Chapter 51 Critical Moment

When He Ying ran for the ball in the lower left corner, but was saved by Cesar, the Chinese team players standing near the center circle held their heads, looking very regretful and surprised.

The Brazilian players next to them let out a sigh of relief and then cheered.

When William kicked the football wide, their performance was the same as that of the current Chinese team players.

Next, Brazil's third player was Marcelo. He kicked the football to the right. This time Sun Pan judged the right direction, but Marcelo's shot was too powerful. Although he judged the right direction, he made a save. There was still a slight difference in speed, but in the end the football flew into the goal in front of his fingertips!

"Oh, Sun Pan judged the ball in the right direction, but failed to save it... Now the Chinese team is 1:2 behind in the penalty kick score..." He Ping felt sorry for Sun Pan's save.

Sun Pan felt even more regretful. When he fell to the ground, he punched the turf hard. Behind him were the cheers of the Brazilian fans, mixed with ridicule at him.

He lowered his head and left the goal. Cesar passed him and occupied the front of the goal.

It was the Chinese team's turn to take the penalty kick.

Wu Lei, the Chinese team's third penalty kicker, trotted up, ready to take the penalty kick.

The Chinese fans in front of the TV held their breath and looked at the TV screen nervously.

Under the gaze of hundreds of millions of pairs of eyes, Wu Lei put the football away, then stepped away, waiting for the referee's signal.

The whistle sounds!

Wu Lei takes a run-up and then kicks the ball!

But when the football flew towards the goal, a very bad thought came to He Pingdi's mind - Wu Lei did not kick the ball to the lower left corner, nor to the lower right corner. It was a half-high ball to the right side of Cesar... This is the goalkeeper's favorite ball!

Sure enough, Cesar jumped to the right and blocked the football shot by Wu Lei with both hands!

"Ahhhhh!!" the Brazilian commentator screamed, cheering desperately, "Cesar! Cesar!! He saved two consecutive penalty kicks from the Chinese team!!"

Thunderous cheers and applause erupted throughout the Mineiro Stadium.

Cesar, who made two consecutive saves, got up from the ground and patted his chest hard.

This is a sign of confidence from a goalkeeper.

Brazilians are reveling, while Chinese are dejected.

Wu Lei, who missed the penalty kick, lowered his head and covered his face with his hands. He failed to withstand the pressure when he was needed most.

He Ying's missed penalty kick before had obviously had a great impact on his emotions, so he was hesitant to kick the kick, and it actually came from the goalkeeper's favorite angle...

If the Chinese team is eliminated, he will definitely become the sinner of Chinese football and be reviled by fans across the country...

Wu Lei shuddered when he thought about this future.

He didn't even know how he walked back to the team. It wasn't until everyone came over to pat his shoulders and head to comfort him that he realized that he was among his teammates.

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The fourth Brazilian penalty kicker was Hulk. Wu Lei missed the penalty kick, which relieved him a lot. When he walked to the penalty spot, he looked very relaxed.

After placing the football, the referee blew the whistle and he started to run.

Unlike other teammates who took long strides to approach, Hulk ran forward in small steps, observing Sun Pan's movements while running.

But Sun Pan stood in front of the door, motionless, and there was no way to tell where he was going to pounce.

This made Hulk suddenly panic. He originally planned to see Sun Pan's movements and then decide which way to kick the football. But now that Sun Pan didn't move, he suddenly didn't know where to kick... ...Although he was running in small steps and was not very fast, there was always a time when he was about to run to the end. Soon he was in front of the football and had to shoot.

In the midst of hesitation, Hulk's last thought was - forget it, just shoot the football towards the center! The kid's first three penalty kicks were all thrown to the side, and he never stayed in the center once!

So Hulk shot low and blasted the football towards the center.

When Hulk kicked off, Sun Pan's body did fall to the right, but he soon saw that the football was flying towards where he was standing, so he gave up his plan to jump out, and his body He fell to the right, but his legs trailed behind him.

When Hulk's penalty kick flew over, it hit Sun Pan's foot and was kicked out by Sun Pan!

"Sun Pan——!!!" He Ping stood up, raised his arms and shouted. "Sun Pan! At this critical moment! He saved Hulk's penalty! This save is so critical! It's so important!"

