Chapter 169 Senegal's Last Chance

Senegal's coach's heart had been racing during the Chinese team's offensive onslaught. He was terrified that China would extend their lead to 3-0, which would mean the game was truly over.

Thankfully, his lads withstood the pressure and the intense Chinese attack. If he could just get a breather, he could organize a counterattack.

With a little over ten minutes gone in the second half, many of the Chinese players' dry jerseys, which they had just changed into during halftime, were soaked again.

Even Sophie, standing on the sidelines, had damp sleeves—she kept wiping the sweat off her face with them. Fortunately, she didn't wear much makeup, just a bit of lipstick, or her face would have been a mess.

The oppressive weather dampened the fans' enthusiasm. Many were too hot to even open their mouths, yet the players had to play in such conditions.

German commentators noted that this kind of hot, humid weather was rare for Germany and that China was "lucky" to have encountered it.

Zhang Jun once again felt short of breath. The high humidity made it hard for him to breathe, and this time, he also felt like he couldn't move his legs. Most of the time, he could only stand in place.

Seeing this, Qiu Suhui couldn't help but be grateful that his team had taken a two-goal lead in the first half, giving him more options now. He stood up and shouted instructions from the sidelines, "Fall back! We'll play a defensive counterattack!"

They couldn't just keep attacking relentlessly. They needed to control the pace and fall back appropriately to conserve the players' energy.

Seeing China retreat and not attack as fiercely as before, Senegal's coach waved his hand, ordering his players to press forward. He needed to level the score as soon as possible.

Suddenly, the situation on the field changed. The previously dominant Chinese team, due to fatigue, began to retreat to defend. Senegal, originally on the defensive, seized the opportunity to pursue and launch a fierce attack on China's half of the field.

Diouf loved this. Before, he hadn't been able to get the ball for ages, and he couldn't use his strength. Now it was different. He had three chances to shoot in five minutes, and even though only one shot was on target, at least he was shooting.

An Ke was now very busy, not only having to stop the opponent's shots but also having to take on the responsibility of directing the defense.

"A Sheng, someone's open! Don't worry about the ball! Go mark him!"

"Xiang Tao, don't rush in too hard! Watch out for them getting behind you!"

"Li Yongle! Foul if you have to! I won't let them score on a free kick!"

"Cover! Cover! The center is open again!!"

...

During this period, An Ke's loud voice never stopped. At the same time, he repeatedly thwarted Senegal's increasingly aggressive attacks.

Having an excellent goalkeeper is like having half a team. That was what Franz Beckenbauer said about Kahn at the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. Back then, Germany only made it to the World Cup finals through the playoffs and was considered the worst German team in history. They weren't even among the favorites to win, but thanks to Kahn's excellent performance, they made it all the way to the final, which shocked many people.

The Chinese team's defense wasn't great, but because they had An Ke, Qiu Suhui was somewhat relieved.

Let them attack, let them attack. Once we build up our strength, we'll give them a fatal blow, and then the game will be over.

Qiu Suhui adjusted his posture, choosing what he thought was the most comfortable position, and sat down to watch the game.

※※※

If everything went according to Qiu Suhui's plan, this would be a mundane match. For many neutral German fans, a game between two teams without big-name stars wouldn't be worth watching if the game itself was uneventful.

The referee must have thought so too.

Diouf was dribbling in front of the Chinese penalty area. His feints made Zheng Jun dizzy, and he lost his balance. After fooling Zheng Jun, he broke towards the penalty area from the other side! Zheng Jun knew he couldn't let the opponent into the penalty area, or things would get complicated. So, he saw his chance and tripped Diouf just before he entered the area.

Diouf fell into the penalty area, and the referee blew his whistle.

It was a foul, no doubt about it. An Ke was also getting ready to direct the wall.

But the next second, they were dumbfounded. The referee from Argentina ran into the penalty area and pointed to the penalty spot!

It was a penalty!

