Chapter 477: Opening Ceremony, GG Bond Master's Asian Cup Debut

CCTV5 (Sports)

【2019 Asian Cup Opening Ceremony】

"Dear viewers, you are now watching the opening ceremony of this Asian Cup; the boy seen in the camera moments ago is a young Emirati named Mansour..."

The AFC flag was unfurled in the center of the stadium, showing Emiratis wearing white headscarves dancing on screen.

After one song, volunteers emerged carrying the national flags of the participating countries, forming a large circle near the AFC flag, among them the Five-Star Red Flag representing China.

The camera cut to the Chinese fans in the stands.

Under the call of fan organizations, the Chinese supporters were dressed quite uniformly.

On their left cheeks were red flag stickers, while their right cheeks bore cartoon stickers of GG Bond.

"It is now 19:50 local time in the UAE, which is 23:50 Beijing time; in ten minutes, the opening match of the 2019 Asian Cup will kick off (UAE vs Bahrain)."

The camera focused on the giant trophy in the center, its pure silver form reflecting a dazzling glare.

【AFC】

【ASIAN】

【CUP】

"Mm... so bright."

Tang Ye, watching the live broadcast simultaneously, observed very intently, seemingly wanting to figure out what this beautiful trophy was made of.

Unfortunately, Tang Ye was not a trophy expert, so he could not figure it out.

"Rhode, guess who will win... uh."

Tang Ye instinctively turned his head to the right, suddenly remembering that his little brother Rhode was not by his side.

Sigh.

Tang Ye shook his head; since there was no other way, he could only watch by himself first.

UAE and Bahrain...

To be honest, Tang Ye's understanding of Asian national teams was still relatively limited, so he could take this opportunity of the opening match to properly analyze their strength.

Ding!

A phone rang; it was a message from the WeChat group where the Chinese team players were chatting.

Everyone was staying on the same floor, but verbal communication between different rooms was still too troublesome, requiring mobile phones to assist.

【Let's go to the conference room to watch.】

Captain Feng Feng Xiaoting's suggestion received approval; Tang Ye quickly jumped off the bed and pulled up his shorts in one motion.

"Brother Lei!"

After greeting Wu Lei, Tang Ye, holding a bottle of fresh milk, found a seat relatively far back.

"Tang Ye, aren't you sitting here?"

Zhang Zhang Yuning patted the chair beside him; this was a good spot he had specifically saved for Tang Ye.

"No, I'll sit in the back."

Back in school, Tang Ye always sat in the very last row.

Quite a few classmates were nearsighted, so Tom, who was not nearsighted, ought to make the sacrifice.

Taking a huge gulp of ice-cold milk, Tang Ye leaned back in his chair.

Soon the match began.

Lippi was not very strict, so the atmosphere in the conference room was quite relaxed; players could chat while watching the game.

"Why aren't you drinking cola?"

Wu Lei's attention fixed on the fresh milk in Tang Ye's hand.

"Haha, my coach requires me to drink it; a big bottle every day, I'm used to it now."

Tang Ye shook the bottle; the fresh milk in his hand was a full 1.25L, very high-quality milk.

Although milk was very important to him, good things should be shared, so Tang Ye still handed the milk to Wu Lei.

"Damn, drinking this much every day, do you still drink cola now?"

"Mm... occasionally; when I'm full from milk, sometimes I don't want to drink anything else."

Tang Ye said, taking back the milk handed over by Wu Lei, just as Madeloni spoke up at that moment.

"Pay attention to the UAE; their style is about the same as Kyrgyzstan's."

Pay attention to the UAE's characteristics...

Tang Ye tilted his head, repeating the coach's words in his mind.

On the large TV in front, the first match of this Asian Cup was being broadcast; the score was currently 0:0.

This match reminded Tang Ye of four years ago, when he was still playing for the Utrecht reserve team.

Wonderful training times, good friend Zaka.

His head slowly drooped; Tang Ye fell asleep.

Dongqiu Di Match Report: Opening match UAE 1:1 draw with Bahrain, Al-Rumaithi scores, Khalil converts a penalty. (6231 comments)

【The UAE doesn't even want face anymore!】

【Suddenly feel the hope for the Chinese national team is great?】

【No way, I watched the opening match at 12 o'clock just to see this?】

【Referee! Referee!】

【Blow the whistle however you want, just don't screw over our Chinese national team later.】

The Times—Asian Cup Group Stage: China vs. Kyrgyzstan. Can Tom lead the team to victory in his Asian Cup debut?

