Chapter 038: A fly in the ointment

When Tang Zheng's football crashed into the snow-white net, Pernambuco was silent in the state arena for a moment, but a second later, a deafening loud chant resounded throughout the audience, and the mountains roared and the tsunami roared.

Tang Zheng, who scored the goal, became particularly frantic in the frenzied atmosphere that came to him, he pushed away the Costa Rican central defender Gonzalez, who was still clenching his right hand, opened his arms, and ran wildly all the way to the middle of the secondary stand directly opposite the broadcast camera.

There, there are relatives and friends of Chinese players, also known as the family and friends cheering group.

Tang Zheng opened his strong and powerful arms, hugged his parents and Zhao Lina tightly, and felt the great joy of the national team scoring two goals in three minutes.

The other Chinese players who swarmed behind them hugged one after another, while the hysterical cheers erupted in the air, including the substitutes who crossed the entire stadium, and fell into an endless carnival.

Chinese fans who were thousands of miles away, they raised their arms and shouted for the first time, looking up to the sky and roaring.

In many urban communities, bars, night food stalls, and Internet cafes, the same picture is all staged, and some people are puzzled and even disgusted, but they don't care, because as Chinese fans, they can finally raise their eyebrows and never worry about friends and relatives complaining.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who was on vacation in a resort, looked at Tang Zheng, who was particularly crazy in the broadcast screen, and was surprised and envious at the same time, he couldn't help but think that if he led the national team to the top 16, and then beat the opponent in the 1/8 finals.

That feeling is probably great!

In the room of the Colombian National Exit Hotel, James Rodriguez and Falcao looked at each other, they thought that Tang Zheng would help the Chinese team overtake the score before the end of stoppage time, but they only thought about it, not absolutely.

What's more important is that Tang Zheng's calmness in front of the door is beyond imagination, he shook one shot twice in a row, and only completed the goal with the third kick, which can be said to have deceived the world.

Even Falcao, who has scored a lot of goals in recent seasons, can't be so calm, so he is amazed by Tang Zheng's calmness, especially at the end of injury time.

The head coach of the Chinese team, Lippi, has a long coaching career and rich coaching experience, and has led the Italian national team to win the World Cup, but coaching the Chinese team can be said to be a new challenge in his coaching career.

Sun Jingbo pushed the empty goal to equalize the score, he can also rely on his amazing psychological quality to keep the surface unfazed, with Tang Zheng equalizing the score, the passion that has been 'sleeping' for a long time in his body instantly broke through the limit and swept the whole body.

Lippi, who is over 60 years old, is like leading the Italian national team to win the World Cup eight years ago, opening his arms, excitedly hugging his assistants Madaloni and Li Tie, and then raising his arms and shouting, venting the great pleasure brought by the overtaking score.

The frenzied atmosphere over the Pernambuco Arena continued to rise, and every Chinese fan burst out with their maximum energy, cheering wave after wave.

Coupled with the red flags fluttering in the stands, it gives people a sense of red joy and a sea of joy.

Those Chinese fans sitting in front of the TV or computer look particularly proud, and on the top stage of the World Cup, they can finally see the most shining flag.

Yang 5 commentator He Wei's voice was obviously hoarse, but he didn't care, but raised his arms passionately and shouted: "This is destined to be a day worth remembering! Although there is still nearly a minute of injury time left in the game, I firmly believe that the quarterfinals will ultimately belong to the Chinese team!"

At the same time, the commentator of Costa Rica's national television station looked particularly sluggish, he felt the frenzied atmosphere in his face, and then listened to the passionate commentary of his peers around him, and did not say a word for a long time.

As a leading football commentator on national television, his quality is outstanding, he took a deep breath, and then said: "We still have time, there is still a chance to equalize, come on!

But when he said this, even he didn't believe it, let alone the Costa Rican fans in front of the TV?

thought that the first team in the group could make history and advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, and the score was also ahead for a long time, but the two goals in injury time overtook the score in one fell swoop.

Especially Tang Zheng's goal to overtake the score was too demoralizing.

※※※

The close-up of the live broadcast did not forget to give the disappointed Costa Rican players, such as goalkeeper Keylor Navas, striker Campbell, and midfield core Ruiz, who performed very well in this game.

Their facial expressions all revealed two words - disappointment.

I thought that the game could end 1:0 and then advance to the quarterfinals of this World Cup.

However, Tang Zheng's offensive planning and goal in stoppage time pushed them off the cliff.

