Chapter 1 Bernabéu

A cry of surprise erupted from the stands of the Bernabéu, and many Spanish fans patted their chests in relief at what had just happened.

"Too bad! China had a chance right at the start, but unfortunately, Zhang Jun slipped while receiving Yang Pan's pass!"

Zhang Jun slapped the turf in frustration, only to send up a spray of water. This pitch! If it hadn't been for the water underfoot, he would have been able to hook that ball.

Casillas ran over to the ball boy to get the ball. Only then did Zhang Jun stand up. He looked at the young goalkeeper, calculating how to break through his defenses... He was known for his accurate positioning, quick reactions, and skill at stopping one-on-one shots. Even if Real Madrid's defense was a mess, he would do his best to keep the goal safe. When Real Madrid's record was poor, even captain Raúl was criticized, but he was still called "Saint Casillas" by the demanding Real Madrid fans.

Such a powerful goalkeeper, could he beat him on this terrible pitch and in this weather?

Zhang Jun jogged back to his position. He made a gesture to Yang Pan, who was ten meters away, that only the two of them could understand: You were the one who said to trust the Bernabéu's drainage system.

Yang Pan spread his hands: Man proposes, Heaven disposes.

Zhang Jun rolled his eyes at Yang Pan, then looked up at the sky. Casillas had already kicked the ball out.

China's advantage in headers became apparent. Li Suisheng, who was one meter eighty-seven tall, jumped up and overpowered Torres, who was one meter eighty-two, heading the ball back.

Li Yi jumped up, wanting to stop the football with his chest, but Xavi suddenly burst out from the middle, separating him and the football as he stopped the ball!

Immediately afterward, Xavi passed the ball forward to Vicente on the left wing. Vicente accelerated to chase the ball, while Wang Hui desperately chased back. Spain's active steal came suddenly, and China had not yet had time to react. Torres, Raúl, and Joaquín had already started to charge toward China's penalty area.

"Wang Hui! Squeeze that kid to the outside!" An Ke's loud voice rang out for the first time. Wang Hui was no rookie making his debut. He was far more experienced than An Ke, and he knew what to do.

But knowing what to do didn't mean he could do it. Vicente was a player known for his speed, and Xavi's pass was excellent, allowing him to take full advantage of his speed.

Wang Hui's speed was not as good as Vicente's, not to mention that he needed to turn around.

After the Chinese team gave the Spanish fans a false alarm at the start, the Spanish team immediately retaliated. Vicente dribbled the ball to the bottom line, and Torres, Raúl, and Joaquín charged together!

Not only was Wang Hui chasing, but Yang Pan was also chasing. Yang Pan would not lose to anyone in terms of speed, not to mention that Vicente was running with the ball, while he was running without it.

The distance between the two was shortening.

Aragonés knew this Chinese player who played for AC Milan. He was incredibly fast and had a powerful shot. However, he was not worried about Vicente, because he had told Vicente what to do in this situation.

Yang Pan could already see the breathable mesh on both sides of Vicente's jersey. He felt that he only needed to take one more step to reach out his hand.

But at that moment, Vicente crossed the ball!

A forty-five-degree diagonal cross in front of the goal, Torres jumped high at the near post, but he did not head the ball. Zheng Jun, who was defending him, also did not head the ball. Raúl in the middle was a dangerous person, so Li Suisheng and Xiang Tao surrounded him, but none of the three touched the ball.

"Joaquín appears at the far post, he's unmarked! He shoots directly with a volley!"

An Ke, who moved from the near post to the far post, lunged forward and punched the ball out of bounds with both fists!

The ball did not go in, and An Ke made a beautiful save! Joaquín looked at An Ke, who was lying on the ground, in disbelief. He thought the goal was certain.

The starting goalkeeper for Dortmund?

"Beautiful! An Ke's save was beautiful! He has secured his position as the starting goalkeeper in Dortmund, and he has also proven his strength in the national team with his performance!"

