Football: I am only 16 years old, and you want me to retire and make a comeback?

Chapter 870 The Crystal Exploded
The joy of two consecutive victories in the group stage filled the whole of China.

Although the Chinese team has been trying to break stereotypes in recent years, their two consecutive wins in the group stage are indeed quite surprising.

Even fans who frequently watch the Chinese Super League and the English Premier League and consider themselves knowledgeable about Tang Ye and the Chinese national team can't help but sigh.

Has the dawn broken for Chinese football?
Chinese fans are certainly feeling great, but fans of other teams in the same group, like the Germans and Argentinians, are not so comfortable.

"Frick!"

Hey, are you listening to me?

"Germany must advance!!!"

"We can't afford to lose to China again!"

After losing to Argentina, German fans surrounded their own team bus.

The bus curtains were closed, but that didn't stop angry fans from shouting at Flick.

"If we lose one more game, we're out!!!"

"Only one match remains in the group stage!"

"Flick! We can't afford to lose again! Germany will win! Germany will rise!"

The bus just stopped in the middle of the road.

There were so many fans surrounding the area that the driver didn't even dare to honk the horn, for fear of offending the already angry fans.

"Calm down, please calm down."

"I heard you shouting, and I know what we're facing now!"

Flick finally stepped forward, and the surroundings quieted down a bit: "We only have 3 points right now, that's true, but you have to understand, Argentina also only has 3 points. Many other strong European teams also only have 3 points. What I'm saying is that our points only look low; we will advance!"

"Don't lose to China again!"

The fans shouted.

With neighboring China defeating Wales and the formidable Argentina in succession, it's impossible to say that German fans aren't anxious.

"I know! We won't lose to China!"

"2018 is 2018, and 2022 is 2022!"

Flick stuck his head out of the window and gave the fans a lot of attention before the German team bus was able to move on.

"What do you think about losing to Argentina?"

The reporter interviewed the fans at the scene.

"Disappointed, very disappointed, we are extremely disappointed!"

A fan shouted into the microphone: "Although it wasn't as bad as it was in Russia, I'm still very angry. We clearly had a chance to draw with Argentina, but we lost. We're still not in the qualification zone! And we're going to play China in the next round!"

Unbeknownst to many, "China" has become a synonym for terror!
There was no way around it; the opponent in this do-or-die match was the Chinese men's football team, who were on a two-game winning streak, and they were led by GG King (a famous Chinese football player). It was impossible not to be nervous.

The most frustrating thing is that even if Germany defeats China head-on in the third round, they are not guaranteed to advance to the knockout stage.

They need to score enough goals to overwhelm the Chinese team on goal difference!

"I don't know what the next match will be like, but I will be there. I think Germany has a chance to advance."

The fans spoke their minds to the camera.

"Our grades are getting worse and worse, and I can't accept it."

"If we don't qualify for the World Cup, I'll make Flick pay!"

After a few seconds of pause, the screen went black.

The fans' comments contained personal threats and were therefore prohibited from being broadcast.

……

The Sun's World Cup column: After losing to Argentina, the German team bus was intercepted by fans, and Flick promised "we will definitely advance to the knockout stage".

The Sun reports that after two consecutive wins in the group stage, the share price of TY-owned PPBnd has surged to £42 per share, an increase of more than 800% since its initial listing.

Is the Chinese team the biggest winner of this World Cup?

You think it is, but it isn't.

The biggest winner is PPBBond.

The explosive popularity of Tangye dolls, coupled with the Chinese national football team's two consecutive victories in the Qatar World Cup, created a perfect storm of favorable conditions. This World Cup seemed tailor-made for PPBond, with its stock price increasing by 150% during the tournament, skyrocketing to new heights.

PPBond currently has a market capitalization of approximately £25.2 billion, and the World Cup is not even over yet!
The Sun reporter: It is not yet clear how much TY holds in real time, but according to the last major shareholder data of "14.2%", PPB Bond has brought TY an additional £3.5 million in value. The great success of the toy business and the Chinese team's winning streak in the World Cup are considered to be the main reasons.

“TY’s agent, Bohr, has only made one truly outstanding choice throughout his entire career: signing TY. This Dutch agent’s professional skills are far behind those of traditional agents like Mendes, but his business acumen is undeniably top-notch.”

"However, according to experts, TY's current stake in PPB Bond should have fallen below 10%, which means that TY cannot obtain the full £3.5 million."

