Chapter 711 They Can Win

The Chinese team players who were celebrating the goal on the field quickly realized something was wrong, because they wanted to find Zhou Yi, the assister, to celebrate with, only to find that Zhou Yi wasn't in the crowd!

Everyone looked back and saw Zhou Yi lying in the backfield, with Guo Nu pressing on his leg.

Needless to say, anyone who's played soccer knows what happened.

Zhou Yi had a cramp!

So a group of people hurried back and surrounded him, asking with concern, "How is it?" "Are you okay?" "Just a cramp?"

Faced with everyone's concerned inquiries, Zhou Yi waved his hand with a smile: "With you all surrounding me like this, heads bowed and looking so mournful, I thought you were saying goodbye to my remains."

Hearing him say this, everyone laughed, knowing that Zhou Yi just had a cramp and nothing else was wrong, so they breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Yi was the one person on this team who absolutely couldn't have anything happen to him.

He Ying came up and squatted in front of Zhou Yi, no longer looking down at him, but with their eyes meeting on the same level.

He wasn't concerned about Zhou Yi's health, but asked very seriously, "Can you keep going?"

Zhou Yi shook his head with a smile: "I'm afraid not this time."

Hearing Zhou Yi say this, his teammates who were surrounding him also fell silent.

If Zhou Yi couldn't continue the game and had to be substituted off... many people thought of the last game against Arsenal's youth team.

After Liang Qiqi came on, the score, which was originally 0:0, ended up becoming 0:7, which was even more terrifying than "sawing a person in half."

Now that the Chinese team had finally taken the lead by one goal, were they going to bring that jinx on again and let all their efforts go to waste?

Seeing that everyone's mood didn't seem very high, Zhou Yi smiled and said, "See? I told you they weren't strong, didn't I? Now we're in the lead, as long as we can hold on to this one goal, we can win! Win for the first time! Damn, just thinking about it gives me goosebumps!"

Sun Pan gritted his teeth and said, "Don't worry, Zhou Yi. This time, I'm really going to let them see what 'immovable object' means! They can forget about making me pick the ball out of the net again!"

"It won't work even if you change it to Old Guo to pick it up," Zhou Yi said.

Guo Nu, who was pulling on Zhou Yi's leg, blushed.

Sun Pan rolled his eyes: "If you don't interrupt my showing off, we can still be friends!"

Everyone burst into laughter again, and the oppressive atmosphere from before was swept away.

At this time, the team doctor arrived, hearing the laughter of the young players from outside. After pushing through the crowd, he saw the smile still on Zhou Yi's face and knew that it shouldn't be a big deal.

But he still did his duty and checked him over, taking over Zhou Yi from Guo Nu. After examining him, he nodded: "Well, just a cramp, nothing serious."

Then he and Guo Nu helped Zhou Yi up.

"Should I support you?" he asked.

Zhou Yi shook his head: "No need, I can walk, I just can't run."

"Okay, then we'll walk slowly."

"Yes, walk slowly!" Zhou Yi deliberately emphasized this word.

The teammates next to him were stunned for a moment before they realized why Zhou Yi was emphasizing this point—they were in the lead now, but only by one goal, so it would be good to drag out the time as much as possible!

In order to win, Zhou Yi was really using every trick in the book... even his substitution was being used. Who said he didn't love victory? He simply loved victory to death!

Before leaving, Zhou Yi said to Guo Nu, who had just let go, "Old Guo, next, I'm counting on you."

"D-d-don't worry!" Guo Nu said through gritted teeth.

Zhou Yi turned back and looked at his teammates: "Sorry, everyone, I'm going down to rest first. Sorry I can't play with you until the end, I'm counting on you next!"

"Hurry up and get lost after showing off enough, now it's my turn to shine!" Sun Pan waved his hand.

"Don't worry, Zhou Yi! You rest well, and leave the rest to us!"

"Yeah, yeah, you've done great!"

"Watch from below, Zhou Yi, we definitely won't let your efforts be in vain!"

"This time... we must win!"

Everyone clenched their fists and said, sending Zhou Yi off.

Only then did Zhou Yi, accompanied by the team doctor, limp slowly off the field.

※※※

While Zhou Yi was saying goodbye to his teammates, Xu Yang and Hao Dong, who were standing off the field, hadn't taken their eyes off him.

"Since when did Zhou Yi become the backbone of this team?" Xu Yang wasn't asking Hao Dong, he was just talking to himself.

But Hao Dong still said, "Since he put the team in his heart; when he served every teammate on the field; when he could step forward in the face of difficulties; when his teammates lost confidence and he told them that the opponents weren't actually strong; when he ran until his legs cramped and still assisted his teammates in scoring... at every such moment, they aren't fools, they know who is worthy of their trust. The core of a team isn't something that's blown out of proportion, but how it comes to be."

