Chapter 870: The Orange Army Sees No Underdogs

Live match report: Delftress commits a violent tackle on Tang Ye and is shown a yellow card; China’s attack is broken up.

Thud!

Tang Ye slammed his fist hard against the grass, utterly helpless, but could do nothing but stand up.

“Can you play the game properly?”

Tang Ye hoped Delftress would calm down, but the latter simply ran off after the foul.

Delftress’s move made Tang Ye realize one thing: today, the Netherlands players would go after him hard.

He glanced over at Van Gaal on the sideline.

This must all be arranged by that guy!

“The Chinese coaching staff seems unhappy—they’re complaining to the fourth official. We have to admit, Delftress’s tackle was dangerously reckless…”

“China has a corner kick opportunity; Tang Ye and Zhang Xizhe are preparing.”

Beep!

As the whistle blew, Tang Ye sprinted forward first and launched a long pass straight to Wu Lei at the back post.

Control!

“Beautiful! Look at Wu Lei here!”

“Looks like it’s going out!”

“Wu Lei!”

China’s winger fully displayed his speed, delivering a cross before the ball crossed the endline.

Thump!

The ball was gathered by Akesson in the central area!

“Ah!”

Thud!

Akesson and Van Dijk jumped at nearly the same moment, but Van Dijk clearly dominated the physical contest, leaving Akesson unable to reach Wu Lei’s cross.

The cross landed on the left; Li Lei rushed in to challenge, but was blocked from behind by Timber.

“Push up! Push up!”

Zhang Xizhe’s voice came from behind, but Li Lei’s pressure seemed too late.

Timber dribbled past the double cover of Li Lei and Feinan, then launched a long pass straight to the center circle.

“Booooo!!”

“Hol-!”

“Land!”

“Hol-!!”

“Land!”

Cheers from Dutch fans blared from the TV; CCTV’s three commentators remained unusually quiet.

China’s situation looked grim: their attack had seemed sustained, but a closer look revealed they’d barely threatened the Dutch goal.

The camera cut to Escrivá on the bench.

Chinese fans now had only one question.

Coach Escrivá, do you have any other tactics?!

The opponents are overpowered—we need something flashy to have any chance!

“Watch out! Watch out!”

Van Gaal seemed even more anxious than Escrivá, constantly shouting at Delftress or Ak to avoid reckless fouls.

Tang Ye noticed this and shot Van Gaal a cold, hostile glance.

Damn, every yellow card on this pitch today was clearly meant for me!

“Let’s update our TV viewers: according to FIFA regulations, all teams reaching the semifinals have their previous yellow card records cleared.”

“Meaning, even if Dutch players received multiple yellows in the Round of 16 or Quarterfinals, those cards won’t carry over to the semifinal.”

“This rule… actually hurts China more, because Tang Ye is already under intense targeting—without the accumulation rule protecting him, the harassment against him has become even more extreme…”

“….”

【The Dutch aren’t playing well—they’re just relying on brute strength, right?】

【Trash Netherlands, trash! Stop bumping my GGBOND, who the hell’s the pig here?】

【Van Dijk never beat Tang Ye at Liverpool—I think this is China’s buff: Tang Ye’s career record against Van Dijk is undefeated!】

【6666 stop bumping already】

【What’s going on? Avoid the left flank! Don’t play down Delftress’s side!】

!

Seizing the chance, Tang Ye accelerated past Gakpo and received Zhang Xizhe’s return pass.

The next second, Gakpo’s hand landed on Tang Ye’s shoulder.

“F***!”

Tang Ye violently swung his left arm, using Gakpo’s momentary stagger to surge forward.

But it wasn’t over—De Jong quickly locked onto him.

He dribbled forward with the outside of his right foot.

This was a 1v1 between Manchester United midfielders!

“Come on!”

Tang Ye was about to challenge De Jong, when De Jongen drifted over.

De Jongen + Frenkie de Jong—now there were two De Jongs!

Hiss!

“Huff… huff…”

He darted left-forward and played a through ball to Feinan, instructing Feinan and Li Lei to combine.

China attacked down the flank!

Delftress and Timber’s tight marking made Li Lei’s movement agonizing; with Bellwijn’s recovery imminent, Tang Ye had no choice but to urge his teammate to pass.

Thump!

Li Lei forced a long pass.

The original plan was to find Zhang Linpeng advancing on the right, but the pass was wildly off-target—Gao Zhunyi ended up with the ball.

“Get it in! Get it in!”

Jiang Guangtai said.

Hearing this, Gao Zhunyi played a through ball to Jiang Guangtai.

Without time to wonder why his teammate did that, Jiang Guangtai pushed the ball forward.

Thump!

The long pass was launched straight into the attacking third.

Timber and Feinan contested for it!

“Hey!”

Tang Ye didn’t know why he was here—Feinan quickly passed to him.

Delftress closed in; Tang Ye immediately cut inside with a step-over.

“Oh, Tang Ye—his change of direction is fast.”

“Delftress seems slow to react!”

“Can he catch up?”

Tang Ye could feel the pressure behind him, so his peripheral vision never left Delftress.

As Delftress neared, Tang Ye stopped abruptly on the ball.

Right foot to left foot.

“Go!”

Thud!

The through ball was played—Akesson and Van Dijk both charged into the six-yard box.

“Wow!!!!”

Akesson!

Thud!

Akesson’s shot flew wide of the post!

“F***!”

“….”

Tang Ye shook his head and gave Akesson a thumbs-up.

“Akesson’s shot… slow motion shows it was technically perfect, but Van Dijk’s blocking angle was flawless.”

“Exactly…”

The situation was dire.

After nearly twenty minutes, the Dutch tactics were clear.

Three-center-back formation; when defending, Delftress and Blind drop deep, instantly forming a five-back line.

As everyone knows, the national team’s favorite tactic in this World Cup is to swing left and right, and the Netherlands’ defensive formation is extremely wide (due to having five full-backs), leaving Tang Ye constantly unable to find a suitable passing option, forcing him to run around most of the time.

…

Live update: Netherlands corner kick, Depay’s header saved by Wang Dalei.

Live update: De Jong delivers a precise diagonal pass to Gakpo, whose shot is blocked by Jiang Guangtai.

“Hss!”

Jiang Guangtai, after completing the block, bites his jersey—evidently drenched in sweat.

“Come on!”

Tang Ye helps Jiang Guangtai up, swinging his hands upward: “Snap out of it! Don’t sleepwalk!”

“Can’t you guys react faster!?”

He can’t shake the feeling that his teammates are performing worse today than against Spain—whether it’s his imagination, he doesn’t know.

Either way, it’s unbearable.

Netherlands’ corner kick, this one is assigned to De Jong.

Tang Ye watches De Jong jog slowly toward the corner flag; Fan Jiaer seems to have noticed, and decisively decides to change the corner taker.

…

Tang Ye gives Fan Jiaer a thumbs-up from afar.

Brother, you’re awesome.

“The Netherlands are… haha, afraid Tang Ye will read De Jong’s corner intention?”

“Unnecessary—Fan Jiaer’s being extremely cautious today!”

Thwack!

The corner is taken, aimed at the near post.

Thud!

Duang!

Depay heads it against the post, and the ball bounces back.