It was a penalty?!

The whole stadium erupted in an uproar. The big screen replayed the scene. Zheng Jun's foul was unquestionable, but the foul occurred outside the penalty area. Diouf had only fallen into the area. There was no way it could be a penalty. The referee's decision was a mistake!

But the referee who made the call didn't seem to want to change it. He stood at the penalty spot, insisting that his decision was correct.

Senegal's substitutes and players on the field were cheering. The players went forward to hug Diouf, as if they had already scored.

Zheng Jun looked at the opposing players' happy expressions and then at the referee's stiff, expressionless face, and he was furious. Ignoring his teammates' attempts to dissuade him, he rushed up to the referee and pointed at his own eyes, shouting, "Are you blind?! It was clearly a free kick. I fouled him outside the penalty area, not inside! What the hell are you calling a penalty for?! You damn crooked referee! How much money did they give you?"

This was clearly disagreeing with the decision and verbally assaulting the referee. The referee naturally wouldn't let this opportunity to punish Zheng Jun pass. He gave him a yellow card without hesitation. Fortunately, he couldn't understand the gibberish of Chinese, or it wouldn't have been just a yellow card. A red card would have been justified.

If Wang Hui and Li Yi hadn't desperately stopped Zheng Jun, he probably would have actively sought a second yellow card after receiving the first one.

Qiu Suhui was certainly unhappy with the penalty call, but what angered him even more was Zheng Jun's behavior. As a captain, how could he be so impulsive and reckless? What kind of "example" was he setting?

Many Chinese players believe that a team captain should be aggressive, powerful, and willing to stand up in any situation, fighting with opponents, coaches, referees, and fans, finding endless joy in it. Only then can they be considered authoritative and have prestige, only then can they be a captain. But in reality, they've just watched too many poorly made gangster movies. Such a person isn't a captain, but a bully.

People used to talk about "highway robbers." The nature of a "ball bully" is similar.

What should a real captain be like? Refer to Franco Baresi of AC Milan and Fernando Hierro of Real Madrid, and Franz Beckenbauer of the German national team. Those are real captains. Whether on the field, in the locker room, or in off-field life, they care about their teammates, strive for appropriate rights, help and mentor younger players, and always set a good example in everyone's eyes, using their personal charisma to resolve conflicts, rather than fists and cliques.

That's why Chinese football isn't professional enough. Many people simply don't have those professional qualities in their heads. This captain culture is also a component of professionalism.

Chen Wei said that Chinese football still has a long way to go to become professional, and he certainly had good reason to say that. For Chinese football to achieve true professionalism, one chairman's term isn't enough, and two aren't enough. It requires the unremitting, joint efforts of thousands upon thousands of Chinese football people. Unfortunately, even the most basic professional reforms face heavy resistance, and the future of Chinese football remains as dim as starlight in a cloudy night sky.

Qiu Suhui rushed to the sidelines and shouted to the players, "Stop making a fuss! If you want to be taken off early, I'll substitute you! Shut your mouths once the referee makes a decision!" These words were meant for Zheng Jun. He had long wanted to replace this reckless captain who was brave but lacked strategy and only corrupted others off the field. But in this current national team, new and old players were split evenly, and there weren't many senior players in the starting lineup. For the sake of team balance, he had to continue to put the captain's armband on this person.

The best candidate in his mind was Yang Pan, who had been the captain of the national youth team. No one among the new generation of players had more leadership qualities than this mature young man.

※※※

The referee waved his hand to dismiss the Chinese players who were trying to argue, giving Senegal not only a nonexistent penalty but also a yellow card to Zheng Jun.

It wasn't a black whistle, just a mistake. Because the spot where Zheng Jun committed the foul was so close to the edge of the penalty area, the eye inevitably makes mistakes in the heat of the moment. We must firmly believe that the World Cup organized by the meticulous and conscientious Germans would be much cleaner than the previous one.

