Chapter 234: Greece That Refuses to Give Up — and Playful Football from Raheem Sterling
Seeing their son so slyly take a quick free kick, unlike the furious Greek supporters, Xia's mother found Xia Qi utterly adorable and playfully scolded, "How could this child be so naughty?"
Because of the system, Xia Qi had once been seen by the family as deeply socially anxious; on and off the pitch he usually kept a cold, aloof demeanor. Seeing him act so down-to-earth today made Xia's mother a little excited.
More than Xia Qi's achievements, his health concerned her more.
Nearby, a student hurried to explain to her that the quick restart was allowed by the rules, which made Xia's parents laugh.
Once the goal was confirmed, the Greek players were furious, swarming the referee and protesting.
Captain Karagounis shouted hoarsely, his face full of unwillingness: "You might as well hand England the qualification on a plate."
But the referee stood stern and unmoved, his eyes commanding the riled Greek players to back away or face cards.
On the touchline, coach Santos also looked angry and helpless.
He knew the referee's decision was technically correct.
Already inferior to England, and now two goals down — how were they supposed to play?
Walcott's goal had shaken the Greeks; in the remaining match time they played immaturely.
After play resumed, they were anxious and clueless. Even Santos's loud exhortations to calm down couldn't soothe them.
The match was repeatedly interrupted by unnecessary fouls; during the rest of the half the referee brandished four yellow cards, still unable to settle the Greeks.
Greece paid the price with four yellows, failing to pull one back; they even saddled a key player with a booking, which would affect subsequent matches.
The only good thing was England didn't extend the lead before halftime.
England 2:0 Greece was the half-time score.
At halftime Xia Qi had to change into a fresh shirt.
In the last ten-odd minutes of the first half he had been the most fouled player; his red shirt had been tossed about and looked like camouflage.
At the start of the second half, Santos substituted two players who had been booked.
However, captain Karagounis, who had also picked up a yellow, remained on the field — a ticking time bomb in Greece's setup.
Santos had no other choice: Karagounis was the pivot in Greece's transitions. Taking him off would be near surrender.
With a half to play and needing to fight back, Karagounis was indispensable. Santos had to gamble.
When play restarted, Greek fans in the Pernambuco stands roared: "Attack! Attack! Attack!"
With no way back, Greece had to go for it — but Hodgson had read Santos's tactics during the break.
At halftime he told Xia Qi: "In the second half we keep attacking until they surrender. They have no option but to attack, so they'll press forward. Xia, I need you to catch the holes in their defense when they push up — deal them a killer blow."
In the stands Greek fans sang the national anthem to spur their players; England fans responded in kind.
The stands became an impromptu karaoke contest! The music was infectious. Chinese fans joined and sang the Chinese version of the "Ice-Cream Prince" song that Arsenal fans had made for Xia Qi.
With so many people singing, the tune quickly became the stadium's main motif — the first time a Chinese song had been heard at a World Cup venue.
Fans from both sides sang passionately while England and Greece exchanged intense attacking play on the field.
Greece surged forward and England didn't sit back, choosing to counterattack instead. The spectacle was lively.
Unfortunately, both sides made many errors; attacks often broke down before reaching the opponent's 30-meter area because of passing or dribbling mistakes. The rush to score was the main cause.
Especially Wayne Rooney: already with three goals, hungry for the Golden Boot, he envied Walcott's brace and wanted to pile goals on vulnerable Greece, becoming a scoring liability to England's overall buildup.
Greece attacked: a thunderous strike by forward Christos Argyriou (note: transliteration) flew over the bar.
England fans applauded warmly, leaving Chinese supporters behind Xia Qi unsure whether to join in applauding the opponent or "behave properly."
Joe Hart placed the ball on the goal line and saw Xia Qi beckoning him.
Xia Qi received, and Karagounis immediately closed. Xia Qi passed to Luke Shaw, then turned and ran forward; Karagounis tracked back and retrieved the ball behind him.
"Xia Qi's playing a one-two!"
