October 23rd, Noon — Philips Stadion, Eindhoven
In the ninth round of the Eredivisie, PSV Eindhoven hosted Ajax in one of Dutch football's most anticipated fixtures — the clash that always carried extra weight. The atmosphere at the Philips Stadion was electric. Over 35,000 fans packed the stands, creating a wall of red and white. Tension buzzed in the air.
The match had reached the 65th minute, and the scoreboard still showed 0–0. It had been a game of discipline and intensity — not wild chances, but tactical battles fought in every zone of the pitch.
Ajax had taken the initiative from the outset, pressing high, trying to impose their attacking rhythm. But Guus Hiddink's PSV had come prepared. They dropped deep into a compact defensive shape, absorbing pressure and waiting for the right moments to spring forward.
Hiddink lined up in a 4-4-2 formation, but without his usual target man Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink leading the line. Instead, he opted for the pace and dynamism of Jefferson Farfán and Arouna Koné up front — both capable of breaking forward quickly in transition. The idea was clear: soak up Ajax's attack, then strike back with speed and precision.
So far, it had worked. Ajax had enjoyed more possession, but clean chances were rare. PSV stayed disciplined, breaking up play and closing space in the final third. Still, the pressure was building.
Then came the breakthrough.
Ajax built through the middle, with Yaya Touré advancing toward the edge of the penalty area. He tried to slip a diagonal pass into the box, but Alex, PSV's Brazilian center-back, stepped up and cleared it forcefully.
The ball sailed high and wide to the right flank — a half-clearance at best.
Maicon, always alert, raced up from the back and reached the ball just before Ibrahim Afellay. He tried to whip it straight back into the box for Angelos Charisteas, but the ball struck Afellay's shin and looped awkwardly into the air.
It floated toward the right corner of the penalty area, in a strange arc that caught PSV's back line off guard. Their line had pushed up slightly in anticipation of a counterattack, but now the ball was dropping into a vulnerable zone.
Yang Yang had already anticipated it.
The moment the deflection came off Afellay's foot, he'd read the spin and trajectory. While others paused, he pivoted sharply, peeling off his marker with perfect timing.
Michael Reiziger, the veteran full-back recently signed from Middlesbrough, had been tasked with shadowing Yang Yang the entire match. It was a job he took personally. A product of Ajax himself, Reiziger was well aware of Yang's meteoric rise, and he approached this match with full focus and determination.
He saw the ball dropping behind the line and instantly recognized the danger. Reiziger tried to position himself between Yang Yang and the ball, already calculating the angle and distance.
But calculation wasn't enough.
At 32 years old, Reiziger's mind still saw the angles, but his legs were a fraction behind. Yang Yang's reaction was simply faster. His first burst of speed pulled him ahead by half a step, and in a one-moment decision, that was all he needed.
As the ball descended near the six-yard area, Yang Yang surged past, Reiziger at his side, doing everything to stay tight, narrowing the angle, forcing him wide.
Gomes, PSV's towering Brazilian goalkeeper, had shifted toward his right post, reading a potential near-post strike.
Yang Yang saw the narrowing space, Reiziger's foot beginning to rise to block a shot. But instead of pulling the trigger, he slid his right foot under the dropping ball, gently nudging it backwards — not toward goal, but into space.
A feint.
Reiziger lunged in reaction — but too late.
Yang Yang planted his right foot, adjusted his balance, then whipped his left foot across the ball.
It was a clean strike — low, flat, and venomous.
The shot flew across the face of goal, curling away from Gomes, and slammed into the bottom left corner of the net.
1–0. Ajax. Yang Yang.
The away end erupted in pure chaos.
The commentator's voice crackled over the stadium PA:
"Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!"
"Yang Yang breaks the deadlock in Eindhoven!"
"That's a moment of individual brilliance — perfect anticipation, flawless control, and a finish that left even Reiziger helpless."
Yang Yang sprinted toward the corner flag, gliding across the grass beneath the stands, arms stretched wide. His teammates swarmed him, dragging him into a pile of jubilation.
