When He Ying's shot aimed for the bottom left corner was saved by César, the Chinese players standing near the center circle held their heads in their hands, looking regretful and surprised.

The Brazilian players next to them breathed a sigh of relief and cheered.

When Willian kicked the ball wide, their reaction was the same as the Chinese players' now.

Next, Marcelo was the third Brazilian player to step up. He kicked the ball to the right. This time, Sun Pan guessed the right direction, but Marcelo's shot was too powerful. Although he guessed correctly, his diving speed was just a bit short. In the end, the ball flew into the goal just past his fingertips!

"Ah, Sun Pan guessed the right direction on this one, but he couldn't save it... Now China is behind 1-2 in the penalty shootout..." He Ping regretted Sun Pan's save.

Sun Pan was even more regretful. He fell to the ground and punched the turf hard. Behind him were the cheers of the Brazilian fans, mixed with jeers at him.

He lowered his head and walked away from the goal. César brushed past him, taking his place in front of the goal.

It was China's turn to take a penalty.

Wu Lei, the third Chinese player to take a penalty, jogged up, ready to kick the ball.

The Chinese fans in front of the TV screens held their breath, watching the TV screen nervously.

Under the gaze of hundreds of millions of eyes, Wu Lei placed the ball and stepped back, waiting for the referee's signal.

The whistle blew!

Wu Lei ran up and kicked!

But as the ball flew towards the goal, a very bad feeling welled up in He Ping's heart—Wu Lei's shot wasn't aimed at the bottom left corner, nor the bottom right corner. It was a mid-height shot towards César's right side... This was the kind of shot goalkeepers loved to save!

Sure enough, César dove to the right, using both hands to block Wu Lei's shot!

"Aaaaaah!!" The Brazilian commentator screamed, cheering wildly, "César! César!! He saved two Chinese penalties in a row!!"

A thunderous cheer and applause echoed throughout the Estádio Mineirão.

César, after two consecutive saves, got up from the ground and patted his chest forcefully, a display of confidence from a goalkeeper.

The Brazilians were celebrating, while the Chinese were dejected.

Wu Lei, who missed the penalty, hung his head, covering his face with his hands. When he was needed most, he couldn't withstand the pressure.

He Ying's missed penalty earlier obviously had a great impact on his emotions, so this kick was hesitant, and he actually kicked it into the angle that goalkeepers like the most...

If China was eliminated, he would definitely become the sinner of Chinese football, cursed by fans across the country...

The thought of this future made Wu Lei shudder.

He didn't even know how he got back to the team, until everyone came over, patting his shoulders and head, comforting him. He then realized that he was already surrounded by his teammates.

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The fourth Brazilian player to take the penalty was Hulk. Wu Lei's missed penalty reduced the pressure on him a lot. He looked relaxed as he walked towards the penalty spot.

After placing the ball, the referee blew his whistle and he began his run-up.

Unlike his teammates who took long strides, Hulk took small steps forward, observing Sun Pan's movements as he ran.

But Sun Pan stood in front of the goal, motionless, unable to tell which way he would dive.

This made Hulk feel a little panicked. He originally planned to decide which side to kick the ball based on Sun Pan's movements, but now that Sun Pan was not moving, he didn't know where to kick... Although he was taking small steps, his speed was not fast, but there was always a time when he would reach the end. Soon he came to the ball and had to shoot.

Hesitating, Hulk's last thought was—forget it, just shoot the ball in the middle! That kid has dived to the sides for the previous three penalties, and has not stayed in the middle once!

So Hulk shot low, sending the ball towards the center.

When Hulk kicked, Sun Pan's body did tilt to the right, but he quickly saw that the ball was flying towards where he was standing, so he gave up the plan to dive, his body tilted to the right, but his leg dragged behind.

When Hulk's penalty flew over, it collided with Sun Pan's foot, and then was kicked out by Sun Pan!

"Sun Pan—!!!" He Ping stood up, raising his arms and shouting. "Sun Pan! At this critical moment! He saved Hulk's penalty! This save is too crucial! Too important!"

The entire Estádio Mineirão let out a cry of surprise and sigh when Hulk's penalty didn't go in.

