Chapter 1 A Header! Oh No!

"Nagai! Header! Oh no!" The Japanese commentator's tone made it easy to picture him clutching his head and tumbling off the commentary box.

This goal would have been a pity. If Japan had scored at the start of the second half, they could have completely turned the situation around.

But now... the crossbar had denied Japan a goal!

"Nagai's header hit the crossbar. What terrible luck!"

Mark Lawrenson was also startled by the Japanese header. "Nagai Kensuke isn't very tall, he doesn't seem like a player who is good at headers, but this header almost flew into the Chinese goal... when he jumped up for the header, the Chinese defense in the penalty area was practically non-existent! Guo Nu made a big mistake!"

In Mark Lawrenson's opinion, if they conceded this goal, Guo Nu would be directly responsible, as he had been suppressed by Nagai Kensuke. But this was unusual, because with Guo Nu's physical attributes, Nagai Kensuke, who was about the same height, shouldn't have been able to suppress him in front of the goal.

"I think it might be because of the backlight, the glaring sunlight seriously affected the performance of the Chinese players in this defense..." Mark Lawrenson finally came to this conclusion.

This wasn't a difficult truth to guess; anyone with basic knowledge could see it.

So, in front of the Japanese coaching bench, while everyone was regretting Nagai Kensuke's missed header, head coach Sekizuka Takashi suddenly had a bold idea.

He turned around and grabbed assistant coach Muto Satoru, who was still clutching his head in regret: "Quick, go get Sugimoto!"

Muto Satoru was surprised – such a quick substitution, what did this mean?

But he didn't ask, and turned to run towards the substitutes' bench.

On the substitutes' bench, there was also a chorus of sighs, lamenting the missed goal.

Muto Satoru pointed to one of the tall, burly players and shouted: "Sugimoto! Come with me!"

Sugimoto Kenyu was stunned for a moment before leaving his teammates and running towards head coach Sekizuka Takashi with assistant coach Muto Satoru.

Seeing Sugimoto Kenyu being brought over by Muto Satoru, Sekizuka Takashi grabbed him and asked: "You warmed up thoroughly during halftime, right?"

Sugimoto Kenyu nodded.

"Good, you go on and have the team cross from the wings more often, and you use your height advantage and heading ability to compete for the ball in front of the Chinese goal! Even if you can't score directly with a header, you have to create enough chaos in front of their goal!" After Sekizuka Takashi briefly explained Sugimoto Kenyu's task, he pushed him out, preparing to arrange for his appearance.

Sugimoto Kenyu's mind was still a bit dazed at this time, he didn't expect that he would have the opportunity to come on as a substitute so soon after the start of the second half...

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At the same time, in front of the Chinese coaching bench, Guo Bing was telling translator Jiang Xiaojun about what he had seen in the locker room just now.

"Zhou Yi was looking around for someone to borrow a hat, but no one had a hat... at that time, he knew that the sunlight would cause us a lot of trouble!" Guo Bing said.

Jiang Xiaojun frowned and said, "But we don't have a hat either..."

Guo Bing turned his head and looked around, then he turned his attention to the stands behind the coaching bench, where some Chinese fans were gathered. Guo Bing scanned over and suddenly his eyes lit up – there was a boy wearing a white baseball cap with a red five-pointed star on the front.

From this hat, it could be seen that this boy might be a fan of Cui Jian, because this hat was what the Chinese rock star Cui Jian liked to wear...

Seeing this, Guo Bing was like he had discovered a treasure, he brushed off Jiang Xiaojun and went around to the back to ask the fan to borrow the hat.

The scene was too noisy, the two were a bit far apart, and Guo Bing shouted at the top of his lungs, but the other party couldn't hear what he was saying.

In the end, Guo Bing had to use gestures, and he made a gesture of putting his hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun, and the fan immediately understood.

He could also see the impact of the glaring sunlight on the Chinese players, so without saying a word, he threw the hat down from the stands.