In the home stands, PSV fans jeered — a storm of whistles and frustration — but Yang Yang smiled through it. That noise, that hostility, that fury?
It was the purest form of acknowledgment.
Under the noise, Reiziger remained seated in the box, breathing heavily, gaze fixed on the grass. He had done everything right — and it still wasn't enough. Watching Yang Yang disappear beneath a sea of Ajax shirts, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
It reminded him of something.
Ronaldo.
Reiziger had defended him once. Or tried to. And now, staring at the teenager in red and white, a thought crept into his mind.
"This kid... might be even more dangerous."
...
...
Ronald Koeman leapt from the ground, overwhelmed with emotion, turning to embrace Ruud Krol and Kruitenberg on the bench. The long-awaited goal had finally come.
Ajax had dominated possession and initiative from the start. Despite Eindhoven's three key departures in the summer—Van Bommel, Park Ji-sung, and Young-Pyo Lee—Hiddink's side remained defensively resolute. They sat deep, resisted wave after wave of Ajax attacks, and relied on a rigid structure.
Reiziger, now thirty-two and tasked with shadowing Yang Yang, had fought hard to stay tight. But even vigilance can falter when instinct and brilliance combine.
No one expected Alex's clearance to land precisely at Maicon's feet. Nor did anyone foresee Maicon's deflected pass veering unexpectedly off Afellay's foot and bouncing high over the top of the PSV back line. But Yang Yang saw it before anyone else.
He reacted before the crowd could even process the trajectory. Reading the flight of the ball, he spun away from Reiziger with a sudden twist of his hips, like an elastic band releasing tension, and launched into a sprint toward the descending pass. Reiziger moved too—but too late. His experience told him where Yang Yang would go, but his legs no longer had the speed to follow.
By the time the ball dropped just inside the six-yard box, Yang Yang was already in the air. He met it mid-flight, cushioning it with his chest and letting the bounce fall perfectly into stride. Reiziger dove in with a desperate sliding challenge, determined to close the angle, but Yang Yang shifted the ball left with the outside of his boot, carving out just enough space between him and the crumbling defender.
Gomes stood tall at the near post, narrowing the angle, but Yang Yang didn't panic. Planting his right foot, he balanced his body and struck cleanly with his left—a low drive slicing toward the far corner.
Gomes lunged, fingertips brushing air.
The ball nestled into the bottom corner.
Ajax had finally broken through.
Koeman turned back toward the bench, eyes bright. "He's mastered both feet," he said, almost in awe. "Only players like Bergkamp or Van der Vaart had that kind of touch."
Krol's reply was quiet but full of conviction. "He's the hardest-working player I've ever seen. If he doesn't become the best… then the heavens are blind."
The stadium thundered with reaction. PSV fans, silenced and bitter. Ajax fans, roaring their approval.
...
The match had reached the 73rd minute when PSV earned a throw-in near the halfway line in Ajax's half. The ball was tossed quickly toward Cocu, but De Jong anticipated it with surgical precision. He stepped forward, cut off the pass, and took possession before the PSV captain could react.
Immediately, he surged upfield with purpose, but sensing pressure converging fast, he slid a pass to Charisteas, who had dropped deeper to support the build-up near the center circle. Two red-and-white shirts closed in on the Greek forward, forcing him to play it safe. He laid it off to Yaya Touré, who turned and swiftly switched the ball to the right, where De Jong had already moved into space just inside Ajax's half.
De Jong wasted no time and released a clean pass to Pienaar, now gliding into PSV territory. The South African carried the ball to the top of the center circle, his eyes darting across the field.
Yang Yang, who had swapped flanks with Pienaar and was now hovering wide on the left, recognized a seam opening in the PSV defense. He made a diagonal run across the top of the box, slicing into the blind spot between center-back and full-back, raising his hand to call for the ball.
Pienaar spotted him and threaded a crisp, perfectly weighted ball between the lines.
