Chapter 1 In the Tunnel

In the player tunnel, as the two teams prepared to enter the field, Jones saw Zhang Jun, the most sought-after striker in world football, standing diagonally behind him. Zhang Jun was at the very back of the Chinese team, chatting with Xiang Tao and Klose.

The three of them seemed relaxed, talking and laughing, unlike him, who was already incredibly nervous before the game even started.

Since he played football in Argentina, he didn't watch Zhang Jun's matches often, so Zhang Jun was a mystery to him. He really wanted to see Zhang Jun play in person, preferably observing him up close. How could he be so popular, so hot, worshipped by countless people?

He just stared at Zhang Jun blankly.

Klose tilted his head slightly. "Someone's watching you, Zhang Jun."

"Who?" Zhang Jun and Xiang Tao saw Jones in the Colombian number 9 jersey through the gap Klose had made.

"Oh, it's him." Zhang Jun looked away.

"Hehe, what could it mean that he's staring at you like that before the game?" Xiang Tao laughed from the side.

"What could it mean? He sees me as an opponent and vows to defeat me. But you, Xiang Tao, you're a defender, so you'll definitely face him more than once during the game. You have to be careful, he's very fast."

Xiang Tao curled his lip dismissively and didn't say anything.

Abelani patted Jones on the shoulder, waking him up. "Stop looking, it's almost time to go out."

Jones was still looking at Zhang Jun. "There's such a big difference between me and him in Pro Evolution Soccer, how good is he really?"

"You'll find out during the game. Let's go, stop looking, or people will think you have some bad intentions."

Only then did Jones turn around and walk forward.

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Sophie didn't point her camera at the player tunnel; it was already the focus of countless lenses, and she didn't need to join the crowd. Her lens searched the stands, finally settling on a Chinese fan with a striking appearance. She knew this fan well because she had seen him more than once at games involving the Chinese team—Niu Jianhua, dressed as the Monkey King.

Now, many domestic media outlets called him "Monkey King Lao Niu."

At that moment, Lao Niu was wielding his paper golden cudgel on the stands with great energy. Sophie thought this old fan, over fifty years old, was very cute, and she kept pressing the shutter, capturing him on her film.

When a huge cheer rang out in the stadium, the players from both sides entered the field.

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Wang Bo had closed his restaurant early, but closing meant only not doing business, not locking the doors and keeping people out. In fact, many people were steadily coming in and out of his restaurant.

They were all neighbors from this small town, and they had all agreed to gather at Wang Bo's to watch the World Cup. As Dutchmen, they were only interested in two teams in this World Cup—their own country, the Netherlands, and the Chinese team, which included Zhang Jun, the son of Volendam.

The new large-screen TV, specially added for better World Cup viewing, was on the wall of the restaurant. Everyone gathered below it, ordered a few bottles of beer and some snacks, and sat together lively. While waiting for the players to enter the field, they were still discussing the Chinese team, discussing Zhang Jun and his friends.

When the players appeared on the TV screen, everyone cheered excitedly.

Yang Pan, the captain, was the first to come out for the Chinese team. Immediately, someone shouted, "I told you, Yang is a leader! I said that when he was in Volendam, that he would become a great captain! Now look!"

"Give it a rest, Pepe. You always say that after the fact. I'm the one who said Yang Pan would be amazing."

Following Yang Pan was the goalkeeper, An Ke.

"I've seen him! He came here for Christmas that year, and hung out with Yang Pan and Zhang Jun in town. He was just a student then, haha, and now he's the goalkeeper for the Chinese team, amazing!"

While everyone was talking, the line had reached the end, and they all knew the big man was about to appear. When he was in Volendam, Zhang Jun wasn't the captain, so he always stood at the back of the team.

When Zhang Jun appeared before everyone, the cheers from the stadium stands were even louder than before. Not only the Chinese, but also many neutral South African fans were Zhang Jun fans.

And in Volendam, Netherlands, in Wang Bo's restaurant, everyone was banging on the tables and chanting in unison, "Zhang Jun! Zhang Jun! Zhang Jun!!"

The whole building was shaking.

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The two teams lined up, and the national anthems of both countries were played. Then, the Colombian players shook hands with the Chinese players one after another. When Jones shook Zhang Jun's hand, he hesitated for a moment, as if he had something to say. But in the end, he gave up, just squeezed his hand a little harder, and then let go.

Finally, the two captains shook hands, exchanged team flags, and then tossed a coin to choose possession.

