Chapter 16 Mali's Defense

After a few rounds of exchanges, Li Yongle realized that Mali's defense wasn't actually that good and had many loopholes, indicating that they were an offense-heavy, defense-light team. If they hadn't frequently used the offside trap to create some trouble, the score would have been tied long ago. It seemed that the offside trap was their only effective tactic, but if he let them succeed, where would he put his face?

Li Yongle dribbled the ball in the midfield. Sissoko wanted to come up and block him, but Li Yongle poked the ball away a step earlier, and Yang Pan received it!

Yang Pan didn't turn around to break through but instead directly passed the ball forward again. Li Yongle bypassed Sissoko and received the ball again, a two-on-one!

Would he continue to dribble the ball? The Malian defender thought with some panic as he saw the tall Li Yongle charging towards him.

Everyone focused their attention on Li Yongle, who had the ball. His previous performance had been too eye-catching, forcing people to be extra careful with him. At this moment, no one noticed that Yang Pan had turned and ran forward after passing the ball.

Li Yongle glanced and passed the ball just as Yang Pan was about to catch up with Mali's last defender! His left foot, like a whip, forcefully lashed out. The football drew an arc, bypassed the Malian player in front of him, and passed through a gap in the defense!

It went through!

Yang Pan happened to overtake the Malian defender who was trailing at the very end of the defensive line!

Sissoko raised his arm behind Li Yongle, signaling to the referee that Yang Pan was offside! However, the linesman didn't raise the flag but instead ran forward along with Yang Pan on the right wing!

It wasn't offside!

"The Chinese team launches an attack on the right wing! Li Yongle passes the ball, and Yang Pan isn't offside! He catches up to the ball at high speed, and there's no one blocking him in front! A great opportunity for Yang Pan! A great opportunity for the Chinese team!"

Yang Pan led the ball forward with his left foot, twisted his body, and inserted himself towards the goal. "Damn! You've been arrogant for over sixty minutes, it's time to calm down!"

Yang Pan could clearly see the goalkeeper's nervous expression, and suddenly, the opponent charged towards him!

"The Malian goalkeeper comes out to block!"

Comes out? Heh!

Yang Pan tilted his body, facing the goalkeeper with his right side, and then used the back of his right foot to flick the football outwards... Was he going to cross? The Malian goalkeeper was shocked. If he passed the ball, the opponent's striker would almost be facing an empty net!

Badili exerted force with both knees, wanting to pounce back. But he saw the football draw a very obvious arc, bypassing his left hand and flying towards the goal behind him!

A shot? A direct shot?

"Yang Pan shoots! The ball goes in!!" Wang Jianxiang roared, finally able to vent his emotions. The first three goals were scored by the opponent, making him very depressed. "The ball goes in!!!"

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Zhang Jun sat on the sofa, unable to jump up, but he raised his hands to celebrate for Yang Pan. He had been worried for sixty-six minutes, and now he could finally relax. Hey, when did that guy who only knew how to shoot with power learn to use this kind of clever shot?

A "bang" startled him. He turned his head and saw Feng Qing opening another can of Heineken. Looking at his flushed face, he didn't know if he was drunk or just excited...

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"Yang Pan! It's Yang Pan again! This is his third goal in this Olympics!! The Chinese team has narrowed the score to 1:3. There are still twenty-four minutes left, and we still have a chance!"

When Yang Pan ran past the goal, he kicked the football that rolled out of the goal back in hard. Then he made a turn and rushed towards the coach's bench, followed by a group of teammates. His roaring appearance was just like a head wolf leading a pack of wolves galloping in the night on the prairie, ferocious.

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The Chinese team's wing attacks were effective, and the players on the field more resolutely executed the wing tactics. Yang Pan alone on the right wing was enough to turn Mali's defense upside down. On the left wing, Zhao Pengyu and Xiang Tao took turns bombing up and down, also making Mali's right-wing defense restless.

Xiang Tao had been holding back a stomach full of fire. He had been accumulating anger since the dispute with Li Suisheng, and now he wanted to release it all at once.

"I want to score a goal myself. Yang Pan has scored three, there's no reason why I can't score one." After a cross was headed out of the baseline by the opponent's defender, Xiang Tao muttered to himself near the sideline. Although he was a defender, he had an offensive heart.

After Yang Pan took the corner kick, Li Jie's powerful header dodged the goalkeeper but was headed out by the Malian defender guarding the goalpost.