Yang Yang exploded into the space—but before he could control, Alex, alert and quick, cut across and hammered a clearance deep into Ajax's half. The ball arced high over midfield, spiraling downward as Heitinga and Afellay jostled for position. Heitinga got there first, leaping above the young PSV forward and nodding the ball downward to Pienaar, who had tracked back for support.
But PSV pressed relentlessly.
Cocu and a Simmons charged toward him, forcing Pienaar to return the ball to Heitinga, who was already being hounded by Afellay. With little room to maneuver, Heitinga quickly switched play left to Maxwell.
Maxwell cushioned the ball forward, then rolled it back to Pienaar, who sent it straight back again. The cycle continued—Ajax inviting the press only to recycle the ball, pulling the PSV lines out of shape. Vlaar got involved, then Heitinga again, calmly orchestrating from the back.
Finally, Heitinga looked up and picked out Sneijder, drifting into space just beyond the halfway line. Sneijder controlled the ball with poise and instantly sprayed a wide pass out to Yang Yang, who had now positioned himself on the right flank.
As the ball reached his feet, Cocu was already charging in to close the space. Yang Yang dipped his right shoulder, feinted a step to the right—then glided left, slicing past his marker in one fluid motion. Cocu lunged, but Yang was already gone, sprinting through the middle third.
Two more defenders attempted to collapse on him, but he didn't panic. He scanned the pitch in stride, picked out Sneijder in the final third, and played a neat pass toward him—before immediately continuing his run.
Sneijder didn't hesitate.
With his first touch, he slipped a return ball through the PSV defense, leading Yang Yang just outside the penalty area.
Yang Yang's first touch was flawless. The ball rolled perfectly into his path, setting up a prime opportunity. But Reiziger—desperate and determined—launched into a sliding tackle.
Yang Yang stopped mid-swing, pulling back at the last second and slipping the ball through the veteran's legs with a silky touch.
The space opened. The goal was there. Only Gomes stood in the way.
With one controlled step, Yang Yang shifted his weight and struck the ball with the inside of his right foot, curling it toward the top-right corner.
Fwooosh!
Gomes reacted instantly, launching into a full-stretch dive—but it was no use.
The net rippled. Philips Stadion went silent.
"GOOOOOAAAAAAL! YANG YANG AGAIN!"
"That's 2–0 for Ajax and a second for Yang Yang! Clinical! Electric!"
The Ajax bench erupted, arms raised, fists clenched. Yang Yang jogged to the corner flag, holding up two fingers to the traveling supporters before his teammates swarmed him.
...
The Philips Stadion had fallen into a stunned silence. After Yang Yang's second goal, it was as though PSV's resolve had snapped in half. Hiddink paced the sideline with visible frustration, barking instructions, but the damage was mounting—and Ajax smelled blood.
Play resumed with PSV pushing forward more aggressively, trying to claw their way back into the match. They circulated the ball with purpose, looking for cracks, but their urgency turned into recklessness.
Just two minutes after conceding, PSV lost possession deep in Ajax's half under tight pressure from De Jong and Yaya Touré. Without hesitation, Ajax sprang into action.
The ball moved quickly—Yaya Touré to Maicon, who spotted the shift of momentum and sent a long diagonal switch across the pitch toward Maxwell on the left, just inside PSV's half. Maxwell took a touch under pressure, turned smartly to avoid his marker, and calmly passed it back to Heitinga, who had pulled wide to create space.
Heitinga took one steadying touch and raised his head.
That was all the time he needed.
He saw Yang Yang already in motion, slicing through the defensive line with a perfectly timed diagonal run behind Alex and Reiziger.
Heitinga didn't hesitate. He launched a high, lofted ball into space behind the defenders.
It hung in the air for a moment—just enough time for the Philips Stadion to hold its collective breath.
Yang Yang, already at full pace, tracked it the whole way. His first touch was sublime, cushioning the ball on the run as it dropped from the sky near the edge of the box on the left. Alex scrambled back, trying to recover, but Yang Yang's control was surgical, and the ball stayed glued to his feet.