Head coach Pintomuna stood still, still pondering how to use the last substitution in last-minute stoppage time to consume the game and drag the game into extra time.

With less than a minute to go before stoppage time, Tang Zheng took advantage of a chance that was not a chance to overtake the score.

This kind of blow is unacceptable.

The Chinese fans at the Pernambuco Arena worked very hard, and continued to erupt in high pitches, and even many fans were hoarse in their throats and continued to shout, cheering for the Chinese team that overtook the score.

The Chinese players on the pitch and the substitutes who crossed the stadium huddled together to vent the joy of the goal.

The quarterfinals of the World Cup, they did think about it, but when it was really possible to make it, it was another matter.

Just like a sling silk often YY himself will get the affection of the goddess, and all kinds of take the initiative to give him his arms, but the feeling when the real goddess throws his arms and hugs him cannot be described in words.

The Costa Rican players were in a depressed mood and were not unhappy with the Chinese team's celebration of the over-the-top goal, as they had realised how difficult it would be to equalise again.

Not to mention the lack of one player in the team, the biggest problem Costa Rica has to face is the lack of time.

Time is passing by second, and now there is less than half a minute left.

How easy is it to equalize?

The Chinese team's celebration of the goal was still going on, and the Costa Rican players did not complain to the referee Eriksen, but the referee Eriksen was dissatisfied with the Chinese team's celebration of the game for too long, and he jogged over to say that the Chinese team had been celebrating for too long......

The Chinese fans in the stands were obviously very dissatisfied with Eriksen's behavior, and ignored some of the previous decisions in favor of the Chinese team, and they opened their voices and burst into huge boos in front of the referee Eriksen: "Woo woo woo-"

Feeling the boos coming to his face, Eriksen was helpless, but that's what the lovely fans were.

No way.

"Are you still changing?"

Meanwhile, Costa Rica's assistant coach Joao looked at Pinto and asked.

Pinto's eyes were cloudy, obviously he hadn't recovered from the blow, he looked at the player who had no self-confidence, shook his head and said: "The game is at this time, the substitutions have been exhausted, the Brazil World Cup, it's time to tell us it's over!"

Campbell stepped on the football and waited for the referee Eriksen's whistle, Tang Zheng took advantage of this gap to look around and shouted to his teammates: "The game is not completely over, we must maintain enough attention and keep the score until the end of the game!"

"Understood!!"

Although the stadium was loud, Tang Zheng's voice was loud enough that most of his teammates could hear it clearly, so he responded loudly in unison.

"Beep~"

Referee Eriksen blew his whistle to signal the game to restart.

Campbell handed the football to Ruiz, who habitually passed back to Cuverlo, Gao Lin was fierce and rushed very fiercely, Cuvero had not recovered from the team's loss of the ball, and subconsciously kicked the football forward.

Although Costa Rica fell behind, Cuverlo's handling of the ball was obviously too hasty, Campbell and the two full-backs did not run into position, and the control of the football changed hands directly, and the Chinese team switched from defense to attack.

At this time, the game time had reached 94 minutes, which means that four minutes of injury time had arrived, so the head coach of the Chinese team, Lippi, walked to the fourth official, pointed to the watch on his left hand and questioned why the referee on duty, Eriksen, did not blow the whistle for the end of the game.

The Chinese fans in the stands who entered the stadium by themselves couldn't hold back their excitement, took a breath and blew hard.

Wu Xi, who received the football, really thought that the referee blew the whistle in his mouth, raised his arms excitedly, celebrated the end of the game, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup.

Others like Li Xuepeng, Ren Hang and Jiang Zhipeng thought that the game was over, but ...... Referee Eriksen didn't raise his arms flat, which means the game is not over yet!

Tang Zheng saw Campbell quickly approaching Wu Xi, who was not handling the ball, and subconsciously shouted: "Wu Xi, be careful!"

"It's not over yet!

Yang 5 commentator He Wei exclaimed violently.

Wu Xi's tense nerves had just relaxed, and it was too late to think about it in a short time, his stretched foot did not kick the football, and the football was picked up by Campbell.

Suddenly, the Costa Rican fans, who were in a low mood, seemed to see the last straw and burst out with huge energy: "Whoa-"

Costa Rica coach Pinto, who was ready to give up the game, reflexively looked at the pitch when he heard the shouts from the stands, and he saw Campbell break the ball and kill the Chinese team's defensive hinterland.

People take a chance on it, and so does Pinto.