Yang Pan won the coin toss against the Colombian captain, Orozco, and chose to kick off.

The Chinese team's 3-5-2 formation surprised everyone before the game. They all thought Qiu Suhui would use the 4-4-2 that the Chinese team was more familiar with, but he decisively changed the formation before such an important World Cup match.

The goalkeeper was naturally An Ke. As Bayern Munich's main goalkeeper and Kahn's chosen successor, it would cause public outrage not to use him.

The three center backs were Li Suisheng, who played for the Glasgow Rangers, Liu Peng from Fenerbahçe in Turkey, and Xiang Tao from Fiorentina. Before the game, the Colombian coach had originally planned to have Jones avoid Xiang Tao, the fastest player in the Chinese defense, but Qiu Suhui put Xiang Tao in the center back position, making it impossible for Jones to avoid him.

At the same time, in his years at Fiorentina, he had been fixed in the left back position, leading the Colombians to believe that Xiang Tao could only play left back. This change caught Montokaro off guard. In fact, Xiang Tao could play any position in the back line: left back, right back, center back, sweeper, left midfielder. When necessary, he could even fill in as a libero.

Although he was only 1.83 meters tall, his excellent jumping ability and heading skills made up for his lack of height.

The two defensive midfielders were Li Yongle and Wang Yu. Wang Yu mainly defended, while Li Yongle balanced attack and defense, connecting the whole team.

The two wingers were the key to the entire formation. They needed to spare no effort in attack and also retreat to participate in defense. Fortunately, Yang Pan and Zhao Pengyu were both known for their running ability and good stamina, so it wasn't a big problem.

The attacking midfielder was naturally Klose, the main attacking midfielder for Fiorentina. His bizarre footwork made opponents headache, whether he was breaking through or passing the ball, and his chemistry with Zhang Jun was also a highlight of the Chinese team's attack.

In terms of strikers, there was Wu Shangshan from Manchester United. He was recalled to Manchester United from Benfica in Portugal last season, but he still couldn't guarantee his main position and could only be a third striker, the first substitute. Even so, he scored eight goals in his limited playing time. Maybe after this World Cup, it would be time for him to become a regular starter.

The other one, of course, was the famous European Best Striker, Italian Best Striker, Asian Best Striker, the top scorer from this year's newly crowned triple champion Fiorentina, Zhang Jun.

This forward combination was very fast, both Zhang Jun and Wu Shangshan were very fast, and both were very well-rounded. It's just that Zhang Jun was more well-rounded than Wu Shangshan. The partnership of these two was now the strongest combination in the Chinese team, because they were both so well-rounded, so even if one of them had a poor performance or was marked tightly by the defenders, the other would implement the Chinese team's tactics. It is said that forward partners should complement each other, but Qiu Suhui's tactics subverted this point. Two very well-rounded forwards added together was definitely a result of 1+1>2.

They could set up each other, they could distract each other, and they could both dribble and shoot, making it impossible for the defenders to guard against, guarding against one, there was still another.

This lineup would be the Chinese team's main lineup in this World Cup.

Zhang Jun and Wu Shangshan stood at the kickoff point, the football placed at their feet. They were waiting for the referee's whistle, and the audience was also waiting.

"Whistle!"

The entire Ellis Park Stadium flashed with lights and erupted in cheers!

Zhang Jun tapped the football to Wu Shangshan, and then ran forward. The football was then passed back by Wu Shangshan to Li Yongle behind him.

The formations of the two teams instantly dispersed, and the game began!

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"Colombia is a young team, the oldest in their team is only thirty-three years old. The coach is also a young guy, and the core of the team is young people. Many people are participating in the World Cup for the first time. So these are all things we can take advantage of. Compared to them, we are much more mature. They are the weakest opponent in this group, we cannot take it lightly, I require you to fight quickly and decisively. Do you know what fight quickly and decisively means? Fight quickly and decisively means scoring as early as possible, the sooner the better! They are too young, they have no experience, as long as we can score early, we can disrupt their tactical arrangements and break their psychological balance. So put pressure on them as soon as we come up, don't be soft-hearted."

This was Qiu Suhui's instruction before the game, which he made sure everyone remembered. It was also the Chinese team's attitude in this game.

Li Yongle received the pass and immediately sent a long pass to the right side of the field.

