"Ah!! How is this possible?!" Upon seeing Zhou Yi's goal, the Japanese national team players in front of the TV exclaimed and gasped.

"Is China going to be our opponent in the final?"

"Zhou-san is amazing!"

"We must keep a close eye on him during the final!"

Everyone was already planning how to compete with the Chinese team in the final, and Zhou Yi was, of course, the person they had to keep a close eye on.

Yasuhito Endo asked Shinji Kagawa, "Kagawa, didn't they say Zhou Yi's stamina isn't good? Why is it that after a hundred minutes, he can still accelerate with the ball and rush into the penalty area to shoot?"

Shinji Kagawa nodded, "That's not surprising. He was often like that at Borussia Dortmund. Actually, I think Zhou-san at the end of the game is the most terrifying, because you'll think he can't run anymore and is no threat at all. But at that moment... he can deliver a fatal pass or score himself."

"What's supporting him, then?"

"The determination to never give up, I guess."

Hearing Shinji Kagawa's explanation, Yasuhito Endo fell silent.

※※※

When the Chinese players finally got off Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi didn't get up from the ground with his teammates. Instead, he remained sprawled out in a "starfish" shape, lying on the ground, his chest heaving violently, and his breathing heavy.

He was so tired that he could barely get up.

At this moment, Hao Junmin reached out his hand to him.

Zhou Yi grabbed Hao Junmin's hand and was pulled up by the other man.

"Thank you..." His lips moved, wanting to say these words, but no sound came from his throat. He was so tired that he didn't even have the strength to speak.

But Hao Junmin understood anyway, and he patted Zhou Yi: "You're welcome."

Zhou Yi gradually recovered his strength as he slowly walked back.

Although the Australian players kept pointing at Zhou Yi's snail-like figure and protesting, he turned a deaf ear and continued to walk slowly at his own pace.

Was he someone who could be easily influenced by the outside world?

The Australian players were dissatisfied and went to the referee to protest. The referee signaled them to be patient while running to Zhou Yi to remind him to hurry up.

Zhou Yi glanced at him, opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Hao Junmin next to him explained to the referee on his behalf: "He really can't run anymore. He can't go any faster even if he wants to. Look, he's having trouble even speaking right now. It's just a few steps; it won't take long to walk..."

The referee looked at Zhou Yi's heavy breathing and was helpless.

Finally, Zhou Yi walked back to his half, and the referee blew the whistle to kick off, and the game restarted.

Almost as soon as the whistle sounded, Australia couldn't wait to launch a fierce attack on China's goal. If possible, they hoped to equalize the score in the first half of extra time.

But the Chinese team did not let Australia get their wish.

Zhou Yi's goal greatly boosted the morale of the whole team. Now, every player was defending desperately, making it difficult for Australia's attack to reach China's goal.

The first half of extra time ended quickly. China was temporarily leading Australia with a score of 2:1, and they were only fifteen minutes away from entering the Asian Cup final for the third time in history.

But no one knew what would happen in these last fifteen minutes.

※※※

There was no rest time between the first and second halves of extra time. According to the regulations, the two teams had to switch fields directly and then start the second half of extra time.

However, the enforcement of this rule was not very strict now.

When the players of both sides exchanged fields, they would not go directly to the other side's field, but would first walk to the sidelines, go to the bench, drink a few sips of water in front of the coach's seat, and the coach would seize the time to give a few words of advice to the core players of the team and make some adjustments.

Then the players would throw down their water bottles, leave the area in front of the coach's seat, and walk to their own half.

The players from both China and Australia did the same.

Zhou Yi walked to the sidelines with his teammates, but before he even got there, someone ran up to hand him water in order to save him a few steps and conserve some energy.

Zhou Yi took a look at the water bottle and saw that it still had no cap.

The teammate who handed him the water shook the cap in his hand: "I just unscrewed it, no one's drunk from it."

He thought Zhou Yi would worry that it was water that someone had taken a few sips from.

Zhou Yi didn't care about that. He grinned: "It's okay, I don't care, thanks."

He was finally able to make a sound.

After drinking a few sips of water, Zhou Yi poured the rest of the water over his head, then washed his face with both hands, and then he turned to walk back to the field. Gao Hongbo called him again: "Zhou Yi!"

He looked back at the coach.

"If you can't run, don't run. Just stay in the back, don't go up."

Zhou Yi nodded: "Okay, I got it, Gao Zhi. Any other instructions?"

Gao Hongbo hesitated, but finally shook his head: "That's all."

