Chapter 1 When the Football Flew into the Goal

When the football flew into the goal, not only Gabriel, the Brazilian Olympic team's goalkeeper, was dumbstruck, but so was almost everyone in the stadium.

The fans in the stands, the viewers in front of the television, the Brazilian Olympic team's players and coaches...

They couldn't believe that this shot had actually gone in!

Some people rubbed their eyes hard and pinched their thighs, trying to convince themselves that it wasn't real.

Only the Chinese team players on the field were the first to react.

After scoring, He Ying turned and ran towards the corner flag. He grabbed the national flag on his chest and displayed it to the Chinese fans in the stands—during the coin toss before the game, Zhou Yi won the right to choose sides. He didn't choose to have the team play with their backs to the stand where the Chinese fans were gathered in the first half, but instead chose the opposite direction. Although that might mean the Chinese team would face boos from the Brazilian fans when defending, it would allow them to receive cheers from the Chinese fans when attacking.

Now it seemed he had made the right choice.

Under the stand filled with Chinese fans, He Ying proudly and excitedly displayed the five-star red flag on his jersey.

Behind him, the other Chinese team players swarmed towards him.

Zhou Yi was the first to arrive, embracing He Ying and shouting excitedly, "Great shot!"

Afterward, the others also rushed up, hugging the two of them tightly and waving their fists with the Chinese fans in the stands, cheering and jumping for joy.

The Chinese Olympic team players were celebrating the goal without restraint.

What each of them was thinking was the term Zhou Yi had used before the game—"Paper Cat." This was his assessment of the Brazilian Olympic team.

Now it seemed that this Brazilian Olympic team really was like what Zhou Yi had said, like a cat made of paper!

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While the Chinese team players were celebrating the goal, there was chaos in the commentary box.

The goal had come too suddenly. Many commentators were still reciting the lineup as usual before the goal appeared. When they saw the goal, they hurriedly changed their tone. Some people choked on their own saliva because the change was too sudden and coughed, but even while coughing, they had to continue commentating, so they could only shout while coughing, "Goal!"

It sounded really heartbreaking.

"It's unbelievable!" exclaimed Mark Lawrenson of the BBC. "This goal was so fast, like lightning! Rafael is such a sieve!"

As a Liverpool legend, he naturally had no sympathy for the poor performance of a Manchester United player, and even took the opportunity to kick him while he was down.

"Good shot! Good shot! Good shot, He Ying!!" On the other side of the commentary box, He Ping was almost going crazy after the football flew into the goal. He roared hoarsely, and didn't stop even when he lost his voice. He had occasionally thought about the possibility of the Chinese Olympic team defeating the Brazilian Olympic team, but he didn't dare say it out loud, fearing that saying it would jinx it. But he was still somewhat mentally prepared. He had even secretly prepared in his heart how he should say it best if the Chinese team defeated the Brazilian team and advanced to the final.

But he was truly unprepared for the Chinese Olympic team to break through the Brazilian team's goal just twenty-five seconds into the game... He was completely caught off guard by this surprise.

After repeating "Good shot" several times, he finally recovered and knew what he should say. So he said excitedly, "Dear viewers! You are now watching the match between the Chinese Men's Olympic Football Team and Brazil. Yes, you are not mistaken, this is a men's football match! Just now, the Chinese team broke through Brazil's goal, and they are now leading Brazil 1-0 on the field! Yes, you are not mistaken, the Chinese team is leading Brazil 1-0! This is the Chinese team's first shot and first attack after the start of the game! They scored just twenty-five seconds into the game, and the boys of the Olympic team have also created an 'Olympic record'! That is the fastest goal in the history of the Olympic Men's Football Tournament!"

"Before the start of this game, there were many different opinions about the outcome. Some were pessimistic, and some were optimistic. But I think even the most optimistic people probably didn't expect the Chinese team to score in less than half a minute after the start of the game, right? This goal can simply be said to be a pleasant surprise!"

He Ping was actually not right. For the Chinese team, this was not a pleasant surprise, but a fair reward for their own performance.

On the sidelines, head coach Blazevic clapped his hands excitedly and said to his translator, Jiang Xiaojun, "This is great! This is great!"

The tactic he had formulated for the team was to attack from the start, and they could not lose to their opponents in terms of momentum. Then they should try their best to score as soon as possible, the sooner the better.

So, being able to score so quickly was not just good luck, but the result of the entire Chinese team's efforts.

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While the Chinese team was celebrating the goal, the Brazilian team on the other side was dumbstruck. They never expected that their team would be penetrated at the very beginning of the game, and it was on their kickoff.

