Chapter 18 August 18th, Sunny

"August 18th, Sunny." Feng Qing meticulously recorded in his notebook, "Patient's various physical indicators are good, recovery treatment is progressing smoothly, and mindset is peaceful. The treatment has now entered the later stages, with bone-setting massage added to the medicinal fumigation. The patient has no adverse reactions and everything is normal. With the patient's active cooperation, it is expected that the patient will..." Feng Qing looked up, thought for a moment, and then wrote in his notebook. "...return to the field at the end of October."

After finishing today's notes, Feng Qing decided to visit Zhang Jun's home to sit for a while. Zhang Jun said that there was a National Olympic team match today, and Dutch television was broadcasting it live. The previous two games were not broadcast, which Zhang Jun regretted very much, and Feng Qing also regretted. There was nothing to do today, so it was a good opportunity to watch the game.

When Feng Qing arrived at Zhang Jun's house, it seemed that the game was about to start. Zhang Jun beckoned Feng Qing to sit down, and then asked Sophie to get him a can of iced beer. Zhang Jun doesn't drink alcohol, and the Heineken beer in the refrigerator was all for Feng Qing.

Feng Qing took the beer from Sophie, opened it with a bang, took a big gulp, and then wiped his mouth, "Ah--so refreshing!"

At this time, Zhang Jun had already turned his attention back to the TV.

"It's lucky that the Netherlands is actually broadcasting a Chinese game." Feng Qing looked at the starting lineups of both sides being shown on TV. Yang Pan's name was prominently displayed.

"Yeah, maybe it's because Yang Pan played in the Netherlands before."

The players from both sides came onto the field. Leading the Chinese team was the captain, Yang Pan. He held his head high, wearing the captain's armband, and walked at the front of the team. Following him were goalkeeper Sima Hongxin, center backs Liu Peng, Li Suisheng, defensive midfielder Li Yongle... familiar faces flashed before the camera.

The Dutch TV commentator was introducing the Chinese National Olympic team's lineup to the audience. When it came to Yang Pan, he specially said: "Number 7 Yang Pan, used to play for Volendam in the Dutch Super League, and was the top assist provider that season. He has now joined AC Milan. But unfortunately, his partner Zhang Jun missed this Olympics due to injury."

At this time, Feng Qing glanced at Zhang Jun, wanting to see if his expression would change. But unfortunately, Zhang Jun always had a smile on his face, and it was impossible to see what he was thinking.

Sophie sat next to Zhang Jun after she finished her work. With outsiders present, the young couple became much more reserved. Sophie knew very well that Zhang Jun really, really wanted to participate in the Olympics and appear on the Olympic field with Yang Pan, Li Yongle, and the others, fighting side by side. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said those words to Yang Pan.

But now he could only do recovery treatment in this small Dutch town almost forgotten by the Chinese people, taking it step by step according to Brother Feng's instructions. In this situation, he could only bury that desire deep in his heart and quietly wait for the opportunity, an opportunity for him to explode.

※※※

Yang Pan stood on the right side of the field, warming up his body while waiting for the kickoff.

Although losing this game and getting second place in the group would mean not having to travel to Athens for the quarter-finals and staying in Thessaloniki, saving the trouble of travel. And if they reached the semi-finals, they might be able to avoid facing Argentina, the overwhelming favorite to win Group C.

But Qiu Suhui had already stated before the game: "Victory is our goal."

After the game started, careful observers noticed that the Chinese team was different from the previous two games.

※※※

"They seem a little distracted..." Zhang Jun muttered while watching TV.

"You can see that?" Feng Qing turned his head and asked Zhang Jun.

"Yeah, maybe qualifying early has made them think too much." Zhang Jun said, resting his chin on his hand. In fact, this was normal. No one could remain calm in the face of such a wonderful future.

Zhang Jun and Sophie had been online these days and learned that many companies in China had begun to contact the National Olympic team members, inviting them to shoot commercials and become spokespersons. Success on the field inevitably brought economic benefits, but sudden money was a great enemy when playing football. If they didn't handle it well, it was normal to be distracted.

After the National Olympic team qualified early, there was a wave of praise in China, which was not at all beneficial for those young people.