He cut inside.
With defenders closing in and Gomes charging out to narrow the angle, Yang Yang calmly shifted the ball across his body, opening it up onto his right foot.
Then—he struck.
A clean, curling drive, aimed low and wide toward the far post. Gomes stretched, fully airborne, but it was hopeless. The ball curved just beyond his fingertips and nestled into the bottom corner.
The net rippled.
The stadium gasped.
Yang Yang turned toward the away section, raising three fingers to the sky as he jogged back toward midfield. His teammates swarmed him, the bench erupting.
A second consecutive Eredivisie hat-trick.
"GOOOOOOOAL! That's a hat-trick for Yang Yang!" the commentator shouted with a hoarse, crackling voice. "Fifteen goals in just nine league games—this man is redefining dominance!"
"It seems the Golden Boot race is already over—and we're not even in November!"
"From an unbreakable wall to scattered ruins—PSV's defense has been dismantled by Ajax's relentless precision and Yang Yang's clinical genius!"
On the touchline, Hiddink crossed his arms, watching the scoreboard reluctantly update to 0–3. Behind him, the home crowd was no longer roaring. They were bracing.
And Ajax were not finished yet.
...
Despite the weight of a three-goal deficit, PSV refused to fold. As play resumed, they pushed forward, trying to salvage pride if not points. They managed to string together a few promising passes and even launched a speculative long-range effort, but it flew harmlessly over the bar.
Ajax didn't panic. Their defense, led by Heitinga and Vlaar, held its shape with icy discipline. Every PSV pass into the final third was smothered. Every dribble was met with resistance. The backline, as solid as ever, refused to concede even a sliver of hope.
Then came the 87th minute.
PSV, overcommitted in their eagerness to attack, lost control near Ajax's corner. A misplaced pass rolled out of bounds.
Heitinga calmly retrieved the ball for a throw-in and tossed it down the line to Maicon on the right. Under immediate pressure, Maicon played it safely back to Stekelenburg. The Ajax keeper took just a moment before zipping a laser-guided pass out left to Maxwell, who stood poised near the edge of Ajax's box.
At that moment, Yang Yang peeled off the right side and dropped deep into the left channel—a move he had made time and again throughout the game, confounding PSV's tracking system. He raised a hand.
Maxwell nodded and fired the ball to his feet.
Yang Yang turned with it in stride, gliding forward with effortless control. As he lifted his head, he spotted Charisteas beginning a run behind the defensive line. Reading the movement, he lofted a delicate, arcing ball over the top.
It looked promising.
But Alex had seen it, and with a powerful leap, intercepted the ball cleanly with his head before Charisteas could arrive.
The ball fell to Simmons, who quickly tapped it to Cocu at the heart of midfield.
But Cocu, always a player of finesse, let the ball roll between his legs with a feint, trying to send De Jong off balance.
It worked—briefly.
Yet before Afellay could do anything with the pass that followed, Vlaar came barreling in from behind, delivering a perfectly timed tackle that dislodged the ball cleanly and ignited another Ajax counter.
The ball rolled into De Jong's path.
In one fluid motion, he spotted Charisteas and sent a sharp first-time pass up the field.
Charisteas collected and spun sharply away from his marker. As he surged into space, his eyes found Yang Yang, now galloping down the left touchline with intent.
The Greek forward sent the ball wide, and Yang Yang latched onto it just past the center circle, surging into PSV's half.
Simmons tried to body him off—slamming shoulder to shoulder—but Yang Yang absorbed it, adjusted his balance, and kept going, his left boot whispering to the ball as he dribbled.
Then came the gap.
Pienaar darted between the right-back and center-back like a knife through silk.
Yang Yang didn't hesitate.
With perfect weight and vision, he slid a pass through the narrowest of seams. The ball skipped along the grass, threading between defenders and landing squarely at Pienaar's feet just outside the box.
Pienaar never slowed. One touch to push it forward. The goal in his sights.
The defenders converged, too late.