"Damn it!" Li Jie cried out in frustration, holding his head. He had been working hard in all three games, but unfortunately, luck always brushed past him. As a striker, it was a bit unreasonable not to score a goal in three games.

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Why did the Chinese team suddenly become so energetic? Mali's coach wondered in surprise. He turned his head and looked at the Chinese team's coach's bench. That person was still sitting in his seat, crossing his legs, without any expression.

Although it was night and the sea breeze brought a hint of coolness to the stadium, a bead of sweat still trickled down the Malian coach's cheek.

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"Zhao Pengyu, run!" Under Wang Yu's cover, Li Yongle raised his foot for a long pass, and the football flew towards the left side of the field.

"It's him again! It won't be so easy for you to pass this time!" Mali's right-back Koulibaly shouted and rushed forward.

Although Zhao Pengyu didn't understand what the other party was shouting, he knew that they were definitely targeting him. A smile flashed across his lips, and he didn't back down, charging towards Koulibaly!

"Is he crazy? The two of them will collide!" Sissoko exclaimed.

Li Yongle smiled because Zhao Pengyu wasn't the only one running.

Just as the two were about to collide, Zhao Pengyu suddenly braked and cut inwards.

"You want to get around me, dream on!" Koulibaly also twisted his body at the same time to chase after Zhao Pengyu.

Hmm, as expected of an African player, his flexibility is really good, but... Zhao Pengyu smiled again, this time a smile of successful conspiracy. But the flexibility of his brain doesn't seem to be good enough!

Just as Koulibaly moved away, he saw someone suddenly popping out from behind Zhao Pengyu, rushing towards the gap behind him at high speed. Looking at the jersey, it was a Chinese team's... left-back! Then, very quickly, the opponent swept past like a gust of wind, surpassing Koulibaly and chasing after the falling ball!

"Xiang Tao successfully broke through Mali's defense under Zhao Pengyu's cover, and he caught up with the ball!"

The football bounced in front of Xiang Tao. At the same time, he glanced at the penalty area. Lin Feng and Li Jie ran towards the near post and the center respectively, and Yang Pan was probably guarding the far post, so let's cross!

Without waiting for the ball to land, Xiang Tao waved his arm and swung his left foot to kick the football. If the passing speed was slow, it might be directly caught by the opponent's goalkeeper who liked to attack, so to make it fast, he had to kick it hard.

However, perhaps because the ball was in the air, Xiang Tao didn't hit the sweet spot of the ball with this kick. He kicked it a little further back than expected.

A tiny deviation at the starting point may lead to a completely different situation at the end.

The football first flew outwards. Although Badili couldn't directly get the pass that was so fast, he could punch it out. Just as he jumped up to punch the ball with both fists, he discovered a terrifying thing: the football curved, and it was curving towards the goal!

How was this possible?

This was the only thought Badili had after seeing the football fly past his hand and into the far corner of the goal!

The angle of this shot was so tricky that even Li Jie, who was following up in the center, was shocked. He was preparing to do a diving header, but he didn't expect the football to curve in front of his head, then directly hit the far post and fall into the goal!

"Di... directly scored!!" Wang Jianxiang didn't expect it at all. From any angle, Xiang Tao was crossing the ball.

This time, even Qiu Suhui, who had been sitting upright in his chair, stood up, looking at the Malian goal in disbelief.

"Damn! No way? I was clearly crossing!" Xiang Tao was shocked himself, exclaiming in his heart. "Wait!" He looked up and saw Zhao Pengyu's face looking at him with an expression that read, "Are you kidding me?"

"Wahahaha! Did you see that? This is what you call a zero-degree angle!" Xiang Tao suddenly laughed loudly. "I knew that idiot goalkeeper would come out, so I deliberately took this shot! Wahahaha..." Before he could finish laughing, Li Jie pounced on him like a hungry dog: "Give me back my goal!!!"

"Damn! Stop pretending, you must have just messed up your cross!" Zhao Pengyu also piled on top.

"My goal of the match!" Yang Pan also joined in the fun.

"Damn it! Stop pressing down!" Xiang Tao struggled desperately below, but the people above didn't care so much. Who told him to get lucky and still be showing off here?