※※※

When Mali's number 7, N'Diaye, hit a one-on-one shot against the crossbar, Qiu Suhui couldn't sit still any longer. He walked to the sideline and roared at the players who were sleepwalking on the field: "Pay attention to the layers of defense! Watch out for your backs, they've successfully attacked behind us several times in a row! Liu Peng, get your head in the game and direct the defense!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mali intercepted Lin Feng's ball in the midfield and launched a quick counterattack. Another pass, Wang Yufei went to tackle, but because he misjudged the distance between the ball and himself, he didn't touch the ball and watched helplessly as the ball slid past him.

Unprepared, Xiang Tao didn't expect Lin Feng and Wang Yu to make mistakes together. Helplessly, he had to rush up to grab the ball, but Mali's other forward, Coulibaly, didn't stop the ball, but instead kicked a diagonal pass directly behind Xiang Tao, to the left side of the Chinese team's penalty area. That area was at the junction of Xiang Tao and Li Suisheng, but now it was undefended!

N'Diaye, the forward who had scored in both previous group matches, started quickly and cut diagonally into the penalty area. He caught up with the ball!

"Crap..." Xiang Tao turned his head and saw the opponent swing his right foot to shoot!

Sima Hongxin didn't expect the opponent to shoot as soon as he received the ball. At that time, he was preparing to rush out to block the angle. Seeing the ball flying over, he couldn't reach out to block it, and could only watch helplessly as the ball flew from above his head into the upper corner of the goal!

gooooooAL!

Goal! In the twenty-third minute of the first half, Mali took the lead!

"This...the goal is scored by N'Diaye, the forward who plays for Cs Sfaxien in the Tunisian league. The Chinese team made a mistake and was caught by the opponent." Wang Jianxiang said helplessly. "The Chinese team showed some abnormalities from the beginning. Li Yongle, as the core of the team, has not achieved anything so far, and his performance has directly affected the performance of the National Olympic team's midfield. This goal was precisely because the midfield was out of control that the opponent easily launched a counterattack successfully."

"Damn it!" Qiu Suhui kicked the seat of the coaching bench. Losing the ball wasn't worth getting so angry about for him, but he couldn't stand losing the ball like this. He hadn't finished speaking, and the opponent had already scored a goal. What was that? Everyone took his pre-match instructions as wind in their ears.

Good organization, flexible individual skills, good at midfield cooperation. They had completely forgotten all these characteristics of Mali!

But after being angry, Qiu Suhui sat back in the coaching seat, which surprised Hu Li: "Aren't you going to say something? They don't know what to do now."

"Ignore them." Qiu Suhui snorted. "They caused this situation themselves, which is just right to test them. Let's see what they will do in this situation."

"..." Hu Li thought Qiu Suhui was still angry with those kids. "...What if we really lose?"

"Lose? Hmph! That's fine, at worst we'll be second in the group, we'll stay here to play, and we'll avoid Argentina! How great, ha!" Qiu Suhui said viciously.

※※※

"Hey! Who's responsible for that number 7?" Xiang Tao was loudly questioning his teammates, "How could he easily run to that place?"

Li Suisheng stood up: "Are you talking about me?"

Xiang Tao stared at the tall Li Suisheng without showing any weakness: "That's right! What were you thinking just now? I rushed up to intercept, why didn't you come to cover?"

"Tch! It's just that you're too rash. If you didn't rush up, the opponent would at most pass the ball horizontally."

"Damn it! What did you say?"

"Stop arguing!" Li Yongle quickly pulled Xiang Tao away, "The ball is already lost, there's no use arguing! It's all my fault, I..."

"Yeah, you're not in the mood today." Xiang Tao turned his spear at Li Yongle again, "The midfield is out of control, it's your responsibility, right? What are you all thinking? Why is it so different from the previous two games? Huh?" Xiang Tao looked around at everyone, and those who were stared at by him lowered their heads in embarrassment.

Yang Pan stepped forward and patted Xiang Tao: "Okay, don't waste time here. We're only behind by one goal! We still have time. Okay, okay! Everyone get in position!" He held Xiang Tao and dragged him to the left back position.