Colombia was not negligent, they had specifically studied the Chinese team's only goal in the match against Brazil in the last World Cup. It was using Li Yongle's accurate long pass to find Yang Pan, who was incredibly fast, and then Yang Pan assisted Zhang Jun to score.

The Colombian coach had done a lot of homework and had considered the opening tactics that the Chinese team might use. Especially this trick, which could easily break through the Brazilian goal.

So when the Chinese team passed the ball to Li Yongle, the Colombian defense line dragged behind, preventing Yang Pan's breakthrough. They guessed right.

Yang Pan obviously didn't expect the opponent's defender to be waiting for him there, and the football was headed out of bounds by the defender.

The Chinese team's first attack ended.

Qiu Suhui shook his head lightly below. "It seems that Montokaro is very familiar with us. He must have put in a lot of effort." Four years ago, the Chinese team was hiding in the dark, but now they are in the open for people to study thoroughly.

The roles were reversed, now it was Colombia who was challenging the Chinese team, not the Chinese team challenging others.

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Yang Pan threw the ball in to Li Yongle, who then passed it horizontally to Wang Yu. Wang Yu did not pass it to Zhao Pengyu on the left again; the Chinese team completed the transfer from the right side of the field to the left side.

Zhao Pengyu pretended to go down to the baseline, causing the opponent's defender to retreat with him—Zhao Pengyu's speed was not just for show, he really deserved the word "fast horse." Of course, now the Chinese team had a few too many fast horses...

Seeing that the opponent had given up space, he suddenly pushed the football to the right, and then went through the middle!

Gonzalez, the Colombian center back, quickly rushed over from the middle to fill the gap.

Zhao Pengyu passed the football out before he came up. This time it was passed to Klose.

Klose was a dangerous person for the Chinese team. At this time, he was too close to the Colombian penalty area, leading the Colombian defenders to think that he was going to receive the ball and shoot, so Captain Orozco rushed up, intending to lean on Klose and prevent him from turning around.

Klose ran towards the football, and then strode his legs, letting the football drill through between his legs!

Letting the ball through!

Orozco secretly shouted that it was bad, and saw Zhang Jun appearing behind Klose, and then receiving the football without anyone marking him.

"Stop him!!" He himself didn't have time to turn around, so he could only roar.

Zhang Jun received the ball with his left foot, and at the same time turned around and pulled it, adjusting the football beautifully in front of him, and his body was facing the goal!

As long as he swung his foot, he could shoot.

It could be seen that Colombia really cared about Zhang Jun, really cared. So when Zhang Jun had just adjusted the football, the Colombian defensive midfielder and left back rushed up at the same time, hoping to block Zhang Jun's shot. The speed of this was so fast that Zhang Jun himself was startled.

The opponent stretched out his foot to tackle, Zhang Jun suddenly pulled the football back, dodging the opponent's tackle, and then followed up with a right foot pick, the football flew up, drawing an arc towards the back point of the goal.

Wu Shangshan keenly captured Zhang Jun's pass, and he jumped high in the crowd, heading the ball!

A close-range shot! Almost everyone thought that the Chinese team was going to score first, and many people had already raised their hands and stood up, ready to cheer.

Wu Shangshan's header was very powerful, but the angle was slightly too straight. The Colombian goalkeeper, Casotti, almost reflexively waved his hands and knocked the football out of the crossbar.

Wu Shangshan held his head in his hands, the Chinese fans in the stands held their heads in their hands, and even the commentators held their heads in their hands, deeply regretting it.

The Chinese team's corner kick was taken by Li Yongle, to the front point. Zhang Jun sprinted to fight for the point, successfully getting to the football in front of Orozco, a lion shaking his head!

Goalkeeper Casotti firmly pressed the football under his body. He took several deep breaths before getting up, the football still firmly held in his chest.

"The Chinese team launched an offensive as soon as the game started, and they have threatened the Colombian goal several times. From these first three minutes of the game, this Chinese team is much more mature than it was four years ago. Many people think that Zhang Jun will just shoot and score, but Zhang Jun's performance just now slapped them in the face. Zhang Jun's assist is just as beautiful!"

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Having just been pressed back in their own half as soon as the game started, Jones was very unhappy. He was eager to show his ability in front of Zhang Jun, and also hoped to prove that the data in Pro Evolution Soccer was wrong, at least he shouldn't have so few stats above 80.

"Hey! Hey! Here, here! Pass me the ball!" He shouted, raising his arm.

