Chapter 407: FIFA's Passing Rating of 97 for Tang Ye: What If They Advance to the Knockout Stage?

Based on the players' performances in the World Cup group stage matches, "FIFA Online 4" made some minor adjustments to the players' ability rating data.

Among them, the first-ranked player remains Cristiano Ronaldo with an overall rating of 94, and the second is Messi with 93; this has not changed.

Then comes the ranking after the duo of Messi and Ronaldo.

3. Neymar (92 points): Pace 92, Dribbling 95, Shooting 84, Defense 32, Passing 83, Physical 59.

Neymar ranks third, and behind him is...

Oh, Neymar is not the sole third-place player; there is another player who shares the same overall score with him.

3. Tang Ye (92 points): Pace 76, Dribbling 86, Shooting 82, Passing 97, Defense 76, Physical 78.

It seems the improvement brought by his sense of rhythm has caused the Pace ability value in Tang Ye's player card data to be even higher than the ability value displayed in his system.

Dribbling surged from 81 to 86, and Passing also broke through from 96 to 97; the improvement in these key attributes raised Tang Ye's overall ability in the game from 89 points to 92 points.

Tang Ye and Neymar are the only two players with 92 points; following them is a string of players with 91 points, including De Bruyne, Hazard, Suarez, and Modric.

Among them, the players who rose relatively quickly are Croatia's Modric and France's Mbappe; the former jumped from 87 to 91, while the latter surged from 79 to 86, which can be said to be quite exaggerated.

Of course, there were also drops; many players' overall ratings fell, and among them, Tang Ye found his club teammate, David.

Due to a poor performance in the Portugal versus Spain match, Manchester United's divine goalkeeper De Gea's rating dropped directly from the original 89 to 88, which can be said to be very regrettable.

La Sexta: Passing 97; has FIFA made an error in judging Tom's passing ability?

FIFA gave Tang Ye a passing stat of 97, and soon newspaper reporters used this to make an issue of it.

After all, news carrying specific data like this often attracts the attention of football fans.

Although Tang Ye's passing is indeed stunning, you must be clear that currently, the player ranked second in passing attributes in the FIFA player card data is the Belgian midfielder De Bruyne, whose passing attribute is 91 points.

Yet Tang Ye, ranking first, has created a gap of 6 points directly against the second place.

"What concept does a 6-point gap represent? If the gap is this large, then Tom and Kevin are no longer players in the same league. FIFA's evaluation of Tom's passing attribute should be too high."

A La Sexta commentator said this during the program, and his words prompted a question from another commentator.

"Hmm... then what do you think Tom's passing should be?"

The commentator chuckled with a grin.

"98."

"..."

Slap!

Slap!

Slap!

On the training ground during warm-ups, Tang Ye juggled the ball for fun, while Lippi and Madaloni used the time while the players were warming up to discuss today's training content.

In the first two matches of this World Cup, Sweden played with a 4-4-2 formation, which means there is a high probability that this European team will also use 4-4-2 in the third match.

"It's impossible to play the entire World Cup with one formation; if they are hiding something, we'll be in trouble."

Madaloni voiced his concern, but Lippi simply shook his head.

"Andersson (the Swedish head coach) is a very arrogant person; he thinks one formation is sufficient for Sweden to finish this World Cup."

Actually, Sweden's form in this World Cup has been quite good, but they just happened to clash against Senegal, who were in explosive form, and Germany, who had just lost to China and urgently needed to save face.

There is a high probability Sweden will play 4-4-2, and the starting players will not change much compared to the first two matches.

What the Chinese team needs to do is figure out how to break through Sweden's four-midfield defensive line.

This is a question worth pondering, because the Chinese team does not have a forward capable of exploding points on the wings; if they want to launch an attack, they can only revolve around Tang Ye to play possession football through the center.

Soon training began, and Madaloni grouped Tang Ye, Hao Hao Junmin, Wei Wei Shihao, Zhang Zhang Xizhe, and Wu Lei—five players in total—requiring them to perform short-distance and medium-distance passing combinations.

This drill was designed to simulate the team's offensive progression in an actual match.

"Here, here!"

Tang Ye stopped the ball under his foot, then flicked it to Wei Wei Shihao beside him.