An Ke had just gotten up from the ground when he pointed at Xiang Tao and roared, "Damn it! Xiang Tao, you missed someone!"

This ball was indeed Xiang Tao's fault. He could not refute it, so he waved his hand and stood at the far post, preparing to defend the corner kick.

Xavi kicked the ball out, but Spain did not have an advantage in headers. The ball was headed out by Li Suisheng, ending Spain's attack.

After the initial climax, the effects of the weather and the pitch gradually became apparent. Both sides made more mistakes, and the scene looked very comical.

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"Ten minutes have passed, and the Chinese team seems to have drawn with Spain. This national team under Qiu Suhui has indeed given us some hope!"

As soon as the commentator finished speaking, Spain organized an attack. It was Xavi again. He suddenly made a long pass to the frontcourt from the backcourt. The Chinese team's captain, Zheng Jun, jumped up to compete with Torres for the header, but neither of them headed the ball.

The ball leaked past!

Raúl cut in diagonally. Li Suisheng did not expect Raúl's run and did not follow up on the defense. One-on-one!

An Ke rushed out quickly when Li Suisheng missed the header, but Raúl was one step faster than him. He stretched his foot and flicked the football in the air. An Ke jumped up again and reached out his hand to block it, but it was too late. The football fell beautifully into the empty goal!

Goal!

In the twelfth minute of the first half, Spain took the lead! Captain Raúl scored a beautiful goal!

After scoring, Raúl kissed the ring on his hand, which was his signature celebration. The entire Bernabéu was cheering for their prince!

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Qiu Suhui shook his head regretfully. It seemed that it was difficult for them to avoid conceding a goal in the first thirty minutes against Spain.

He said before the match that Spain's defense was poor, but in reality, China's defense was not much better. They swarmed up to the ball as soon as they saw it. If it hadn't been for An Ke's quick reaction, China would have conceded a goal in the first minute of the first half.

As for this goal, Zheng Jun did not judge the ball's landing point at all and jumped with Torres. Li Suisheng in the back was the same. He lacked his own judgment of the situation on the field and thought that Zheng Jun could head it out, so he only cared about watching the ball and forgot about Raúl beside him.

This Chinese team still lacked experience.

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An Ke punched the ground hard, then pointed at Li Suisheng and shouted, "Missed someone! You missed someone again!"

Li Suisheng did not dare to argue with An Ke's accusation, because it was indeed his mistake. He could only mutter in a low voice, "Why don't you talk about Zheng Jun? He was the one who missed the header first..."

As soon as he finished muttering, he saw An Ke pointing his finger at Zheng Jun: "Captain, missing the header is not good! There was no need to compete with Torres for that ball at all!"

Zheng Jun did not speak, but his face turned red and white. He had been the captain of the national team for four years, and it was the first time that he had been publicly criticized by a junior who had not been in the national team for long. This made him very uncomfortable. But now it was a match, it was a live broadcast, and he could only endure it without losing his temper. Not only did he not lose his temper, but he also generously took responsibility.

But An Ke did not spare him. When he turned back to pick up the ball in the goal, he was still muttering, "Dortmund's old defense is better than this..."

He kicked the ball hard toward the center circle. As a goalkeeper, as long as he conceded a goal, even if it was not his fault, he would feel extremely unhappy. How unhappy? It was like being slapped in the face for no reason and not being able to fight back.

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Aragonés sat on the coach's bench with satisfaction. Taking the lead in the first ten minutes was the difference between Spain and China. Although the Chinese team had several players with decent strength, they still had too little experience in international competitions.

Maybe they would become stronger in the future, but now they could only lose.

Raúl had been in very good form this season, almost like a different person from the previous two seasons. As long as he could maintain this form, Spain had a good chance in this year's World Cup.

※※※

Listening to the cheers of the Spanish reporters around him, Li Yan felt very uncomfortable.

