Chapter 849: Harland is Still Somewhat Inferior to Zhang Zhang Yuning

The match has begun!

Wales cannot be considered a favorite team, but their opponent, the Chinese men's national football team, is the hottest of hot favorites.

Thus, the logic is clear: today is one of the spotlight matches of this World Cup group stage.

Will Bale punish the arrogant Chinese team?

Or will he be counter-killed?

Wales (3-5-2)

Goalkeeper: Hennessey

Defenders: Mepham, Joe Rodon, Ben Davies

Midfielders: Connor Roberts, Ramsey, Ampadu, Harry Wilson, Neco Williams

Forwards: Bale, Kieffer Moore

Head Coach: Robert Page

"The average age of Wales' starting lineup in this match is 27.5 years, with a total market value reaching 94.5 million euros!"

"Hiss, judging by total market value, the gap between Wales and the Chinese team is still quite large!"

Fans had already conducted analyses before the match.

The market value of the Chinese team's starting lineup is more than three times that of Wales!

Actually, just looking at Wales' starting lineup tells you that only two players, Bale and Ben Davies, have relatively high market values.

Overall, they are not completely unmanageable; it can only be said that the key for the Chinese team is to deal properly with Wales' captain.

Gareth Bale.

He will be the key to this match!

"Go, Chinese team!"

"Go, go, go!"

"National Football Team, you're awesome!"

Just like in the first round, today's match is also a "home game" for the Chinese team.

Wales is too pitiful; they need to face fans from China, Portugal, and England simultaneously, which is indeed a bit overwhelming for such a small region.

Fei Nando receives the ball and moves toward the center, wanting to link up with Tang Ye!

Ramsey follows closely behind Fei Nando, ready to make a move at any moment.

"Here!"

Tang Ye extends his hand.

Ampadu runs toward Tang Ye!

Facing the pass from Fei Nando, Tang Ye, without even looking, taps the ball forward with his heel, completing a one-two combination with his teammate.

"Beautiful, Tang Ye!"

"Such a quick pass, no problems at all..."

Fei Nando makes a forward run to receive the ball, then dashes toward the right front along his running direction.

His target seems to be Wu Lei!

"Faster!"

Tang Ye urges loudly, but Fei Nando's form seems slightly off; his speed simply fails to pick up.

He can only pass.

Possession first goes to Wu Lei's feet!

Wu Lei combines with Zhang Zhang Yuning!

The match against Argentina indeed boosted the morale of the national football team; currently, the coordination among the Chinese team players has improved somewhat.

Regaining possession, Wu Lei charges toward the baseline, while teammates behind him are also rushing forward.

Wu Lei!

"Beep!"

Well then.

Wu Lei played too aggressively; he overestimated his own speed.

China's number 7 dribbles the ball out of bounds!

"Calm down a bit!"

"Hey!"

Wu Lei's series of actions directly made Escrivá anxious, prompting him to shout a reminder immediately; meanwhile, Tang Ye also made some corrections to the mindset of these two players, Fei Nando and Wu Lei.

"Actually, for Wales, what they hope for now is to find an opening through the left flank..."

"Oh, here it comes!"

"Mepham, a long pass directly to Bale!"

A long ball flies out from the backfield; Bale strides forward, turns sideways to execute a perfect first touch, and after controlling the ball, accelerates again.

"Keep up, keep up!"

Hearing his teammate's voice beside his ear, Wang Wang Shenchao focuses his energy, using his positional advantage to mark Bale tightly.

The hearts of Chinese football fans watching the live broadcast all hang in suspense.

It's up to you, Wang Wang Shenchao!

"Ah!"

Wang Wang Shenchao grits his teeth, his face twisted ferociously.

He raises his right hand to check Bale's position.

Look for an opening!

Slap!

Wang Wang Shenchao kicked the ball out of bounds with one foot.

"Whoa!!!!"

This was Bale's first sprint of the match, and it failed immediately.

"Awesome!"

