The Japanese team won consecutive corner kicks, but this second corner kick didn't pose any threat to the Chinese team's goal. After it was kicked out, Sun Pan shouted, "Mine!"

His voice was still echoing when he leaped into the air, raising both hands to catch the incoming ball steadily. The blinding sunlight didn't seem to bother him as much.

After landing, Sun Pan didn't show off by hugging the ball. Instead, he quickly threw it out of the penalty area, passing it to Zhou Yi outside. During corner kick defense, Zhou Yi didn't participate in defending inside the penalty area due to his height and strength. It would be useless for him to go in, and he might even hinder his teammates. So he stayed outside the penalty area. He wasn't just watching the show; he could still help the team defend, mainly by controlling the second falling point of the ball.

This situation wasn't exactly a second falling point, but it did require his ball control skills.

After Zhou Yi received the ball thrown by Sun Pan, most of the Chinese team's players were still in the penalty area and hadn't come out yet. Even if Zhou Yi wanted to pass the ball forward, he couldn't find a target.

So he had to control the ball and wait for his teammates to move up, which tested his ball control skills. Players with poor ball control wouldn't dare to take the ball near their own penalty area, let alone control it for several seconds. Losing the ball in this area would be disastrous.

But Zhou Yi was able to control it.

As soon as he got the ball, the Japanese players immediately rushed up to surround him.

Facing this encirclement, Zhou Yi wasn't anxious. He pulled the ball back with his foot, dodging the feet of the Japanese player rushing at the front.

However, this also reduced his available space.

But he didn't need to control the ball for too long. He Ying, who had been assisting in the defense in the penalty area, started running forward when Sun Pan caught the ball. Now, he had already rushed in front of Zhou Yi. In addition, everyone else ran out of the penalty area, like a clenched fist suddenly opening into a palm.

Many soccer players have an impression that after their team defends a corner kick, whether the ball is cleared out or thrown out by the goalkeeper, all the players who were squeezed in the penalty area to defend must quickly run out. The goalkeeper will also shout, "Push out! Push out!"

One reason is to create an offside trap, and the other is to seize the opportunity to launch a counterattack.

Now, the Chinese team was in a situation to launch a counterattack.

He Ying took the lead and rushed to the front. Zhou Yi couldn't pass the ball directly to him because Zhou Yi was facing away from the attacking direction, making it difficult to pass the ball to He Ying behind him. The risk was too great.

He chose to pass the ball horizontally.

With a flick of his wrist and a poke of his toe, he made a very concealed movement. Because the range was small, it wasn't easily noticed, catching the defending Japanese players off guard. At the same time, because the range of motion was small, it could be passed very quickly. In an encirclement, the gap disappeared in a flash. If the movement was a little slower, the ball might hit the feet of a defending player.

With Zhou Yi's poke, the ball broke through the encirclement very discreetly and passed to Zhang Jiadong's feet.

At this time, the Japanese players surrounding Zhou Yi had just reacted. They let go of Zhou Yi and went to chase Zhang Jiadong.

Only Yamaguchi Hotaru continued to stay by Zhou Yi's side.

After the first half of the match, Zhou Yi had gotten used to having such a shadow next to him. He ran forward, participating in the team's counterattack.

In the end, this counterattack by the Chinese team failed to threaten the Japanese team's goal.

The Japanese team, in turn, launched an attack, still following the path of going down the wings, with both full-backs actively participating in the attack.

Especially their right-back, Sakai Hiroki.

He had just transferred from Kashiwa Reysol in Japan to Hannover 96 in the German Bundesliga in June. During his time with Kashiwa Reysol, he made twenty-seven appearances for the team last season, contributing nine assists. As a full-back, this number of assists was very impressive.

This fully demonstrated that he was a full-back who was good at assisting his teammates to score goals, and he had excellent crossing skills. Therefore, if the Japanese team played a cross-from-the-wing tactic, he would be a very important passing point.

Sakai Hiroki delivered another beautiful cross. The ball drew a clear arc in the air, flying towards the Chinese team's goal.

"The Japanese team's cross is coming again!"

Guo Nu jumped up, intending to compete with Sugimoto Kenyu for the header, but just as he leaped up, he heard Sun Pan's loud shout in his ear: "Get out of the way!"

As soon as the words fell, Guo Nu felt a gust of wind beside him, and a black shadow rushed in!

"Sun Pan!"

In He Ping's roar, Sun Pan leaped out from in front of the goal, rushing in front of Guo Nu and Sugimoto Kenyu, his fist swinging towards the sun!

With a bang, his fist hit the soccer ball hidden in the sun! It was punched out of the penalty area!

"Beautiful! Beautiful!" He Ping shouted, "He doesn't seem to be affected by the blinding sunlight at all! It's still unknown whether it's the effect of that hat, but after wearing that red star hat, his performance in front of the goal has indeed returned to normal!"