Run in front of Wei Wei Shihao!

Receive the ball!

The goal was right ahead, but Tang Ye chose to stop the ball abruptly and pushed it to Wu Lei.

"Shoot directly!"

Bang!

Wu Lei executed a pushed shot, successfully beating the goal defended by Yan Yan Junling.

"Wow!"

"Awesome!"

Applause rang out on the training ground, but there was no smile on Tang Ye's face.

Madaloni rushed onto the training ground: "Too slow, too slow!"

"At this pace in a match, if the opponent has more than three defending players, you won't have any chance to score!"

Tang Ye stood with his hands on his hips; ever since just now, he had been thinking about this kind of problem.

European teams all love to play possession football, which happens to be the Chinese team's weakness.

You cannot expect Sweden to make frequent mistakes like Germany did; therefore, the only option is to work hard on improving oneself.

"Run into position immediately after passing the ball; even when you don't have the ball, pay attention to observing, look at your teammates' positions, look at your teammates' positions!"

"Madaloni!"

Lippi called out, and the national team assistant coach snapped back to reality.

"Phew, sorry, I got a bit anxious."

Passing frequency isn't something that can be improved overnight; otherwise, some lower-league teams wouldn't remain stuck, unable to promote to the top flight.

Madaloni shook his head, calming his emotions slightly, then called Tang Ye over.

"What is it, Mr.?"

Tang Ye put on his jacket.

Kashan had been quite cold these past few days, at least much colder than Rostov, so Tang Ye paid extra attention to keeping warm.

"Tom, come here, let me tell you something."

Madaloni gave Lippi a thumbs-up, then pulled Tang Ye aside: "Tom, I know you want to link up with your teammates and speed up the tempo, but I must tell you, we don't have much time left."

"The day after tomorrow, we play Sweden the day after tomorrow! We don't have extra time for training."

"I know that, but the problem is..."

Tang Ye felt somewhat helpless: "If we can't execute our combinations, there's simply no way to attack."

Tang Ye could dribble past opponents, but he wasn't a pure dribbler like Messi or Hazard; his strength lay in passing.

"I know combinations are essential, but I think you actually don't need to worry too much about your teammates."

"What do you mean..."

Tang Ye didn't quite understand Madaloni's point.

"Remember the match the day before yesterday? You beat three defenders alone through the center and earned us a penalty; otherwise, we might have lost 1-3."

Tang Ye nodded: "Of course I remember, but dribbling relies too much on luck; I can't keep playing like that."

"I know, my point is that you need to unleash yourself, just like you did when earning that penalty."

Madaloni took out his notebook, sketching something with his pen while quickly explaining to Tang Ye: "Most of the time, you still need to combine with your teammates; that's the foundation of how we play. However, if a suitable attacking opportunity arises, especially when you're physically fresh, Marcello and I suggest..."

Madaloni looked into Tang Ye's eyes: "Unleash yourself. We've all seen it; for a player like you, some ill-fitting attacking combinations are unnecessary."

"..."

Tang Ye's mouth hung slightly open, saying nothing.

After the coach said so much, Tang Ye roughly understood his meaning.

If a suitable attacking opportunity arose, Tang Ye could briefly adopt his best rhythm, forcibly breaking away from the team structure to create a sudden impact against the opponent's defensive line.

"Next, we'll spend a lot of time practicing one-touch passing. Lei and Zhang (Zhang Zhang Xizhe) will try to position themselves as support points for you; they only need to match your rhythm in that instant."

Teammates only need to make that first pass; even if their subsequent runs don't fully catch up, they can still execute good coordinated attacks with Tang Ye!

Popping a fresh piece of gum into his mouth, Tang Ye's brain raced: "It feels a bit difficult to pull off, but... I'll give it a try."

Titan Sports interviews Fan Fan Zhiyi: Tang Ye's individual ability is phenomenal within the entire squad; Lippi should give him maximum support.

Diario Sport—By the end of the second round, Tom had suffered 32 fouls, roughly equal to the total number of fouls committed against all players from Belgium and Spain combined. Meanwhile, the number of times Tom hit the ground equaled the total for all players from France and Costa Rica combined.