English fans are currently feeling very conflicted.

On one hand, they desperately hope the Chinese team gets eliminated directly in the group stage, because that would allow Tang Ye to return to the club at least half a month earlier.

But on the other hand.

Tom is truly a great guy; if he fails to achieve good results in the national team matches, the fans will feel heartbroken for him.

Boo-hoo!

What should we do!

Time arrives at January 7th.

Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium!

The Chinese team's bus has already driven in.

"Tang Ye!"

"Holy crap, Tang Ye!"

"Go China!"

The number of Chinese fans present somewhat exceeded expectations; Tang Ye even spotted quite a few GG Bonds.

Wearing mascot costumes in weather over ten degrees Celsius is actually still a bit hot.

"Don't wear this outfit anymore."

Getting off the bus, Tang Ye found three GG Bonds of different heights and tugged at his own short-sleeved jersey: "In this weather, we wear short sleeves."

"King Tang!"

The mascot shouted loudly at Tang Ye, then opened its belly and directly swallowed Tang Ye whole.

"Holy crap!"

"Hey, hey!"

Security immediately panicked; over a dozen people rushed over together to rescue him, but fortunately, the mascot soon spat Tang Ye back out.

"Damn, damn..."

Sitting on the ground, Tang Ye gasped for air.

That was a bit too scary!

"Go King Tang!"

The three mascots took turns kissing Tang Ye on the head, then started twisting and dancing.

"Hula hoops are no problem, three backflips~ then a salute~"

"..."

"Round head, round brain, round belly, inside lies the true meaning of life~~"

"Let us sing a loud song, la la la la la~~~"

It is still unclear whether the Chinese team players are ready.

But the Chinese fans are absolutely ready.

Waiting for Master GG Bond's performance!

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: The Asian Cup Group C Round 1 match between China and Kyrgyzstan is about to begin.

Live match report: Before the match even started, Tang Ye was fouled by a GG Bond outside the stadium and fell down; the referee did not award a penalty.

One can only say, as expected of a midfield master; before the match even began, Tang Ye already encountered a foul!

Fans rushed into the reporters' camera lenses.

"China is awesome!!!!!"

"They are too amazing."

Tang Ye walked through the tunnel, heading for the home team's locker room.

If GG Bond had to wear a mascot costume in 20-degree weather, he would definitely not be able to handle it!

No one around was speaking; Tang Ye looked left, then looked right.

He discovered Zhang Zhang Yuning right beside him, but his Brother Zhang Yuning was currently not in good spirits.

"What's wrong?"

Tang Ye placed his hand on Zhang Zhang Yuning's shoulder; the latter shook his head gently: "Nothing, nothing."

"Hmm, are you too nervous? I'm very nervous too."

Tang Ye said, while Zhang Zhang Yuning looked Tang Ye up and down: "You're nervous too? For real?"

"For real."

Tang Ye rubbed his wrist: "It's fine, Brother Zhang Yuning, it's all the same. Didn't we easily beat Kazakhstan?"

"Mm."

Zhang Zhang Yuning nodded: "I think what you said is very correct, but..."

"We seem to be playing against Kyrgyzstan today."

"..."

Tang Ye waved his hand.

He hadn't expected there to be so many '-stans'; this was a bit uncomfortable.

But it's all the same anyway; we'll just win them all.

Tang Ye took chewing gum out of his pocket and gave it to Zhang Zhang Yuning and Zhang Zhang Linpeng.

With one hour remaining until kickoff, players from both sides began their warm-ups.

Rhythmic English pop music echoed through the stadium as Tang Ye rubbed his hands together and walked out from the tunnel.

"Wow!!!"

"Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye!"

Khalifa Stadium held just over ten thousand seats, with Chinese fans accounting for nearly three thousand of them.

Although outnumbered by neutral spectators, this figure completely crushed the away team's supporters.

The Kyrgyzstan fans present today numbered only a few hundred!

"China!"

"China!"

The large screen at the venue slowly tracked Tang Ye as he jogged to warm up.

One minute of filming wasn't enough; the cameraman kept the lens focused until the crowd could clearly see the pores on Tang Ye's skin.

Hmm, my GGBond has become even more handsome!

Thump!

Knocking the ball up from the ground, Tang Ye began juggling to get a feel for his touch.

First he juggled normally, then he started kicking the ball higher.

"Wow!"

"Wow!"

"..."

Every time Tang Ye kicked the ball high, the fans in the stands would shout.

