Chapter 1 When Silva Jumped for the Header

When Thiago Silva jumped up to head the ball, he was surrounded by people, blocking his path to scoring. As a result, Silva only managed to graze the ball, sending it toward the far post.

This caught the Chinese team's defense off guard, and Yan Min especially.

Originally, with his height and heading ability, he didn't need to fall back to defend in front of the goal. No one expected him to play a big role in defense anyway. He had only come back out of a sense of responsibility.

But his return proved to be a mistake.

He accidentally deflected Silva's header into his own goal!

As the ball flew into the net, the Brazilian commentator excitedly shouted, "Goal! David Luiz! David Luiz! He scores the opening goal for Brazil! This is his first goal in forty appearances for the Brazilian national team!"

Everything had happened so fast that the commentator, high up in the stands, hadn't seen it clearly. He assumed David Luiz had scored.

He Ping thought the same: "This is dangerous… David Luiz! Oh! Goal…"

David Luiz's wild celebration after the goal further convinced everyone that he was the scorer.

But on the Chinese side, Yan Min knelt on the ground, head in his hands—he knew he couldn't fool himself. He had deflected the ball in. It was an own goal…

The entire Mineirão Stadium erupted with cheers from the Brazilian fans, a sound like a tsunami.

To Yan Min, those cheers felt like mockery, making him feel even worse.

All the Brazilian players ran to David Luiz to celebrate the goal, while the Chinese players stood frozen in front of their own goal, stunned that they had conceded a goal in less than twenty minutes.

The goal was so unexpected, so sudden, that they struggled to accept it.

Just then, Zhou Yi walked over to Yan Min and ruffled his hair. "Get up, don't kneel. It wasn't your fault. Even if you hadn't blocked it, David Luiz would have scored anyway."

Hearing Zhou Yi's words, Yan Min looked up at him, knowing that Zhou Yi was aware it was an own goal.

"There are always accidents in a game. No need to take it to heart."

Then Zhou Yi turned to his teammates and shouted, "The game has only been going for twenty minutes. We still have time and chances. Don't give up! Stay calm and composed! Their goal was an accident; it doesn't reflect the difference in our strength!"

Sun Pan also came up and patted Yan Min on the shoulder. He didn't say anything, but the gesture spoke volumes about his support.

Meanwhile, the TV broadcast replayed the slow-motion footage of Brazil's goal, clearly showing Yan Min's leg deflecting the ball into the net…

"Sigh… it's an own goal…" He Ping sighed helplessly. "Yan Min instinctively tried to block the ball, but under pressure from David Luiz, he deflected it into his own net… Yan Min meant well, but he backfired… But there's nothing he could do. If he hadn't intervened, or if he hadn't been there at all, the ball would still have gone in, only with David Luiz scoring…"

The Brazilian commentator also saw it clearly: "Own goal! China scores an own goal! Their luck is terrible… But it also seems inevitable. Ruiz was right behind him when Yan Min went to defend, so no matter what he did, the goal was unavoidable. Brazil's relentless attack from the start has finally paid off, which is a good sign. Brazil should build on this lead and continue to attack, striving to extend their advantage and crush their opponents!"

Brazilian fans sang and danced in the stands, celebrating the goal, while the vastly outnumbered Chinese fans could only remain silent, heavily disheartened by the goal. Because of Brazil's long-standing reputation for football prowess, many Chinese fans felt apprehensive and worried when their team faced Brazil, always fearing conceding the first goal. In their minds, conceding first meant all was lost; against a strong Brazilian team, China would find it hard to come back.

They had hoped that China would score first, to give them a sense of security.

Online, many insecure Chinese fans were frustrated and annoyed by Yan Min's own goal.

"Yan Min, sometimes he's full of energy, other times he's just a reckless hothead. What can you say about him? When will he learn to be mature and steady?"

"I saw him playing like this for Dortmund too, always so rash. He's hopeless…"

※※※

The Brazilian players finally finished celebrating and returned to their half. By this point, the Chinese players were already in position, ready to restart the game.

He Ying and Gao Lin stood in the center circle, feet on the ball, waiting to kick off.

Behind them, Zhou Yi raised his arm and held up one finger: "We're only one goal behind. Let's get it back!"

He said it in Chinese, so the Brazilians wouldn't understand. Otherwise, they would surely mock Zhou Yi's absurd words.

Get a goal back?

Easier said than done!

Is it that easy to come back after Brazil takes the lead?

