Chapter 886: Fernandes

I thought Ronaldo was going to shoot directly, but this guy used a heel flick instead.

The ball landed at Bruno Fernandes' feet.

This position is absolutely perfect.

Boom!

“Gooo——aaaa——lll!!!”

Goal!

Bruno Fernandes!

This is Bruno Fernandes’ second goal of the match!

3:2!

Portugal has regained their advantage!

“Roar!!!”

Bruno Fernandes clenched his fists and roared.

The Portuguese midfielder’s face was twisted with fury, but he was a bit too thin—he’d have been terrifying if he were more muscular.

“Beautiful! Beautiful!”

“Hah!”

Ronaldo spread his arms and pulled his teammate into a hug, while Santos clapped endlessly.

“Bruno!”

“Bruno!”

This goal was crucial for Portugal—turning 2:2 into 3:2, they could now shift entirely to defense and deny China any further chances.

Through the live screen, Escrivá could be seen scratching his head.

China’s head coach was thinking hard!

But he seemed unable to come up with any good solution!

“…”

“Portugal makes a substitution: Gonçalo Ramos replaces Ronaldo. Same name as Real Madrid’s Ramos, but this young player is a forward—and he’s also been key to Portugal’s advancement to the quarterfinals!”

“Yes, the only player so far in this World Cup knockout stage to have scored a hat-trick.”

Ronaldo and Gonçalo Ramos high-fived: “Go on! Be careful—we’ve already won!”

After leaving the pitch for the bench, Ronaldo simply took a sip of water, then returned to the sideline, shouting and gesturing wildly—as if acting as Santos’s assistant.

“Ronaldo… hah, he really wants to win.”

“Portugal definitely has the advantage now, but I still think China has some opportunities left.”

The commentator had barely finished speaking when Zhan Jun immediately sensed something was off.

Portugal is playing defense now!

Even Leo, who loves to charge forward, has stopped pushing!

【Not giving us a single chance, Santos—you know I’ve always been your fan】

【I knew replacing Ronaldo meant playing defense—gotta go, guys】

【Don’t do this… is there any way out?】

【I told you—we’re missing a top-class winger, otherwise we’re done. Relying solely on GGBond, and he’s being marked tightly—we’re finished】

【Coach! Why not sub in Wu Lei for Xiao? Wu Wang is looking like he’s sleepwalking today—why is he being shut down by Câncelo?】

In truth, Wu Lei being marked by Câncelo was perfectly normal—the gap in their abilities was obvious.

But after China’s shocking run to the third-place match, many fans had developed a false impression of Wu Lei and Zhang Yuning’s true strength.

A 15-million valuation with a 40-million performance? That’s impressive, no doubt.

But to treat them as if they’re worth 80 million euros? That’s your mistake!

“Câncelo moves up.”

“To Otávio!”

“Then to Vitinha!”

“Oh, Zhang Xizhe, beautiful!”

Zhang Xizhe intercepted Otávio’s pass, lost his balance, and fell to the ground.

Luckily, before falling, Zhang had already delivered his pass.

It was accurate—now Wu Lei had the ball.

“Wu Wang!”

“Wu Wang, go! Take them down!”

Dribbling fast down the right flank, Wu Lei searched for an opening.

As soon as he reached the byline, Leo and Otávio had already retreated into position.

Hss…

Clearly, Portugal had studied China’s previous matches—they’d learned from Spain and the Netherlands.

Wu Lei kept dribbling toward the byline, nearly out of bounds, yet still found no passing option.

Fernando and Wang Shenchao were calling for the ball on the left, but Wu Lei didn’t seem capable of switching play there.

With no other option, Wu Lei suddenly had an idea—he kicked the ball straight into Leo’s body, and it bounced out of bounds.

“Beep!”

China’s corner kick.

“Good, good, nice!”

Tang Ye gave Wu Lei a thumbs-up, then called Zhang Xizhe over.

After whispering a few words, Tang Ye handed his own corner kick to his teammate.

“Beep!”

“Zhang Xizhe!”

“Take a look.”

Thwack!

“High ball—aiming for Tang Ye?”

“Hey, where’s Tang Ye?!”

They’d spent ages discussing the set piece, but now Tang Ye was nowhere to be seen.

Then who was Zhang Xizhe supposed to pass to?

The ball soared high—the defenders Jiang Guangtai and Pepe, knowing they had no chance, simply didn’t jump.

It landed just behind the penalty arc.

At that moment, Tang Ye burst into frame from outside the camera’s view.

“Hey!”

He slowed down, adjusted with small steps, then raised his right leg.

“Diogo! (Costa)”

Ronaldo shouted: “Shoot!”

Thwack!

Tang Ye’s right outer instep struck the ball’s center with a crisp sound.

!

Pepe lunged his head forward, trying to head the ball away—but he was just a fraction too late.

Costa jumped out!

Unfortunately, the ball was moving too fast—the Portuguese goalkeeper had just pushed off the ground when the referee’s watch beeped.

Drip!

“Gooo——aaaa——llll!!!”

“Goal!”

“Goal!”

“My god!”

“Goal! Tang Ye!”

“Again, Tang Ye!!”

“Outside-the-foot world-class strike!”

“3:3! China equalizes!!”

“My god… what a corner-kick combination!”

When Tang Ye took his shot, Vitinha stood right beside him, watching every move unfold.

Even as Tang Ye ran off to celebrate, Vitinha’s gaze remained locked on China’s captain.

Wait…

Bro, is this how you execute a corner-kick play?

Thud!

China’s players gathered below, but before any substitutes could climb onto Tang Ye, Escrivá rushed over and shoved them all away.

“We need one more goal! One more goal!”

No extra time!

Escribá grabbed Wu Lei’s head: “No penalties! No extra time!”

The Chinese team’s head coach felt a swell of confidence, but Feran had indeed found the path with the highest probability of success.

Trying to end Portugal in regular time? Sure, that’s showing off.

But it’s already one of the best options the national team has right now.

The players were quickly ushered away; even Tang Ye, who had been shouting at the fans in the stands, was caught by Ma Di.

Go back! Go back!

Tom!

Our medal!

Don’t forget!

As Ma Di tugged at him, Tang Ye gave a thumbs-up to the fans in the stands before finally leaving.

…

Live update: 78th minute, Wu Lei’s long-range shot blocked by Ruben Dias, score still 3:3.

China forever!

Amazing! King Tang is amazing!

Go Tang Ye! Go Tang Ye!

Whether due to too much adrenaline making his head spin, the Chinese fans couldn’t agree on a unified chant at this critical moment.

Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Can’t you hear the organizers’ drums?

They actually heard them, but the match was too intense, with shocking moments popping up constantly—fans kept shouting “Wow!” and couldn’t coordinate a unified chant.

Wang Shenchao!

Play the triangle pass!

Hey, that shot was a bit off.

Wang Shenchao’s triangle pass went wide.

As one of the best-performing players of the national team in this World Cup, Wang Shenchao seemed to have hit his physical limit.

Fortunately, Portugal’s condition was much the same.

The Fruit Squad had fought Argentina on this very pitch just three days ago; many key players, like Ruben Dias, hadn’t fully recovered.

By the 80th minute, both sides made substitutions simultaneously by mutual agreement.