"Uh..."

Tang Ye glanced toward the stands; bewildered by the fans' excited emotions, he simply decided to play around.

While juggling, he signaled the coach to pass him another ball, using his left foot to lift it before juggling with both feet simultaneously.

【Can the director stop filming Tang Ye for a moment? I don't even know who the other players on the field are...】

【Who cares about the others? We must watch my GGBond!】

【I suggest CCTV-5+ launch a first-person perspective channel for Tang Ye.】

【?????】

【Wait, he's juggling two balls at once?】

【Douyin user: Showing the national football team another sci-fi movie. Then, the next second, they spot the national flag on Tang Ye's jersey.】

Slap!

Slap slap!

The ball on his left foot went high first, followed by a volley from his right foot shooting toward the goal.

Yan Yan Junling saved it, but Tang Ye still had another ball!

Left foot!

Boom!

Goal!

"Haha!"

Tang Ye laughed heartily.

Hiss, it would be great if a football match could use two balls at the same time.

In that case, King GG Bond would be invincible!

"Now, please allow me to introduce... (the starting lineups for both teams in this match)"

"Number 1, Yan Yan Junling!"

"Number 2..."

"We'll stick to the plan."

"Increase the tempo gradually—note, gradually. Is that clear?"

Lippi's gaze fell upon Tang Ye.

China was certainly stronger than Kyrgyzstan; for Tang Ye, the opposing players were even inferior to a Premier League club's reserve squad.

But since this was the first group stage match, Lippi wanted the team to play more cautiously until they assessed the situation.

"No problem."

Tang Ye replied quickly.

He was naturally the kind of player who was extremely steady!

Bang bang!

Pounding his fists violently against the locker, the atmosphere in the dressing room reached its climax just before kickoff.

Ready to go!

"China Media Group, China Media Group. Good evening, dear viewers. You are watching the live broadcast of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup group stage match..."

"On the left side of the player tunnel, wearing red jerseys, are China's starting lineup for this match."

"Deng deng deng deng deng deng, deng deng deng~"

"Deng deng deng, deng!"

"..."

"Go, go!"

The players took their positions; Tang Ye and Zhang Zhang Yuning stood together in the center circle, ready for kickoff.

Teammates ahead, opponents behind when he glanced back.

First, memorize the initial formations of both sides; this greatly helps in reading the match.

"Five!"

"Four!"

"One!"

"Beep!!!"

"China Central Television..."

"The match has begun; now I will introduce the starting lineups for both teams!"

China (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Yan Yan Junling

Defenders: Wang Wang Shenchao, Feng Feng Xiaoting, Shi Ke, Zhang Zhang Linpeng

Midfielders: Zhang Zhang Xizhe, Tang Ye, Zheng Zhi

Forwards: Yu Yu Hanchao, Zhang Zhang Yuning, Wu Lei

Head Coach: Lippi

"The total market value of China's starting eleven is 178.65 million euros, while the starting value of the visiting team, Kyrgyzstan, is slightly lower at... um, 1.45 million euros."

The CCTV commentator felt slightly awkward.

After all, the gap in starting values between the two teams seemed a bit too large.

Many fans on Douyin and Weibo believe the national team is weak and its players incompetent, but this is mistaken.

In this Asian Cup, the market value of China's eleven-man starting lineup approaches 180 million euros.

Meanwhile, the total value of South Korea's twenty-three-man squad, ranked second, is only 84.73 million euros; this gap is far more than a simple doubling.

It is rather...

Heh, more than double!

"Here!"

Tang Ye received the ball on the left flank.

This was his first touch of the match.

No rush; first keep the ball under control, then push forward with his teammates.

Experience from training matches and the World Cup taught Tang Ye one principle: it is best not to set the pace too fast right at the start of a game.

If the opponents cannot keep up, that is naturally a good thing.

But if his own teammates cannot keep up, that would certainly not be good.

Slap!

He played a through pass to Yu Yu Hanchao and began drifting toward the center.

Just as Yu Yu Hanchao prepared to go down the line, Tang Ye moved together with Zhang Zhang Xizhe into the nearby area.

He received the cutback!

He dragged the ball with his left foot, turned, then shifted it to his right foot.

Straight into a cut inside!

The speed was not too fast, but Tang Ye indeed exerted immense pressure on the pitch; a defending player, slightly careless, fell straight down.

A chance!

Accelerate and cut inside!

