Chapter 228: One Match, Top of Both Charts: gg bond's Flawless Debut!

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: After Tang Ye scored, Chinese fans sang the "gg bond Song" in unison to support him; the atmosphere at the venue was electric.

The director, well-versed in creating entertainment value, immediately cut to Tang Ye on the pitch, who stood with hands on hips, tilting his head to look toward the home team's stands.

【Hahahaha】

【Damn, which genius came up with this song? I nearly jumped out of my skin when I suddenly heard "gg bond" on CCTV-5 just now.】

【Don't be so awkwardly critical; the rhythm of this song is actually quite good.】

【So this is Tang Tang Qiuwang's exclusive cheer song, is it?】

【gg bond, persist and you will surely succeed!】

【Does gg bond even need to persist? It feels like South Korea is about to crack under the pressure first.】

"Haha!"

Wu Xi high-fived Tang Ye: "Is this your exclusive cheer song?"

"I don't know."

Tang Ye smiled and spread his hands, then scratched his hair.

Was this his exclusive cheer song?

It seemed so!

This feeling...

Wasn't it actually quite nice?

"Friends, no matter what ~ difficulties ~ you encounter,"

"With him, Piggy Hero, there's no need to worry~"

"Oh gg bond, a hero in a fairy tale..."

The fans in the stands were clearly carried away; although the second half's second kickoff had already occurred, they continued singing relentlessly in the stands.

One could only say that the first fan to sing this song in the stands was truly a genius.

Was there any song more suitable as a cheer anthem for Tang Tang Qiuwang than this one?

There was not!

This was the gg bond Song!

Exclusive to gg bond!

Hiss—

He took a deep breath.

Refocusing his attention on the match, Tang Ye's ears no longer registered the sounds from the stands.

Two-zero was very good, but just as Zheng Zhi had told him before the match began.

The first match must be played excellently.

The more excellent, the better!

Pa!

Tang Ye played a direct pass to Yu Yu Dabao near the right-side baseline.

Having only two strikers made it somewhat uncomfortable for Tang Ye to play, but this was not a problem.

Opportunities were merely fewer; they were not entirely absent.

Yu Yu Dabao controlled the ball at the baseline, at which point Tang Ye immediately accelerated toward Yu Yu Dabao's position.

This was a classic shadow-striker attacking pattern; the South Korean midfielders immediately ran toward Tang Ye.

Realizing he had no chance to receive a pass from Yu Yu Dabao, Tang Ye simply gave up on the idea.

Let Zheng Zhi receive from Yu Yu Dabao!

He would go to the center first!

"Yu Yu Dabao feints near the baseline!"

"He bumps into the South Korean defender!"

"A cutback pass directly out!"

Mm, an opportunity has arrived!

Reacting instantly, Tang Ye actively ran toward the ball's location.

Not rushing to take the ball, he first turned his head to observe Wang Wang Yongpo's position behind him.

One second before receiving the ball, Tang Ye pointed with his finger to an empty space at the far post: "There!"

Wang Wang Yongpo and the South Korean defender both ran toward the spot Tang Ye indicated.

At this moment, Tang Ye planted his standing foot firmly!

He extended his right foot!

Receiving Yu Yu Dabao's cutback!

Shooting directly!

Boom!

"Goal!!!"

"Goal!!!"

"Tang Ye!"

"Beautiful!"

"A goal from Tang Ye!"

"A brace!"

"Three-zero!"

"China leads South Korea 3:0!"

【You have gained 20 Counterattack Points】

【A brace! You have gained an additional 40 Counterattack Points】

【First brace for the national team! You have gained an additional 40 Counterattack Points】

Tang Ye spread his arms and sprinted forward.

His brain temporarily lost the ability to think; almost instinctively, Tang Ye shouted, "Vamos!"

A brace!

He completed a brace in his debut for the national team!

A brace against the South Korean team!

"Tang Ye!"

"Awesome!!"