"There seems to be some small dispute in the Chinese team." Wang Jianxiang said with a frown, "The mood after losing the ball is understandable, but in any case, you shouldn't blame your teammates. Xiang Tao is too impulsive!"

The Chinese team kicked off, and the game restarted. Mali took the lead and was full of morale. In addition, they frequently used the offside trap, making the Chinese team's attack fail. During this period, the National Olympic team had been very passive. And Qiu Suhui refused to say anything, sitting in his chair with his legs crossed, and no one knew what he was thinking. Without the coach's instructions, the National Olympic team was a little at a loss on the field.

Yang Pan tried hard to tie the score. He frequently tried long shots and moved towards the middle, which squeezed out Lin Feng's position instead. The two of them were squeezed in the middle, and it became very difficult for Li Yongle to pass the ball or dribble forward.

"A mess, a mess." The Mali coach shook his head and muttered while watching the field. He didn't understand why the Chinese team's situation was so bad, and the head coach didn't express anything. Was it because he was really at a loss, or was there some other reason?

Never mind! Take this opportunity to score another goal and widen the gap even further to be more secure. Thinking of this, he stood up and whistled on the field, signaling to strengthen the attack.

※※※

Yang Pan once again encountered the encirclement of two opposing defenders. In three games, he would receive this special treatment from the opponent every game, which really made him very upset. This time, the two of them sandwiched him in the middle, and he couldn't even increase his speed.

"Damn it! It's two people again! I'm just a right winger, why are you staring at me?" Yang Pan cursed in his heart.

With a little carelessness, his ball was intercepted! The one who defended him was Sissoko, a player from Mali with excellent offensive and defensive coordination skills. He played for Valencia in La Liga and had considerable strength. It was normal for Yang Pan to have his ball intercepted by him under the double-teaming, but Yang Pan was not reconciled. He turned around and chased after Sissoko.

In terms of speed, Sissoko was no match for Yang Pan. In an instant, he was caught up by Yang Pan.

Yang Pan's defensive ability was not weak in itself. In addition, Mazzone in Serie A almost used him as an all-around player on the right, so interception was not difficult for him. He leaned against Sissoko with his body, and then constantly shrugged his shoulders at the opponent, preventing the opponent from maintaining his balance, and then waiting for an opportunity to intercept the ball.

Under Yang Pan's constant "harassment", Sissoko's steps became chaotic, and his dribbling became a little unstable.

"Good opportunity!" Yang Pan seized the opportunity and suddenly tackled the ball.

"Yang Pan made a beautiful tackle to intercept the ball! Ah, but..."

Sissoko didn't fall, he just staggered. After quickly regaining his balance, he stretched out his long leg and hooked the ball back from under Yang Pan's feet! At this time, Yang Pan had already fallen on the grass and could no longer implement a second tackle, and could only watch helplessly as the opponent shook him off and then passed the ball.

It was N'Diaye again. After receiving the pass from Sissoko, he took a sudden long shot!

Li Yongle thought he would adjust it, but he didn't expect the opponent to shoot directly after receiving the ball! He stretched his long leg forward, but he didn't stop this shot!

Sima Hongxin was blocked by Liu Peng in front of him, and when he realized that N'Diaye was shooting directly, it was too late. Moreover, N'Diaye shot this ball at a tricky angle, brushing past Sima Hongxin's hand and flying past, then hitting the inside of the post and bouncing into the net.

Scored again?

goooooooooAL!!

The Chinese team conceded another goal!

More than a thousand Chinese fans who came to cheer them on in the stands were silent, and the Chinese fans in front of the TV were also silent. Why was this National Olympic team so different from the previous National Olympic team?

The TV camera turned to Qiu Suhui again, but he was still sitting in his chair, neither flustered nor angry.

The Mali coach was flustered instead. The Chinese coach was becoming more and more mysterious. What exactly was the Chinese team doing?

This time, the Chinese players didn't even have the mood to blame each other, because they also noticed Qiu Suhui's abnormality. The coach must be angry, otherwise why wouldn't he say a word? They were panicking and guessing in their hearts.

Hu Li looked at Qiu Suhui again: "We've already conceded two goals, aren't you going to say something?"