Before the match, the Spanish media had written articles saying that the Chinese team was no good, that Spain would win, and that it would be a complete victory by more than three goals. At that time, he felt quite uncomfortable when he read it, but he couldn't refute it because he didn't speak Spanish, so he could only sulk in his heart. He thought that after you saw the power of Zhang Jun and Yang Pan, you wouldn't be arrogant anymore.

As a result, eleven minutes into the game, the Chinese team let the Spanish team score a goal.

Although he knew that there was a gap between the Chinese team and the Spanish team, he still felt bad when he saw others cheering because the Chinese team conceded a goal.

Perhaps, this was the so-called "patriotism".

"Due to a collective mistake in the defense, the Chinese team conceded a goal first. The scorer was Spain's captain, Raúl González." Listening to the cheers around him, Li Yan gritted his teeth and wrote in his notebook.

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Zhang Jun knew that China's defense was tight, but he was a forward and could not run back to directly participate in the defense. All he could do was to constantly attack Spain's defense and reduce the pressure on China's defense.

Salgado was good at both offense and defense, had tireless stamina, and defended fiercely. He had the nickname "Daredevil".

Although Helguera had always played as a center-back, the position that made him famous was actually as a defensive midfielder. He performed extremely well in this position, and because of this, he was once called the "King" of the Bernabéu. However, the club and the national team did not lack people in the defensive midfielder position. On the contrary, there was a shortage of center-backs, so he was fixed in the center-back position. However, his rashness did not change much with age, and his recklessness in defense always made people uneasy.

The left-back position had always been Spain's biggest weakness. Before this match, Juanfran was injured, and Aragonés started Raúl Bravo, who could only be Roberto Carlos's substitute in Real Madrid. He had few opportunities to play, not to mention that his own strength was not good. Yang Pan only needed speed to give him a hard time.

The strongest player in this defense was Puyol, a center-back from Barcelona. His one-on-one defense was unmatched in La Liga, and he had a brave and tenacious style. He was a truly world-class defender.

Honestly, Zhang Jun was not confident that he could break through Puyol's defense in a one-on-one situation, especially when the pitch was so terrible, making it even more difficult for him to make moves. But unfortunately, the opposing coach had specifically designated Puyol to mark him.

Zhang Jun passed the ball out again. With Puyol's defense, it was difficult for him to even turn around.

With Ke Lu not on the field, China's midfield lacked some imagination. Playing a positional battle against Spain in a methodical manner would not benefit them.

Twenty minutes were about to pass, and the Chinese team had not yet had a threatening shot. Yang Pan was also impatient, and he frequently leaned toward the center, wanting to try a long shot. At this time, Helguera and Bravo would form a pincer attack on him, making it impossible for him to calmly kick the ball.

From this point, it could be seen that Aragonés had really put in a lot of effort to study the Chinese team. At the very least, he had seriously studied Yang Pan, and there was no situation where Aragonés looked down on the Chinese team, as the Spanish media had said before the match.

Qiu Suhui, who had been sitting on the bench for twenty minutes, finally stood up. He walked to the sidelines and shouted loudly into the field, "Li Yongle! Insert forward and participate more in the attack! Leave Xavi to Li Yi! Li Yi, run laterally more and pay attention to defending their midfield through balls! Shao Jiayi! Defend more!"

He waved his right hand to the left and his left hand to the right, making an up-and-down gesture.

In the first twenty minutes, he had kept Li Yongle tied to the midfield defense, not allowing him to easily participate in the attack, because he was afraid of Spain's midfield. Now it seemed that this would not work. He had to liberate Li Yongle and use his long passes to counterattack, and use his ability to attack and defend to fight for control of the midfield.

Li Yi passed the ball to Li Yongle. He also wanted to see how capable this little teammate who played for Inter Milan was, that Qiu Zhi (coach) was cultivating him as a core player.

It certainly wouldn't be because he could run, right?

The moment Li Yongle received the ball, he did not take the opportunity to turn around, but directly made a long pass to Yang Pan on the right.

