Chapter 486: Shadow-Blade Tactics Are Not Suitable for the Knockout Stage, Manchester United

【Win after win, China team advance!】

【No chance of losing; those Koreans just aren't skilled enough. I feel like the score should have been 5-1.】

【Has the person above watched too many Manchester United matches? Haven't you noticed you've been infected by Ten Hag?】

【Long live GGBond!】

As the referee walked into the player tunnel, Chinese fans on both sides of the stands hurled fierce taunts at him.

"Blowing whistles against our King GG with biased calls—I think you don't want to live anymore!"

The referee probably couldn't understand such high-difficulty Chinese, but anyway, the fans had vented their anger.

"Damn!"

"So f***ing satisfying!"

The China team players burst through the locker room door and, without hesitation, immediately began their celebration.

Tang Ye started dancing!

Twisting left, twisting right, both hands drawing patterns in the air.

This dance had been taught to him by Lin Lin Jiade.

Thanks to Tang Ye's outstanding sense of rhythm, he had learned most of it after just a few tries.

"Holy crap, I feel like I could definitely perform a solo dance act at the Spring Festival Gala right now!"

Sliding out with a moonwalk,

followed by a gorgeous spin!

This is GGBond's dance talent!

"Oh, Michael Jackson!"

Wu Xi shouted, clutching his head.

Who would have thought that GGBond's identity as a great dancer would also be discovered!

Dancing around Lippi in the middle, Tang Ye slowly made his way to his seat and sat down.

Gulping down several mouthfuls of water, he asked, "Who are we playing in our first knockout match?"

"Thailand."

Zheng Zhi gave the answer.

"Thailand..."

Tang Ye lowered his head, thinking: "Are they very strong? All I know is that they have lots of durians there, and also... ladyboys?"

"Haha!"

They felt Tang Ye was joking, but upon second thought, realized something seemed off.

"Anyway, I feel Thailand definitely isn't stronger than South Korea,"

Zhang Zhang Yuning said as he took off his soccer cleats.

Three consecutive victories had already boosted the confidence of the national football players.

"Then there's no problem at all."

Tang Ye leaned against the cabinet while the team doctor wiped his foot with iodine.

Just a mere Durian Country—wouldn't that be easy to handle?

Feeling pumped up was just that fierce!

Just as Tang Ye was imagining the scene of the team defeating Thailand and advancing to the quarterfinals, that familiar sound arrived.

【Legends never die! At 40 years old, leading the China team to the Asian Cup knockout stage. Although not as ruthless as controlling FIFA to play the World Cup last year, you are already very impressive.】

"..."

No matter what the system said, Tang Ye wouldn't care.

What Tang Ye cared about was the reward he could receive.

【You have obtained... an Everton Chest (Random).】

An Everton Chest, huh...

Tang Ye's impression of the Everton team stopped at Lukaku, because during that match, this player had indeed caused great trouble for Manchester United.

Tang Ye's luck was fairly decent; he just didn't know if he could unlock Lukaku's template.

If you want to pry open a durian with your bare hands, you must be as strong as Lukaku!

Today's Headlines: China National Team overturns South Korea 3-2, advances to the Asian Cup Round of 16 with a perfect group stage record. What help has the Italian's football philosophy brought to the China team?

Match Preview: Beijing time, January 20th, 10 PM, Asian Cup Round of 16: China Men's National Football Team vs. Thailand Men's National Football Team.

Unsurprisingly, after the match ended, the entire internet was filled with news about the national football team; you could even frequently see national team jerseys on the streets, while malls and subways displayed related match posters.

Among so many places across the country, the commotion in Foshan City was the greatest.

Besides the China team posters, some malls had also hung up personal posters of Tang Ye.

Of course, reaching the Asian Cup knockout stage and reaching the World Cup knockout stage were essentially different, so the Foshan government currently maintained a wait-and-see attitude, unsure whether to organize larger-scale celebration activities.

【Tang Ye, together with Mengniu, toasts Asia with a cup!】

The evening was reserved for the China team's victory banquet, held in the hotel restaurant.

Besides the players and coaches, other staff members such as the team manager would also participate, making the scene extremely lively.

Gulp, gulp, gulp!

Tang Ye drank iced watermelon juice through a straw.

The cool juice traveled down his esophagus into his body, instantly making him feel incredibly comfortable.

If it weren't for the rule against drinking iced beverages during intense exercise, Tang Ye would definitely suggest the team replace electrolyte water with watermelon juice for their halftime supplies!

"Hey, Brother Lei, do you think they eat durian during halftime in Thailand? Isn't that thing super high in energy? I feel like anything yellow must be packed with energy."

