Chapter 885: C. Ronaldo's Offside and China's Counterattack

"Beep, beep-beep——!!!"

The first half has ended, with the score temporarily at 1:2.

Tang Ye's long-range shot was handsome, but alas, Portugal's strength is truly not poor; they equalized without much difficulty and even completed the overtaking.

Pah!

"Still holding up?"

Ma Ti and Tang Ye clapped hands.

"I feel I'm still okay; we should be able to turn it around in the second half. But it depends on Leao's condition."

While speaking, Tang Ye glanced in the direction where Leao was located.

Although trailing, the current situation is still under the Chinese team's control.

Of course, the premise is that Leao and Cancelo entering in the second half will not create more trouble for the Chinese team.

"Mm, go for it!"

……

Halftime report: Tang Ye forces open the opponent's goal with a 28-meter long-range shot; after C. Ronaldo heads in to equalize, B. Fei volleys to take the lead; in the first half, the National Football Team temporarily trails 1:2.

【Is this Santos perhaps an idiot? He didn't start Dalot against Argentina, and now he doesn't start Leao against us; does he want to win or not?】

【Isn't being an idiot fine? This guy can ride one European Championship title for ten years; otherwise, he would have been suppressed long ago; he truly has no ability.】

【Can Leao not play in the second half? Maybe he didn't start because his form is bad?】

【Stop daydreaming, brothers; wishful thinking is useless, and even if Leao doesn't play, these Portuguese players are fierce enough; just tell me how to deal with this B. Fei pretending to be a winger.】

【Trailing is truly f***ing uncomfortable; so why didn't we park the bus after taking the lead? Coach Yi is purely giving opportunities to the opposite side!】

"We played very well in the first half, but that's not enough; they scored first, and if our luck had been bad, we would still be at 0:1!"

Back in the locker room, C. Ronaldo seemed not very approving of the team's first-half performance: "I told you the day before yesterday, when countering you must watch TY, you must watch TY, so you should have marked him tightly; why did you let him break free?"

"Yes, what Ronaldo said is correct."

B. Fei echoed, seeming intent to criticize the entire team alongside C. Ronaldo.

"We have the advantage, but our advantage should be greater than it is now; this is what Portugal is."

"We are here to win medals; are you going to hand the medals to the opponents? And then wait another four years?"

"You can wait four years, but I cannot wait anymore!"

After speaking, C. Ronaldo returned to his seat: "In the second half, Rafael (Leao) must come on as soon as possible, and then we suppress them; we must suppress them."

C. Ronaldo's authority in the national team can be said to be terrifyingly high; while he appeared to be blaming his teammates for poor performance, in just a few sentences he had already arranged the second-half substitutions for Santos.

"……"

"No retreat, no fear."

"Let's go win this damn match!"

"Go for it!"

C. Ronaldo came to the third-place match carrying the anger of losing the semi-final.

Not only him, but the other Portuguese players were the same.

The players harbor complex emotions toward the third-place medal; it is not merely desire, but also a sense of unwillingness, or one could say, a unique hatred.

Damn medal, we must take you!

Tang Ye and C. Ronaldo bumped fists in the player tunnel; ahead, at least five photographers had gathered, hoping to capture images of the interaction between the two national team captains.

However, regrettably, neither Tang Ye nor C. Ronaldo said much; their attention was entirely focused on the match.

……

"Beep!!!"

"China Media Group! Welcome back, dear audience friends!"

"... In the first half, the Chinese team trailed by one goal, and now we see substitutions from Portugal: Cancelo and Leao coming on as substitutes!"

"The Chinese team also has a substitution: Fei Nanhuan replaces Wei Wei Shihao, who performed poorly in the first half!"

Wei Wei Shihao's foul from the first half was still resented by the Portuguese fans, so when the Chinese team's number 11 returned to the bench, he was met with abuse from the supporters.

