Chapter 529: FA Cup Semi-Final: Facing Watford at Wembley Stadium

Front page headline of "China Football News": The AFC is urging Tang Ye to pay the fine for the Asian Cup final, but the player has refused, citing "financial difficulties."

【"Financial Difficulties"】

【"He really just doesn't want to pay this money, huh? If I were him, I wouldn't pay either."】

【"Putting 'financial difficulties' in quotation marks, China Football News really knows how to create entertainment value."】

【"What can we do? My GGBond has no money; what other way is there?"】

【"How about this: I suggest changing the fine to five US dollars; I'll cover it for Tang Ye."】

More than two months have passed since the Asian Cup final, yet Tang Ye's fine remains unpaid.

Previously, when he hadn't paid, fans thought Tang Ye might have simply forgotten; after all, for someone like him, a fine of tens of thousands of dollars isn't much.

But now that he still hasn't paid, it truly means he doesn't want to pay.

Besides "China Football News," other newspapers have specifically analyzed the reasons behind Tang Ye's refusal to pay the fine.

For professional players, the most unacceptable consequence is being suspended.

However, Tang Ye has no need to worry about this.

Because the national team has no matches requiring his participation over the next year.

You want to punish GGBond? No problem.

But my GGBond has an evasion attribute; he cannot be targeted.

Premier League Official Announcement: The Premier League Player of the Month for March is Manchester United midfielder Tang Ye.

The Metro: Manchester United players have arrived in London and will face Watford at Wembley Stadium on the afternoon of April 7.

In addition to the news of Manchester United's arrival in London, The Metro thoughtfully included a photo of the players exiting the train station.

In the photo, Ten Hag and Fan Fan Dejiahe are chatting, while Tang Ye squats on the ground tying his shoelaces, with Ale standing before him holding his belongings.

Judging from the image, the Manchester United players all appear to be in fairly good condition.

Having just entered a congested schedule, it is still something Tang Ye and the others can adapt to.

It remains to be seen whether the Manchester United players can maintain this form once the Champions League begins.

"Premier League Player of the Month"

Tang Ye had just stood up from the ground when Rashford walked over, displaying his phone screen in front of Tang Ye.

Just moments ago, the Premier League officially announced on its website that Tang Ye had won the League Player of the Month for March, synchronizing the news on Twitter and Instagram.

"Hmm... then I suppose I'll have to wait a week to receive the award, right?"

"I recall the next Premier League match is... against West Ham United, correct? It's scheduled after the Champions League."

Tang Ye appeared unsurprised by his award; even Rashford couldn't detect excessive delight in his eyes.

"Did you know beforehand?"

"Know what beforehand?"

"Just this. Oh, never mind."

Realizing the situation, Rashford shook his head gently; Tang Ye frequently wins Player of the Month awards.

It seems that for Tang Ye, such accolades indeed aren't worth making a huge fuss over.

Tucking his phone back into his pocket, Rashford suddenly posed a question: "How many times have you won Player of the Month?"

"Five times... or six?"

Tilting his head, Tang Ye pondered.

To be honest, he couldn't quite remember himself.

However, every time he receives a trophy, he takes a photo and posts it on Instagram; if one wants to know the exact number of awards, they can simply scroll through his Instagram post history.

"It's more than six times."

Rodri stated with great certainty: "I feel it should be around ten times; in my impression, Tom seems to win Player of the Month every single month."

"Hey Rod, you're exaggerating."

Tang Ye spread his hands: "How could it possibly be ten times? The Player of the Month for January wasn't mine. I wasn't even in England in January."

"Haha!"

Rodri waved his hands in the air: "Alright, alright, so not ten times, but it's definitely more than six, I guarantee you. Hmm... maybe eight or nine times."

"Well, it's not eight or nine times either..."

Tang Ye fell into reminiscence.

He wanted to check his Instagram records, but then thought it would be too much trouble.

"Definitely; I feel it should be around eight times."

"No, no, no, Rod, believe me."

Tang Ye and Rodri began arguing over this matter.

"Let me tell you, Rod, it's absolutely not eight times; at most seven. If I'm wrong, then I'll eat shit just like Young."

"Hey!"

From a distance, Ashley Young whipped his head around sharply: "What are you two talking about!"

"Haha! Tom said he wants to eat... just like you."

"Hey, hey, hey!"

Tang Ye covered Rodri's mouth with his hand: "It's nothing, nothing; I just said I want to eat the same thing as you."

"What's the 'same thing'?"

"Uh..."

"Yes!"

Rodri wanted to continue speaking, but Tang Ye stopped him once again.