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"Xiang Tao scored a goal near the baseline! This goal definitely has a chance to be selected as the best goal of this Olympics football tournament!" The excited Wang Jianxiang asserted. Later, he also proved the correctness of his assertion. "The Chinese team narrowed the score to 2:3 within ten minutes! This Chinese team in the second half has completely recovered. They have scored two goals in a row, and their momentum is strong. Mali needs to be careful!" After working day and night for so many days, his voice was hoarse, but he was willing to lose his voice if the Chinese team could perform like this.

Although Xiang Tao was covered in dirt and had a lot of grass clippings stuck to his hair, he felt sweet inside! He would call home tomorrow, no matter how much the phone bill cost. His first goal, his own first goal, was so wonderful, a zero-degree angle!

"Simple minds are really happy, even scoring a goal..." Xiang Tao automatically ignored Li Suisheng's words, which showed how good his mood was.

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Xiang Tao cleared Berete's ball out of the sideline, then shouted loudly to his teammates, "Show some more fighting spirit! We still need one goal, tie it and then surpass them!"

"Ah, he's really full of fighting spirit!" Wang Yu shook his head and smiled. Scoring a goal made him so happy.

But this was a good thing. Mali should be able to feel the momentum of the Chinese team, right?

Indeed, Mali's coach's shirt was already soaked with sweat. From the previous 3:0 to the current 3:2, it might not be impossible for it to become 3:4 in the end! If he didn't think of a way, he might not even be able to get out of the group stage. Mexico was already leading Greece 3:1.

He stood up, whistled into the field, then clenched his fists and pulled them towards his chest. This was a signal for the players to retreat and defend.

"The Malian team began to retreat to their own half to defend, they wanted to hold on to this one-goal lead."

But could they hold on?

Qiu Suhui said to Hu Li, "Let Hu Bin warm up, come back in five minutes."

Hu Li nodded, he knew that Qiu Suhui was going to make a final gamble, replacing a defender with a striker.

"Oh, let Kong Liang warm up too." Qiu Suhui turned his head and added.

Hu Li was stunned: Two strikers at the same time? Then besides replacing a defender, who else would he take off?

Five minutes later, the fourth official raised the substitution sign: China replaced No. 2 Wang Liang with No. 16 Hu Bin; No. 10 Lin Feng was replaced with No. 17 Kong Liang.

"China made substitutions, Qiu Suhui sent on two strikers in one go. Adding to Li Jie on the field, China now has three strikers, and the formation has also been adjusted to 3-4-3. It seems that China is going to go all out in these last ten minutes! Whether they can tie the score depends entirely on these ten minutes!"

It was no longer very likely for Li Yongle to pass the ball behind the defense. Because the opponent had retreated, ten people were huddled in the thirty-meter area, and everywhere he looked, there were people. They only left N'Diaye in front, waiting for a chance to counterattack. But Li Yongle's midfield, led by him, didn't give Mali a chance to counterattack. They couldn't even get through the midfield, so what counterattack could they launch!

The Chinese team was currently passing the ball patiently, waiting for an opportunity.

Time was passing by minute by minute.

Mali hoped that the Chinese team would continue to pass the ball until the end of the game. But Li Yongle didn't let them have their way. In the frequent passing and shifting of the ball, a loophole still appeared in the opponent's defense, and it was once again seized by Li Yongle.

He twisted his body and directly sent the ball out with his heel. Don't underestimate the heel pass, the power was not small. The football diagonally passed through both sides' tackles and was sent to Yang Pan's feet at the far end. Yang Pan only received the ball after using his speed to shake off two "shadows," but he didn't delay and directly crossed the ball!

The ball wasn't high, but the speed was very fast. Also pursuing speed, Yang Pan's control over the ball was much stronger than Xiang Tao's.

The height of the football was just at waist level, which made it very uncomfortable for the defenders, difficult to head. But similarly, it wasn't easy for the strikers to handle either.

"Little Li! Diving header!" Xiang Tao shouted loudly from behind.

"Screw your head!" Li Jie cursed inwardly, and at the same time, he bent down and shot forward like an arrow!

The football arrived right on time, and the goalkeeper Badili was still behind. By the time he rushed up, Li Jie's forehead had already slammed hard on the football, and then the football hit the ground and flew into the goal!

"The ball goes in!! The third one!!! Li Jie's diving header! The Chinese team finally tied the score in the eighty-fourth minute! From being three goals behind to tying the score, although it was just a game that didn't matter to qualifying, the young men of the national Olympic team showed us encouraging changes!!"

