Chapter 226 219: Sinophobia

The National Youth Team was without Feng Xiaoting and Zhou Haibin, losing two key playmakers from their defense and midfield.

Without Chen Tao, it was also difficult for the National Youth Team to create any threat on the right flank.

Therefore, in this match, the National Youth Team adopted a strategy of attacking on the left and defending on the right, giving Yang Yang a free role on the pitch.

From the kick-off, the National Youth Team had been on the defensive. After all, with four key players out, the team's strength had taken a considerable hit.

But Yang Yang still continued to weave and run up front. Especially when his side had the ball, he sped up his runs to pull at the South Korea Team's defensive line, creating space and waiting for an opportunity.

In the fifteenth minute, Yang Yang's incisive runs finally paid off.

Hao Junmin moved towards the center to receive a pass from a teammate, then played a through ball into the channel to the left of the South Korea Team's defensive line.

After receiving the ball in the open space, Yang Yang quickly dribbled forward. Zhu Ting also sprinted ahead, pulling a defender away from Yang Yang.

The South Korea Team's defensive attention was entirely focused on Yang Yang. They were all very aware of the threat he posed in this area.

Regardless of other matches, in this AFC U-19 Championship, Yang Yang had already scored two goals by cutting in from the left channel and suddenly shooting.

But in Yang Yang's eyes, the South Korea Team's defense was still full of holes.

Almost at the instant he received the ball, Yang Yang had already clearly mapped out the entire attacking route and its variations in his mind. Even when facing the South Korea Team's defensive line alone, he still boldly charged forward with the ball.

He first tested them by cutting inside horizontally. After discovering that the South Korea Team had heavily fortified the area in front of the penalty box, he suddenly executed a feint and change of direction while facing a Korean center-back, dribbling into the box. When the center-back caught up, he performed another sudden stop-and-start. Relying on continuous changes of pace and direction, he managed to carve out a sliver of an opportunity inside their box, gently chipping the ball to the far post with his left foot.

Because Yang Yang had drawn the attention of all the defenders, the Korean players had completely missed Zhu Ting, who was also inside the box. This allowed the latter to easily catch up to Yang Yang's chipped pass and tap it in with his right foot.

And just like that, the ball was tapped into the goal by Zhu Ting!

...

"GOAL!!!!"

"Zhu Ting!"

"The Chinese Team has finally broken through the South Korea Team's goal!"

"Incredible! The Chinese Team breaks the deadlock in the fifteenth minute, opening the scoring against the South Korea Team."

"After receiving the ball on the edge of the box, Yang Yang was incredibly calm and extremely confident. He single-handedly charged into the South Korea Team's defensive zone. Truly a display of immense skill and audacity, breaking through their siege all by himself."

"Just as Yang Yang said before the match, the South Korea Team wanted to mark him heavily, but can they stop him?"

"Even if they block Yang Yang's shooting angle, he can still assist his teammates in scoring."

"From the slow-motion replay, you can see that the South Korea Team's defenders clearly weren't paying special attention to Yang Yang's left foot. But they forgot that Yang Yang's left foot is in no way inferior to his right."

...

The moment he scored, Zhu Ting charged straight for Yang Yang.

After embracing on the pitch, the two of them quickly ran towards the base of the stands.

At this moment, the Chinese people gathered in the stands, along with the Chinese fans who had traveled all the way from China to watch the game, erupted completely.

All the players of the National Youth Team swarmed over. Even Chen Tao and the others on the bench, as well as Feng Xiaoting and Zhou Haibin in the stands, were all celebrating at the same time.

One-nil!

This goal would allow the Chinese Team to completely calm down!

It would let all the anxious players settle their nerves and focus on the game!

......

......

"Everyone, did you see that? The Koreans are nothing to be afraid of."

In the crowd of celebrating players by the sideline, Yang Yang was forcefully encouraging his teammates.

"Don't worry about past results, and don't pay attention to what the outside world says. Starting tonight, starting with this match, we will become South Korea's nightmare!"

"However much we feared the South Korea Team in the past, that's how much the South Korea Team will fear us in the future!"

"Let's make 'Chinaphobia' the nightmare of every Korean team!"

The players roared in approval.

......

......

A single goal completely changed the situation on the field.

The South Korea Team had been full of confidence before the match, wanting to defeat the Chinese Team, and had already done plenty of trash-talking. But on the pitch, they suddenly discovered that the Chinese Team was playing with more tenacity and composure than ever before.

Instead, conceding the first goal made the South Korea Team a bit anxious.

Localized pressing was a long-standing strength of the South Korea Team. Ever since Hiddink coached the South Korea Team and brought with him the Netherlands' style of pressing, the South Korea Team had always regarded this trait as a tradition.

Through this localized pressing, the South Korea Team could always establish a numerical advantage in small areas, which in turn translated into an advantage in both attack and defense.

But after taking the lead, the Chinese Team continued to solidly retreat and defend, focusing on playing on the counter-attack.

At first, the South Korea Team could maintain its composure, but as the match progressed, they gradually started to grow impatient.

Their repeated failures to break down the Chinese Team's defensive formation, in particular, made them anxious.

