Godfather of national football

Chapter 84 Penalty Shootout
At this time, the penalty area in Italy was crowded with 8 players from the Chinese team and 11 players from the Italian team. Both sides knew the importance of the ball.

The penalty area was crowded with people, the referee dealt with it several times, and the penalty area became a little calmer, and then the referee signaled Hao Junmin to play after blowing the whistle.

Several high points of the Chinese team were closely guarded. Nocerino was next to Zhou Dun, Montolivo was next to Yin Di, and De Qielli was next to Gao Lin. The players on the Italian bench had already stood up, and the extreme tension prevented the players from sitting down.

On the side of the Chinese team, Li Guo was already kneeling on the sidelines of the court, perhaps only this posture could calm Li Guo's mood at this time.

Hao Junmin raised his right hand high and stretched out three fingers, which means the No. [-] tactic, which should be clear to his players.

Run-up... shot, the Italian players began to move, all in order to seize a favorable position.

The ball shot by Hao Junmin was fast and flat. This kind of ball made it difficult for the defensive players. No matter who encountered it, it was likely to own the ball. The process of the ball crossing the penalty area was very fast, but it felt very slow. Finally... a strange scene appeared. 19 people in the penalty area, no one touched the ball, but the ball...scored....

The moment the ball flew into the goal, the Chinese players on the bench didn't know it, because from the perspective of the bench, the sight was completely blocked by the people in the penalty area. The Chinese players didn't know the goal was scored until the fans in the audience were high and the live broadcast shouted Hao Junmin's name.

In ecstasy, the players on the bench rushed out and ran to the area behind the Italian goal, where the Chinese players were celebrating, but Hao Junmin was gone, probably already surrounded by excited teammates.

At this time, Li Guo prostrated himself on the ground and kissed the lawn, "Thank you, God." After kissing the lawn, Li Guo pointed to the sky. For some reason, under the ecstasy, Li Guo's emotions seemed to be blocked, but he couldn't express it, and he seemed very quiet.

Li Guo didn't run and kneel like Mourinho did at Old Trafford, nor did he pace back and forth on the sidelines like the crazy Bielsa. Instead, he sat back on the coach's bench, picked up a bottle of sports drink and unscrewed it, but he didn't drink it, just took it.

"Li Guo, are you silly?" Allardyce asked.

"No, Big Sam, I feel so tired. I finally understand why Ferguson had a heart problem in the end, and why Cruyff kept smoking. The pressure in this industry is indeed too great. It's either ecstasy or crying."

"Li Guo, you are stronger than I thought. To be honest, when I first met you, I thought you might give up coaching soon, but it seems I was wrong."

"Hehe, Big Sam, are you so unconfident in me?"

"Haha, I used to dislike you, but now I think you will definitely surpass me and become the top coach in the future."

Soon, the celebration of the Chinese team came to an end, and the game continued. After another few tens of seconds, the referee blew the whistle to end the game. It was 2-2, and the quarter-finals of this game would go into overtime.

*****
In the second half of overtime, Dutt stood up and walked towards Li Guo, "Li Guo, prepare for a penalty shootout. The current situation is that both sides can't run anymore. It is estimated that within 120 minutes, it will be hard to tell the winner."

Li Guo nodded, "You can make the penalty shootout list."

Dutt seemed a bit embarrassed, "Li Guo, according to the usual practice, it's best for the players to decide this."

Li Guo remembered that many times the coach will let the players decide whether to take a penalty kick. After all, the pressure of taking a penalty kick is too great. If it is not willing, it is better not to take it.

"Well, let them decide for themselves later."

When the time came to 120 minutes, the referee blew the final whistle, and the brutal penalty shootout was about to begin.

*****
"Zheng Zhi, you are the first to play, and I am the last to play," Li Weifeng said, showing the responsibility of a veteran at this moment.Because in the penalty shootout, the pressure of being the first to play and the last to play is the greatest.

这样一来1号主罚球员和5号主罚球员已经确定，接下去就要确定2、3、4号了。

The rest of the players looked at each other in blank dismay. Everyone knows the feeling of pressure at the moment of standing on the penalty spot. The pressure even makes you forget to breathe.

"I'll be No. 2," Sun Jihai said.

"Yes," Li Weifeng nodded.

Then there was another silence. After the silence, someone said: "I'll be No. 3." Everyone saw that it was Chen Gelin, which was expected. As the top scorer of the Chinese team, Chen Gelin should step forward.

The most important thing now is the No. 4 penalty kicker. The rest of the players are teenagers. They have never taken a penalty kick on such an important occasion. The pressure can be imagined. The coach and the captain don’t want to put any pressure on everyone. Unless that person stands up, no one will hint.

"Let me do it," said Zhou Dun. Li Weifeng was overjoyed, and Li Guo was also overjoyed. Unexpectedly, Zhou Dun spoke surprisingly, "Captain, I want to change with you."

"Change? In other words, you want to be the last one to play?"

"Yes,"

Everyone knows that the last player to take the penalty kick must be the one with the strongest mentality. The reason why Li Weifeng recruited him is because he is the captain and he can't hide. What he didn't expect was that there were still people arguing with him for this "hot potato".

Li Weifeng didn't know how to answer for a moment, he should have been happy, but felt ashamed, at this moment Li Guo said, "Okay, it's you!" Li Guo looked at Zhou Dun with such firm eyes.

Finally, the order of the Chinese team's penalty kicks was determined, Zheng Zhi, Sun Jihai, Chen Gelin, Li Weifeng, Zhou Dun.

*****
After guessing the coin, the Chinese team took the first penalty. Zheng Zhi, who was the first to play, walked slowly towards the penalty spot. The first kick would determine the mentality of the teammates behind him. Italian goalkeeper Sirigu performed a "noodle dance" on the goal line, trying to interfere with Zheng Zhi's penalty.

Taking a deep breath, running up, and shooting, Zheng Zhi flicked his ankle and made a fake move. Siligu jumped in the wrong direction and the ball scored! !
The audience cheered for a while, and then quickly fell into silence because of tension. The penalty shootout is a ravage to the nerves, especially for the people on the scene.

In the first three rounds, both sides scored goals, and the penalty shootout came to the most critical moment. The fourth player of the Chinese team was Li Weifeng. As a defender, Datou didn't have a flashy footwork.

The pressure came to the Italian side. The fourth player from Italy was Montolivo. Facing Wang Dalei, Montolivo looked and looked, not being so confident. He ran up and shot... the next moment, the audience erupted, and Montolivo's penalty kick went flying!
Montolivo at this moment is like Baggio who missed a penalty kick in 94, and Di Biagio who missed a penalty kick in 98, with infinite loneliness in his back.

Just when the Italian was holding his head in regret, the next penalty shooter of the Chinese team had already gone to the penalty spot. As long as he scored, the Chinese team could eliminate Italy.

(End of this chapter)