Chapter 58: This Is the Proof!
The football was rolling toward the sideline.
Chi Zhen gritted his teeth and sprinted toward the ball.
At the same time, from another direction, Tyne's right-back, Archie Noble, was also charging.
In the end, Chi Zhen lunged and slid first, attempting to hook the ball back before it crossed out of bounds.
Noble immediately followed with the exact same motion, just from a different angle.
The ball was kicked back into the field by Chi Zhen, and then nudged over the sideline by the rushing Noble.
The two players collided right after.
Chi Zhen had no time to consider whether he was injured. Though he felt a dull ache, it was completely negligible now as his adrenaline surged, making him largely numb to pain.
He scrambled up from the ground, waving toward Tyne's goal line to signal the referee that Noble was the last to touch it out, meaning it should be a throw-in for the Scousers.
Noble also picked himself up, making the exact same gesture, but pointing in the opposite direction—signaling to the referee that Chi Zhen had kicked it out, and it should be a Tyne throw-in.
The referee made his decision.
He pointed toward Tyne's goal line:
The Tyne player had knocked it out; it was a throw-in for the Scousers!
Chi Zhen gave the referee a thumbs-up for his sharp observation.
Meanwhile, Noble looked utterly shocked—he buried his face in his hands, eyes wide, wearing an expression of pure disbelief.
Although the camera angles clearly showed he was indeed the last to touch it.
He might not have been feigning ignorance; amid such a fierce collision, his senses could easily have been distorted, leaving him genuinely uncertain of who had made the final contact. He figured the ball must have hit Chi Zhen—what if the ball had bounced off his own leg and then brushed against Chi Zhen's body before rolling out?
Noble's reaction certainly could not change the referee's verdict, so despite feeling it was a miscall, Noble did not argue further. He quickly retreated to his defensive position, the expression on his face already refocusing.
Chi Zhen did not wait for his left-back teammate Atala to come up and take the throw-in, because he wanted to claw back every possible second; he did not want to waste even a single instant.
It was now the seventy-ninth minute of the match.
Nearly ten minutes had passed since Tyne equalized to make it 2:2. The Scousers had launched fierce attacks but failed to breach Tyne's goal.
Time ticked away second by second, and with every passing moment, the hope of victory shrank.
Chi Zhen threw the ball to the dropping forward Delmora, while simultaneously surging onto the pitch and sprinting toward Tyne's goal line.
Without letting the ball touch the ground, Delmora leaped into the air and swept it toward Chi Zhen's running path.
Chi Zhen chased down the ball, and Noble raced after him as well.
Facing the relentless Tyne right-back, Chi Zhen dared not trap the ball, fearing Noble would immediately press him, leaving him unable to break away or pass.
So he took a risk, directing a first-time aerial pass straight into the penalty area.
Noble also stuck out a foot to block, and the two nearly collided mid-air.
In the end, Chi Zhen's and Noble's feet brushed past each other; he had narrowly avoided being clipped on the instep by Noble...
"Chi! High cross!"
After delivering the cross, Chi Zhen raised his head, keeping his eyes locked on the penalty area to see if his delivery would cause any danger.
To his disappointment, he failed to gauge the power correctly; the ball sailed high over the center of the box, heading toward the far post on the opposite flank.
Portuguese target man João Veiga, who had come on as a substitute for forward Rosas eight minutes earlier, leaped with all his might in front of goal, but even with his 1.91-meter height, he was still far from reaching the ball...
Chi Zhen could not afford a single second of frustration over his misplaced pass because, at the far post, his teammate—fellow substitute right-back Sean Connelly—was already rushing forward to collect the ball.
He received it right on the sideline!
Chi Zhen quickly cut into the box, avoiding the crowded center and instead lurking at the far post.
After sending on target man Veiga, the head coach had instructed the players to cross more from the flanks, fully utilizing Veiga's height and heading ability to rain high balls down on Tyne's goal.
With such an attack, they could not rely solely on a single man waiting in front of goal; they needed multiple points of attack.
Given Chi Zhen's height of just 1.78 meters and his mediocre heading ability, going into the thick of things in front of goal would be useless. He could not out-muscle the towering defenders, nor did he possess the acute positional sense of a true striker.
