"The Door God seems to have said something. I wonder what he said to the players!" As the camera captures the scene, Wang Fanfan, the Door God who had just entered the game, gathered all the players around him. They huddled together, and after Wang Fanfan spoke, the players' confidence surged, while the Polish players wore expressions of sheer terror.
"Brothers, it's just a goalkeeper, why is everyone looking so serious?" a very young player from the Polish team asked. "Even though his record is indeed exaggerated, I don't believe we really can't score against him?"
"Little Potter, you've never played in Ligue 1, so you naturally don't know what it's like to face him. But I do!" The captain on the field suddenly sighed deeply and then patted the young man on the shoulder. "Since you're so confident, you'll take the first penalty kick for the team!"
"Ah!" The young player was stunned. He held a high position within the team, ranking as an even number, so in past penalty shootouts, it was always the more famous and higher-valued brothers who went first. When had it ever been his turn, a complete unknown, to step up, let alone be the first striker?
One must understand that the player who kicks first in a penalty shootout is implicitly considered a core player of the entire team.
For example, in the 2022 World Cup final penalty shootout, the first penalties for Argentina and France were taken by Messi and Mbappé respectively. How could he, a mere young player, possibly stand in that position?
The young player expected others to reject the suggestion, but to his surprise, all the players looked at him with anticipation, willingly giving up the chance for the first shot.
The only one who might have tried to stop him was the team's head coach, but this coach seemed to have something on his mind and ultimately said, "Since everyone says so, Little Potter, you'll take the first penalty!"
Potter excitedly ran to the goal with the football. After completing all the preparations, he kicked a beautiful curving shot that flew directly towards the top left corner of the goal. For many goalkeepers, this was an impossible position to save from, surpassing the limits of a goalkeeper's reach.
Of course, shooting towards this position also carried a significant psychological pressure for the penalty taker, as a slight miscalculation could send the ball flying wide.
However, this young player was fearless and bold. Coupled with the universally acknowledged terrifying ability of this Door God, the only chance to score against him was to shoot into the corners of the goal.
Yet, even though his shot was indeed beautiful, by visual estimation, it had at least an 80% chance of going into the net.
To the surprise of the player and all the spectators, as the opponent kicked the ball, Wang Fanfan didn't even bother to move, as if he couldn't be bothered to resist.
However, this confusion didn't last long, because just two seconds later, the football directly hit the goalpost and bounced far away.
It was then that everyone realized Wang Fanfan had already predicted the ball would hit the post, and thus hadn't moved from his spot.
This astonishing judgment ability rendered the entire stadium silent. The young player slumped to the ground, finally understanding what his captain meant by the fear of facing this divine being.
And A
In a penalty shootout, if a team misses a penalty kick first, it deals a devastating blow to their morale.
These two players would also bear immense public pressure and criticism, and all blame would be shifted onto them.
The next two Polish players to take penalties, as expected, chose to shoot towards the corners of the goal. The second time, Wang Fanfan again didn't make any move, because the ball flew wide, not even touching the goal.
However, when the third player stepped up to shoot, Wang Fanfan sprang forward like a leopard, so fast that the spectators' eyes couldn't follow the ball's trajectory before it landed in Wang Fanfan's hands.
This was a ball that was destined to go in, but it was now in Wang Fanfan's possession.
Subsequently, the two players from team Am fulfilled their mission, successfully sending the ball into the net. Team Am, with a total score of 4:1, secured victory in this knockout match.
This also meant that Poland, a team ranked fourth in the world in total market value, was eliminated in the group stage.
The entire stadium was in a state of stunned silence. While everyone knew Wang Fanfan was a superstar on the bench, his astonishing record of blocking three out of three shots upon entering the game still made all the spectators' hands and feet tremble.
Was this the existence that could still win the title of superstar with the impossible buffs of being a substitute and a goalkeeper?
In the post-match interview session, the Polish team's head coach and star players were surprisingly in good spirits, showing none of the expected regret.
When asked by a reporter for his thoughts on the loss and whether the players had done what they were supposed to do, the head coach stated frankly:
"I believe our players have done their best. Our biggest mistake before the match was underestimating team Am. We should have paid more attention to our opponents.
All the current commentary on team Am should be updated and evolved.
Team Am is by no means a weak team from Asia, but a world-class team with the qualifications to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. We lost the first match due to an arrogant mindset.
In the second match, we played with our full strength, and the opponent also played with their full strength. We had a thrilling match, a true game filled with the brilliance of football. Our strengths were evenly matched.
Unfortunately, our Poland team does not have a Door God, and the Door God just so happens to be on the opposing team. Therefore, we lost the penalty shootout, and we accept this outcome wholeheartedly.
We will definitely be back in four years, and we hope to compete with team Am again and defeat them decisively!"
Although the coach's words sounded impressive, they were actually quite absurd. It was audacious for a loser to claim equality with the victor, and for this loser to say it with a smile.
Under normal circumstances, he would have been savagely criticized by the global media and his own country's fans. However, surprisingly, the media present all agreed with this statement.
After all, the two teams had indeed drawn in the standard 120 minutes of play, but the opponent possessed a "nuclear weapon," which was an unchangeable fact that could only be accepted.
"Then, for the team that will face team Am next, do you have any words for them?" a reporter asked.
"Yes!" the coach nodded and then said very seriously to the camera, "You must defeat them in regular time, otherwise you have no chance of winning!"
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The defeated Polish team departed, and as the next day's matches concluded, team Am's next opponent was also determined: it was the national team of head coach Messi, the winner of the 2022 World Cup, Argentina.
The moment this result was announced, the entire football world exploded. Team Am, coached by Messi, was about to challenge his mother country. The hype surrounding this match was unprecedented, with almost all football media outlets going into a frenzy to promote it.
They speculated whether Messi would be loyal to his homeland and find a way to have his team go easy and lose to his own country.
Or would he remember his past grievances with the Argentine Football Association and lead team Am to crush his homeland.
Regardless of the outcome, it was brimming with hype and discussion, capable of igniting global public opinion.
Therefore, during the period between these two matches, almost everyone in the world was discussing the outcome of this game, and Argentinians and Chinese people were naturally the most conflicted.
The Chinese people were unsure if head coach Messi would lead the team forward impartially, while Argentinians worried that if they lost to team Am, Argentina would undoubtedly become the biggest joke.
At this time, everyone's attention naturally turned to Messi's mental state. In fact, Messi's mental state was quite poor, as he had never expected to meet Argentina in the Round of 16.
After winning the championship, due to economic decline, the government had less funding to invest in football. The Argentine Football Association also began to massively delay salaries, forcing many Argentine star players to abandon their domestic leagues and seek survival in other countries.
This further exacerbated the decline of Argentine football, leading to a continuous slump. Last year, Argentina almost failed to even qualify for the World Cup, and ultimately exited in the group stage.
The script this time was similar. After the first group stage match, Argentina had lost both games and appeared to be out of contention.
Unexpectedly, when it came to the group knockout stage, Argentina seemed divinely aided, eliminating the second and first seeds consecutively to secure this sole qualification opportunity, becoming team Am's opponent in the Round of 16. This made Messi extremely despairing and pained.
Of course, Messi had never even considered whether to go easy or not. Putting aside whether he was worthy of doing such a thing, if he dared to lose, then Huang He, the world's richest man, would ensure he wouldn't see the next month's sun.
Speaking of the devil, as Messi thought of Boss Huang, Boss Huang knocked on his door.
"You don't need to play in the next match. I don't trust you!" Boss Huang simply said this and then left.
"Thank you!" Hearing this, despite his extreme pain, Messi couldn't help but say to Huang He.