Despite understanding this, some fans were still cursing the referee as a black whistle, which was a form of venting and somewhat understandable. Others were cursing Zheng Jun, believing that his poor performance on defense had caused this result. This kind of cursing, apart from venting, was also justified, making people nod in agreement.

In the one-on-one against Diouf, An Ke was defeated. He leaped to make the save, only to find that the opponent had pushed the penalty kick into the middle of the goal.

2-1! Senegal pulled one back!

This goal caused another subtle shift in the situation on the field.

Being only one goal ahead made the Chinese team less relaxed than when they had a two-goal lead. Senegal, on the other hand, saw hope of leveling the score with twenty-five minutes left in the game. They would definitely attack even harder, putting more pressure on the Chinese team.

For the Chinese team, this was both good and bad. The bad thing was that they had to be more active, which would consume a lot of energy. The good thing was that Senegal's large-scale attack would inevitably leave more gaps behind them. As long as the Chinese team seized the opportunity to counterattack, the chance of scoring would greatly increase.

Opportunities are fair to both sides of the game. It depends on who can seize those opportunities and disrupt the other side's opportunities. The group stage is still okay, but once you enter the knockout stage, it's almost more about which side can disrupt the other side's opportunities, rather than seizing their own. That's why many knockout matches in major tournaments are dull and ugly.

"Play a defensive counterattack!" Qiu Suhui signaled to Yang Pan, who was on the sidelines, and he passed the instruction on. He now wanted to deliberately cultivate Yang Pan's intangible authority within the team. Starting with these small details, he gradually and steadily wanted to get everyone else to accept the fact that Yang Pan was giving orders.

"Defensive counterattack! We're playing a defensive counterattack!" Yang Pan shouted to the other teammates. "They're definitely going to keep pressing! Don't let any counterattacking opportunity slip away!"

※※※

Senegal's offensive was as intense as people had predicted. They wanted to take advantage of the momentum of having just scored a goal to level the score.

The Chinese team naturally retreated to defend. Since Senegal's morale was high, the smart thing to do would be to avoid their sharpest attacks, get through their first three strikes, and then, when the other side was exhausted and hadn't caught its breath, launch a counterattack, which would definitely have a miraculous effect.

When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we advance. That's roughly the idea.

Only Zhang Jun stayed up front. Wu Shangshan also had to fall back to defend. Senegal's offensive was like a tide, and even the commentators were worried about the Chinese team: "Now is the crucial moment for the Chinese team. As long as they can hold on… but can they succeed?"

Diop took another long shot, which was deflected by a Chinese player, causing a slight change in direction. Fortunately, the deflection was still within An Ke's control. He dove and pressed the ball to the ground.

Getting up from the ground, An Ke cheered on his teammates: "Good! Just like that! Let them take long shots! But don't let them into the penalty area! They can't score on long shots!"

These words were somewhat disdainful of Senegal. Which goalkeeper would dare to say that they could prevent all of the opponent's long shots from going in? An Ke only regretted that the other side couldn't understand his Chinese and couldn't be provoked.

An Ke's idea was risky and could lead to backfiring. He liked it this way and never tired of it. He often used words to provoke opponents in Bundesliga matches. Even if he failed, he wouldn't learn from it. That's just how his personality was.

※※※

Afterward, both sides were deadlocked in midfield, with steals and counter-steals, and neither side gained an advantage. The quick pace of the offense and defense was also because both sides made a lot of mistakes, which surprised the commentators.

"Ah! Zhang Jun of the Chinese team is dribbling the ball. He passes! A beautiful opening… why didn't Wu Shangshan run up? What a pity!"

"Senegal launches a counterattack. There are only three defenders in the Chinese defense. They're not being blocked! The Chinese team is in danger! A long shot? Diouf actually takes a long shot! They could have gone into the penalty area. I really don't know what Diouf is thinking…"

"Another Senegalese attack! An opportunity! Diouf is dribbling very fast. Li Suisheng can't catch up… Aha! A mistake, Diouf didn't adjust his rhythm well, and he lost the ball himself!"

