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

The ball spun around in the net.

All the players on the Chinese team's bench rushed to the sidelines and raised their arms in celebration.

Sun Yang stood up from the grass and rubbed his forehead, which was a little red from heading the ball earlier.

Instead of running to the corner flag area to celebrate wildly, he turned around, clapped his hands twice, and gathered all his teammates on the field together.

"Don't get too excited! Hold on for these ten minutes or so! Retreat from your positions, get into full gear, and prepare for their counterattack!"

Zhu Chenjie and Wei Zhen nodded emphatically. The two immediately signaled to their full-backs to retreat.

Cannavaro on the sidelines pushed his hands down, giving the same defensive counter-attack instruction.

We're leading 1-0. There's no need to keep trying to wear down the Persians in midfield.

The Chinese team quickly shrank their formation, like a turtle retreating into its shell, leaving only one player in the frontcourt to act as a counter-attacking weapon.

After the restart, the Iranian team was forced into a corner.

They must win to keep their hopes of advancing alive. Now trailing by one goal, they have no choice but to push their formation forward aggressively.

The advance from the backfield to the midfield went smoothly.

But once the ball entered the Chinese team's 30-meter defense zone, the Iranians felt as if they had hit an invisible wall.

This wall represents Sun Yang.

30 minutes.

Iran's left winger, Shaj, dribbled the ball at high speed along the wing, preparing to use his strong physique to overpower Feng Boxuan.

Just as Shaji had dribbled the ball two meters, a figure suddenly appeared from the side.

Sun Yang had somehow moved from the middle to the right flank to cover. Instead of a sliding tackle, he timed his move perfectly, using his improved core strength to deliver a well-placed shoulder charge as Sajy dribbled past him.

The two bodies collided violently on the grass.

Despite her 80-kilogram weight, Sajina gained no advantage and lost her balance, falling to the ground.

Sun Yang cleared the ball out of bounds with one kick, then quickly ran back to the middle to cover.

38 minutes.

Iran's midfield playmaker Salmani receives the ball in the middle, looking up to find striker Sayyadmanesh.

Salmani only felt a blur before his eyes, and Sun Yang was already in front of him.

There were no fancy moves. Relying on his strong physique, Sun Yang used a relentless, close-quarters pressing style.

Salmani had no choice but to pass the ball back to the defensive midfielder.

Before the ball even reached the defensive midfielder's feet, Sun Yang changed direction and accelerated, forcibly cutting off the passing route.

Forward, midfield, and backfield.

Throughout the first half of the game, Sun Yang was seen running tirelessly.

The Songkhla Stadium was deserted, devoid of the clamor of fans. The only sounds were heavy breathing, the screeching of cleats against the turf, and short shouts between players.

Time ticked by, and the match reached the 45th minute.

The fourth official held up an electronic sign on the sidelines, indicating 3 minutes of stoppage time.

The players on both sides on the field became increasingly heavy-footed.

During a dead ball situation, several Iranian midfielders braced themselves on their knees, gulping for air. This high-intensity attack, combined with the hot and humid weather, had completely drained their energy.

Huang Zhengyu and Tian Xin from the Chinese team were also exhausted, their faces covered in sweat.

Sun Yang is the only exception.

He stood near the center circle, not even out of breath, his steps still light enough to dance on the grass.

In the CCTV sports channel's broadcasting studio, He Wei stared intently at the halftime statistics that had just been displayed on the big screen.

"Dear viewers, these data are simply astonishing!" He Wei raised his voice.

The right side of the screen displays the real-time running distance of the players on the field.

Sun Yang is in first place, with a distance of 5.5 kilometers.

Second on the list is Iranian midfielder Deghani, with a distance of 4.9 kilometers.

The gap widened to a massive 0.6 kilometers.

"Keep in mind this is only the first half!" He Wei turned to look at Xu Yang. "He covered 5.5 kilometers in the first half, which means if he plays the full match, Sun Yang will cover over 11 kilometers. That's the kind of stats you'd expect from a top-tier European midfielder!"