When Xia Qi received, Karagounis was behind and Maniatis in front of him.
Perhaps fearing a double team, Xia Qi passed again — this time somewhat longer, from the left flank to the right, again to Walcott.
Walcott was in excellent form tonight; upon receiving he immediately exploded down the wing.
Santos still hadn't solved his left-side defensive issues in the second half; his plan had been to trade right-side blows with England.
So Walcott's runs on the right were very smooth and he soon beat two defenders.
At the right channel of the box, Walcott didn't cut inside for a shot but crossed.
His target wasn't Raheem Sterling at the far post nor Rooney in the middle, but Xia Qi — making a late run from outside the box.
Amid the crowd, Xia Qi sprang up and headed! The ball flew toward the far corner.
Because Rooney and Sterling were closer to goal, Greek keeper Orestis Karnezis had focused his attention on them.
When the Walcott–Xia connection suddenly struck, Karnezis took a step and gave up a save.
As the ball looked set to cross the goal line under the bar, Sterling — guarding the far corner — leapt and, superfluously, headed it in.
He had better technique than Romelu Lukaku; the near-range header didn't fly into the stands and actually hit the net.
Yet his joy was no less than Lukaku's! However, he was offside!
Karnezis froze a second, then went ecstatic and, unable to contain himself, hugged Sterling's head and kissed it.
There was a moment of silence in Pernambuco Stadium, then a burst of laughter.
"Goal disallowed!"
"Sterling was offside, the linesman flagged!"
"What kind of trick is this? Don't want Greece to lose too fast? Or is this the monkey's summoned reinforcement?"
"Trying to steal Xia Qi's goal? If you'd taken it, fine — squandering chances like that invites retribution."
"Sterling's joy, Xia Qi's inner wound, England's tears…"
(END CHAPTER)
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Chapter 235: Xia Qi, Addicted to Stealing
Although Raheem Sterling had cleared a goal threat for Greece, coach Fernando Santos was still furious; he shouted at Giorgos Karagounis and Giannis Maniatis:
"Are you two sleepwalking? Mark Xia Qi tightly! That's Xia Qi!"
As if Xia Qi were some fearsome flood-beast!
"At all times and places, never leave him free, even when he's not on the ball."
After seeing Karagounis and Maniatis nod heavily to indicate they'd understood, Fernando Santos returned to the bench and took the sweat towel from his assistant to wipe his back.
Xia Qi's header had indeed given him a cold sweat! If it were 0–3, that would be almost equivalent to surrendering!
Santos could hardly not be frightened! It was 0–2 now, and there was still the possibility of a backlash law to hope for…
If they really managed to pull one back, he'd be the kind to bite Sterling hard like Karnezis would!
…
Sterling's rebound shot had greatly lifted Greece's morale and they pushed forward even harder.
Karagounis received a pass in his own half and found himself double-teamed by Wayne Rooney and Raheem Sterling.
Karagounis didn't rush to release the ball; instead he intended to stand up to the two of them — after all, Sterling was "one of our own," so it would be a two-on-one at worst.
Seeing Karagounis dare not pass, Rooney immediately accelerated toward him.
Karagounis dragged the ball from his left foot to his right.
Rooney's foot only clipped at air.
Sterling followed up, planning to take advantage while Karagounis was shifting the ball — to disrupt it before he could make his next move.
But his physicality turned out to be far inferior to Karagounis.
Karagounis dragged the ball and turned into him, and Sterling went down at the slightest contact — not only did he fail to interrupt the ball, he gave Karagounis the space to pass.
"We love you, Sterling!" The Greek fans' gloating cheers made Sterling seethe inwardly, though his complexion didn't betray his embarrassment.
Karagounis calmly played the ball out and accelerated forward.
"Sterling's defending is better than nothing!"
"Body strength isn't Sterling's strength; with his frame, he's always at a disadvantage when competing physically with Karagounis."
Karagounis received the ball in the attacking third and continued his run. The Greek fans in the stands cheered him on incessantly.
