Chapter 57 A Red Card Out of the Blue

Watching Sun Pan fall to the ground, clutching his face, Chi Dongyuan was stunned. Sun Pan's reaction surprised him. Then he heard a shrill whistle.

He turned his head and saw the referee Roldán rushing toward him.

In that instant, Chi Dongyuan's brain finally caught up. He pointed at Sun Pan and shouted to the referee, "He's faking it!!"

At this moment, Zhou Yi and his teammates from the national Olympic team also rushed to the referee, pointing at Sun Pan, who was lying on the ground in agony, and protesting to the referee, "That was a malicious retaliatory act!"

The South Korean players also rushed into the penalty area to defend their teammate Chi Dongyuan, shouting at Sun Pan, "He's faking it!"

"He provoked him first!"

South Korean captain Ki Sung-yueng squeezed in front of the referee, shielding Chi Dongyuan behind him, and explained to the referee in English, "...He didn't do it on purpose. The opposing goalkeeper provoked him first. He just wanted to push him away..."

In fact, he was very clear about what Chi Dongyuan's action meant. The Chinese players were right about one thing—it was a retaliatory act.

And in the rules of football, such retaliatory actions are severely punished.

Remember how a young and impetuous Beckham was sent off? Logically, Simeone fouled first, but Beckham, simply to vent his emotions, retaliated by kicking Simeone while lying on the ground. The kick wasn't very strong, and Simeone's fall was rather exaggerated, but in the end, Beckham was shown a yellow card, accumulating two yellow cards and being sent off...

Ki Sung-yueng's biggest worry was that Chi Dongyuan would also receive a yellow card for this action.

Because just five minutes earlier, Chi Dongyuan had received a yellow card for his provocative celebration after scoring a goal. If he got another yellow card, he would be sent off!

This was something he absolutely did not want to happen.

The Chinese team was also well aware of the stakes, so they continued to put pressure on the referee.

He Ying, who played in Spain, communicated directly with the Colombian referee Roldán in Spanish, repeatedly emphasizing how serious Chi Dongyuan's action was.

Yes, the nature was serious. It had nothing to do with the magnitude of the action, nor with the damage caused to Sun Pan. Even if the biggest injury Sun Pan suffered was a hard injury from falling to the ground himself, it would not affect the serious nature of Chi Dongyuan's action!

The Chinese team was desperately trying to give Chi Dongyuan a death sentence, while the South Korean team was united in trying to protect him.

As for Chi Dongyuan? He was desperately trying to break free from his teammates' restraint, wanting to find Sun Pan to "make things clear." He roared at Sun Pan, "Liar! Shameless little man who fakes falls! Despicable!!"

Looking at his excited appearance, it was as if, if no one was holding him back, he could have jumped on Sun Pan and beaten him half to death...

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"Eh?!" He Ping exclaimed when Chi Dongyuan pushed Zhou Yi. "Chi Dongyuan's action is too impulsive! No matter what, he can't push people! This is a very serious action, and I believe the referee Roldán won't miss it!"

He Ping was condemning Chi Dongyuan with his mouth, but in his heart, he was shouting "Good push!"

The Korean commentator also realized the seriousness of the situation, and he exclaimed repeatedly, "Aiya! Chi Dongyuan! This action is too reckless! This is happening right under the referee's nose!"

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The referee repeatedly blew his whistle to disperse the Chinese and Korean players surrounding him. He had a yellow card in his hand.

But was this yellow card for Sun Pan, for faking a fall, or for Chi Dongyuan?

After the crowd dispersed slightly, Roldán took a step forward and came to Chi Dongyuan. This action had already explained everything.

If there were no accidents...

Sure enough, Roldán raised his arm holding the yellow card in front of Chi Dongyuan!

"Yellow card! Chi Dongyuan receives his second yellow card of the match!" He Ping said excitedly, almost laughing.

Chi Dongyuan didn't have time to settle accounts with Sun Pan at this time. He stared wide-eyed, looking at the referee in disbelief.

After showing the yellow card, Roldán took out a red card from his chest pocket—he didn't make the low-level mistake of forgetting to show the red card.

He gave this "Red Gemstone God of War Card" to Chi Dongyuan!