Xu Yang nodded repeatedly as he looked at the screen.

"Sun Yang's contribution on the defensive end today was enormous. Everyone only saw him organizing the attack, but he was actually the most important defensive barrier in front of the Chinese team's goal. Whenever the Iranian team got the ball into the 30-meter zone, you could always see number 10. This Kanté-level sweeping coverage completely dismantled the Iranian team's midfield operation."

on the field.

The final minute of stoppage time has begun.

The Iranian team is preparing to launch their final attack of the first half.

After receiving the ball, defensive midfielder Degani prepared to launch a high ball directly into the penalty area.

This was a desperate move to abandon tactical coordination after exhausting all physical strength.

Deganian had just raised his right leg.

Sun Yang, who was originally standing five meters away, keenly sensed his opponent's intention. The improvement in his defensive attributes, coupled with his abnormal physical fitness, allowed him to initiate the attack ahead of time.

Degani kicked the ball off target; it didn't go very high off the ground.

Sun Yang stretched out his right foot and intercepted the ball halfway through the ball's trajectory.

The moment the ball is intercepted, the offense and defense transition.

Just moments before, the Chinese team's three forwards—Chen Pu, Hu Jinghang, and Zhou Junchen—had been listless, but now, like sharks smelling blood, they launched a coordinated attack from all three lines, charging recklessly towards Iran's vulnerable defense.

Iran's defense has pushed very high up the pitch, leaving large gaps in the second half.

Sun Yang received the ball in the center circle, and facing the Iranian defenders rushing towards him, he didn't even look up to observe his teammates' movements.

The "point and shoot" skill is activated.

Sun Yang flicked his right ankle and sent a low, through ball down the ground.

The ball, like a sharp scalpel, rolled rapidly forward along the grass. It passed precisely through the gap between the two Iranian center-backs, with just the right amount of force.

Hu Jinghang, who was making a forward run down the middle lane, understood perfectly.

His acceleration was incredibly fast; he quickly outpaced the chasing defender in just a few steps.

At the edge of the penalty area, Hu Jinghang calmly controlled the brilliant pass, creating a one-on-one opportunity against the goalkeeper.

Iran's number one goalkeeper, Abbas, raised his right hand to signal to the linesman that Hu Jinghang was offside, while bracing himself to rush out of his goal in an attempt to block the shooting angle.

The linesman on the sidelines was pressing his flag down, showing no intention of raising it.

This is not offside.

Hu Jinghang remained unusually calm. Facing Abasi, who was diving to make a save, he gently flicked the ball with the toe of his right foot.

The ball traced a delicate parabola in mid-air, passed over Abbas's head, and floated lightly into the empty net.

Two to zero!

The referee blew his whistle, pointed to the center circle, and declared the goal valid.

After scoring, Hu Jinghang excitedly rushed to the corner flag area, grabbed the corner flag pole, and waved it vigorously.

Sun Yang jogged up from the back field and bumped chests with Huang Zhengyu, who was rushing over.

While the Chinese team was celebrating, the Iranian players were in an uproar.

Several defenders, along with goalkeeper Abbas, surrounded the referee aggressively.

"That's offside! A clear offside!" Abasi shouted in broken English, pointing towards the linesman. "He received the ball in an offside position, that goal doesn't count!"

The referee was surrounded and had to back away repeatedly, while pressing his hand on his earpiece to signal the players to retreat.

The linesman ran over to intervene. The linesman firmly told the referee that he had clearly seen Sun Yang pass the ball and there was absolutely no offside.

To calm the Iranian players down, the referee raised his right hand and drew a rectangle.

VAR (Video Assistant Referee) intervention.

The big screen began to replay the pass in slow motion.

In the broadcasting studio, Xu Yang leaned closer to the screen.

"Let's take a look at the VAR replay. The moment Sun Yang kicked the ball." The screen freezes. "Look here! Top left corner!"

Xu Yang pointed to a corner of the screen.