The Brazilian team's proud sons of heaven could not accept this reality at all.

On the sidelines, head coach Menezes jumped up from his seat anxiously and rushed to the sidelines to shout, "Cheer up! Concentrate!"

For everyone up and down the Brazilian team, this goal was too unexpected. Head coach Menezes believed that the team had not entered the state and was a careless mistake that led to the unexpected goal.

Fortunately, the game had just begun, and the Brazilian team still had plenty of time to attack. With the Brazilian team's strong control ability and offense, he believed that it would not be long before they could equalize the score.

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The Chinese team's early goal shocked many people, especially Chinese fans. For a time, a wave of Chinese team goal-scoring posts appeared on Weibo. All kinds of excited remarks emerged one after another.

Of course, in addition to excitement, everyone was also worried that the game had just begun. Although the Chinese team was leading, they had also angered the Brazilian team. Now they had to face an angry Brazilian team for the remaining eighty-nine minutes. Could they withstand it?

If they had a choice, many Chinese fans would probably prefer this goal to appear when there was only half a minute left in the game, and it was not an insignificant goal, but a game-winning goal!

That way, they would not give the Brazilian team any more time to score.

In the minds of the vast majority of Chinese fans, the impression that the football kingdom of Brazil is very strong is deeply rooted. The Chinese team can rely on the opportunity to score when the opponent has not yet entered the state and does not take them seriously at the beginning of the game, but once the Brazilian team enters the game state and is no longer careless, how can the Chinese team resist the Brazilian team's offensive fire?

Many people were not confident.

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On the field, the Chinese team players finished celebrating and collectively ran back to their half. Zhou Yi was surrounded by his teammates in the middle. He was taking this opportunity to reassure everyone: "We scored a goal and completely disrupted Brazil's rhythm. Next, as long as we continue to play like this, we'll just wait and see Brazil make mistakes! Everyone is human, they are not much stronger than us. Today's Brazil is no longer the Brazil that won the World Cup five times! We can beat them!"

Without this goal, these words would sound like empty, beautiful rhetoric without any basis, meaningless. But precisely because the Chinese team is now leading, no one in Zhou Yi's words would have any doubts. Instead, they would only feel heroic ambition—that's right! We can beat them! We have this goal as proof!

After the start of the game, the trailing Brazilian team launched a fierce attack on the Chinese team's goal.

It was indeed very fierce.

This can be seen from the statistics. They used their excellent skills to control the football, and the possession rate rose steadily. On the contrary, the Chinese team was suppressed by them.

But this feeling is deceptive.

Because although their possession rate was very high, they did not have a single shot.

The game passed ten minutes in the Brazilian team's fierce attack, but they did not even have a single shot.

This was really contradictory to the super-high possession rate.

There was only one explanation, that is, the Brazilian team's possession was basically ineffective possession, and they did not have the ability to directly threaten the Chinese team's goal.

In fact, this was also the case. The Brazilian team's fierce attack was mainly reflected in their individual one-on-one battles.

The Brazilian players who lost the ball were indeed angry, but anger is not always a good thing, especially on the football field.

When players lose their minds, they often choose simpler and cruder handling methods, such as when attacking, passing the ball to teammates is too troublesome, it is simpler and more efficient to dribble the ball yourself.

So what is reflected in the game is that in these ten minutes, the Brazilian players have carried out more individual dribbling and ball control, and the short pass coordination of their previous games is not seen.

This kind of breakthrough is like a tide. When it rushes from the sea level, it looks like a rainbow, but once it approaches the Chinese team's defense line, it will be like hitting a dam, stirring up thousands of waves, but it cannot destroy the dam.

The Chinese team has implemented the pressing and surrounding defense strategy from the frontcourt, midfield to the backcourt, dividing and surrounding the Brazilian team. They can only rely on their individual abilities without passing the ball, and there are indeed not many opportunities to threaten the Chinese team's goal...

Some people worry that the Chinese team's goal was too early and angered the Brazilian team, which is unfavorable.

But in fact, the Chinese team players are very clear that they want to anger their opponents, they want to make their opponents lose their minds, such a Brazilian team is the easiest to deal with!

In the tenth minute of the game, the TV screen showed the end statistics. The Brazilian team had an absolute advantage in possession rate with 69%, but their number of shots was... zero!

Some Chinese fans in front of the TV noticed this and posted on Weibo in great surprise.

"Is this still the Brazilian team we are familiar with?" Some people asked such a question.