Chapter 1 The Beginning

Li Yongle passed the ball diagonally into the penalty area. Yang Pan snatched the ball before Ferrari, but he suddenly fell in the penalty area just as he poked the ball away.

The referee decisively awarded a penalty!

"Yang Pan fell in the penalty area! There's no question about it. No matter how you look at it, it's a penalty!" Wang Jianxiang shouted.

"That's a dive! Yang Pan hooked his own foot on Ferrari's ankle!" The Italian commentators had the complete opposite opinion.

Ferrari jumped up from the ground angrily and chased after the referee: "He's diving! I guarantee I didn't foul him!"

Yang Pan stood up as if nothing had happened, and then slapped hands with Li Yongle, who came up to celebrate.

Qiu Suhui stood up from his seat, looking gleefully at Gentile, whose face was ashen. In any case, a penalty was good, as long as they could take the lead against Italy.

The referee stood by his original decision and allowed the Chinese team to take the penalty. The Italian players had no choice but to disperse, thinking that there was still time, and they must equalize.

Yang Pan walked to the penalty spot with the ball, then gently placed the football on it, and carefully adjusted it so that the valve was facing him. Then he stood back, stopped four steps away, ready to take the penalty.

Pelizzoli clapped his hands vigorously to encourage himself. He bent over, stood ready, and then stared at Yang Pan.

Yang Pan glanced at Pelizzoli expressionlessly, then avoided the other's gaze and looked down at the ball.

*Guilty conscience, huh?* Pelizzoli sneered inwardly.

The referee blew his whistle, signaling that Yang Pan could kick, and everyone immediately became tense.

Would Yang Pan be nervous?

He started his run-up, one step, two steps, three steps, four steps! His left foot stomped hard next to the ball, and then his right leg swung down! Now it was a penalty kick, no one would interfere with him, so he could use all his strength and give it a good whack!

Here it comes! Pelizzoli had been guessing which side Yang Pan would shoot at since he started his run-up. Finally, before Yang Pan shot, he chose to dive to his left, Yang Pan's right.

The facts told him that he had guessed the right direction!

Yang Pan kicked the ball with the outside of his right foot, and the football flew quickly towards the right side of the goal!

The ball and the goalkeeper were flying in the same direction. Would the ball be saved?

Pelizzoli was secretly delighted. He would definitely save this ball!

Unfortunately, he underestimated Yang Pan's shooting power. Although he dived out earlier than Yang Pan shot, the ball flew into the goal before him, flying into the goal along the post!

The ball went in!!

When the football hit the net and lifted it fiercely, Pelizzoli's hand just reached the path the ball had just flown through.

"goooooAL!!" Yang Pan punched his right fist hard and roared. It felt so good to score like this!

Li Jie took the lead and rushed up, hugging Yang Pan tightly, fearing that he would run away. Then a group of crazy teammates rushed up and pounced on the two, pressing them down.

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"Yes! We're in the lead!" Sophie jumped up, raising her hands and cheering.

Zhang Jun, who was beside her, watched the Chinese players on TV making a mess, but instead of clapping and cheering as usual, he clenched his fists tightly, bit his lower lip, and his body trembled slightly.

*If, if only I could be there at this moment!*

Feng Qing noticed Zhang Jun's small movements, and the thoughts expressed through these small movements. Just be patient, Zhang Jun. Your recovery is going smoothly, and you will return to the field one day.

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Qiu Suhui punched the sunshade behind the seat. They were finally leading Italy! The efforts of these kids had not been in vain!

"Goal! Goal!! Yang Pan! Yang Pan!! This penalty kick was both fierce and tricky, and Pelizzoli was powerless! China is now leading Italy 1-0! Friends, if you just turned on the TV, you would be surprised by this score, but that's right! Yes, China is leading Italy, leading the star-studded Italy!" Wang Jianxiang was a little hysterical, but he also heard the shouts coming from next door. His colleagues were also gathered in front of the big screen, paying attention to this game.

Wang Jianxiang turned off the microphone and secretly took a sip of water. When would everyone become so obsessed with a Chinese football match? From noon until the start of the game, their enthusiasm was like that of a young fan watching the ball for the first time. Thinking of this, Wang Jianxiang smiled and turned the microphone back on.

