Yoshida Maya swung and missed with his tackle, sliding into the goal along with the football. Only after his cleats caught in the net did he have time to look for the ball.

He turned his head and saw the football resting near him.

Inside the goal!

Japan had conceded a goal!

"Aaaaaaaah!!!" the Japanese commentator shrieked. "They scored! China's counterattack was just too sharp! We lack countermeasures against this! Yoshida Maya gave it his all, but still couldn't stop Wu Lei's shot..."

His tone was filled with disappointment and frustration.

Not just him, but the Japanese fans in the stands and in front of their televisions were stunned, crestfallen.

From bombarding the Chinese goal and coming so close to scoring, to getting their chest pierced by the opponent's sword, the emotional rollercoaster was too much for some to handle.

"Great shot! Beautiful!" He Ping shouted, leaping from his seat with clenched fists and raised arms. "China takes the lead!! Wu Lei's powerful breakthrough and shot were superb! He caught Japan completely off guard!"

Wu Lei was stunned for a moment after scoring, not expecting to score in the Olympic final. But he quickly reacted, turning and running towards the corner flag. He was so excited that he disregarded the yellow card warning and took off his jersey!

The other Chinese players swarmed him.

Zhou Yi was among them, smiling as he ran toward Wu Lei, leaving Hotaru Yamaguchi behind—this time Yamaguchi couldn't keep up...

"What an unexpected goal! Japan had been dominating the game until now. Their attacks in the second half were fierce, threatening Sun Pan's goal multiple times. But it was China who scored!" Mark Lawrenson exclaimed.

"Wu Lei! So handsome!"

"Awesome, China! That counterattack was brilliant! Look at Wu Lei's breakthrough! So inspiring!"

"I think our national team players lack this kind of unwavering spirit. Now, I finally see it in the Olympic team!"

"Hahaha! We're leading! We're leading!"

"As expected, our strength is still superior! That counterattack was so smooth!"

The Chinese internet was also abuzz with excitement.

※※※

Zhou Yi ran to Wu Lei, who had turned around. Seeing Zhou Yi, he opened his arms and hugged him.

"Thank you!"

He said to Zhou Yi from the bottom of his heart.

Zhou Yi smiled and said, "This goal was your own breakthrough. What are you thanking me for?"

"Still, I want to thank you, Zhou Yi!" Wu Lei said earnestly.

The other teammates swarmed them, celebrating the goal together.

This goal was extremely significant for the Chinese team, who had been somewhat overwhelmed by Japan.

During the celebration, Zhou Yi seized the opportunity to explain his next plan to his teammates, hoping to gain their support.

"Although we're leading now, it's only by one goal. This isn't a safe score. So we have to score more goals if we get the chance!" Zhou Yi told his teammates. "Let's completely eliminate any suspense in this match!"

Having made up his mind, Zhou Yi didn't plan to keep sparring with Japan.

※※※

When the Chinese team finished celebrating and returned to their own half, the Japanese players had already placed the ball in the center circle, ready to kick off.

Zhou Yi looked up at the sky. The sun had sunk slightly to the west, and a small part of it was already blocked by the roof of the New Wembley Stadium. As time passed, China's situation of playing against the sun would definitely improve.

The impact on defense would also be greatly reduced.

Everything was getting better. In fact, without this goal, the situation would improve as the game progressed.

But Sun Pan's injury meant that the Chinese team couldn't wait any longer.

Zhou Yi had to bring the battle to the opponent's goal, keeping the threat away from Sun Pan.

The referee blew his whistle, Japan kicked off, and the game continued.

The Japanese team continued to use the flanks to launch their attacks, with a tall center forward in the middle. Of course, they had to play high balls.

However, this time, their ball didn't go up. After Hiroki Sakai moved to the wing to receive the ball, he was marked by Yang Muge.

He tried to shake off Yang Muge and cross, but it was no use. Yang Muge remained unmoved.

He wanted to force a breakthrough, but Yang Muge poked the ball away.

Then, the Chinese team immediately switched from defense to offense, launching a counterattack that left Japan in a sorry state.

Careful observers suddenly noticed that the situation had changed since Sun Pan's three consecutive saves. At that time, Japan had the upper hand, but now, China was dominating.

No one knew what had happened in between, and no one knew why this sudden shift had occurred. Everyone could only guess that perhaps Japan had attacked too fiercely in the first fifteen minutes and needed to adjust their rhythm, which gave China an opportunity to counterattack.

The Japanese commentator held this view. He encouraged the team in his commentary, telling them not to be discouraged by conceding a goal. At the same time, he told the Japanese fans in front of the television that the difficulties the team was currently facing were temporary. Although it seemed that China had turned the tide, it was also a good thing for Japan. They could take the opportunity to rest and catch their breath. Once the team recovered, they would continue to use their crazy running and pressing to threaten the Chinese goal again.

The idea was good, but reality doesn't always develop according to this wishful thinking...

※※※

In the seventy-first minute, the Chinese team launched another attack. This time it wasn't a counterattack, because Japan's retreat was very fast. Except for Hotaru Yamaguchi, who was entangled with Zhou Yi in front, everyone else retreated to their own thirty-meter area.

