Chapter 229: Mr. Huang Knows How to Commentate
He Wei and Huang Jianxiang's vivid commentary stirred the emotions of Chinese fans watching on TV.
Xia Qi, this Chinese-born star, has always harbored deep affection for China, and so is deeply loved by Chinese supporters.
When Xia Qi climbs toward success step by step, Chinese fans always feel an indescribable joy swell in their hearts.
Tonight, seeing Xia Qi insulted by extremist fans caused them an undefined pain, as if they themselves were being humiliated.
However, when Xia Qi barreled two men over like a prehistoric beast and sealed the victory with a domineering goal, those empathizing fans leapt up in front of their TVs and raised their arms, shouting: "Whoever offends our man, no matter how far, shall be punished!"
…
On the pitch, after scoring, Xia Qi's sharp, blade-like gaze pierced the extremist Uruguay fans who had racially insulted him.
A faint, contemptuous, mocking smile lifted one corner of his mouth.
He slowly raised his right hand and made a slapping-the-face gesture toward those racists.
That move cemented Xia Qi's rise with three goals in eight minutes and was a forceful reply to those extremist fans.
At that moment the whole stadium fell silent, everyone stunned by Xia Qi's response.
Those who had once discriminated against him bowed their heads in shame and dared not meet his gaze.
Xia Qi's teammates surged forward and hugged him tightly, again supporting his counter against the racists.
"Baby, well done!"
"I'm proud of you!"
Xia Qi's mother's shouted praise split the sky like lightning and awoke those who had dozed.
England fans immediately boiled over; their cheers and shouts thundered, echoing to the heavens, as if ready to lift the whole stadium.
Their faces glowed with excitement and pride, their eyes flashing with exhilaration, as if they had seen the dawn of victory.
Meanwhile, the Uruguay fans were struck dumb, stunned as if struck by lightning.
Their faces showed astonishment and regret, like flowers battered by a storm, wilted and listless.
The extremist fans were especially terrified; they dared not meet Xia Qi's piercing gaze nor even look at other Uruguay fans.
Their lips trembled as if they wanted to speak but didn't know where to start. Waves of remorse flooded them, leaving them breathless.
They knew they had caused a big problem — some are doomed to fly against the wind; the more they're pressed, the harder they spread their wings.
On the sideline, Uruguay coach Óscar Tabárez looked dazed.
After a long moment he turned and gave his assistant a helpless bitter smile: "Used to seeing Xia Qi's delicate skills, I forgot for a while that he's also a tank."
The assistant also smiled wryly: "We're in trouble. Those little bastards made a blunder — Xia Qi, burning with rage, has unleashed full firepower and evolved to his strongest state…"
Tabárez heard that and sighed to the sky: "Teammates from hell!"
…
Uruguay kicked off from the center.
After Nicolás Lodeiro passed to Cristian Rodríguez, he sprinted into England's half.
Being two goals down is a significant deficit in football, but not an impossible comeback.
Uruguay again surged forward crazily; the ball skidded along the turf, constantly moving under the feet of Uruguay players.
One must admit South American teams generally have strong technique.
"Uruguay's advance is fast! All three lines have pushed into England's half."
On the pitch Uruguay players rapidly swapped positions, repeatedly striking England's backline, trying every means to find a flaw.
As half-hosts, Uruguay truly could not accept being eliminated after two games. Fight! No surrender until the final moment!
When Suárez received Lodeiro's pass, he accelerated instantly and in the turn bulldozed the physically strong Steven Gerrard.
A "tank crushing" on England, earning Uruguay a bit of face.
Uruguayan fans at São Paulo Athletic Stadium applauded and cheered, while England fans curled their lips in scorn and chanted defiantly:
"If you've got guts, collide with Xia Qi."
"No need for Xia Qi — young Steven is enough. Steven is 34 now after all."
"Exactly, always bully the old man…"
Actually, Xia Qi bumping Suárez was also bullying an elder.