"Tang Ye!"

His cleats struck the plastic track with a "clack-clack" sound as Tang Ye, face flushed red, spread his arms wide.

"Tang Ye!"

Wu Xi and Zheng Zhi ran up from behind and leaped directly onto Tang Ye.

"Wow, so heavy!"

Tang Ye adjusted his stance, hoisted Zheng Zhi onto his back, and staggered a few steps along the track.

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: 3:0, Tang Ye scores directly after Yu Yu Dabao's cutback! The Chinese men's football team leads the South Korean men's football team, currently ranked second in the standings, by three goals. (7,923 comments)

Nearly 8,000 comments in just two minutes indicates that at least tens of millions of people within China alone are watching this match.

Tang Ye walked to the area below the main stand and quickly spotted Tang Tang Zhengxiong in the crowd, who was facing the away section and shouting curses.

Thump-thump!

He tapped his own chest, then pointed his index finger toward Tang Tang Zhengxiong in the stands.

"Wow!!!"

Clap-clap-clap!

Lippi and the fans in the stands applauded the players on the field together, after which he returned to the substitutes' bench and sat down.

He exhaled deeply.

A huge weight lifted from his shoulders!

"Being 18 is great; much better than being 19."

Lippi's words made Madalloni turn his head: "Is there really much difference between 19 and 18?"

"A huge difference."

Lippi shook his head: "Being born a year earlier means entering the national team a year earlier. If he had been in the national team last autumn, I wouldn't have been able to demand an annual salary of 20 million euros."

Madalloni: 6

Speaking of which, this little old man Lippi felt somewhat fortunate.

Twenty million euros—that was the annual salary for coaching the version of the national football team without Ggbond.

But now, not only could he earn an annual salary of 20 million euros, but he could also coach a Ggbond-enhanced version of the national team.

Getting fired was impossible; with this 20 million euros...

Hmm, he estimated he could eat well for several years?

"..."

"... This should be the last attacking opportunity!"

"Zhang Zhang Yuning, coming on as a substitute!"

"Eh, just a little off!"

"The referee has blown the whistle!"

"The match is over!"

The instant referee Peter Green blew the final whistle, the stands of He Long Sports Center erupted as if an explosion had suddenly occurred.

Tang Ye stood on the field, hands on his hips, looking at the fans in the stands.

When playing in the Netherlands and Spain, Tang Ye would often browse the comment section of Check Dongqiu Di before going to sleep at night.

Many Chinese fans had to stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning, or even pull an all-nighter, just to finish watching Yellow Submarine's afternoon matches.

To be honest, seeing the timestamps on the fans' comments made Tang Ye feel quite uneasy in his heart, so he often pretended to be a fan or one of his own supporters to chat in the comment section.

He wanted to do something for the Chinese fans who supported him, just as he had done for the Spanish fans.

Bringing victory to the team, or... giving his autograph and chewing gum to the fans.

But because the distance was too great, Tang Ye rarely had the opportunity to interact with domestic fans.

Now he could!

Just moments ago, he had used his abilities to help the Chinese national team secure three points against the South Korean team!

After the match ended, he still intended to give autographs to the fans in the stands!

"Tang Ye!"

Zheng Zhi walked over, and the two of them headed toward the player tunnel.

"Not bad, right, Brother Zheng?"

While greeting the fans in the stands, Tang Ye spoke to Zheng Zhi beside him.

"Two goals and one assist—if you can't do it, who can?"

Zheng Zhi pushed Tang Ye from the track to the area below the stands.

Facing the fans cheering loudly in the stands, Zheng Zhi took off his jersey and handed it to the young fan closest to him.

"Me too, me too!"

Tang Ye took off his jersey and rolled it into a ball with his right hand.

A running start!

He threw it straight up!

"Wow!!!"

Fans in the second tier of the stands jumped up, reaching out to grab Tang Ye's jersey.

"Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye!"