He was better off lingering at the far post to pick up scraps.
What if an opportunity arose?
A few seconds later, the opportunity truly arrived!
Connelly lofted a cross from the wing.
A crowd of players jumped to contest the header in the center. Veiga jumped the highest, but under tight marking from Katic, he had no chance to execute a proper header and could only manage a glancing flick...
After being slightly deflected by his touch, the ball flew toward the back post!
Chi Zhen was right there.
He brought the incoming ball down with his chest!
Then... then there was no shooting opportunity...
Noble and Biggins were blocking his path.
Before Chi Zhen could even shape up for a shot, Noble poked the ball out of the penalty area!
"Aiyah!" Luo Jin cried out in regret upon seeing this scene.
Zhao Chuanfeng also felt it was a pity for Chi Zhen: "Xiaochi shouldn't have trapped that ball; he should have hit it first-time... If he wasn't confident about scoring, he could have driven it low across the face of goal. If anyone happened to nick it and redirect it into the net, it would have been a bonus!"
***
The Scousers' relentless attacks could not be sustained indefinitely; after all, the players' stamina was finite.
Especially with the match entering the final ten minutes.
The Scousers' tactical style demanded extremely high physical endurance from the players.
Therefore, before the eightieth minute, Giuseppe Gil had already made four consecutive substitutions.
Bouissier was off, Simon Lofen was off, McGowan was off, along with Flavio Rosas...
Now he had only one substitution quota left, kept in reserve just in case.
Tyne had also made tactical adjustments on their side.
After Dean came off, Tyne's formation and tactics had already shifted.
Van Ginkel moved from the center to the left flank as a left midfielder, while Biggins slotted into the right midfield position.
Tyne was effectively playing a 4-4-2.
Then, McNeil replaced Van Ginkel with Gabriel Barreto, bringing on a natural left midfielder.
He also substituted starting right-back Jacob Barnabas with Archie Noble. The former had been subjected to wave after wave of relentless attacks by Chi Zhen and other Scouser players throughout the match, facing immense pressure and heavy physical depletion. To avoid a collapse in the final stages of the game, McNeil brought on substitute right-back Noble to replace him.
Unlike Gil, McNeil made only these three changes.
After all, Tyne's bench depth was not as formidable as the Scousers'.
Changing too much risked breaking the team's overall cohesion.
Especially now that the match was at its boiling point, and the team was bearing enormous pressure.
Sending on a substitute who failed to get into the rhythm of the game immediately could easily lead to conceding a goal.
The current lineup on the pitch was functioning relatively normally; there was no need to make too many consecutive substitutions in a short span.
In the eighty-third minute, Tyne's attack reached the edge of the Scousers' penalty area.
Since Tyne was now playing a 4-4-2 rather than their previous 4-3-3, Wang Lie did not drop outside the box but stayed furthest forward—after all, having him spearhead the attack was undoubtedly more effective than leaving Vitiny up front.
The young Brazilian was simply not cut out to play as a central striker.
With Wang Lie stationed up top, Vitiny dropped back outside the box to link up, utilizing his exceptional technique and nimble dribbling to create danger.
After receiving the ball, Vitiny passed it to Wang Lie inside the penalty area.
Wang Lie checked back to receive the pass with his back to the goal.
Having delivered the pass, Vitiny charged straight into the box, seemingly looking to execute a one-two wall-pass with Wang Lie.
Just like the combination the two had pulled off in the first half.
Wang Lie felt Libert, who was pressing against his back, shift his center of gravity; he guessed that Vitiny's forward run had caught Libert's attention.
So he decisively nudged the ball slightly in the opposite direction and instantly spun around to poke a shot!
To prevent the opposing defender from poking the ball away before he could complete his shooting motion, Wang Lie executed an unconventional shot!
The shot was very subtle!
However, Argentina's national goalkeeper Leonardo Lucero, who excelled at pulling off various miraculous saves, finally lived up to his moniker of "Saint Lucero" this time. Realizing he had no time to dive and use his hands, he simply dropped straight down into a seated position on the spot!