Everything seemed to be going Greece's way — the attack was drawing closer to England's goal, and the backlash law looked like it might come into effect…
Suddenly!
Xia Qi darted in from an oblique angle, having tracked across from central defense to the flank.
A perfectly timed sliding tackle from the side flew the ball away from in front of Karagounis; at the same time Karagounis clipped Xia Qi's lower leg and went down forward! Greece's dream of a goal was shattered in an instant!
The cheers in the stands were abruptly cut off!
Then they angrily shouted, "Foul!" "That was a foul!"
The referee immediately blew his whistle, but didn't make an immediate decision — he signaled to check the replay.
"That was a beautiful tackle!"
Indeed, in the slow-motion replay it was clearly a very fine defensive play.
Jordan Henderson walked over and patted Xia Qi on the butt: "Nice job, but I'm about to be unemployed."
Xia Qi gave an awkward forced laugh, ignored him, and helped Karagounis to his feet.
Karagounis had fallen hard, but he also understood that Xia Qi's flying tackle wasn't aimed at injuring him personally.
It was the most normal kind of foul. After the referee viewed the replay, he would make the correct call; there was no need for Karagounis to roll on the turf for sympathy points.
So he accepted Xia Qi's helping hand and got up.
Xia Qi's tackle wasn't just a defensive act — it extinguished the fire of Greece's newly ignited fighting spirit as if with a fire extinguisher.
Crushing both body and morale — nothing more effective!
Chinese fans captured the brilliance of Xia Qi's tackle with their eyes and their cheering grew louder, while those Greek fans — already displeased — grew even angrier!
"Fuck, these Chinese people are so loud!"
"This is our war with the English, what business is it of theirs? I'm furious!"
"There are too many of them; we can't take them on…"
On the pitch the match continued; Greece's fighting spirit didn't immediately go out — they held England in a stalemate for over five minutes.
As time ticked by, the possibility of a backlash law intervention gradually decreased…
England launched an attack; Xia Qi carried the ball forward. He glanced at the outstanding performer tonight, Theo Walcott, but Walcott was already double-teamed.
Although Walcott raised his hand, indicating he could handle a two-on-one, Xia Qi did not risk it and instead played the ball to the late-arriving Jordan Henderson.
In Roy Hodgson's tactics, Henderson rarely makes late runs to the far post. England's midfield was so crowded with talent they didn't usually need him.
So when Henderson made that forward run and broke through, the Greek defense fell into confusion; they didn't know who should mark Henderson.
When Elias Holebas came up to block Henderson, Henderson had already broken into the arc at the top of the Greek penalty area.
Facing Holebas's defense, Henderson didn't choose to play wide or attempt a long shot; he softly laid the ball across to Xia Qi at his side.
Vasilis Torosidis immediately stepped close to prevent Xia Qi's long shot. Xia Qi had a record of scoring from that spot, so Torosidis had to watch him.
He kept a reasonable distance to both prevent Xia Qi from driving into the box and to quickly step up and block any long shot.
Xia Qi moved the ball to the left and feinted to drive inside; Torosidis shifted to guard against an inside run.
At the same time, goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis shouted: "Also watch his passes."
Xia Qi's passing was also lethal; Karnezis felt even with three extra arms he wouldn't be enough — he urgently needed his teammates' help.
In fact, even if he hadn't shouted, his teammates would have supported him in defending England's trio; but the shout made the defender marking Xia Qi glance left and right, and his attention inevitably split.
In the "one-click AFK" state Xia Qi was essentially AI-controlled.
Torosidis dared to lose his focus — and AI-Xia Qi dared to shoot!
A shot with no prior sign: neither Torosidis nor Karnezis could react in time.
One second Xia Qi appeared unable to get a shot off — the next second he flicked his leg and struck.
No defender made a defensive move along Xia Qi's shooting line.
When the ball crashed into the net, the Greek players' heads buzzed: "He stole another one from us? Is he addicted to stealing?"
(END CHAPTER)
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