Suárez is seven years younger than Steven; Xia Qi is eight years younger than Suárez — all small-on-big bullying!
On the pitch Suárez burst past Gerrard like a descending tiger and accelerated.
However, Jordan Henderson's anticipation was as if god-sent, precisely timing Suárez's rhythm and forcing him to halt his run.
Henderson, a player whose reputation is less than his ability, is not eye-catching in a star-studded England team, but fans will deeply miss him after he retires.
That shows his capability!
Henderson's tackle hit exactly at the split-second when Suárez switched his feet to dribble — the pause between old power spent and new power yet to arrive.
This prevented Suárez from bulldozing past Henderson as he had done Gerrard.
To avoid being dispossessed by Henderson, Suárez had to pull the ball back and shield it with his body.
As a result, England's defensive line all retreated. Uruguay's quick counter could not be completed and had to switch to positional play.
After Lodeiro reorganized Uruguay's play from the number-10 role, Rodríguez lofted a cross into the far post from the left side of England's box.
Edinson Cavani rose at the far post but the ball brushed the side net by a hair.
Although it didn't go in, it bolstered Uruguay's morale.
Play continued and Joe Hart launched from his goal kick.
Xia Qi dropped back to defensive midfield and passed forward, giving the ball to Wayne Rooney to organize.
Rooney often mocks Cristiano Ronaldo's organizing and fancies himself as Lionel Messi. In truth, his organizing is just so-so — but he doesn't know that! (He truly doesn't!)
Facing the pressing Lodeiro, Rooney executed a slick nutmeg, walking away with swagger!
The crowd roared with approval; England fans rewarded him with warm applause and cheers.
Rooney got excited and drove toward Rodríguez.
Against Rodríguez, Rooney abandoned a forceful breakthrough and began to decelerate, giving up his favored "tank charge." As he neared Rodríguez he deftly nudged the ball to his right to feint a left-side breakthrough.
But Rodríguez's nerves seemed in another atmosphere; Rooney's feint didn't stir a reaction.
Forget it — don't play with people who lack artistic taste! Rooney cursed inwardly, brought the ball back, and prepared a square pass to Xia Qi.
However, Rodríguez's long nerves reacted lightning fast: he stretched a leg and precisely nicked the ball from Rooney.
"Ah! Beautiful defense!"
"Pathetic Rooney!"
"His footwork only bullies youngsters in the Premier League…"
Seeing Rodríguez stride away, Rooney embarrassedly turned and chased. Whether for Manchester United or the national team, Rooney's effort is always unquestionable.
On the pitch, Xia Qi noticed Rooney slowed instead of accelerating and felt the risk of a turnover, so he pulled back early to form a double pivot with Gerrard, pushing Henderson up to the back line.
When Uruguay countered, England didn't panic; under Xia Qi's leadership they had already set a "pocket" to trap Uruguay.
The fast-pushing Rodríguez first encountered the ready Xia Qi.
Facing the defensive hardman Xia Qi, Rodríguez lacked the confidence to dribble past; even if he eventually got through it would take many phases.
Rodríguez didn't want another quick-break to become a positional battle again.
He played a side pass; Lodeiro, on the move, didn't trap but pushed a diagonal first-time pass.
The ball arrived at Edinson Cavani at the edge of England's penalty area.
In front of Cavani were only England's center-backs Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill.
Cahill also had to mark Uruguay's other striker, Luis Suárez.
Jagielka didn't want Cavani and Suárez to combine, so he rushed out the instant Cavani received.
As Jagielka closed in, Cavani didn't look at the ball but glanced at Suárez.
Yet his left foot was a bit to the left of the ball; the ball rolled to the right — away from Suárez's direction.
"Beautiful!"
"Fool them!"
From behind Cavani, Lodeiro burst in and, unmarked, hit a blasted shot!
This was Uruguay's most threatening attempt since kickoff.