When the Chinese team advanced to the frontcourt through short passes, the Japanese team was already on high alert near their penalty area.

With continuous passing, the Chinese team didn't seem to have any good opportunities.

Japan set up a defense line composed of four defenders and a line of midfielders in front of the penalty area.

In addition to the four defenders, the Japanese team had deployed a double defensive midfielder formation in this game. One of the defensive midfielders, Hotaru Yamaguchi, was only responsible for defending Zhou Yi, while the other defensive midfielder, Takahiro Ogihara, was responsible for daily midfield defense.

In the center, their defense was very tight.

Faced with Japan's carefully arranged defense, the Chinese team passed the ball horizontally for two rounds, but never passed forward. Because in Zhou Yi's view, passing forward meant losing the ball. He couldn't find any obvious loopholes in Japan's defense.

But when the ball fell to Zhang Linpeng's feet, the somewhat impulsive fullback couldn't stand it anymore. He felt that no matter how much they passed horizontally, it wouldn't change anything. Sometimes, it was necessary to take some risks.

In his opinion, now was the time to take risks.

So he directly passed the ball into the penalty area.

"China crosses!" the Japanese commentator shouted.

He Ying rushed towards the goal, but the ball was headed out by Yoshida Maya on its way to the top of his head.

The ball flew straight out of the penalty area.

China's attack failed, and possession was about to change hands.

Seeing this scene, many people's minds would naturally pop up with this idea.

But someone dispelled this thought from many people's minds.

※※※

When Zhang Linpeng crossed, Zhou Yi, who was running into the penalty area, happened to be in the direction the ball was flying, but not at the landing point. Because the landing point was where he was running, behind him. In other words, the ball would brush past him, and he wouldn't be able to touch the ball.

But just as everyone thought so, Zhou Yi, who was running forward, naturally swung his leg back, and the ball just happened to hit the outside of his foot, decelerating and rebounding.

This made Takahiro Ogihara, another defensive midfielder from the Japanese Olympic team who was chasing the ball, miss!

Both the ball and the person brushed past him. He slammed on the brakes and saw Hotaru Yamaguchi, which relieved him a little—his defensive midfielder partner was still dutifully following Zhou Yi, and it wouldn't be so easy for Zhou Yi to get rid of him!

Sure enough, seeing Zhou Yi intercept the ball with an unconventional move, Hotaru Yamaguchi immediately reacted, shifting his attention to the ball.

Because Zhou Yi only blocked the ball and didn't use force to knock it, the ball didn't go over anyone's head, but fell in front of both sides. The ball bounced back, but fell behind Zhou Yi and Hotaru Yamaguchi.

Yamaguchi stopped abruptly, turned around, and stretched his foot to poke the ball.

At the same time, Zhou Yi also half-turned, extended his right foot, and hooked the ball before Yamaguchi could!

The ball flew past Yamaguchi's foot!

"Wow! Beautiful!" He Ping exclaimed.

The ball that flew over Yamaguchi brushed past Zhou Yi's jersey and fell in front of him.

With such a seemingly ordinary flick, he completed the dual task of dribbling and adjusting.

And at this time, Zhou Yi could turn his body to face the direction of attack!

Zhou Yi accelerated, caught up with the ball while running, and then stepped on the ball with his raised right sole, breaking into the penalty area from the side of Yūhei Tokunaga, the Japanese central defender!

"Zhou Yi! He's in!" the Japanese commentator shouted in horror. "Stop him, stop him!!"

The ball, which had been forcibly pressed down by Zhou Yi, jumped up again after landing, like a disobedient rebellious child, refusing to listen to Zhou Yi.

But just as it jumped up, it was stepped on again by Zhou Yi's sole. Zhou Yi didn't use much force, but adjusted naturally while running forward. The ball hit the sole of his shoe and rebounded due to the effect of the reaction force.

Two consecutive times, the ball became much more obedient, but it was still bouncing instead of rolling obediently on the grass. Too much adjustment might cause Zhou Yi to miss the best opportunity.

At this time, Zhou Yi and the ball rushed to the vicinity of the penalty spot. He had crossed the Japanese defense line. The person in front of him was Shuichi Gonda, the Japanese goalkeeper, who rushed out again.

And Yoshida Maya also rushed over from the other side. He wanted to be on Zhou Yi's inside line to prevent him from shooting!

Just as he was about to stick to Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi raised his right foot for the third time, but this time it wasn't to step on the ball, but to flick the ball up from bottom to top with his toes!

The lifted ball crossed over the rushing goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda, drew a parabola, and floated towards the goal behind him!

The speed wasn't very fast. Yoshida Maya realized at this time that he had made another mistake—this time he should have gone straight to the goal. In that case, he would have had a complete opportunity to block this not-so-fast shot.

But now, it was too late for him to turn back halfway. He could only turn his head and watch helplessly as the ball crossed the goal line with slow-motion speed... and flew into the far corner of the goal!

"Aaaaaaaah!!!" This scream wasn't a miserable cry from the Japanese commentator, but from the Chinese commentator He Ping!

"3:1! 3:1!!! Zhou Yi! The Olympic team leads Japan by two goals!!"

His hysterical, broken-voiced roar echoed in the commentary box of the New Wembley Stadium.