This sideways long pass came suddenly. Raúl Bravo did not expect it. When he pounced to the wing, Yang Pan had already stopped the ball. Just as Bravo was about to lean on him to force Yang Pan to slow down, he suddenly kicked the ball forward six or seven meters!

Then he went around the sideline, avoiding Bravo's close defense, and then accelerated from the sideline to come back in and chase the ball!

Yang Pan's speed caused the entire Bernabéu to exclaim. Bravo was shaken by Yang Pan, slipped, lost his balance, and fell out of bounds!

Zhang Jun and Li Jie saw that Yang Pan had gotten the ball, and they both inserted into the penalty area. This would be a great opportunity for the Chinese team!

Helguera was forced to fill Bravo's position, Albelda filled Helguera's position, and Vicente was also anxious to chase back. Li Yongle's seemingly casual long pass disrupted Spain's defensive deployment. Li Yi had to admit that this young man was really promising.

Yang Pan crossed the ball without waiting for Helguera to force him up!

He crossed the ball, and Zhang Jun followed up in the middle. This was a tried and tested tactic that was simple and practical. Aragonés had also specifically told the Spanish defenders before the match to pay attention to the tacit understanding between Zhang and Yang.

Almost all Spanish defenders thought that Yang Pan would pass the ball to Zhang Jun, who was following up in the middle. Puyol constantly harassed Zhang Jun with his hands, not allowing him to jump comfortably.

But they were all wrong. Yang Pan very forcefully passed the ball directly to his diagonal rear—the arc of the penalty area!

Li Yongle suddenly appeared in the camera. Even Aragonés was a little surprised. His attention had just been completely attracted by Yang Pan's breakthrough. When he saw Yang Pan passing the ball back, he noticed that there was no one marking the front of the team's penalty area!

"Li Yongle! Does anyone know how he appeared there?!"

The football rolled over, the ball speed was moderate, Li Yongle took a big step, caught up, and then shot powerfully without stopping the ball!

Puyol, Albelda, Xavi, no one could stop Li Yongle from shooting, and no one's outstretched foot could block the football that was rolling quickly along the grass.

The football pierced through Spain's defense like a sharp arrow—this was thanks to Zhang Jun and Li Jie's pull just now—the goal: the goal!

All the Chinese fans who stayed up late in front of the TV to watch this match were ready to cheer, but Casillas made an incredible save. When he fell to the ground, he used his toes to block the football out of the baseline!

Saint Casillas!

The entire Bernabéu cheered!

Yang Pan, who had slid out of bounds because of his effort to pass the ball, sat on the ground, watching Li Yongle shoot directly without being marked, the ball quality was very high. He also watched the football quickly penetrate the Spanish defense and go straight to the goal. In the end, he watched Casillas block the shot with his foot, stifling their beautiful attack.

He slapped the turf hard, then jumped up from the ground. Although it was a pity that he didn't score, it also let those arrogant Spanish media know that the Chinese team was not here to visit the Bernabéu—he knew from chatting with Li Yan before the match what the Spanish media's attitude was toward this match. They believed that the Chinese team's biggest gain from this trip should be to enjoy the Bernabéu's dressing room, and their contempt was very obvious.

This was the Chinese team's most threatening attack in the first half, and then they were surrounded by the Spanish team near the penalty area and attacked wildly.

Facing the Spanish players whose individual skills were superior, even Xiang Tao and Li Yongle were very embarrassed to deal with.

Joaquín was not only good at speed, but this time he used his skills to shake Xiang Tao down and then cross the ball. Zheng Jun did not watch Raúl, allowing the opponent to jump up and calmly head the ball!

An Ke reflexively jumped up, then stretched out his left hand and flicked the ball, barely over the crossbar, and landed on the net.

A huge sigh sounded in the Bernabéu.

"This is An Ke's fourth key save in the first half! With the overall strength gap too large, he has become the busiest person in the Chinese team!"

"Xiang Tao!" An Ke called out.