The ball grazed the studs of his extended boot and spun wide of the end line...
"Lucero!! What a brilliant save!!"
"Wang Lie—oh! Lucero has made a crucial save!"
Seeing the ball stay out, Wang Lie clutched his head with both hands, frustratingly tugging at his hair as if he wanted to tear it out...
Then he roared up toward the sky:
"Damn it!!!"
Lucero, who had just pulled off the spectacular save, did not look smug about denying Wang Lie; instead, he was pulled up from the turf by his teammates with lingering fear still gripping him.
He couldn't even blame Libert for poor defending... because Wang Lie's turn was simply too fast, and his shot too sly. How could an ordinary defender anticipate Wang Lie would do that?
The fact that he managed to block the shot was entirely down to luck rather than skill.
He could only roar to distract himself and shake off the lingering sense of dread:
"Corner defense! Mark your men—!"
***
Tyne's corner kick failed to threaten the Scousers' goal, instead triggering a counterattack for the visitors.
***
However, the Scousers' counterattack did not succeed either...
Upon advancing into the final third, Delmora attempted to pass to Chi Zhen, but overhit it.
Even though Chi Zhen ran until his lungs felt like they were burning, he failed to catch up to the ball.
The ball rolled out over the end line under the escort of Tyne goalkeeper Goetz...
Unable to reach the ball, Chi Zhen bent over, resting his hands on his knees, panting heavily. The sound of his breathing was as loud as a leaking bellows.
He was unwilling to accept that this counterattack had ended in nothing.
Yet he was powerless; he couldn't even blame Delmora for a poor pass.
Instead, Delmora called out apologetically from behind him: "Sorry, Chi! That was on me..."
Chi Zhen maintained his posture with his hands supporting his knees, merely waving his right hand backward to let Delmora know it was fine.
***
When Tyne attacked, they also crossed from the flanks, looking for Wang Lie in the box.
Though Wang Lie's height was not particularly towering at 1.85 meters—not standing out among a group of giant target men—his exceptional jumping ability, combined with his acute judgment of the ball's trajectory, made his heading skills world-class in modern football.
Therefore, when necessary, he could entirely function as a target man.
This time, the cross came from Vitiny, who had drifted wide.
Wang Lie leaped high in front of the Scousers' goal, colliding with Mason Harper.
Yet he still managed to vigorously flick the ball toward the far post!
Appearing at the far post was none other than Tommy Biggins!
Meeting the ball flicked on by Wang Lie, he struck it first-time!
He hit the ball wide of the end line...
"Wang Lie flicks it on... Biggins! Oh!"
"Biggins' shot goes wide!"
On the bench, Dean hurled his towel onto the ground with force, cursing profanely:
"FUCK!"
He wasn't mad at his teammate Biggins; he was mad that the ball hadn't gone in.
If that had gone in... it damn well would have been the winner!
On the pitch, Biggins was equally devastated. He covered his mouth with both hands, staring wide-eyed at the goal—I bloody aimed right for the corner!
"A golden opportunity squandered!"
"The ability to finish chances in front of goal is still lacking..."
"Biggins wasted that chance! We always say that wasting opportunities in a match comes back to haunt you..."
The commentators felt both regret and anxiety for Tyne.
***
Biggins' failure to put the game to bed meant the Scousers escaped unpunished, and they immediately launched a fierce assault on Tyne's goal once more.
In the dying moments of the match, they refused to give up on securing the win.
A draw against Tyne was a result they simply could not accept.
Especially after leading Tyne 2:0 in less than thirty minutes from kickoff.
And... if they still couldn't win against Wang Lie, how could they ever talk about revenge?
They had gone to Red Rock Stadium with a mindset of revenge, only to draw 1:1 with Sophocles United.
Now, coming to Leazes Park Stadium with the same thirst for revenge against Wang Lie, if they settled for another 2:2 draw, gods knew what kind of ridicule they would face!
"Chi! Diagonal pass!"
After cutting inside from the wing with the ball, Chi Zhen chose not to continue dribbling because his stamina was failing, and he could barely run anymore. Fortunately, his teammate João Veiga made a diagonal run into the penalty area, so he opted to pass to him.