"As for the future of PPB Bond, 8 out of 10 experts interviewed believed that 'PPBD has no future.'"

[Fuck the Sun! I didn't buy it because I read about the Sun, seriously!]

[It turns out that my brother Zhengxiong is the only guiding light. I told you to bet 100 million on China to beat Argentina, and then go all in on Tangye stock with the profits. The path to making money is right in front of you, but you don't believe me. What can I do? Sigh... From now on, follow my brother Zhengxiong's lead and don't mess around anymore.]

[Hilarious! My brother Zhengxiong is a real genius. Wait, does he have some inside information? How does he always win?]

[You mean Tang Zhengxiong knew in advance that the Chinese national football team would have a phenomenal performance and beat Argentina??? You might as well say that his family is just blessed with good fortune, they don't need to actively earn money, gold coins just fall from the sky.]

Does anyone know if it's a good time to sell Tang Qiuwang's stock? 25 billion pounds is over 200 billion RMB, right? Can you really make that much money selling toys?

[You absolutely have to sell! If you sell it now, you'll be keeping my GG Masao stuck on the mountaintop. Wouldn't that be something to brag about for a year?]

……

Match Preview: The highlight match of Group C in the World Cup is Germany vs. China, with Tang Ye leading the national team to face the German machine again.

The scenes from the 2018 Russian competition are still fresh in my memory, but little did I know that was already four and a half years ago.

The Chinese national team today is vastly different from what it used to be. The number of players from the top five European leagues has increased from "2" to "3", and the number of Ballon d'Or winners has also increased from "0" to "4".

The German team on the other side is the same; compared to four and a half years ago, the German juggernaut has become much more united.

Both sides have become stronger, which makes the upcoming match very exciting.

Snapped!
Zhang Xizhe took the corner kick, and Tang Ye suddenly surged forward, shouting, "Watch me! Watch me!"

Jump up!
He volleyed a corner kick with both feet, aiming for the goal defended by Yan Junling!
Snapped!
Tang Ye's volley shot went wide.

"Grass!"

"Ha ha!"

"It's awesome!"

Applause erupted from the audience, while Tang Ye, standing at the top of the arc, sighed and clutched his head, "Damn it, I couldn't hold him down."

"It's okay, it's okay, as long as you're awesome!"

Wu Lei and Tang Ye bumped fists.

Beside him were Eskeriva and Martí, who were squatting on the grass. The Chinese national football team coach pressed his notebook on the grass and wrote quickly with a pen.

"The atmosphere is so nice..."

"Ok?"

Hearing the voice from beside him, Escriva turned his head and exclaimed, "What?"

"I said, the atmosphere is really nice."

"Ha ha!"

Do you remember what you said to me before the group stage started?

Eskeriva began reminiscing, and Matti could only manage a helpless, wry smile.

Before the group stage began, Marty was worried that the first loss to Argentina would completely crush the Chinese team's morale.

As it turned out, these guys on the field were ruthless enough to completely reverse the game against Argentina, and in the end, Marti became the clown.

"You didn't expect this either, did you? There's no need to laugh at me."

"Haha, mainly because Tom said before that he felt we could beat Argentina, which now seems quite unbelievable. I don't know how he made that prediction." "Like I said, it's all about confidence!"

"Haha."

"..."

"Holy crap! Damn it!"

At the start of the break, Wu Lei suddenly shouted something for some reason, immediately attracting the attention of his teammates.

"Brother Lei, calm down. We have a big advantage right now, so don't be afraid of losing."

Tang Ye lay on the grass.

It can be a bit hot in Qatar during the day, but it gets just right at night.

"No, do you still remember your Bible?"

"The Bible? I'm not religious."

"No, it's the Russian Bible from before."

"Ok?"

Sensing something crucial, Tang Ye got up from the ground and headed towards Wu Lei's location: "What?"

"It's the midfielder from the Russian team that played against Germany before."

"Um, can we not talk about that?"

Tang Ye certainly knew what Wu Lei was talking about.

During halftime of the match against Germany, Tang Ye verbally abused the entire Chinese team from start to finish.

This incident did indeed happen, but it's something Tang Ye absolutely doesn't want to bring up again.

It's so embarrassing.

"No, yours has been turned into a song, and we might play it before the competition starts?"

