Chapter 891: Club World Cup Champions vs. Asian Champions

Today is a very important day: the Club World Cup final between Manchester United and Al Hilal.

Al Hilal is still relatively unfamiliar to Manchester United, as they are a team from the Middle East.

But if you started following football one or two years ago and have been keeping up with Tang Ye, you might already know Al Hilal very well.

This team’s current starting lineup market value is only about 80 million euros—less than 100 million. But Saudi Arabia’s financial football plan has already been unveiled; barring unexpected setbacks, Al Hilal’s starting lineup value will reach at least 250 million euros within three years.

In other words, the opposing side is actually a team with tremendous potential—they’ve just not fully matured yet.

“Tang Ye to Al Hilal? How could Tang Ye even go to Al Hilal? Honestly, Tang Ye would be better off going to Al Nassr. I checked the Saudi league situation—Al Nassr has always been unable to beat Al Hilal. My brother Luo is in big trouble, hasn’t won a single title.”

“Al Nassr can’t afford players anymore…”

“Hey, don’t say that, brother—you really shouldn’t say things like that.”

Wang Chao looked extremely serious: “Newcastle is proof—you have no idea how much money those guys wearing headscarves can spend. Buying Tang Ye isn’t cost-effective for Al Nassr because they already have Cristiano Ronaldo, but they’re certainly not unable to afford him.”

“Let’s see how this match plays out—Al Hilal made it to the Club World Cup final for a reason; they must have something.”

“Damn, I just realized this is Tang Ye’s first-ever Club World Cup match.”

“What’s so special about the Club World Cup? It’s just a flashy name—no real prestige. The UEFA Champions League winner just gets handed it.”

“Al Hilal is offering Tang Ye 300 million dollars a year—is that even real? That’s just insane…”

“Manchester United fans, don’t panic—money can wait. Wait until Tang Ye retires from the Premier League at 40, then go to Saudi Arabia and play until 60—he’ll become a billionaire overnight.”

“6666, they’re really treating me like a ball-playing ox.”

“Alright, the match is about to start! Let me introduce the starting lineups!”

Al Hilal (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Abdullah Al-Mayouf

Defenders: Dawasari, Bleshy, Zhang Xianxiu, Abdulhamid

Midfielders: Mohammed Kanu, Bieto, Quilliair

Forwards: Dawasari, Mitrović, Carrillo

Head Coach: Ramón Díaz

“Beep!”

The match has begun.

Compared to Manchester United’s squad full of supermodels, Al Hilal’s lineup is fascinating—they’re running a single-core system with Mitrović.

Al Hilal is also abstract—they copied Al Nassr and bought a top-class center forward.

But Al Nassr didn’t just buy a center forward—they bought players across multiple positions. You only bought one center forward—what’s the point?

Okay, it’s not because Al Hilal’s management is stupid. According to their original plan, they were 100% certain they’d sign Tang Ye before the winter transfer window closed.

One Mitrović isn’t enough—but Tang Ye plus Mitrović? That’s more than enough!

Unfortunately, Tang Ye didn’t come.

“Dalot, push up the flank—oh, Dalot’s been getting a lot of camera time lately.”

“To De Jong!”

“Nice!”

“De Jong, holy shit, what the hell was that!”

De Jong planned to pass, but Kanu simply lifted his leg and blocked the ball.

!

De Jong sensed something was wrong and immediately chased back.

Manchester United’s holding midfielder was fast—he accelerated and quickly closed in on Kanu.

“Pass it quick!”

Teammates urged him; Kanu knew he couldn’t let De Jong catch him, so he quickly passed to Dawasari ahead.

Dawasari controlled the ball and moved toward the center.

“Huff, huff huff…”

Thud!

Pass to Mitrović!

Bang!

Varane kicked the ball away immediately.

“See? I told you—Al Hilal only has Mitrović as their core. Manchester United will never let him get the ball.”

“Trust me, guys—Al Hilal is done today. Buying just one center forward? What’s the point?”

The ball flew out from the back, and Manchester United launched an immediate counterattack.