"With this penalty kick, Yang Pan has also scored four goals in the Olympics, currently ranking second in the scorer list. Hmm? The speed of that shot has been calculated! An amazing... 136 kilometers per hour!! No wonder he's called Cannon Yang Pan..." His throat was hoarse again, but he would be willing even if it was completely hoarse.

The Chinese fans in the stands of the Thessaloniki stadium were happy. They witnessed this passionate moment on the spot!

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But on the other side, watching the Chinese players celebrating wildly, the Italian players were very unhappy.

Not only because they were behind China, but also because this goal was conceded due to a penalty awarded for the opponent's dive!

What was this?

They absolutely could not allow the Chinese to defeat them like this, and they absolutely could not be eliminated by the Chinese team. They were the ones who should be eliminated! Otherwise, they would really be killed when they returned!

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The Chinese team, after restarting the game, seemed to be still stuck in their excitement and had not recovered. Li Yongle was shaken off by Pirlo in the blink of an eye, and then he passed straight into the penalty area!

Gilardino, under Liu Peng's defense, had no way to chase the ball, but instead attracted most of the Chinese team's defense. At this moment, right midfielder Scully took the opportunity to insert himself and shot a shot before Xiang Tao could chase back!

Si Ma Hongxin was not liked by Qiu Suhui because he was taciturn, but in many cases, his personality could help him stay calmer than others. He knelt down and firmly caught Scully's shot in his arms.

Because of Xiang Tao's presence, Scully had a much smaller angle to choose from, so this level of shot could not pose any threat to Si Ma Hongxin. He stood near the near post, and his tall and broad body blocked most of the opponent's shooting angle.

After the Chinese team made several active mistakes in a row, Qiu Suhui realized the problem. Fortunately, the first half was about to end, and he could slowly talk about anything during the halftime break.

These kids were still too young!

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Li Yongle found that Pirlo had become very difficult to defend. He couldn't guess what Pirlo wanted to do next, and his every simple movement made him nervous.

Was this experience? Was this what had been honed in the Italian league?

Li Yongle remembered smelling this kind of aura on Zhang Jun. It was during training in Spain this winter, when Zhang Jun shook him and scored a zero-angle shot. Only for a very short moment, he found that Zhang Jun was so strong that he felt a little discouraged.

Now Pirlo also had it. Maybe this was the temperament of a world-class star!

Pirlo and Pazzini played a one-two, and then shot directly from outside the box without stopping the ball!

Si Ma Hongxin was a little unprepared for this ball, and his tall body was a little slow to fall, so he let this ground shot through!

The Italian commentators were about to shout "goAL" when they realized that the football had hit the outside of the post and bounced out of the baseline.

A huge sigh rang out in the stands. At the same time, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.

At the end of the first half, the Chinese team temporarily led Italy 1-0 with a penalty kick by Yang Pan in the thirty-second minute.

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Qiu Suhui first praised the team's performance in the first half with a smile in the locker room, but then his face sank, and his tone changed: "I know you are very excited and happy after taking the lead, but!" His voice suddenly rose eight degrees, "But you must understand how strong the opponent you are facing is! Their defense is not so fragile that you can easily score three goals in the first half, and their attack will not be blocked by a few offside traps. So you must always be on high alert. No one is allowed to relax even for a breath until you hear the final whistle!"

The players, who were originally exhausted, perked up. Yes, there was still half a game to go. If they gave up now, what would be the result? Losing the game, regretting it.

Wasn't it just another forty-five minutes? They had already gotten through the first forty-five minutes, so why should they be afraid of the other side?

"In the second half, we will continue to use the wings and speed to deal with them. We will launch an offensive from the start, and don't give Italy a chance to recover! Grit your teeth and persevere. When the game is over, I will give you a vacation!"

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Li Yan frowned and looked at the cheering Chinese fans not far away. He was a little worried. Judging from the period near the end of the first half, the Chinese team's relaxation was not entirely due to excessive excitement after scoring, but also related to their declining physical strength. From the 12th to the 21st, they had played four intense games in nine days.

Originally, they could have rotated players in the third game against Mali to give the starters a rest. But for some reason, the Chinese team tried their best to tie their opponents in the end—even if they had lost, it wouldn't have mattered. Was Qiu Suhui using the Chinese team's results to add a halo to himself?