Upon hearing Wu Lei's explanation, Tang Ye walked over, and Zhang Yuning next to him also leaned closer, wanting to see what had happened.

Wu Lei's phone screen displayed a Weibo interface, which was about a poll for the song to be played before the third round of the group stage.

1. "Tang Ye's Bible", 6770249 votes.

2. "Little Hero with a Big Belly", 2304206 votes.

3. "Frost and Snow for a Thousand Years" (Pear Blossom Fragrance), 5720523 votes.

……

The first two songs were far ahead, with a significant gap between the first and second place.

"Tang Ye's Bible" was ranked number one on NetEase Cloud Music's trending song chart in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022!

"...I know this."

Wu Lei wanted to play the video, but Tang Ye stopped him: "I think it was available about two days after the match ended. I saw it."

"But this shouldn't count as a song, they can't play it."

"No, the problem is that this vote count is far ahead, more than 600 million votes."

Wu Lei pointed to the numbers on the screen, seemingly wanting to emphasize the overwhelming lead of the "Tang Ye Bible" in the vote.

"But this is definitely not a song."

Tang Ye shrugged and spread his hands: "Don't worry, this won't be released."

Seeing Wu Lei's sudden dejected expression, Tang Ye panicked: "Damn, you don't really want to release this, do you?"

"Haha, that's true to some extent."

“Bags won’t work, and they can’t understand German anyway.”

"Hey, don't tell me this, you really shouldn't tell me."

Zhang Yuning pointed at Tang Ye: "Germany must know. Do you know how popular that video was? It was number one on YouTube and Twitter, more people watched it than the video of our match against Germany."

"It's impossible for it to be released anyway."

After saying that, Tang Ye used Wu Lei's phone to cast a vote for the theme song of "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf".

……

The Manchester Evening News predicts the starting lineups for the China-Germany match: Tang Ye and Müller face off again, €3.2 million vs. €4.7 million.

The matches in Group C were quite entertaining.

The match between China and Argentina was a battle for the Golden Ball, a pivotal contest between Tang Ye and Messi.

The Sino-German match was quite special; it was a life-or-death battle, as well as a battle of grudges!
The German team has their best chance for revenge, to defeat China and wipe away their previous humiliation.

For China, there is still some pressure, since the team is not yet fully guaranteed to advance. If they lose to Germany by too many goals, things will get really bad.

Therefore, the Chinese team must focus on defense, which will be of paramount importance in this crucial match.

Dongqiudi retweeted a source's tweet: Jiang Guangtai is unlikely to return for the match against Germany, and his ankle will need at least 5 more days to fully recover.

hiss……

This is not good news.

The absence of key center-back Jiang Guangtai is fatal for the Chinese team; it's as if they've already cut their chances of winning before the match even started.

And perhaps because the procuratorate in their hometown was concerned about the Chinese team, they made another sacrifice two days before the start of the match.

Pinned: Current Chinese Football Association Chairman Chen Xuyuan is under investigation.

"..."

Brother, you...

The former interim head coach being gone is a minor issue, but the fact that the Football Association president is under investigation is a bit too abstract.

On Dongqiudi (a Chinese sports betting platform), it's hotly debated: Did the crystal explode? With the Chinese national football team's crucial World Cup group stage match imminent, the current president and secretary-general of the Chinese Football Association are both under investigation.

……

On the day of the match, Tang Ye was walking towards the mixed zone.

He was prepared to stand up for Germany as the captain of the Chinese national team if any journalists belittled the German team.

It's not that I hope Germany plays well, it's just that Tang Ye needs to leave the team a way out.

We must not make any threats, otherwise what if Germany completely crushes us?

And if a reporter asks about advancing...

Tang Ye was lost in thought when he unknowingly stepped into the mixed zone.

"TY, could you please share your thoughts on Chen Xuyuan's case?"

"I……"

"Ugh."

Tang Ye sighed: "Please, let's ask another question."

……

Germany vs. China.

Argentina vs. Wales.

The last two matches in Group C started simultaneously, which means that the fates of the three teams—China, Germany, Argentina, and Wales—will be decided within the next two hours.

No one knows if they will advance, not even Wales, who currently have 0 points.

ESPN: Considering that Wales is unlikely to be a match for Argentina, Germany must defeat China if they want to advance to the knockout stage, and their goal difference against China must be no less than 3.

(End of this chapter)