"Two yellows make a red! Chi Dongyuan has been sent off!" He Ping announced excitedly. "The South Korean team missed a penalty kick and had a player sent off. It's really a case of misfortunes never coming singly!" His words were full of schadenfreude.

"Chi Dongyuan is too impulsive! He paid the price for his youthful recklessness!" The Korean commentator, in addition to criticizing Chi Dongyuan, changed his tone and began to blame Sun Pan. "But the Chinese players' unsportsmanlike behavior is the root of all this! We can clearly see from the slow-motion replay that Chi Dongyuan only pushed Sun Pan's chest, but Sun Pan fell to the ground clutching his face. This action is really too bad. This is undoubtedly a fake fall! It's simply morally bankrupt! Chinese people are so good at acting, why is our Korean drama still the king in their country?"

At this time, the indignant Korean commentator automatically shielded the fact that Chi Dongyuan's penalty kick itself was obtained by faking a fall...

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Sun Pan, who was lying on the ground clutching his face, saw through the gaps between his fingers that the referee had shown Chi Dongyuan a yellow card. He immediately took his hand off his face and sat up—the goal had been achieved, and he didn't need to lie on the ground anymore.

However, he did not escape punishment—he was also shown a yellow card by the referee Roldán. This yellow card was of course not for faking a fall, but for provoking Chi Dongyuan after saving the penalty kick.

But he was different from Chi Dongyuan. This was only his first yellow card of the match, and he could continue to stay on the field. And Chi Dongyuan, no matter how unwilling he was, could only leave the field. If he continued to make trouble, it would bring even more disastrous consequences for him and the South Korean Olympic team.

Ki Sung-yueng persuaded Chi Dongyuan to leave the field. At this time, Chi Dongyuan already knew how much trouble his momentary impulse had brought to the team. He apologized to Ki Sung-yueng in tears.

Ki Sung-yueng patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't think too much about it. You did your best. Don't blame yourself."

That's what he said, but everyone understood that if the South Korean team was eliminated, then the blame would most likely fall on Chi Dongyuan...

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Chi Dongyuan was sent off, South Korea was down a man, and the score was still tied 1:1. The South Korean team's second penalty kick was missed. Each of these things was a huge blow to the morale of the South Koreans. Now, they were all put together.

When the game restarted, although the South Korean team got a corner kick, this corner kick did not pose any threat to Sun Pan. The ball they kicked out was directly confiscated by Sun Pan in the air above the penalty area.

Next, until the end of the first half, the South Korean team was like a lost soul, and the Chinese team pressed them back.

If there hadn't been so little time left, their goal might have been broken before the end of the first half.

When the referee Roldán blew the whistle to end the first half, He Ping said, "Roldán saved the South Korean team. This fifteen-minute halftime break will give them a good respite. I think the South Korean team, with one less player, should unify their thinking at this time and try their best to defend. If they can drag it into a penalty shootout, their chances of winning may be higher..."

At the end of the first half, the Chinese players got together and went off the field. Zhou Yi said to Sun Pan, "See, it was right for me to pull you down and not let you have a direct conflict with that Chi Dongyuan, right? Otherwise, if you had gotten a yellow card in the first conflict, this wouldn't have happened."

Sun Pan curled his lip. "Bullshit. Could you have thought that the Koreans would get a penalty kick so quickly? It's clear that my on-the-spot adaptability is outstanding!"

"What's so unthinkable about that?" Zhou Yi spread his hands. "Have you forgotten the Japan-Korea World Cup? Compared to that World Cup, what's two penalty kicks in five minutes?"

Hearing what Zhou Yi said, Sun Pan was stunned. Then he could only say unwillingly, "Damn! What you said makes so much sense, I'm speechless..."

The surrounding Chinese players laughed when they heard the conversation between the two.

In the TV broadcast, the Chinese players were in a good mood, walking off the field with laughter and talk, forming a sharp contrast with the depressed South Korean players.

In the eyes of South Korean fans, this scene could only further illustrate the shamelessness and meanness of the Chinese players. After they used unscrupulous means to get Chi Dongyuan down, they are now laughing so happily. What an ugly face!

But who cares what they think? Even if they greet all eighteen generations of Chinese ancestors in front of the TV, they can't change the reality that Chi Dongyuan was sent off and the penalty kick was saved...