The strike was powerful, sounding in the air like an explosion, aiming straight at Joe Hart's goal — the one that often gets Hart caught off-guard.
On the sideline England coach Roy Hodgson covered his eyes.
Even as an observer he hadn't seen through Cavani's feint; as for the caught-in-the-moment Joe Hart, Hodgson dared not pin his hopes on him. But Hart always takes the unconventional route.
When you despair he sometimes surprises you; like a god-assisted leap, he dived and precisely parried the ball with both hands, not daring to hold for fear of a spill.
Tens of thousands of Uruguay fans sighed in unison!
"Miraculous save!"
"Just with that save Joe Hart can keep his starting spot for club and country."
"To score against Hart you'd have to shoot from an impossible zone — this kind of sure-shot won't go in…"
"Hart: if you guess right it goes in; if you don't, it doesn't — that's Joe Hart!"
Fans in front of the TV laughed at the sound.
The ball flew to Luke Shaw; Rooney, Walcott, and Raheem Sterling launched instantly…
Luke Shaw was about to loft a long pass when Xia Qi shouted: "To me."
Luke Shaw quickly slanted the pass.
Up front, Uruguay players frantically retreated — they were panicked but orderly, keeping unified spacing across three lines; neither vertical nor horizontal lanes had obvious gaps.
But with AI-level computation, Xia Qi still saw the opening.
Under everyone's eyes, the black-haired youngster faced the wind, calmly met the rolling ball, and lifted his left foot.
A bang!
The ball rolled fast along the grass, so fast that you saw only a blur.
"What?"
"A ground through-ball??"
He Wei asked in surprise.
A super-long ground pass is much harder than a lofted pass — the former must thread through a forest of legs and is definitely tougher than a point-to-point aerial pass.
When Luke Shaw received the ball, Walcott braked, turned, and accelerated…
Of England's front three, he was the least famous and therefore less marked on the pitch — an advantage on the counter.
As Xia Qi's teammate, Walcott understood Xia Qi: he passes regardless of fame or relationship.
Whoever runs into space gets the ball.
So he sprinted forward madly, using all his life's strength, stomping on his wind-and-fire wheels to surge ahead.
"Oh! Beautiful!"
"A scalpel-like through pass!"
"The timing, the lead — perfect!"
"If Walcott reaches it, it's a one-on-one."
When the ball cut across midfield, an observer with God's-eye view could see the wonder of the ultra-long through pass: it came from the left, piercing Uruguay's central defense and rolling to the right flank of the box.
There was a gap in Uruguay's backline.
The two center-backs and Walcott were about equidistant to the landing point.
But Walcott saved the time of a turn.
Seeing this, Uruguay fans cried out in despair while England fans shouted: "Theo, go!"
Muslera abandoned his line immediately.
Walcott accelerated and attacked without any psychological bargaining, no theater — only speed, no trickery.
A single path up the middle, no forks.
Walcott reached the right channel of the box and poked forward; Muslera had already arrived at his heels.
The ball slipped out from under Muslera's hand before he could clamp it and rolled into the empty net behind him.
"Wow!"
"Not saved!"
"Goal!"
"Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera couldn't reach it; 4–1! Another wound for Uruguay!"
"Xia Qi's ultra-long through ball — at least 60 meters — smashed Uruguay's defense."
"This is a textbook counterattack; since Rui Costa retired there have been few such breathtaking long passes."
"68 meters!"
"The stadium screen shows Xia Qi's pass was 68 meters — what a visual feast."
"Xia Qi through ball, Walcott goal; Arsenal's twin stars combine to make it 4–1. It's only the 32nd minute of the first half, but barring miracles Uruguay should book return flights…"
Fans in the stadium and at home all erupted.
[Holy shit! I cried watching that! That pass wasn't to Walcott — it was a pass straight to my heart. I'll remember this goal forever.]