Tang Ye whispered, striking up a hushed conversation with Wu Lei.

"Hmm... I don't think they would?"

Wu Lei scratched his head, then noticed something: "You dyed your hair a while ago, right? It's all brown now."

"Yeah, last year... was it August, September, or October? I can't remember, just one of those months. I dyed it then and haven't touched it since."

Tang Ye looked up, trying to catch a glimpse of his own hair.

But his hair was simply too short, so he failed.

"Still, I think this color suits me better; a bit of brown fits me more."

"Haha, that's true."

Wu Lei and Tang Ye clinked their glasses: "Can you hold your liquor?"

"Brother Lei, we're not allowed to drink right now."

Tang Ye reminded him in a low voice.

"I know, I just wanted to ask if you can drink."

"Oh, oh, I can drink, and I'm actually pretty good at it."

Memories flashed through Tang Ye's mind of celebrating with his club teammates at a bar.

"The really formidable kind; if you drink with me, you'll be in trouble."

"Haha!"

Just as Tang Ye and Wu Lei were chatting, Tang Tang Zhengxiong walked over: "I'm flying back home to grab something. Remember to take care of your mom; she gets lost easily."

"Flying back to grab something?"

Tang Ye turned his head: "Dad, couldn't you just buy it here? The round trip will take several hours."

"I can't buy it."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong shook his head: "It's something very important; I have to go back and get it. But don't worry, I'll be back before the quarterfinals. Haha, without my cheering, don't you dare lose."

Tang Ye was slightly curious about what Tang Tang Zhengxiong wanted to retrieve, but after a moment's thought, he decided not to press the issue.

"Actually, even without your cheering, we'll win easily."

Tang Ye placed his hand on Wu Lei's shoulder while Tang Tang Zhengxiong shrugged: "Damn it, anyway, I'm telling you, you absolutely must not lose. I'll be there live for the crucial matches to boost our morale and overwhelm the opposition."

"Huh? Are you going back to rally people to come cheer?"

Tang Ye stretched his neck out, but Tang Tang Zhengxiong just waved his hand and left.

"What does your dad need to fetch?"

Wu Lei turned to look at Tang Ye, who shrugged helplessly: "If I knew, I'd be a ghost."

Hiss...

After speaking, Tang Ye pulled out his phone and slowly typed "NBA schedule" into the browser.

January 19, Lakers vs. Rockets.

"To be honest, I feel like he just made up an excuse to run off."

Wu Lei's eyes widened.

Clap, clap!

Someone on stage suddenly started clapping, and the venue gradually fell silent.

Li Tie, the head of the national football team, stood on stage, holding a microphone.

"In the three group stage matches, we achieved quite perfect results. Here, I need to express my highest respect to the players, the coaching staff, and the logistical personnel of the team."

"Good!"

"Wow!!!"

After three consecutive victories, the players were extremely excited, and this emotion needed to be vented through shouting.

The players raised their glasses of juice or plain water, toasting with the team leader to celebrate.

"I am certain this is not our endpoint. Just as we said during the training camp meeting, the semifinals, reaching the semifinals is the goal."

"Come on!"

"Good luck in the knockout stage!"

Taking the elevator back to their accommodation floor, Tang Ye walked straight into his room.

Although Tang Ye had already showered once at the stadium after the match, he had a habit of bathing before bed, so he took another one.

With a towel draped over his head, Tang Ye rubbed his hands together.

The Random Chest could not be upgraded through financial management, so Tang Ye's only option was to open it directly.

【Confirm starting the Everton Chest (Random)?】

【You have obtained... Li Tie's Stamina Boost Template】

【Stamina: 76→77】

Hmm.

So he had opened up the template of Mr. Team Leader.

Although it was a rather ordinary template, Tang Ye's stamina had been stuck at 76 for some time,

so obtaining the Li Tie template still resulted in an increase to his attribute value.

Tang Ye (Age 40)

【Ball Control: 88; Passing: 91】

【Shooting: 80; Heading: 60; Set Pieces: 80】

【Speed: 78; Stamina: 77; Physical Strength: 85】

【Defense: 76; Vision: 97】

Overall Rating: 86

The Stamina attribute was gradually approaching the Speed attribute, which was indeed a very good thing for Tang Ye.

……

Viet Nam News Agency — Tang Ye's father was photographed boarding a plane at Abu Dhabi International Airport to depart; it is reported that his flight's destination is Guangzhou.

"He seems to be going home," the newspaper reporter inferred.

Not only Tang Tang Zhengxiong, but any news related to Tang Ye would receive a great deal of attention.

