Capítulo 242: Top of Asia
After scoring, Wang Feng was surrounded by his teammates, each wearing a face of ecstatic joy. They had endured quite a torment during the time they were trailing.
Sun Jihai laughed heartily and said, "I knew you could do it. You are the king of our Chinese team!"
With the match resumed, the morale of the Chinese team soared, gradually stabilizing their defense. However, Wang Feng understood deep down that a draw still put the Chinese team at a disadvantage because they were physically inferior to Japan. The longer the game dragged on, the more they would be at a disadvantage.
Five minutes later, Zhao Junzhe's breakthrough on the wing was thwarted by a Japanese defender, resulting in a corner kick for China. After a brief discussion, they decided to let Shao Jia take it, while Wang Feng stayed in the penalty area waiting for an opportunity.
The ball flew in from the corner flag area, causing chaos in the penalty area. Despite being sandwiched between Hiraoka Keisuke and Endo Yasuhito, Wang Feng still managed to control the ball.
However, unable to turn around, Wang Feng had to carry the ball to the outside of the penalty area to look for an opportunity. At that moment, he glanced back at the positioning of his teammates and noticed a clear gap behind him amidst the numerous defenders.
His exceptional football intelligence kicked in, and he skillfully nudged the ball with his right foot to the side, sending it rolling swiftly towards the left bottom corner of the goal.
Japan's goalkeeper Narazaki Seigo, seeing Wang Feng with his back to the goal, never expected him to suddenly shoot with his heel. The ball passed through the crowd directly in front of him, catching him off guard, and rolled straight into the net.
3-2! China reversed the score!
From leading to being reversed, the mentality of the Japanese players also experienced ups and downs, but their self-regulation ability seemed to be better than that of the Chinese players. They remained stable on the field and gradually gained control of the game.
At this moment, Wang Feng finally felt the gap between Chinese and Japanese football, both in overall strength and player maturity. Japan was superior to China in every aspect.
When the game reached the 79th minute, Tamada Keisuke seized on a mistake in China's backcourt, successfully intercepting the ball. This mistake was purely due to fatigue, as the pass wasn't accurate.
Tamada Keisuke seized the opportunity and equalized the score again after dribbling into the penalty area.
The game was likely to go into extra time! Wang Feng looked at his teammates on the field with a heavy heart. Four of them had already cramped up, and head coach Alihan had used up all the substitutions, leaving no chance for tactical adjustments in extra time or penalties.
The experience of the recent Champions League final's extra time replayed in Wang Feng's mind. That intense game surely would drain the players' last ounce of energy. He feared that many wouldn't be able to withstand it and would be taken away by Japan in the end.
Absolutely not! He gritted his teeth, ran even harder, from the back to the front, his support was everywhere. Finally, he created another excellent opportunity, but Li Jin missed the chance almost facing an open goal.
Li Jin lay on the grass, gasping for air. If it were within the first sixty minutes, he wouldn't have missed that. But the rapid depletion of his energy made even simple touches difficult.
This missed opportunity elicited sighs from the fans in the stands, but they continued to cheer for the team, hoping the players could hold on.
Just when everyone thought the game would go into extra time, China got another attacking opportunity. Wang Feng received the ball in the backcourt and dribbled it past the midfield line. Then, along the left flank, he moved towards the opponent's half.
As he reached the thirty-meter area, Japan's defense suddenly tightened, surrounded by defenders. The Chinese supporting players were already too tired to keep up, and they hadn't even entered the penalty area yet.
There's no time to wait! Wang Feng suddenly accelerated, swerved past Tanaka Makoto blocking in front of him, and as he reached the edge of the penalty area, he quickly stopped the ball with a dribble, then flicked it to the right to evade another defending player, Miyamoto Tsuneyasu.
As he caught up with the ball again, he immediately shot with his right foot, a high-speed ground shot flying towards the bottom right corner of the goal.
"Chance! Shot! It's in! Wang Feng breaks through the Japanese defense after bypassing two defenders!"
"He swerved past Tanaka Makoto with an accelerating change of direction, stopped the ball with a quick dribble to evade Miyamoto Tsuneyasu, and made a decisive low shot straight into the bottom right corner of the goal!"
"In this game, Wang Feng has scored four consecutive goals, achieving a fantastic performance! "
"There are only five minutes left in injury time. We can finally send the message to our opponents that Japan has little time left!"
After scoring, Wang Feng raised his hands to the sky, accepting the thunderous cheers from the Workers Stadium. He was soon surrounded by his ecstatic teammates, who patted his back and rubbed his head. Some older players even shed tears of joy.
It wasn't until the referee Al-Fahari urged them multiple times that they gradually dispersed. However, their hearts were firm and resolute, determined to guard the last post!
China's full-scale defense didn't allow Japan to create any waves. 4-3! China laughed last, reaching the top of Asia! Just a few days ago, Japan had eliminated Bahrain with the same score, but unexpectedly, they fell to the same score in the end.
At the moment the referee blew the whistle, everyone on the bench rushed onto the field, cheering and celebrating with the heroes on the field. The fans in the stands spontaneously began singing the national anthem!
This was the first time the Chinese team lifted the Asian Cup, witnessing history!
On the makeshift award podium, the various awards for this Asian Cup were officially announced. Wang Feng was unsurprisingly named the Best Player of the tournament and also won the Golden Boot with 14 goals, while Bahrain's Hu Bai'er, who ranked second on the top scorer list, only scored 5 goals.
Japan's Nakamura Shunsuke received the Fair Play Award, which could be considered as some compensation for the runners-up. To be honest, their second goal didn't deserve this award at all.
After the individual awards came the runner-up award for Japan. The fans at the scene still applauded the Japanese team. As the winning side, they still showed considerable etiquette and magnanimity.
Lastly, it was China's turn to receive the award. Captain Li Weifeng led everyone onto the stage, where AFC President Hamman handed each player a silver trophy. When it was Wang Feng's turn, he warmly embraced him, saying, "Wang, you are the pride of Asia. I hope you will continue to shine for Asia!"
Wang Feng smiled and nodded, then went to the Asian Cup trophy. It was all silver, similar in style to the smaller trophies he held earlier. It had a circular base supporting a bowl-shaped structure with wavy edges. In the center of the "bowl" was a football relief, and below it were the year and edition of the award.
When Captain Li Weifeng lifted the trophy, brilliant fireworks lit up the entire Workers Stadium. Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night for Chinese football fans.
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