Unfortunately, Abelani's pass was tackled by Li Yongle before he could even kick it. He raised his hand to indicate to the referee that Li Yongle had fouled, but the referee shook his head, held his hands up, and signaled for the game to continue.

Abelani slapped the ground hard, then got up from the ground, and shrugged helplessly to Jones in front, indicating that he was powerless.

Fifteen minutes into the game, the rhythm had been in the Chinese team's control. In the past two years, Qiu Suhui's team had played many warm-up matches with world-class teams, accumulating a lot of experience. What's more, there were many starters from top European teams in the team? These were all experience, and in a World Cup match like this, experience would play a very important role.

Compared to the young Colombia, the Chinese team was an old hand... although they had only made it into the World Cup finals three times.

For these fifteen minutes, Qiu Suhui had looked very relaxed, and his butt hadn't left his seat.

The players' performance reassured him. Although there hadn't been a goal yet, he knew that once the game was in his hands, then as long as luck wasn't outrageously bad, winning the game would be a matter of time.

Klose passed the football to Yang Pan, but Yang Pan didn't go down to the baseline to cross, he passed the football horizontally to Zhang Jun, who had pulled back.

Zhang Jun received the football outside the penalty area. He dribbled it horizontally, and the defenders carefully followed him, guarding against him suddenly shooting.

Zhang Jun looked up at the goal, and Orozco immediately became nervous. His main task in this game was to curb Zhang Jun's performance near the penalty area. So as long as Zhang Jun looked up, he would think that he was going to shoot.

Zhang Jun raised his foot, but it wasn't a shot, it was a through ball!

Once again using a pass, he confused everyone.

Wu Shangshan slanted in quickly, receiving the football behind the defenders, and then shooting!

This time, Casotti clumsily blocked the football out of the baseline with his foot. The Chinese team got another corner kick.

"Although Zhang Jun himself is not willing to play midfield, I still have to say that he can still make a big difference playing midfield. Look at these two hidden passes! How beautiful!" The commentator must have overlooked a problem. If it weren't because "striker" Zhang Jun had such a high reputation and threat value, how could he, now playing as "attacking midfielder" Zhang Jun, be able to deceive the opponent's defense line?

There was a change when the Chinese team took the corner kick. Li Yongle didn't send the football to the goalmouth again. Instead, he passed the football directly to

Outside the penalty area, Xiang Tao was lying in ambush there, the football bounced on the ground, and then landed in front of his feet. He swung his left foot in place, a powerful long shot!

The momentum was frightening, and Li Yongle's sudden change also deceived the Colombian defense line. Unfortunately, Xiang Tao's shot was high above the crossbar, firing a high shot.

Klose's eyes followed the trajectory of the football, and he whistled.

Xiang Tao glared at Klose, and quickly turned around and ran back.

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In the press box, Li Yan sat with Caliani again. When Li Yan first saw Caliani before the start of this game, he asked him in surprise why he didn't go to another stadium to watch Italy's match.

Caliani answered with a righteous tone, "I am responsible for tracking and reporting on Zhang Jun, I only care about this side, there are countless Italian colleagues taking care of the other side."

Caliani looked at the first ten minutes of the game, Zhang Jun only had one shot, and felt a little strange, "Before the World Cup kicked off, he said those words at the airport with confidence. I think he needs to show his strength in this first game, right? Why two assists as soon as he came up? Is he changing his playing style?"

Li Yan shook his head. "I think it's normal. It's impossible for a striker to keep shooting non-stop in a normal game, right? It's just that Zhang Jun's passes are at the beginning of the game. Moreover, maybe this is Zhang Jun's own trick."

"Trick?"

"Deliberately showing weakness at the beginning, and then launching a thunderous attack when the opponent relaxes their vigilance." Li Yan waved his hand.

"De... Deliberately showing weakness?" Caliani's expression was like he had heard a joke that wasn't funny at all. "Do you think there are still idiots in this world who will believe the weakness he deliberately shows?"

Li Yan shrugged and didn't say anything.

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Jones tilted his head. With the team at a disadvantage, he often had to come back to defend—he didn't have the privilege of not having to defend like Zhang Jun. He was now observing Zhang Jun, who had the ball. He couldn't see anything different about this person. He could dribble, he could change speed, and he could pass the ball... Speaking of passing the ball, did this number one striker in the world only have two shots in the first twenty minutes? Was he a bit overrated?

Zhang Jun passed the football out again. This time, Klose received the ball, and Klose shot with a powerful shot at the top of the arc of the penalty area without hesitation, causing Casotti to make a wonderful save.