He opened up his stance and whipped his foot through the ball with controlled precision, sending it skimming low across goal toward the far corner.
Gomes lunged, a full extension dive, but his fingertips brushed only air.
The net rippled.
Goal.
The fourth.
Pienaar let out a roar, pumping both fists toward the Ajax fans in the away stand as he raced to the sideline. His teammates caught up with him in celebration. Yang Yang arrived last, a grin across his face, slapping Pienaar's back as if to say, That's how we finish them.
The scoreboard now read 0–4.
Stunned silence swept across Philips Stadion. PSV's players stood motionless, as if frozen in disbelief. Their structure, their pride, their fortress—torn apart by precision and pace.
On the sideline, Koeman offered no celebration. He simply turned to Ruud Krol, eyes calm.
"That," he said, "is how you announce you're the best team in the country."
...
Finished.
As the fourth goal rippled into the back of the net, Guus Hiddink slowly lowered himself onto the bench, his hand rising instinctively to cover his face. The scoreboard behind him glared down mercilessly: PSV 0 – 4 Ajax.
The suffocating silence around Philips Stadion mirrored the helplessness settling into his bones. His eyes, once sharp with defiance and hope, now betrayed resignation.
Last season had been a masterpiece—one of the finest campaigns he'd ever orchestrated at PSV. With Van Bommel commanding the midfield, Park Ji-sung buzzing between the lines, and Young-Pyo Lee locking down the flank, they had controlled the league. He had believed, truly believed, that they were destined to reclaim the Eredivisie title.
And then Yang Yang happened.
A teenager from Ajax who erupted out of nowhere. A second-half phenomenon who dragged his team back from the abyss, clawing them point by point up the table until, by the final matchday, it was PSV—his PSV—who watched the trophy slip through their fingers.
He could still remember the sting of that collapse.
But this summer, reality bit harder. One by one, the pillars of his team vanished. Van Bommel departed. Park Ji-sung left. Young-Pyo Lee followed. It was a dismantling—not unlike the one Ajax had endured after their Champions League triumph.
The difference?
Ajax still had Yang Yang.
And PSV? They had Afellay.
Talented. Quick. Highly regarded across the Netherlands. There had been hope—real hope—that Afellay could rise in Yang Yang's shadow. That he could become PSV's own phenomenon.
But as the new season unfolded, the truth became undeniable.
Afellay was not Yang Yang.
He tried. He worked. But he lacked the command, the conviction, the spark. And here, on this dark October afternoon, the contrast was cruelly illuminated for all to see.
Yang Yang had scored three times.
Assisted once.
And for the first goal—ironically—it had been Afellay's loose touch that started it all. An indirect assist for the wrong team.
From the moment that goal went in, PSV's game plan—their deep block, their cautious counter-attacks—unraveled. Forced to step out, they left spaces. Ajax punished them ruthlessly, each counter like a blade to the chest.
It was everything Hiddink had feared.
And it happened exactly as he had feared.
Now, watching Yang Yang laughing with teammates, basking in the glow of another performance for the ages, Hiddink could only sigh.
He muttered to himself, bitterly amused, "Arsenal's nemesis? No…"
His eyes stayed fixed on the teenager in red and white, now jogging toward the fans who chanted his name.
"It's more fitting to call him Eindhoven's nemesis."
...
Ajax crush Eindhoven 4–0 — remain unbeaten in the Eredivisie!
"Genius killer strikes again!" — Hiddink: Yang Yang is our nemesis. He scores every time we face Ajax!"
Ajax's emphatic 4–0 demolition of PSV Eindhoven has sent a shockwave through Dutch football.
Despite losing key players in the summer—Mark van Bommel, Park Ji-sung, and Young-Pyo Lee—many still believed Guus Hiddink's side had the structure to challenge for the title. But at the Amsterdam ArenA, that belief crumbled.
Leading the charge was Yang Yang, who delivered a devastating performance: a hat-trick and one assist that tore apart what had been Eredivisie's best defense.