The stadium was filled with the cheers of fans; Tang Ye clapped his hands and walked into the player tunnel together with Zheng Zhi and Zhang Zhang Yuning.

"You look very excited."

Zhang Zhang Yuning shouted loudly right next to Tang Ye's ear.

"Of course I'm excited; so many people here are shouting my name, did you hear them?"

"It was the same for you in Spain, at the El Madrigal Stadium—oh, it should be the Ceramic Stadium!"

Zhang Zhang Yuning patted Tang Ye on the shoulder.

Like the other players on the national team, Zhang Zhang Yuning had also been keeping an eye on Tang Ye.

"It's not the same!"

Tang Ye shook his head and began explaining to Zhang Zhang Yuning.

"The Ceramic Stadium only holds 30,000 people; here there are 50,000. This stadium is bigger."

"And!"

Tang Ye emphasized: "I scored two goals today!"

"Haha!" "I nearly scored one too."

Zhang Zhang Yuning recalled that chance in the second half; Tang Ye's pass had found him with perfect precision just as he completed his forward run.

It was just a pity that Zhang Zhang Yuning had been too nervous inside the penalty area.

"Actually, it should have been 4-0; we were just a little bit short."

"It's fine, it's fine; anyway, we won."

Tang Ye placed his hand on Zhang Zhang Yuning's shoulder, and the two of them returned to the locker room together.

After a decisive 3-goal victory over the South Korean team, the Chinese national football players celebrated wildly in the locker room; Tang Ye handed his phone to Wu Lei.

"Brother Lei, take a picture of Brother Ning and me."

"OK, OK, get ready."

Tang Ye and Zhang Zhang Yuning stood together while Wu Lei held the phone, stepping backward little by little until the flash went off.

"Here you go; the lighting in the locker room isn't great, so I don't know if it turned out well."

!

Wu Lei handed the phone back to Tang Ye; just then, Madaloni came in from outside: "Tang, outside, there's an interview for you."

Tang Ye quickly put his phone away in his locker, tidied himself up briefly, and then ran out with Madaloni.

"Mr. Marcello."

Tang Ye shook hands with Lippi, who had been waiting outside the door; Lippi reached out and squeezed Tang Ye's shoulder, then entered the press room together with Tang Ye.

Click-click!

Click-click-click!

The press room had only 80 seats, and every single one was now full.

There were even some reporters who had no seats; they could only stay in the very back row together with the cameramen.

The unfamiliar environment made Tang Ye somewhat nervous; he placed both hands under the table and fiddled with his fingernails, having no idea what kind of questions he would face next.

The camera focused on Lippi: "Today your team defeated the strong South Korean side with a score of 3-0; was this score something you had anticipated?"

Lippi appeared quite calm, answering the reporters' questions little by little.

Soon, the reporters' questions turned to the Chinese national team's number 28 and the match against Iran.

"Facing the group's second-place team and then the first-place team consecutively, what is your mindset? Will the team still deliver an outstanding performance in the away match against Iran?"

"Both South Korea and Iran are very strong; they are undoubtedly the two strongest teams in Group A. I have always supported this view."

Lippi looked at the camera: "But I can state clearly that we have a chance to win; if we can beat the group's second-place team, then we can beat the first-place team. I believe we will put in a good performance in the match against Iran."

Click-click!

The already white-haired Lippi was truly steady in the press conference; not only did his expression not change, but his body barely moved either, sitting motionless in his chair.

Tang Ye, sitting beside him, did not have such patience; he shook his head and swayed, occasionally jerking his leg.

"Tang Ye."

Oh, here it comes!

Tang Ye's expression turned serious.

"Have you seen the news, specifically that photo from 2008 on Tieba? Is that your Tieba account?"

"..."

Tang Ye touched his nose: "Actually, I didn't know at first, but this morning when I woke up, Brother Zhang Yuning and Brother Lei told me about this news... I can't remember very clearly, but that is indeed my account."

