[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back":3,"chapter-football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-858":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Football: At 16, Let Me Retire and Come Back?",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2300828,4499,"Chapter 858: Luo De","football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-858",858,"\u003Cp>Utrecht Times World Cup Column — Tom scored 5 goals and provided 3 assists in 3 group stage matches; the Chinese national team has advanced to the knockout stage as group winners for the first time in history!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Messages of congratulations from major newspapers and friends kept Tang Ye’s phone vibrating nonstop; this situation had been going on for nearly a full day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They’re surprised by our match result.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Escrivá noticed this — the “they” in Spanish parlance naturally referred to Tang Ye’s WhatsApp contacts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Haha, to be honest, I’m surprised too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye held his phone, replying to friends’ messages while conversing with Escrivá.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Didn’t you say earlier you felt we could beat Argentina? Didn’t you expect us to finish first in the group?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Escrivá squinted; even now, he still couldn’t figure out how Tang Ye had made that prediction before the group stage began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I thought we’d finish second.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye spread his hands: “Argentina and Germany are both tough, and Wales is no pushover either — how could I possibly have thought we’d finish first?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not that arrogant.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Haha!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Okok.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Escrivá was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something, his eyes fixed on Tang Ye’s phone: “Who are all these people sending you congratulations?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye sensed a hint of danger and quickly slipped his phone into his pants pocket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His other hand stayed inside the pocket, not pulling out immediately, but continuing to guard his phone: “Uh... just some teammates from the club, former teammates, you know — Bruno (Villarreal) and the rest. And... Eric hasn’t messaged me yet; he might be busy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Escrivá nodded slightly, then walked away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once he confirmed the coach was far enough, Tang Ye pulled his phone out again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Mr. Eric: Keep going — if you face Japan in the knockout stage, you’ve got a chance.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Tang Ye: Yeah, I think so too.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beijing time, 7:30 p.m. — only half an hour remained before the final Group D match between Japan and Spain began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Douyin live stream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Title: Neutral Streamer’s Professional Analysis of Japan vs Spain】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Online Viewers: 2.74M+】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nearly three million online viewers, and the number was still skyrocketing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When you first entered the stream, you might have thought it strange — why would a mere Douyin streamer have such an absurd number of viewers?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once you saw GGBond’s head in the bottom-right corner, everything became clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Insane, Tang Ball King is this dedicated? Already working overtime after qualifying for the knockout stage?】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【??? Is this even real? Who still watches CCTV? Tang Ball King, I love you!】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【GGBond, are you FIFA’s biological father? How come you stream every single match?】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Streamer, who do you think will win today? Can you predict the score?】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Feeling good, guys — Tang Ye is here!】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before anyone noticed, the viewer count had already jumped to 3.5 million.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye’s livestream was purely spontaneous — he hadn’t posted any promotion on social media, so the peak viewer count would still take a little time to hit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be fair, Chinese fans are truly lucky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only did they advance as group winners, but they could watch Tang Ye’s livestream the very next day after qualifying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching Spain, led by Luo De, brutally dominate Japan on screen, while hearing GGBond’s captivating voice — this must be football fans’ paradise!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ronaldo and Messi never livestream match analyses — they’re nowhere near as well-rounded as Tang Ball King!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who do I think will win... Didn’t I say this during yesterday’s interview? I back Spain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You saw the Ball Di  poll — you all backed Spain too. Japan has zero chance of beating Spain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Japan has a chance...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye nearly laughed out loud: “Then tell me — how exactly will Japan break through Spain’s midfield? Will Namba and Ito be constantly shadowed by Luo De? They can’t get through — unless they try to dribble in tight circles and treat Luo De like a dog on a leash. Do you think that’s possible?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Trust me, guys, I know football — Japan cannot beat Spain. Japan’s chance of winning is even lower than Korea’s chance of beating Spain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【666, why are you so absolute? Think you know everything? Show me your Ballon d’Or — if you can’t produce it, shut up.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Hey, wait — now that you mention it, Tang Ball King couldn’t win a Ballon d’Or right now even if he tried; the trophy’s sitting at home.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Tang Ye, don’t go off-script — are you backing Spain just because Luo De’s on the team? That’s not neutral commentary!】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Expecting Tang Ye to be neutral was nearly impossible — anyone familiar with this player knew he judged everything based purely on his first instinct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Put nicely: decisive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Put bluntly: full of bias.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that was fine — you didn’t even need to wait for him to speak to predict his next line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Match about to start — let me introduce the starting lineups. First, Spain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since he knew Spain’s team so well, Tang Ye didn’t need to sneak a glance at Ball Di  on his phone — he could just watch the field.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Goalkeeper: Unai Simón; defenders: Alex Balde, Pau Torres, Luo De...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait, is Luo De playing center-back today?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye widened his eyes: “Holy shit, Enrique’s doing science today. I’ve never seen Luo De play center-back — can this even work?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye paused, thought for a moment, then suddenly concluded: “It’ll work, guys — I feel Luo De as a center-back will be terrifying. His heading is insane.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pedri! Pass to Olmo.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Olmo’s coming — holy shit, that speed! Can Morata see him?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, Morata, what the hell are you doing?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Olmo, shoot yourself!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only twenty minutes into the first half, Tang Ye was growing increasingly anxious watching the match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On screen, the Chinese national team captain rubbed his nose, then turned to look at Zhang Yuning beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What do you think, Tang Ball King?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye’s gaze returned to his laptop screen: “...I feel Spain are underestimating them today. They don’t think Japan is tough, do they?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye had repeatedly said he favored Spain — but that didn’t mean Spain could play carelessly, however they pleased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Japan wasn’t a weak team; if Spain wanted to win, they had to bring their full seriousness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Luo De, stop loafing — what are you doing?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I give up — why did Enrique put Luo De at center-back? Why not play him as a defensive midfielder?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Here comes Pedri! Holy shit, this kid’s got talent!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pedri cut inside diagonally; from his god’s-eye view, Tang Ye saw Busquets in perfect position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pass to Busquets!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye shouted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But unfortunately, Pedri was still too young — he completely failed to recognize the golden scoring opportunity he had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Plop!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He forced a through ball to Morata; Spain’s striker shot, but the goalkeeper blocked it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spain’s corner kick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Corner — look for an opportunity... Japan’s players are generally short.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Morata’s header... forget it, Morata’s off-form today — better watch Luo De.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He fell silent suddenly; Tang Ye’s eyes slowly narrowed, his focus sharpening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Plop!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corner is delivered!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First-point position!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Luo De!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nice!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fuck!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1201,"2026-06-20T06:50:12.695Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","c06a43574bc3fe7c50777a9fef3f13a65644c5916ea24aad66a00c4b15c754ae","football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-859","football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-857",918,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ffootball-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-cover.jpg"]