The defender leaned into Tang Ye, determined not to let him enter the penalty area.

"Damn it!"

Rather annoying; Tang Ye simply bumped shoulders with Israilov, who immediately fell.

"Beep!"

"Attacking foul by China."

"Eh, it seems Tang Ye is not very satisfied with the referee's decision..."

Upon hearing the whistle, Tang Ye turned at once to confront the referee.

"Was that a foul? I barely used any force, and I already had positional advantage!"

He had not expected that a light bump would be called a foul; Tang Ye now felt extremely frustrated.

"Please be more careful, can you?"

Unfortunately, the referee showed no intention of changing the call.

Unbelievable!

"It's fine, it's fine; just slow down a bit!"

Madaloni shouted from the touchline.

The Chinese assistant coach still vividly remembered that World Cup match against Germany.

He truly feared that if Tang Ye were pushed to the brink, he would start cursing again...

"Stay steady! Build the tempo slowly!"

Adjusting their state, the Chinese players began to drop back.

Time slowly ticked into the 10th minute of the first half, and China's possession rate had unknowingly climbed to 70%, as if intending to completely dominate the match.

A smile now graced Madaloni's face.

Because the current state of the game matched the pre-match plan perfectly!

But!

Kyrgyzstan would not simply take a beating without fighting back.

"I've got it!"

Zheng Zhi drifted toward the flank, only to be immediately nutmegged by the opposing attacking midfielder.

"Wow!!"

"What a beautiful nutmeg! From Kyrgyzstan's midfielder, Bernhardt!"

"Bernhardt has the ball, driving forward himself!"

"Eh, this position is a bit dangerous!"

After the nutmeg, Bernhardt successfully approached the byline, but instead of challenging Zhang Zhang Linpeng one-on-one, he slowed his pace.

Tang Ye observed all of this and made his own decision.

"Drop back! Drop back!"

Ordering Zhang Zhang Xizhe to retreat into the penalty area, Tang Ye actively moved to mark the opposing attacking midfielder.

Kyrgyzstan's attack looked impressive, but in reality, only that single nutmeg was stylish.

The subsequent attack was executed terribly; Bernhardt's cutback pass was directly intercepted by Zheng Zhi.

"Hey!"

Raising his right hand to call for the ball while accelerating forward.

Zheng Zhi played a through ball to Tang Ye!

Damn!

The lead on this pass was somewhat exaggerated; Tang Ye could only accelerate as much as possible to chase it down.

Control the ball!

As the defender approached, Tang Ye stepped on the ball and came to an abrupt halt.

Then accelerated!

The Kyrgyzstan player still wanted to stop Tang Ye with a foul, but unexpectedly, the guy jumped straight up.

The defender's outstretched foot didn't even touch Tang Ye!

"Tang Ye!"

"Mm, he dodged it!"

"Doing it himself!"

"The speed is quite fast!"

The speed was indeed fast, but that was only relative.

After all, this wasn't his strong suit, so Tang Ye quickly passed the ball to Wu Lei on the right.

Then he pressed his right hand downward.

This gesture meant for Wu Lei to slow down.

Then execute a crossing run with Yu Yu Hanchao!

Halfway through the run, Tang Ye suddenly changed direction and charged into the penalty area.

"Oh!!!!"

The defender reached out and grabbed Tang Ye's shoulder.

Bracing his body directly against the contact!

Pa!

Wu Lei passed the ball over!

Tang Ye received the ball, but the defender's tight marking prevented him from turning.

Look for a combination with a teammate!

Pa pa!

Turning and making a forward run, Tang Ye received a through ball from Wang Wang Shenchao, immediately following up with a pushed shot.

"Goal!"

"Goal!"

"Tang Ye!"

"In the 14th minute of the match, a goal from Tang Ye!"

"1:0! China takes the lead!"

It looked like a very simple attack, but the Chinese football players executed every aspect brilliantly, making the threat quite significant.

Tang Ye and Zhang Zhang Yuning ran together toward the corner flag.

"Roar!!!"

"Tang Ye!"

"King of Balls!"

"Awesome, Tang Ye!!!"

Spreading his arms wide, Tang Ye soaked in the cheers from the stands.

This was his first Asian Cup goal of his professional career!

【You have obtained 20 Counterattack Points】

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Wang Wang Shenchao plays a through ball, Tang Ye rushes to the point, and the Chinese national team scores its first goal of this Asian Cup.

……

PS: One more chapter tonight.

Seeking monthly tickets!

(End of chapter)