Michelle Vandersma of De Telegraaf wrote, "His second goal was genius, his third clinical. Yang Yang no longer plays like a rising star. He plays like a man possessed—reminiscent of Bergkamp in his prime."
Hiddink, visibly frustrated on the touchline, could only shake his head. "He's not just a big-game player," he muttered. "He's our nemesis."
Afellay, long touted as PSV's next big hope, struggled under the weight of comparison. While Yang Yang danced through challenges and split lines with passes, Afellay's impact was limited. Today, the difference was clear.
Elsewhere, AZ Alkmaar defeated Willem II 5–1, but Arveladze failed to find the net. He remains on 10 goals—five behind Yang Yang, whose red-hot form shows no sign of cooling. With Huntelaar still sidelined by injury, the gap atop the scoring charts continues to widen.
Feyenoord's 2–1 loss to RKC Waalwijk has only strengthened Ajax's hold on the league. Nine games in, Ronald Koeman's men are unbeaten and pulling away.
For Yang Yang, it was yet another statement performance. For the Eredivisie, it may be time to ask not who can catch him—but whether anyone can.
...
...
A week later, in the tenth round of the Eredivisie, Ajax returned to the Amsterdam ArenA to face Heerenveen.
The atmosphere was electric. After their crushing 4–0 away victory over PSV Eindhoven, Ajax were soaring with confidence. But Heerenveen arrived well-prepared, determined to disrupt the champions' rhythm.
The match began at a high tempo, with both teams battling for control in midfield. Heerenveen stayed compact and disciplined, frustrating Ajax's buildup for the first thirty minutes. But eventually, the pressure broke.
In the 37th minute, Yaya Touré—steady and commanding in the center—stepped forward and threaded a measured pass through the lines. Yang Yang, who had drifted between Heerenveen's two centre-backs, darted into the space. His first touch was sharp, his second even better—sending the ball low past the goalkeeper and into the far corner.
1–0 to Ajax.
The ArenA erupted.
Heerenveen barely had time to regroup when Ajax struck again.
Just four minutes later, Yang Yang received the ball wide on the left. Isolated with his marker, he dropped a shoulder, cut inside, and spotted Sneijder making a late run into the final third. With perfect timing, Yang Yang slipped a pass through the gap. Sneijder didn't hesitate—he met the ball in stride and fired it low into the bottom corner.
2–0 by the 41st minute.
At the break, Ajax held a commanding lead, but Heerenveen returned from the dressing room with renewed urgency. They pressed higher, committing numbers forward, and even carved out a few dangerous chances early in the second half.
But any hope of a comeback was extinguished in the 56th minute.
Ajax earned a corner after a deflected shot from Pienaar. Yang Yang jogged over to take it, raising his hand as his teammates gathered at the near post. With calm precision, he delivered an inswinging cross. Thomas Vermaelen—rising highest among a crowd of bodies—met it cleanly with his head. The ball rocketed past the helpless keeper.
3–0. Game over.
Koeman then turned to his bench, gradually rotating players with one eye on the coming Champions League midweek fixture. Ryan Babel was among those introduced, and he made the most of his opportunity.
In the 83rd minute, Maxwell and Sneijder combined down the left before releasing Babel inside the box. The substitute took a quick touch to settle himself and then rifled the ball into the near corner.
4–0.
Heerenveen did manage to pull one back in stoppage time with a well-placed shot from distance—more a consolation than a spark of hope. The final scoreline: Ajax 4, Heerenveen 1.
It was another dominant performance from the league leaders, extending their unbeaten start to the Eredivisie season.
Though Eindhoven, Feyenoord, and AZ Alkmaar all won their respective fixtures, Ajax's emphatic victory ensured their lead at the top remained firm.
...
...
Midweek arrived, and with it came the fourth round of the UEFA Champions League Group B. Ajax traveled to Switzerland to face FC Thun in what many expected to be a relatively straightforward fixture. But that assumption was quickly proven wrong.
