Chapter 110 Counterattack

Sun Pan threw the football to He Ying, who had his back to the direction of attack. He didn't trap the ball, but headed it straight back, towards Zhou Yi who was running forward.

As Zhou Yi stopped the ball, two Australian players closed in.

Facing their double-teaming, Zhou Yi didn't immediately pass the ball. He Ying was running into position, and it wouldn't be easy for him to receive a pass at that moment.

So he nudged the ball to the left, seemingly wanting to break through on that side. After tricking one of the defenders into shifting his weight, he suddenly hooked the ball back, and with his right foot, tapped it forward, sending the ball through the gap between the two players. At the same time, Zhou Yi hunched over and charged forward with the ball. He broke through so forcefully!

"La Croqueta!" Liu Hong shouted excitedly.

A deafening cheer rang out over the Zhuque Stadium.

Zhou Yi used a very simple move to break through two Australian defenders directly. What's more, his breakthrough disrupted Australia's defensive arrangements, putting them in a very unfavorable position.

After breaking through, Zhou Yi didn't stop, but continued to dribble forward.

Speed has never been his forte, but his rhythm on the ball was excellent, thanks to his relentless training in the virtual space for over a year.

With a good dribbling rhythm, it was difficult for defenders to steal the ball from his feet unless they fouled him.

The Australian players were drawn to Zhou Yi's breakthrough, and they swarmed towards him, intending to force him to stop his dribbling.

Just then, Zhou Yi suddenly passed the ball while dribbling!

Instead of continuing to carry the ball, he kicked it to his right front!

There, He Ying had just moved into open space!

He received Zhou Yi's pass!

"He Ying!"

Amidst the deafening cheers, He Ying dribbled towards the Australian goal. Because Zhou Yi's dribbling had attracted most of the Australian defenders, He Ying now faced much less pressure.

As he dribbled towards the Australian goal, only one Australian defender appeared in front of him to intercept him.

Although He Ying couldn't get a game in Barcelona, he had been receiving high-level training there all along. Some people might think that He Ying's level was average because of his poor performance against the Japanese team, but in fact, He Ying's strength was very strong. Besides, just because he couldn't play in Barcelona didn't mean he couldn't be impressive against Australia...

Facing Australian player Wilkshire, who came up to defend him, He Ying lowered his left shoulder, making a move as if to break to the left. But just as Wilkshire's center of gravity shifted in that direction, He Ying used the outside of his right foot to push the ball to the right, and then accelerated past him, breaking through!

"Good ball! Clean and crisp!" Liu Hong shouted excitedly in the commentary box.

Amidst the enormous cheers at Zhuque Stadium, He Ying charged into the penalty area. There were no Australian players around him, only the veteran Australian goalkeeper Schwarzer in front of him.

Facing the onrushing Schwarzer, He Ying didn't make any extra moves this time. He shot directly.

His body leaned to the left, and the inside of his right foot curled the ball into an arc, sending the ball towards the right post of the goal.

The goalkeeper Schwarzer, on the other hand, dived to the other side, clearly deceived by He Ying's body feint before the shot...

Now he could only turn his head and watch the football, praying to God in his heart that the post would block the ball, or that it would simply fly out of the baseline...

But his prayers were not heard by God. The football that He Ying had curled out drew an arc and flew into the goal!

"2:0!! Good ball! Good ball!" Liu Hong was so excited that he almost jumped out of his chair. "A textbook counterattack! The Chinese team scored with the most efficient method!"

When the football flew into the goal, the already noisy Zhuque Stadium instantly transformed into a violently erupting volcano.

This volcano named "Zhuque" had erupted twice tonight!

"He Ying scores twice! What an explosion! He who was previously under so much doubt has now silenced all those who questioned him! He got past the defender beautifully and shot smartly. I wonder if Barcelona coach Vilanova is watching He Ying's performance for the national team..."

Liu Hong was being a bit wishful. He Ying wasn't an important figure in Barcelona's first team at all. How could his national team game be noticed by Vilanova?

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After scoring, He Ying didn't run off to celebrate with the fans on his own, but turned around and ran towards Zhou Yi, who had assisted him. He wanted to thank Zhou Yi, not just for this goal, but for the entire game.

If it weren't for Zhou Yi, he might not have had the confidence to stand on the field. Without Zhou Yi's assist, how could he have scored these two crucial goals in the game?

He knew very well what this brace meant to him.

As a striker, there was nothing more confidence-boosting than scoring goals.

And Zhou Yi was always so considerate, offering help in times of need.

So how could someone like Zhou Yi not be popular?

He Ying, embracing Zhou Yi, thanked him once again.

Zhou Yi accepted with a chuckle. For such sincere gratitude, it wouldn't be right to refuse with false modesty.

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While the Chinese team players were celebrating their goal, the Australian side was a bit stunned. Their players were all dumbfounded. They had come with the goal of taking all three points on the road. They hadn't underestimated the Chinese team and had decided to go all out to win those three points. But now it seemed they might have underestimated the Chinese team a bit.

The current Chinese team was completely different from the one that everyone used to bully.

Australian coach Osieck scratched his head in frustration. Faced with this situation, he didn't know what to do.

He had misjudged the strength of this Chinese team, especially He Ying, who was completely unexpected.

This was his responsibility.

This Chinese team was already very strong. No wonder they were able to draw with the Japanese team on the road. Thinking about it now, if He Ying had been in today's form in that game, maybe the Chinese team could have beaten the Japanese team on the road...

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After the Chinese team took a two-goal lead, the internet was filled with praise and amazement for the Chinese team.

Although Chinese football had changed a lot in the past two years, for many people, the long-standing image of Chinese football being backward was still deeply rooted.

So they were all surprised that the Chinese team was able to take a two-goal lead against Australia at home.

"Is this still the Chinese team we know?" Such people exclaimed on the internet.

But someone immediately joked: "Brother, how long have you not watched a Chinese team game?"

Those who had been following this team since Gao Hongbo took over as national team coach could fully understand this change. Gao Hongbo clarified the style and direction of Chinese football, and the style of play based on ground passing and control also followed the trend of world football. Starting with the friendly match against Germany, Gao's team showed people a national team completely different from the past.

Later, when Zhou Yi joined the national team, the Chinese team finally found their core, and many of Gao Hongbo's tactical concepts could be well implemented on the field.

With Zhou Yi, the Chinese team achieved a good result of runner-up in the Asian Cup.

After the Olympics, many players from the gold-medal-winning Olympic team joined the national team, which greatly strengthened the national team's strength, so they could draw 1:1 with Japan on the road and lead Australia 2:0 at home.

Looking at it this way, the progress of the Chinese team was clear and logical, rather than a sudden genetic mutation.

"If we win this game against Australia, three wins and one draw in four games, with ten points... Whoa! Is the Chinese team going to make it to the World Cup finals again? Is my dream going to come true in my lifetime!"

"Actually, I'm not as excited as before, because I think with the current strength of the Chinese team, it shouldn't be very difficult to get into the World Cup finals..."

"The person above is right, rather than expecting to get into the World Cup finals, I'm more looking forward to our performance after we get into the World Cup finals!"

"I think we can achieve the goal of 'scoring a goal, getting a point, and winning a game' this time, right?"

"Brazil two years later, just thinking about it is exciting!"

The game on the field was still going on, but the Chinese fans couldn't contain the excitement in their hearts and began to look forward to the future...

At this moment, they were the happiest people in the world.