Chapter 118 Hero

In the second half of extra time, Qi Dan's cramp meant that Borussia Dortmund was effectively playing with one less player.

In the final moments of the game, Borussia Dortmund had a great opportunity.

Götze unexpectedly got a one-on-one chance in the penalty area!

"Götze! A good opportunity! Borussia Dortmund will have a chance to kill off Offenbach Kickers!"

Before the commentator could finish speaking, Zhou Yi saw Sun Pan pounce towards Götze like a leopard lunging for its prey, with an agility that belied his size.

Götze clearly didn't expect Sun Pan to come out so quickly. He was stunned for a moment, then hastily shot.

The football hit Sun Pan's chest and was deflected away.

"Sun!! Ahhh!!" The commentator exclaimed, his voice distorted. "This is... unbelievable! When he rushed out, Götze was clearly startled... His hurried shot naturally lacked accuracy... At the most critical moment, Sun saved the team once again! His performance in this game deserves the highest score, without any flaws!"

Sun Pan, who had saved Götze's shot, got up from the ground and was immediately surrounded by his teammates, as if he had just saved Götze's penalty...

The entire Bieberer Berg Stadion was chanting one name.

"Sun! Sun! Sun!!"

This substitute player, who had previously kept the water dispenser company on the team, suddenly became the big star of this stadium!

"Amazing..."

Yang Muge typed a sentence in the group chat after witnessing this scene.

Zhou Yi didn't reply to him. He was now worried about the upcoming penalty shootout.

Borussia Dortmund's goalkeeper was Weidenfeller. While Weidenfeller was also an excellent goalkeeper, Zhou Yi felt that Sun Pan might be even better at this moment.

He knew Sun Pan well. Sun Pan was a player who thrived under pressure. The greater the difficulty of the match and the stronger the opponent, the better he performed. And once he got into his groove, he was almost invincible. You would seriously doubt if anyone in this world could break through his goal...

Now, Borussia Dortmund had used a full one hundred and twenty minutes and thirty-nine shots to fully unleash Sun Pan's potential.

So, the upcoming penalty shootout...

Zhou Yi simply didn't want to watch.

Looking at his teammates' performance, they probably didn't have confidence themselves.

Having his last shot saved by Sun Pan, Götze held his head in his hands, his face blank. He looked at Sun Pan, then back at the cleared football, unable to believe his eyes.

The other Borussia Dortmund players also had bewildered expressions on their faces, completely unable to understand why things had turned out this way.

Mark, Kagawa Shinji... These players who shone brightly at the San Siro now looked battered and exhausted in the simple Bieberer Berg Stadion.

And as soon as the ball was thrown out, the referee blew the whistle to end the one hundred and twenty minutes of the match!

"Extra time is over! The two sides have drawn 0:0! This match will go into the most brutal penalty shootout!" The commentator's voice sounded somewhat gleeful, with a hint of anticipation...

But at this moment, Zhou Yi had no time to care about the commentator's mentality.

While the coaches of both sides were arranging the penalty lists, the camera lens was focused on Sun Pan, close-up after close-up.

In the special close-up, Sun Pan was sitting on the field, surrounded by his teammates. Some substitute players came up and patted him on the back, then gave him a thumbs up, while others high-fived him.

Sun Pan's face was now full of a bright, even smug, smile.

But he deserved it...

The commentator was constantly introducing this hero of Offenbach Kickers to the audience, using statistics to tell them how awesome he was.

"...In this match, Borussia Dortmund had a total of thirty-nine shots, which is an amazing statistic, while Offenbach Kickers only had a mere four shots, two of which were on target. Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, had twenty-one shots on target out of thirty-nine, but the number of goals... zero! All twenty-one of these shots were saved by Sun! Unbelievable! Although the entire Offenbach Kickers team performed well, without Sun, they would definitely not have been able to survive Borussia Dortmund's bombardment to this moment... Now that the two teams have reached the penalty shootout, we have even more reason to look forward to the performance of this young goalkeeper!"

※※※

Both sides quickly completed the list of penalty takers and reported them to the referee team.

The two sides then tossed a coin to decide who would kick first.

In the end, Offenbach Kickers won the right to kick first.

Weidenfeller stood in front of the goal, while Sun Pan stood far away on the touchline.

The first player to kick for Offenbach Kickers was their striker Kai Hesse. He placed the ball, took a few steps back. After the referee's whistle sounded, he ran up and shot!

The football flew towards the upper right corner of the goal, and although Weidenfeller judged the direction correctly, the distance was too far and he couldn't reach it. The football went into the net!

"Offenbach Kickers takes the lead with the first penalty! The score is now 1:0!"

A cheer erupted from the stands.

This is what a penalty shootout is like. In such a contest, the gap between the individual and overall strength of both players is narrowed to a point where they can engage in close combat.

This kind of bayonet fighting relies not on superb technology, but on courage and will.

Whoever is afraid first dies, and whoever is not afraid of death can survive to the end.

It now seemed that the players of Offenbach Kickers were clearly not afraid of death.

Hesse waved his fist forcefully as a celebration, then ran back to the center circle. As the first person to take a penalty, he had to bear enormous pressure. Usually, the player with the best penalty skills is chosen to kick this ball.

Hesse had completed his task, and now it was Sun Pan's turn to take the stage.

