Chapter 144 A Flag is Raised Sky-High

Sun Pan's Weibo post immediately attracted countless onlookers.

After the Chinese team forced a draw with the Netherlands, although it was already past 2:00 AM on June 14th in China, the internet was still buzzing.

Chinese fans who had just watched a thrilling match were too excited to sleep. Some were waiting for the next game.

They took time to refresh their Weibo feeds, hoping to find news and jokes about the game that had just ended. They also couldn't wait to share their joy.

Then these fans discovered Sun Pan's new Weibo post: "I'm very happy that we were able to get a crucial point. But conceding a goal wasn't perfect. I swear here that I will guarantee that the Spanish team won't score in the next match against Spain! If I can't do it, I'll livestream myself eating sh*t!!"

Everyone was stunned. At first, someone cautiously replied below: "Um… Has Brother Sun's Weibo account been hacked?"

Others @'d Weibo administrators, asking them to deal with the hacking.

But when Zhou Yi forwarded this Weibo post, adding: "In ancient times, Xiang Yu sank his boats and broke his cooking pots to boost morale. Now we have Pan Pan livestreaming himself eating sh*t. The fLAg is raised sky-high, using such a huge sacrifice to encourage the team's morale. It's truly admirable!"

Everyone was then convinced that Sun Pan's account hadn't been hacked…

Then the internet went crazy. Everyone came to watch, forward, and comment, teasing Sun Pan while riding the high of forcing a draw with the Netherlands.

What Chinese fans loved most about this group of players was that although they were dazzling superstars on TV, they were also accessible and could be joked with by ordinary people in real life and on the internet. They were no longer just star figures who could only exist on posters on the wall and in TV news. They still had joys, sorrows, and were just like ordinary people.

Everyone could easily interact with them online.

"Brother Sun, you're going too far. Actually, you played great in the match against the Netherlands, there's no need to raise this fLAg…"

"Saint Sun Pan's performance in this match was awesome! Of course, we're optimistic about you in the match against Spain too!"

"Brother Sun, are you really going to livestream yourself eating sh*t? I'll definitely watch then!"

"The ultimate weapon is here! When was the last time Pan Pan said he would livestream himself eating sh*t if he conceded a goal? Does everyone remember? The Olympics against South Korea! He said at the time that if he conceded a goal, he would livestream himself eating sh*t, and what happened? He didn't let South Korea score a single goal! This time Pan Pan said these words again, it's like 'Don't say you weren't warned'! I'm praying for the defending champions!"

"A man has to be ruthless to himself—Sun Pan."

"This is a flavorful Weibo post…"

"I'm eating a midnight snack!"

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During the day, even some traditional and online media outlets reposted Sun Pan's Weibo post and used it as a topic of discussion. Of course, it was mainly for teasing, and few people really took it seriously.

After the Chinese team achieved a satisfactory result, of course no one would come out at this time to criticize Sun Pan for being vulgar.

Sun Pan's Weibo post was just an interlude after all, not the main focus of everyone's attention.

The main focus of everyone's attention was still on Zhou Yi.

Before the World Cup started, there were two opinions about when Zhou Yi would be able to recover from his injury. One was that he would definitely miss the first two group matches, and the other was that he might have to wait until the knockout stage to play.

Later, as Zhou Yi's injury recovered, the first opinion was mentioned more often, and everyone was more willing to believe the first opinion.

After all, if Zhou Yi had to wait until the knockout stage to return, then the Chinese team might be eliminated and sent home. Even if he recovered at that time, it would be meaningless. Of course, there was also a risk in recovering in the last group match. If the Chinese team lost both of the first two group matches, then they would also be eliminated, and Zhou Yi would have to go home after only playing one match in the World Cup. But overall, the first opinion was more hopeful than the second.

The day before the World Cup started, Zhou Yi resumed training with the ball, which gave everyone hope that Zhou Yi would fully recover in the third group match.

But up until the second group match, Zhou Yi was still training alone and hadn't trained with the team.

This made people worry about whether he could recover in the third group match.