Qiu Suhui replied expressionlessly: "It's almost halftime, I'll talk about it then." But he was already extremely angry in his heart, these little bastards! You're tasting the bitterness now, aren't you?

※※※

Conceding two goals, coupled with the head coach's "inaction", caused a considerable blow to the Chinese team. In the remaining five minutes of the first half, they were beaten by Mali, who were full of morale, and could only parry and had no power to fight back.

It was hard to believe that the Chinese team, which had won two consecutive games, would be so embarrassed, which made people suspect that the National Olympic team was playing a fixed match to help Mali, who had one win and one draw, qualify from Group A.

Just as this speculation gradually spread in the audience's hearts, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.

At the end of the first half, the Chinese team was actually 0:2 behind Mali, which was something no one had expected before the game.

※※※

Qiu Suhui was slapping the table in the locker room: "What's on your minds? Is it all paste? What kind of performance was that on the field? Sleepwalking! I'm telling you that this is the football field, not a fucking photography studio! Clear all the messy thoughts out of your heads!"

It was the first time they had seen Qiu Zhi, who was usually smiling and joking, get so angry, and even Xiang Tao, who was the most unprincipled, had to lower his head and didn't dare to breathe a word.

Even Hu Li was frightened by Qiu Suhui. He didn't expect Qiu Suhui, who rarely got angry, to be so terrifying when he did get angry.

In fact, Qiu Suhui himself was not as angry as he showed. He was just using the topic to get these confused bastards to sober up and give them an unforgettable lesson at the same time. So if he didn't show it intensely, these kids might forget it in the blink of an eye.

"How is it? How does it feel to have two goals scored on you in the first half?" Qiu Suhui stared at a group of players who were lowering their heads and admitting their guilt, "Speak up! Why are you all mute? Weren't you arguing fiercely when you lost the first goal? Weren't you arguing vigorously? Speak! Why are you lowering your heads? Did you do something wrong? Why are you lowering your heads? Xiang Tao!" Qiu Suhui directly named him.

Xiang Tao stood up from his chair as if he had been conditioned.

Some people mourned for Xiang Tao in their hearts.

"Say! How does it feel to lose two goals in a row?" Qiu Suhui stared at Xiang Tao and asked loudly.

"Very unhappy!" Xiang Tao stared at Qiu Suhui and replied loudly.

Xiang Tao's straightforward answer made Qiu Suhui's face twitch. Fortunately, he almost laughed.

"Why unhappy?" Qiu Suhui continued to ask.

"Because losing the ball is not because the opponent is much stronger than us, but because we played too badly!"

Hehe, it seems they also know this. "Okay, sit down! Now I ask you... Raise your heads!" Qiu Suhui roared, and the players raised their heads at the same time, but there was still some unnaturalness in their eyes. One by one, they tried to avoid Qiu Suhui's gaze.

"Do you want to lose this game?" Qiu Suhui's tone softened slightly.

"No!!" Everyone answered loudly in unison.

"Then do you still remember what I told you before the game?"

"I don't remember!!" Again, they were in agreement.

"Haha! Hahaha!" Qiu Suhui finally couldn't help laughing. These kids were really extremely cute.

A group of people stared at each other, not understanding why Qiu Zhi, who was still furious just now, would suddenly laugh. Could it be that he was so angry that his brain short-circuited?

After finally stopping his laughter, Qiu Suhui said to his disciples: "Okay, now let's get down to business. If you don't want to lose this game, then listen to me carefully. First of all, forget all the miscellaneous things and rubbish outside the field, forget them completely! Concentrate all your thoughts on football, concentrate on this game! Then remember every word I say."

"The Mali team is not a weak team. They defeated the defending Olympic champion Cameroon in the African qualifiers, and eight of their players play overseas. Among them, Sissoko, who plays for Valencia in La Liga, Berete, who plays for Sedan in France, and Coulibaly, who plays for Lens in France, are all dangerous people. And the most dangerous is N'Diaye, who scored two goals alone in the first half. He is Mali's number one shooter. I believe you have personally tasted how powerful this person is in the first half. The entire Mali team has excellent organization skills, based on flexible individual skills and good at breaking through the middle. Therefore, our midfield defense must be twelve points spirited. For that N'Diaye, I require Liu Peng to follow him every step of the way."