"You expressed an opinion about Zheng Zhi; at that time, did you ever imagine you would become teammates with Zheng Zhi?"

The reporter was struggling to hold back laughter.

Tang Ye's face flushed slightly: "I truly never thought about that, but I hold no ill will toward Zheng Zhi; Brother Zheng has been very good to me. When I first reported to the national team, he was the one who helped carry my suitcase upstairs."

"You also stated on Tieba that you would definitely make it into the national team."

"That statement is true."

Tang Ye tugged at the red flag on his clothes.

"Besides that, you also on Tieba..."

"Let's not talk about Tieba matters, okay? Let's drop the Tieba topic."

The reporter still wanted to continue asking questions about Tieba.

Tang Ye's Tieba account had reached a certain level, which meant that during his youth, Tang Ye had posted a great deal of content.

At the very least, between the years 2007 and 2013, he had been extremely active.

"You don't want to talk about Tieba? Then why haven't you deleted your account?"

The reporter asked with a smile.

After people grow up, looking back at what they posted in childhood often feels deeply shameful; deleting Tieba accounts and locking QQ Zone spaces are both very common occurrences.

"I thought about this this morning, but I simply couldn't log in; I don't remember either the username or the password..."

Saying this, Tang Ye pressed his palms together: "Please, really don't go digging through my Tieba history; there's nothing good in there."

"Hahaha."

Must dig through Tang Ye's Tieba comments!

The reporter and the fans in the live stream silently noted this piece of information.

Next came another question, regarding the cheering song sung by the fans today.

"Little Hero with a Big Belly," GGBond becomes a hero in fairy tales!

"I really like this song; yes, that is certain. When I was still at the Shandong Luneng Football School, I often watched it with my roommates. I can sing this song too, and I think using it as a cheering song is appropriate."

"However..."

Thinking of something, Tang Ye added a clarification.

"'Becomes a hero in fairy tales'—I don't really like that lyric. What I want to do is become a hero in reality; that is exactly what I am striving to do right now."

"Become a hero in reality; can you lead the national team to charge toward next year's World Cup?"

As the reporter asked this question, the entire room suddenly fell silent.

"I very much want to play in the World Cup; that is certain."

"But not 'lead the national team to charge'; rather, 'charge forward together with the national team.' My teammates and I will all make our efforts. Hmm..."

Turning his head to look at Lippi: "Yes, and the coach too."

China Football News front-page headline: National Team shuts out South Korea 3-0 at Changsha home ground, securing first victory in third round of Asian qualifiers.

Titan Sports: 2 points in 5 matches, 5 points in 6 matches; does defeating South Korea signal the official rise of the national team?

Dongqiu Di pinned post: Ascending to first place on both the team's top scorer and assist charts in just one match; how do you evaluate Tang Ye's performance in his national team debut?

Asian Qualifiers Third Stage China National Team Internal Top Scorers List (as of Round 6):

1. Tang Ye, 2 goals.

2. Hao Hao Junmin, 1 goal.

2. Huang Bowen, 1 goal.

2. Yu Hai, 1 goal.

2. Yu Yu Dabao, 1 goal.

2. Wu Lei, 1 goal.

China National Team Internal Assist Chart (as of Round 6):

1. Tang Ye, 1 assist.

1. Gao Lin, 1 assist.

【Familiar first place on both charts; this is GGBond's strength.】

【Being first on both charts is impressive, but didn't you say Tang Ye is the Ball King? It's been 6 matches, so why only 2 goals and 1 assist?】

【A reminder for brothers who just started watching: Tang Ye only reported to the national team one week ago; he has played only 1 match.】

The post-match match report pinned on Dongqiu Di directly generated over 50,000 comments from fans.

At this current moment, as soon as you open Dongqiu Di, the image that greets your eyes is a photo of Tang Ye roaring toward the stands.

Danmu scrolls across the very top of the app.

