Chapter 272: Free Kick Scores Directly, World Cup Ticket Already Underfoot

【"Why has everyone started copying each other's tactics? Barcelona copies Ajax, Qatar copies Uzbekistan."】

【"No choice; there aren't many tactics that can deal with my, Tang Tang Qiuwang's, style. If they can't think of anything new, they can only resort to copying."】

【"But isn't Qatar's attacking end not that strong?"】

【"I feel they're worse than Wu Lei; just watch the combination between my King Wu and Tang Tang Qiuwang."】

【"Tang Ye plays a through ball behind the defense, Wu Lei breaks away one-on-one!"】

When the camera cut to Lippi, Chinese fans in the livestream carefully observed the changes in the head coach's expression.

They wanted to read something from Lippi's face.

But unfortunately, the fans failed to do so.

Lippi was very similar to Ten Hag; both belonged to the calm and composed school.

Moreover, due to his age, Lippi's ability to control his emotions was probably half a level higher than Ten Hag's.

Did Lippi actually have a way to counter Qatar's tactics?

The fans had no way of knowing!

As the match reached the 17th minute, the livestream displayed the statistics.

Although they were playing defensively, because Tang Ye's touch count had decreased, the national team's possession rate was not too low.

Clearly, Lippi had slightly optimized the team's tactics.

Slap!

Afif's low pass accurately found Ali!

Tang Ye was dropping back, observing the positioning of the opposing attackers, and then issued his command.

"The one next to you!"

Tang Ye shouted, and Zheng Zhi immediately ran toward Haydos.

Damn!

Ali cursed under his breath; his best passing lane had just been blocked.

Then he could only look for...

During Ali's moment of hesitation, Tang Ye positioned himself directly between him and Boudiaf.

The second-best passing lane was also blocked!

Ali had to find another passing route.

At this moment, Wu Lei suddenly sprinted up from behind.

Under Wu Lei's pressing defense, Ali was forced to kick the ball out of bounds.

Qatar had lost a very good counter-attacking opportunity!

"Be more decisive! Be more decisive with your passes!"

Sanchez shouted loudly from the sideline.

It was somewhat similar to the script from the Uzbekistan match.

If Qatar failed to score in the first few minutes, they would likely be suppressed by the Chinese team later on, unable to lift their heads.

In contrast to Sanchez's panic, Lippi appeared much calmer.

The performance in the first 20 minutes had already proven that Qatar had no effective tactics in this match.

The players lacked sufficient hard strength.

The head coach also could not produce any good tactics.

Then with what do you hope to defeat Commander ggbond and his officers and soldiers?

"At present, Qatar's attack seems to be falling into chaos..."

Time reached the 25th minute.

Unable to find a suitable opportunity while suppressing the attack, Sanchez gritted his teeth and temporarily switched the team's tactics.

They shifted from suppressing the attack to a conventional balance between offense and defense.

It was clear that Sanchez did not want his team to follow in Uzbekistan's footsteps!

Losing 1:4 and saying goodbye to the World Cup qualifiers was simply too shameful!

A few minutes after Qatar changed their tactics, a smile slowly appeared on Tang Ye's face.

If Qatar played defensively, the national team would naturally have more attacking opportunities.

And as the core of the attacking end, Tang Ye would certainly receive even more chances.

Although ggbond was a defensive expert, extremely formidable in defense.

But in the attacking end, he was a master!

An absolute master of attack!

Move forward first!

Get ready to receive the ball!

Actively run toward the ball.

At the same time, keep observing!

Look far and look near!

Capture the specific positioning of teammates and opponents.

Just play it!

Slap!

【De Bruyne Standard Long Pass Lv4: Realistic】

Proficiency: 424/1200

"Tang Ye! Just shoot it!"

"Passed decisively."

"Check the teammates!"

"Gao Lin! Beautiful! He controls the ball directly!"

Gao Lin displayed a wave of his excellent ball-stopping technique.

Then he kept the ball under control at his feet!

Moving toward the penalty area!

"The center!"

Tang Ye shouted, then used his body to shove Boudiaf aside and charged straight toward the top of the arc.

Not daring to hesitate, Gao Lin quickly passed the ball over!

Right in front of Tang Ye!

This is setting up the cannon!

Haha!

Having scoped out the defenders and goalkeeper in the penalty area ahead of time, Tang Ye was already smiling.

This absolutely has to be a long-range shot!

Just as Tang Ye ran to within one meter of the ball, Boudiaf suddenly reached out and yanked him straight to the ground.

The poor ggbond could only roll half a circle on the grass.

"Beep!"

The referee reacted quickly, immediately showing a yellow card to Boudiaf!

"China has won a set-piece opportunity in the attacking half; this is China's third free kick of the match."