As Veiga received the ball, he collided with Katic and crashed to the turf...
"João Veiga... he's gone down!"
Joe Westley questioned aloud: "Isn't that a foul?!"
A deafening chorus of boos erupted around Leazes Park Stadium—Tyne fans believed Veiga was diving.
The referee did not blow his whistle immediately, signaling for play to continue.
Besides, there was a VAR team reviewing the footage. If Veiga's fall genuinely had issues, they would naturally notify him, and he could then halt the match and run to the sideline to check the monitor to confirm the foul.
Whether it was Veiga on the ground, Chi Zhen who passed him the ball, or the surrounding Scouser players, all raised their arms, complaining and protesting to the referee.
Tyne players were likewise complaining and protesting.
Katic went straight up to the grounded Veiga, waving his arms and cursing: "Stop faking it, damn it, get up! Get up!"
Goetz the goalkeeper also roared at him: "Cheater! Is that all you've got left?! Relying on dives to win penalties!"
Amid the controversy, the TV broadcast quickly replayed the earlier incident.
From slow-motion replays at various angles, it could be seen that Katic did indeed collide with Veiga, but Katic's arms had made no extra, malicious movements.
Veiga's fall certainly had elements of fishing for a penalty.
Conor Cowley shook his head upon seeing this: "That's not a penalty! Veiga was far too eager!"
Joe Westley, who had just questioned the decision, fell silent.
Luo Jin chimed in resentfully: "I think the referee should give Veiga a yellow card for simulation!"
The match continued. Having received no prompt from the VAR team, the referee naturally had no intention of stopping play.
Though the ball was cleared away by Tyne players, it fell right back to the feet of the Scousers, who continued their onslaught.
Their right-back Connelly, who had come on as a substitute, possessed ample stamina and surged forward from the backline to join the attack.
After receiving a teammate's pass, he feinted to cross, tricking the rushing Charlie Cohen into jumping and sticking a leg out to block.
Instead, Connelly dragged the ball to his left with his right foot, cutting diagonally into the penalty area!
Boos and shrieks blended together across Leazes Park Stadium.
Bursting into the box, Connelly wound up his left foot and unleashed a direct shot!
Goetz flung himself sideways in a desperate dive, but failed to touch the ball!
The ball traced an arc, bypassing his outstretched fingertips and heading straight for the far corner of the net!
When Goetz turned his head to witness this, his heart nearly stopped...
Fortunately, the next moment he saw the ball strike the far post and bounce out of bounds!
"Whoa!!!"
Countless Tyne fans exhaled a collective sigh of relief so thunderous it sounded like a gale.
The referee first pointed to the edge of Tyne's goal area to signal a goal kick, then flashed the signal for a substitution.
On the sideline, Scousers head coach Giuseppe Gil played his final card, sending on Argentine forward Alfredo Tisera to replace the exhausted Chi Zhen.
"Chi is being substituted... He scored a goal and indirectly created another in this match, putting in a stellar performance. However, in the dying moments of the game, having exhausted his stamina in the early stages, he ran out of gas. By taking him off for forward Tisera, Gil is clearly unwilling to shake hands and settle for a draw with Tyne..."
"Chi Zhen leaves the pitch. His performance today was magnificent; it's just a pity that his shot from a one-two with Delmora outside the box was saved by Goetz, otherwise the Scousers would be leading right now..."
Realizing he was being substituted, Chi Zhen felt a lingering sense of reluctance, but he showed no sign of it and certainly didn't drag his feet while leaving the pitch.
Summoning his remaining strength, he jogged off via the nearest touchline to buy his team a little extra time.
Because of this, he didn't even high-five Tisera during the change, walking alone from outside the touchline toward the bench.
As he walked, he turned his head to watch the pitch, locking his gaze onto Wang Lie.
The match wasn't over yet, but the duel between him and Brother Wang seemed to have an outcome—he had scored only one goal, while Brother Wang had scored two...
Perhaps because I'm not a striker, I shouldn't purely compare goal tallies?
My movement helped the team take the lead within the first minute... if we end up winning, could that be considered a draw between me and Brother Wang?