[Thanks Walcott for not wasting Xia Qi's magic pass. This might be the best goal of this World Cup.]
[Uruguay defended stupidly. Their cover was wide; normally Xia Qi couldn't thread that, but he did. At the instant the backline retracted, Xia Qi delivered the deadly courier…]
[It's not just those extremists that pissed Xia Qi off. Like Real's Marcelo's elbow at the Bernabéu, without that there'd be no iconic shirt-showing moment.]
On the pitch Walcott ran back from the opponents' half to his own and leapt onto Xia Qi's back, shouting in his ear: "Your through pass was gorgeous! Gorgeous!"
In AI mode Xia Qi tilted his head and leaned against him, that "flick your sleeve and not take a cloud" indifferent charm becoming many people's computer and phone wallpapers.
…
If being two goals down still leaves hope of equalizing, three goals behind reduces the chance to near zero.
Although football has its "Istanbul miracle," miracles are rare — that's why they're called miracles.
Uruguay fans realized the slim chance of a comeback and the extremist crowd not only revived but swelled in numbers…
"Yellow-skinned monkey…"
"Fu-Manchu! Fu…"
This figure is the villain in the Western racist film Shang-Chi, a gross caricature of Chinese from appearance to inner character…
Xia Qi was England's hero; Uruguay fans' behavior drew rebuttals from England supporters.
At the junction of the stands the two sets of fans went from verbal sparring and throwing objects to scaling barriers and brawling… eventually sparking a fan riot.
Police quickly entered, arrested the ringleaders, separated the fans, and soon quelled the riot.
On CCTV-5's broadcast:
"Oh dear, fans have clashed… viewers, let's go to a commercial."
When the ad break ended, police had restored order.
But the extremist fans in the Uruguay stand continued to spew the vilest insults at Xia Qi.
In their eyes Xia Qi was the culprit who sent them home.
No matter what, they wouldn't let Xia Qi off!
Police couldn't do anything about verbal abuse.
The broadcast cut to Xia Qi on the pitch. He made the "umbrella-slap" gesture at those people.
In Europe "umbrella-slap" is an extremely vulgar gesture and should never appear on CCTV-5's air — this was a broadcast accident.
The broadcast director at CCTV-5 almost cried; he couldn't cut it in time!
At that moment Mr. Huang's voice came in: "Facing Uruguay fans whose emotions boiled over after trailing by three, Xia Qi friendly made a cheer gesture."
If he had only extended a vertical right hand without the left hand horizontal, it would indeed be a cheer.
The next second, having just "cleansed" Xia Qi's image, Mr. Huang immediately met a problem.
Uruguay fans saw Xia Qi's reaction and their curses grew louder:
"Chips bergs…"
"Mother-fuckers…"
Xia Qi wouldn't stand them either; he raised his palm and air-slapped them.
One,
two,
three, four times — São Paulo Athletic Stadium exploded; Mr. Huang's composure also burst.
But he quickly adjusted: "Xia Qi's right hand swept across the faces of Uruguay fans from afar, gently wiping away the tears from the corners of their eyes…"
"At this moment, football has no borders, football has no victors or losers… this is the spirit football conveys…"
Viewers in front of their TVs laughed out loud.
[Mr. Huang understands how to commentate…]
[If I didn't only have a kindergarten diploma I'd believe him.]
[Though I don't support talking nonsense, thumbs up to Mr. Huang. Next time fans fight don't go to commercials — I don't watch kung-fu films but I love listening to you nonsense-commentate frankly.]
[I'm the same — I really want to know how Mr. Huang would describe football hooligan fights…]
Xia Qi's action was certainly card-worthy; a straight red could be justified.
But whether due to dislike of the extremist fans or to maintain the evening's generally lenient whistle, the referee only showed Xia Qi a yellow card.
A chorus of boos burst out across São Paulo Athletic Stadium…
Amid the jeers Uruguay kicked off and play continued.
(END CHAPTER)
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