Chapter 33

At thirty-three minutes into the match, Chile launched an attack.

Because of Yang Muge and Yang Hao's sweeping in the middle, the Chilean team did not go through the middle this time, but went directly to the wing.

They played the ball to the wing and then crossed it in front of the goal, trying to directly threaten the Chinese team's goal. This time, Guo Nu, who was not very tall, jumped up and headed the ball out before anyone else.

"Guo Nu clears the ball with a header! He has also gained many opportunities to play for Inter Milan this season and has been fully trained. Playing in Serie A has also improved his ability to direct and arrange the defense. Any fan who has watched Guo Nu play for Inter Milan will probably not be too surprised by this header clearance, and may even think it's too simple..."

"Yes, although Guo Nu hasn't participated in the Champions League like his friends. This may make people not understand him enough and underestimate him. But in fact, his performance in Inter Milan's defense is very stable and excellent..."

Guo Nu headed the ball to the outside of the penalty area, where Zheng Zhi received the ball with his back to the attack. He had no time to turn around, so he passed the ball back to Yang Muge.

Yang Muge passed the ball to Yan Min on the left wing.

Before the ball reached Yan Min's feet, Aránguiz of the Chilean team rushed up, trying to steal the ball before Yan Min could receive it.

Yan Min didn't receive the ball, but poked it forward, then twisted his body, barely brushing past Aránguiz. Relying on his excellent starting speed, he accelerated past Aránguiz and caught up with the ball.

"Beautiful! Ball played past the man! Yan Min is very flexible! Aránguiz can't catch him at all!"

After getting rid of Aránguiz, Yan Min did not immediately pass the ball, but continued to dribble forward.

His unstoppable dribbling caused the Chinese fans in the stands to cheer.

In their cheers, Yan Min sprinted down the left wing of the field.

Gonzalo Jara, the right back of the Chilean team, came up to defend Yan Min.

Yan Min seemed to not see Jara at all, pushing the ball forward, about to accelerate and force a breakthrough.

This was simply an insult to Jara – any attacking player who doesn't slow down when facing his defense, but instead accelerates, can only mean that the attacking player doesn't take him seriously at all, and thinks he can simply break through with speed.

Jara naturally refused to be outdone, and he immediately leaned up, intending to use his physical presence to slow Yan Min down.

His strategy succeeded, and Yan Min, who was stuck to him, did not simply break through Jara with speed.

Yan Min, who was being marked, swung his left foot while running, feigning a cross.

Of course, Jara wouldn't let him pass the ball so easily, so he squeezed up again.

But after Yan Min's left foot swung up, it wasn't a cross, but a flick back!

At the same time, he made a sudden stop and turn. Suddenly stopping and turning at high speed was effortless for Yan Min; this was his specialty. But not everyone can be as flexible as him.

Jara was still trying to squeeze Yan Min away at the time, so his center of gravity was unstable. He was thrown off balance by Yan Min's sudden stop and slid out...

Yan Min then got rid of the defense, and he immediately cut inside with the ball, heading towards the penalty area!

Chile didn't expect Jara to be shaken off so easily by Yan Min, which completely disrupted their arrangement.

For a time, one of the two central defenders rushed towards Yan Min, while their midfielder Díaz also rushed back to double-team Yan Min.

The Chilean penalty area suddenly became chaotic.

Yan Min seized this chaos and sent the ball out, passing it to the far post of the goal.

There, He Ying rushed in at high speed, and then, using this momentum, jumped forward and headed the ball!

His forehead solidly hit the flying ball!

There were no defensive players around him; they were either defending Yan Min or Gao Lin. They were unprepared for He Ying, who had come up from behind...

So He Ying headed a comfortable header!

The ball was headed towards the goal!

At such a close distance, Chilean goalkeeper Bravo, who hastily retreated from the near corner to the far corner, failed to touch the ball, and the ball flew into the goal!

"He Ying——!!!!!!" Duan Xin on the scene stood up excitedly from his seat, raising his arms and shouting. "He Ying!!! He Ying!! Goal——!! He scores a goal for the Chinese team! This is the first World Cup goal in the history of the Chinese men's football team! This is a historic moment! He Ying! A beautiful counterattack by the Chinese team! A beautiful goal! Guo Nu! Zheng Zhi! Yang Muge! Yan Min! He Ying! Each of them has left their names forever in the history of Chinese football! They have created history! And we! Audience friends! We are fortunate to witness the birth of history!"