"Zhang Jun also gets an opportunity! Ah, why didn't he control the ball well? Look at the expression on the Senegalese goalkeeper's face. He looks a little relieved to have escaped a disaster."

…

The audience was also very excited, following the changes in the situation on the field with their emotions and voices.

Perhaps seeing that the Chinese team was currently at a disadvantage, some of the Chinese fans in attendance began to sing "Ode to the Motherland." At first, only a small group of thirty or so people were singing, but it gradually spread out, and more than ten thousand Chinese fans sang this inspiring song in unison, turning the small group into a large chorus.

This unified singing was much better than the previous chaotic horn noises. The players on the field immediately felt different.

The weather was already hot and humid, and the intermittent horn noises not only failed to cheer them on but instead made the players feel even more annoyed, especially those who played abroad. Now, hearing the chorus of more than ten thousand people, what do you think the Chinese players felt in their hearts? Blood boiling, blood boiling.

And this large chorus was initiated by "Monkey King" Niu Jianhua. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable for the Chinese team, he wanted to find a way to cheer them on and stimulate them. After thinking about it, he remembered watching the Premier League broadcasts, where he could clearly hear the fans singing in the stadium on TV, which made him, an ordinary fan, feel his blood boil.

He had always felt that the lack of professionalism among Chinese fans was manifested in their limited ways of cheering. They couldn't use the most effective means to cheer for their supported team and couldn't drive the atmosphere in the stadium. Starting with this World Cup, he wanted to use his influence among the fans to correct everyone and make Chinese fans more professional.

※※※

"Listen to this singing." Zhang Jun stopped Yang Pan, who was preparing to take a throw-in.

Yang Pan cocked his head to listen: "Oh, 'Ode to the Motherland.' What's up?"

"Don't you think this is the first time we've heard Chinese fans singing at the World Cup? Don't you feel anything special?"

"Feel what?" Yang Pan shrugged. His mind wasn't on listening to what the fans were singing.

"Blood boiling!" Zhang Jun clenched his fist.

"Then go score another goal first, and make the Senegal coach's blood pressure boil!" Yang Pan pushed Zhang Jun, he had to hurry up and take the throw-in.

Zhang Jun smiled slyly, obviously forgetting about the heat. All he had on his mind was scoring.

Wasn't Senegal attacking fiercely? Then he would use a counterattack to score another goal against them, completely destroy their hopes of leveling the score or even overtaking it, and completely secure the victory.

Yang Pan threw the throw-in to Li Yongle, who was forced by a Senegalese player and took a long shot, which went over the crossbar.

Yang Pan waved to him, signaling him to quickly return to defense, and he also turned around and ran back. Even Wu Shangshan, although still upset that Li Yongle didn't pass the ball to him but chose to shoot directly, also had to hurry back to defend. Only Zhang Jun stayed up front, slowly walking back, paying attention to his position relative to the opponent's defenders, making sure he didn't go offside.

It was the twenty-ninth minute of the second half. He was waiting for an opportunity, he was still waiting for an opportunity. Qiu Suhui never let him run all over the field, because that seemed incredibly active, but for him, it was just a pointless waste of energy. He only needed to be in the right place when the team needed to score.

The rest was just waiting for cheers.

Of course, sometimes some people who didn't understand football would also criticize Zhang Jun for playing passively and not putting in effort: "Did he even run a thousand meters in the whole game?"

That was all nonsense, and Qiu Suhui never paid attention to it.

※※※

With fifteen minutes left in the game, Senegal had nothing to lose. Now they had no choice but to attack. They didn't care how big the gaps were behind them, nor did they care if they conceded more goals. For them, losing by one goal was the same as losing by two or three goals, so they might as well go all out and try to score.

This was perfect for the Chinese team, who had been looking for counterattacking opportunities all along.