Rodri controlled the ball and passed to B Fei .

“Go yourself!”

Tang Ye shouted—B Fei started driving down the flank.

After just a few steps, B Fei passed immediately.

The pass found Kane perfectly at the front.

“Here!”

Kane laid it off, aiming for Tang Ye, his support runner.

Bang!

Tang Ye was immediately marked—Quilliair kept harassing him from the side.

He raised his arms to shield his body, shifted his center of gravity upward, and executed a quick “V”-shaped drag-back to shake off his marker.

Snap!

He passed to Dembélé, who was overlapping on the right.

“Wow!!!”

Dembélé surged down the flank and delivered a precise cross into the box for Kane.

“Kane!”

“Zhang Xianxiu is interfering nearby, but it seems useless.”

“Zhang Xianxiu is no match for Kane!”

“Guys!”

Bang!

“Goal!”

“Kane!”

“Goal! 1-0! Chinese team—no, Manchester United!”

“Manchester United leads! Nice, guys!”

After scoring, Kane sprinted toward the sideline, roaring in excitement.

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

Ten Hag clapped vigorously on the sideline.

Eric seemed already prepared to claim his second Club World Cup title!

Live update: Dembélé delivered a precise cross, Kane scored—Manchester United leads Al Hilal 1-0. Will Kane break the trophy drought?

“...”

“Tang Ye, move to the right—swap positions with Dembélé.”

“Holy shit, this chemistry. Haha, that number 6 over there is completely stunned.”

“Come on, pass to Tang Ye.”

“Hit a 45-degree cross!”

Tang Ye delivered a 45-degree cross—again targeting Kane in the box.

Manchester United’s striker leaped.

Header!

“Goooo—aaaa—llll!!!!!!”

Goal!

Harry Kane’s second goal!

Manchester United leads 2-0!

“United!”

“ManUnited!”

“ForeverManUnited!”

The crowd erupted in passion, but many sensitive Chinese fans noticed something.

Huh… since Ronaldo left, has Ten Hag started placing even greater emphasis on the center forward position?

This season, Kane’s goal-scoring efficiency is absurdly high—thanks to the three genius playmakers: Tang Ye, B Fei , and Dembélé. Manchester United’s striker tops the league scoring chart.

Is it because Kane is better than Ronaldo?

Doesn’t seem so.

It’s because this season, the priority of the center forward position at Manchester United has been raised!

It’s Eric Ten Hag pulling strings behind the scenes!

“This… guys, I feel like Ronaldo could’ve won the Premier League Golden Boot last season—he was screwed by Ten Hag.”

Fuck, I’m definitely siding with CR7. I was neutral before, but this guy Tenghahe stole at least ten goals from CR7.

Tenghahe ’s showmanship is still too over the top.

The 35th minute of the first half arrived; during United’s dominant attack, the opposing team New Moon’s defenders were crumbling, with almost no chance of counterattack.

As always, among all teams in this Club World Cup, United’s strength is in a league of its own—so far ahead of New Moon that it’s at least three tiers higher.

“…”

“Tang Ye, pass to Dalot!”

“Shoot directly!”

“Wow! 3-0! It’s 3-0, guys.”

“I feel like we’re gonna win 5-0 today—no joke, we’re just crushing the Club World Cup runner-up.”

“These Saudis are really dumb—they insisted on buying a striker. Why not buy a midfielder at the same price? That’d be better right now.”

“Guys, let me tell you something.”

Wang Chao acted like he knew everything about football and began sharing his opinions with the livestream audience: “If a team is weak but has one standout player, that player should ideally be a midfielder—midfield is the best, then wingers.”

“Look at the World Cup in Russia—CR7 played as a striker and was absolutely brutal, but Portugal’s final result wasn’t even as good as ours, because here in China, our strength is midfield—midfield is way more important than striker. I’m not even bragging—I, Tang the Football King, was born to save the world.”

He couldn’t keep blowing like this—otherwise he’d soon be claiming something like “Tang Ye was born with celestial omens.”