[{"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-883":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},2300853,4499,"Chapter 883: The Possible Winner of the World Cup Golden Boot and Golden Ball","football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-883",883,"\u003Cp>《China vs Portugal: Can Tang Ye Defeat Ronaldo in the National Team’s First Ever Encounter?》\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tang Ye has multiple direct encounters where he defeated Ronaldo during his time at Villarreal and Manchester United, which will greatly assist China’s third-place match. Note that Ronaldo did not lose every match against Tang Ye during his Real Madrid and Juventus years; Portugal’s captain’s form is considered key to defeating China.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Time to punish Ronaldo again—Felix is in bad form, attacking through Felix is definitely the right path】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Forget Felix— if Felix can start next game, I’ll stand on my head】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This Portugal coach is a total joke—not even close to our coach Ai Sheng, guys, I feel our chances are pretty good\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Don’t add buffs—Jiang Guangtai and Wang Shenchao are also off-form, and are you sure Tang the Ball King can recover?】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Always believe in Tang the Ball King, always tear up!】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【66666】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forwarded FIFA announcement: The third-place playoff of the Qatar World Cup will be held at Lusail Stadium, featuring China (home) vs Portugal (away); the winner will be crowned third-place finisher of this World Cup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Accumulated yellow-card and red-card suspensions for both teams: None.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Leo, come up the left flank, get to the byline!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, too bad, he lost control of the ball there!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After confirming their opponent was Portugal, Tang Ye spent the entire day watching Portugal’s match footage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He claimed the third-place match didn’t matter, but faced with the chance to win a World Cup medal, Tang Ye still refused to give up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Leo is truly fast…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Linpeng remarked beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the team’s right-back, Zhang Linpeng was already breathless just watching the footage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was hard to imagine what the actual match would be like.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the opponent bursts past you with one sprint, aren’t you just blown away?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry, his ball control is actually very unstable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye pointed at the screen showing Leo and signaled Wei Shihao to pause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look, before he even reaches the penalty area, he starts shifting his center of gravity—his body is already unsteady. So far, it’s… 80 minutes?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“81 minutes,” Wei Shihao added.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly—he’s been on the pitch less than 30 minutes since coming off the bench, and he’s already lost possession more than once.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye said there’s still a huge gap between Leo and Neymar or Mbappé.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’s fast, but his ball control at top speed isn’t as stable as Neymar’s or Mbappé’s—this might be the key for China to break through in tomorrow’s match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“True, he doesn’t seem to enter the penalty area much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Right, even if he does, if you stick to him, he can’t shoot.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn, Tang Ye, hearing you say this makes defending Leo sound easy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Xiaoting realized he was being hypnotized and quickly spoke up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Haha! True—believe me, stay a bit away from him outside the box, then close in the moment he enters—it’s solid. And Leo has almost no long-range shooting ability, don’t panic.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye patted Feng Xiaoting on the shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing his teammates’ words, Feng Xiaoting genuinely believed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t even know if I’ll start tomorrow, but right now I feel I can shut down Leo.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Haha!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come on, come on.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve recovered faster than I imagined, Tom…” (in Spanish)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside the conference room, Tang Ye and Ma Di walked side by side, chatting extensively between the assistant coach and team captain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What else can I do? I can’t afford to lose again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...If you’ve adjusted this quickly, that’s great, but I feel you’re pushing yourself too hard.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean… you know.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Di looked at Tang Ye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After spending these two days together, Ma Di sensed Tang Ye hadn’t fully recovered from the semifinal loss—his current demeanor was all an act: “You’re pretending to be fine so Wu and Zhang can also get their form back, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...I won’t hide it—if I’m truly hurting, I’ll tell you, believe me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, in the past I believed you wouldn’t hide it—you always told the truth—but now it’s not the past, and we’re not at Villarreal anymore. We’re in the Chinese national team, and you’re already 23, with four Ballon d’Ors.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye sighed: “What can I do? We lost—we’ve fallen too far behind, and we can’t catch up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“? It’s just one loss—why say that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Di’s guess proved correct: Tang Ye hadn’t truly moved on from the defeat; his emotion had shifted from anger to helplessness—or perhaps resignation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We can start over in four years—yes, in four years. I and Ferran will stay here—I’m sure Ferran will. Hmm… or do you think we won’t be able to stay?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Di added: “You know Ferran—if a job isn’t finished, he won’t leave even if his salary is cut. Right now, you won’t find many coaches better than Ferran, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This isn’t about the coach, or about you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye gently pushed Ma Di: “Nor is it about time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then what is it about?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’re too far behind. We can beat the Netherlands, we can beat Spain—but we can’t beat France. The gap between us and some European and South American teams is too wide.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This isn’t something you or I can fix—even waiting four years won’t help!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Di froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Realizing he’d been too emotional, Tang Ye quickly apologized: “Shit, sorry, Ma Di, my fault.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...It’s fine, it’s fine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Di placed his hand on Tang Ye’s shoulder: “I think I understand what you mean. But no matter what, we’ll keep going.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Since I met you, there’s never been anything you couldn’t accomplish.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But this time is different.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No no no—it’s exactly the same. Ferran and I will wait for you forever. I promise it for both of us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye didn’t respond immediately—only bumped fists with Ma Di: “Come on.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forwarded headline from Today News: The ten match venues for the 2023 China Asian Cup are fully prepared, including Beijing Workers’ Stadium, Tianjin TEDA Football Stadium, Kunshan Football Stadium, etc.; the opening ceremony is scheduled for June, exact date pending.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chinese Football Association announcement: In response to fan inquiries, Ferran Escrivà’s coaching staff will confirm their leadership for the Asian Cup campaign.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sources: Due to reaching the semifinals, the national team will share a 10 million RMB bonus; if they secure third place, the bonus may rise to 18–25 million RMB, funded by sponsors such as Wanda and Yibao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A 10 million RMB bonus for semifinalists is actually quite high—roughly 500,000 RMB per player—but it’s still far less than the peak of China’s golden-era football years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Would the bonus have been much higher if Evergrande were still around?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it doesn’t matter anymore—by now, a few hundred thousand RMB in bonuses is no longer important; what matters is the World Cup third-place trophy ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There’s also one more reflection.\u003C\u002Fp>",1144,"2026-06-20T06:50:12.695Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b3a7367afab5fade658ab80cb4042709c93004d0bcb95693ff39382f52fdfbfa","football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-884","football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-882",918,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ffootball-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-cover.jpg"]