Wei Wei Shihao's psychological quality was tough enough; he completely ignored the voices of the opposing fans, browsing Check Dongqiu Di while observing Leao's movements on the field.

Not long after coming on, Leao made a charge, nearly scaring the Chinese fans to death.

"No, no, no!"

"Holy crap, look at Leao!"

A zoomed-in lens showed Leao wearing a smile, observing the positioning of his teammates in the center while sprinting fast.

Pass to C. Ronaldo!

Leao is also abstract; his sprinting speed and passing intelligence are not proportional, as one kick directly gifted the ball to Zhang Zhang Xizhe.

"Oh!!"

"Leao, the mistake is a bit serious!"

Right after coming on, Leao gifted the National Football Team a very good counter-attack opportunity.

Fortunately, the Chinese team's counter-attack was eventually stopped by Ruben Dias and Pepe; otherwise, this guy would truly become the team's sinner.

Mm... I always feel Leao and Tang Ye from a few years ago are two completely opposite extremes; both of these guys have sprinting speeds and passing intelligences that are not proportional.

However, as the Mr. Ballon d'Or, Tang Ye is more promising than Leao; his speed is slowly approaching the first echelon of the football world.

"……"

"Leao!"

"Then he used his speed to eat alive Wu Lei who was tracking back; Wu Xi was squeezed out of the sideline!"

This was a very perfect wing breakthrough; the Chinese team's backfield faced a grave crisis.

Tang Ye was now so nervous he was about to die; he simply abandoned the central path and moved toward Leo's position.

As expected, after reaching the edge of the penalty area, Leo actively slowed down, giving Tang Ye a chance to catch up.

Tang Ye arrived in front of Leo and prepared to defend alongside Gao Gao Zhunyi.

"Look right, look right!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Tang Ye lifted his foot and directly blocked Leo's cross.

"Wow!!"

It was a bit cool, but the rebounded ball was quickly regained by Leo.

Possession remained under Portugal's control!

Slap!

Another cross followed; this time, Tang Ye wasn't as lucky as before and failed to block Leo's pass.

In the central position, the one receiving the ball was Otávio, who had moved up to support!

Otávio passed to B. Fei!

Why was B. Fei in this position!

That question no longer mattered, because B. Fei had already delivered his through-ball!

C. Luo!

Bang!

Cutting in past Jiang Guangtai, C. Luo struck the ball into the top net of the goal.

"Goooo——aaaaa——lllll!!!"

"Ah!!!"

C. Luo spread his arms and ran toward the sidelines, preparing to perform his most standard celebration move once again amid the cheers from the stands.

However, things went very wrong; having run only a few steps, C. Luo noticed the assistant referee holding up the red-and-yellow flag.

"Hey!?"

"What is this?"

"Beep!!!"

The score on the big screen remained unchanged at 1:2, because the referee had disallowed Portugal's goal.

"Eh, why!?"

C. Luo spread his hands toward the referee, indicating he hoped the main referee would re-examine this goal.

"Was this ball offside?"

"Oh, let's take a look at the replay..."

With everyone's attention focused on B. Fei, who made the pass, very few people initially noticed C. Luo's position.

But it didn't matter; a look at the replay would clarify everything.

"Hmm... oh, indeed, it was offside."

"It was an offside by less than half a body length; hiss, haha, this assistant referee on site has incredibly sharp eyes."

"Well, after all, this is their livelihood."

The commentators were delighted.

The opponent had nearly taken a 3:1 lead, fortunately, it was called back.

Heaven protects the Chinese team!

If they had truly fallen behind by two goals, no one would know how to play the rest of the match.

Yellow card: B. Fei (POR).

Before the commentators could even react, B. Fei received a yellow card for complaining to the referee.

In this match, B. Fei indeed played very uncomfortably, because he felt disconnected from his teammates.

Leo was not Dembélé, and Rúben Neves was not Tang Ye; sometimes, his teammates simply couldn't keep up with his train of thought.