Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 623 A Historic Goal
Dan Yongzhuo quickly retreated and got the ball. Then, in the instant of turning around, he activated his whirlwind kick, immediately shaking off Yaya Toure, who had just closed in and was still not on his feet.

There was an open space in front of him, and Shan Yongzhuo charged forward at his speed.

At this moment, Ivory Coast had no time to get back on defense, and Shan Yongzhuo was too fast. At this point, Ivory Coast's back line only had Zokora left behind, and he had become the last line of defense besides the goalkeeper.

"Shan Yongzhuo got the ball, he charged forward, let's watch this ball!"

The CTV5 commentator was shouting excitedly.

Meanwhile, at the Pernambuco Arena, all the fans in the stadium were on edge.

The world knows how powerful Shan Yongzhuo's counterattacks are, and now he has launched his own attack.

Will a goal be scored?

Zokora charged forward.

Facing the oncoming opposing defender, Shan Yongzhuo poked the ball to the side, then bypassed Zokora and used his excellent speed to accelerate past him and catch up with the ball.

"A beautiful dribble past the defender, Shan Yongzhuo gets one-on-one with the goalkeeper..."

This counter-attack, from Feng Xiaoting's long pass to Shan Yongzhuo's current position 5 meters in front of the penalty area, only took 6 seconds.

The lightning-fast counterattack caught everyone off guard.

As Shan Yongzhuo charged to his most familiar spot, his Whirlwind Ground Kick disappeared just as he was about to strike.

Ivory Coast's goalkeeper, Barry, had to come out of his goal. Facing Shan Yongzhuo in that position, the probability of conceding a goal was very high if the opponent had a chance to shoot.

However, Shan Yongzhuo did not hesitate at all and immediately swung his right foot.

This position is called the Shan Yongzhuo area, which is the area where he has the highest shooting success rate, so he doesn't take the opposing goalkeeper seriously at all.

The football was hoisted high into the air. Goalkeeper Barry sensed something was wrong and raised his hands, but could only watch as the ball flew over his head and then plummeted into the goal.

"Shan Yongzhuo!"

CTV5 commentator Duan Xuan excitedly stood up and shouted, "Shan Yongzhuo! Shan Yongzhuo! Goal!"

"In the 16th minute of the first half, Shan Yongzhuo, using his most familiar quick counter-attack, finally completed a one-on-one lob shot in his most advantageous area, and the ball went in!"

"He opened the scoring for China, and it was also China's first goal in the World Cup!"

"Beautiful goal, beautiful counter-attack!"

"From the start of the game until now, the Chinese team has been pinned back in their own half and forced to defend, putting them in a very passive position. However, the young men of the national team were not intimidated. They defended diligently and patiently looked for opportunities to counter-attack!"

"Now, they've done it! They've scored a historic goal!"

Another invited commentator, Zhu Guanghu, excitedly said, "This counter-attack was really beautiful. Feng Xiaoting's long pass looked like a clearance, but it successfully found a suitable receiving point. Shan Yongzhuo's timely retreat to receive the ball was also very timely. The moment Yaya Toure failed to stop Shan Yongzhuo, I knew the ball was in!"

"We have seen that the young men of the national football team resolutely implemented Coach Gao Hongbo's tactical ideas, solidifying the defense while resolutely launching counterattacks. They made good use of Shan Yongzhuo's efficient counterattack speed and unparalleled scoring ability, which yielded excellent results."

The entire Pernambuco stadium erupted in cheers.

The Chinese national football team's fans unleashed their excited shouts without restraint.

On the field, Shan Yongzhuo, who scored China's first goal in the World Cup, did not appear overly excited. He simply ran to the stands below the Chinese fans and raised his right hand high.

His teammates rushed over excitedly and surrounded him.

It's impossible not to be excited, especially for veterans like Li Weifeng and Zheng Zhi, who both participated in the 2002 World Cup finals.

Their last World Cup appearance was 12 years ago, when they lost all three matches without scoring a single goal.

They were as glorious as they were after the qualifiers, and as dejected as they were when the World Cup ended. But things are different now.

In the first match, Shan Yongzhuo helped the Chinese national team open the scoring in just 16 minutes.

It's not just about scoring the first goal in the World Cup; more importantly, the Chinese national team is now in the lead on the field.

Meanwhile, the Ivorian players on the other side were somewhat bewildered.

From the start of the counter-attack to conceding the goal, only six or seven seconds passed. Many players hadn't even reacted yet; one moment they were still attacking, and the next they had lost possession.

I was incredibly frustrated.

Only Yaya Toure, who was relatively familiar with Shan Yongzhuo, was not too surprised.

He was indeed careless just now, and didn't react immediately. In just a moment of distraction, Shan Yongzhuo completely shook him off, and then he couldn't play any role in defense at all.

This feeling is very bad.

But considering that his opponent is Shan Yongzhuo, it seems to make sense.

"We can't afford to be careless anymore!"

Yaya Toure solemnly admonished himself in his heart.

As his teammate for three years, he knew that this was the consequence of even the slightest lapse in concentration.

Now, he has to be on high alert to keep an eye on this guy who was once the most trusted by him.

Shan Yongzhuo's goal gave the Chinese national football team players tremendous confidence.

They never expected that the team would establish a lead so early.

Gao Hongbo was also clapping on the sidelines; he was very excited too.

Indeed, we still have to trust Shan Yongzhuo. He can bring goals to the team, and relying on him to achieve good results is not a pipe dream.

But now, we cannot afford to relax in the slightest.

He yelled loudly at the players on the field: "Defense!"

Although the Chinese national football team relies on Shan Yongzhuo's attack, the defense cannot be relaxed in the slightest. A solid defense is the foundation for Shan Yongzhuo to launch counterattacks without any worries.

After the game resumed.

The Ivorian players discovered that the situation with their opponents had completely changed.

The Chinese national team players are no longer nervous. They seem to have more confidence in themselves, their actions on the field are more decisive, and their performance is much better than before.

However, to Ivory Coast's dismay, the Chinese team remained firmly in their own half, with most of their players holed up in the penalty area, essentially parking the bus.

Moreover, it seemed that because they were in the lead, the Chinese team parked the bus more resolutely and their defense became more solid.

Then, the Ivorian players were speechless.

Their offense became more difficult to execute. Although they were stronger than the Chinese team in individual skills, there wasn't much they could do against such a defensive, turtling style of play.

After all, their offense relies heavily on individual player performance and doesn't have any particularly impressive offensive strategies.

This resulted in a stalemate in the game.

(End of this chapter)