【General Fan is just talking nonsense here.】

【Only the first half is nonsense; I think the second half is useful indeed—we really must build the team around Tang Tang Qiuwang.】

【Still relying on Tang Ye? With 32 fouls, if he keeps playing like this, there won't be a single good spot left on his body.】

【If we don't rely on Tang Ye, should we rely on you, bro?】

Tang Ye kept getting fouled; honestly, fans were quite relieved, since Tang Ye's style primarily relied on quick one-touch passing and avoiding physical confrontations; otherwise, he'd probably be bedridden by now.

Chinese National Team Official Statement: Tang Ye is in good physical condition and available to play against Sweden.

As the day before the final round of Group F matches arrived, Tang Tang Zhengxiong appeared in Moscow, preparing to watch the match between Portugal and Iran.

Rain had been falling across many regions of Russia in recent days, and the stadium was no exception.

Wearing a raincoat, Tang Tang Zhengxiong appeared on CCTV's camera.

"Honestly, I originally supported Germany; during last World Cup's final, Tang Ye and I were there cheering for Germany in person. But now, haha, I hope Germany loses tomorrow."

If Senegal could defeat Germany, then the Chinese team would only need a draw to advance!

"Hmm, Tang Ye suffered numerous infringements from opposing players in the first two matches; do you have any comments on this?"

"After both matches ended, I went to the locker room; some superficial injuries are completely bearable for him; this isn't too serious."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong remained relatively optimistic about this: "He often got injured when he was young; as long as there aren't any excessively severe fouls in the upcoming matches, I think there won't be any problem."

"..."

FIFA World Cup Group F Standings:

1. Senegal, 6 points.

2. Germany, 3 points.

3. China, 3 points.

4. Sweden, 0 points.

"China and Germany have the same points, but China trails Germany by two goals in goal difference. If the Chinese team loses the next match against Sweden, they will be confirmed eliminated from the knockout stage."

That evening in the hotel, Tang Ye sat alone on the bed, while the television in front of him broadcast football commentary from Russian State Television.

【Press the power button again to confirm shutdown.】

Turning off the TV, Tang Ye sat cross-legged on the bed, recalling in his mind the assistant coach's remarks about Sweden's possible starting lineup.

After playing against Senegal, it felt like the next match was still far away, but now less than 24 hours remained.

His breathing gradually became rapid; Tang Ye felt he had never been this nervous before.

If they lost the next match, the Chinese team's World Cup journey would end right there!

Whoosh!

Shaking his head, Tang Ye decided not to think about these matters anymore; he jumped up, pulled out the blanket, turned off the lights directly, and went to sleep.

At midnight on the 27th, China time, World Cup posters featuring the Chinese national team lit up the large screens at Wanda Plazas across the country.

Tang Ye stood in the center of the poster with his arms crossed over his chest, flanked by Wu Lei and Feng Feng Xiaoting.

【China vs. Sweden: Countdown to the Men's National Team's Do-or-Die Match: 21 hours, 59 minutes】

【Come to Wanda and cheer for Team China!】

"Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye!"

The Chinese national team's bus was en route to the Kashan Arena, with Chinese fans running alongside it.

Influenced by the Chinese fans' expedition, many Europeans had now learned to call out Tang Ye's Chinese name.

At the pre-match press conference.

Today was the do-or-die match for the Chinese national football team; nearly 600 Chinese journalists had arrived at the venue or near the stadium, making it even more bustling than during the first-round match against Germany.

"We will display our best competitive form; that is certain."

"Tom? Of course, we will certainly provide him with maximum support; he is currently one of the best players in the world."

"The fact is, when Tom is on your team, you cannot help but devise some tactics specifically for him."

Lippi expressed the utmost support for Tang Ye, giving the surrounding journalists and fans a certain premonition.

Might the Chinese national team play today's match in a somewhat different manner?

With several hours remaining before the start of the match between China and Sweden, the neighboring Group E had concluded their games.

Sina Sports: The teams advancing from Group E are Brazil (first) and Switzerland (second); if the Chinese national team draws against or defeats Sweden to miraculously advance, then China will finish as the second-place team in Group F.

According to the rules of this World Cup, the opponent for the second-place team in Group F will be the first-place team from Group E.

"Which means the Brazilian team."

(End of Chapter)