Chapter 166 They Created History

After scoring the penalty, Yang Muge, his face beaming, returned to his teammates, who welcomed him with hugs.

Zhou Yi grinned at Yang Muge and said, "I knew you could do it."

Yang Muge nodded: "Now the weight of the world is on Sun Pan's shoulders."

Everyone turned their attention to Sun Pan.

Sun Pan had already switched positions with Cesar. He walked into the penalty area, heading toward the goal, while waving his fists at the Brazilian fans in the stands, taunting them.

The Brazilian fans in the stands naturally responded to his provocation with loud boos, curses, and middle fingers.

Seeing this scene, Zhou Yi laughed: "Looks like Pan Pan is pretty relaxed."

After provoking the Brazilian fans, Sun Pan stood in front of the goal, waiting for his opponent.

"Brazil's fifth player is their star, Neymar..." He Ping said. "Neymar has been very active and outstanding in this game. He is the engine of Brazil's attack."

The implication was that Neymar was in good form and they needed to be careful.

Neymar walked over, placed the ball, and stepped back to prepare for his run-up.

All eyes were focused on him.

The score between China and Brazil was tied. If Neymar could score this penalty, they would temporarily surpass China. As long as Zhou Yi, the last Chinese player, didn't score, Brazil would win this difficult and cruel match and advance to the quarterfinals.

But if he didn't score...

For Brazilian fans, it was an unthinkable outcome.

Webb blew his whistle. A close-up shot showed Neymar taking several deep breaths.

As he breathed deeply, Sun Pan stood in front of the goal with his arms outstretched, not moving.

After taking a deep breath, Neymar began his run-up. His steps were very firm, but as he approached the ball, he paused, creating a change in rhythm.

While pausing, Neymar didn't forget to observe Sun Pan. He saw that Sun Pan's body seemed to be leaning to the right. Then his right foot swung up and kicked the ball towards the lower left corner of the goal!

But just as the ball flew out, Sun Pan, whose body was originally leaning to the right, suddenly took a step forward and lunged towards the lower left corner!

Whether it was because he guessed the direction correctly, or because his feint had fooled Neymar, no one knew.

In any case, he and the ball were heading in the same direction.

Then his right fingertips touched the ball. The touched ball changed direction slightly, hitting the left goalpost and bouncing out...

He saved it!!

"Great save!! The goalpost! Sun Pan blocked Neymar's shot!! 3:2! China is in the lead!" He Ping's roar was like a thunderclap from a clear sky, but no one in front of the TV was frightened. Everyone had already jumped up and started cheering.

"Neymar missed!" Marcel Reif was also excited.

"Ah—!" The Brazilian commentator's long sigh was filled with regret, disappointment, and pain. "Neymar didn't get the ball in. Sun Pan read his intentions..."

A huge exclamation erupted in the Mineirão Stadium. Neymar couldn't believe it and crouched on the ground, covering his mouth with his hands, staring wide-eyed at Sun Pan, who was lying on the ground. He had clearly seen Sun Pan's body leaning to the right before he shot. Could it be that he deliberately made a feint?

In Neymar's surprised gaze, Sun Pan got up from the ground. He wasn't particularly excited, but raised a finger and shook it at the Brazilian fans in the stands, coupled with his head-shaking gesture. What did this mean? Only an idiot wouldn't know.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not targeting anyone, I'm saying that everyone here... is trash!

※※※

Having shown off enough, Sun Pan left the goal and walked towards the edge of the penalty area.

This was the last round of the penalty shootout. If Zhou Yi, who was coming up next, could score the penalty, then the match would be over.

Of course, if Zhou Yi's penalty didn't go in either, the two sides would enter an even more brutal single-round sudden death penalty shootout.

Just like "sudden death" in a penalty shootout.

The disappointed Brazilian fans focused their attention on Cesar, the Brazilian goalkeeper who had been heavily criticized since the start of the World Cup. Now he was their savior. Those who had cursed him before now had to pray and cheer for him.

On the Chinese side, all eyes were on Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi waved goodbye to his teammates: "Now the weight of ten thousand *jin* (unit of weight) is on my shoulders."

He smiled.

"It doesn't matter. My back is strong. I can carry even heavier burdens."

With that, he turned and walked towards the penalty area.

He strolled across nearly half the field, constantly looking around. Sometimes he looked at the stands, sometimes he looked at the coaching staff and the bench, just like when he came on the field.

Although he said he had ten thousand *jin* on his shoulders, you couldn't tell at all.

In this way, he walked into the penalty area. The ball had been thrown over by Cesar and was stopped next to the penalty spot. Zhou Yi didn't even use his hands. He walked over and hooked the ball back with his foot, pulled it to the penalty spot, and stopped it steadily. Then he stepped back to create a run-up distance.