Well, putting aside personal grudges, the density of four games in nine days caused the players to have more or less problems with their physical strength. In addition, the crazy attack, counter-attack, re-attack, and re-counter-attack in the first half... Although this style of play, which consumed a lot of physical strength, allowed the Chinese team to take the lead in the first half, it also planted the seeds of danger for the second half. Once they ran out of energy in the final moments of the second half, it was very possible for them to be equalized or even surpassed in an instant.

Didn't they know the consequences of doing this? Why did they still take such a risky approach?

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Hu Li looked at the players walking out of the locker room one by one, their steps a little heavy. He said to Qiu Suhui beside him with some concern: "Why are you adopting such a desperate tactic? If we win Italy like this, our next opponent is likely to be Argentina. Do you think we will have the strength to compete with Argentina?"

Qiu Suhui smiled wryly and asked Hu Li in return: "Then do you think we have a chance to beat Italy if we save some energy in this game?"

"This..."

"Actually, I didn't consider the next game at all. If we save some energy, we won't be able to beat Italy. If we try our best to beat Italy, we will be eliminated by Argentina. Ha! Lao Hu, which path would you choose? Since we are going to lose the next game anyway, why not use all our strength in this game and give it our all? Whether we win or lose, we will have no regrets. Being indecisive will never lead to a good end. This is a cup, not a league. We don't need to save any strength for the next opponent."

"What a pity! If Ghana had qualified, we wouldn't have had to work so hard." Hu Li sighed.

"Hehe! Do you know, Lao Hu? Actually, those players think the same way as I do. They are not afraid of Italy, they are afraid of leaving regrets!" Qiu Suhui looked towards the exit, where the Chinese team's lads were disappearing one by one into the brightly lit exit.

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Li Yan had originally thought he would see tired faces and heavy steps. But to his surprise, every member of the national Olympic team ran out of the exit, and there was not a trace of fatigue on their faces!

Why?

Li Yan wouldn't understand what these players were thinking. As Qiu Suhui said, they knew their situation very well. For them now, there was no point in thinking about what would happen in the future. It was better to focus all their attention on this game. They would bet everything, everything, all the training, all the games, all the tears, laughter, pain, anger, and confusion between the team's establishment and the present, a short year and three months... every second of memory, all on this game.

Perhaps now, many people's feelings when they first heard that their opponent was Italy would be completely different, right? Fortunately, they did not lose to Mali, so they could find such an excellent opponent for their farewell match.

Italy, whether we win or lose, we want you to remember our names and let you know that Chinese football is not something you can easily despise.

The first half was still in the evening, and the setting sun shone on the stadium, very softly. When they came out again, it had turned into night, and the lights covered the stadium. Yang Pan squinted at the lights, each one as dazzling as a small sun.

I'm sorry, Zhang Jun. It seems I won't be able to bring you this Olympic gold medal. It's just a lead, and we might lose. But, it doesn't matter, I'll treat it as the final, cheer for me, if you can see it...

"The game is about to start, cheer up! We have forty-five minutes left!" Yang Pan roared at his teammates beside him. Then he looked at the referee, hurry up and start, referee, I can't wait any longer!

"Beep!"

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"The Chinese team is still attacking with all their might at the start of the second half, and every player is running tirelessly! They seem to want to steal points from Italy! A very bold style of play, but is there no problem with their physical strength?" Wang Jianxiang said worriedly.

It could be seen that after a fifteen-minute break, the Chinese players still had enough energy to support themselves and were still able to use their speed to put pressure on Italy.

Gentile looked at the field, as if it were a repeat of the first half. Italy was once again suppressed by the Chinese team. But this time he was no longer worried about anything.

Hmph! How foolish! This style of play does not consider the consequences at all. Qiu Suhui, you have been a coach in Europe for so many years. Don't you even understand this simple truth? Although we are playing ugly, the ultimate winner will definitely be us. What is the point of football that cannot win in such a big competition?

Unfortunately, Gentile was not Chinese, and he would never understand the Chinese way of thinking.

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"Are they throwing their lives away?" Feng Qing said in surprise, looking at the Chinese players who were still running fast on the field.

But Zhang Jun's eyes were filled with sadness: "It's not that they are throwing their lives away, but that they know that this is the only game they can play. They have no energy to go any further, no matter what. So, it's better to just do it here..." Sophie snuggled silently beside Zhang Jun, she agreed with Zhang Jun's view. Even if they beat Italy, there was still Argentina. With the current strength and stamina of the Chinese team, it was absolutely impossible to defeat two strong enemies in a row.