The Chinese players were also aware of this, so after intercepting the ball, they didn't hesitate to play long passes forward to find Zhang Jun and Wu Shangshan.

However, this often resulted in the two forwards being offside, and many opportunities were wasted in vain.

Qiu Suhui wished this was a basketball game, or that it had basketball rules, so he could call a timeout and warn his players about what was going wrong. Now he could only stand on the sidelines and shout loudly, and he couldn't guarantee how many people on the field could hear him clearly in the stadium where the cheers were rising one wave after another.

"Don't play long passes like that! Advance with quick short passes! Keep the ball at your feet!"

Wasn't it clear? But under the interference of the fans' cheers, it became: "... long passes!... Advance!... feet!"

The meaning was almost completely opposite. Qiu Suhui wanted to rush onto the field, grab each player who was doing this, and warn them. Now there was no dead ball, and the players were all focused on the game, forgetting for a moment that there was a coach on the sidelines.

※※※

After being offside and failing to receive hurried passes from their teammates several times, Zhang Jun and Wu Shangshan were both having trouble breathing.

"No... can't, can't! This... won't work!" Wu Shangshan said breathlessly, "We're doing shuttle runs here!"

Zhang Jun nodded in agreement. He couldn't even speak and was gritting his teeth to persevere. If he kept running like this, he would cramp before the game was over. He saw Yang Pan looking at him from afar, and he raised his hand and made a gesture to Yang Pan, then pointed to himself and Wu Shangshan, and then pointed to the linesman.

Yang Pan understood, and he turned around and shouted to the others: "Play a defensive counterattack! But don't just play long passes! It's better for us to advance with quick passes in the midfield! The defenders shouldn't just blindly kick the ball forward!"

Then he took the time to pull Li Yongle aside: "You're a defensive midfielder, the initiator of the attack, don't always play long passes! The attacking methods are too monotonous, and they've all been seen through by the opponent. Didn't you see that Zhang Jun can't run anymore?"

Li Yongle gasped and nodded: "I know, I know. It's just that the atmosphere is too tense, and I can't control my emotions, and I want to pass the ball forward as soon as I get it. The opponent's pressing in the midfield is also very fierce, like they're crazy."

"They're already crazy, what are they waiting for if they're not crazy at this time? Then we'll use short passes in the midfield, quick passes, like 'teasing a monkey.' Passes between two or three people," Yang Pan gestured.

"I understand, but we have to avoid Ke Lu. That kid always likes to dribble the ball a few steps, dribble past people, and then pass, so we can't talk about a quick counterattack."

Yang Pan turned to look at Ke Lu on the side: "Pass the ball to me, I'm fast, and I don't have any problems with stamina. And I have good chemistry with Zhang Jun."

"I'll listen to you," Li Yongle nodded, and the two exchanged high-fives and walked away.

※※※

Qiu Suhui thought that if they were going to play a defensive counterattack now, then Ke Lu would be in an awkward position. His technical characteristics meant that he couldn't be fast, and since he wasn't very good at defense, he was completely useless on the field now.

Letting him stay on the field was a waste of a spot. Qiu Suhui wanted to replace Ke Lu with Zhao Pengyu, who was fast and good at counterattacking. This was reasonable and there was no question about it. But in the moment Qiu Suhui decided to call back Zhao Pengyu, who was still warming up, he suddenly changed his mind. He remembered that if Ke Lu continued to stay on the field, he wouldn't be completely useless, but would be of great use.

Soon he found that the players on the field had already made adjustments themselves. There were fewer blind long passes, and more targeted medium and short passes. He knew that the players themselves had realized this problem, so he stopped pacing on the sidelines and sat back down with peace of mind.

※※※

The Chinese team intercepted Senegal's ball and launched a counterattack. Li Yongle got the ball and passed it to Yang Pan. After receiving the ball, Yang Pan tried to break through, but he quickly abandoned this idea because he analyzed that it would waste more time and have a very low success rate.

