Fox in the Penalty Area

Zhou Zijing, who had just landed, saw the football falling into the goal from behind the American goalkeeper Todd. He tilted his head to confirm that he had really scored.

He then turned and ran towards the corner flag.

But he was so excited that he even forgot that he should celebrate by sliding on his knees.

He just opened his arms and ran wildly, jumping up and down, like a starfish with teeth and claws...

The movements look very uncoordinated and very funny.

But none of the fans in the stands nearby could laugh.

Because they are all American fans!

With twenty minutes left in the game, your team is three goals behind. What does it mean?

They know it better than anyone else.

It may be difficult for the American team to make a comeback and win the championship.

Unless...unless the referee desperately sent off four players of the Chinese Olympic team, causing the Chinese Olympic team to have insufficient numbers and give up the game.

But how could such a thing actually happen?

Even the most shameless Americans only dare to think in their hearts, and their remaining sense still tells them that this is impossible...

In the last women's football final, the referee's practice of almost favoring the American team throughout the game has aroused unanimous criticism from the world's public opinion after the game.

At the same time, Li Qingqing almost became a world-class hero because she single-handedly defeated the "evil and despicable" Americans.

This is a great comfort and encouragement to those people in the third world who are still resisting the hegemony of US imperialism.

The fierce criticism of the women's football final by world public opinion also made it unlikely that the men's football final would be like the women's football final.

This is indeed the case. Compared with the previous game, the style of this men's football final is much more normal.

The referee did not deliberately favor the host country, and the whistleblowing was basically satisfactory.

If the Chinese team performs poorly, the referee may be slightly biased towards the American team.

But the Chinese team performed so well,

Lead by two goals in the first half. Even if the referee had such thoughts, he probably gave up on it.

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After the game restarted, the American fans in the stands, who had been noisy for 70 minutes, were much quieter than before. Many people just sat in their seats, staring blankly at the stadium without saying a word.

As for the four American fans who were holding "M.A.G.A." just now, they also stopped at this time. The sign was still there, but it was not raised, but leaning in front of them.

The Olympic team, which was leading by three goals, became more and more steady as they played.

After the experience of the previous five games, today's Chinese Olympic team players are no longer country bumpkins who have never seen the world. Especially the two knockout games against Spain and Argentina gave them endless confidence.

Let them realize that as long as they perform normally, they can beat world-class teams.

So they are roughly equal to a world-class team.

That being the case, what is there to be afraid of when facing the host United States, which is not as powerful as Spain and Argentina?

Passing and controlling is actually a test of a player's mentality, because if someone's mentality is unbalanced, either nervous or too excited, he cannot become a qualified part of the passing and controlling system - when the ball reaches his feet, he will most likely lose it. , how to handle this passing control?

Many years ago, the Chinese national team also played passing and controlling for a while, but they could only play passing and controlling when facing teams that were weaker than themselves. Once you encounter a strong team, you will be blind.

It is because when facing a weak team, the players have the upper hand in mentality, are more relaxed and confident, and can naturally play better. Of course, the weaker team players are less powerful and cannot press the Chinese team players, which gives them more space to pass and control, which is also one of the reasons.

When encountering a strong team, Chinese players are psychologically timid before fighting, and they accept the disadvantage. Coupled with the fact that the opponent is strong and dares to press, limiting the space and time for the Chinese team players to get the ball, naturally the passing and control will not work well.

The performance of the current Olympic team players has allowed people to see a certain transformation of Chinese players.

At the Madrid Olympics four years ago, both the players themselves and the fans and spectators felt that the Chinese team was a weak team, and they always felt uneasy. If you encounter some setbacks in the game, you will easily become frightened - you always feel that it is going to be over, it will take X minutes of black time, it will be a tragedy, and it will be made up into a joke by the people all over the country...

In the past four years, the Chinese national team has entered the World Cup and performed well in the World Cup group stage, drawing 3:3 with the former world champion Brazil.

