Chapter 21孫盼 and Guo Nu Were Right

Sun Pan and Guo Nu were right, but their feelings couldn't represent all the players on the Chinese Olympic team.

For them, with their abilities, the Mexican Olympic team didn't pose much pressure.

Sun Pan was Atletico Madrid's goalkeeper, and in La Liga, he had to face the "Spanish Super Two" at least twice. He faced players of the level of Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Messi, and Iniesta. Compared to them, the Mexican players were indeed a bit lacking...

As for Guo Nu, playing for the small Serie A team Cesena, he also faced a lot of defensive pressure. Having been tempered in such a harsh environment, when he looked at the Mexican Olympic team's attacking level, he naturally felt it wasn't a big deal.

But the same couldn't be said for those teammates who hadn't experienced the tempering of La Liga and Serie A...

For them, the level of the Olympics was much higher than that of the domestic football league.

So, this presented a split state—the "Five Little Dragons" who played abroad felt that the opponents weren't as strong as they had imagined, while the other Chinese Olympic team players felt both nervous and excited. They were doing their best, thinking, "They truly deserve to be the seeded team in this group!"

The Mexican Olympic team also discovered the problem. There were four players in the Chinese team's defense, and the shortest center-back was the most difficult to deal with. He was fast, quick to intercept, had strong physical confrontation ability, and had great jumping ability. He was simply a monster, and it was difficult for anyone to win against him.

But even if he was amazing, he couldn't cover the entire Chinese team's defense, so they consciously avoided Guo Nu, choosing other players as breakthrough points.

It must be said that if this Chinese team didn't have the Five Little Dragons, it would have been difficult to even qualify for the Olympics, let alone come to the Olympics and compete with other teams in the world.

So, although this Chinese Olympic team was known as the strongest in Chinese football history, there was still a gap between them and the world's top level.

After Mexico changed its strategy, it did indeed start to threaten the Chinese Olympic team's goal.

Sun Pan was very excited because they finally had a shot on goal! His time to shine had come!

The Mexican side also quickly discovered that even if they could get around Guo Nu, they still had to face Sun Pan. He was the last line of defense for the Chinese team and had to be faced no matter what.

And this Olympic team's goalkeeper was like he had been injected with chicken blood, making high saves and blocking low shots, so that the Mexican players' shots all failed to score...

"Peralta shoots—Sun Pan! A beautiful save!"

"It's Sun Pan again! He punched the football out!"

Although Sun Pan was having a lot of fun, Zhou Yi didn't want Sun Pan to be the main character, as that would mean the Chinese team's goal was constantly in danger.

They still needed to counterattack.

The football was punched out by Sun Pan, and Yang Muge and an opposing player were fighting for the landing point.

Yang Muge's excellent judgment of the landing point allowed him to win the ball early and head it directly to Zhou Yi.

As soon as Zhou Yi received the ball, the commentator He Ping became excited: "Zhou Yi has the ball now!"

Zhou Yi hadn't had many chances to get the ball before, but every time he did, he created some threats.

Of course, the Mexican players would also pay special attention to him.

After Zhou Yi used his chest to stop the ball headed over by Yang Muge, the Mexican players quickly closed in.

Veteran midfielder Salcido stayed close behind Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi didn't get entangled with him and passed the football back to Yang Muge.

After receiving the ball, Yang Muge made slight adjustments and found He Ying with a long pass. The Chinese team had another threatening counterattack, forcing Mexico to retreat and defend in a hurry.

In the Olympic team, Zhou Yi wasn't the only core player. When Zhou Yi wasn't in the Olympic team, Yang Muge took on the task of organizing the attack, so he actually had some ability to organize the attack.

Mainly long passes. His position and task meant that he couldn't insert forward to participate in the attack like Zhou Yi, but because he had to undertake certain organizational tasks in the Olympic team, Yang Muge had specially trained his long passes, and the effect was not bad.

After passing the football back to Yang Muge, Zhou Yi didn't stay where he was, but turned around and ran forward. As he turned around, Yang Muge passed the football to He Ying.

When He Ying received the ball, Zhou Yi had already crossed the midfield line and ran to the front. He didn't stop but continued to run forward.

As Zhou Yi ran forward, He Ying dribbled the ball forward, and the Mexican defenders quickly closed in, trying to stop him.