"The position for this kick is excellent; it should be taken by Tang Ye."

Xiao Zhi picked up the ball, then handed it into Tang Ye's hands.

"As expected, it's given to Tang Ye."

"Then it's highly likely to be a direct shot on goal."

Both the CCTV commentators and the Chinese fans were feeling quite a lot of pressure now.

Could the national team score their first goal of the match at this moment?

Zheng Zhi had originally intended to provide a screen beside Tang Ye, but since the position for this kick was truly excellent, Tang Ye simply told Zheng Zhi to run into the penalty area as well.

Showing their hand to the opposition.

This kick was meant for him to take himself!

"Beep!"

Run-up!

Strike directly!

The ball kicked by Tang Ye had almost no spin.

The familiar knuckleball!

Ronaldo's axe-kick knuckleball!

"G——oooo——aaaa——llll!!!"

"Goal!"

"Tang Ye scores directly from a set-piece!"

After shooting, Tang Ye hopped a few times on the spot, then suddenly spread his arms wide and ran toward the sidelines.

"Ah!!!"

Get ready!

Knee slide!!!

The turf stimulated Tang Ye's calves; the slight pain perfectly vented the emotions surging within him at that moment.

1:0!

Finally f***ing taking the lead!

"Tang Ye!"

Zhang Zhang Linpeng was the first to reach the spot, leaping straight onto Tang Ye's back, his two hands gripping Tang Ye's shoulders tightly.

【You have obtained Counterattack Points *20】

Carrying Zhang Zhang Linpeng on his back, Tang Ye walked slowly toward the stands.

The Qatari fans were very arrogant.

One more roar.

"Roar!!"

Scare them to death!

The national team players huddled around Tang Ye in an embrace, while the fans in the stands jumped up and down in celebration.

Outside Nanjing Wanda Plaza, at the moment of the free-kick goal.

"Wow!!!"

"Holy sh*t! Tang Ye, holy sh*t!"

"Taking off!"

The large screen in the plaza simultaneously displayed the live score of the match between South Korea and Uzbekistan.

Neither South Korea nor Uzbekistan had scored; their score was still 0:0!

If the national football team maintains their current one-goal advantage until the end, they will secure a ticket to next year's World Cup!

"China!"

"Let's go!!!"

"China!"

"Let's go!!!"

It was nearly midnight; outside the square, and even on the main roads, crowds stood shoulder to shoulder.

It was just like New Year's Eve on the last day of December!

Today was New Year's Eve for Chinese football fans!

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Tang Ye scores directly from a free kick, blasting it past the Qatar goal; the national team leads 1:0.

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Son Heung-min's long-range shot is saved by Nestorov; the score remains 0:0.

The current situation in the match between South Korea and Uzbekistan favors the Chinese team.

This familiar scenario reminded fans of the final round of La Liga, when Villarreal successfully overtook Barcelona in the standings!

However, this time was slightly different.

Currently, the national team and South Korea have the same number of points, and the national team even has two more goals in goal difference than South Korea.

This time, Tang Ye held his destiny in his own hands!

The final moments of the first half!

"Tang Ye, deliver a 45-degree cross straight into the penalty area!"

【De Bruyne 45-Degree Cross Lv4: Realistic】

Proficiency: 311/500

Since this was his favorite type of first-touch pass, Tang Ye felt quite confident the moment he kicked the ball.

And indeed, that was the case.

He kicked that ball well!

It carried a touch of the 【Ward-Prowse Topspin Free Kick】 technique!

It sailed over the near post!

Xiao Zhi jumped but failed to make contact!

At the far post stood Gao Lin!

Slap!

Gao Lin seemed to have failed to tighten his core; although his header was accurate, it simply lacked power.

The goalkeeper punched the ball away!

"Damn!"

Extremely dissatisfied with his headed shot, Gao Lin shouted it out loud.

Feeling somewhat guilty, he immediately gave a thumbs-up to Tang Ye behind him.

Tang Ye was also giving a thumbs-up to Gao Lin!

"It's okay, it's okay!"

"There's still a chance!"

Missing one opportunity was definitely not a major problem.

In over forty minutes of play, Tang Ye had already figured out all four of Qatar's defenders and three of their midfielders.

In the second half, Ggbond would play extremely aggressively.

He would ruthlessly suppress Qatar's defensive line!

That way, his teammates could get more scoring opportunities!

"Beep, beep-beep—!!!"

The first half ended; Tang Ye and Wu Lei walked back to the locker room together.

Just as when playing for Yellow Submarine, Tang Ye's spot in the national team locker room was arranged in the corner.

Feng Feng Xiaoting had asked Tang Ye to sit in the middle, but Tang Ye refused.