In the past four years, Hu Lai, Zhang Qinghuan, Xia Xiaoyu, Zhou Zijing and many other Chinese players have gone abroad to play in European football where the level is higher and the competition is more fierce, and gradually established a foothold... No, not only Gaining a firm foothold and showing off one's strengths has invisibly enhanced the confidence of many Chinese players.

They realize that the widely circulated statement that "Chinese people are not suitable for football" is nonsense. As long as they work hard, they can compete with players from developed countries in football.

The psychological changes brought about by this increase in self-confidence may be the most important progress in Chinese football.

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The game time passed quickly due to the slow passing and control of the Chinese team.

Soon, when the fourth official raised the sign indicating five minutes of injury time, huge boos erupted from the stands, and those American fans seemed to be alive again.

I don’t know if their boos were because they thought the stoppage time was too little, or because they were dissatisfied with losing another gold medal...

"Five minutes of injury time! Although judging from the second half of the game, the injury time is only four minutes at most... but it doesn't matter! We are now leading by three goals. Even if the US team is given five minutes, what can they do? What to do?" He Feng said very proudly in the commentary box.

As a Chinese commentator, he has never commented on such a safe game!

Yan Kangzhi shouted excitedly next to him: "Ladies and gentlemen, audience friends! We are about to witness history! A brand new history belonging to Chinese football and Asian football! Now we are only five minutes away from this history! In five more years Minutes... the Chinese Olympic team will win the Olympic gold medal! And on August 21st, the Chinese women’s football team and the men’s football team will become world champions at the same time!”

In front of the TV, Xie Lan, Hu Lixin and Li Ziqiang were already standing watching the game.

Not just them, in the inpatient building of the Affiliated Hospital of Jincheng Sports University, in the rental houses of Chu Yifan and Tang Xiuyuan, on the busy streets, in the crowded squares, in restaurants, in the subway... in In front of countless large and small screens, no one can sit and watch the game.

Some excited people couldn't wait to start cheering and celebrating.

Many pedestrians on the street stopped and looked up at the large screen on the outer wall of the commercial building. Even the traffic on the road slowed down. The drivers turned their heads to look out the car window. No car behind them sounded the horn to urge them.

The arrival sound sounded in the subway car. The door of the subway car was open, but few people came out of the car and no one entered the car.

Everyone inside and outside the carriage looked down at their mobile phones, motionless, as if they had been cast by some kind of magic.

Different places, different crowds, different performances, some are cheering, some are so nervous that they are motionless...

Football + Olympic Games, these two elements combined, touched the hearts of countless Chinese people at noon on August 22, China’s domestic time.

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Hu Lai and Zhang Qinghuan, who had been substituted, stood side by side with their substitute teammates. They hugged each other, stood on tiptoes, and looked forward to it.

The same is true for all members of the coaching staff of the Olympic team. Mai Zhaocheng kept raising his hands to look at his watch. Team leader Ran Jiachang put his hands together in front of his mouth, closed his eyes tightly, lowered his head and moved his lips slightly, not knowing what he was mumbling.

Compared with the excited anticipation of the Chinese team, the coaching bench and bench of the U.S. Olympic team next door are filled with an atmosphere of decadence. Some people are slumped on chairs, some are squatting on the ground, holding their heads in their hands, and some are kneeling on one knee. Kneel down and make the sign of the cross on your chest.

It seems to be praying to God.

But don't they know?

God has no control over the Chinese who do not believe in evil!

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"Half a minute left!"

He Feng reminded loudly.

After a while, he shouted again: "Twenty seconds left!"

"The new world is not far away! I seem to hear... the footsteps of that world! It's coming! It's approaching!"

When He Feng said this, his eyes didn't look anywhere, just staring at the referee on the field.

Until he saw the referee pushing his hands flat from his chest, even though he hadn't heard the whistle yet, he couldn't wait to shout:

"The game is over!!! The game is over!!! It's here! World champion!! The Chinese Olympic team defeated the host U.S. Olympic team 3:0 in the final! Won the gold medal in the men's football event of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics! 2028 August On the 21st of the month, August 22nd domestic time, Chinese football was on this day. The men’s and women’s teams became Olympic champions at the same time! It was on this day! Chinese football turned a new page! From this day on One day begins! The history of Chinese football will be rewritten!!"