Thun, desperate to secure a place in the UEFA Cup through a third-place finish in the group, approached the game with urgency and resolve. At their home ground, they adopted a deep defensive shape, effectively parking the bus and crowding the midfield. Ajax, despite dominating possession from the outset, found it extremely difficult to break through.
The first half was tense and frustrating for the Dutch champions. Ajax circulated the ball but struggled to create real openings. Thun were combative, disciplined, and smart on the counter. On several occasions, they threatened Maarten Stekelenburg's goal with quick breaks and speculative shots from distance.
It wasn't until the 27th minute that Ajax finally found the breakthrough. Yaya Touré, positioned deep in midfield, intercepted a clearance and quickly advanced the ball toward the final third. Yang Yang, who had been drifting into the half-spaces between Thun's backline and midfield, peeled away from his marker and received Touré's pass in stride. With a clever touch, he redirected it into the path of Sneijder, who ghosted into the box unmarked. Sneijder didn't hesitate. With a crisp right-footed finish, he placed the ball low into the bottom corner, giving Ajax a long-awaited lead.
Despite conceding, Thun didn't collapse. Instead, they grew bolder. Their counterattacks became more frequent, and Ajax's back line was tested. Stekelenburg was called into action twice before the break, saving Ajax from conceding an equalizer.
Just as the first half entered stoppage time, Yang Yang struck again. In a moment of transition, he drifted inward from the left wing, received a quick pass from Pienaar just outside the penalty area, and accelerated through a narrow corridor between two defenders. As the final defender closed in, Yang Yang feinted to shoot, shifted the ball to his left foot, and calmly slotted it past the keeper into the far corner. The timing could not have been more devastating for Thun, who had looked so close to pulling level moments earlier.
Down by two goals at halftime, Thun still showed no signs of surrender. Their determination paid off in the 56th minute when Mauro Lustrinelli took advantage of a disorganized Ajax defense during a fast break. He latched onto a through ball, cut inside past Vlaar, and fired low beyond Stekelenburg's reach to make it 2–1.
But Ajax responded almost immediately. Just five minutes later, Yang Yang once again found space on the right flank. After leaving his fullback behind with a sharp burst of acceleration, he sent a precise cross into the box. Charisteas, perfectly positioned between the center-backs, met the delivery with a well-timed header that soared past the goalkeeper and restored Ajax's two-goal cushion.
Even at 3–1, Thun refused to fade. Their persistence and courage were rewarded in the 74th minute. Brazilian substitute Adriano Pimenta pounced on a rebound at the edge of the box and struck cleanly through a crowd of players. The ball took a slight deflection, wrong-footing Stekelenburg, and nestled into the bottom corner. Thun were back in it at 3–2, and the match remained wide open.
Concerns began to mount for Koeman and his coaching staff. Ajax's defensive line looked shaky, and the midfield was allowing too much space between the lines. The Swiss side, driven by home support and the belief that they could pull off a sensational result, kept pressing.
But in the 86th minute, De Jong delivered a long diagonal ball over the top of Thun's high defensive line. Yang Yang, timing his run to perfection, broke free from his marker and brought the ball down inside the box with an elegant first touch. As the keeper rushed out, Yang Yang calmly guided the ball past him and into the net. It was a composed finish, and the goal finally gave Ajax breathing room.
Even then, Thun didn't drop their heads. Into stoppage time, they pushed forward in search of another consolation goal. In the 92nd minute, they committed numbers into the final third, only to lose the ball just outside the Ajax penalty arc. Heitinga was first to react, reading the situation and intercepting the pass cleanly. With minimal hesitation, he turned and sent a quick ball to Maicon on the right.
Maicon, already anticipating Yang Yang's run, whipped a powerful pass down the channel. Yang Yang, closely shadowed by a Thun defender, used his body brilliantly. As the ball arrived, he faked right, then feinted left before letting it roll through his legs and those of the defender. In one fluid motion, he spun around the opponent, regained control, and surged toward the box.
The crowd gasped.