Leaning against the right wall, with Zhang Zhang Yuning, whose shoulders were broad, sitting to his left, Tang Ye felt completely secure; he loved this feeling.

"Brother Zhang Yuning, do you think you'll get a chance to play in the second half? I'll pass you a great ball."

Untying his shoelaces, Tang Ye looked at Zhang Zhang Yuning beside him.

Sitting on the bench indefinitely was not a good thing; Tang Ye could understand Zhang Zhang Yuning's feelings.

"I feel like I should be able to get on."

Zhang Zhang Yuning looked at Lippi, who was in the middle dealing with the tactics board.

He had started warming up since the 30th minute of the first half.

This was a sign of an impending substitution!

"The second half will be the same; our opponents will definitely strengthen their attack."

"But this time, we will make some slight adjustments."

Lippi adjusted his glasses: "No matter how frequent the opponent's attacks are, we will simply play offensive football against them."

!

"Everyone's form today has been excellent, so we don't need to give the opponents any chances."

Turning specifically to Tang Ye: "Tom, I need you to be bolder in your distribution."

"My courage has always been huge!"

Tang Ye tore open the chewing gum wrapper and stuffed the gum into Zhang Zhang Yuning's mouth.

"Be bolder than in the first half."

Lippi added, "Their tactics are nothing special; as long as we keep attacking, their forwards won't even cross the halfway line."

"I admit Qatar's overall strength is about the same as ours, but if we're talking purely about offense, they aren't even half as strong as we are."

After a short break, just before halftime ended, captain Feng Feng Xiaoting gathered the players in the center.

Tang Ye immediately guessed what Feng Feng Xiaoting intended: "Brother Ting, can I lead the chant?"

"No problem, go ahead!"

"Wait, wait, let me tie my shoelaces!"

Squatting down to quickly tie his laces, Tang Ye squeezed in between Zhang Zhang Yuning and Zheng Zhi.

First, he adjusted his breathing, then sucked air deep into his lungs!

"Three, two, one!"

"Team China!"

"Jiayou!"

"Jiayou!!"

"Jiayou!!!"

Boom!

Feng Feng Xiaoting kicked open the locker room door, and the players rushed out one after another.

At that moment, opening the Check Dongqiu Di app displayed the official pre-match hype poster released by the national team, with Tang Ye and Wu Lei standing out prominently.

Upon entering, another pinned new poster appeared.

It captured the exact moment Tang Ye struck his elevator ball in the first half, the soccer ball flying past the ear of a Qatari defender.

The caption read: "The Final Battle for World Cup Qualification: Tang Ye Scores Directly with an Elevator Ball!"

【I f*cking really need to kowtow to Tang Ye.】

【45 minutes left! 45 minutes left!】

【Just watched a pirated stream of the South Korea match; feels like South Korea will score at most one goal today. The national team has this in the bag; we just need to hold the scoreline.】

【Park the five-defender bus, move King Tang Ball to the wing to act as a forklift. OK, it's secured!】

"Alright, welcome back, dear viewers! This is the second half of the Asian Qualifiers match between the national team and Qatar away..."

As the second half began, the national team players on the field executed Lippi's tactics, launching wave after wave of attacks.

One could only say that Lippi truly deserved his title as the highest-paid football coach in the world; the Italian had once again anticipated Qatar's tactics.

Qatar attacked.

No panic; the national team attacked too!

With GGBond present, the national team never feared comparing offensive lines with any other team!

"To me, to me!"

Tang Ye made an overlapping run down the right flank!

A familiar feeling!

"Tang Ye is starting to... starting to cover for his teammates; he's now occupying Wu Lei's position!"

"Xiao Zhi, pass it over!"

"Tang Ye is dribbling down the line himself!"

Tang Ye wasn't running very fast, but the Qatari players weren't much faster either.

The defenders failed to stop Tang Ye immediately!

"Charge, charge, charge!"

"Faster, faster!"

The hearts of the Chinese fans in the stands beat rapidly!

Tang Ye!

Because his teammates' positioning wasn't ideal, Tang Ye chose not to pass directly.

This gave the Qatari defenders a chance to step up and intercept!

Yasser was watching!

Tang Ye pretended to cross directly but actually stopped the ball under his foot!

Yasser came to a sudden halt; at that moment, Tang Ye used his right foot to trap the ball and push it toward the baseline.

He was going down the line!

Yasser realized the situation was dire; after stopping abruptly, he quickly changed direction to block Tang Ye's path down the line.

At this moment, Tang Ye had his right foot on the ball.

He pulled it back toward his own foot!

Then pushed it to the left!

【The Busquets V-Pull Template】!

This was a very practical template for shaking off a defender!

Tang Ye shifted from going down the line to cutting inside!