Guo Bing picked up the hat from the ground, patted it, and thanked the fan. Then, he didn't turn around and run back to the coaching bench, but ran along the outer edge of the field towards the back of the Chinese goal.

At that time, everyone's attention was on the ongoing game, and no one noticed him.

When he ran to the back of the goal, he crouched down behind the advertising board, and then he shouted loudly from behind to Sun Pan, who was standing in front of the goal: "Sun Pan! Sun Pan!!"

But unfortunately, the scene was very noisy, and the cheers of the Japanese fans were too loud. Even if the two were only a few meters apart, Sun Pan didn't hear anyone calling him from behind.

Especially when the Japanese team was launching an attack, all of his attention was focused on preventing the opponent's attack, so how could he be distracted and look around?

Although the sunlight was still very glaring, Sun Pan couldn't avoid it, so he could only choose to face it. He put one hand on his brow, imitating a hat brim, so that he could barely see.

The Japanese team launched a shot from the edge of the penalty area. At the moment they shot, Sun Pan put down his hand and pushed off the ground, pouncing out and tipping the football with his fingertips. The football bounced slightly and flew out of the baseline...

Guo Bing was startled when he saw it from behind, because he thought Sun Pan couldn't save the ball... unexpectedly, Sun Pan blocked it!

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"Sun Pan! He finally made a wonderful save, pushing out Otsu Yuki's long shot! That was close! Let's look at the slow-motion replay... he really pushed it out with his fingertips!" He Ping exclaimed repeatedly.

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After saving the football, Sun Pan rolled twice on the ground, then jumped up and shouted: "Lao Guo, what are you afraid of, push up! Don't let those damn Japs shoot from there!"

Guo Nu didn't say a word after being scolded, he was indeed not up in time...

Guo Bing heard Sun Pan's shout from behind, that "damn Japs" was really shouted powerfully, and the pronunciation was obviously emphasized... but at this time, Guo Bing didn't consider whether this would cause any diplomatic incidents. Being on the sidelines, after just witnessing the Japanese team's two consecutive attacks that almost broke the goal, he couldn't care about the Japanese's thoughts.

After Sun Pan finished yelling at Guo Nu, he retreated to the front of the goal, preparing to defend the corner kick.

At this time, he turned around and glanced behind him, and happened to see Guo Bing, who was crouching behind the advertising board. He was stunned for a moment, and didn't expect that he would see the team leader in this place.

Guo Bing also noticed Sun Pan. Seeing Sun Pan looking at him, he quickly remembered what he was here for, so he threw the hat in his hand over: "Here, put it on!"

Sun Pan glanced at the baseball cap on the ground, and was stunned for a moment before he realized that this wasn't what he needed right now?

However, what surprised him was that the person who came to help him in his hour of need was Guo Bing, the Olympic team leader he hated the most...

Because of the previous incident, he was very dissatisfied with Guo Bing's eunuch-style army building. He usually treated him like air when he saw him. Just as Zhou Yi had analyzed to Guo Bing, players like Sun Pan who played football abroad didn't rely much on the Chinese Football Association. If he was angered, he could just not join the national team, but it wouldn't affect his career at all, so he didn't need to please this leader.

But he didn't expect that the person he hated the most would come to his aid in his hour of need.

He bent down and picked up the hat, didn't say thank you to Guo Bing, just put it on his head, and then turned around and returned to the front of the goal.

And Guo Bing saw him put on the hat, and heaved a sigh of relief and walked back with peace of mind. He ran when he came, but it was much easier when he went back. He walked as if he was taking a stroll, and even deliberately walked a little slower, watching the Japanese players run to take the corner kick behind the advertising board. The Chinese goal was temporarily crowded with players from both sides.

However, the corner kick was not taken immediately. The fourth official on the sidelines informed the referee that the Japanese team was going to make a substitution, so the referee suspended the corner kick and made a gesture to make a substitution.