José Gonçalves was the last man standing, but Yang Yang showed no hesitation. With a slight dip of the shoulder, he cut inside onto his stronger foot and curled a beautiful shot into the top far corner. The goalkeeper dived at full stretch, but he was never going to reach it.
The hat-trick was complete. His fourth of the season.
This final strike deflated any last hope Thun had. A scoreline of 5–2 did not reflect the tension of the night, but it finally gave Ajax the comfort they had struggled to earn. Relief swept through the bench, and Koeman could be seen quietly nodding, aware of how close this match had come to unraveling.
Anyone glancing at the result on paper would assume a comfortable away win. In reality, Ajax had been tested far more than the final score suggested.
There were no easy trips in the Champions League.
Even the so-called weakest team in the group had just reminded Ajax that underestimating any opponent in Europe was a dangerous gamble.
While Ajax labored to secure their win in Switzerland, Arsenal cruised past Sparta Prague 3–0 in London. The margin was the same, but the performances told two completely different stories.
...
...
News of Ajax's 5–2 victory away at Thun—sealed by yet another hat-trick from Yang Yang—had barely begun to spread when another headline captured the global spotlight.
On the very night of the Champions League group stage fixtures, FIFA officially announced the ten-man shortlist for the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year award.
Yang Yang's inclusion sparked immediate buzz. Ever since the World Youth Championship in the summer, speculation had been growing. His name had already appeared among the 30-man preliminary list announced weeks earlier, and few were surprised to see him progress further.
His credentials were difficult to ignore.
He was the 2004 European Golden Boy winner and the clear front-runner for the 2005 edition—though ineligible due to the award's rule against repeat winners. That alone had prompted widespread debate. After all, Yang Yang had arguably surpassed even his own breakout season.
Dutch league champion. Eredivisie Player of the Season. Record-breaking scorer, shattering Ronaldo Nazário's ten-year-old goal tally. UEFA Cup winner and Best Player. World Youth Championship winner. Golden Boot and Golden Ball.
Each accolade added weight. No one could reasonably question his place among the elite.
But the real surprise came with the revelation that he had made the final ten—alongside global icons from Europe's biggest clubs.
The other nine names included AC Milan's Kaka, Paolo Maldini, and Andriy Shevchenko; Inter Milan's Adriano; Liverpool's Steven Gerrard; Chelsea's Frank Lampard; Barcelona's Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o; and Arsenal's Thierry Henry.
Every single one played in a top-four league. Every single one was already an established global brand.
Except Yang Yang.
His presence alone disrupted expectations. Not just for playing outside the big four leagues, but for representing a nation and a continent rarely associated with the sport's highest honors.
In China, the announcement ignited national celebration. Television broadcasts interrupted programming. News outlets ran features. Fans poured into forums and message boards. Across the country, Yang Yang's name was being shouted with pride.
This was a first. Not just for Chinese football, but for Asia as a whole.
Meanwhile, global media scrambled to contextualize his rise.
Dutch journalist Michelle Vandersma praised Yang's season as "a sustained miracle." Others pointed to his explosive performances against top opposition, his unmatched work ethic, and the relentless transfer interest from Europe's elite clubs over the summer.
Some analysts, however, were more cynical.
South Korean media, while acknowledging his brilliance, speculated that FIFA had ulterior motives—suggesting Yang Yang's inclusion was designed to boost the award's visibility in the lucrative Chinese market.
Whatever the reasons, the recognition was real.
Even Ibrahimović, now at Juventus, sent his former Ajax teammate a cheeky message.
"As a genius, I rarely feel pressure. But having you as a former teammate? That's stress. Slow down, or you'll pass me too soon. That's not allowed!"
The Swede had also made the 30-man list but failed to reach the final ten—alongside names like Zidane, Ronaldo Nazário, Beckham, Raúl, Robinho, Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Arjen Robben.
That absence only reinforced how exclusive the final list truly was.
Debates quickly emerged: Could a player from the Eredivisie really belong among world football's best?
But Yang Yang paid no mind. He stayed silent through the speculation—neither flaunting nor defending his selection.
To him, it changed little.