Just as European media always liked to make issues out of Messi and Ronaldo, some streamers on YouTube and Bilibili had now started spreading rumors about Tang Ye.

For instance, claims of discord between father and son, or that Tang Ye's form in the knockout stage would be severely affected.

Some fans who did not often watch matches might actually believe these videos upon stumbling across them, but anyone who knew Tang Ye even slightly would know better.

In fact, GG Bond's greatest characteristic was not his super-strong match-control ability during games.

It was his stability!

High-quality CPUs are like this: since beginning his professional league career, Tang Ye had maintained a performance rating of 6.0+ in every single match, with an average post-match rating of 7.2+ in 80% of his games.

Why could Tang Ye earn the trust of his teammates, his coach, and the fans?

Because when the master played, he was truly stable!

……

Knockout stage preparations, Chinese National Team training base.

The players were warming up on the grass when Lippi made a very difficult decision.

"We can give it up."

Madaloni said nothing.

Lippi's "give it up" naturally did not mean abandoning the match; he meant abandoning the shadow striker tactic they had been trying previously.

"But... we practiced it for so long."

Madaloni seemed somewhat unwilling to accept this, yet Lippi's face showed no expression at all: "The group stage has already proven that the midfield is his most suitable position (referring to Tang Ye). If we play him as a shadow striker, our defensive capability drops too much."

"I've looked at the upcoming schedule; apart from this match against Thailand, we probably won't be able to play the shadow striker formation in the subsequent matches."

Lippi was a very decisive person.

Since they could only continue using it for one more match, it was better not to use it at all.

Because the match against South Korea had already proven that when facing strong teams, Tang Ye absolutely, absolutely could not play as a shadow striker.

Losing the defensive rhythm was something the Chinese National Team could not accept under any circumstances!

"Alright, cough, hu... then what should we do?"

Although Madaloni liked to shout when speaking, he was still very cautious in front of Lippi.

There were not many coaches in the world who had won the World Cup, and Lippi was one of them.

"……"

But the World Cup-winning coach did not answer Madaloni's question.

He seemed not to know what to do either.

The evening after today's training session would feature the final two matches of the Asian Cup group stage; once those concluded, all sixteen teams for the Round of 16 would be fully determined.

Looking at the list of Round of 16 teams from the perspective of the Chinese National Football Team, there were still quite a few threatening opponents.

Australia, Qatar, Iran, Japan, and including South Korea, whom they had already faced in the group stage—these five teams were all not easy to deal with.

And just as fans were discussing whether the Chinese National Football Team could achieve two consecutive victories to enter the top four, Sky Sports released a video that quickly shifted the fans' attention.

Clicking open the video, one could tell from the environment and the players appearing on screen that this was the Mancheng locker room, where head coach Guardiola was giving a talk to the players.

"We lost to Leicester City before; this is the price we must pay now. Even with a continuous winning streak, we cannot surpass Manchester United. What caused this? It was caused by all of us together, and we must bear this consequence together."

Having just won a match, Guardiola still did not appear to be in a good mood.

This was precisely because of what he had said in the video.

Maintaining a winning streak yet being unable to surge into first place—only those who had experienced it personally knew how unbearable that feeling was.

And this was the pain that the Mancheng players and Guardiola were currently enduring.

"And then what? Is our season over? I think if you all carry this attitude into the upcoming matches, then it will truly be over."

"Round 22; it's only damn Round 22! There are still 16 matches left; anything can happen."

Placing both hands in front of him, Guardiola sprayed saliva everywhere: "We must maintain an absolute winning streak, and then wait for Manchester United to make a mistake, just as they once waited for us to make a mistake."

Walker lifted his head, revealing a doubtful expression.

"They will definitely make a mistake."

Guardiola added: "Tom is currently in the UAE; he absolutely cannot return within two weeks. Brighton and Leicester City are not easy opponents to deal with, and they also have to play Arsenal in the FA Cup, which will cause trouble for their league campaign. So we will definitely have an opportunity, OK?"

The video was nearly three minutes long, and the content was very inspiring.

The problem was...

Who the hell filmed this?

Judging from the angle, this camera must have been placed inside either Sterling's or Agüero's locker, and no one had discovered it.

Fuck!

A ghost has entered the Mancheng locker room!

Manchester Evening News — Soaring all the way; 85% of Manchester United fans believe Manchester United can maintain the top position in the league before Tom returns. They possess considerable confidence.

……

Dongqiu Di Match Report: Lost 1:3 at home to Brighton; in Round 23, Manchester United suffered their first defeat of the season.

(End of Chapter)