"Then I'll go up." Zhou Yi said goodbye to Gao Hongbo, and then slowly walked to his position.

※※※

After the second half started, Australia continued to attack China's half fiercely. It was obvious that Zhou Yi's stamina was declining very quickly, almost dried up.

Because he was not running as actively as before, sometimes he could only stand and watch his teammates desperately block the shots.

In fact, it was as if the Chinese team was missing a man. But you couldn't completely say that Zhou Yi staying on the field was completely useless.

He could still serve as a transfer station, handle the ball, and pass the ball out.

Although he couldn't run anymore, the ball could run.

Just let the ball run.

※※※

This semi-final was followed not only by domestic fans, but also by some eyes far away in Europe.

"It's really enviable..." Yang Muge suddenly said in the group.

"What's so enviable? That kid Zhou Yi can't even run anymore, he can only stand there like a wooden stake. Did you see his defense just now? It's simply defending with his eyes, like in the legends!" Sun Pan complained.

"Yeah, it makes me wish I could rush onto the field and defend for him!" Guo Nu also rubbed his fists, unwilling.

"No matter what, he can stand there wearing a real national team jersey," Yang Muge said.

Yang Muge's words made Sun Pan unable to continue complaining.

He, Yang Muge, and Guo Nu had all never been selected for the national team, neither the national youth team nor the national junior team.

When they participated in the reality show recording, they were wearing reality show-exclusive jerseys. Although the color scheme and style were very similar to the national team jerseys, they were not real after all, and there was no five-star red flag on the chest.

Which of these young football players didn't dream of being a "national team player" when they first got into football?

No matter how bad the reputation of Chinese football was, these young football players still hoped that they could become national team players, and believed that after being selected for the national team, they could change the poor record and image of Chinese football.

For them, a very important goal of playing football was to become a member of the national team.

And now, Zhou Yi, the person among them who was once the furthest away from this goal, had already realized such a dream. And he didn't just go to the national team to be a benchwarmer, but became the core of the team and really started to change the Chinese team's results!

Didn't that make them envious?

They were simply dying of envy!

This was his first time participating in an official competition as a national team player, and he was able to lead the team into the final!

※※※

In the second half of extra time, Australia bombarded China's goal like a storm on the Australian continent. Every Chinese player could feel the enormous pressure. And this pressure would last for a full fifteen minutes.

In these fifteen minutes, as long as the Chinese players slackened off for even one second, it could have very serious consequences - if Australia equalized the score at this time, the Chinese team's morale and confidence would be severely hit, directly affecting their performance in the ensuing penalty shootout.

No one knew whether the Chinese team would collapse under this constant pressure, and when it would collapse.

Every Chinese fan in front of the TV was so nervous that they couldn't speak.

The members of the Chinese team on the coach's bench and substitute bench were also the same.

At this time, you had to admire Liu Hong. At least he could still provide commentary...

In the 110th minute of the match, the Chinese team was being besieged by Australia.

In the 115th minute of the match, the Chinese team was still being besieged by Australia.

With five minutes left in the game, Australia had almost brought their goalkeeper up, and at this time, people would feel sorry for Zhou Yi's stamina. If Zhou Yi still had the stamina, a long pass would probably have ended the game completely.

But in fact, even if Zhou Yi had the ability to pass the ball forward, there wouldn't be a single Chinese player in front. Even Gao Lin, a center forward, had returned to the penalty area and was filling in as a defender. The Chinese team had long since run out of energy to counterattack.

"In the 116th minute of the match, Australia launched another attack. There is not much time left for them!" Liu Hong was feeling great now. He used to always say when commentating on the national team's games: "There is not much time left for the Chinese team!"

This sentence had also been criticized by fans and the media, saying that Liu Hong was simply the jinx of the Chinese team. Fans had a very bad impression of him, because every time they watched the national team's games, there would be Liu Hong's not-so-pleasant voice in their painful memories...

When Australia organized this attack, they unexpectedly did not rush and charge as they had done before, but patiently organized themselves.

This caught the Chinese team by surprise and made them uncomfortable.

When you're not used to something, there will be problems, such as... missing a player in defense.

After a series of passes, Cahill received the ball in the open space on the flank. When he received the ball, there was not a single Chinese defender defending him!

No... you can't say that, at least in front of him, there was still a Zhou Yi.

But how could a Zhou Yi who was basically out of stamina stop Cahill, who was like a force of nature?!

As long as Cahill broke through Zhou Yi, he would directly enter the penalty area, and then the Chinese team's goal would be in trouble!