"Absolutely not offside! When Hu Jinghang started his run, Iran's right-back Najarian was trailing far back. Najarian was at least half a body length back, completely eliminating the possibility of Hu Jinghang being offside."

He Wei chuckled and added, "The Iranian team is just grasping at straws in their desperation. Najarian's stamina is starting to wane; he didn't move forward to create an offside trap at all. That was a perfectly good play."

The video referee quickly confirmed the ruling with the head referee via headset.

The referee pointed to the center circle again.

The goal stands.

With that whistle, the referee did not give the Iranian team a chance to restart the game, and directly blew the whistle to end the first half.

The players from both teams walked toward the locker room.

The Chinese team was chatting and laughing, moving with a relaxed pace. In contrast, the Iranian team members were all dejected, like defeated roosters.

The wooden door to the locker room was pushed open, and a blast of cold air rushed out.

Cannavaro stood in front of the tactics board, a tablet computer in his hand, his face beaming with an unstoppable smile.

Once all the players were seated on the bench, Cannavaro cleared his throat.

"Guys, I have some good news for you. Just now, in another match that kicked off at the same time, South Korea is already leading Uzbekistan 3-0."

A cheer immediately erupted in the locker room.

This means that even if Iran scores three goals in the second half, they will still be eliminated from contention for qualification due to their head-to-head record and goal difference disadvantage.

Cannavaro tapped the tactics board, his expression turning serious.

"In the second half, the Persians will have no reason to fight. They will most likely give up resistance. Our task is simple."

Cannavaro held up two fingers.

"First, maintain possession of the ball and keep it at your feet to waste time."

"Second, protect yourselves! Don't get injured! Don't get into pointless fights and conflicts! We still have to play in the knockout stage, there's no need to pay the price here."

Cannavaro specifically looked at Sun Yang.

"Sun, I'll substitute you after 15 minutes in the second half. You need to maintain your stamina in the knockout stage."

Sun Yang nodded, picked up the water bottle, and took a big gulp.

After a short break, the second half of the game officially began.

Just as Cannavaro predicted, the Iranian team seemed to have lost its backbone after learning the score on the other side of the field.

The entire team was completely demoralized and lost all their spirit.

The pressing in the attacking third has ceased, and the midfield runs have become sluggish. When players receive the ball, they simply pass it around carelessly, lacking even the desire to advance the ball forward.

The Chinese team strictly followed the coach's instructions, refraining from taking the initiative to attack and instead passing the ball around in their own half.

The game became a complete waste of time.

Time quickly reached the 60th minute.

Cannavaro walked to the sidelines and substituted Sun Yang with the tall center-back Jiang Shenglong.

The fourth official raised the electronic substitution board.

As Sun Yang slowly walked to the sidelines, the Chinese team players and coaching staff on the bench, and even the few staff members in the stands, all stood up and applauded.

Sun Yang walked to the sidelines, gave Jiang Shenglong a high-five, and was then embraced by Cannavaro.

"Well done, go and get some rest." Cannavaro patted Sun Yang on the back.

Sun Yang draped a towel over himself, sat down on the bench, and watched the hypnotic passing of the ball on the field.

For the next half hour, neither side created any threatening attacks.

With the referee's third long whistle, the match came to an end.

China defeated Iran 2-0 without lifting a finger.

With three wins and nine points, and without conceding a single goal, they advanced to the quarterfinals as the top seed in their group!

In the locker room after the game, deafeningly loud music blared from the speakers as the players, shirtless, splashed water on each other in celebration.

Cannavaro pushed open the door and walked in, carrying a thick stack of documents.

He turned off the stereo and clapped his hands.

"Quiet down. Let's end the celebration here."

Cannavaro slammed the stack of documents onto the tactical table; it was the team's latest scouting report, compiled overnight.

"Our opponent for the next U23 Asian Cup quarter-final has been determined."

Cannavaro picked up a marker, turned around, and wrote several letters heavily on the whiteboard.

Jordan.