Chapter 271: On the Eve of the Life-or-Death Match, Tang Ye Sits Dazed on a Ball (Seeking Monthly Votes!)

Front-page headline of "China Football News": Four consecutive victories surge into the qualification zone—is this the year the national team has the best hope of entering the World Cup?

Baidu Hot Search No. 1: Is the national team going to the World Cup?

Attached: Asian Zone Group A standings for the World Cup Qualifiers (as of Round 9).

1. Iran, 18 points.

2. China, 14 points.

3. South Korea, 14 points.

4. Uzbekistan, 12 points.

5. Syria, 11 points.

6. Qatar, 7 points.

Having played through Round 9 and ranked second in the group, keywords like "Chinese Men's National Team," "National Team," and "Tang Ye" have directly dominated the Baidu and Weibo hot searches over the past few days.

The reason is simple: finishing second in the group secures a direct ticket to next year's Russia World Cup!

The next match!

As long as the national team can maintain second place after the next match concludes, they will head to Russia next summer!

Front-page headline of "Korean Football Evening Post": Chinese Men's National Team surges to second with four straight wins; will the Republic of Korea lose its direct World Cup ticket?

Front-page headline of "Japan Football": The secret behind four consecutive victories—the powerful Chinese Men's National Team interprets the strength of bonds!

This match victory made the national team famous globally.

Ranked last after Round 5, they ended Round 9 in second place, surpassing South Korea on goal difference.

It's simply too damn inspiring!

Because of this, a Thai illustrator drew a chibi comic for Round 9 of the Asian Qualifiers.

In the comic, chibi Tang Ye, transformed into a Super Super Saiyan, kicks chibi Babayan squarely on the head, instantly raising a large bump on Babayan's skull.

Son Heung-min is shown fighting with Iran's head coach, helplessly watching Tang Ye fly past him to the front.

Son Heung-min, the Tottenham Hotspur forward with a Transfermarkt value of 25 million euros, failed to lead the South Korean team to victory.

But Tang Ye, valued at 120 million euros, can do it!

Since GGbond joined, the national team has not lost a single match!

This is the secret behind the 120 million euro price tag.

Expensive!

But the Chinese team doesn't need to spend a huge sum like Manchester United did.

They only need to pay the basic salary to get Tang Ye to give his all for the team.

【Those Manchester United fans in the UK now feel nothing but cuckolded; Tang Ye played one match and ran back to play for the national team, haha.】

Shanghai Pudong International Airport is now a sea of red; everywhere you look, fans are wearing national team jerseys.

There are also enthusiastic little Tang Ren dressed in GGbond cosplay costumes!

In just two hours, the Chinese team will take off from here for Doha, Qatar!

That will be the final match of the third stage of the Asian Qualifiers for the national team!

Win this, and the national team secures qualification for the World Cup!

"As you can see, I am currently at Pudong International Airport, and behind me are hundreds of fans waiting here for the national team."

The Xinhua News Agency reporter had barely finished half his sentence when a fan suddenly burst into the frame, shouting loudly into the reporter's microphone: "Tang Ye is awesome!"

"Our fans seem slightly too excited."

The reporter pushed the fan away.

It succeeded, but soon another new guy rushed into the frame.

This was a guy wearing a GGbond mascot costume.

The GGbond mascot performed a sliding knee celebration in front of the camera.

Although this isn't grass, the viewers in the live stream knew he was attempting the three-stripe sliding knee celebration move.

That is the signature celebration move of the great Tang Tang Qiuwang.

The reporter seemed to have lost control of the live stream when suddenly a fan in the hall shouted out.

"Here they come, here they come!"

"Wu Lei!"

"Damn, Wu Lei!"

The scene suddenly descended into chaos: "Go for it! We'll watch your match on TV!"

"Tang Ye, you're damn well my father!"

A fan broke through security and charged straight in.

What the hell?

Tang Ye was startled and took a step back, only for that fan to kneel directly in front of him.

Startled again, Tang Ye quickly knelt on the ground as well.

"No, bro, don't do this to me, damn it."

Both stood up from the ground; Tang Ye tightly gripped the fan's hand specifically to prevent him from kneeling again.

"No need, bro, no need."

Reaching into his pants pocket, Tang Ye grabbed a handful of chewing gum and stuffed it all into the fan's hands at once: "It's all yours, it's all yours, no need to kneel, okay?"

"Thank you, really thank you."

Tang Ye patted the fan on the shoulder, after which the fan was escorted away by security.

Wu Lei took a moment to sign autographs for the fans nearby: "We'll do our best, okay? We'll definitely give it our all, definitely give it our all."