Amidst this sound, Sun Pan got up from the ground, turned around and pointed to the Chinese flag on his chest, showing it to the Brazilian fans in the stands behind him who were holding their heads.

He finally waited for the time to retaliate, using a method that a goalkeeper is good at.

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When Sun Pan saved Hulk's penalty, the Chinese team also cheered. Wu Lei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Next, as long as Yang Muge, who was fourth, could kick the ball in, China would be tied with Brazil again on the overall score. The two sides could return to the same starting line.

Some people have already set their sights on Yang Muge, but they didn't dare to say anything to Yang Muge, for fear of putting pressure on him.

As Yang Muge was about to walk forward to take the penalty, Zhou Yi stopped him from behind: "Lao Yang, a heavy burden rests on your shoulders."

He said to Yang Muge with a smile. As soon as he said this, the other Chinese players were taken aback—shouldn't we try to avoid reminding Yang Muge about the pressure at this time? Shouldn't we try to downplay the difficult and dangerous situation? Why did Zhou Yi have to rub salt in the wound?

After hearing Zhou Yi's words, Yang Muge's expression did not change at all. He nodded calmly, and then turned and walked forward.

This scene fell into the eyes of some Chinese players, and they only felt that Yang Muge must have been made nervous by Zhou Yi, and he was so nervous that he couldn't even speak.

But looking at Zhou Yi again, he still had a smile on his face, as if he didn't know that he had just done something wrong.

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"The fourth penalty taker for the Chinese team is Yang Muge, who plays for Schalke 04 as a defensive midfielder. He is not a player who is good at scoring goals. He has only scored one goal for Schalke 04, and has never had a penalty record..." The Brazilian commentator introduced Yang Muge to the Brazilian fans. Judging from the information in his hand, Yang Muge was not the kind of player who was sure to score a penalty. He didn't even understand why Lippi arranged for Yang Muge to take the penalty, and arranged for him to be the fourth to play.

You must know that the fourth round of the penalty shootout is a very critical watershed. Many players have stumbled here, and many teams have stopped here, and have not even survived to the fifth round of penalty shootouts.

In ESPN's statistics, the penalty conversion rate of forward players and defender players is the highest. The former has 83%, and the latter has 74%, while the midfielders only have 71%.

César has saved two Chinese penalties in a row. He is in good shape now. Facing a rookie who has never taken a penalty before, he must have a psychological advantage.

As long as he can save Yang Muge's penalty, the advantage will return to the Brazilian team, and the pressure will be transferred to the Chinese team...

Just as the Brazilian TV receiver was chattering about Yang Muge, Yang Muge had already placed the ball. He took two steps back and turned to look at the referee Webb.

César made a gesture to interfere with him in front of him, waving his arms, but Yang Muge didn't even look at it.

"If Yang Muge can score this penalty, then we will tie the Brazilian team on the score..." He Ping said in a very low voice, and his tone was not very firm.

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Webb's whistle.

The crisp whistle sounded over the Estádio Mineirão, and Yang Muge started his run-up the moment the whistle sounded, just like a 100-meter athlete.

After two steps, he ran behind the ball, then raised his right leg and kicked the ball.

César swayed his body, making a gesture to save.

The ball kicked by Yang Muge's weight rose into the air, like a cannonball, and slammed into the goal. The speed was so fast that when the ball flew into the goal, César's save action had not yet been completed. His body only swayed a little, and then he watched helplessly as the ball flew into his goal, powerless.

"Yang Muge! Well done! Well done! Withstood the pressure, a clean goal!" He Ping cheered loudly. "The Chinese team has now tied the score at 2:2 on the total penalty score!"

Yang Muge did not celebrate after scoring the goal, but just silently turned around and walked back, only the smile on his face revealed the joy in his heart.

In ESPN's statistics, the penalty conversion rate of midfielders is indeed the lowest, but in the fourth penalty, the stability of midfielders is better than that of forwards and defenders.

Letting a midfielder who will not give up easily and is good at entanglement in defense take this penalty, even if he has no previous successful penalty record, I believe it will not be disappointing, right?

This is why Lippi arranged for Yang Muge to take the fourth penalty.