But he also couldn't pass to either Zhang Jun or Wu Shangshan, because it would likely be intercepted halfway. The closest person to him and the most suitable to receive the ball was Ke Lu. He passed the ball to him.

This pass was like an indirect pass to Zhang Jun. Ke Lu was in a good position, and if he just changed the direction of the ball and passed it to Zhang Jun, it would be a good opportunity.

But what Yang Pan didn't want to see still happened. After receiving the ball, Ke Lu didn't pass it at the first opportunity, but habitually dribbled the ball straight towards the Senegalese player defending him—he still wanted to dribble past him!

With Ke Lu's technique, dribbling past this one person wouldn't be a problem, but when he dribbled past the person and then passed the ball, the linesman raised his flag, Zhang Jun was offside. This time it was only by half a body.

Zhang Jun had been moving forward when Ke Lu received the ball. If Ke Lu had passed the ball directly at that time, not only would it not have been offside, but it would have been a decisive attack. But when Zhang Jun ran out and found himself in an offside position, Ke Lu was still dribbling past the person. He quickly ran back, and at this time Ke Lu passed the ball…

Zhang Jun spread his hands towards Ke Lu in frustration. Their coordination still wasn't good enough.

Li Yongle waved his hand at Yang Pan, and Yang Pan could only shake his head. What could he do? He could only pass to Ke Lu just now.

Ke Lu's performance was the same as what Qiu Suhui had predicted. Quick passing wasn't his specialty, but that didn't mean Ke Lu was useless. On the contrary, his role would become increasingly important as time went on.

Even the Chinese commentators were somewhat dissatisfied with Ke Lu's delay in seizing the opportunity. "Ke Lu is indeed too young. He wasn't decisive enough in handling this ball. Otherwise, if the Chinese team had scored another goal, this game could have ended early."

Regret was regret, dissatisfaction was dissatisfaction, the Chinese team had to find another opportunity.

※※※

Diouf tried to dribble past Li Yongle, but his feints didn't work. Instead, he was fooled by Li Yongle—Li Yongle pretended to lose his balance, making Diouf think he had succeeded. Just as he was about to break through, the ball was hooked away.

Intercepting the ball, Li Yongle dribbled forward. His sudden advance caught the Senegalese defenders off guard. Should they defend or not? They had to weigh the issue.

Zhang Jun, Wu Shangshan, Yang Pan, and Ke Lu were all moving forward. It would be a very risky move to abandon any of them and go to intercept Li Yongle.

Li Yongle ran towards Zhang Jun, and people thought he would pass the ball to Zhang Jun, but he tilted his head and directly used the back of his right foot to chip the ball up, passing it to Yang Pan, who was coming up on the right.

Receiving the ball, Yang Pan pushed the ball forward, posing as if he was going to forcibly break through with speed, but in the end, he just used his right foot to pass the ball towards the far post of the penalty area.

Zhang Jun moved forward the moment he passed the ball, not offside, so when the Senegalese defenders discovered Zhang Jun appearing behind them, they all raised their arms, but the linesman didn't raise his flag. Zhang Jun calmly jumped up, used his chest to bring the ball down, and then was in a position to shoot.

Everyone thought Zhang Jun would shoot directly, and they believed he would definitely score, such a great opportunity, he wouldn't give it up.

"He's entered the penalty area! A beautiful pass!"

"Stop him! Don't let him shoot!" The Senegalese coach shouted nervously. If the Chinese team scored this goal, they would really be finished!

Some people had already started celebrating in advance.

Zhang Jun did want to shoot directly, but when he landed, he suddenly felt his left foot go soft and almost didn't stand firm. He knew that his stamina had reached its limit, and shooting at this time would only be a waste of this opportunity.