Zhang Lu also said excitedly beside him: "This counterattack is really great! Everyone handled the ball very correctly, whether it was Zheng Zhi's pass back or Yang Muge's kick, or Yan Min's dribbling breakthrough... In a counterattack, every link is required to be perfect, otherwise if there is a problem with any link, then this goal will not be scored! The Chinese team has played what Lippi hopes to see! Having conceded two goals, they pulled one back before the end of the first half... There is still suspense in this game!"

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The cheers of the Chinese fans echoed throughout the sky above the Arena Pantanal. This was the first time in the game that they unscrupulously expressed their voices, declaring their attitude.

In the cheers, He Ying, who scored the goal, turned excitedly and ran towards the stand where the Chinese fans were gathered – behind their own goal, he had to run across the entire field.

During this process, he also wanted to take off his jersey to celebrate, but he had just lifted his jersey halfway when he remembered that taking off his jersey would result in a yellow card. Getting a yellow card for this would be troublesome in future games if there were any accidents. Now that Zhou Yi is absent, there can be no further losses in personnel.

So the last bit of reason prevailed over the excited emotions, and he put his jersey back down. But he still opened his arms and ran wildly towards the stand where the Chinese fans were, using all his strength to rush to the stand in the shortest amount of time, then sliding on his knees until he stopped in front of the advertising board.

His teammates also slid on their knees with him, and then pounced on him.

Sun Pan also rushed up to join in the celebration.

And what about the Chinese fans? They waved everything they could wave in their hands towards the Chinese players on the field – fists, scarves, banners, and the national flag.

This scene is destined to become a classic picture in the memory of Chinese football in the future.

This is the first time that the Chinese have had a hearty emotional release on the World Cup stage.

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Seeing He Ying score, Zhou Yi, who was standing on the sidelines, jumped up, then turned and ran towards his teammates on the bench, hugging them. Everyone was shouting and screaming, celebrating the goal.

Although it was just a goal, and they hadn't even tied the score yet.

But the situation had quietly changed.

This goal was just the beginning; the Chinese team would not succumb to any difficulties!

The broadcast camera of course did not forget to take care of Zhou Yi, recording the scene of Zhou Yi and his teammates celebrating the goal.

The Chinese team was celebrating the goal like crazy, while the Chilean team was somewhat depressed.

From their attack to their loss of the ball, it was only a short ten seconds.

The ball was lost too quickly, and they hadn't reacted yet.

Moreover, this loss gave them some bad ideas.

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When the replay of the goal began to be played on TV, Duan Xin's mood finally calmed down a little.

With this replay, he and Zhang Lu began to analyze the goal, while praising the team's performance.

Zhang Lu said: "Guo Nu's header clearance was very decisive... Zheng Zhi's pass back was also very clever. If he had taken the ball down and then turned around, this counterattack would most likely not have been successful. Zheng Zhi was also marked by his opponents in this game. Chile is very clear that Zheng Zhi's appearance is to replace Zhou Yi, so his position and role are the same as Zhou Yi's, so their defense against Zheng Zhi is not weak... Zheng Zhi handled this ball very cleverly, and Yang Muge was even smarter next. He didn't even stop the ball, and directly passed the ball to Yan Min diagonally in front... Next was Yan Min's personal performance time, first playing the ball past the man while receiving the ball, getting past Aránguiz, and then shaking off Jara with a sudden stop and change of direction... He played the characteristics he had at Dortmund to the fullest. Yan Min played like this at Dortmund this season..."

Duan Xin continued: "Yan Min was also very clever in the final pass. He didn't pass to Gao Lin in front of the goal, but to the space behind Gao Lin. At that time, it was still an empty space, with no one there... He Ying, like Yan Min, saw this space, so he inserted forward at high speed, and finally it was a beautiful and powerful header... The entire goal line was clear, the thinking was clear, it was a textbook-like fast counterattack! It's really great to use such a goal to open the history of Chinese men's football's goals on the World Cup stage!"

"The last time the Chinese team participated in the World Cup was in 2002. At that time, we were discussing and looking forward to the birth of a goal. But as a result, in that World Cup, in three group matches, the Chinese team did not score a single goal. There were also two shots that hit the goalposts... Now, twelve years later, we have finally waited for a goal!" Zhang Lu said with emotion.

"Yes. We have taken many detours in these twelve years, and Chinese football has also experienced its darkest moments. Now, no matter what, we have finally emerged from the darkness and can see the dawn!" Duan Xin nodded. "I hope this is a good start for the future of Chinese football, and that we will use this beautiful counterattack goal to open up the future..."