Li Jie leaped up from the ground and ran towards Yang Pan. This was also his first goal in the Olympics, so naturally he had to thank Yang Pan who assisted him first. He hugged Yang Pan and kissed him wildly.

"Wow! Let go of me! You disgusting guy!" No matter how hard Yang Pan struggled, he couldn't break free. Instead, more teammates came to surround them both.

Qiu Suhui also stood up and applauded. These kids had grown.

The Chinese fans on the scene also went from being the most pitiful people at the beginning to the happiest people. They shouted slogans to pay tribute to the national Olympic team players.

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After tying the score, the national Olympic team maintained a very strong offensive desire, but unfortunately, the Chinese team had no better way to deal with the defense that had eleven people all shrinking in the penalty area. In addition, there wasn't much time left for the Chinese team. In the end, the game ended in a 3:3 tie. Mali and China each played a good half, presenting a wonderful game for the fans.

The Chinese team also advanced from Group A with two wins, one draw, and seven points, as the top seed in the group. All they had to do next was to rest well and then wait for the results of the two Group B matches the next day, which would determine their opponent in the quarter-finals.

Many fans believed that the Chinese team, which had already secured the top spot in the group, would avoid Italy, which was the strongest team in Group B. This was also why the Chinese team tried so hard to tie the score when they were behind Mali.

But the fact was that from the players to the coaches at the time, no one thought about Italy. They just felt that they couldn't lose to Mali, otherwise, it would be very embarrassing.

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On August 19th, Qiu Suhui decided to go to the scene to watch the match between Italy and Paraguay in Group B. It just so happened that these two teams were very likely to be China's next opponent. Watching the video would never give him as much information as watching it live.

As a result, Paraguay relied on a tricky header from No. 9 Barreto to defeat Italy. This result surprised Qiu Suhui a bit. He originally thought that the two teams would draw. And the process surprised him even more. The Italian national Olympic team, which had a tradition of defense and was led by Gentile (Claudiogentile), the iron guard of the 1982 World Cup Italian team, actually had many loopholes in its defense and was defeated by Paraguay using the defensive counterattack that should have been Italy's forte.

Fortunately, the Japanese team, which had already been eliminated, suddenly exerted its strength and defeated Ghana. In this way, Italy and Ghana both had four points and a goal difference of zero. Italy only narrowly advanced by relying on one more goal than Ghana.

But for Qiu Suhui, this was not a good thing. Because Italy was their next opponent, Italy was ranked second in Group B. According to the A1 vs B2 match-up principle, then...

Qiu Suhui rubbed his temples, truly a headache-inducing opponent.

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Although losing the game was not honorable, Gentile's mood was still not bad because they ultimately qualified. He stood in the mixed zone to accept interviews from reporters.

"Excuse me, does your substitution of Pirlo mean that he is not suitable for this team now?" An Italian reporter asked. For Italians, they only ever care about their internal conflicts, not who their opponents are.

"No, it was because Paraguay gave us a lot of pressure. The team needed to be more fierce on defense, and Andrea (Andreapirlo) was obviously a bit weak when defending."

"From being the pre-match favorites to win the championship to now needing help from the Japanese to qualify, do you think this is normal?"

"You are also Italian, you should know that Italy is always slow to start," Gentile smiled, "For us, the quarter-finals are the real start of the Italian team's Olympics."

"Speaking of the quarter-finals, what do you think of Italy's opponent, the Chinese team?"

"Uh, the Chinese team is undefeated in three games, which shows that they have some strength. But I don't know much about them. I only know that their captain played for Bologna last season..."

"He will be in Milan this season," the questioning reporter added.

"Oh? Is that so? In short, he is very fast, good at crossing and long shots, and is a dangerous person. I heard that he has scored three goals, and I will arrange someone to mark him specifically."

"Have you considered what to do if you lose to China?"

Gentile turned his head and saw that it was a question from a Chinese reporter. His Italian was excellent, as if he had lived in Italy for a long time.

Hu Li was stunned in place. Qiu Suhui was still outside listening with him just now, how did he suddenly squeeze to the front to ask questions? It wasn't the time to want to be a reporter!

"Hey!" Gentile said with some disdain, "Never. Although the Chinese team is the first in Group A, that's because Group A is the weakest of the four groups. Our goal is a gold medal. I think if we lose to China, all the players, including me, will be 'killed'."