Back with the team, Wu Lei whispered, "Damn, they're really enthusiastic today."

"This is what happens when you have good results."

Zheng Zhi burst out laughing; it was clear the national team's midfielder was in high spirits today.

Tang Ye rubbed his hands together, standing behind Zhang Zhang Yuning waiting for security screening, while chatting with his teammates.

"Right, after we won the King's Cup, fans tried to rush our team bus during several home matches, but the police stopped them."

Moving slowly inward, Tang Ye placed his backpack into the basket.

Soon, his backpack was pulled out.

"Whose backpack is this?"

"Mine, mine! What's wrong?"

Tang Ye walked over and, following the security officer's direction, took out a small glass bottle.

"Can't I bring Shuangfei Ren?"

"This one isn't allowed."

"Alright..."

Before the plane had even taken off, Tang Ye had already lost one piece of his gear.

"What is Shuangfei Ren?"

Wu Lei leaned in, closely examining the glass bottle Tang Ye had placed on the counter.

The packaging clearly bore Chinese characters, yet it was manufactured in France.

"It's something you apply when bitten by mosquitoes; seems my mom put it in my bag."

Tang Ye slung his backpack back onto his shoulders: "I used it often every summer when I was little, but I use it less now; I feel like mosquitoes don't bite me anymore."

"Maybe my muscles are too hard for them to pierce."

Saying this, Tang Ye pulled up his pants to show Wu Lei his calf muscles.

Super muscles!

Check Dongqiu Di Match Preview: September 5th, 11 PM, final away match against Qatar; can the national team maintain their winning streak and charge toward the World Cup?

On the night before the match, Lippi gathered all the national team players in the hotel conference room for tactical briefing and psychological counseling.

At the same time, the national team's official Weibo account released a teaser poster for the match against Qatar.

Naturally, for the final match, all players appeared together.

Tang Ye and Wu Lei stood left and right in the center position roaring, while at the very top was Marcello Lippi, wearing glasses with a serious expression.

Caption: The final battle of the World Cup Qualifiers!

【The pressure is maxed out, brothers.】

【11 PM is fine; watching for two hours before sleeping isn't too late.】

【Are you sure you'll be able to sleep after watching the match?】

Comments from fans in the Weibo comment section received many likes.

After this match ended, only two possibilities awaited the Chinese team.

The first possibility was finishing second and qualifying for the World Cup.

The second possibility was losing the chance for direct qualification.

Regardless of which possibility occurred, fans who watched the entire match would absolutely not be able to sleep.

If you can't sleep, then nobody sleeps!

Stay and witness the historic moment of Chinese football!

At 2 AM on the day of the match, a blogger on Check Dongqiu Di published an article comparing the national team and Qatar.

1. Qatar's starting lineup value will not exceed 9 million euros; let alone a fraction of the national team's total value, they can't even match a fraction of the value of one of our attacking midfielders. The national team has higher value; this is the first victory.

2. The national team has a player competing in one of the top five leagues, but Qatar does not. The national team players possess greater individual ability; this is the second victory.

Whether comparing value or ability, the national team players are clearly a tier above the Qatari players.

It's simply an overwhelming win! "For this match, the national team mainly seeks stability; Lippi must play it safe, and thus we have a high probability of securing three points. Of course, the goal difference comparison with South Korea is also crucial."

Qatar vs. China, Uzbekistan vs. South Korea; these two matches kick off simultaneously.

The national team needs to secure three points while ensuring their goal difference exceeds that of South Korea.

This is very important!

Manchester Evening News Special Edition: Group runners-up China men's team versus group sixth-place Qatar men's team; can Tom become the first player in Manchester United to secure a World Cup ticket?

Three hours before kickoff, national team head coach Lippi attended the press conference.

For the final match, reporters cared about nothing other than whether the national team could win; to this, Lippi's answer remained consistent.

That was that they would definitely give their utmost.

"Everyone wants to play on the world stage; of course, I do too. But the fact is, Qatar is not an easy opponent; their offense is excellent."

Keep in mind, before Tang Ye arrived, Qatar was ranked ahead of the national team!

"But no matter what, we are the side with the greater chance of victory."

!

Click-clack!

Inside the locker room, the national team players were undergoing pre-match stretching with assistance from the physiotherapy staff.

When there was still one hour left before the match began, the national team players moved from the locker room onto the pitch.

They would carry out both venue adaptation and warm-up exercises here simultaneously.

"Wow, it's a bit cool!"

Tang Ye rubbed his arms, jogging across the field while glancing toward the stands.

Although there was still an hour to go, one-third of the stadium seats were already occupied.