Two Senegalese defenders and a goalkeeper were all rushing towards him. In the gap between the people, he saw Wu Shangshan raising both hands to ask for the ball. Zhang Jun knew how much Wu Shangshan wanted to score, and more importantly, the position he was in was unguarded at this moment!

This was truly a heaven-sent opportunity!

Zhang Jun pretended to shoot, but used the instep of his right foot to flick the ball towards the center. The ball passed through the goalkeeper and the defenders and rolled in front of Wu Shangshan.

Facing an empty goal, the work Wu Shangshan needed to do was simple, he just needed to raise his foot and then touch it lightly...

"Goal! Goal! The Chinese team locks in the victory 3-1! Wu Shangshan! He is the youngest goal scorer in World Cup history in Chinese football!"

Wu Shangshan was more excited than people imagined after scoring. He even forgot the regulations of FIFA, took off his jersey, and waved it in his hand to celebrate the goal.

Only he himself knew how important this goal was. Although being bought out by Manchester United had caused some minor sensation in China, he had been sent to Belgium to play in the second-tier league for two seasons. Manchester United was still constantly buying strikers and had no intention of recalling him. This made Wu Shangshan have to worry about his future.

He needed to use a goal in the World Cup to prove to Ferguson, or rather, to demonstrate that he had the ability to play for the Manchester United first team.

In his excitement, he not only forgot the rules but also forgot to hug Zhang Jun, who had assisted him. Unlike the excited Wu Shangshan, Zhang Jun fell to the ground after passing the ball, and even though he saw Wu Shangshan score, he didn't get up—he was cramping.

Li Yongle raised Zhang Jun's left leg, helping him press his leg while signaling to the referee to let the team doctor enter the field. The referee directly signaled for the stretcher to come on the field, carrying Zhang Jun off to treat him, so as not to delay the game time. Because Senegal couldn't wait another second now.

As Zhang Jun was being carried off, Li Yongle patted Zhang Jun on the stretcher: "Beautiful pass, now you can go off the field without worrying."

Zhang Jun smiled at him: "It seems I really can't hold on anymore. The last ten minutes, it's all up to you."

"Don't worry."

Zhang Jun was carried to the sidelines, and Qiu Suhui rushed over. After looking at Zhang Jun's situation, he decided to replace the exhausted main striker.

He said to Zhang Jun, who had been pulled up and whose leg was still a bit lame: "You can go straight back to the locker room to shower now, change your clothes, and then come out and celebrate the victory with us."

Zhang Jun smiled and rejected the coach's suggestion: "No, Coach Qiu. I want to be with everyone."

Qiu Suhui nodded and ordered the team doctor to give them a dry towel, and then turned to order Zhao Pengyu, who had warmed up.

Many people believed that in this situation, a defensive player should be used to replace Zhang Jun, but Qiu Suhui didn't. He used an attacking player to replace another attacking player.

Because he had a player on the field who was better at using time to defend than any defender.

He pulled Zhao Pengyu aside and said to him: "You go up and play left midfielder, your main task is to help Xiang Tao defend. Let Yang Pan return to the right, also to defend. Finally, the most crucial point, go tell Ke Lu to dribble the ball more in the frontcourt, control the ball more, dribble however he wants, run however he wants, play however he wants! I don't care about him, but he can't easily lose the ball. If he loses the ball, counter-press on the spot. If the counter-press doesn't work, foul! Try to delay the game time and induce the opponent to foul in their own half. Have Li Yongle and the others pass the ball to Ke Lu."

Qiu Suhui's defense wasn't a traditional passive defense. Because there was someone on the team who was very good at controlling the ball, he could let the ball stay in the opponent's half longer, and he could also make the opponent foul in a frantic state. In the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup semi-final, after Brazil took a 1-0 lead over Turkey, Brazilian coach Scolari replaced him with the ball control master Denilson. This man used his ball control in the Turkish half, drawing five of their defenders to the corner flag, and even then no one could intercept his ball. In the end, the infuriated Turks had no choice but to foul.