The Chinese Team, on the other hand, with a one-goal lead in hand, played with growing confidence. Several of their counter-attacks were quite impressive.

Especially during a counter-attack in the twenty-fourth minute, when Yang Yang single-handedly broke through the middle with the ball, throwing the entire South Korea Team defense into disarray. Unfortunately, Zhu Ting, who was following up in the center, couldn't control his final shot and sent it flying over the bar.

Looking at the technical details in isolation, the Chinese Team was still inferior to their opponents.

But after a back-and-forth battle, the South Korea Team finally revealed an opening.

In the thirty-eighth minute, the Chinese Team was awarded a throw-in on the right side of their own half.

Yang Yang proactively ran to the right wing to receive a pass from his teammate. Facing the South Korea Team's defense on the right, he executed a brilliant knock-and-run, knocking the ball past the defender and running around him off the pitch to collect it, then charged forward with the ball.

After dribbling past three opposing defenders in a row, he faced the onrushing Goalkeeper and calmly slotted the ball home, breaking through the South Korea Team's goal once again. This time it was a killer blow!

...

"My God, he beat four men! He beat four men!"

"Yang Yang! The great Yang Yang!"

"I honestly have the urge to prostrate myself in worship right now!"

"I believe that all the viewers watching at home must be as excited as I am. Chinese Football truly has a once-in-a-generation genius. Chinese Football finally has a player with the potential to be a world-class star."

"Yang Yang, a player who is about to turn eighteen, is simply like a miracle on the football pitch, always bringing us surprises and delight."

"Please forgive my lack of composure, but I really can't find the words to describe my excitement at this moment."

"Right now, I just want to say to Yang Yang: from this day forward, I am your most die-hard fan!"

"At the same time, I also want to tell the players of the National Youth Team: you guys are truly amazing."

"A score of two-nil is enough to make us believe that the so-called 'Koreaphobia' will be shattered tonight."

"Of course, the match isn't over yet, there's still the second half. We hope all the National Youth Team players can guard against arrogance and impatience and focus on playing this game well."

......

......

With a two-goal lead, the pressure had completely shifted.

The South Korea Team had always held a psychological advantage over Chinese Football, looking down on them. But this time, although it was just a youth team match, it was still a bona fide international-level competition, and the Chinese Team was leading by two goals.

Following the current trend, it was even entirely possible for the Chinese Team to score more goals.

This made many of the Korean players think of Japan in the Asian Cup final. A score of three-nil had shocked all of Asia.

With the situation reversed, the Chinese Team played with more and more ease, while the South Korea Team felt more and more pressure.

During the halftime break, Coach Tie Sheng also repeatedly tried to relieve the players' pressure, expressing great satisfaction with everyone's performance. As long as they continued to play with the rhythm of the first half, victory was in sight.

After switching sides for the second half, the Chinese Team basically continued their first-half performance, while the South Korea Team couldn't come up with any better ideas.

At the sixty-minute mark, Tie Sheng made a substitution. Chen Tao came on for Zhu Ting to further strengthen the central midfield defense. The team reverted to a 4-5-1 formation, the same one they used in the first round against the Iran Team.

Now the South Korea Team finally understood. The Chinese Team's attitude was extremely pragmatic; they were determined to see their defensive counter-attack strategy through to the very end.

With Yang Yang's speed and individual skill up front, and Hao Junmin and the newly substituted Chen Tao also possessing strong individual abilities on the wings, the South Korea Team had no choice but to treat the Chinese Team's counter-attacks with caution.

With little time left, the South Korea Team had no other option but to make substitutions to strengthen their attack.

But the more they rushed to attack, the more their defense was exposed.

In the seventy-first minute, the Chinese Team launched a fast counter-attack down the right flank. After Chen Tao dribbled past two opposing defenders on the right wing, he sent a diagonal pass with his right foot, precisely delivering the ball into the penalty area.

Yang Yang quickly made a run. Under pressure from a Korean player, he lifted his right foot high to bring the ball down. The opposing center-back and the onrushing Goalkeeper even collided as a result.

After controlling the ball, Yang Yang deftly feinted past the defender and pushed the ball with the inside of his left foot, sending it accurately into the unguarded net. Three-nil!

After scoring his brace, Yang Yang excitedly pointed at Chen Tao from a distance. He kept backing away, quickly rushing off the pitch.

"It's decided! The game is decided!"

"The Chinese Team is leading by three goals. We can say that victory is basically in the bag."

"I believe tonight's victory will make everyone see clearly that the National Youth Team's journey to the final isn't luck. We truly have the strength, and defeating South Korea by three goals is the best proof."

"At the same time, we can also confirm once again that Yang Yang is indeed a genius, the hope of Chinese Football, and its future leader. We firmly believe that under his leadership, there will definitely be hope for Chinese Football."

The broadcast camera specifically focused on the National Youth Team players celebrating off the pitch. They all gathered tightly around Yang Yang, cheering loudly, celebrating loudly, and loudly singing the stirring national anthem along with the fans in the stands.

They weren't competing on behalf of any single person or any single organization; they were representing this country, representing every single Chinese person.

The broadcast camera lingered for a long time on Yang Yang's face—still slightly green, but radiating with youthful spirit.

It was as if everyone could see one word on that face: hope.