Another pass!

Jones shook his head. He felt that this striker had not shown any ability that made him admire him. Was Zhang Jun, who was so strong in Pro Evolution Soccer, just a virtual game character?

Since the game started, Jones had been observing Zhang Jun most of the time because Colombia had so few opportunities. Now, his preliminary conclusion was that Zhang Jun's strength was all blown out by the outside world, and he himself wasn't as strong as the rumors said. The gap between himself and him was definitely not as far as shown in Pro Evolution Soccer—as a player of Pro Evolution Soccer, Jones still had a lot of resentment about Pro Evolution Soccer setting his stats so low.

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Zhang Jun wasn't showing weakness, because like Caliani said, Zhang Jun himself also thought that if he were to show weakness, it would probably be a big joke. He was just observing Colombia's defensive system, looking for a suitable opportunity to strike a fatal blow.

How to be an efficient killer was something that Zhang Jun had been thinking about recently. Although to outsiders, he was already very successful, but for Zhang Jun himself, he could feel the crisis. Now in the football world, young people, rising stars, and rookies were emerging one after another. How could he guarantee his position?

Was a striker who shot twenty times in a normal game but only scored one goal, and was the center of attention, good?

Or was a striker who shot no more than ten times in a game, but was threatening every time, and finally scored two goals alone, or scored a hat-trick, good?

Did this need to be asked?

Romario was a striker that Zhang Jun admired very much, precisely because he was efficient.

If a striker wasn't efficient enough, then first of all, he wasn't a qualified and excellent striker.

Zhang Jun needed to consciously reduce his number of shots in future games, so that he could reduce the possibility of his injury and prolong his athletic life. At the same time, he needed to improve his shooting efficiency and bring the greatest benefits to the team in limited performances. This World Cup was a stage for Zhang Jun to test his ability in this area.

So what Jones didn't notice was that in Zhang Jun's only two shots, he had caused considerable threats to the goal, forcing Casotti to use all his skills.

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Li Yongle passed the ball to Klose in front, who then organized the attack. Zhang Jun and Wu Shangshan ran on the front line, pulling the Colombian defense. Klose looked up at the situation, Zhao Pengyu on the left was quickly overtaking, but Yang Pan on the right hadn't come up yet.

He decided to pass the ball to Zhang Jun.

Orozco saw Klose pass the ball to Zhang Jun, and rushed up at the first time. But Zhang Jun didn't stop the ball, he didn't even turn around. He passed the ball back directly with his back to the goal—of course not back to Klose, but to the right side.

And he himself turned around and ran forward after passing the ball.

Orozco thought that he was going to do a one-two with Yang Pan, and didn't dare to be negligent. He handed Yang Pan over to other teammates, and turned around and ran back to the penalty area, following Zhang Jun.

In this way, Zhang Jun had pulled open a not-too-big gap in front of the penalty area.

Yang Pan rushed up like the wind. He didn't stop the ball, didn't pass the ball, and didn't dribble the ball. Instead, he swung his right foot and shot directly!

The Colombian defensive midfielder behind him didn't have time to reach out to pull him, and watched helplessly as Yang Pan's thunderous shot slammed towards his team's goal.

Brel Casotti was a young goalkeeper who had risen to prominence since the World Youth Championship, and was the best goalkeeper in Colombia. His shortcomings were that his positioning wasn't very good, and he didn't grasp the timing of his attacks accurately. But his reactions were incredibly fast, and he was agile, which were the characteristics he was most proud of. In the domestic league, he had even managed to save the football when saving a penalty kick after moving later than the player taking the penalty.

Therefore, the entire Colombian team would not doubt Casotti's reaction.

In the eyes of Casotti, the shots of many domestic strikers were like slow motion replays, and he could always easily find the flight path and save it.

But now, he was facing the most terrifying scene he had ever seen as a goalkeeper.

How should he describe it?

At the moment Yang Pan shot, Casotti saw the silver-white football flash, and then suddenly became several times larger, appearing in front of his eyes. He wanted to save it, but his body couldn't keep up.

The football slammed hard against the lower edge of the crossbar, then bounced towards the ground, bounced up again, pushing the net high, and then landed in the goal.

At this time, Casotti's body reacted—he leaned back and sat down on the ground. He looked up at the goal, and found that the goal's crossbar was still shaking!