Liu Peng nodded: "No problem!"

"The Mali team is very good at using offside traps when defending, and we can just take advantage of this to make a big deal out of it. Li Yongle, you must regain control of the midfield. Li Jie and Lin Feng play the role of disrupting the opponent's defense in front, and we put our main energy on the two wings. Yang Pan and Zhao Pengyu don't need to be polite. When Li Yongle passes the ball to you, you decide whether to shoot or pass. In addition, what needs to be reminded is that Mali players have an amazing ability, that is, the ability to regain the ball with their long and flexible legs at the moment of being intercepted, so you must pay attention when defending, and the interception action must be clean and neat. After a successful interception, don't relax and be careful of their counter-attacks, especially in our own backcourt, be more cautious."

Qiu Suhui looked down at his watch, the time was just right. "Do you understand?" he asked.

"Understood!!" The players answered loudly.

"Very good. If you understand, go on the field for me!"

※※※

However, God seemed to be deliberately joking with the Chinese team today. In the fifty-fifth minute, N'Diaye fell in a physical confrontation with Liu Peng, but at the same time as he fell, he also poked the ball with his toes. The ball rolled past Sima Hongxin's toes and into the goal behind him, 3:0!

Mali was actually leading by three goals!

"The Chinese team conceded another goal just ten minutes into the second half! It seems that the entire Chinese team is out of form today. I don't know what adjustments Qiu Suhui made during the halftime break. But it seems that it has no effect at present." Wang Jianxiang said worriedly.

Hu Li looked at Qiu Suhui: "The third goal..."

"Hehe, there's no need to worry about anything. That's just Mali's last burst of energy." Qiu Suhui laughed, looking relaxed. Now that they are three goals behind, it seems that it will be difficult to win, but if they just want to tie the score, those kids still have this ability.

This time, no one blamed each other, and no one looked dejected or at a loss. Yang Pan was asking Sima Hongxin to kick the ball over. He was going to kick off.

Leading by three goals allowed the Mali coach to change to a more comfortable sitting position. At first, he was very nervous that the Chinese team, who had won two consecutive games, would wipe them out as soon as they came up, but he didn't expect God to give them such a big gift. It was Mali who was leading now!

Li Yongle got the ball in the midfield. The opposing player hoped to intercept it directly and launch a counterattack, just like in the first half. However, Li Yongle didn't look down at the ball and tapped the ball with his right heel to the left, beautifully avoiding the opponent's interception.

"The coach said to play on the wings! Yang Pan and Zhao Pengyu, you move forward!" He waved his hand and made a long diagonal pass, flying straight to the left side of the field. Mali was preparing to press forward with all their members to create an offside trap, but they found that there were no Chinese players there, and Zhao Pengyu was quickly rushing from behind to chase the ball!

"Look, Li Yongle has returned to normal." Qiu Suhui said to Hu Li with a smile.

Zhao Pengyu was very fast, and in an instant, he broke through the Mali defense line that was standing in parallel and caught up with the ball.

The parallel standing position of the defense line is to facilitate the creation of an offside trap, but it also has a fatal flaw: it is easy to be penetrated by the opponent's direct pass or diagonal pass, causing the opponent to face the goalkeeper directly.

But it's easy to say, not every midfielder has the ability to quickly find the loopholes in the opponent's defense line in the ever-changing football field and then accurately send the ball over with one kick.

In the National Olympic team, only Li Yongle and Yang Pan currently have this ability. Yang Pan plays as a right winger and doesn't focus on transferring the organization as his main job. Therefore, Li Yongle's existence is very important. The Chinese team repeatedly fell into the opponent's offside trap in the first half, which was not unrelated to Li Yongle's being out of form.

Now that Li Yongle has been resurrected, the Chinese team's attack has also been resurrected.

Zhao Pengyu finally chose to cut inside and shoot. Although the angle was already very small, he still made the Mali goalkeeper Badili break out in a cold sweat. Because no one thought he could catch the ball and then face the goalkeeper directly. A loophole appeared in Mali's defense line. The only thing they could be gratified about was that the Chinese team had not yet scored.

But this was only a matter of time.