Now Qiu Suhui wanted Ke Lu to tease his opponents with his skills like Denilson, grinding away the opponent's sharpness, increasing their temper, and wasting the time of the game.

After Zhao Pengyu came on the field, he conveyed Qiu Suhui's instructions to the relevant personnel one by one. The Chinese team knew how they should play in the remaining ten minutes.

After hearing what Zhao Pengyu said, Ke Lu's eyes lit up. Since Senegal scored, he had been depressed, without many opportunities to perform. Now that Qiu Suhui told him, "Play as much as you want!" How could he not be happy?

※※※

Soon, Ke Lu received the ball, and as Qiu Suhui had hoped, he firmly controlled the ball at his feet, not in a hurry to pass the ball, or rather, he didn't plan to pass the ball at all.

At first, the Chinese commentators were very puzzled, but soon they discovered the intention behind this move—to passively play the game in a gorgeous way that the vast majority of fans loved to see.

Diop found that the ball was like it was glued to the feet of this No. 20 player. No matter how he tried to kick it, he couldn't intercept the ball. Several times, he poked the ball away, but the opponent immediately and nimbly regained control of the ball, seemingly staggering, but leaving you with no way to do anything.

Everyone said that Africans had delicate footwork, but this man's footwork made many African players sigh in inferiority.

Diop knew that he couldn't intercept the ball alone. He waved his hand and called for another person, two people ganging up, they should be able to intercept the ball, right?

But no, as soon as Ke Lu saw that two people were coming, he quickly moved the ball to the right and ran to the sideline. Two Senegalese players chased after him, and along the way, the Senegalese left midfielder, left-back, and center-back all surrounded him.

At this time, they didn't care how many fatal gaps there were behind them, nor did they care whether these gaps would give the Chinese team a chance to widen the score. They only wanted to rely on the numerical advantage to intercept the ball. At this time, it was no longer a contest of football, but a contest of wills.

Wu Shangshan stood in the penalty area with only a goalkeeper, somewhat at a loss. He even forgot to raise his hand to ask for the ball—now should be a great opportunity for him to score a second goal!

Ke Lu ran to the vicinity of the sideline, right under the linesman's nose. He stepped on the ball, and then opened his arms, leaned back, leaned on an unknown Senegalese player, and constantly used his body to collide, protecting the ball like this. The Senegalese people behind him couldn't hook the ball no matter how long their legs were. If they poked forward, the ball would definitely go out of bounds, giving the Chinese team a throw-in for nothing. Foul? That was exactly what the Chinese team wanted.

"Ke Lu has attracted six of the opponent's defenders by himself! The ball is still at his feet! Time is passing by, and the Chinese team is on the verge of victory!"

Ke Lu didn't want to stay in this place with that group of black people all the time. He couldn't show off his footwork like this.

He used his body to bump the opponent behind him again, on the one hand to determine the situation behind him, and on the other hand to create a little looseness to create opportunities for him to break through.

The people behind him finally retreated a little, an opportunity!

Ke Lu used his heel to kick the ball backward, and at the same time, he quickly turned around! But the ball didn't kick out, but hit a foot and bounced back. But Ke Lu's second reaction was very quick. While turning around, he used his right heel to kick the rebounded ball again. This time he kicked the ball with precision, and the ball obediently slipped through the legs, and his body shrank and slipped out like a loach.

He had broken through the encirclement like this!

But it wasn't over yet. There was still a second line of defense waiting for him. The moment he broke through, before he had time to touch the ball, an opposing defender rushed up to try to tackle the ball away.

Good Ke Lu, agile reaction, in a situation that others couldn't imagine, he poked the ball to the side, and then jumped up, dodging the tackle! The ball passed, and he passed!

Then he was a little weak, and was knocked down from the side. Senegal finally used a foul to end Ke Lu's series of performances. The Chinese team got the result they wanted most.

Yang Pan took three attempts to place the ball before getting