A storm of thoughts raged in his mind, filled with the pain of frustration and powerlessness, while simultaneously searching for excuses to comfort himself.
When head coach Gil shook his hand, embraced him, and praised his stellar performance, Chi Zhen managed a strained smile and apologized to Gil:
"Sorry, boss. I missed a few chances..."
Gil comforted him: "That wasn't your fault, just bad luck. Your performance today proved you deserve to be the national team's centerpiece."
Chi Zhen hadn't expected his battle for core status with Brother Wang to be known even by the club manager.
He accepted the coach's comfort with a wry smile and returned to the bench.
Yet he didn't sit down, instead standing there, nervously watching the pitch alongside his teammates.
***
Seeing Gil play his final card, assistant coach Vallo asked McNeil: "Should we consider taking Wang off?"
He asked this considering that Wang Lie was thirty-eight years old, and hadn't played a full ninety minutes in a single match this season; he worried Wang's stamina might also be failing.
But this time, McNeil did not hesitate, replying firmly and decisively:
"No. Anyone else can come off, but not Wang. Unless we don't want to win."
Seeing McNeil's unyielding attitude, Vallo did not try to persuade him further.
***
Replacing Chi Zhen with a forward like Tisera signaled that the Scousers were burning their boats and desperate for a win.
Consequently, their attacks grew even more ferocious.
Sunny Dean stood in front of the bench gripping his towel, staring unblinkingly at the pitch.
When he finally snapped out of his trance, he glanced at the time on the scoreboard.
It was the ninetieth minute of the match.
The fourth official also raised the board on the sideline indicating four minutes of stoppage time.
There were only four minutes left, yet right now we bloody well couldn't even cross the halfway line!
The Scousers' fierce onslaught forced Tyne to retreat entirely into their own half, bunkering down in defense.
Though Wang Lie remained the furthest forward in Tyne's overall shape, his position had dropped back behind the center circle.
Dean recalled what Wang Lie had repeatedly emphasized before the match and at halftime:
"I will prove that I, Wang Lie, can carry you to victory!"
Prove it?
How?
Tell me, how are we supposed to win now?
We'll be damn lucky not to lose!
Stop dreaming... this isn't Red Rock Stadium, your teammates aren't the Sophocles United squad from the era of seven titles, and you aren't thirty-one years old anymore!
You can't still be living in your own world, can you?
The one who needs to wake up is you!
Stop pushing yourself so hard!
Stop fighting the whole world!
Stop... suffering so much!
Dean gripped the towel so tightly his knuckles turned white, completely unaware of it.
He merely stared dead-eyed at that solitary figure on the pitch.
***
"Give me the ball!!"
When Goetz batted away Tisera's shot, Wang Lie roared at him from in front of the center circle, raising his arm high.
He didn't care if doing so would alert the Scousers; even if he didn't raise his hand, would Mason Harper let him off anyway?
Goetz threw the ball toward Wang Lie.
Wang Lie established his position, preparing to receive.
Mason Harper was right behind him.
Wang Lie jumped, and Harper jumped too.
Wang Lie reached the ball, and Harper reached him.
With a sharp cry, Wang Lie tumbled out of the air, clutching the back of his head as he crashed to the turf.
The referee's whistle and the boos of Leazes Park Stadium sounded in unison.
"Harper fouls in the aerial challenge! Tyne wins a free-kick near the center circle!"
***
"Phew—"
Robbie Dixie let out a long breath, then placed a hand over his chest and said feebly:
"Aiyah... possession is finally back with us. What a relief, what a relief..."
His sentiment resonated with many around him.
Just moments ago, the Scousers had suddenly launched another high press against Tyne, trapping them so severely they couldn't even cross the halfway line.
If that had continued, they might genuinely have cracked under the Scousers' pressure.
Conceding a late winner was entirely possible.
And now Harper's foul had bought Tyne a moment to breathe.
Fans who had been too tense to speak could finally chat a little.
"If we can hold onto this draw, I'd say it's a completely acceptable result..."
"Acceptable? It's better than we could have ever hoped for! Remember, our opponents are the Scousers!"
