Chapter 199 Penalty Kick

When He Ying fell in the penalty area, Chinese fans in the stands cheered. They sincerely believed it was a penalty, without a doubt.

At the same time, Chilean fans in the stands booed—they reflexively thought He Ying was faking a fall.

However, what the fans thought was unimportant. What mattered was the referee's view.

Duarte blew his whistle to stop the game and ran to the penalty area. Then, he raised his arm and pointed to the penalty spot.

It was the standard gesture for awarding a penalty!

From multiple slow-motion replays, Gutierrez's foul was also beyond doubt. He did indeed trip He Ying's foot. Although he certainly didn't mean to, his intention was to tackle the ball, but He Ying was faster. He took the ball away first. Gutierrez couldn't stop his foot and could only kick He Ying down.

When Gutierrez fouled, the referee was well-positioned with no obstructions, seeing the entire process of Gutierrez's foul.

So, he made the penalty call.

Of course, Chilean players couldn't accept this result. Regardless of whether they were right, they had to protest to the referee.

But it was useless. After all the talking, the ruling could not be changed.

Furthermore, Gutierrez received a yellow card from referee Duarte for the tackle from behind.

"Gutierrez just came on the field for five minutes, and he already got a yellow card, and gave China a penalty… I wonder if Sampaoli will regret this substitution…" Duan Xin joked.

The Chinese team got a penalty, and leveling the score was within sight, improving his mood a lot.

When Gutierrez fouled, giving China the penalty, the TV broadcast took the time to show a close-up of Vidal, who had already been substituted off, to see his reaction.

Vidal spread his hands, looking helpless.

Sampaoli complained to the fourth official, insisting that He Ying must have faked the fall.

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Referee Duarte drove all irrelevant personnel out of the penalty area. In addition to him, only Chilean goalkeeper Bravo and He Ying remained.

He Ying would take the penalty himself.

If he could score, he would score twice in the match.

This would create new history—not only was he the first Chinese male footballer to score in the World Cup, but also the first Chinese male footballer to score twice in a World Cup, and currently the Chinese male footballer with the most goals in the World Cup...

Having a low baseline was good in this way, easily creating records.

"He Ying is going to take the penalty that he created himself..." Duan Xin's voice was much quieter, seemingly afraid of disturbing He Ying.

Chinese fans held their breath, staring at the Chilean goal.

Chilean fans made constant noise, trying to interfere with He Ying. Fortunately, the two sides switched sides in the second half, and the Chilean goal was right below the stands where Chinese fans gathered, so there wouldn't be a large number of fans waving their arms to interfere with He Ying.

Many Chinese fans here put their hands together, closed their eyes, and dared not watch.

Referee Duarte saw that both sides had withdrawn from the penalty area, and goalkeeper Bravo and He Ying were ready, so he blew the whistle in his mouth.

The whistle sounded.

He Ying took a deep breath and began his run-up.

With his action, both Chinese fans at the scene and in front of the TV held their breath.

He Ying's run-up distance wasn't long, only two steps. He ran to the front of the football, then used his left foot to support his body, swung his right foot, and kicked the football!

With a bang!

The football flew to the upper right corner of the goal!

Goalkeeper Bravo judged the right direction, but the height of his dive was not enough, and he didn't touch the football!

At this time, Chilean fans were praying that the football would eventually fly over the crossbar, but they didn't get their wish.

The football kicked by He Ying flew steadily into the goal from under the lower edge of the crossbar!

"Goal!!! 2:2! The Chinese team leveled the score!" Duan Xin shouted, raising his arms. "He Ying calmly and composedly shot to the upper corner, and steadily kicked the football in! Although Bravo judged the right direction, He Ying's shot was too tricky, he couldn't reach it!"

"He's really skilled and daring..." Zhang Lu said with emotion beside him. "Many players would choose to shoot a ground ball in this situation, which is safer, but He Ying shot an upper corner... If he used a little more force, the ball might have flown out... These young people are really amazing!"

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He Ying was very excited after scoring. After all, he scored twice in the match. This time, he didn't run towards the stands where Chinese fans gathered, even though it was right in front of him. He turned and ran towards the Chinese team's bench, followed by his teammates.

Then, he plunged into the crowd in front of the Chinese team's bench and hugged Zhou Yi.

"This goal is for you, Zhou Yi!" He Ying shouted excitedly in his ear.

"Thank you!" Zhou Yi patted He Ying's back hard.

