Chapter 857: Apprentices Full, Time to Take a Mount

Another MVP trophy; Tang Ye held the trophy in one hand and walked toward Escrivá: "Ferran!"

"Shit, haha!"

Arms spread wide, Escrivá suddenly pulled Tang Ye into his embrace, slapping the Chinese national team captain's back hard with his hands: "Just like this! Haha, hu... fuck!"

Ferran spoke somewhat stutteringly; only after Tang Ye broke free from the coach's embrace did he realize that the Spanish head coach had started crying at some point, tears filling his eyes so abundantly they reflected the stadium lights.

"Oh, come on!"

Tang Ye spread his hands: "Don't be like this, Ferran."

"Easy! Very easy!"

Tang Ye shouted into Escrivá's ear: "This is exactly how it was planned; we're going to the knockout stage, as group winners!"

"No, this is not how it was planned!"

Escrivá roared back, startling Tang Ye into taking a step backward: "Haha, okay okay, you're right! Ferran, you're right, I won't argue with you anymore. Anyway, we've already qualified; that's the result!"

Amid cheers, Tang Ye and Escrivá walked together toward the stands.

They had originally planned to share the joy with the fans in the stands, but halfway there, several teammates intercepted them.

Without a word, Zhang Zhang Yuning knelt directly in front of Tang Ye, drawing a wave of screams from the stands.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

Tang Ye stepped back, preparing to help Zhang Zhang Yuning up, but Wei Wei Shihao and Wang Wang Dalei approached from the side; the two of them immediately restrained Tang Ye.

"Damn it, what are you doing?"

While Tang Ye looked completely bewildered, Wang Wang Shenchao and Zhang Zhang Xizhe together lifted the Chinese national team captain's right leg and placed his foot on the thigh of the already-kneeling Zhang Zhang Yuning.

Zhang Zhang Yuning pretended to hold a towel in his hand and began wiping Tang Ye's shoes.

"Hell, don't do this!"

Tang Ye spoke, intending to resist, but this was clearly impossible.

Master GG possessed formidable physical strength, but alone he could not oppose so many Chinese national football players; Wu Lei and Wei Wei Shihao exerted force together, leaving Tang Ye utterly unable to move.

"Tang Ye!"

"Ball King!"

"Tang Ye!"

"Ball King!"

"..."

Unable to resist, Tang Ye ultimately lost himself amid the cheers of teammates and fans.

The dignified captain of the Chinese national team had now actually become a decadent ruler!

"Wow!!!"

Dongqiu Di match report: Tang Ye scores twice; in the third round of the group stage, the Chinese national team completes a last-minute equalizer, finishes top of the group, and advances to the knockout stage; the team maintains an unbeaten record against Germany in history. (Comment count: 923752)

Hot discussion: Delivering a last-minute equalizer in the third round, Tang Ye is the only player so far in this World Cup to win the MVP award in three consecutive group stage matches.

Attached: 2022 Qatar World Cup Group C standings (all Group C matches concluded):

1. China, 7 points. (Seeded team)

2. Argentina, 6 points. (Non-seeded team)

3. Germany, 4 points.

4. Wales, 0 points.

Wales, with zero points, is certainly pitiable, but please do not focus too much attention on Wales.

Save the time, and then sing praises to the greatness of the Chinese team to your heart's content!

Two wins and one draw, unbeaten in the group stage, the great Chinese team that finished above Argentina!

"Hiss, no one expected China would ultimately advance to the knockout stage as a seeded team..."

After the match ended, the camera cut to the CCTV commentary booth; Zhan Jun, Huang Huang Jianxiang, and others seemed not yet to have fully emerged from this joy.

It felt somewhat like dreaming, but facts had repeatedly told them that what their eyes saw was indeed real.

"Group winners, hmm, haha, I think the first-round match against Argentina was crucial."

"Yes, overturning Argentina; that match was too important, it directly unleashed the entire team's momentum."

"Now many Argentine and German fans probably remain unconvinced! But China is indeed the final group winner."

Zhang Lu nodded, letting out a "hei hei hei" laugh: "Hei hei, this seeded status for the knockout stage is too important for China. I still remember from Russia; because China was a non-seeded team, they faced Brazil in the very first round of the knockout stage. This year, this seeded status can effectively avoid that scenario, ei, hei hei."