"Nothing, nothing, it's nothing worth mentioning."

Ashley Young turned his head away, and only then did Tang Ye remove the hand pressing over Rodri's mouth.

"Haha, Tom!"

"If you want to eat shit, just say it outright!"

"I'm innocent; I definitely didn't say anything wrong. Rest assured, Rod, I absolutely won't have to eat shit."

……

Time quickly arrived at the second day.

Today was the day of the FA Cup semi-final match between Manchester United and Watford.

From the semi-finals onward, all matches were held at Wembley Stadium.

Fans from both sides had already gathered outside the stadium, and Sky Sports reporters conducted interviews as per usual custom.

"Just yesterday, Mancheng defeated Tottenham to advance to the FA Cup final. If Manchester United also successfully advances, they will meet in the final. Do you think Manchester United can successfully defeat Watford today?"

The interviewee was a Manchester United fan, so his answer was naturally very affirmative.

"Of course, definitely."

"Absolutely!"

The latter sentence did not come from the interviewed fan, but from a guy passing by wearing a GG Bond costume.

"Haha!"

The fan and GG Bond high-fived, then shouted that phrase together.

"Viva GG Bond!"

"You seem to have great faith in your home team, and also in Tom, so you feel Manchester United will definitely win. Is that how the semi-finals work?"

"Mm, of course. We always believe in Tom; he is currently the best player in the world, bar none."

The fan seemed somewhat swollen with pride, so the reporter reminded him of the existence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi.

"I am a fan of Ronaldo, but you must admit that Ronaldo and Messi are now gradually declining; this is a stage every professional player must experience."

The fan held up all five fingers of his right hand.

"Five years. In five years, they will be nearly forty, but in five years, Tom will only be twenty-five."

"The current Tom hasn't even reached his peak yet. When he turns twenty-five, I believe Manchester United will complete the task of revival at that time. Because, as you know, between twenty-five and thirty is when football players are at their most formidable."

Judging from these words spoken by the interviewed fan, he had indeed been watching football for quite some time.

This was a guy with extremely rich experience!

"So your plan is that when Tom is twenty-five, which is... um, 2024? Manchester United will march toward complete revival then. Is that correct?"

"Yes, yeah, anyway, that's how I see it."

The fan shrugged.

He seemed very confident in the five-year plan he had proposed, just as he believed in Manchester United's current strength.

……

"Lads, if we win this, the next match is the final."

The match was about to begin; in the locker room, captain Valencia was giving the players their final pep talk.

"Having reached this stage, we have no reason to retreat. We need the FA Cup trophy. We already won the FA Cup last season, so this season would be the second one—a back-to-back championship! Our opponent today isn't strong, but we must remain vigilant."

Just as Valencia said, since they had reached the semi-finals, the current Manchester United could not accept any degree of error.

"Three, two, one..."

Tang Ye was responsible for leading the cheer, but when he reached "one," he did not immediately shout "Let's go"; instead, he paused for a moment.

Hm?

The players' gazes converged on Tang Ye's face.

Hiss—!

Whoosh—

He took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

"United!"

"United!"

……

"Okay, brothers, welcome to my livestream room."

"Stop asking if there's a clearer video quality. I spent half an hour finding this stream source; it is absolutely the clearest on the entire platform, bar none."

"What if it's not the clearest? Damn it, can you guys stop being so picky? We are professional fans; professional fans watch for the technique, not the clarity."

"Although I, Tang Tang Qiuwang, am very handsome, you guys are acting like you're watching a movie star. Am I, Tang Tang Qiuwang, a movie star? Definitely not. I, Tang Tang Qiuwang, am a fucking superstar. Isn't a superstar a whole rank above some ordinary star?"

Before livestreaming this match, the streamer Wang Chao had already broadcast once, but every time a Manchester United match was about to start, a large batch of new fans would flood into the livestream room.

At times like this, Wang Chao would pretend he had just started broadcasting and repeat his opening remarks to the netizens in the room.

Of course, arguing was inevitable.

In the previous match, following Wang Chao's instructions to bet on the Australian league had caused more than half the people in the livestream room to lose heavily, and they were still fuming now.

"The match has started; let me first introduce today's starting lineups for both sides. By the way, today's venue is Wembley Stadium, the one in London."

"Why isn't Luke Shaw playing? Luke Shaw's recovery has encountered some difficulties. I saw in the news that Luke Shaw is nearly recovered, but athletes are different from ordinary people, brothers. You have to find your match fitness before you can play; otherwise, what would be the point of putting you on the field? To sabotage your teammates?"