Although everyone was cheering for Sun Pan's interception of the cross, the Japanese team's attack was not over yet.

The ball that was punched out eventually landed at the feet of Japanese player Kiyotake Hiroshi.

This Japanese midfielder didn't hesitate and took a long shot directly, a powerful blast!

He aimed for the gap when Sun Pan fell to the ground after making the save and didn't have time to get up and make another save.

But for Sun Pan, who had particularly fast reactions, he was always able to surprise people. When he landed, his eyes were always following the ball, so he saw Kiyotake Hiroshi take a shot outside the penalty area.

Without thinking, he clapped his hands and, after getting up from the ground, lunged sideways.

"Kiyotake Hiroshi long shot! Danger!!"

The ball shot by Kiyotake Hiroshi passed through the jungle-like legs in the penalty area but was blocked by Sun Pan's arm.

The ball hit his forearm solidly and bounced out again.

This time it bounced towards the left wing.

Otsu Yuki was there. He rushed up and swung his foot at the ball.

Sun Pan, who had landed, didn't give up. Although he had lost his center of gravity and couldn't maintain his balance, he was still crawling on the ground with his hands and feet, stumbling towards the ball. Because the movements were too intense, the hat he was wearing was thrown off, and he looked really embarrassed.

So much so that no one believed he could stop Otsu Yuki's shot.

Zhang Linpeng had temporarily acted as the goalkeeper in front of the goal, ready to block Otsu Yuki's shot with his body. To avoid a handball, he also put his hands behind his back, facing the attack head-on with his chest!

"Japan still has a chance!" He Ping's voice was trembling, and it was unknown whether it was nervousness or excitement...

"Otsu—Yuki—!!" The Japanese commentator lengthened his voice and roared, seemingly pouring all his strength into Otsu Yuki's shot, helping him break through Sun Pan's defense and kick the ball into the Chinese team's goal.

Otsu Yuki didn't even look at what was happening around him. In his suddenly narrowed field of vision, there was no one else, only the ball and the goal. He didn't know what Sun Pan was doing, and he didn't care. Now he just needed to shoot, and then the ball would fly into the huge goal!

Otsu Yuki swung his leg around and hit the ball solidly. This would be a shot carrying his belief in scoring!

He didn't think anyone could stop his powerful shot!

But there was someone who could.

Sun Pan kicked his legs hard in the midst of stumbling, throwing all his center of gravity out with his body. His whole body flew out sideways, and his hands stretched forward as much as possible, no matter which part he used, as long as he could reach the ball!

The clamor of the fans on both sides of the stands almost reached its peak, but at this moment, Otsu Yuki suddenly heard a very slight "poof" sound, like the sound of something rubbing.

Then he saw a hand appear in his field of vision, the tip of the middle finger poked the ball!

The ball in the air jumped violently, then changed direction and flew in another direction, that direction was... the baseline!

Zhang Linpeng fell backward into the goal. He wasn't knocked down by the ball, but fell because he lost his balance during the replay. He didn't feel the ball hit him. Did it go in?

He looked back into the goal, the net wasn't shaking, and there was no ball either.

Huh?

He was a little surprised.

※※※

"Triple save! Triple save!! An amazing triple save!" It wasn't the Chinese commentator He Ping who was so excited, but the neutral commentator Mark Lawrenson. "Sun Pan has made three great saves! He alone has rendered the Japanese team collectively helpless! Repeatedly running into walls!"

Watching the ball change direction and fly out of the baseline, Otsu Yuki, after shooting, lost his balance and knelt directly on the ground, staring wide-eyed at the Chinese team's goalkeeper Sun Pan lying on the ground with an unbelievable look.

"Goalkeeper! Sun Pan is the Chinese team's goalkeeper! At this moment, he seems to be possessed by a god! Three consecutive saves, especially the last two, were almost impossible tasks! But he did it! Let's take a look at Otsu Yuki... He's been stunned! He must not have thought that anyone could save his shot, right?! But who is Sun Pan? He's the best goalkeeper in the Europa League last season!" He Ping laughed excitedly.

Otsu Yuki was looking at Sun Pan, but Sun Pan was looking at the ball—after saving the ball, he was lying on the ground, but his eyes were still following the ball until he saw the ball fly out of the baseline before he withdrew his gaze.

"This...impossible!!" The Japanese commentator was stunned for about a second before wailing miserably. "The ball shot by Otsu Yuki didn't go in! That...Sun Pan is too terrifying! Is his reaction really human!"

The human Sun Pan got up from the ground. He didn't wave his fists and roar loudly. He just glanced at Otsu Yuki kneeling on the ground, then silently turned around, took two steps back, and bent down to pick up the red star hat that had fallen on the grass. He patted the grass clippings on it and put it back on.

The white hat, under the bright sunlight, made the red star in the center particularly eye-catching, as if it were shining brightly...