Chapter 858: Rodri's Header Is Formidable; Japan Cannot Possibly Win

"Utrecht Times" World Cup Special Column—Tom: 5 goals and 3 assists in 3 group stage matches; for the first time in history, the Chinese national team advances to the knockout round as group winners!

Congratulations from major newspapers and friends kept Tang Ye's phone vibrating nonstop, a situation that had already lasted nearly a full day.

"They are very surprised by our match result."

Escrivá noticed this; the "they" on the Spaniard's lips naturally referred to Tang Ye's WhatsApp friends.

"Haha, to be honest, I'm quite surprised too."

Holding his phone, Tang Ye replied to friends' messages while conversing with Escrivá.

"Didn't you previously say you felt we could beat Argentina? So you didn't expect us to advance as group winners?"

Escrivá squinted his eyes; to this day, he still couldn't figure out how Tang Ye had made such a prediction before the group stage began.

"I thought we should be the group runners-up."

Tang Ye spread his hands: "Argentina and Germany are both tough to play against, and Wales is no different; how could I see this situation and still think we'd advance as group winners?"

"I'm not that arrogant."

"Haha!"

"Ok ok."

Just as Escrivá was about to leave, he suddenly thought of something and stared at Tang Ye's phone: "Among those congratulating you, who exactly are they?"

"..."

Tang Ye vaguely sensed a hint of crisis and quickly stuffed his phone into his trouser pocket.

Moreover, after reaching into his pocket, he didn't pull his hand out directly but continued guarding his phone: "Uh... just some club teammates, former club, um, you know, Bruno (Villarreal) and the others. And... Eric hasn't sent me a message yet; he might be busy with something."

Escrivá nodded lightly and then walked away.

Only after confirming the coach had walked far away did Tang Ye take his phone out again.

【Mr. Eric: Keep it up; if you play Japan in the knockout round, I feel you have a chance.】

【Tang Ye: Yeah, I think so too.】

At 7:30 PM Beijing time, only half an hour remained before the start of the final Group D match between Japan and Spain.

Douyin live stream room.

【Title: Neutral Streamer's Professional Analysis of the Japan-Spain Match】

【Live Viewers: 2.74 million+】

Nearly three million live viewers, and the number was still increasing rapidly.

When you first entered the live stream room, you might have found it a bit strange: why would a mere Douyin streamer have such an exaggerated number of live viewers?

But once you saw the head of GG Bond in the bottom right corner, everything became clear.

【Awesome, is Tang Tang Qiuwang this dedicated? Adding overtime work right after advancing to the knockout round?】

【??? There's such a good thing? Who the hell would watch CCTV then? Tang Tang Qiuwang, I love you to death!】

【GG Bond, are you FIFA's biological father? How does it feel like you can broadcast every single match...】

【Streamer, streamer, who do you think will win today? Can you give us a score prediction?】

【So satisfying, brothers, Tang Ye is backing us up!】

In no time at all, the live viewer count in the stream room surged to 3.5 million.

Tang Ye's decision to go live was purely a spur-of-the-moment idea; he hadn't posted any announcement on social media, so it would probably take a little more time for the viewer count to reach its peak.

Speaking of which, Chinese football fans are truly too blessed.

Not only did they advance to the knockout round as group winners, but they could also watch Tang Ye's live stream the very next day after advancing.

Watching Rodri lead Spain to brutally crush Japan on the screen while hearing GG Bao's moving voice in their ears—perhaps this is what a football fan's paradise looks like!

Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi never live-stream match commentary; they aren't as all-around as Tang Tang Qiuwang!

"Who do I think will win... Didn't I say this during yesterday's interview? I'm rooting for Spain."

"Looking at the polls on Check Dongqiu Di, aren't you all favoring Spain too? Mainly, Japan really doesn't have a single chance of beating Spain."

"Japan has a chance..."