"You're quite touched..." Xu Yang turned to look at him.

Hao Dong looked at Zhou Yi, who was deliberately exaggerating the effect of the cramp, limping down the field as slowly as if his leg had been broken, and said, "I'm quite envious of He Ying, that he could meet such good teammates at the age of seventeen. When I was seventeen, I had to fight for everything on and off the field myself."

"That's why you were able to achieve such results later, it's also a kind of training."

"Maybe they'll be even better than us in the future?" Hao Dong said.

Xu Yang turned to look at the young children.

"If that's really the case... that would be great..." the old man murmured, his eyes blurred.

※※※

Under the increasingly murderous gaze of the Chelsea youth team players, Zhou Yi finally "moved" off the field.

Hao Dong took the initiative to step forward and gave him a hug.

"Well done, rest well!" He patted Zhou Yi hard on the back.

Next was Xu Yang, who also hugged Zhou Yi and affectionately ruffled his hair: "Are you really okay?"

"It's okay, Coach Xu, I walked so slowly to delay time," Zhou Yi said.

"You kid! I knew it!" Xu Yang laughed and released Zhou Yi.

Fitness coach Li HaoRui took over the baton of hugging Zhou Yi: "Not bad, you've improved! You lasted twenty more minutes than the last game!"

"That's all thanks to your strict requirements, Coach," Zhou Yi said, sending a flattery over smoothly.

Li HaoRui smiled: "It's because you're willing to train. There are no tricks or shortcuts to physical and strength training, you just have to put in the effort to train, and be able to endure the hardship and boredom."

Zhou Yi thought of what Chu Ling had said to him, that even such a powerful system didn't have any magical methods for physical and strength training. He knew that Coach Li HaoRui was telling the truth, not exaggerating the importance of his work.

He nodded: "Don't worry, Coach. I'll keep training!"

"Well, but also be careful not to overdo it, it's not worth it if you ruin your body," Li HaoRui gave Zhou Yi one last word of advice, and sent him to the next coach.

After one hug after another, he returned to the bench, where Zhou Yi also gave his teammates high fives to celebrate.

Then he could finally sit down and watch the game properly.

※※※

While Zhou Yi was hugging and high-fiving on the sidelines, the game on the field had long since resumed.

Unsurprisingly, after falling behind, the Chelsea youth team players went crazy and launched a fierce offensive against the Chinese team's goal. The intensity exceeded all previous moments in the game.

But Zhou Yi was replaced by center-back Yang Fei, which made the players on the field breathe a sigh of relief while also feeling more confident in holding on to this goal—as long as it wasn't that jinx Liang Qiqi who came on. He even had the nerve to say that Guo Nu was a Bayern Munich youth team mole, but now everyone thought that he himself was the real mole!

Hao Dong replaced Zhou Yi with Yang Fei, a center back, with a clear intention to defend, and to defend to the death.

The Chinese team retreated across the board, shrinking back to the thirty-meter area, allowing the Chelsea youth team to pass and shoot outside as they pleased, without going out. They used their numerical advantage in space to prevent the Chelsea youth team from getting close to the goal.

After Yang Fei came on, he formed a three-center-back lineup with Guo Nu and Liu Nian. He and Guo Nu were at the front, and Liu Nian was still playing his sweeper role at the back.

Guo Nu performed very well during the opponent's intensive bombing. Although he wasn't tall, only one meter seventy-three, his physical fitness was probably the strongest in the entire Chinese team. In terms of the distance between his foot and the ground when jumping vertically, he was even better than Sun Pan.

Excellent physical fitness allowed him to hold his own against the strong white and black children of the Chelsea youth team, which was very important. In addition, his super explosive power and decisiveness when tackling also gave the Chelsea youth team players a headache when attacking the front of the Chinese team's penalty area, and they would lose the ball if they weren't careful...

But overall, the strength of the Chelsea youth team was indeed stronger than the Chinese teenagers, so even so, they still had many opportunities to shoot.

When they shot the ball, the work of the defenders was over, and next it all depended on the goalkeeper's performance.

Sun Pan, who conceded two goals in the first half, was now performing so well that the Chelsea youth team players were desperate—this Chinese goalkeeper repeatedly used his amazing rapid reactions to catch or hit the ball flying from any direction.

Sun Pan, who was nearly one meter eighty-six tall, wasn't particularly tall as a goalkeeper, but his reactions were very flexible, so flexible that people mistakenly thought he was a monkey...

And this was also the reason why Sun Pan was able to become the main goalkeeper of this team.

