Football: He suffered a broken leg at the start of the game, but partnered with Haaland!

It was evening of the second day.

In the first round of the group stage of the 2020 AFC U23 Championship, the Chinese Olympic team faced their old rival, the South Korean Olympic team.

Due to the sudden global public health control measures, the Songkhla Stadium in Thailand, which should have been packed to capacity, was cleared and closed. The spacious stands were empty, with only a few team staff and players' families sitting in the deserted stadium, the blue seats reflecting the glaring searchlights overhead.

Sun Yang's parents, uncle, and girlfriend and private therapist Catherine sat in the stands above the substitutes' bench.

This was a match played entirely in an empty stadium. There were no cheers from fans, no deafening encouragement.

But thousands of kilometers away in China, traffic is converging at an alarming rate.

With all five major European leagues suspended, fans are experiencing an extreme lack of matches. The homepages of major sports forums are ablaze with activity, all focused on this only remaining official international competition.

During prime time in the evening, CCTV Sports Channel will broadcast live.

Renowned commentator He Wei sat at the commentary booth, holding the starting lineup for the national Olympic team that he had just received from the live broadcast director. Guest commentator Xu Yang sat beside him, his brow furrowed, clearly not optimistic about the match's prospects.

"Dear viewers, welcome to the AFC U23 Championship group stage. Due to unforeseen circumstances, tonight's match will be played behind closed doors."

He Wei looked at the list in his hand, and his voice suddenly rose eight octaves.

"However, before the match begins, I want to share some exciting news with all Chinese fans!"

He Wei slammed the list down on the table and stared at the camera.

"This is absolutely not fake news. Less than three hours before the match started, we saw a familiar name on the AFC's latest official registration list."

At the bottom of the television screen, the director displayed the starting eleven positions for the Chinese team in this match.

On the number 10 position, which symbolizes the attacking midfielder and the core of the midfield, two large characters are prominently displayed: Sun Yang.

"He's back! During the winter when European football was completely suspended, this 20-year-old prodigy, currently valued at eight million euros, who scored a stunning long-range goal against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and dribbled past six players in the away game for PSG, has chosen to don a jersey emblazoned with the Chinese national flag and parachuted into Songkhla, Thailand!"

He Wei's commentary was highly provocative.

Xu Yang clapped enthusiastically from the side.

"Incredible! We originally thought Dortmund wouldn't release him. Sun Yang's arrival has completely changed Cannavaro's tactical setup. Look, Cannavaro deployed a very extreme 4-2-3-1 formation today. The two defensive midfielders don't participate in the attack at all, only responsible for doing the dirty work at the center circle. And Sun Yang has absolute shooting rights and unlimited possession of the ball!"

The live stream chat instantly flooded the entire screen like a burst dam.

Those fans who had prepared various nitroglycerin pills, intending to watch the Chinese Olympic team get thrashed by the South Korean team, have gone completely mad.

"Holy crap! The Monkey King is back?!"

"Dortmund's suspension actually benefited us? Isn't this like a max-level character going back to the starting area to smurf?"

"The Football Association is amazing! How did they manage to do that?"

"What kind of bullshit Football Association? According to the younger brother of my second great-uncle's brother's neighbor, the General Administration of Sport bypassed the Football Association and directly processed Sun Yang's naturalization."

"Damn, your ability to find inside information is unparalleled!"

"Otherwise, why do you think Cannavaro was able to coach this national Olympic team? The higher-ups have long been dissatisfied with those fat parasites in the Football Association."

"Don't be too quick to judge; the South Korean team is quite strong too, with several players playing overseas. But this match is definitely going to be exciting!"

Tens of millions of fans across the country, glued to their television screens, were completely ignited by this list.

At the same time.

The players' tunnel inside Songkhla Stadium in Thailand.

The hot, humid air was mixed with the strong smell of medicinal wine for sprains and bruises.

The walls on both sides were covered with AFC promotional posters. The players from the Chinese and South Korean teams were lined up in their respective rows, led by the referee team, awaiting instructions to enter the game.

The atmosphere in the South Korean team's row was very relaxed.

Several key players were even covering their mouths and laughing. In their view, drawing the Chinese team was an extremely favorable draw. The Chinese team's domestic lockdown had resulted in severe personnel shortages, and their warm-up matches had been disastrous. The goal of this match wasn't just to win, but by how many.

Jeong Woo-yeong, the absolute core of the South Korean team and a midfielder currently playing for FC Freiburg in the Bundesliga, was leaning against the wall, casually tying his shoelaces.