The Chinese fans' section was nearly full!

Tang Ye raised his right hand toward the stands.

"Wow!"

"Tang Ye!"

Haha!

Jumping up and pumping a fist, Tang Ye ran over to Wu Lei: "Brother Lei, don't you feel it's a bit cool here? When I got off the bus just now, I almost died from the heat."

"Indeed, it is a bit."

Wu Lei also tested the air.

The temperature outside the stadium was around 37 or 38 degrees Celsius, but the players' perceived temperature now was at most 25 degrees Celsius.

"There's air conditioning here."

Feng Feng Xiaoting provided the answer, pointing to a ring of large silver holes at the very top of the stands.

Tang Ye studied this thing carefully: "Then won't the fans sitting under the air conditioning get very cold? If it were me, I'd freeze to death."

"You're too considerate."

Wu Lei patted Tang Ye on the back, and the two of them started running around the field.

Soon the players of the home team, Qatar, also came out; Tang Ye continued his warm-up while watching the Qatari half of the field.

"Tang Ye, do you know someone on the opposing side?"

Zhang Zhang Yuning joined Tang Ye in looking toward the Qatari half.

Qatar had no players competing in top-tier leagues, so logically, no one should know Tang Ye.

"No, I'm just taking a look at them."

As he spoke, Tang Ye began his warm-up movements, his eyes fixed on the Qatari players: "Did you see that? Their number 10 loves to hog the ball; I'll definitely tackle him later."

"..."

"Haha!"

Zhang Zhang Yuning punched Tang Ye lightly on the arm.

Click-clack, click-clack!

Reporters outside the field were all ready, snapping photos of the warming-up players in rapid succession.

Among them, Tang Ye received the most exaggerated attention; roughly estimated, twenty reporters were surrounding him.

The click-clack of flashbulbs made Tang Ye feel somewhat uncomfortable, so he dribbled the ball to a position near the center of the field.

"Huff, huff..."

Having run until he was a bit tired,

Tang Ye stopped the ball in front of him with his foot, then sat down on the leather sphere.

Resting his arms on his thighs, he propped his cheeks up with both hands.

Clap-clap-clap!

Beside him was the sound of teammates passing the ball to each other.

The sounds were frequent, but Tang Ye, lost in thought, gradually stopped hearing them.

If we are to must play on the world stage, which teams would be good to encounter?

Hmm, I can't think about that right now.

Tang Ye began analyzing the situation of the Qatari players he had just observed.

That big-bearded guy wearing number 10 loves to dribble, but he's very thin and lacks physical strength.

Then there's number 11; I remember Mr. Marcello saying that Qatar's number 11 is also a winger.

According to Tang Ye's observation, that number 11 should be the most technically skilled on the opposing side; his dribbling is excellent, and his speed is very fast!

If that's the case, during defense I'd better run more toward Brother Zhi's side.

Hmm, before running, I need to have Brother Zhang Zhang Xizhe cover my position; this is very important!

"Here, here!"

"Go forward, go forward!"

Thump-thump!

Thump-thump-thump!

Tang Ye continued to zone out while the national team players passed the ball to each other for their warm-up beside him.

"Deng-deng-deng-deng-deng-deng, deng-deng-deng-deng-deng-deng-deng"

"Deng-deng-deng, deng!"

"China Media Group, China Media Group! Good evening, dear audience friends! This is the live broadcast of..."

"As you can see, emerging from the player tunnel wearing yellow jerseys is our Chinese National Team!"

"The lineup the national football team has fielded today differs slightly from the previous match against Uzbekistan."

Qatar (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Saad Al-Sheeb

China (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Zeng Cheng

Defenders: Feng Feng Xiaoting, Ren Hang, Li Li Xuepeng, Zhang Zhang Linpeng

Midfielders: Zhang Zhang Xizhe, Tang Ye, Zheng Zhi

Forwards: Gao Lin, Xiao Zhi, Wu Lei

The match has begun!

"Team China!"

"Let's go!"

"Team China!"

"Let's go!"

Fewer than 4,000 fans in the away stand were shouting with all their might.

It all comes down to the result of this match!

"Let's look at Qatar's side; Qatar is exerting immense pressure!"

"Al-Haydos is dribbling on his own!"

"He's taken the shot directly!"

"Hmm, that shot was far too rushed; Al-Haydos didn't find an opening."

"Hiss—"

The CCTV commentators and some fans in the live stream squinted their eyes.

Had Qatar seemingly drawn inspiration from Uzbekistan?

They too wanted to employ a pressing offensive tactic against the national football team!

(End of Chapter)