Tang Ye was almost laughing out loud: "Then let me ask you, how is Japan supposed to get past Spain's midfield line? Won't Minamino Takumi and Ito Junya be marked to death by Rodri? They simply can't get through, unless they play small-scale possession and walk Rodri around like a dog; do you think that's possible?"

"Trust me, brothers, I really understand football; Japan truly cannot beat Spain; the probability of Japan beating Spain isn't even as high as South Korea beating Spain."

【666, Streamer, why are you speaking so absolutely? Do you really think you understand football that well? Look at the Ballon d'Or; if you can't produce one, stop shouting.】

【Hey, don't say that; if you ask Tang Tang Qiuwang to fetch a Ballon d'Or right now, he really couldn't; the trophies are all at home.】

【Tang Ye, don't mess around; is it just because Rodri is on the Spanish team that you're cheering for Spain? That's not good, right? What happened to the promised neutral commentary?】

Wanting Tang Ye to be neutral is mostly impossible; anyone slightly familiar with this player knows that when judging matters, this guy relies entirely on his brain's immediate reaction.

Put nicely, it's called decisiveness.

Put harshly: it's all bias.

But this is actually good, because you don't even need to wait for Tang Ye to speak to deduce what he'll say next.

"The match is about to begin; let me introduce the starting lineups for both sides, starting with Spain."

Being extremely familiar with the Spanish team, Tang Ye didn't need to secretly check his phone for Check Dongqiu Di when introducing the starting lineup; he could just look directly at the situation on the field.

"Goalkeeper is Unai Simón, defenders are Aleix Balde, Pau Torres, Rodri..."

"Hmm, is Rodri playing as a defender today?"

Tang Ye widened his eyes: "Damn, brothers, Enrique is playing the science experiment card today. I've never seen Rodri play as a center-back; will this work?"

Tang Ye lowered his head and thought for a moment, then somehow reached a conclusion: "It should work, brothers; I feel Rodri playing as a center-back should be fierce; his header is incredibly awesome."

"..."

"Pedri! Pass to Olmo."

"Olmo's coming, damn it, he's fast! Can Morata at least take a look!"

"No, Morata, what are you doing, Morata!"

"Olmo, shoot it yourself!"

"Damn!"

Only twenty minutes into the first half, and Tang Ye was growing increasingly anxious as he watched the match.

On screen, the captain of the Chinese national team rubbed his nose and turned to glance at Zhang Zhang Yuning sitting beside him.

"What do you think, Tang Tang Qiuwang?"

Returning his gaze to the laptop screen: "... It feels like Spain is underestimating their opponent today. They don't actually think Japan will be an easy match, do they?"

Although Tang Ye had repeatedly emphasized that he favored Spain, that did not mean Spain could act however they pleased, doing exactly as they wished.

Japan was by no means a weak team; if Spain wanted to win, they absolutely needed to bring a serious attitude to the pitch.

"Rodri, make a move already! What are you doing, Rodri!"

"I'm truly baffled. Why did Enrique have Rodri playing as a defender? Wouldn't playing as a defensive midfielder be better?"

"Here comes Pedri! Damn, this young kid is something else."

Pedri made a diagonal run inward, and from his god's-eye view, Tang Ye spotted Busquets in a perfect position.

"Pass it to Busquets!"

Tang Ye shouted it out.

Unfortunately, Pedri was still too young; the guy completely failed to realize what a golden scoring opportunity he had.

Slap!

A forced through-ball sought out Morata, but the Spanish striker's shot was blocked by the goalkeeper.

A corner kick for Spain.

"A corner kick could create an opportunity... Japan generally lacks height."

"With Morata's heading ability... never mind, Morata isn't in form today; let's watch Rodri instead."

Suddenly falling silent, Tang Ye slowly narrowed his eyes, his focus sharpening.

Slap!

The corner kick was delivered!

At the first point of contact!

"Rodri!"

Boom!

"Nice!"

"Shit!"