Chapter 845: Argentina Wants to Tell the Chinese Team: Five Ballon d'Ors Are Worth Less Than

【?????】

【What the hell?】

【I stayed up late last night; now I'm hallucinating. Brothers, should I go back to bed and sleep again? Even the score looks reversed.】

【Unbelievable. What is Argentina doing?】

【This is the Group of Death. This is the Chinese team. This is the Ball King. This is Thunder Atlas!】

Click-click!

Surrounded entirely by reporters' camera flashes, Tang Ye found the light so glaring he could barely keep his eyes open.

"Damn awesome!"

A teammate rushed up from behind, leaping to hang onto him.

"Haha!"

"We're leading! We're leading!!!"

Zhang Zhang Yuning shouted at him, while Tang Ye emphasized the current score to his teammates: "2:1! 2:1!"

"Oh my... haha!"

"This truly was unexpected!"

The commentators, silent for so long, finally came to their senses, knowing they must offer praise for the great Atlas.

"Argentina's defensive line in the back field has shown extremely serious problems, having been exploited by the Chinese team twice in a row."

"Yes, it's like Chinese New Year already, haha."

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Tang Ye scores with a chip shot from 67 meters out; the national team overturns the deficit to lead Argentina 2:1.

No. 1: China vs. Argentina.

No. 2: China 1:1 Argentina.

No. 3: China takes the lead.

No. 4: Tang Ye's chip shot.

"Beep, beep-beep——!!!"

The first half ends; the camera focuses on Messi.

The Argentine captain stands with hands on hips, head bowed low.

Under the director's clever camera design, Messi on the field appears somewhat hunched and dejected.

Facing this 1:2 scoreline, what thoughts are running through the Argentine captain's mind?

Hmm... his thoughts are probably the same as Scaloni's.

After 45 minutes of the first half, Argentina finally realizes something is wrong.

They were too arrogant!

From the moment the draw results were announced until just before kickoff, Argentina never truly regarded the Chinese team as an opponent.

Their eyes saw only Tang Ye; yes, Tang Ye indeed played ferociously, but Argentina must pay the price for ignoring the other Chinese players!

"Ronaldo!"

"Viva Ronaldo!"

As Messi passed beneath the stands, the Chinese fans in the crowd chanted Cristiano Ronaldo's slogan in unison.

Not all of them were Cristiano Ronaldo fans; they simply knew doing this could mess with the Argentine players' minds.

"Portugal! Portugal!"

Portugal!

Merely hearing that word makes the Argentines' brains feel like exploding on the spot!

"Holy crap, 2:1!"

Wu Lei slowly shook his head, then threw his arms around Tang Ye: "I really didn't expect this."

"Neither did I."

Tang Ye gasped heavily: "Unbelievable. If we hold this in the second half, we'll soar straight to heaven."

Having played so well in the first half, the Chinese team players are now getting somewhat carried away.

Indeed, who could resist the temptation when holding this scoreline means eliminating Argentina?

Anyway, Tang Ye cannot resist.

Thunder Atlas cannot resist the temptation.

Halftime report: Celebrating early? Tang Ye's long-range chip shot puts the national team temporarily ahead of Argentina 2:1 at halftime.

"What Argentina? It's all damn bullshit!"

In the locker room at halftime, the Chinese team players were all spouting bold words, already preparing to roast the Pampas Eagles on a barbecue grill.

"I know you're excited, I know, but listen to me first!"

Escriva shouted loudly.

Once the players in the locker room quieted down, the Spaniard couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

"Fuck!"

"If I had to summarize the first half, I would say you played fucking brilliantly!"

"Wow!"

"But we still have 45 minutes!"

"Maintain our form and prepare to meet our opponent's counterattack in the second half."

"Keep your minds clear—that is your task for the second half!"

After Escrivá finished speaking, Tang Ye gently pushed aside the team doctor who was massaging him and stepped into the center of the locker room.

Seeing Tang Ye stand up, for some reason the other players in the locker room felt as though their hearts were burning, so they all rose and gathered shoulder-to-shoulder in the center of the room.

Tang Ye's head was drenched in sweat; he had stripped off his upper-body clothing, revealing several pale red scratch marks on his skin that made him look somewhat disheveled.

His face bore a hint of flushed heat, but judging by the actual situation, excitement likely dominated that expression more than anything else.

"..."

"Before the match began, ahem!"

Wu Lei placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder and pressed down firmly, while the latter continued speaking.

"Before today's match began, no one believed we would win."

"Even we ourselves thought so."

"But! Look now!"

"Everyone has underestimated us; they do not know our true strength."

"We can defeat Argentina, showing it to those fans in the stands and to those fans before their television screens!"

Tang Ye clapped his hands sharply: "We will win this match—I guarantee it to you!"

"Wow!"

"Team China!"

"Long live! Long live! Long live!"

Bang!

Thump-thump!

That was the sound of Martí's heartbeat; he simply looked at Escrivá beside him: "Ferran, what are you feeling right now?"

"Whatever you are feeling, that is what I am feeling."

Escrivá gave Martí a push: "Alright, hurry up and get ready!"

"China Media Group, welcome back, dear audience! This is..."

The situation had changed; Argentina was forced to make early substitutions, with Enzo, Acuña, and other players entering the field, while another figure familiar to Manchester United fans had already taken his place on the bench—Tang Ye's club teammate, Lisandro Martínez.

Team China also made their own substitution: Chi Chi Zhongguo came on to replace Wei Wei Shihao!

"Switching from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2, Team China's tactics for the second half should be more conservative."

"Yes, if we can hold this scoreline, Team China will defeat Argentina today, in their first-round match of this World Cup. But Argentina will certainly not let that happen easily. Therefore, how Team China withstands Argentina's attacks in the second half is the issue their players must consider most urgently right now."

The 54th minute!

Di María!

Cutting inside, he passed horizontally toward the center, finding Enzo making a supporting run.

Enzo laid the ball off to Gómez on the left flank.

A diagonal through-ball!

Bang!

Jiang Guangtai kicked the ball away in one motion.

"Beautiful!"

The commentator had just shouted it out, but quickly realized something was wrong.

After completing the clearance, Jiang Guangtai hopped a few steps, then directly squatted down on the spot.

"Hey!"

"Referee, referee!"

Zhang Zhang Xizhe reacted very quickly; noticing the situation, he immediately signaled to the referee.

"Beep!"

Beep-beep-beep!

Beep-beep-beep!

Jiang Guangtai's act of sitting on the ground himself provoked dissatisfaction among most of the Argentine fans in the stands.

After all, China was currently leading, and Jiang Guangtai's action carried the suspicion of time-wasting.

However, judging by the behavior of Team China's players on the field, Jiang Guangtai did not seem to have sat down intentionally.

"Hiss..."

Tang Ye clasped his head with both hands and softly asked Jiang Guangtai: "Do you feel you can still play?"

"... I suppose so."

"..."

Jiang Guangtai did not answer immediately, which made Tang Ye realize the situation was grave; he decisively signaled for the team doctor to come up and examine Jiang Guangtai.

Judging from Jiang Guangtai's behavior, this national team center-back seems to have failed to plant his feet firmly during the clearance, resulting in a sprained ankle.