Chapter 873: Second Red Card, Third Red Card

“Awesome!”

At 4:30 a.m. Beijing time, the dormitory building of Mianyang Nanshan High School.

“Tang Ye is awesome!!!”

At this hour, the dormitory building shouldn’t be this noisy.

“…”

The dorm supervisor stepped out of her room and stared, bewildered, at the male students running around the first-floor corridor.

She glanced at the wall clock—it still had an hour before the morning bell.

Was the clock broken?

“Student, what time is it?”

The dorm supervisor approached a boy from the opposite dorm.

“4:31.”

“Is there any special event at school today?”

“Tang Ye is a god, Auntie.”

“Who is Tang Ye?”

“He’s a god!”

The boys in Room 102 shouted in unison.

Because every student in the building was making noise, these boys weren’t afraid of the dorm supervisor’s threats of point deductions.

“China Team is awesome!!!”

The dorm supervisor was at a loss: “Quiet down! You’re not supposed to get up for another hour. If school administrators come, you’ll get into trouble.”

“Quiet!”

“Tang Ye is awesome!!”

“…”

The supervisor had no idea what to do and feared being held accountable if school officials arrived, so she woke up the on-duty teacher.

After hearing the situation from the supervisor, the teacher took out a loudspeaker from his room.

“Everyone must return to your dorms and lie down on your beds within three minutes. If caught, you’ll be disciplined and banned from dorm living—you’ll have to go home and have your parents pick you up. You’re in high school—don’t you know you need to be quiet at night? We’re a key school!”

The on-duty teacher carried himself like a leader, and the students finally grew a bit quieter.

“One more thing!”

“Tang Ye, come out right now and meet me at the door of Room 102 on the first floor. Tell me yourself what you did. If you don’t come, fine—I’ll check the surveillance.”

“If I find it through surveillance, don’t blame me for being harsh—detention will be the least of your problems…”

“Tang Ye is awesome!”

Someone in the first-floor dorm shouted again, and this finally enraged the on-duty teacher.

“Tang Ye, I give you three minutes to get to the door of Room 102! I don’t know what you’re doing, but you must come here right now!”

The teacher gritted his teeth and pulled out his phone to call the disciplinary office.

“Teacher, can you not call?”

The dorm supervisor seemed afraid of being blamed.

“This is a serious issue.”

The on-duty teacher’s expression was stern, showing no sign of backing down. Just as he was dialing, another voice from an upstairs dorm shouted: “Tang Ye is awesome!”

“…”

“Hey, Teacher Gong. Yes, sorry to bother you, but there’s a problem in the boys’ dorm. Could you help me check on a student named Tang Ye? Yes, which class is he in, and what’s his dorm number?”

“Yes, yes, hurry up—he might be starting some cult on campus. Every student in the dorm building is shouting his name; the situation is getting out of control.”

…

【Awesome awesome, this makes sense—if the Netherlands play with one less man, our chances of winning are pretty good】

【It’s not easy, but my view is… China Team is awesome! China Team is number one in the world!】

【Tang Ye: My life is like walking on thin ice—I could fall into the water at any moment. But no one knows I can fly】

【Why did Escriba kneel down? Get up, fight back!】

【Don’t roast me, Saint Escriba—pressure is normal, I knelt too. Wait for extra time, watch a video, rest, then keep going!】

“Phew…”

Escriba held Tang Ye’s head with both hands, their foreheads pressed tightly together, even able to hear each other’s breaths.

“Let me explain the extra time strategy—we’re at a disadvantage, and you must understand that.”

“But they’re down to ten men. Demy de Zeeuw has a yellow card—that’s our opening.”

The players gathered around as Escriba laid out the team’s ultimate goal for extra time: drag the match into a penalty shootout or create more direct free-kick opportunities.

Though the Netherlands were down a man, with China’s players exhausted, scoring through open play was no longer realistic—the best approach was to defend.

Demy de Zeeuw’s red card severely weakened the Netherlands’ attack; China should be able to hold for thirty minutes without much trouble.

The most crucial point!

“They only have two substitutions left!”

Escriba glanced toward the Netherlands’ bench: “And most of the players still on the field lack penalty-taking ability. You get my meaning? Our penalty takers might be better—so we must use this advantage!”

China had several penalty specialists still on the pitch: Tang Ye, Wu Lei, and Fernando. If it came to penalties, Escriba could also bring on Zhang Yuning.

China had no reason not to go to penalties!

“Come on!”

“Come on!”

“Come on!”

…

“China Central Television! This is live coverage…”

“Extra time has begun!”

“Tang Ye won the coin toss again.”

“Yes, haha—from the Round of 16 to the Quarterfinals, Tang Ye has now won two coin tosses in a row. But unlike the last match, China chose the goal this time, which surprised us. Normally, with the opponent down a man, choosing possession to attack would be the better decision.”

The commentator made a wrong prediction because he didn’t understand China’s main extra-time tactic.

Escriba was cunning—he picked the safest strategy among all options: drag the match into penalties!

95’.

At this moment, the camera panned to Van Gaal; the Dutchman’s face was completely dark.

He saw through China’s trick and felt uneasy.

Even with only ten men on the pitch, the Netherlands didn’t want to go to penalties, so their goal was clear: score a decisive goal in extra time!

“Lu Ke de Rong, pass to the forward waiting for Weghorst.”

“They’re charging!”

“Weghorst’s speed is excellent.”

“Tang Ye is watching!”

Weghorst kept a close eye on Tang Ye’s position during his run and passed the ball just before Tang Ye could close in.

Ake!

Find Boogers!

Pass again to Kupmeers!

The Netherlands’ passing was orderly, but China’s defense was infuriating—substitute Feng Xiaoting stayed planted in the penalty area, and China’s entire backline had tightened terrifyingly.

For over ten minutes, the Netherlands launched over three shots, all of which China cleared.

As the Dutch players prepared to adjust, China launched their own attack.

Wei Shihao dribbled inside, aiming for the arc.

Go for direct free kicks and penalties—that was one of China’s key extra-time tactics!

Wei Shihao pushed hard toward the arc, the spot where Tang Ye’s free kicks had the highest success rate.

Plop!

Pass to Wu Lei!

Wu Lei received the ball, but after playing the full match, he was exhausted. A mistake allowed Ake to steal it.

“Wow!!!”

“Gogogo!”

Teammates and coaches shouted, even several Dutch substitutes had rushed to the sideline!

Ake immediately accelerated past Wu Lei.

“Pass! Pass!”

Plop!

Long pass launched, perfectly finding Weghorst ahead.

Control the ball!

The control was poor—but because of that uncontrolled touch, Weghorst successfully dribbled past Feng Xiaoting, the last defender.

That was a jaw-dropping move!

“Oh!!!”

"Weghorst!"

"This might be a breakaway!"

"Wang Shenchao won't make it in time—Zhang Linpeng! Zhang Linpeng is chasing!"

Zhang Linpeng, retreating, first reached out to touch Weghorst, trying to place his hand on the Dutch striker’s shoulder, but failed.

!!!

At this moment, the breakaway had not yet fully formed; Zhang Linpeng could have waited until Weghorst entered the penalty area before coordinating with Wang Dalei to block.

But in Zhang Linpeng’s view, such a move might be too risky.