"Thank God for Wang! Without Wang, after conceding two goals in the first thirty minutes, we might have completely collapsed. I wouldn't even be surprised if we lost 7:0!"
"Yeah, yeah! Wang's two goals were absolutely crucial! Plus, they boosted morale, otherwise the team could never have held on this long!"
Listening to everyone praise Wang Lie, Dixie turned his gaze toward the young Chinese man. He didn't look happy just because everyone was praising Wang Lie; instead, his brows were tightly furrowed as he stared silently at the pitch.
Perhaps to ease the tension between them, Dixie took the initiative to say: "Chinese boy, don't be so serious. Even if the sheep didn't turn into lions, we've already scared the lions off..."
Hearing his words, Tang Lin could sense the olive branch being extended, but shook his head ungratefully: "Scared off? Aren't the lions still trying every possible means to break in and devour the flock?"
Dixie glanced at the scoreboard time and curled his lip: "There are less than three minutes left in the match, and possession is at our feet. As long as we don't lose the ball, we can waste a bit more time—who knows, we might just drag it out until the final whistle?"
Tang Lin said nothing more.
Because he didn't understand football and didn't know if Dixie's prediction could actually come true.
Yet he still felt that if it ended merely as a draw, Wang Lie's two earlier goals... would they go to waste?
***
Tyne won a free-kick in their own half near the center circle, to be taken by center-back Katic.
Most Tyne players had already crossed into the Scousers' half.
However, the Scousers hadn't dropped all the way back into their penalty area to defend either; aside from the backline, everyone else was man-marking.
Virtually every Tyne player who entered their half had a Scouser player glued to them.
Clearly, the Scousers intended to use this free-kick situation to force a turnover and launch an immediate counterattack.
Katic looked around, unable to find an outlet for a pass.
He even considered simply turning back and passing the ball to goalkeeper Goetz, knocking it around in the backline to waste time.
Of course, if he actually did that, the Scousers would surely rush forward to press. But at least that might draw the Scousers out and perhaps genuinely create an opening?
"We are in the ninety-second minute, two minutes away from the end... Tyne is taking a free-kick in the backcourt now. Katic will probably pass it back to the goalkeeper and then waste time passing around the back..."
Commentator Conor Cowley said this as he watched Katic turn back to observe his options.
Joe Westley expressed agreement: "Tyne should be looking to waste time now and preserve the 2:2 scoreline until the final whistle. Being able to hold the Scousers to a draw at home is a totally acceptable result..."
Seeing Katic hesitate, or perhaps deliberately stalling for time, Wang Lie decided he could no longer afford to stay lingering in the penalty area.
Because it was meaningless.
So he suddenly accelerated out of the box and ran backward.
As he ran, he shouted at Katic: "Hey! Katic!"
Reminding him to pay attention.
When Katic looked over, Wang Lie made a hand gesture:
Give me the ball!
Noticing Wang Lie suddenly checking back, neither of the Scousers' center-backs in the box followed him immediately.
So Katic actually passed it to him!
The ball skimmed low across the turf of the center circle, flying toward Wang Lie.
Seeing the ball played to Wang Lie, Mason Harper finally bolted out of the penalty area to defend.
With his back to the goal, Wang Lie quickly glanced over his shoulder to assess the situation, realizing Harper was still a fair distance away—though not far enough to let him comfortably control and turn; that "distance" was only relative to being tightly marked...
He had already made up his mind.
As the ball flew toward him, he shifted his body slightly, raising his left foot to cushion the ball directly toward the side he was facing.
Then he spun.
The redirected ball dropped onto the turf diagonally ahead of him.
After cushioning the ball, his left foot stepped forward, planting heavily onto the grass.
His arms spread out to maintain balance.
Leveraging the momentum of his turn, he wound up his right leg directly!
As the ball bounced up from the turf, his right foot arrived.
Bang!
Clumps of turf and mud flew in all directions.
The ball shot past the rushing Mason Harper!
"Saint Lucero" flung himself into the air, frantically swiping a hand toward the ball.
He failed to touch it!
Dragging a streak of white light through the night sky, the ball cut across the pitch like a shooting star, then buried itself deep into the back of the net!
***
PS: Two chapters today as well!