But the next moment, the shouting of Costa Rican fans came to an abrupt end.

Zheng Zhi, the captain of the Chinese team, was very attentive and was not disturbed by the wild whistle, and he noticed that Wu Xi had consciously approached when he was distracted.

Sure enough!

Campbell breaks the ball and prepares to drive straight in!

Zheng Zhi did not hesitate, chose to fall to the ground and put the shovel, Campbell took the ball in advance, and then jumped to dodge, but Jiang was still old and spicy, and Zheng Zhi, who fell to the ground, shoveled out the right foot with a follow-up action of lifting up, and then tripped over Campbell, who was jumping.

The referee on duty, Eriksen, stood not far away, decisively blew the whistle in his mouth, and gave Zheng Zhi a yellow card.

Seeing this, the head coach of the Chinese team, Lippi, raised his eyebrows, if the Chinese team finally advanced to the quarterfinals, Zheng Zhi's yellow card can be said to be the most unacceptable result of this game.

Because Zheng Zhi received a yellow card in the group stage, that is to say, if the Chinese team successfully advances to the quarterfinals, then he will accumulate two yellow cards and miss the 1/4 finals.

Wu Xi was responsible for conceding the goal, but he didn't know that captain Zheng Zhi had accumulated two yellow cards and was suspended, so he simply waved his hand to apologize.

Tang Zheng has a strong ability to read the game in the game, and the attention outside the field is also very wide, he knows that the captain Zheng Zhi is very likely to say goodbye to the World Cup.

This farewell is not temporary, it is permanent!

Zheng Zhi is 34 years old this year and will be 38 years old in the World Cup in Russia in four years.

The 34-year-old professional player is basically in the twilight of his career, and it is not easy to extend it for another four years.

Even if Zheng Zhi insists on playing until the age of 38, the decline in physical fitness will inevitably be obvious, not to mention the top competitions such as the World Cup, and even the Chinese Super League are difficult to compete with young players for the main force.

So Tang Zheng patted Zheng Zhi's shoulder twice meaningfully to show comfort.

Maybe Zheng Zhi understood what Tang Zheng meant, and he smiled in return.

In fact, it is enough for Zheng Zhi to participate in the World Cup in Brazil as the captain, and he has also entered the knockout round, and now he has basically advanced to the quarterfinals.

Career, what else is there to regret?

Therefore, Zheng Zhi, who has rich experience in the game, urged referee Eriksen to blow the full game when it was over, after all, the time was close to 95 minutes.

The Chinese players retreated to half-court defense, and Yang 5 commentator He Wei noticed Zheng Zhi's yellow card and frowned: "If the Chinese team can finally advance to the quarterfinals, the most regrettable thing is the yellow card that captain Zheng Zhi ate, and he will miss the key battle against the uncrowned king of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals!"

The Chinese fans in the stands didn't know what Zheng Zhi's yellow card meant, they only knew that Zheng Zhi's timely foul prevented a threatening high-post counterattack from Costa Rica, which deserves to be commended!

Costa Rica won a free kick opportunity near the half-circle arc of the Chinese team, and goalkeeper Navas came to the Chinese team's penalty area, ready to fight for the last chance.

It's a pity that the free kick is too far away from the goal, and the requirements for the full-back Dias who takes the set-piece are too high, and his long-distance free kick is kicked high and floating, and the goalkeeper of the Chinese team, Yan Junling, is quite decisive, jumping high and holding the ball firmly in his arms.

As the clock ticked, the Chinese fans in the stands were clearly extremely unhappy with referee Eriksen and erupted in loud boos again, questioning why he had not yet blown the whistle for the end of the match.

Manager Lippi also ranted at the fourth official again, complaining about Eriksen.

Maybe it was influenced by the Chinese fans in the stands and Lippi, or maybe it was the sudden reminder that the game was out of stoppage time, and finally blew when Yan Junling kicked the ball towards the Costa Rican half.

Two short and one long.

"Beep~Beep~Beep~~"

At the same time, He Wei, the commentator of the Central 5 Commentary, supported the commentary platform with both hands, shouting almost frantically, completely ignoring the hoarseness of his voice: "The game is over! The game is over! The Chinese team scored two goals in three minutes of injury time to overtake the score! Defeated Costa Rica 2:1! Become the fourth team to advance to the quarterfinals of this World Cup! Hooray! In the 1/4 finals, we will welcome the uncrowned king of the Netherlands at the New Water Stadium in El Salvador!"