"gooooooooooooooooooooooooooal！！！！goal!goal!goal!goal!goooooooooooooooooooal！！！” The commentator was stunned for a moment, and then roared loudly.

Yang Pan looked back at the goal, and confirmed that the football had really gone in. He clenched his fists tightly, and shook his hands up and down in front of his body with a very small amplitude, roaring as he ran towards the sidelines.

The depression of the Champions League and the league was finally vented at this moment!

"Too beautiful! A world-class goal! Yang Pan scored the first goal for the Chinese team, his long shot made the opponent's so-called best domestic goalkeeper extremely embarrassed! We haven't seen Yang Pan's goal with such momentum in a game for a long time! Cannon shot, unstoppable!" CCTV5's on-site commentator Wang Jianxiang roared excitedly.

Yang Pan's roar after scoring a goal further ignited the fire in everyone's hearts. The Chinese fans in the stands roared with Yang Pan, the commentators roared, and even the Chinese team players and coaches on the bench waved their arms and roared.

Qiu Suhui stood up, raising his fists high. He waved his hands hard, and then clapped and roared loudly to Hu Li, "We can definitely win this game!"

"That's right!" Hu Li responded loudly to him, "We have a wonderful start! We have grasped the rhythm of the game! And we have so many excellent players!"

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Colombia was not willing to fail like this, and they then launched a counterattack. The Chinese team's situation on the field was once a bit tight. But soon the Chinese team's defense line gave supporters confidence.

Jones got one of the few opportunities he had, and dribbled the ball straight into the Chinese team's penalty area, hoping to make contributions to the team.

Just as he kicked the football up, Xiang Tao suddenly rushed out from the side, and with a beautiful tackle, kicked the football out of the boundary line. Jones was afraid of getting injured, so he had to jump up.

Xiang Tao got up from the ground, patted his butt at Jones, and then looked back at him before turning around and running away. Jones wasn't stupid, he knew that this was the opponent's provocation. He waved his hand in frustration, and then waited for his teammates to come up and throw the ball in.

The teammate threw the football to Jones again. He received the ball on the wing and habitually wanted to pull to the side. Xiang Tao leaned up again. Jones didn't believe that he couldn't even outrun Xiang Tao, and planned to force his way through.

But as soon as he started, he realized that he was wrong, terribly wrong. The settings in Pro Evolution Soccer were not a problem. It wasn't that his speed was inferior to Xiang Tao's, but that his small movements were inferior to Xiang Tao's... Just as he started, Xiang Tao's hand grabbed on, and then kept pulling once, letting go, then pulling once again, then letting go again... This happened repeatedly, making it impossible for him to unleash his speed. No wonder he couldn't outrun him!

Jones's temper rose, and he didn't raise his hand to indicate to the referee that the other party had fouled. He just wanted to fight Xiang Tao.

He waved his hand and shook off Xiang Tao's hand, and then twisted his body, dodging Xiang Tao's other hand. Jones was secretly pleased, he could finally shake off this follower.

Like a race car running at full power, Jones brought his speed to the fastest, thinking of running to the baseline, and planned to forcibly overtake.

But when he turned his head, he was surprised to find that Xiang Tao was following him next to him, and his speed was not slower than him at all!

Just as Jones was stunned, he found that Xiang Tao had disappeared from his sight, and then his feet faltered, his body suddenly lost balance, and he fell forward.

Xiang Tao made a clean tackle, and successfully kicked the football out of bounds again.

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Seeing that Jones didn't seem to be in a high mood, his teammate didn't give him the ball, but threw it to Abelani, who came up to meet him.

Abelani, who received the football, dribbled past Wang Yu, who came up to defend, and then suddenly kicked and shot!

This shot was very sudden, and the Chinese team's defenders didn't expect it. They all watched helplessly as the football flew past them, flying towards the goal behind them.

The defenders didn't pay attention, but An Ke was focused. Because Colombia's offense was sporadic and threats were rare, he didn't have many opportunities to perform. He was constantly complaining in his heart that the opponent wasn't strong enough when Abelani came up with a high-quality shot.

An Ke moved one step to the left, and then jumped up, grabbing the ball firmly in his hands in the air!

Landing, rolling, curling up, all done in one go. A beautiful save!

"Not enough! Not enough!" An Ke, holding the football, jumped up from the ground, and then shouted loudly. At the same time, he also shook his index finger at Abelani.

Abelani couldn't understand Chinese, but he could understand the meaning of that gesture. He gritted his teeth and stared at An Ke.