"Do the math on the timeline; Luke Shaw will probably recover near the end of the month, so if he wants to play, he'll have to wait until at least May."

"Hiss... damn it, by May the league will be almost over..."

To speak honestly, Luke Shaw's absence would indeed bring some impact to Manchester United, but this impact was actually not as great as the fans imagined.

At least when facing a team like Watford, it made little difference whether Luke Shaw was present or not.

The 11th minute of the match.

Manchester United made a mistake in their defensive half, but Watford failed to capitalize on the opportunity.

The striker's shot slammed heavily against the crossbar.

It bounced out!

"Get up there!"

De Gea shouted for Rodri and Bailly to rush up simultaneously, hoping to reach the ball before the Watford players.

But the Watford player got there first!

He pulled the ball back to adjust!

Bang!

"Haha, he got anxious!"

"The Watford striker's shot hit Bailly."

"Brother, I gave you a chance, but you were useless."

"Rodri has the ball!"

"Pass to De Rong Cheng Gong!"

"A very classic combination; once again, De Rong Cheng Gong is driving forward with the ball!"

"Let's first check Tang Ye's position..."

"Sigh, where is Tang Ye?"

Tang Ye was nowhere to be seen in the camera frame because at this moment, that guy was running along the left flank.

He was now playing a position similar to a left-back, making forward runs together with Rashford.

To help De Rong Cheng Gong advance, Tang Ye signaled for Rashford to cut inside toward the center.

Rashford acted as a wingman, drawing the attention of the defenders.

De Rong Cheng Gong successfully passed the ball to Haller!

Haller then passed to Greenwood!

"Go wide, go wide!"

As soon as Greenwood received the ball, a teammate quickly shouted instructions to him.

However, Greenwood had his own ideas; feeling there was an opportunity in the center, he simply decided to cut inside.

Slowly moving toward the middle.

He found an opening!

Slap!

A long pass whipped out, finding Rashford at the baseline on the left wing.

Rashford controlled the ball with his chest and passed it to Tang Ye.

Standing in his position with great ease, Tang Ye lifted his foot and tapped the ball with his heel to Ashley Young, who was running up from behind.

"Damn, a master is truly a master."

Wang Chao couldn't help but marvel at Tang Ye's relaxed movement.

After receiving the ball, Ashley Young suddenly accelerated forward.

Slap!

Passed to Greenwood again!

"Shoot it directly!"

"Awesome, Greenwood! Goal!"

"Greenwood!"

"Manchester United scores in under 15 minutes."

"What do you say, brothers? Didn't I tell you this match would definitely be a high-scoring affair?"

"What kind of team is Manchester United? What kind of team is Watford? Are they even on the same level?"

"..."

Greenwood's goal immediately ignited Manchester United's momentum.

Soon, the second goal arrived five minutes later.

Valencia took the corner kick.

The first point of contact found Haller.

Haller headed it to Smalling!

Slap!

A very easy sequence of plays, and Smalling successfully blasted the ball into the Watford goal.

The score became 2:0!

"Nice!!!"

The Manchester United players quickly rushed out and huddled together below the stands.

Although it was a neutral venue today, since not many Watford fans had shown up, most areas of the stands were still occupied by Manchester United supporters.

Watford was not only being dominated by Manchester United's players but also by their fans.

"..."

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: 51st minute of the second half, Ziyech came on as a substitute and scored, putting Manchester United 4:1 ahead of Watford.

"Wow!"

Tang Ye and Ye He jumped up simultaneously, their buttocks colliding, after which the Manchester United player performed the very classic fishing celebration move.

As the goal scorer, the big fish Ye He caught today was...

The GG Fish!

Order Perciformes, family Suidae, genus Catfish, species GG!

"Wow!"

Ye He hugged Tang Ye in his arms, but failing to keep his balance, the two fell to the ground one after the other.

"Oh, shit!"

In the live stream, Wang Chao was overjoyed, filled with the same excitement a biological son feels seeing his father achieve success in his career.

But this excitement of his did not last long.

In the 61st minute of the match, with a 4:1 lead, Ten Hag substituted Tang Ye off the field.

By this point in the match, the result had already been decided.

Manchester United would now prepare for the next Champions League match against Paris.

"Tom!"

"Tom!"

"Viva Tom Tom!"

The song "Long Live Tom" rang out once again across Wembley Stadium as Tang Ye slowly walked toward the substitutes' bench, raising both hands above his head to clap along with the fans.

"Haha."

Tang Ye embraced Ten Hag: "We've reached the final, Mr. Sitting Like."

(End of Chapter)