【Awesome!】

【China rises!】

【Light of Guangdong, God of War of Foshan!】

【I never expected the first victory would be against South Korea; I thought the national team had no hope left.】

【66666】

On the evening after the match ended, the national football players gathered in the hotel conference room.

This was the victory banquet for today's win!

Wu Lei held his phone, pointing the front-facing camera at his own head: "Got it, got it."

"Hello, hello!"

Jiang Jiang Zhipeng walked over to Wu Lei's side and greeted the phone.

Wu Lei switched to the front-facing camera: "We are here to interview the players from today's match."

Walking back and forth inside the conference room, Wu Lei found Tang Ye sitting in the corner, so he switched to the rear camera: "The first person we're interviewing is today's match MVP, our team's teenage genius."

Wu Lei sat down in front of Tang Ye; at this moment, Tang Ye had not yet noticed Wu Lei's presence, holding a McDonald's hamburger in his left hand and a glass filled with ice-cold Coke in his right.

A bite of burger, a sip of cola.

Hmm... one sip of cola isn't quite satisfying enough.

Another sip!

Mm!

As the icy sensation entered his stomach, Tang Ye quickly shivered his body.

Damn!

This is life!

Seeing Tang Ye eating a burger and drinking cola, Wu Lei stood up from his chair and said to Feng Feng Xiaoting beside him, "Should I stop filming for now? If I post this online, won't we get scolded?"

Feng Feng Xiaoting glanced at Tang Ye: "Who would dare scold him?"

"Oh, that's true."

Wu Lei sat back down in his seat: "Tang Ye!"

Tang Ye lifted his head, wiped his right hand with a napkin, and then fist-bumped Wu Lei.

Noticing that Wu Lei was filming, Tang Ye then gave a thumbs-up to the camera.

"MVP, does the MVP have anything to say?"

Wu Lei shifted the phone toward Tang Ye's position.

Tang Ye swallowed the burger he had been chewing: "Uh, I played quite happily today, but I just feel something is missing."

"Missing what?"

Tang Ye made a motion of hugging a trophy: "The MVP trophy! Why is there no MVP trophy?"

At that moment, Zheng Zhi suddenly appeared in the frame, reaching out to grab Tang Ye's neck: "Win another MVP in next week's match against Iran, and you'll get a trophy for Player of the Month."

Gao Lin pointed at Zheng Zhi: "Oh, the Tieba midfielder has arrived."

Being teased, Zheng Zhi quickly shifted the focus, spreading his hands toward Tang Ye: "My performance today shouldn't have been trash, right? The few passes I made to you were quite good. Please don't go to Tieba to flame me, Tang Ye-ye-ye-ye-ye!"

Tang Ye downed all the remaining cola in his cup in one go, then chewed on the ice cubes: "Damn, I'm really done with this. Stop checking my Tieba posts, okay? I'm begging you all."

"Then why don't you delete your account?"

Wu Lei asked.

"If I could delete it, I would have done so long ago; I don't even know my account details anymore."

"Haha!"

Having accumulated only two points in the first five matches, the Chinese national football players had been under considerable pressure.

Today's 3-0 victory over South Korea finally rescued the players from that pressure.

Lippi and Madaloni arrived late, casually finding seats at the round table.

Lippi pointed at the McDonald's on Tang Ye's table: "Today, we'll... just eat this."

"Oh, no, that's his own stuff."

Madaloni explained. Lippi nodded and began conversing with Tang Ye: "The burger doesn't matter, but you should drink less cola."

Tang Ye's head drooped.

"Oh, it's fine; your cola has ice cubes. Cola with ice cubes is actually acceptable."

Lippi shifted his position, sat down beside Tang Ye, and spoke in Italian, which Tang Ye completely failed to understand.

Turning to look at Wen Huang Qian,

"He said he has already contacted the Football Association regarding the pants issue. They will have Nike help design soccer shorts with pockets, which should be ready before the match against Iran."

(End of Chapter)