After all, football is not a one-person sport, but a team sport. Even if Zhou Yi was physically ready, but he hadn't been training with the team, how could his teamwork with the team be guaranteed? How could it work if he was on a completely different wavelength from the rest of the team when he took the field? Not to mention that he was the team's absolute core. If he wasn't on the same wavelength as the team, it meant that the team's performance couldn't be good at all.

Now the Chinese team has drawn the first two group matches, earning two points, and retaining the hope of qualifying for the group stage. As long as they can beat Spain in the last round, they have a high chance of qualifying for the group stage. Therefore, Zhou Yi's performance after his return has naturally become the top priority.

After the match between the Chinese team and the Netherlands ended, the match between Spain and Chile also began. The final result was a surprising 0:2, and Spain lost the most crucial match.

Having lost both matches, Spain was effectively eliminated in advance. It was a historical moment as the defending champions were sent home in the group stage for the second consecutive World Cup.

But this wasn't good news for the Chinese team.

Having been eliminated in advance, Spain had no burden of victory or defeat in the last match. At the same time, they still had to fight for honor. They desperately needed a victory to wash away the shame. They would definitely not throw the match against the Chinese team, but would go all out. Maybe the defending champions could really show their world-class strength at that time, which would greatly increase the difficulty for the Chinese team to defeat Spain.

But the Chinese team's coach, Lippi, had a different opinion on this issue. After the match between Spain and Chile ended, he accepted a phone interview with a familiar Italian reporter, and then he talked about this: "... I don't think so. In fact, no matter what the result of the match between Spain and Chile is, it makes no difference to us. Because if we want to qualify from this group, we must defeat Spain in the last match. Similarly, if Spain wins against Chile, they will definitely fight us to the death in the last match, because they will have hope of qualifying. So I don't care about the result of Spain's match. We just need to do our best."

Lippi answered this question while smoking a cigar.

Eight years ago, he led the unfavored Italy to win the World Cup, ascending to the altar in one battle. But in South Africa four years later, he was knocked off the altar, and the defending champions he led were shamefully eliminated in the group stage.

After that match, Lippi resigned from the Italian national team for the second time. Later, he went to China, thousands of miles away, to coach Guangzhou Hengyuan. Unexpectedly, he led the team to win the AFC Champions League, completing a historic breakthrough in Chinese football. This old man in the twilight of his career suddenly found a second spring.

And this time, he appeared on the World Cup stage again, but as the coach of the Chinese team.

And he was still a temporary firefighter.

But this time, compared to South Africa four years ago, he was doing quite well. After two rounds of group matches, the Chinese team has earned two points, retaining the hope of qualifying for the group stage.

This was already a very good result for the Chinese team, which lacked its absolute core, Zhou Yi. It should be known that their opponents included the Netherlands, the runners-up of the last World Cup. Apart from the first match drawing with Chile, which was somewhat surprising, the second match drawing with the Netherlands was definitely the most beautiful match Lippi had coached the Chinese team in the World Cup.

At the end of the interview, the Italian reporter asked a question that not only Chinese fans were concerned about, but also fans all over the world: "Will Zhou Yi recover in the third match against Spain? How long can he play? Will he start or be a substitute?"

Lippi replied: "The answers to these three questions are the same—'I don't know'. I don't know if he can recover in the third match, I don't know if he can start, and I don't know how long he can play. Until now, Zhou Yi hasn't trained with the team. Whether he can recover depends on how well he trains with the team. I hope he can recover, because he is very important to us. But I don't want to take this risk, after all, he is still very young. He is not just participating in this World Cup, I want to be responsible for the player's future."

But this reporter who was familiar with Lippi didn't think so in his heart. While considering the player was one reason, the more important reason was probably that he didn't want to reveal the Chinese team's internal secrets to him, right?

After all, Zhou Yi was an important weapon against Spain, and whether he recovered or not was likely to determine the Chinese team's and Spain's results. So Spain must also be paying attention to the answer to this question…

In fact, he himself knew that he couldn't easily get anything out of Lippi's mouth, but he still had to ask, maybe Lippi would suddenly open his heart to him?

Of course, he failed.