There was a burst of exclamations and sighs throughout the Mineiro Stadium when Hulk missed the penalty kick.

At this sound, Sun Pan got up from the ground, turned towards the Brazilian fans in the stands behind him who had their heads in their hands, pulled up the Chinese flag on their chests, and pointed it out to them.

He finally waited for the time to retaliate, using the method that a goalkeeper is good at.

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When Sun Pan saved Hulk's penalty kick, the Chinese team also cheered. Wu Lei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as the fourth player Yang Muge can kick the ball in, the Chinese team will be tied with Brazil again in terms of total score. Both sides can return to the same starting line.

Some people have already set their sights on Yang Muge, but they dare not say anything to Yang Muge for fear of causing pressure on him.

When Yang Muge was about to walk forward and take the penalty kick, Zhou Yi stopped him behind him: "Old Yang, a heavy burden is on your shoulders."

He smiled and said to Yang Muge. As soon as he said this, the other Chinese players were startled - at this time, shouldn't we try to avoid reminding Yang Muge of pressure? Shouldn’t we try to downplay the difficulty and crisis of the situation? Why didn't Zhouyi open which pot and lift which pot?

After Yang Muge heard Zhou Yi's words, there was no change in his facial expression. He nodded calmly, then turned and walked forward.

In the eyes of some Chinese team players, this scene felt that Yang Muge must have been nervous because Zhou Yi said that he could not say anything nervous.

But looking at Zhou Yi again, he was still smiling, as if he had no idea that he had just done something wrong.

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"The fourth penalty kick player in the Chinese team is Yang Muge, who plays for Schalke 04 and serves as a defensive midfielder. He is not a player who is good at scoring goals. He only scored one goal at Schalke 04 and never took a penalty kick. The record of penalty kicks..." The Brazilian commentator introduced Yang Muge to the Brazilian fans. From the information in his hand, Yang Muge was not the kind of player who was sure to take the penalty kick. He didn't even understand Lippi. Why should Yang Muge be assigned to take penalty kicks, and why should he be assigned to play in fourth place?

You know, the fourth round in the penalty shootout is a very critical watershed. Many players have failed here, and many teams have stopped here, and they have not even made it to the fifth round to shoot penalty kicks.

According to ESPN statistics, forwards and defenders have the highest penalty kick percentages. The former has 83%, the latter has 74%, while midfielders have only 70%. one.

Cesar has saved the Chinese team's penalty kicks twice in a row. He is in good shape now. Facing a newcomer who has never taken a penalty kick before, he will definitely have a greater psychological advantage.

As long as he can save Yang Muge's penalty kick, the advantage will return to the Brazilian team, and the pressure will be transferred to the Chinese team...

Just when the Brazilian TV receiver was chattering about Yang Muge, Yang Muge had already placed the football. He took two steps back and turned to look at the referee Weber.

Cesar made some disturbing movements in front of him. He waved his arms, but Yang Muge didn't even look at them.

"If Yang Muge can score this penalty kick, then we will tie the Brazilian team in score..." He Ping said in a very soft voice, and his tone was not very firm.

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Weber's whistle.

A crisp whistle sounded over the Mineiro Stadium. Like a 100-meter athlete, Yang Muge started running as soon as the whistle sounded.

After two steps, he ran behind the football, then raised his right leg and kicked it towards the football.

Cesar's body swayed and he made a posture to save.

The football weighed by Yang Muge soared into the air and hit the goal like a cannonball. The speed was so fast that when the football flew into the goal, Cesar had not yet made a saving move, and his body was also It only swayed for a moment, and then he watched the football fly into his goal, unable to do anything.

"Yang Muge! Well done! Well done! Withstood the pressure and scored cleanly!" He Ping cheered loudly. “The Chinese team’s total score on penalty kicks is currently tied at 2:2!”

Yang Muge did not celebrate after scoring the goal, but just turned around silently and walked back. Only the smile on his face revealed his inner joy.

According to ESPN statistics, midfielders have the lowest penalty kick percentage, but when it comes to the fourth penalty kick percentage, midfielders are more stable than forwards and defenders.

Let a midfielder who will not give up easily and is good at stalking in defense take this penalty kick. Even if he has no successful penalty kick record before, I believe it will not be disappointing, right?

This is why Lippi arranged for Yang Muge to take the fourth penalty kick.