Chapter 861: Tang Ye vs Luo De

FIFA official website: China's midfielder Tang Ye elected MVP of the Qatar World Cup group stage.

China national team retweeted FIFA news: Tang Ye elected MVP of group stage.

Good news, certainly—but to many of Tang Ye’s detractors, this news is clearly their opening shot.

He was MVP of the group stage in Russia.

Now he’s MVP of the group stage in Qatar again.

Conclusion: China’s team is a group-stage god, only capable of playing group stage matches.

Munich Metro reporter: China often overperforms in the group stage, a major reason for Germany’s repeated failures. But objectively, China’s strength is insufficient to support victories in the knockout rounds.

Commentator Owen: To advance to the quarterfinals, China needs to face Japan in the Round of 16—but unfortunately, their opponent is Spain, greatly reducing their chances of progression.

Some statements by European journalists and commentators were painfully sharp, almost like slaps across the national team’s face.

But objectively, you really can’t refute these remarks—these painful words are largely true!

Sigh.

Whenever someone is bullied, they always think of calling their mother. Chinese fans now hope GGBond, the national team’s emotional crutch, will step forward and say something—anything—to boost fan morale.

But due to the Li Tie and Chen Xuyuan incidents, the national team has been extremely cautious about press conferences; no one except Escrivà has been allowed to speak to reporters before match day.

Just as Chinese fans thought they had to endure humiliation in silence, the Portuguese press conference began.

Portuguese journalists are talented—they asked Ronaldo about Ten Hag and Tang Ye, and Ronaldo, as if possessed, showed intense interest in these questions.

“Spain is truly excellent. We faced them in the group stage in Russia and failed to beat them—that’s one of my regrets.”

“Tang Ye faces Spain in the Round of 16; for them, this is truly unfortunate. As everyone can see, Spain may be superior to China in many aspects.”

Ronaldo smirked: “But… I believe Tang Ye has already delivered an outstanding performance in this World Cup. Fans who don’t recognize him only attack him for winning group-stage MVP. We must understand that some team-related matters are beyond one’s control. Tang Ye won the group-stage MVP—that alone proves his ability.”

“As for those who belittle Tang Ye and the Chinese team… as a Portuguese player, I shouldn’t say much. But as a veteran of football, I find such belittlement inappropriate. We must respect a player who, at age 23, has won four Ballon d’Or awards.”

“Moreover, Tang Ye won those four Ballon d’Or awards despite Eriksson’s interference—their value speaks for itself.”

Ronaldo was cunning—he slipped in a subtle dig at Ten Hag at the end.

To make Ten Hag suffer, Ronaldo even claimed, “Tang Ye won his Ballon d’Or awards despite Ten Hag’s interference—I believe they carry more value than some of my own.”

This reveals the Portuguese people’s furious hatred toward the Manchester United manager.

To belittle Ten Hag, Ronaldo was willing to cut himself!

【Uwuu, Boss Luo really… I’m crying so hard】

【Wait, what did Tang Ye even do to Ronaldo? Is he now brainwashed into being his little brother?】

【Hahaha, every interview he spends at least half the time talking about Tang Ye and Saint Ten Hag—I think Ronaldo should follow Saint Eriksson’s example and invite Ten Hag to dinner】

【Saint Ten Hag: Ronaldo wants to have dinner with me, but you know—I can see there’s some trickery here, so I won’t go. But that doesn’t mean I’m afraid.】

After watching Ronaldo’s interview video, fans cursed they couldn’t use a god’s-eye view to spy on Carrington Base—they had to find out what exactly happened between Tang Ye and Ronaldo.

GGBond’s super lollipop’s exact influence over the proud Portuguese man will forever remain unanswered.

But Ronaldo firmly stood on Tang Ye and China’s side—that is now a confirmed fact.

James posted on social media in support of Tang Ye: Eternal GOAT. Capable people never care about others’ doubts.

James, Ronaldo, Tang Ye—three superstars stand on the same line, all loyal supporters of the Chinese team!

…

【FIFA & Qatar FA & Ruiyang Industrial University Sports Management Center】

【China National Team Training Base (Temporary)】

“Conventional thinking is useless!”

In the Sports Ministry office, Escrivà reached his conclusion.

“Mm!”

Ma Di nodded quickly in support, then suddenly remembered something: “But would unconventional thinking work?”

“Shit, are you seriously saying this now? Are you even on the China team?”

“Oh oh, sorry, sorry.”

Ma Di stepped back: “The online comments are just too bad—I’ve been affected by them.”

Speaking of which, Ma Di had to marvel at Ferran’s transformation—under this online atmosphere, the Spaniard still maintains calm. That’s a rare quality indeed.

“Online comments are online. What do they have to do with our match?”

Escrivà’s tone was firm: “Whether we win or not, we must play the match as well as we possibly can!”

Ma Di glanced over—on Escrivà’s desk computer was the record of China vs. Brazil from the Russia World Cup.

Four years ago, in the Round of 16, China under Lippi lost 5-3 to Brazil and was eliminated.

Surpassing Lippi’s record must be Escrivà’s knockout-stage goal.

But… keeping the goal difference against Spain within three goals is absolutely not easy.

“Alvaro (Morata) is in average form—we need to worry more about Luo De…”

Escrivà shared his thoughts with Ma Di.

They would hastily devise a tactic—if both coaches agreed, they’d implement it.

There was no choice. China’s time was running out. In such a short window, a flawless tactic was impossible to devise.

…

“Good afternoon, King Tang.”

Zhang Yuning walked into the gym and handed Tang Ye a chilled cola.

“Oh, thanks!”

Tang Ye clinked bottles with Zhang Yuning, but only set the drink beside the bench—the national team captain seemed thirsty.

“You seem under a lot of pressure…”

Zhang Yuning sat beside Tang Ye and placed his hand on the latter’s shoulder, hoping to offer some comfort.

“Don’t you feel pressure too?”

Tang Ye spread his hands: “We’re all in the same boat. Nothing to talk about.”

“Hey, my pressure isn’t high—I got Haaland cheering for me.”

“Hahaha!”

Hearing about Haaland’s support video, Tang Ye finally laughed.

“Wait, how did you threaten him into making that video? That’s brutal—20 million views on Douyin already.”

“No threat needed. I just told him we’re about to play knockout football—could he cheer for our striker? That’s just a simple favor.”

“Okay okay, simple favor—but that script was yours, wasn’t it?”

Tang Ye leaned back, surprised: “How did you know?”

“Of course I knew. The King’s aura is unmistakable.”

“Hahaha!”

Tang Ye slapped Zhang Yuning’s back: “So, the King cheered for you—don’t you feel your form soaring now?”

“Cool.”

Zhang Yuning gave a thumbs-up: “Honestly, I do feel pretty good.”

Zhang Yuning grinned.

A €180 million superstar striker recording a video to cheer for you? That’s a great feeling.

“If we were facing Japan instead of Spain in the Round of 16, I swear my form would be flying right now.”

“Damn, so you still lack confidence!”

Tang Ye shoved Zhang Yuning away: “Spain is Spain—does facing Spain mean you can’t be confident?”

“Hey, I watched your livestream—you didn’t say that during it!”

“...”

Tang Ye sighed helplessly: “I didn’t expect Japan to play so well. But mostly it was just Moqi football—nothing we could do.”