Zhang Zhang Xizhe rushed over from the side and shouted loudly at Wang Wang Shenchao.

"Huff, huff huff..."

Wang Wang Shenchao, who had just climbed up from the ground, was still panting.

The first wave of defense was indeed successful, but he knew there was an element of luck involved.

Without the positional advantage, how should he have dealt with Bale's second acceleration?

Hmm...

If one were to summarize Wang Wang Shenchao's current mental state, it would be: immense pressure!

So far, Escrivá hadn't assigned too many personnel to Bale's flank, suggesting he still had considerable faith in Wang Wang Shenchao's abilities.

And judging by this arrangement, Escrivá seemingly didn't intend for the Chinese team to play defense continuously?

As the match reached the 16th minute of the first half, following a defensive play by the Chinese team, the broadcaster gave close-up shots to Wang Wang Shenchao and Tang Ye respectively.

Both men were drenched in sweat, their jerseys sticking tightly to their bodies.

The air conditioning at Lusail Stadium seemed to offer no substantial help to the players on the field.

【Wang Wang Shenchao is exploding with power this match; that feeling is here.】

【No, someone explodes with power in every match; is this really the Chinese team?... I don't recall them being this strong during the Asian qualifiers.】

【Yes, you're right, but this is Saint Escrivá! Ferrán Escrivá!】

【Bale has declined; he's far from his peak form.】

Wang Wang Shenchao achieved significant success in two out of three defensive attempts against Bale; while part of this credit belonged to Tang Ye's 5% all-attribute buff, the main reason was actually Bale's own condition.

After playing a 3:5 match against Germany in their previous game, Wales's several forwards seemed to have exhausted all the energy within their bodies.

Facts proved that not every national team player could gain energy from light like the Chinese team!

"Zhang Zhang Linpeng, push forward..."

"Pass to Chi Chi Zhongguo first!"

"Pass to Tang Ye!"

"Eh, Chi Chi Zhongguo made a super, super, super huge mistake!"

Chi Chi Zhongguo had intended to pass to Tang Ye, but a mistake caused him to kick the ball directly to Ampadu.

Ampadu reacted quickly, immediately creating space to prevent Tang Ye from pressing, then passed the ball forward to Bale.

Bale did not rush to sprint; instead, he stood still with the ball at his feet.

Waiting for Roberts to sprint past him, the Welsh captain played a through ball.

Roberts received the ball.

"Oh!!!"

Roberts's forward run made people feel uneasy.

The Chinese team's current defensive formation had not been broken; let's see what choice Roberts makes.

Attempting to muscle past Feng Feng Xiaoting but failing, Roberts created space and passed the ball back to Mepham behind him.

Slap!

A long kick from Mepham completed Wales's transfer of possession to the weak side!

Williams.

A cross!

Inside the penalty area, Wang Wang Dalei rushed out, beating Moore to kick the ball away with one foot.

"Damn!"

"What the hell are you doing!"

Wang Wang Dalei's temper flared up instantly as he yelled at Chi Chi Zhongguo.

For the Chinese team to want to beat Wales, they must first ensure their own stability; otherwise, everything else is pointless.

Immediately after this defensive sequence, Escrivá instructed several players on the bench to start warming up; the Spaniard likely already had thoughts of making a substitution.

The 21st minute.

Through continuous passing combinations, Tang Ye exchanged positions with Zhang Zhang Xizhe and Fernandinho respectively, eventually appearing on the left flank.

This position was extremely aggressive for an attacking midfielder, yet Tang Ye showed no intention of stopping his forward run.

As the right-back, Mepham now had to retreat.

He focused his attention on Tang Ye, preparing in advance to prevent any forward run from the Chinese team captain!

Tang Ye reached the vicinity of the baseline, coordinating passes with Zhang Zhang Yuning.

Cutting toward the center, Tang Ye received the return pass from Zhang Zhang Yuning!

Bang!

A Welsh defender collided with Tang Ye.

It was Bale!

Bale tracked back very timely, indeed causing some trouble for Tang Ye.