Yan Kang beside him roared with him: "We are the champions!! We are the champions!! Chinese football...is the champions!! It is...is...champion...champion!! Champion..."

He roared till the end, till he was hoarse and broke down in tears.

The former national football player shed tears in the commentary box. In the end, he could not even stand firmly. He could only lie down on the commentary box and let his wails reach thousands of households in China through satellite signals. .

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Another subway car drove into the station, the door opened, and the people in the car rushed out of the car. People on the platform rushed into the subway. They cheered in the car and on the platform, hugging and celebrating with people they recognized and unrecognizable around them.

The cheers echoed in the underground space, drowning out the electronic prompts for entering and exiting the station, then went up the passage, and finally rushed out of the subway station.

The streets on the ground have long been covered by an endless stream of cars and car horns.

The green light at the intersection turned on, but no car started. Drivers honked their horns, stretched their hands out of their windows and waved them vigorously.

People on the sidewalk rushed onto the motorway, high-fiving and hugging people in parked vehicles.

Some people rushed out of the shops in the streets and alleys and shouted outside: "We won! We are the champions!!"

Someone in the company cubicle took off their headphones, or had no time to take them off, and cheered loudly: "Long live China!!"

Yan Yan was shouting: "Hu Lai is awesome! The Olympic team is awesome!!"

Meng Xi, Mao Xiao and others hugged each other.

Among the cheering crowd, Chu Yifan grabbed Tang Xiuyuan's arm and asked: "Let's get married, Yuanyuan!"

Tang Xiuyuan smiled and threw herself into his arms: "Okay!"

In the in-patient building of the Affiliated Hospital of Jincheng Sports University, the nurse station was surrounded by cheering crowds. Some patients were holding on to the wall with one hand and holding their crutches high with the other. Some people even threw away their crutches and hugged each other tightly, even sitting in wheelchairs. The patient was also hugged by the nurse...

Sun Juan was screaming at the top of her lungs: "Okay! Okay!! Champion!! I won the championship!"

Xie Lan had a smile on her face and raised her hands to wipe away her tears.

Hu Lixin and Li Ziqiang looked at each other, smiled, and patted each other on the shoulders.

"Congratulations, Sister Xie, Lao Hu!"

Li Ziqiang said from the bottom of his heart.

On the TV screen in front of them, a huge five-star red flag was pulled out from the Chinese team's bench. It was held high by the running Olympic team players and "floated" onto the court.

Three months ago, when Hulay appeared in the La Liga final wearing the national flag, it was just a small spark.

And now, what appears on the court in Pasadena, Los Angeles, is a winding red dragon!

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The women's football girls in the stands were cheering, screaming and celebrating like ordinary fans.

Xu Wen hugged Li Qingqing and shouted in her ear: "We are champions!! We are champions! We are all champions!!"

Li Qingqing, who was hugged tightly by her, turned to look at the green field. She easily found the figure running on the edge of the national flag.

Instead of cheering, she was surprisingly calm.

She just thought of the evening when she first met Hu Lai, a clumsy but stubborn puppy-like boy.

Unexpectedly... he really went from that unnoticed corner to the Olympic podium... Although this is not the top of the world, it is already close to the top of the world.

You did it, Hu Lai!

We did it!

It's great to meet you!

Li Qingqing shouted loudly: "Hu Lai!!"

She said nothing else, just called the boy's name.

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PS, the first day of April, please vote for me! ! !

In addition, I have finished writing the Olympic plot. I will update it for four days starting tomorrow and save up my manuscripts. It also happens to be the Qingming Festival holiday, so I may have to play with my children... For example, I recently bought a bicycle for myself and him. Every weekend I I will take him to ride on the nearby greenway. I can’t go too far during the Qingming Festival holiday. I may take him to ride on the greenway in the park. On the one hand, it can enhance the parent-child relationship, and on the other hand, it can also give me some exercise. Body……

Thank you all for your understanding and support!