Chapter 910: Bird
【6666666】
【Everyone stand up!!】
【WTF, no extra time? Nice, GG, as expected of you】
【Moriyama Hajime: Japan’s ultimate goal is the World Cup title】
【Hold firm, just hold firm! Don’t let them score and win outright!】
「wow！！！！」
Scoring directly from a corner is incredibly satisfying, because the celebration is so easy.
Tang Ye turned and sprinted toward the track, Yijiaocaizaimeisaidesibinshideguanggaopaishang ， Zuoyoujiaoqianhouzhanli ， Youyizhongzaibiaoyanzhongguogudianwuxuedeganjue 。
The fans prepared themselves, shouting their chant in unison the instant Tang Ye raised his arm.
「Emperor Armor！」
「Merge！」
「ahh！！！！！」
「Tang Ye’s goal！」
「3:2！」
「It’s the 78th minute of the second half—China has overturned Japan！」
As the commentator shouted, China’s players had already surrounded Tang Ye; Escrivá had even kissed him right on the forehead.
「If Japan fails to score again in the next little over ten minutes, China will become the champion of this Asian Cup！」
「Final ten minutes！」
China’s goal came at the perfect moment; Moriyama reacted swiftly and decisively used his team’s last two substitutions.
Japan is now behind—they no longer have the luxury of discussing extra time!
「Referee! Referee sir！」
「They’re wasting time! Their celebration went over the limit！」
「They’re stalling！」
Japan’s players urged the referee; Endo Wataru even pushed him toward China’s position.
But China seemed unwilling to end their celebration so soon—Tang Ye kept roaring toward the stands.
The air was already stifling, and after scoring, Tang Ye’s face turned a terrifying red, as if his blood might burst from his veins.
「Beep！」
yellowcard: Tang Ye (chn).
「Fuck, don’t rush.」
Tang Ye walked back while talking to the referee.
「You can’t delay any longer.」
「I’m not delaying—I’m just too excited.」
He spread his hands and stepped back: 「I’m going back now, ok?」
……
「Beep！」
When play resumed, it was already the 81st minute; Moriyama was drenched in sweat, and so was Escrivá.
「Come on！」
「China！」
「Come on！」
「Come on！」
Ito Yohki sent a long pass from the back.
Ueda Kise observed, then headed it to Namba Takumi behind him.
Namba Takumi drifted wide!
「Hey hey hey！」
He signaled to his teammate, then delivered a through pass!
Doi Tenshi took possession!
「Doi Tenshi is on the baseline—Chi Zhongguo is now in a very weak position！」
「China must be careful—they’re down to ten men！」
「Fernando is coming back.」
Doi Tenshi still didn’t try to dribble—he instead played a backheel cross when he found the opening.
It went to the center to Endo Wataru.
Endo Wataru feinted a shot to set up Namba Takumi!
!!!
Thud!
「Ah!!!」
Staring at the ball he had blasted wide, Namba Takumi’s face twisted in agony as he screamed.
「Ganbare, eiyū! (Fight on, hero!)」
Moriyama’s words reached Namba Takumi’s ears; the Japanese forward turned to look.
What he saw was not Coach Moriyama’s face—but his own past.
「Namba, this won’t work. Football needs talent; hard work alone won’t cut it!」
「Namba, give up already. Come with me to college—we’ll go to Tokyo together!」
「Namba, bastard, never stop believing in yourself! You’ll become Japan’s hero!」
「...」
Memories wound tight; Namba Takumi clenched his teeth.
He had already lost once in the Asian Cup four years ago—he refused to lose again!
Senior Tang Ye...
Destroy it all!!!
Standing straight again, Namba Takumi transformed—suddenly brimming with confidence.
China has ability. China has wisdom.
But Japan has dreams. Japan has courage. Japan has hope!
「...」
「The Five-Star Red Flag waves in the wind~」
「The song of victory rings so loud~」
「We sing to our beloved motherland!!」
「From now on, we march toward prosperity and strength~~」
「Over the mountains!」
「Over the plains!」
「...」
「Beep, beep beep!!!」
「The match is over!」
「With the referee’s final whistle, the match has ended!」
「With a 3:2 scoreline, China defeated Japan at the Bird’s Nest, winning the Asian Cup title and achieving their first-ever back-to-back Asian Cup championships in team history!」
「China is champion!」
「China!」
「waaaa！！！！」
「woww！！」
Boom boom boom!
Boom boom boom boom boom!
【66666666】
【We are champions!】
【Front row witnessing history—I’m going on TV!】
Shhh shhh shhh!!!
Arms spread wide, Tang Ye executed an extra-long sliding tackle and burst off the track.
「Roar——!!!」
「Damn!」
He swung his right fist into the air, ripped off his jersey, and hurled it into the stands.
「Awesome!」
「Vamos!」
Escrivá came from the side and clung to Tang Ye’s back.
Tang Ye’s sweat soaked through Escrivá’s suit, but the Spaniard didn’t care at all.
"Champion!"
"Champion!"
Tang Ye carried Escrivá back onto the pitch, the latter continuously raising his fist upward.
This was one of the few championship trophies of Escrivá’s career, and his first since taking charge of the Chinese national team.
Asian Cup Champion!
……
"Ferran!"
"Ferran!"
"Ferran!"
The crowd in the stadium shouted Escrivá’s name.
Mr. Ferran is not a fraud!
He truly led the national team to back-to-back Asian Cup titles!
He is the true Saint Escrivá!
"Ole~~oleoleole~"
"Oleoleola~~"
Thud! Thud!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"After you, Mr. Ferran."
Tang Ye feigned a British gentleman, gesturing for Escrivá to step onto the podium first.
"Oh, it’s all the same. Let’s go together."
The Chinese team players ascended the podium in order and shook hands with the AFC president, the FIFA vice-president, and other officials.
"You’ve done the impossible again!"
The speaker was the FIFA vice-president.
End of Chapter
