Chapter 869: The Legendary and Seemingly Unattainable Quarterfinals, Pure-Blooded Rattan Armor

"A tax-free annual salary of 500 million US dollars..."

Although the man had already left, Mohammed Jose's words still echoed in Tang Ye's mind.

The salary was indeed extremely tempting, and besides, Jose was right; playing in the Saudi league would also be much easier for him.

But there was one problem: he was too young, and at this age, normal thinking suggested there was no need to go play soccer in Saudi Arabia.

Take a break...

Sigh.

He didn't know what to do; for now, he should just focus on playing the upcoming quarterfinal match well.

Tomorrow would be the first quarterfinal of the Qatar World Cup, and also the first World Cup quarterfinal in the history of the Chinese national team.

Quark Hot Search:

No. 1: Chinese Men's Soccer Team in the Round of 8. (Hot)

No. 2: National Team vs. Netherlands.

No. 3: National Team's first-ever quarterfinal in history.

No. 4: Saudi clubs willing to offer Tang Ye an annual salary of 350 million pounds. (Hot)

No. 5: Win probability for the National Team against the Netherlands.

Actually, the World Cup matches involving the National Team had already exploded in popularity globally since the first group stage match against Argentina, and the heat surged again during the Round of 16 match against Spain.

Let alone the current quarterfinal; the hype from the previous four matches had all converged together, making it impossible to imagine just how absurdly popular this match would be.

"Chinese Team—"

"Long live!!!!"

Outside the stadium, fans from both sides were ready and were currently engaged in their chanting battles.

Compared to the united Netherlands, the songs sung by the Chinese side were a bit chaotic, bringing out everything from "Armor Hero" to "GG Bond," directly showcasing a wave of cultural diversity.

However, upon further thought, this actually reflected the specific psychological state of the fans from both sides at this moment.

For the Dutch fans, they wanted to advance to the semifinals because that was their goal; to achieve a goal, corresponding effort must be made, naturally requiring unity.

And what about the Chinese team's side?

Having reached the quarterfinals, the National Team had already double-exceeded their mission; for the fans, the remaining time was purely for celebration.

Who cares how many goals the Netherlands scores?

China is awesome!

Tang Ye is awesome!

Emperor Armor is awesome!

【Douyin, Creator: Alpha Animation; Co-creation: Dragon Team Fan Association】

A short video from the official "Armor Hero" account, featuring the character Emperor Armor.

"I am Emperor Armor; I wish Tang Ye and all players of the Chinese Men's Soccer Team success in the quarterfinals."

"Please remember, the light will always support you from behind!"

"Go, Chinese Team!"

As expected from the official source, the quality of this suit was indeed very good, giving one the feeling of watching the "Emperor Hero" movie.

Compared to Emperor Armor, the other blessing videos for the Chinese team appeared somewhat inferior.

"Hello everyone, I am LeBron James; for the Qatar World Cup, I only watch..."

James turned his head to look at his teammate beside him: "Did the USA participate in the World Cup?"

"They've already been eliminated."

"Oh, oh."

Giving a thumbs-up again: "After the USA was eliminated, I only watch the Chinese Team; go Chinese Men's Soccer Team!"

James fist-bumped the camera.

There was also a blessing video from Tang Ye's son, but since Tang Rui couldn't speak clearly yet, Zhou Ye was controlling things from behind.

"Hello fellow fans, I am Tang Rui, also known as Little GG Bond in your mouths, hhbond."

Zhou Ye gently lifted Tang Rui's small hand and waved it at the camera: "I hope everyone will cheer for my daddy, ggbond, and cheer for the Chinese Team! Thank you all, hhbond is bowing to you here!"

ffbond Tang Tang Zhengxiong, ggbond Tang Ye, and hhbond Tang Rui, who had just been born not long ago; the three members of the great Piggy family rarely appeared together.

The three of them would merge into one and strive for the upcoming match!

Dongqiu Di Pinned Post: National Team vs. Netherlands starting lineup announced; Tang Ye vs. De Jong, a pure-blooded Rattan Armor Army derby; De Ligt on the bench. Coach Escrivà faces Van Gaal for the first time in his career.

Dongqiu Di Hot Discussion: Market value advantage! The total market value of the Netherlands' starting eleven is only 25 million euros higher than Tang Ye's individual market value.

"China Central Television, China Central Television. Good evening, dear audience friends..."

"Players from both sides are already ready in the tunnel; we can see that standing at the very back of the Chinese team lineup, clapping hands with his teammates, is our Chinese Men's Soccer Team's top star and captain, Tang Ye!"

"Wow... we can see that the atmosphere at the venue today is extremely fiery."

By the quarterfinals of the World Cup, empty seats basically no longer appeared, let alone when both the Netherlands and China were popular teams; it would be good if the number of spectators didn't overflow.

The theme song played, and players from both sides walked out holding hands with the ball boys.

After the players took their positions on the grass, the director switched the camera feed to the away team's stands.

"Wow, the Chinese fans have prepared a show for everyone today."

"Yes, let's look at this tifo..."

At the very bottom of the south stand, a tifo was slowly being raised.

The entire tifo background was a rare white, depicting a Grim Reaper clad in black robes and wielding a scythe.

The Reaper's garments were pitch black, and while his eyes beneath the hood were invisible, the number "10" carved upon the scythe allowed one to deduce that this Grim Reaper was Tang Ye himself.

Not only did he hold a scythe, but behind the Reaper floated a Ten Thousand Souls Banner, upon which four wandering spirits drifted: Argentina, Wales, Germany, and Spain.

【6666, going all out with such style?】

【Why not do this during the Round of 16? Why start making tifos now when we're at such a huge disadvantage?】

【Awesome, awesome! De Jong and Gakpo are still watching; they're coming to collect you!】

【Go, go!】

【Win or lose, every single match the national team plays from now on will be refined by me into material for essays! Charge!!!】

"Beep!!!"

"Alright, the match has begun; allow me to introduce the starting lineups for both teams!"

"First, wearing orange jerseys and attacking from the right side of the screen toward the left, the Netherlands National Team!"

Netherlands (3-4-1-2)

Goalkeeper: Noppert

Defenders: Timber, Fan Daike, Aké

Midfielders: Dumfries, De Roon, Gakpo, Frenkie de Jong, Blind

Forwards: Bergwijn, Depay

Head Coach: Van Gaal

"And then, the away team, the Chinese Men's Football Team, wearing pure black jerseys! This is the first time the Chinese team has deployed their second away kit in this World Cup!"

Comparing the two starting lineups, the fans quickly spotted a key point.

The market value of the national team's starting lineup was higher than that of the Netherlands!

Higher by a full 2 million euros!

As early as the Round of 16 a week ago, the national team had eliminated Spain, whose starting lineup value exceeded 400 million euros; now their opponent was the Netherlands, with a value of just over 300 million euros.

"If you look only at the market value of the starting lineups, you might think the Netherlands is no match for China."

"But you must know that this Netherlands squad is different from Spain; the Dutch team maintained a perfect record in the group stage of this World Cup, making them one of the few teams to win all their group matches in this tournament."

Shortly after the commentator finished speaking, Dumfries charged directly down the wing.

"Wow!!!"

"Look, look!"

"There, number 22!"

"Get him, get him!"

The Chinese football fans displayed even more passion than the players themselves.