He Ying didn't stop but relied on his speed to forcibly overtake, continuing to charge forward. At the same time, the Mexican defenders squeezed him towards the wing. This was the most common method for defending against players who relied on individual combat, keeping him away from the center and narrowing his shooting angle. In this way, he could only cross, and compared to shooting, crossing was much less threatening.

Under such circumstances, Zhou Yi suddenly accelerated and rushed towards the edge of the Mexican penalty area. At the same time, he raised his arm, signaling He Ying to pass the ball to him.

His action naturally attracted the attention of other Mexican defenders. He Ying had attracted two Mexican players to intercept him on the wing, so the center was relatively empty. Everyone understood what Zhou Yi meant by asking for the ball. As long as He Ying could pass the football to his feet, he could form a central breakthrough, which was very dangerous.

As expected, He Ying passed the football towards Zhou Yi.

"Zhou Yi!"

He Ping shouted excitedly.

Because the Chinese team was playing a defensive counterattack, there weren't many people in Mexico's backfield at this time, and there were gaps everywhere, as long as they could seize them...

And He Ying's choice was undoubtedly correct.

Zhou Yi's sudden appearance attracted everyone's attention, not just the commentators, but also the Mexican defenders.

One of the two people who had been following He Ying turned to run towards Zhou Yi with the football, while Mier, the center-back in the middle, also rushed up, planning to block in front of Zhou Yi and form a pincer attack.

Zhou Yi slowed down and raised his foot, making a motion to stop the ball.

But when the football really rolled to Zhou Yi's feet, he raised his foot and let the football pass.

He leaked the football to Wu Lei behind him!

"Zhou Yi leaks, good ball, Wu Lei!" He Ping cheered.

Wu Lei received the ball five or six meters away from Zhou Yi, but the Mexican side didn't give up on defense. Mier, who had been blocking in front of Zhou Yi, had already pounced over, wanting to block Wu Lei's shot.

After Wu Lei stopped the ball, he looked up and saw Zhou Yi's back—after leaking the ball, he saw Wu Lei receive the ball and rushed forward. Now he was in a gap!

A good opportunity!

Wu Lei quickly pushed the football out diagonally.

The football rolled past Mier and returned to Zhou Yi's feet.

At this time, there wasn't a single Mexican player in front of Zhou Yi except for the Mexican goalkeeper Corona. Mier turned around and raised his arm, signaling that Zhou Yi was offside, but the referee and linesman didn't indicate anything because it was a beautiful offside trap!

"A beautiful through ball, Wu Lei passed to Zhou Yi!!"

As He Ping shouted, the Chinese fans in front of the TV also roared and jumped up. This was a one-on-one, would Zhou Yi seize this opportunity?!

※※※

When Mexican goalkeeper Corona saw the football pass to Zhou Yi, he decisively abandoned the goal and attacked—he didn't care if the ball was offside, he would block it first. If it was offside, he wouldn't lose anything. But if it wasn't offside... wouldn't it be a big loss to lose the ball because of hesitation?

His decisive attack shortened the distance between him and Zhou Yi and increased the angle of blocking the shot.

He lowered his center of gravity, opened his arms, and tried to expand his defensive area as much as possible.

At this time, Zhou Yi was turning his head to look at the ball, unaware of what was happening in front of him.

If he observed after receiving the ball, he might be caught off guard by Corona.

But what Zhou Yi did next surprised people.

He didn't turn his head to observe the situation in front but maintained his posture of looking back at the ball, and at the same time, he swung his right foot.

When the football rolled from behind him to his feet, the raised right foot fell and took the opportunity to lift the football up!

The football flew directly from under his feet, turning into a chip shot!

"Spoon—!" In He Ping's prolonged roar, the football passed over the head of the Mexican goalkeeper Corona, who was almost pouncing in front of him, and flew into the goal behind him under his helpless gaze!

Without stopping the ball, a direct chip shot. Zhou Yi's choice caught Corona off guard. He knelt on the ground, his body leaning back, watching the football fall into the empty goal...

"Goal... Goal!!" He Ping shouted excitedly. "Zhou Yi! He scored the first goal for the Chinese Olympic team in this Olympics! The Chinese Olympic team is leading the seeded team in this group, the Mexican Olympic team, by one goal!"