Such a casual move surprised the Brazilian goalkeeper Cesar. He even thought Zhou Yi wasn't ready.

But Zhou Yi turned to look at Webb, indicating that he was ready and waiting for the whistle.

Cesar realized that the last and most important penalty was coming.

So he quickly adjusted his posture, leaning slightly forward, putting his weight on the balls of his feet. This was the best ready position to pounce.

Just as he finished all this, Webb blew the whistle.

The crisp whistle was very clear in the suddenly quiet Mineirão Stadium. TV viewers thousands of miles away could also hear it clearly.

As soon as the whistle sounded, Zhou Yi began his run-up with light steps. He started running towards the ball from the left side, which was a common run-up angle for players who were good at using their right foot. He would use his right foot to kick the ball. Judging from the rhythm of his run-up, it must be more comfortable and easier to generate power with a right-footed shot.

Cesar's body tensed up, like a drawn bowstring. His eyes were fixed on Zhou Yi's right foot, trying to capture any clue that would reveal the direction of his kick from his every subtle movement.

Just before Zhou Yi was about to reach the ball, when his left foot should have been planted firmly next to the ball, and then he would swing his right leg to shoot, Cesar's eyes were already fixed on Zhou Yi's right foot.

But then Cesar only felt a blur in front of his eyes. Something was wrong!

The left foot, which should have been planted firmly next to the ball as a support foot, didn't stop when it came behind the ball, but continued forward, its toe poking the ball.

This poke was very sudden, and the ball was poked directly towards the goal!

While Cesar was still focusing on Zhou Yi's right foot, the ball had already been poked by Zhou Yi towards the lower right corner.

After poking, Zhou Yi also swung his right leg into the air, completing a whole set of shooting feints...

Cesar, unable to react, didn't even have time to make a save. When he saw the ball flying over, his whole rhythm was messed up. He couldn't pounce, and his body was in a state of stiffness. All he could do was pray that Zhou Yi's unorthodox shot would go wide...

After all, this was not a conventional shooting action, and it must be uncomfortable to kick, making it easy to miss.

If he used too much force, it would be easy to miss, of course, but Zhou Yi didn't use too much force. The key to his shot was its suddenness. As long as he could catch Cesar off guard, he didn't need too much force. As long as he could ensure that the ball was within the frame of the goal, the chances of scoring would be very high!

Sure enough, the ball bounced and rolled into the goal on the grass!

The speed wasn't fast, but Cesar was still powerless...

When the ball rolled into the goal, the Mineirão Stadium didn't immediately make a sound, but continued to remain silent.

The Brazilian fans, who had an absolute numerical advantage, didn't seem to believe that the ball had gone in. They needed to confirm, they had to wait for the referee's whistle.

The smaller number of Chinese fans also dared not confirm whether the ball had gone in, because they hadn't seen Zhou Yi's penalty action clearly just now.

But soon, Webb's crisp whistle broke the eerie silence in the stadium.

He Ping roared at the top of his lungs: "Zhou Yi! The goal is good! He killed Brazil!! We won! We eliminated the hosts and entered the quarterfinals of the World Cup—!!! The national team boys, they created history!"

After scoring the goal, Zhou Yi was no longer as calm and composed as he had been before taking the penalty. He spread his arms and ran towards the corner flag to celebrate the victory.

Sun Pan also rushed towards him, while the other Chinese players ran madly towards them from the center line, as well as the players and coaches on the bench.

Everyone was running wildly, heading towards Zhou Yi and Sun Pan.

The Chinese fans in the stands could finally cheer. They cheered to their heart's content in the midst of the Brazilian fans, and didn't care about the gazes of the Brazilian fans around them. If you can't cheer when you win a game, then what's the point of being a fan?

In stark contrast to the ecstatic Chinese players and fans were the Brazilian players and fans.

After Zhou Yi kicked the ball into the goal, the Brazilian players who were standing shoulder to shoulder in the center circle seemed to have lost all the strength that supported them, and fell to the ground one after another.

Cesar, in front of the goal, was finally able to move after the ball went in. His knees buckled and he knelt on the turf.

In the entire Mineirão Stadium, the Brazilian fans were silent, giving the home field to the smaller number of Chinese fans.

The TV commentator didn't say a word for a long time.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment, to be fixed.

For Brazilian football, a dark scene second only to that afternoon at the Maracanã in 1950 was born.

As the hosts, who had been full of ambition to lift the Hercules trophy for the sixth time at home, they were eliminated in the round of sixteen!