Guo Bing's gaze turned over there, and he saw a tall Japanese player standing on the sidelines, and the fourth official next to him raised the substitution sign.

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"The Japanese team is going to make a substitution, they are substituting... forward Nagai Kensuke, who hit the crossbar with a header before!" He Ping said. "He is replaced by Sugimoto Kenyu, number nine, a like-for-like substitution. Sugimoto Kenyu is Nagai Kensuke's substitute in this Olympics. He started once in the previous five games, came on as a substitute twice, and didn't have the opportunity to play twice. In terms of personal ability, he is not as good as Nagai Kensuke, but the reason why Japanese Olympic team head coach Sekizuka Takashi replaced him is because he is one meter eighty-seven tall! This is a rare high center forward in the Japanese team! So... that's why the Japanese team must make a substitution before the corner kick is taken..."

The Japanese Olympic team brought three forwards to London this time. As a team that plays with a single forward, three forwards are enough.

Among these three, the main player is Nagai Kensuke, who started four times and came on as a substitute once in the previous five games, scoring two goals, ranking second in the Japanese team.

Of the other two substitutes, Saito Manabu started once and came on as a substitute three times, without scoring a goal. His height is... one meter sixty-six.

And Sugimoto Kenyu is one meter eighty-seven tall and weighs seventy-nine kilograms. He is a different kind of player in the Japanese team's forward line. The main purpose of bringing him to London is to enrich the Japanese team's style of play and provide another idea for the Japanese team's attack.

And what does Sekizuka Takashi mean by replacing him now? Anyone with a normal mind knows that he wants to use the opportunity of the Chinese team's limited visibility due to backlight to adopt high-altitude bombing. After all, the football is in the air, and the Chinese team's defensive players have to look up, which is practically the same as being blind...

Nagai Kensuke was also quite surprised that he was replaced so quickly, but as a Japanese player, obedience is a basic requirement. He quickly ran to the sidelines and completed the substitution with Sugimoto Kenyu.

After coming off the field, Nagai Kensuke bowed to the surrounding fans and then walked towards head coach Sekizuka Takashi.

Sekizuka Takashi took the initiative to extend his hand, shook hands with him, and said to him: "For victory, I have to wrong you a bit, Nagai."

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When the Japanese team completed the substitution, the TV broadcast camera switched back to the Chinese team's goal, and at this time, everyone was surprised to find that Sun Pan was wearing a "Cui Jian style" hat on his head!

"Eh? Where did this hat come from?" He Ping was very surprised, he had just paid attention to the Japanese team's substitution and didn't notice everything that happened in front of the Chinese team's goal.

Other Chinese players also noticed the hat on Sun Pan's head. Zhou Yi asked him, "Where did it come from?"

Sun Pan pointed to the coaching bench: "The team leader gave it to me."

Zhou Yi was a little surprised, but didn't say anything. It was good to have a hat, so it would be better in backlight, at least when you don't have to look up, you won't feel uncomfortable.

After Sugimoto Kenyu ran to the front of the goal, the suspended corner kick could finally continue.

Kiyotake Hiroshi kicked the football high towards the Chinese goal, looking for Sugimoto Kenyu, who had just come on.

Sugimoto Kenyu lived up to expectations. Taking advantage of the fact that the Chinese players didn't know much about him when he had just come on, he jumped high and headed the football before Guo Nu!

"Careful!" He Ping exclaimed again.

Before he finished speaking, he saw a figure flying in the air in front of the goal, it was Sun Pan!

He saw him use a single palm to lift the football headed out by Sugimoto Kenyu over the crossbar!

"Beautiful! Sun Pan! He made a beautiful save!" He Ping slapped the table excitedly.

Imagining the last time the Japanese team headed the ball, Sun Pan didn't even judge the direction correctly, and it was the crossbar that blocked the opponent's shot. But this time, he managed to save the header in time.

What could this change foreshadow?