He knew that his team's strength was very different from that of the Chinese team, but he couldn't stand such insults and couldn't keep calm.

An Ke launched an attack with a throw, and after three passes and two dabs, the football was once again in Yang Pan's feet. The Chinese team's midfield efficiency was very high. When they needed a quick counterattack, there would never be too much dribbling; they would pass the ball with one kick.

So when Yang Pan received the football, many Colombian players hadn't had time to retreat. Yang Pan ran all the way with the ball, his momentum was aggressive!

"Stop him!! Don't let him kick! Foul! Bastard!" Casotti screamed in panic. He really couldn't let Yang Pan take another shot, otherwise he might collapse. That long shot was really too shocking.

The team's captain, Orozco, with a strong sense of responsibility, rushed towards Yang Pan, intending to block the opponent's shot with his body.

With interception in front and pursuers behind, Yang Pan didn't have time to break into the penalty area again. He had to shoot now, shoot!

"Come on!" Yang Pan roared in a low voice, and then swung his explosive right leg again.

One in front and one behind, two feet tackled, interfering with him. The football flew over the top of the goal at high speed, and didn't go in!

Casotti breathed a sigh of relief. His heart had stopped beating just now.

Seeing that the football didn't go in, Yang Pan grabbed his jersey and roared to the sky, regretful, too regretful!

When Yang Pan was dribbling and breaking through, Qiu Suhui had been watching the field nervously. When he saw that the football didn't go in, he jumped in place and then sighed heavily.

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Not long after Yang Pan's attack, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.

The Colombian players lowered their heads and walked back to the locker room without saying a word.

And the Chinese team's players walked towards the locker room, talking and laughing, exchanging ideas with each other. This halftime break was as relaxing as a vacation.

When Yang Pan, the hero who scored a goal in the first half, reached the entrance of the tunnel, the Chinese fans on both sides of the stands reached out and waved to Yang Pan, shouting his name.

Yang Pan naturally raised both arms and thanked his supporters. Zhang Jun caught up from behind and patted Yang Pan on the back. "Hey, you did a great job, you stole my thunder."

Yang Pan reached out and put his arm around Zhang Jun's neck. "It's because you were too silent in the first half. You gave many opportunities to other people."

Zhang Jun smiled. "It's okay, it wasn't in vain. I found an opportunity, it will be better in the second half."

The two walked into the tunnel, talking and laughing, and disappeared from the sight of most fans.

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The atmosphere in the Colombian locker room was a bit dull. Jones, who was always lively, lowered his head and didn't say a word. And Abelani also looked indignant and didn't want to say much.

Coach Montokaro coughed twice, signaling everyone to cheer up. "Well, I know you are unwilling in your hearts." He didn't say things like "you have lost your fighting spirit," but said "unwilling," hoping to let everyone know that this situation was caused by being unwilling, not by being afraid of the opponent. "But you have to think about it, this is the first time we have participated in the World Cup. Colombian football has not appeared in the World Cup finals for a long time. You have defeated the strong enemies in South America, and finally stood here as representatives of South America, which is a great achievement. The Chinese team is a team that shouted the championship declaration before the game. What can we compare with them? Don't put a psychological burden on yourselves. We were not as good as them in the first place, so it's normal to be led by them. What's there to be discouraged about? We have the courage and drive that they don't have. With these, we can compete with them in the second half! The football is round, and they don't dare to say that they can definitely win until the last moment, and we must never give up lightly!"

In the World Youth Championship, Montokaro had used this method more than once to make the team regain its fighting spirit. Most of the people in this team were very young, and these words were the most effective.

Seeing Jones raise his head, his eyes flashing with a jumping light, he knew that it had worked today as well. He clapped his hands. "Okay, everyone listen to me, we will do this in the second half... The Chinese team will inevitably relax because they controlled the situation in the first half and led us, and may even develop a mentality of underestimating the enemy. This is our opportunity. You remember, remember firmly, football matches are not simply a competition of strength, those who are stronger than us are not necessarily able to defeat us!"

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In the Chinese team's locker room, Qiu Suhui chatted with Hu Li with a smile on his face. He had said everything he needed to say. The Chinese team's performance in the first half was almost perfect, and he didn't have anything to adjust.

The players were also chatting and joking, this halftime break was as relaxing as being on vacation.

Did they know if the atmosphere waiting for them in the second half was still so relaxed?