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

Kim Hak-beom knew better than anyone the power of Sun Yang's powerful shot; the main goalkeeper, Song Bum-geun, was still in the hospital getting his finger set.

The newly substituted goalkeeper, Ahn Joon-soo, is a complete rookie who has never experienced a major tournament. If Sun Yang finds space to shoot in front of the penalty area, this goal will definitely fall.

Li Yuxian, the number 2 defender who had just come on as a substitute, heard the head coach's shout and braced himself to go forward. He looked at Sun Yang, who was charging towards him like a heavy tank, and his heart was pounding like a drum.

The image of Kim Jae-woo being carried out on a stretcher was still replaying in his mind, and he didn't dare to rashly put down the shovel like his senior.

He strictly followed the head coach's instructions, keeping his center of gravity low, bending over, and keeping his eyes fixed on the ball at Sun Yang's feet. He adopted a defensive strategy of following closely, not daring to make a move, but instead constantly using his body to press against Sun Yang's upper body, trying to disrupt Sun Yang's dribbling rhythm with subtle movements and force him towards the right corner area.

If it were the old Sun Yang, he would easily lose the ball against such a tenacious and persistent defense. But now, with Kanté's groundwork and his dribbling skills that allow him to overcome any obstacle, Sun Yang is not afraid of such physical confrontations at all.

Every time Li Yuxian bumped into Sun Yang's shoulder, it felt like he had hit a block of iron. Sun Yang not only didn't lose his balance, but actually used Li Yuxian's push to control the ball more steadily. Li Yuxian himself, on the other hand, was bounced around by the reaction force, and even had to use his hands to brace himself against the grass to regain his balance.

At this moment, a dramatic change occurred in the Chinese team's attacking third.

These domestic players, who had just been berated by Sun Yang for "playing dumb football," have finally had a breakthrough. Sun Yang has shown them through his actions what a true core player is and what real pressure is.

As Sun Yang advanced with the ball, striker Zhang Yuning started his run from the center circle. Unlike before, he didn't stand still and wait for the ball, but instead desperately made his way into the heart of the South Korean penalty area. He shouted at the top of his lungs as he ran.

"Chen Binbin, go down the flank! Spread out the space and draw their full-back away! Duan Liuyu, cover behind, watch out for second balls!"

Upon hearing the shout, Chen Binbin immediately understood. Instead of cutting inside, he sprinted at full speed along the left flank, heading straight for the far left post of the South Korean penalty area. Meanwhile, attacking midfielder Duan Liuyu roamed around the edge of the penalty area, ready to receive second balls at any moment.

The tireless back-and-forth movement of the three Chinese forwards, coupled with their loud shouts and communication, threw the South Korean defense into complete chaos.

South Korean center-back Lee Sang-min saw Zhang Yuning break into the penalty area and had no choice but to follow him, eventually being lured all the way to the penalty spot. Meanwhile, another full-back, Kang Yoon-sung, had to abandon his defensive zone to mark Chen Binbin, and was pulled deep into the far left of the penalty area.

After this back-and-forth movement, a large, undefended area was created on the right side of the South Korean penalty area, in the direction Sun Yang was advancing.

This was a scene completely unimaginable in previous Chinese team matches. There was no mindless running around, no standing still and watching the show; all the off-the-ball movement served one purpose: to create space for the captain, who was advancing with the ball, to deliver a fatal blow.

When Xu Yang saw this scene in the broadcast room, he clapped his hands excitedly.

"The tactics worked! These young players have come alive under Sun Yang's leadership. Look at Zhang Yuning and Chen Binbin's positioning—it's so clear! They used a lot of off-the-ball movement to tear apart the South Korean defense, completely handing over the right side of the penalty area to Sun Yang! This is the qualitative change brought about by a world-class team-building cornerstone; he can make his teammates smarter!"

On the field, Sun Yang had already dribbled the ball to the right side of the penalty area, almost reaching the baseline.

Lee Yu-hyun was already on the verge of collapse from being overwhelmed by Sun Yang. Seeing the situation was getting out of hand, Kim Jin-jae, the other full-back for the South Korean team, abandoned his defensive zone and rushed in from the side and behind.