Zhang Lu made no prediction regarding the Chinese national team's first-round knockout opponent, because such a thing was truly unnecessary.

According to the rules, the opponent for this World Cup's Group C winner will be the runner-up of Group D.

The scope has already been defined; for the Chinese national team's Round of 16 opponent, only three possibilities remain: Japan, Spain, Mexico.

Baidu Hot Search No. 1: Chinese national team finishes top of group and advances to knockout stage.

No. 2: In the Group of Death, the Chinese team defeats Argentina.

No. 3: Germany fails to advance to the knockout stage again.

No. 4: Chinese national team's best World Cup group stage result in history.

No. 5: Chinese national team finishes first in World Cup Group C; opponent will be Group D runner-up.

Repost from CCTV-1: Qatar World Cup group stage... Chinese men's national football team, with two wins and one draw, may become the biggest dark horse of this World Cup.

Hot discussion: Analysis of the Qatar World Cup knockout stage situation.

At this point, only three groups have concluded all their matches; another five groups have not yet faced their do-or-die battles.

However, for Chinese fans, these remaining five groups are no longer important.

As fans of some of the first teams confirmed for the knockout stage, Chinese supporters displayed their arrogance without reservation.

The teams that haven't advanced to the knockout stage yet are all too weak!

FIFA's official Twitter account—Summary of teams already qualified for the knockout stage (continuously updated):

【Seeded Teams: Netherlands, England, China】

【Unseeded Teams: Senegal, United States, Argentina】

【Group rankings not yet confirmed, but qualification for the knockout stage secured: Portugal, Morocco】

Nine of the Round of 16 teams have already emerged, many of them familiar faces.

Of course, there are also some significant changes; currently, it appears this World Cup's knockout stage will feature at least two Asian teams, since Japan's situation looks promising, with them having over an 80% probability of advancing.

Germany keeps sliding downhill, but Asian football is becoming greater and greater.

The greatness of the Chinese team naturally goes without saying, while Japan's path to greatness is quite noteworthy.

"The Asian qualifiers revealed many of our shortcomings."

After the second round of matches, Hajime Moriyasu answered reporters' questions: "Actually, I noticed Tang Sang back in 2016; he is an excellent player. At that time, I said he should be a role model for Japanese football and that we Japan could also cultivate such players."

"However, the situation changed slightly afterward."

Hajime Moriyasu smiled bitterly: "I didn't expect his market value to break through 100 million euros so quickly, only to climb even higher later. Looking at it this way, cultivating such a player in Japan seems a bit unrealistic, but I haven't given up; Tang Sang is a role model for countless Japanese players."

"Even if we give our all and still cannot become someone as outstanding as him, we will strive to catch up and get as close as possible."

Hajime Moriyasu stated that the power of an idol is infinite, and Japan's football achievements today owe much to the pressure Tang Ye exerted on them.

Precisely because of this pressure, Japanese football has been able to advance steadily.

"Although we haven't secured qualification for the knockout stage yet, we will follow in China's footsteps; we also have a chance to finish first in our group."

"Our goal is to reach the quarterfinals in this World Cup."

Hajime Moriyasu made a shocking statement: "Our ultimate goal is to win the World Cup championship in 2030."

As soon as the interview video was released, Hajime Moriyasu was immediately blasted.

Saying you want to finish first in your group and reach the quarterfinals in this World Cup is no problem.

But what does it mean to set another flag of winning the World Cup championship in 2030?

【Even China isn't this arrogant; is this Japanese coach heavily drugged? Have you asked us European teams for our opinion? — IP location: England】

【Japan is truly laughable. — IP location: South Korea】

【What are you laughing at? Did you guys in South Korea even qualify for the knockout stage? Laughing so happily, can't you reflect properly? Could it be that you won't even make it to the knockout stage? We can reflect through TY; can you? Haven't you noticed your tactics are very backward? — IP location: Japan】

South Korean fans felt truly uncomfortable; they quickly became the target of attacks.

Helplessly, the attacked South Korean fans could only turn their gaze toward the head coach of South Korea.

Why have we come under attack online?