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

Upon receiving Sun Yang's instructions, Huang Zhengyu abandoned his defensive position at the edge of the penalty area without hesitation and rushed directly towards the left flank.

The moment the opponent kicked the ball, before Uzbekistan's number 11 winger Mirahmadov could even control it properly with the instep of his foot, Huang Zhengyu clung to him like a leech.

"Get away!" Mirakhmadov cursed in English, lowering his shoulders as if trying to overpower Huang Zhengyu with his sheer size.

Huang Zhengyu's jaw tightened, he stubbornly resisted and refused to give an inch, pulling and tugging to block the inside player's position, not giving him any comfortable space to move.

Mirahmadov panicked and barely managed to pok the ball forward with his toe, attempting to force his way to the byline. However, he lost his balance, and his pass was too weak. Full-back Feng Boxuan, who had been covering behind, slid in and cleared the ball out of bounds.

The crisis was successfully averted 30 meters from the restricted area.

On the sidelines, Cannavaro stopped chewing his gum. He put his hands in his suit trouser pockets and gestured with his chin toward Sun Yang, who was jogging back on the field.

"Paul, did you see that kid's positioning?"

Assistant coach Mario frowned: "The overall defensive line is pushed forward, pressing high. It's too aggressive. If the first line of defense is breached, our center-backs will have to go toe-to-toe with those two tall defenders."

"But if we don't take the risk, we'll just be stuck in the penalty area waiting to die." Cannavaro's eyes showed admiration.

"He wasn't just shouting nonsense. Look closely, he had Huang Zhengyu engage in close combat, but Duan Liuyu blocked all the passing lanes. That kid shut down all of the opponent's most comfortable passing options."

Cannavaro crossed his arms: "That Russian coach wanted to play a high-ball attack down the flanks, so Son simply moved the defensive formation forward. This requires incredible stamina and, even more importantly, an abnormal ability to read the game. Such top-tier football intelligence makes him a natural midfield maestro!"

The match has reached the 35th minute.

Uzbekistan throws the ball out of bounds.

Unable to break through on the flanks, they immediately changed tactics, intending to use short passes through the middle to penetrate and tear apart the Chinese team's defense.

Ganiev received the ball near the center circle. He glanced at Duan Liuyu, who was blocking his way, and flicked the ball with his right foot, trying to use his speed to beat him.

Duan Liuyu moved to block him, and the two men's shoulders collided heavily. Duan Liuyu grunted, his body being forcefully knocked back two steps.

Just as Ganeev broke through the first line of defense, before he could pass the ball to the two strikers in front of him, a red jersey was placed directly in front of him.

It's Sun Yang.

Sun Yang didn't adopt the conventional side-stepping defensive stance at all. Relying on Kanté's perpetual motion machine-like lungs and his combined top-level defensive awareness, he keenly seized the half-meter gap that Ganeev had created while dribbling the ball, and forcefully squeezed half of his body into the gap with one step.

Ganiev couldn't stop himself; his 160-pound weight, carrying the immense momentum of his sprint, slammed solidly into Sun Yang's back.

Just before the impact, Sun Yang's right leg muscles tensed up suddenly, and his feet were driven into the grass like the roots of an old tree.

boom.

The sickening sound of muscles colliding was deafening.

Ganiev felt as if he had crashed into a reinforced concrete wall. A tightness in his chest and the enormous recoil sent him flying, landing hard on his backside on the grass.

On the other hand, Sun Yang acted as if nothing had happened, swaying his arms and then using his right foot to hook the ball away from Ganiev's feet.

Steady, accurate, and ruthless.

No unnecessary delays!

After intercepting the ball, Sun Yang didn't even look at the fallen Ganiev, but instead looked up and scanned the front field.

Full-map radar field of view activated.

At this moment, Uzbekistan's overall formation was pushing past the halfway line, leaving a vast vacuum in the defensive midfield position.

Sun Yang dribbled the ball and charged forward with great strides, reaching maximum speed within two steps.

Uzbekistan's captain, Kodilkulov, was getting impatient.

He knew all too well that he couldn't let this number 10 get going; the incredible through ball that tore through the defense was still fresh in his mind. He immediately abandoned Duan Liuyu and pounced from the side with a fierce look on his face.

He didn't even aim for the ball; instead, he launched a vicious sliding tackle straight at Sun Yang, intending to bring him down along with the ball.

This is a very dirty tactical foul.

Just a fraction of a second before the spikes were about to touch Sun Yang's calf, Sun Yang cleverly poked the ball to the left front, and his body rolled and fell to the ground in the direction of the tackle.

Along with that, a piercing scream echoed throughout half the stadium.

With his iron legs providing natural protection, Sun Yang wasn't even scratched. But within the rules, he had to put on a convincing act, befitting an Oscar-worthy performer.

He actually learned two full matches of practical training from Brazilian actor Neymar in the Champions League.

Beep—!

A sharp whistle pierced the air. The referee sprinted towards the scene without hesitation, pulled a yellow card from his pocket, and held it high in front of Kodirkulov's face.

The Chinese players erupted in chaos and immediately surrounded him. Zhang Yuning shoved aside Kodyrkulov, who was trying to argue, and the two sides shoved each other.

"Team doctor! Team doctor!" Cannavaro shouted anxiously from the sidelines.

Just as the team doctor was carrying his medical kit and preparing to rush onto the field...

Sun Yang had already gotten up from the grass. He casually brushed the grass clippings off his shorts and reached out to pull his teammate away from the fight.

"Step back, don't take the cards. It's not worth fighting with them." Sun Yang patted Zhang Yuning on the shoulder.

He walked to the spot where the foul occurred and scooped the ball into his arms.

After a difficult process of separating the two teams, the referee used a spray gun to draw an arc about 28 meters away from the goal, slightly to the left.

Then, he measured the distance of the human wall at 9.15 meters with his feet and drew a straight line.

Four tall Uzbek defenders were reluctantly sent behind the white line by the referee.

This is a dangerously positioned free-kick penalty spot in the attacking third.

Sun Yang carefully placed the ball on the grass. He rotated the ball so that the valve stem was facing him.

I took a deep breath and looked up.

Uzbekistan's goalkeeper, Nematov, was frantically yelling and directing the wall of players to block the angle. The four burly men stood shoulder to shoulder, like an impenetrable wall blocking the goal.

Sun Yang took six steps back and stood still. He spread his legs and put his hands on his hips.

A hot wind swept through Songkhla Stadium.

Sun Yang stomped his right foot on the grass, his gaze piercing through the gaps in the wall, locking onto the top left corner of the goal guarded by Nematov.

The referee put the whistle in his mouth.