Chapter 236: Into the Quarterfinals
"Xia Qi suddenly controlled the ball and turned, then drove forward!"
"Ah! That's a feint! He shoots! Goal!"
"Goal! Goal! England lead by three; Greece's hopes of qualifying are slim…"
Torosidis, who had been marking Xia Qi, had no time to make a defensive move — all he could do was turn his head and watch the ball fly.
How he wished then that Sterling were on the goal line — Sterling is Greece's best player tonight, in his mind.
Goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis likewise had no time to dive; all he could do was try to defend with his mind.
So he acted out a save with an imaginary hand and body; with the thought stretching through him, his body unknowingly fell backward and ended up collapsed in the net.
He was not knocked over by the ball — he was crushed by the goal itself! 0–3!
A three-goal deficit felt like a heavy mountain that utterly crushed him. Lying in the net, he just wanted to be still!
It wasn't only Karnezis who wanted silence; the Greek players all wanted silence! Losing wasn't unimaginable — losing to favorite England wasn't shameful given the difference in strength.
But the process was unbearably frustrating!
That damned Xia Qi, what a thief of the ball! The golden-ball man turns out to be a sly trickster!
That contrast made not only the players want to be still, but the fans too!
Arena Pernambuco seemed to enter an endless night; everyone on the pitch looked like statues — no boos, no cheers. If not for the faint breathing you'd think time had stopped!
For about three or four seconds, Chinese fans in the stands broke the silence with: "Xia Qi, awesome!" giving the stadium back the atmosphere a football match should have.
On the pitch, after scoring Xia Qi didn't celebrate wildly; it seemed like he'd only done something ordinary, strolling back slowly to the center circle.
Greek fans intended to boo him with hatred but found themselves unable to muster the energy.
"Maybe beating us just doesn't excite him!" That thought spread and deflated the Greeks.
The score showed a big gap in quality, and Xia Qi's "wave of the sleeve without taking a cloud" attitude suggested he hadn't even used full force.
That was truly despairing.
Weird scenes appeared on the field.
The leading England side was already in position waiting to restart, while the trailing Greece side dawdled and stalled.
"Greece have completely collapsed; they've lost all fighting spirit."
"Xia Qi's goal shattered them."
"If Greece want to advance they must score at least three goals in the remaining 26 minutes to push the match to extra time and penalties — almost impossible…"
When play resumed, the Greek players plainly hadn't recovered from the third goal and behaved on the pitch like sleepwalkers.
Their coach Fernando Santos didn't seem much better; he didn't immediately rally the players or make substitutions.
In truth, it's understandable: scoring three goals in twenty-six minutes is extremely difficult, and he had already used two substitutions.
How were the Greek players so out of it?
Soon after kickoff, with no pressure on him, Maniatis actually passed the ball straight to Wayne Rooney — showing how absent-minded they were!
Lucky for them, Rooney tonight was the king of speculative shots and didn't take advantage of Greece's mistake to increase the lead.
Roy Hodgson had had enough of Rooney's wastefulness and replaced him with Daniel Sturridge.
In the 78th minute of the second half, Karagounis was booked for fouling Xia Qi; a second yellow became a red and he was sent off.
Down by three goals, down to ten men, with only 12 minutes remaining.
All of this combined to leave the Greek players furious and they launched a somewhat valiant counterattack on England's goal.
It was "valiant" because such an attack could easily be counter-killed by England — that scenario had already happened three times tonight.
Knowing they might be turned over, they still pressed on.
But they met the unfeeling Xia Qi!
Their valiant charge did not move Xia Qi.
Thirty meters from England's goal, Xia Qi decisively executed a fierce sliding tackle to stop Greek forward Lazaros Christodoulopoulos' dribble.
Xia Qi's partner Steven Gerrard seized the opportunity and launched an attack on the Greek goal.
After some forward passes, the newly introduced Daniel Sturridge flicked the ball to Xia Qi at the top of the arc.
Xia Qi did not let him down; as Sturridge was moving into position five meters from goal, the pass arrived as promised.
Sturridge rose high among the crowd and headed the ball into the net — his first goal of this World Cup.
0–4!
Greece had no more spirit left!
Three minutes later England surged again.
Xia Qi, Sturridge and Theo Walcott combined with brilliant short passes down the right. With Greece's defense concentrated on preventing attacks down England's left, Xia Qi lofted the ball to the near post on the other side; Sterling again finished off at the far post to make it 5–0.
When the referee finally blew the full-time whistle, the score stood at 7–0. No matter how valiantly they tried, Greece couldn't score.
After the final whistle, several Greek players came over to ask Xia Qi for his shirt.
"The match is over! England have unsurprisingly advanced to the quarterfinals. They will face the Netherlands for a place in the semifinals."
"England played superbly tonight, controlling the match from start to finish — a comprehensive and untroubled victory."
At the post-match press conference, England coach Roy Hodgson smiled broadly and said in a loud voice: "Tonight our players were near-perfect.
"The boys were fully focused from the first whistle and took control of the rhythm.
"Every player performed at their best; their cooperation was seamless and the attack flowed like water.
"Xia Qi's performance was phenomenal — words fail me when praising him.
"Reaching the quarterfinals is not our target; we will do everything to bring the World Cup home."
Greece coach Fernando Santos appeared somewhat dejected and slowly said: "This match was a heavy blow for us.
"Xia Qi's quick free-kicks were a severe blow.
"We will learn from this match and work to improve. Although we lost tonight we will not give up; we'll prepare for the next challenge."
(END CHAPTER)
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