In terms of basic skills, Sun Pan wasn't as good as his substitute, Lai Cong, after all, Lai Cong had been practicing as a goalkeeper since the age of seven, and seventeen years of accumulation was there.

But reaction ability has a talent factor in it, and Sun Pan was one of those goalkeepers with extremely good talent. Although he had only been practicing as a goalkeeper for four years, and his basic skills were not very solid, he was often able to rely on his excellent physical fitness and reaction ability to keep out balls that were almost impossible to save.

Moreover, Sun Pan also had an advantage, that was, although his height was now one meter eighty-six, his wingspan was very long. At a height of one meter eighty-six, Sun Pan's wingspan was two meters and five centimeters, nineteen centimeters more than his height, making him look like a gibbon. For some very difficult balls, he didn't even have to try too hard to jump, just stretch out his ape arm and he could pick the ball off. This may also have something to do with his former career as a basketball player...

In the competition for the main goalkeeper, Lai Cong, who was experienced and had solid basic skills, lost to Sun Pan's talent. Lai Cong was indeed not a very talented goalkeeper, and he was not the main player in the youth team of the club he played for.

Football is still very much about talent. Talent determines how high a person's ceiling can be. If a person has no talent, no matter how hard he tries, his achievements may be very limited in his lifetime. But a talented person, as long as he is willing to work hard, his future is bright.

Sun Pan's high blocks and low saves shocked the Chinese team's coaching staff who were familiar with him—they knew that Sun Pan's reactions were fast, whether it was the first reaction or the second reaction...

But the reaction that Sun Pan was showing now was... too fast?!

He stood in front of the goal, with his arms outstretched, as if there were countless arms behind him. The Thousand-Hand Guanyin was about like this.

His defense was like having no blind spots.

When a Chelsea youth team player shot from distance, he punched it out with both fists.

When a Chelsea youth team player headed the ball, he flew up and pushed it out with one palm.

When a Chelsea youth team player poked the ball in the penalty area, he fell to the ground and blocked it with his foot.

When a Chelsea youth team player shot a cold arrow, he actually made a side save and held the ball firmly in both hands!

Especially this ball—at that time, the Chelsea youth team suddenly shot from long range outside the penalty area, and Yang Fei, who came on as a substitute, stepped forward to tackle and block, and the ball hit his shin bone and bounced, deflecting the direction and flying in the completely opposite direction!

And Sun Pan was originally preparing to go in the original direction, and was just short of taking that step. As a result, the ball changed direction!

All the Chinese team members on the sidelines saw this scene and their hearts almost flew out of their throats—if this ball was lost, all the previous efforts would be in vain!

Good Sun Pan!

He twisted his body, suddenly exerted force to kick his leg, but not in the original direction, but in the direction the ball was now flying.

He stretched out his long hand in the air, his fingers tensed.

Then his fingertips poked the ball, and the ball, which was originally flying towards the goal, was poked out directly, flying out of the baseline!

"Wow——!!!"

A huge cheer erupted from the sidelines. In fact, there weren't many people watching the game, but there was still such a big commotion, all because of the shock Sun Pan's move brought to everyone.

This time, everyone, whether it was the Chinese team or the Chelsea youth team, had a blank and incredible look on their faces.

Zhou Yi also suddenly stood up from his seat, tore off the towel hanging around his neck, waved it and shouted: "Wo——! Good job, Panpan anti-theft door!"

※※※

Yang Fei originally thought he was going to score an own goal, but when he looked back, he saw Sun Pan like a god descending to earth, incredibly saving the ball!

He quickly got up from the ground to thank Sun Pan—if this ball was lost, he would be a sinner for all time! Not to mention his teammates, even he himself would not forgive himself.

Sun Pan, who got up from the ground, patted Yang Fei on the shoulder and said indifferently: "This is nothing great, this ball is much easier to save than the ball Guo Nu is juggling!"

"Ah?" Yang Fei didn't understand.

Guo Nu next to him was blushing.

"It's okay, it's okay, don't worry, I said I won't let them score a goal, so I won't let them score a goal!" Sun Pan waved his hand, and his big fan-like hands fluttered, making a whooshing sound, just like a fan.

The Chelsea youth team player who shot the ball was dumbfounded when he saw Sun Pan save his sideline ball—he had originally raised his arms to cheer, but now he was holding his head in his hands, dumbfounded!

※※※

"Coach Xu..."

Xu Yang heard Hao Dong calling him: "What's wrong?"

"They can win, this time... we can win..." Hao Dong murmured excitedly, staring at the field with glowing eyes.

※※※

ps, Today is Monday, let's take advantage of the winning momentum to ask for a recommendation ticket and rush the list!

Thank you all!