Yasser still wanted to foul and drag Tang Ye down, but as he turned, he didn't notice his own body had already become tangled.

He fell straight to the ground!

"Wow!!!"

Ignoring the screaming fans in the stands, Tang Ye continued running toward the top of the arc!

A Qatari defender came out of the penalty area and took up a position at the top of the arc.

There was no way to shoot directly.

Then pass the ball!

Crack!

The left foot curls it hard with the outside of the boot!

Tang Ye lifts the ball off the grass, sending it straight to the far post of the penalty area!

Aimed toward the left goalpost!

Feng Feng Xiaoting charging up from behind!

A direct header!

Feng Feng Xiaoting's header wasn't actually struck all that well, but because the distance was so close, the goalkeeper had absolutely no time to react.

"G——ooooo——aaaaa——lllll!!!"

"Goal! Goal!"

"Feng Feng Xiaoting scores!"

"2:0! The national team successfully extended their lead right at the start of the second half!"

Feng Feng Xiaoting was extremely excited after scoring!

This was the national team captain's first goal of this World Cup qualifying campaign!

An assist from Tang Ye!

"Come, come! Come on!"

Feng Feng Xiaoting called for his teammates to run out with him.

Celebration time for the Chinese team!

【You have gained 15 Counterattack Points】

One goal and one assist; Tang Ye had directly been involved in both goals.

This was a matter worth celebrating greatly.

And his teammates reminded him of something even more joyous.

Zheng Zhi grabbed Tang Ye by the shoulders: "We're going to the World Cup, we're damn well going to the World Cup!"

Just as Zheng Zhi said, the national team now had one foot firmly on the ticket to the World Cup.

Now, if South Korea wanted to pick up that ticket from the ground, they would have to wait for the national team to stumble.

But the national team was standing very steadily on the ground; how could they possibly stumble?

"Let's go! Let's go!"

After replaying the national team's second goal, the director cut the screen to the match between South Korea and Uzbekistan.

South Korea's corner kick had failed; the score remained 0:0.

The screen cut back; the national team players, having just finished celebrating, were walking back toward their own half.

"The Chinese team is making a substitution here."

"Zhang Zhang Yuning comes on for Xiao Zhi!"

"Hao Hao Junmin comes on for Gao Lin!"

"The national team is preparing to switch to a 4-4-2 formation."

"Yes, now with a two-goal advantage and the goal difference gap against South Korea widened to three goals, we should play a bit more conservatively at this point."

"Exactly, the World Cup matter allows for no mistakes."

Zhang Zhang Yuning ran onto the pitch; Tang Ye actively walked over and bumped fists with him.

"Let's go, Brother Zhang Yuning!"

"Let's go!"

The match reached the 78th minute!

At this moment, the score on the field was still 2:0!

Qatar had yet to find an opportunity to score!

The bullet comments in the Check Dongqiu Di app were flying wildly.

Apart from "666," it was all "The national team is awesome."

Of course, there was also a bullet comment that appeared with very high frequency.

"Witnessing history!"

Since the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, the national team had not qualified for the World Cup.

This was indeed witnessing history!

The 81st minute!

"Tang Ye!"

"Shoot directly!"

Tang Ye's decisive shot struck a Qatar player's shoulder; after the ball rebounded, it fell to Zhang Zhang Yuning's feet.

Zhang Zhang Yuning had originally intended to drive down the line to compress the defensive line, but he saw Tang Ye reaching out to him.

Thump!

Push the ball over!

What did Tang Ye do?

Crack!

He curled it toward the far corner!

"G——oooo——aaaa——llll!!!"

"Goal!"

"Goal!"

"Tang Ye, beautiful!"

"3:0!!!"

The commentators in the studio roared.

【Brace achieved. You gain extra Counterattack Points *40】

"Ah!!!"

Reaching the edge of the pitch, Tang Ye cast his fishing rod; Zhang Zhang Yuning, Li Li Xuepeng, and Hao Hao Junmin, three big fish, quickly fell to the ground.

Reel in!

3:0!

Check Dongqiu Di match report: A brace by Tang Ye, a worldie from a tight angle outside the box scores directly. The score is now 3:0!

"China~ China~"

"I fight for you~ I am proud for you~"

"China~ China~"

"..."

"The camera cuts to the Chinese team fans in the stands; as you can see, the Chinese team fans on site have already started celebrating early."

"So I want to ask the fans in the live stream: do you have any former national football fans at home? If they are already asleep, I suggest you wake them up."

"Call them in front of the TV to look at the score on the screen right now, and also the standings for Group A."

"It is now the 83rd minute of the full match, with roughly 10 minutes remaining until the end of the game."

"This is how close the Chinese team is to the Russia World Cup right now."

(End of chapter)