"But, if they manage to beat Italy, even if they lose to Argentina, there will still be a third-fourth place playoff!"

"Heh, Brother Feng, can't you see? They haven't considered anything about the future at all. They haven't even thought about any third-fourth place playoff. They just want to play a good game." Zhang Jun said with a wry smile. They were always like that, Yang Pan, Li Yongle, Liu Peng, Si Ma, Xiang Tao... They never focused on calculating the games behind them, but only put everything into the current game. They won in a way that made people feel good, and they would never be cowardly even if they lost. They were always like this...

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Li Yongle's long shot suddenly dropped in front of Pelizzoli, bounced, and caught him off guard. Seeing that the football was about to enter the goal behind him, a blue figure flew over and kicked the football out of the penalty area.

"Ferrari kicked Li Yongle's shot away almost on the goal line! What a pity! If Pingqi hadn't interfered in front, the Chinese team might have been leading 2-0!"

Seeing that the ball didn't go in, Li Yongle turned around and ran without saying a word. He didn't want to waste time and energy on posing. Moreover, this long kick directly caused Italy to counterattack.

Pirlo received the ball in the frontcourt. While Li Yongle had not returned, he could show off his power! Gilardino, Scully, and Palombo were all running. The Chinese team had just attacked and had not had time to return to defense. This was a good opportunity for Italy to equalize!

He passed the ball to Scully, who inserted himself from behind. Scully kicked the ball directly into the center! Gilardino ran to meet the ball, and then relied on his amazing sense of smell in front of the goal to grab a point and head the ball powerfully!

The football flew towards the far post. Si Ma Hongxin reached out his hand reflexively while diving forward! The football flew outwards. Li Suisheng hurriedly jumped up and headed the ball out of bounds.

Phew, that was close!

As time went by, Italy gradually began to exert its strength. With Pirlo as the core, the Italian attacking combination constantly used counter-attack opportunities to put pressure on the Chinese team's goal.

In the sixty-seventh minute, Pirlo passed straight through, Gilardino overtook Liu Peng, and then shot before Si Ma Hongxin, but he was slightly off target.

In the seventy-second minute, when facing Li Yongle, Pirlo unexpectedly flicked the ball with his toe, lifting the football high over Li Yongle and the entire Chinese defense line. Gilardino inserted himself to receive the ball, forming a one-on-one situation. Just when everyone thought he would succeed, a slight overshoot when stopping the ball gave Xiang Tao a chance. He pounced forward and kicked the ball out of the baseline before Gilardino could shoot. Italy missed a great opportunity.

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Qiu Suhui glanced nervously at the watch on his wrist. There were fifteen minutes left, and Italy's offensive was becoming more and more fierce. The Chinese team had not had a decent shot for ten minutes.

Moreover, the players on the field were losing their physical strength very quickly. It seemed that it was time to make substitutions, although those guys would not want to come off the field.

"Hu Bin, Kong Liang, Zou You, go warm up. I will call you when I need you!"

Hu Li was once again surprised by Qiu Suhui's substitution strategy. Shouldn't he put on more defenders to strengthen the defense at this time? If he sent forwards up there, how would they defend?

A burst of noise from the stands interrupted Hu Li's doubts. He turned his head and saw that Wang Yu's ball had been intercepted by Scully, who immediately launched a counter-attack!

"Wang Yu is a little exhausted. He was intercepted while dribbling the ball! But he doesn't have the ability to chase back and counter-press! Italy attacks!"

Xiang Tao rushed up again, then leaned against Scully, and then used force to kick the football out of bounds first. Xiang Tao would not lose to anyone in terms of strength.

"It seems we can't delay any longer." Qiu Suhui shouted to the players warming up, "Zou You! Come here, get ready to play!"

Zou You ran over, quickly took off his jacket, threw it aside, and then was pulled to the side by Qiu Suhui, who quickly told him what to do after he came on the field while holding a tactical board: "Remember, you will replace Wang Yu. Put all your energy into defense, and do more horizontal running. Also, tell Lin Feng to pull back and not be an attacking midfielder anymore. He needs to defend! When defending, you tell everyone that the ball in our backcourt must be dealt with decisively. If you can kick it out, kick it out! Don't dawdle in the back! Do you understand before you go on the field?"

Zou You had just nodded when he was pushed by Qiu Suhui to the fourth official. It seemed that the situation on the field was indeed becoming increasingly unfavorable to the Chinese team.