"Oh?" Qiu Suhui smiled, "Then we'll see you on the field, Claudio." After speaking, he turned and walked out of the crowd.

Gentile suddenly heard the other party call his name directly, as if he knew him. He searched his memory, but couldn't remember who the other party was. At this time, he noticed that the expressions of the reporters around him were very strange, "What's wrong with you?"

"Qiu..." the Italian reporter who asked the question earlier said, "Don't you really know? He is Qiu Suhui, the head coach of the Chinese team, Italy's next opponent."

"Ah!?"

Qiu Suhui sat in the car going back, looking down and writing in his notebook: "Italy, poor intelligence gathering. Also suspected of underestimating the enemy."

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"The results are out! We're playing Italy!" A player who already knew the results of the game ran in.

"Ah? Oh my god! If I had known, I would have rather lost to Mali! That way we could have avoided Italy and Argentina!" Xiang Tao threw the cards in his hand into the air, hugging his head and shouting "very painfully." He was just about to win for sure and immediately be able to make Xiang Tao take off everything except his underwear. But with Xiang Tao throwing like this, everything was gone... Hmm? Wait! He quickly realized something was wrong. "Say it again, who are our opponents?"

"Who else could it be? Italy, the favorite to win the championship, Italy." Xiang Tao returned to normal, he knocked off Zhao Pengyu's hand that grabbed his collar, and then straightened his clothes. You couldn't hear a trace of surprise or fear in his voice, it seemed that he was indeed taking the opportunity to cheat just now.

"No way?!" Everyone else in the room shouted in unison.

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"We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead..." Wang Yu lay on the bed, mumbling.

"Damn, kid. There should be a limit to you chanting scriptures, right?" Xiang Tao couldn't stand his roommate anymore. "You've only been saying these three words since hearing the news."

"Do you think we have a chance to win? Pirlo is a world-class midfielder, and Gilardino is a European-class striker. We should have lost to Mali in the third game as you said. We're dead, we're dead, we're dead, we're dead..."

"Tch! I don't care what class he is! What's the use of you regretting now? Even if you regret it... but please don't keep muttering in front of me, okay?" Xiang Tao threw a pillow over, and there was no sound on the other side.

"Go to sleep! We still have training tomorrow!" Xiang Tao turned off the bedside lamp.

"Hey, Xiang Tao. Are you really not nervous at all?" Wang Yu threw the pillow back to Xiang Tao.

"For me, if we really can't beat the opponent because the difference in strength is too great. Then what's the use of being nervous! So, I don't have the leisure to be nervous." Xiang Tao yawned, "Go to sleep."

After a while, slight snores sounded in the room, and there was no sound after that.

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Compared to the national Olympic team's brief panic, the country was lively. While the media was generally pessimistic, they also had a glimmer of hope. They hoped that the "miracle" of chasing three goals in a row like they did against Mali could happen again on the Chinese team. They also analyzed that the Italian team's performance was not good, they conceded goals in every game, their tactics were rigid, Pirlo was not in good shape... and other reasons to encourage the Chinese team. In fact, they were just encouraging themselves.

In addition, some people criticized Qiu Suhui for not asking the national Olympic team to fight Mali to the death. On the one hand, they consumed themselves, and on the other hand, they got such an opponent. It was a losing proposition.

The fans also suddenly became very rational. They believed that the national Olympic team had already completed its task in advance. Even if they lost to the favorite to win the championship, Italy, it wouldn't be anything shameful. The most important thing was that the team had been trained and gained experience and knowledge. As for the victory or defeat of a game, there was no need to be demanding.

Some people even wished for the national Olympic team to lose the game. In their words, they couldn't let the "Chinese Pig Association" find another fig leaf after the women's football team, using the "one good" performance of the national Olympic team to cover up a hundred ugly things.

Qiu Suhui's thoughts were basically the same as theirs, but now he changed his mind.

He, Qiu Suhui, would never let go of those who looked down on this team.

Claudio, didn't you say that if you lose to the Chinese team, you will be "killed"? Then let me send you to your death!

"Shoot more seriously! Li Jie, if you don't train hard, you'll be a substitute in the next game, understand?"

"Ye, yes sir!"

"Why did the coach suddenly become so serious?"

"Who knows. Maybe he was scared by Italy and became neurotic?"

"Wang Yu, Xiang Tao! If you two have the leisure to chat, you might as well do a few more sets of sprints for me!"

"Wow! How scary!"