Others rushed up and overwhelmed them.

"He Ying gave Zhou Yi a hug..." Duan Xin choked a little when he said this. "This is a united collective, a united team..."

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Chinese fans in the stands cheered to their heart's content. Many of them had traveled thousands of miles from China to Brazil, and not every fan who came to Brazil to cheer for the Chinese team was rich and had no pressure to watch the game in Brazil.

Many of them were actually ordinary wage earners, and they were all fanatical Chinese fans who paid a huge price to be able to come to Brazil to watch the game. These costs may include losing their jobs, or strained relationships with their families.

But they still had to come.

For them, Chinese football was their faith.

Today, after letting them down time and time again, Chinese football finally made them proud.

On the World Cup, the highest stage of world football, the Chinese team chased two goals in a row!

This was a tenacious and united Chinese team, which was very different from the Chinese team in their memories. There were no factions or cliques in the team, only one young people full of vigor.

Although they were a little worried without Zhou Yi.

But now the performance of the Chinese team put their minds at ease.

Without Zhou Yi, the strength of the Chinese team would indeed be affected, but as long as the team was united, the fans dared to place more hope on them.

Being able to see these two goals today was worth the price of admission for those Chinese fans who paid a huge price to come to Brazil to watch the game.

They cheered to their heart's content, venting their inner emotions.

Except for 2002, every World Cup they were the most enthusiastic spectators on this planet, turning a competition that had nothing to do with them into a domestic event.

And this time, it really had something to do with them.

Their enthusiasm for football had an emotional attachment in this World Cup.

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After the Chinese team finished celebrating, the game continued.

The Chilean team that had just been tied was a little confused. They never imagined that they would score two goals in a row in the first thirteen minutes of the game, but this game did not enter their rhythm. Instead, the Chinese team chased two goals in a row to tie the score...

This trance made Chile almost completely suppressed by the Chinese team in the game.

Two minutes after the Chinese team scored, Zheng Zhi took a long shot on the right side of the penalty area, and the football went wide.

In the sixty-ninth minute, Zhang Linpeng sent a forty-five-degree cross from the right, and He Ying once again grabbed a spot in front of the goal, but his header was slightly high.

"The Chinese team is obviously speeding up. They want to take advantage of the momentum of just tying the score to score another goal. After all, if they want to qualify from this group, then they must defeat the Chilean team in the first game!"

But unfortunately, this acceleration of the Chinese team did not last long, because their physical fitness became a problem.

This game was the first game of the Chinese team in this World Cup. At the beginning, the whole team was nervous and was scored two goals in a row. In the following game time, the Chinese team had been trying their best to catch up. After finally catching up, the physical fitness was almost exhausted.

This game was completely different from the rhythm of ordinary games, and the physical fitness of the players was consumed faster.

Of course, the Chinese team consumed a lot of physical fitness, and the Chilean team was not much better.

When the game reached the seventy-fifth minute, the physical fitness of the two teams had declined seriously, and the number of passing errors began to increase. Yang Hao, who was physically fit in the national team, even had cramps...

Lippi then replaced Yang Hao with Zhao Xuri.

In the eighty-third minute, Sanchez got a good chance, but his long shot from outside the penalty area flew directly to the stands.

After shooting this shot, Sanchez supported his knees with his hands, leaned over and gasped for breath.

He was also very tired.

Because Vidal was in poor condition, Chile's offensive in this game was basically driven by him alone. He kept running and consumed a lot of physical fitness.

The development of the game now made him a little depressed. It was clearly a two-goal lead, but now it became a tie, and the three points he got turned into one point. He tried desperately to get the three points back, but the result was a high shot...

In fact, the Chinese team had the same idea as Sanchez. They also wanted to win this game.

It was easier to get three points from Chile than to get three points from the Netherlands and Spain, right?

But the Chinese team is now also "willing but unable to do anything".

Although they wanted to win very much, they had consumed too much physical fitness before, and coupled with the lack of a real organizer, they didn't know how to exert their strength when they needed to exert their strength in the last moment.

Lippi's alternative tactics were actually quite successful, but it also depended on the situation. It could be used in most of the game time, but when it was necessary to go all out, it was inevitable that it would be a bit monotonous and lack of changes...

At this time, everyone missed Zhou Yi very much.

If Zhou Yi was on the court, he would definitely have a way to lead them to tear apart Chile's defense.