[{"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-860":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},2300830,4499,"Chapter 860: Little Zhang Yuning: Zhang Yuning","football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-860",860,"\u003Cp>The group stage of the World Cup has ended, and now comes the crucial knockout round.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The match between China and Spain will kick off at 3 a.m. Beijing time on December 4; its importance to both sides goes without saying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>China’s team is fine—after all, reaching the World Cup round of 16 is already their best-ever result, and even a heavy loss to Spain wouldn’t draw much criticism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spain, by contrast, faces slightly more pressure, because for this traditional European football powerhouse, being eliminated in the round of 16 is unacceptable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>#WorldCup #China #ChinaSpain #ChineseTeamSpain—the related terms have recently dominated social media, especially when “China” and “Spain” appear together, triggering TikTok and Bilibili’s recommendation algorithms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Literally, if you post anything new with the tags “China” and “Spain,” even just a random photo, the comment section will have at least a hundred people arguing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before this World Cup began, Chinese fans never expected their national team to advance to the knockout stage, so no one guessed their round-of-16 opponent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Correct—the Chinese team’s round-of-16 opponent is precisely the place where head coach Escrivà was born: Spain!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>FIFA world ranking: 5th!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qatar, Al Rayyan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Qatar Airways charter flight bearing China’s national flag landed at the airport.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the group stage now over, all teams’ match venues have changed; China’s battlefield has shifted from the capital Doha to Al Rayyan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, can China’s team return to Doha in the upcoming matches?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Theoretically, yes—but the condition is strict: advancing to the semifinals or final will automatically move the venue to Lusail Stadium.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The plane taxied along the runway and finally stopped beside the jet bridge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Coincidentally, Spain’s plane was parked right beside China’s; both were Qatar Airways aircraft, identical models, differing only in the national flags pasted on their fuselages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Our plane is newer.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the window, observant Tang Ye spotted the difference between the two planes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Haha, what’s the point of that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A newer plane is obviously better.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye pushed Zhang Yuning from behind, scolding his teammate for ignoring such small details.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Midfielders and strikers are very different; midfielders must pay attention to every tiny detail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Seriously, Ningge, you need to pay attention to details too. The top strikers are the ones who excel in front of goal—look at Messi’s handling in the box during the first round.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Yuning flung his hands upward: “Okay okay, you’re saying I should learn from Messi, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Whatever, it’s up to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s too late now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Lei grumbled: “We’ve only got three days until the knockout match—how are we supposed to handle this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, Lei Ge, don’t talk like that! Yuning’s insight is definitely not something ordinary people can match!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye placed his hand on Zhang Yuning’s shoulder, walking toward the plane door while praising his teammate: “Who scores against Wales? Only my number-one striker in the world!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yuningzhang!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn, that’s so formal!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Yuning put on an expression of stunned delight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course! I told you—my Ningge is the world’s best striker, seriously. You’ve got to build confidence. To play well, you first have to believe you’re the greatest on the planet, then you’ll actually become great.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye seemed to be preaching some kind of dark art to his teammate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t I have confidence already?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Other countries’ strikers are all fierce, with terrifying faces—yet you’ve got a little bun on your head.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahaha!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye’s teasing made everyone on the plane laugh; Feng Xiaoting seized the chance to pat the “bun” on Zhang Yuning’s head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m just used to this style—Haaland has the same haircut.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Xiaoting shoved Zhang Yuning: “Then are you as good as Haaland?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey, don’t say that!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye interrupted Feng Xiaoting and Zhang Yuning’s chat: “There’s a saying—my Ningge is probably stronger than Haaland. Didn’t someone on Dongqiu Di say Haaland is ‘Little Zhang Yuning’?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahaha!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re starting to hypnotize us now, huh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Keep going!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tang Ye!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“GOAT! Tang Ye, you’re the GOAT!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go hard! Don’t fear the knockout—losing doesn’t matter, just play brilliantly!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, the Chinese team didn’t need to go to the terminal hall, but considering fan expectations, they chose to pass through it anyway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, reaching the knockout stage isn’t easy—let’s enjoy this moment of joy with the fans while we can.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the round-of-16 match starts, this kind of atmosphere won’t return.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>China Football Daily World Cup Column—Chinese national team players have arrived at their hotel in the round-of-16 host city; match against Spain on December 4 Beijing time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xinhua News Agency, December 2: Reporter Liang Xiaosheng—China’s national team held a press conference local time noon, addressing matters concerning Football Association chairman Chen Xuyuan and team leader Li Tie. Additionally, Escrivà stated in an interview: “The match against Spain will be extremely difficult.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Escrivà, Spain is an exceptionally special opponent—arguably the most unusual among all knockout-stage teams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ferran, from a certain perspective, you understand the Spanish national team thoroughly, because after leaving Villarreal, you once applied for the Spanish national team head coach position, and you were born in Spain, where you spent half your coaching career.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...That’s true, yes... I do know the Spanish team well—many of their players come from La Liga and possess outstanding individual abilities. So yes, when I learned our round-of-16 opponent was Spain, I felt deeply discouraged.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Click!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As for whether there was a Moqi  ball between Japan and Spain, I don’t want to discuss it. Our round-of-16 opponent is Spain—that’s a confirmed fact, and it’s the challenge we must now face.”\u003C\u002Fp>",923,"2026-06-20T06:50:12.695Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d1cde2ae87160e4b9c186312fd2f366734ebb55244fee64db64574c4a849cf58","football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-861","football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-859",918,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ffootball-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-cover.jpg"]