The first person to take a penalty for Borussia Dortmund was Hummels.

Sun Pan stood in front of the goal, opened his hands, and instead of standing honestly, he started to wiggle his butt. He was provoking Hummels, a psychological tactic.

However, Hummels was not confused by him, and with a calm and composed push shot, pushed the football to the lower right corner. Sun Pan even misjudged the direction, and the football rolled into the goal.

"Good shot!"

Hummels didn't even look at the clownish Sun Pan, turned around and ran back.

Sun Pan got up from the ground and silently left the goal, giving the stage to Weidenfeller.

As he brushed past Weidenfeller, Weidenfeller turned his head and said to him: "Don't wiggle around like an idiot, that trick doesn't work on us!"

In one game, Sun Pan blocked Borussia Dortmund's shots countless times, dragging the game into a penalty shootout. Such a performance could have won the admiration of his opponents, but Sun Pan was not the kind of goalkeeper who simply saved the opponent's shot. After saving Borussia Dortmund's shot, he would use various exaggerated actions to provoke his opponents.

For example, after blocking a shot from a Borussia Dortmund player, he would shake his fingers, indicating that the opponent was not good enough, just like NBA basketball player Mutombo's action after blocking someone's shot.

Or when a Borussia Dortmund player's shot went high, he would look up at the sky and whistle.

Anyone with half a brain knew what that meant.

So, the Borussia Dortmund players were not only annoyed that the game was dragged into a penalty shootout, but also very unhappy with Sun Pan's provocative actions.

Now that it was a penalty shootout, and he was still doing this, Weidenfeller couldn't stand it any longer.

As a result, Sun Pan walked past him without any reaction...

It was unclear whether he didn't hear it, didn't understand it, or heard and understood it, but didn't want to respond.

※※※

In the next second round of penalties, Offenbach Kickers also scored. Weidenfeller still judged the direction correctly, but was unable to touch the ball.

After two consecutive times like this, Weidenfeller was also a little unhappy. He slammed the ground hard with his fist before getting up.

Next, it was Borussia Dortmund's turn to take the penalty.

Sun Pan continued to dance the butt-wiggling dance on the goal line.

The second player to take the penalty was Kagawa Shinji. He was also not affected by Sun Pan and scored with one shot.

Sun Pan once again misjudged the direction.

After two rounds of penalties, both sides had scored, and the score was 2:2.

"Borussia Dortmund's players are performing quite well in the penalty shootout, and don't seem to be affected by what happened before. But Sun's magical performance seems to have disappeared. He has misjudged the direction for two consecutive penalties..." the commentator said.

※※※

In the third round of penalties, Offenbach Kickers' defender Teixeira came up to take the penalty. This time, Weidenfeller misjudged the direction - he pounced to the right, but the ball Teixeira shot flew to the center!

"Good shot! Offenbach Kickers are now leading 3:2!"

The third person to appear for Borussia Dortmund was Götze.

After he placed the football, he looked up and found that Sun Pan was no longer wiggling his butt in front of the goal line, but... standing a little to one side.

Basically, goalkeepers stand in the center of the goal when saving penalties, so that the distance is the same no matter which side they pounce to.

But not all goalkeepers follow this principle. Some goalkeepers like to stand a little to one side.

This was nothing at first, but what made Götze feel a surge of anger was... Sun Pan was standing on the left side, and he was pointing to the right with his hand, meaning for Götze to kick in that direction!

This was simply naked provocation!

Leaving a large part of the goal open, and then telling the shooting player to kick into the empty space... Wasn't this looking down on people?

Götze was furious at that moment.

But he hadn't completely lost his cool.

He stared intently at Sun Pan's hand pointing to the right.

He understood what this meant, so was he playing psychological warfare on himself?

Deliberately leaving the right side open, so that it looked like there was more space on the right side, and it was easier to shoot. Because it looked like the goalkeeper had set a trap on the right side, luring the striker to deliberately shoot on the right, and then he would pounce to the right - naturally.

This was a very low-level trap.

And on the basis of this trap, adding another layer of camouflage, it became the goalkeeper pretending to let the shooting player shoot to the right, but in fact, he was preparing to pounce to the left, because the striker would think more about it - since the other party has generously left the right side open, could there be a conspiracy? There must be a conspiracy! The other party must be straining to pounce to the right. In this case, one must do the opposite and shoot to the left, but the goalkeeper is just waiting on the left!

This was actually a psychological battle between the goalkeeper and the shooting player.

A battle of wits and courage.

Since Götze had seen what Sun Pan wanted to do, he knew which side to aim for.

You're pretending to let me shoot to the right?

Okay, then I'll shoot to the right!

So he ran up, kicked, and his straightened instep hit the football. The football flew towards the right side of the goal!

And almost at the same time as he shot, Sun Pan, who was standing on the left side, suddenly took a stride to the right, and then leaped up!

He also pounced to the right!

Just like an eagle soaring into the sky and discovering its prey, it swooped down quickly, pouncing on the prey on the ground at lightning speed.

Sun Pan was also like this, except he was flying from the ground upwards!

His left hand stretched out in the air, like the sharp claws of an eagle, waving towards the football!

With a snap, his fingers hit the football that was kicked up by Götze and flying towards the upper right corner of the goal!

The football changed direction and flew out of the goal!

"He saved it!!!" the commentator screamed.