Lee Dong-kyung, the striker in front of him, bumped him with his shoulder.

"Senior, tonight you just need to feed me the ball as much as you can in the middle. I'll try to score a hat-trick in the first half, and we can clock out early in the second half. I heard this Chinese team can't even put together a proper midfield playmaker; all they can do is park the bus."

Zheng Youying straightened up and nodded perfunctorily. "Just be careful of their fouls, don't get injured. Let's finish the game early and go back for vacation."

Zheng Youying turned his head, his gaze sweeping over the shoulders of the two referees and onto the Chinese team standing side by side.

Leading the way at the front was a young player wearing a red number 10 jersey.

He was extremely tall, with broad shoulders that made his jersey look full, and he wore the captain's armband for the Chinese team on his left arm.

He was looking down, adjusting the Velcro straps on his shin guards.

"The Chinese actually let a kid who looks only twenty years old be the captain? Do they really have no one else?" Li Dongjiong followed Zheng Youying's gaze and said sarcastically.

The red-clad figure finished tidying up and slowly raised his head.

The dim incandescent lights from the top of the stadium tunnel shone on that sharply defined Asian-mixed face.

The relaxed smile on Zheng Youying's face vanished without a trace in a second.

His pupils contracted sharply, and he looked as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight. His body involuntarily took half a step back, and his back slammed heavily against the tiled wall of the passageway.

"I've seen...a ghost!"

Zheng Youying's voice trembled, a stark contrast to his previous arrogance.

Li Dongjiong was startled and quickly helped him up.

"Senior, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" The Korean captain also came over.

Zheng Youying couldn't hear what his teammates were asking; he was staring at the young man wearing the captain's armband diagonally opposite him. He'd recognize that face even if it were ashes!

Large beads of cold sweat rolled down Zheng Youying's forehead.

"How...how could he be here?" Jung Woo-yeong stammered, pointing across the street in Korean.

"Who is it? The kid captain on the other side?" Li Dongjiong was completely confused.

"That's Sun Yang! Sun Yang from Dortmund!" Zheng Youying roared in a low voice, almost biting his lip until it bled.

The surrounding South Korean players exchanged bewildered glances. Having played in Asia, they had indeed heard of a promising mixed-race star emerging from Dortmund, but none of them had a specific match to this face.

"Senior, so what if you play in the Bundesliga? You might not be able to perform as well in Asian competitions." Lee Dong-kyung was still unconvinced.

"You don't know anything!" Zheng Youying grabbed Li Dongjiong by the collar, his eyes bloodshot, a result of an extremely humiliating memory from half a month ago.

"Just two weeks ago, in the 24th round of the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund played against Freiburg at home."

Zheng Youying's voice became hoarse with fear as he quickly explained to his teammates how terrifying the man opposite them was.

"Three to zero. That was a one-sided massacre."

"You think Dortmund's tactics were complicated? No, in that match, Dortmund gave the ball to this Chinese man completely. He alone, just one man, completely devoured our Freiburg's proud midfield defense!"

Zheng Youying swallowed hard, his eyes filled with terror.

"He strolled around under the cover of three defenders with ease, and both assists were provided by him. One was a 60-meter long pass from the halfway line that directly broke through our defense, and the other was a series of changes in his center of gravity that allowed him to get past three of our defenders and force the ball into the mouth of the striker."

"Our head coach was scratching his head on the sidelines, unable to even devise a tactic to substitute him and limit his presence."

Zheng Youying pointed to his own nose.

"Do you know where I was? I was sitting on the bench for that game. I didn't even have the courage to go off the field to warm up and defend him!"

"He's not here to play in the U23 Asian Cup at all. A monster of his caliber coming to this kind of competition is just a slaughter! You bunch of idiots actually thinking about a hat trick?!"

As soon as Zheng Youying finished speaking, the tunnel on the South Korean team's side fell into a deathly silence.

All the South Korean players gasped in shock at the sweltering air. Their previous arrogance had been extinguished like a spark from a bucket of ice water. Lee Dong-kyung's gaze towards Sun Yang shifted from disdain to deep apprehension.

Just then, the gate leading to the stadium at the end of the passage was suddenly pushed open.

The blinding searchlights shone in.

"Players from both sides, come out to the field." The referee directed the players forward.

Sun Yang, standing at the front of the team, ignored the complicated looks from the South Korean team members beside him.

He tugged at the captain's armband on his left arm, which Cannavaro had just put on him himself.

He lifted his foot, breaking the stuffy air in the tunnel, and strode into the dazzling green grass with the ten Chinese players behind him.