Jin Zhenye was incredibly fast. He arrived beside Sun Yang and immediately launched a vicious sliding tackle. The soles of both his shoes were fully exposed as he hurtled across the grass.

Sun Yang's dribbling advance suddenly came to an abrupt halt. In his sprint, he slammed his right foot down on the ball, bringing his entire body to a complete stop.

This was a sudden stop!

Kim Jin-ye's sliding tackle missed completely. Unable to stop his forward momentum, he slid across the field, skimming the grass, and crashed into the GG sign outside the field, kicking up a large patch of green grass. Lee Yu-hyun also lost his defensive position due to Sun Yang's sudden stop and fell headfirst out of bounds.

Two South Korean defenders simultaneously collided with the GG sign outside the baseline.

Sun Yang is now standing inside the penalty area line on the right side of the penalty area, less than half a meter from the baseline.

The entire right flank was completely cleared.

Substitute South Korean goalkeeper Ahn Jun-soo had moved to the near post. He was pressed tightly against the post, his arms outstretched, blocking all space near the post.

Ahn Joon-soo's heart was pounding in his chest. While blocking the angle, he reminded his teammates defending the middle lane in distorted Korean.

"Mark the man in the middle! Lee Sang-min is in position! He's going to deliver a cutback cross! It's definitely a cross!"

In Ahn Joon-soo's subconscious, this position was too close to the byline, offering no direct shooting angle. In football tactics, this is known as an absolute zero-degree angle. Any rational player in this position would first choose to launch a high cross or a low cross to find a teammate making a run into the middle.

Sun Yang stepped on the ball. He didn't observe Zhang Yuning's position in the middle, nor did he look at Chen Binbin's running route at the far post.

In his mind, the scene of the system's dream training camp where the competition was stopped and turned into a private tutoring session automatically popped up.

On that day, facing Maldini and Carlos's ironclad defense, Dutch legend Marco van Basten received the ball in roughly the same position.

At that moment, Sun Yang paused the match, and Van Basten, who had been released from the pause, turned around and began to teach Sun Yang this unique skill word by word.

"Sun, in areas with almost no angles, you need to observe the goalkeeper."

"The opposing goalkeeper will be 100% focused on your passing lane. In order to intercept the cross at any time, his center of gravity will involuntarily shift to the outside and he will move in advance."

"All you have to do is lock your ankle. You don't need to swing your leg too much. Aim for the bottom of the ball. Use the outside of your foot to chip it. You need to draw a line in your mind, an arc that goes over the goalkeeper's head and hooks the ball towards the far top corner of the goal."

Trust your instincts and put the ball into that corner.

A gentle breeze rustled the grass of Songkhla Stadium.

Sun Yang looked up, his gaze passing directly over all the South Korean defenders in front of the goal. His eyes were locked on the blind spot formed by the far post and crossbar.

When Ahn Joon-soo saw that Sun Yang not only didn't pass the ball, but instead stretched out his body into a relaxed shooting posture, his brain completely went blank.

"Are you crazy? He's going to shoot directly from that position?!"

Sun Yang swung his right leg with a sudden burst of power. He didn't need the ferocious, heavy-hitting power of Batistuta GO. He concentrated all his strength on the subtle power of his ankle.

He struck the ball precisely on the lower middle part with the outside of his right foot.

boom!

A crisp sound of the ball being struck rang out.

The ball left Sun Yang's instep, not going straight up and down, but instead spinning strongly as it soared into the air.

The ball traced an exaggerated rainbow arc in the air. Instead of targeting its teammates in the middle, it flew straight over Ahn Joon-soo's head.

Ahn Joon-soo sensed something was wrong, so he leaned back and pushed off the grass with both feet, leaping high into the air and stretching out his arms to try and lift the ball over the crossbar.

It was too late. His premature shift in center of gravity prevented him from fully jumping. He watched in horror as the ball sailed past his fingertips, its downward trajectory irreversible, hurtling towards the far end of the goal.

The air at the scene completely froze.

All that could be heard was a "whoosh" sound.

The ball grazed the inside of the far post and nestled into the net without any doubt!

In the 20th minute of the first half, China led 2-0!