Xiang Tao shook the mud off his hand: "Don't call me, it's my responsibility! Damn it, if the pitch wasn't so bad, he wouldn't have been able to shake me off!"

Spain's corner kick was taken, this time by Helguera. He headed for the far corner, An Ke couldn't save it, and just as the ball was about to go in, Xiang Tao, who was standing at the far post, jumped up and headed the ball straight out! The Chinese team escaped a disaster.

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Just as the first half was about to end, the Chinese team organized another counterattack, but Li Yongle's through pass was intercepted by Puyol. Immediately afterward, Spain immediately switched from defense to offense. Puyol passed the ball to Xavi, Xavi and Albelda made a wall-passing cooperation, passed Li Yongle's defense, and then passed the ball to Joaquín's side when facing Li Yi.

Xiang Tao rushed up to defend. If it was about speed, he had confidence, but if it was about skill, he would foul directly. Giving a free kick would be better than letting Joaquín break through.

Good kid, come on, come on, let me get revenge!

That's what Xiang Tao thought, but Joaquín didn't follow his script and passed the ball directly out again.

Passed to the inserted Xavi!

Xavi suddenly shot from twenty-four meters from the goal! The football spun out a splash of water and flew toward the goal.

An Ke judged the correct direction and pounced to the far corner. He knew that he could not catch this ball directly, but could only deflect it out of the crossbar, just like the header against Raúl.

But the moment his fingertip touched the football, he felt that the ball was a little heavier than usual.

…

"The ball shot in the rain is heavier than usual. If the weather is normal, I would have saved this ball beautifully!" He explained after being scored a goal by Zhang Jun during the warm-up. This was indeed not an excuse, but a quibble. He was telling the truth.

…

Saved… beautifully?

An Ke called out badly in his heart, and his fingers used a little more force, but the football that had been soaked in water was not only heavy, but also had a slippery surface.

An Ke's forceful deflection pushed the football toward the front of the goal instead of deflecting it out of the crossbar!

This time, the quick-witted Raúl seized the opportunity again. He had inserted towards the goal after Xavi shot, and when An Ke made a mistake, he happened to appear in front of the football, and there was no Chinese defender beside him!

The unmarked Raúl easily leaped forward and headed the ball into the empty goal, Spain leading 2:0!

Raúl jumped up and kissed his ring, and then was quickly surrounded by his teammates.

In contrast to the excited Spanish players, most of the Chinese players surrounded the referee and appealed to him that Raúl was offside. But then the replay on the big screen proved Raúl's innocence. Xavi shot first, and Raúl inserted later. He was not offside, and the goal was no problem.

Qiu Suhui saw Raúl score and finally decided to sit back on the coach's bench. He had been standing in the rain for twenty minutes.

"This is the gap, from strength to experience, a full range of gaps." Qiu Suhui spread his hands to Hu Li. The other party handed him a dry towel, and he wiped the water from his face and hair. "If I didn't bring them out to see the world, they would probably think they are very powerful. Save anything for the half-time break."

※※※

The Spanish reporters around him cheered again, and Li Yan could hear them constantly calling Raúl's name: "Raúl! Raúl!"

Damn it! It's just a two-goal lead, right?

"Obviously, the Chinese team is not here to visit the Bernabéu's dressing room, and the Spanish players did not put friendship first. Both sides worked very hard, but Spain's strength and experience are obviously superior. Leading 2:0 in the first half allowed this young Chinese team to see the gap between themselves and the world's top teams."

Li Yan gritted his teeth and wrote in his notebook. At the end, he thought about it and added a few sentences: "But we should still have a chance. Ke Lu is still sitting on the bench, Li Yongle's national team debut is still very restrained, Yang Pan is helping Wang Hui defend too much, Zhang Jun has few shots... More importantly, we still have a second half, a full forty-five minutes."

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Let me advertise my own forum again: p.

Waiting for the days of updates, after reading it, if you have anything to say, or if you have any fan stories, you can throw them to this forum. You can communicate with others, and you can also see a lot of championship peripheral music and game settings.