※※※

After the game restarted, Brazil's offensive pressure remained relentless.

In the twenty-fifth minute, Neymar dribbled forward, shaking off Yang Muge and Feng Xiaoting along the way. But as he entered the penalty area, Guo Nu closed him down. The continuous dribbling had left Neymar exhausted, and with Guo Nu's close marking, his shot was weak and inaccurate, slowly drifting wide of the right post, posing no threat to Sun Pan's goal.

Although it didn't result in a goal, the Brazilian fans in the stands applauded and cheered for Neymar's effort.

The Brazilian commentator was even more excited: "Neymar dribbled past two players, as if they weren't even there! The Chinese defense is simply no match for his attacks! At this rate, the second goal will come soon!"

However, as the game approached the thirtieth minute, eleven minutes had passed since Brazil's first goal, and the second goal had yet to materialize.

Instead, the Chinese team withstood Brazil's attacks during this period, and their offense slowly began to show signs of improvement.

In the thirty-first minute, when China launched an attack down the left flank, Yan Min inadvertently knocked the ball out of bounds ten meters from the goal line, eliciting laughter from the Brazilian fans in the stands.

To these Brazilian fans, Yan Min, who had helped Brazil take the lead, was probably seen as little more than a clown. Some Brazilian fans near the sideline even shouted at Yan Min, "Thank you! Thank you!"

Thanking him for his own goal and for his poor touch, which had given possession back to Brazil.

Although Yan Min didn't understand Portuguese, he knew what the laughter meant. He was already extremely upset and saddened by the own goal. The Brazilian fans' laughter was like salt in his wound.

He pursed his lips tightly, trying to keep his clenched teeth hidden.

Brazilian right-back Alves went to throw the ball in, and Oscar dropped back to support him.

Yan Min didn't retreat but stood not far from Oscar, watching him intently.

Alves threw the ball to Oscar.

Oscar had intended to pass the ball straight back to Alves, but as the ball came towards him, he suddenly hesitated. There was no one behind him, and Yan Min was on his side, so he could stop the ball, turn, and go forward. He was confident in his technique in that regard.

But that hesitation meant that by the time the ball reached him, he hadn't decided whether to stop it or pass it.

That hesitation led to an error in his touch. It was unclear if he had stopped it too far or passed it too short…

In any case, the ball bounced off his foot, neither stopping at his feet nor rolling to Alves.

Instead, it landed in an awkward position between them.

Yan Min, like a hawk swooping down on its prey, rushed forward and intercepted the ball before Oscar and Alves could react!

"Yan Min! A successful interception in the attacking third!"

Although Yan Min had won the ball, his situation was not ideal. Alves was in front of him, and Oscar was behind him. Any hesitation would cost him the space to play.

The usually skillful Yan Min didn't try to dribble the ball himself after intercepting it, but without hesitation, he swept the ball into the Brazilian penalty area with his left foot.

"Chance!" He Ping shouted.

Because he saw a clear opening.

The opening was so large because the Brazilian team hadn't prepared to defend against their own clearance—they had possession, so what was there to defend?

Before the clearance, Thiago Silva had moved outside the penalty area, offering Alves an extra option for the throw-in, and He Ying had pressed up to him to put him under pressure.

Meanwhile, David Luiz was still near the penalty spot, where he was supposed to be, leaving a huge gap of about twenty meters between him and Thiago Silva…

And that gap was Yan Min's target for the pass!

At the same time, as Yan Min pressed forward, Zhou Yi suddenly burst into motion from his position, accelerating toward that gap in the penalty area.

His sudden run caught Fernandinho, who was originally beside him, off guard. By the time he saw Zhou Yi's figure, he had already been left behind…

As Zhou Yi ran into the gap, Yan Min's pass arrived.

David Luiz frantically tried to close him down, but Zhou Yi didn't give him the chance. He shot without controlling the ball!

The ball was struck by his left foot, curving around David Luiz and past César, who had come out to narrow the angle, flying into the far corner of the goal!

"Aaaaaah!" He Ping screamed excitedly. "Great goal! Great goal! Great goal!! China equalizes! Zhou Yi scores! His first goal in the World Cup!! A crucial goal! Both sides are back on level terms!"

As Zhou Yi's shot hit the back of the net, only the cheers of the Chinese fans could be heard in the Mineirão Stadium. Their voices were clear, because the vast majority of the Brazilian fans were stunned—they hadn't expected the goal to come so suddenly. From Oscar's miscontrol to the final goal, the whole process took less than five seconds.