Time flew by, and it was already afternoon. The venue was exceptionally lively due to the news that the men's football team was about to play against the Xihong Zoo.
Amidst this bustling atmosphere, the afternoon events proceeded one by one.
From the gibbons' parallel bars to the dogs' skateboarding performance, from the black swans' synchronized swimming to the tree frogs' frog swimming.
Each event brought an unexpected sensation to the audience.
Especially during the final frog swimming competition, when everyone saw the tree frogs, smaller than an adult's palm.
The contestants and spectators on the spot were all stunned.
As expected, the human contestants were mercilessly crushed by the animal contestants.
By the time the last event concluded, it was already six o'clock in the evening.
The time for the football match was fast approaching, and at the same time, the opening ceremony of the World Cup, the grandest competition in football history, was in full swing.
Under normal circumstances, a large number of netizens would have shifted their attention to the World Cup matches at this moment.
Even major sports event platforms and channels would have been broadcasting the World Cup live.
However, the situation today was completely different.
Except for a few online sports platforms, several platforms, including the Dragon Country Sports Channel, focused their attention on this special sports event.
The sports channel had already started its online live broadcast before the competition began.
In the live broadcast hall, several professional commentators were ready, waiting for the match to start.
From the scale of the setup, it was on par with the World Cup.
If the platform was like this, the audience was even more impatient.
They became restless an hour before the match was scheduled to start.
"The World Cup can no longer attract me. I actually came specifically to watch the men's football match."
"This is probably the first time in history that the men's football has garnered more attention than the World Cup."
"Hahaha, no problem, if we can't make it to the World Cup, we'll create our own."
"Right, right, right. The contestants in their World Cup can at most have different skin colors and nationalities. We have different species, so ours is the true World Cup."
"I think calling it the World Cup is not appropriate, it should be called the Planet Cup."
"I'm at a bar now. Can you believe that the big screen is not showing the World Cup, but the Ningnan Planet Cup?"
"The Dragon Country men's football team has really made a name for themselves this time, directly reaching the Planet Cup finals and about to represent humanity against the animals."
"Doesn't this expand the scope instantly? They go to the World Cup to fight for their country, while our Dragon Country men's football team goes to the Planet Cup to fight for humanity."
"Well said, fight for humanity. However, I'll choose the animal side."
"We've already lost to humans, surely we can't lose to animals this time."
"We shouldn't, this time humans clearly have a huge advantage, it's like a gift match."
...
As the entire nation's audience engaged in heated discussions, some people on the foreign internet also brought the live broadcast over.
As soon as the title "The Ultimate Showdown Between Animals and Humans" appeared, countless netizens from all over the world immediately noticed this special event.
Similar to the audience in Dragon Country, these foreign netizens were also incredulous upon learning about the competing parties.
In an instant, the number of viewers watching this match broke through the tens of millions and reached hundreds of millions, with a rapidly rising trend.
The term "Planet Cup," which originated from the humorous remarks of Dragon Country netizens, was actually taken seriously by foreign netizens.
As the match time approached, the audience was surprised to find that the words "Planet Cup" actually appeared on the field, and even the background of the sports channel's live broadcast displayed "Planet Cup."
"As expected, the official playing with memes is the most lethal."
"Hilarious, it's actually named Planet Cup. So, will Dragon Country be the birthplace of the Planet Cup from now on?"
"The Dragon Country men's football team is also the first human team to compete in the Planet Cup."
"This makes it sound instantly grand."
"I just came back from browsing foreign websites. Those foreign netizens actually believe it's real and are all asking why they weren't invited to participate in the Planet Cup."
"Let's strive to host the Planet Cup again next year, and invite teams from all over the world. Within three years, we'll steal all the popularity of the World Cup."
"Yes, yes, yes. If we can't host the World Cup, we'll just host the Planet Cup."
...
As time passed, amidst the anticipation of everyone, the official match finally arrived.
The voices of two famous commentators, Teacher Huang and Teacher Han, could be heard in the sports channel's live broadcast room.
The moment the passionate voices of the two veteran commentators rang out, the atmosphere of the match immediately escalated.
"Dear viewers, we are now broadcasting the football match of the Special Olympics held in Ningnan."
"This match is also jokingly referred to by netizens as the Planet Cup, because the contestants in this match include not only players from our Dragon Country men's football team but also animal contestants from the animal kingdom."
"Some of them come from the vast African savanna, some from the fertile South American jungles, and some from the Xing'an and Changbai Mountains of Dragon Country. Like us, they are also an important part of this planet."
"And today, we will have a competition with special significance against these creatures who live on the same planet as us."
"Alright, now let's invite our men's football team players to the field!"
As Teacher Huang's voice faded, the figures of the men's football players appeared at the stadium entrance.
Although they are usually not favored by netizens, this match is being watched by audiences worldwide, so the spectators on-site still politely offered enthusiastic cheers.
This gave the men's football players a sense of being flattered.
When had the men's football players of this generation ever experienced such a lively scene and enthusiastic audience? They hadn't even had such a grand occasion when they reached the World Cup finals.
After all the men's football players had entered the field, the commentator Teacher Huang's voice could be heard again in the live broadcast room.
"The players who just entered are our human players, and next to enter are our animal players."
"At this moment, please dedicate all your enthusiasm to these animal players."
As soon as Teacher Huang finished speaking, heavy footsteps could be heard from outside the stadium entrance.
Under the gaze of hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide, an African male lion, wearing the number 10 jersey and covered in golden fur, walked onto the field with a majestic stride.
The moment the audience saw this lion, the entire stadium and audiences worldwide erupted in deafening cheers.
No one had expected that the Xihong Zoo would give them such a big surprise at this moment.