez violently waved his hand before turning toward the opposing coach's bench, muttering curses. After a few moments, he waved his hand again and sent all the substitutes out to warm up.

When the game resumed, Vázquez made three substitutions at once—two forwards and one midfielder came in for a defender and two midfielders, shifting the formation from 4-4-2 to 3-3-4...

"That's not a wise decision," said Hidalgo and Bonnes, who had just been praising Vázquez. "Piling more forwards in the attack doesn't increase the goal tally; it just makes the front more congested... Vázquez is acting impulsively. At 25, José looks so much calmer compared to 40-year-old Vázquez..." Bonnes simply sighed, muttering, "Mallorca has this one in the bag!"

In fact, that's what José thought too—after leading by two goals, the Rayo Vallecano players began to look a bit chaotic. They were young, full of energy, but they were definitely not seasoned. They played well when ahead, but once they were at a disadvantage, they easily became lost. This was the time for the coach to step in, but their coach, Vázquez, seemed even more confused—he brought in two forwards but gave no specific offensive directions, and the four forwards crowded the penalty area, even causing two of them to collide during a cross. The ball was easily cleared by Mallorca's defenders...

The experienced Mallorca players were quick to take advantage of the situation. Using their numerical advantage in midfield and attack, they began to dominate Rayo Vallecano.

Mallorca players' technical abilities were already superior, and with the added confidence, they didn't rush to score but patiently passed the ball around, organizing their attack. They weren't in a hurry. Against these young opponents, Mallorca's veterans were spinning them around with their experience.

Seeing his players desperately running around without intercepting the ball, Vázquez finally realized he might have made a mistake, but by then it was too late to change things. His three substitutions were already used up, and he had no further options.

Taking advantage of their experience and technical edge, Mallorca pushed forward with their attack, but even while attacking, they kept their defensive line intact—Rayo Vallecano had no fast forwards for counterattacks, so as long as Mallorca didn't push too high up, they weren't worried about being caught on a break.

Against Mallorca's patient attack, Rayo Vallecano's young squad and reduced defense exposed their flaws. Even their midfield anchor, Sembranos, had to drop back more to defend, and his defensive abilities were merely average. It was his foul that dashed Rayo Vallecano's final hope of equalizing. In the 87th minute, N'Gonga charged into the penalty box, and after Sembranos' defensive error, he tripped N'Gonga. The referee immediately awarded a penalty!