On the other side, Gentile was also deploying his troops. He saw that the Chinese team's stamina had become a problem, and their attack was far less sharp than it was at the beginning. He decided to put a little more pressure on the opponent. He sent on Andreagasbarroni, a winger from Palermo, to replace the defensive midfielder Pazzini, and moved Angelo Palombo to the middle, allowing Gasbarroni, who was fast and had good stamina, to play as a left midfielder to continue to impact the Chinese team's defense.

Wang Yu was replaced by Zou You. Although he was a little unwilling, he also knew that he could only hold the team back on the field at the moment. Fortunately, Xiang Tao was focused in the back after his mistake just now, so it did not cause a major error.

Hu Li handed Wang Yu a towel and asked him to wipe his sweat to avoid catching a cold: "You've worked hard, you did a great job. Leave the rest to them!"

But Wang Yu just covered his head with the towel, sat in the chair, and clenched his fists: Damn it! He was actually the first to come down at a critical time! Damn it!

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After Zou You came on the field, he conveyed Qiu Suhui's intentions to everyone. The Chinese team's defense was indeed much simpler, and they adopted completely destructive defensive actions. And Gasbarroni's appearance also revitalized Italy's left wing, so much so that Yang Pan had to give up attacking and fully return to defend this fast left winger.

Time was running out, and it seemed that Italy didn't have many chances left. But at this time, the experience of the European Youth Championship came into play. They were not impatient, but patiently fought a positional battle with the Chinese team.

After Pirlo shook off Li Yongle in the center, he found that he could not continue to move forward, so he had to move horizontally to the right. Xiang Tao rushed up, and Pirlo flicked the ball with the heel of his foot, and the football passed between Xiang Tao's legs. Then Pirlo was about to turn around and bypass him, and Xiang Tao had no choice but to stretch out his leg and tripped Pirlo.

The referee showed Xiang Tao a yellow card and awarded Italy a free kick on the left side of the Chinese team's penalty area.

Zhao Pengyu and Lin Feng formed the wall, and everyone else, including Li Jie, returned to the penalty area to defend.

Pirlo was going to take the free kick. Whether it was at AC Milan or in the Italian national Olympic team, he was the first free kick taker.

He sent the football into the penalty area, an arc flying towards the goal! Under the interference of the crowd, no one touched the ball at the near post or in the center. At this time, Bovo appeared at the far post!

Bovo was unmarked! He jumped high! A diving header!

Si Ma Hongxin turned and dived over, but he was still a little slow.

Qiu Suhui stood on the sidelines, clenching his fists and watching everything in front of the goal.

Gasbarroni, who was behind Bovo, had already stretched out his hands, a celebratory gesture, a gesture of celebrating a goal.

The football flew past Si Ma Hongxin's fingertips and crossed the goal line!

The ball went in!!

The ball went in?

"goooAL!!"

Yes, the ball went in.

"Bovo with a header! Si Ma Hongxin didn't save it! The ball flew into the goal! Italy tenaciously equalized the score with three minutes left in the game! What a pity for the Chinese team! Victory was only three minutes away from them..."

The Italian players hugged each other wildly in front of the Chinese team's goal. They howled and cheered, a draw! They finally equalized! Before the game, none of them thought this game would be so difficult. It took them a full eighty-seven minutes to equalize the score, but this already made them very excited, a feeling of escaping death.

Lin Feng sat down on the grass, he had cramps. He had been running for so long, his leg couldn't take it anymore, but he didn't expect that running to the point of cramping would result in such an outcome... They had been equalized! His chest rose and fell sharply, not because of the pain in his leg, but because of the pain in his heart.

Yang Pan stood blankly in front of the goal, looking at the football in the goal. He really wanted to kick it out hard! Damn it! We were only a little short, we were only a little short of winning! But now it seems we have to play extra time. But everyone's physical strength... He smiled helplessly. For the Italians, this was just a goal, but for the current Chinese team, it was a very cruel goal. It not only turned everyone's previous efforts into nothing, but also made everyone's willpower endure for another thirty minutes.

Qiu Suhui grabbed his hair in annoyance. He really didn't expect to overlook something. When Pirlo took the free kick, everyone was paying attention to the people in the penalty area, but they didn't see Bovo rushing in from outside the penalty area! Miscalculation, miscalculation!