Chapter 228: Burning with Rage — Crushing Racism in Eight Minutes
England players celebrated their comeback.
Play resumed.
Uruguay mounted an offensive; after several passes the ball finally reached Nicolás Lodeiro.
Lodeiro had barely received the ball when Xia Qi closed him down.
Xia Qi did not rush a tackle but stuck close to Lodeiro and ran back with him, constantly disturbing his stride and disrupting his rhythm.
Whether Lodeiro accelerated, braked suddenly, or even used his elbow, he could not shake Xia Qi.
With no other option, he turned and played the ball to the teammate overlapping at the back post — Ríos — and continued his forward run.
Clearly he intended a one-two wall pass with Ríos.
At the same time, Xia Qi faced a choice: continue marking Lodeiro or go to the ball carrier Ríos? After a brief hesitation, Xia Qi sprinted forward.
As he pressed on, Ríos decisively crossed, delivering an over-the-top pass that flew over Xia Qi's head toward Lodeiro's front post, completing the intended one-two wall play.
The move was beautifully conceived, yet as the ball flew past Xia Qi's head, Xia Qi happened to do a somersault; during the backflip his left foot rotated clockwise upward in exactly the motion of a bicycle kick.
The ball was cleared as a result.
"A bicycle kick!"
"An unconventional bicycle kick!"
"Incredible! Xia Qi actually performed an irregular bicycle kick during a backflip to destroy that cross. This clearance will surely become a textbook defensive example."
"In that breathtaking instant, Xia Qi transformed into a savior on the pitch.
"His body traced a splendid arc in the air as his left foot rotated clockwise like a dancing sprite, precise and powerful, clearing the ball away."
He Wei's commentary sounded almost like reciting a poem; his voice was passionate and sonorous, as if trying to ignite the viewers' fervor.
"This bicycle kick not only displayed Xia Qi's transcendent skill and quick reflexes but also his reading and control of the match. His decisive judgment in a critical moment is astonishing!"
Huang Jianxiang and He Wei generously traded praise for Xia Qi, nonstop…
Inside São Paulo Athletic Stadium, the England fans' passion was reignited. They pulled every vocal cord and sang loudly: "…over the hills and far away, there's an ice-cream prince, he scores like corn, his defense is unbreakable…"
Their enthusiasm was sincere even if the lyric was cheeky — the tune borrowed from the cartoon "The Smurfs" with slight lyrical tweaks.
Conversely, Uruguay fans despised the invincible Xia Qi.
No longer content with just booing, they began hurling the vilest insults at Xia Qi and his family's women.
Some extremist fans even hurled racial abuse at Xia Qi: "Yellow-skinned monkey! Want bananas?" and pulled their eyes to the sides to mimic slanted eyes in a discriminatory gesture…
On the pitch, Theo Walcott, in telepathic sync with Xia Qi, sprung like an arrow for the ball, chest-trapping the ball Xia Qi had bicycle-kicked away and immediately turned and accelerated forward.
"England on the counter! Walcott's wing burst is lightning fast!"
Xia Qi landed from his flip and sprinted toward Uruguay's goal, intending to join the attack.
But Uruguay's recovery was equally swift — after all, this was a do-or-die match for them.
If they lost this match, Uruguay would be eliminated early.
Every Uruguayan player seemed wound tight, sprinting and defending with all their might…
Walcott made a slight adjustment and lost the opportunity to advance further; he was intercepted by Diego Godín.
Walcott kept the ball between his feet to prevent Godín from stealing it. While sizing up how to beat him, he saw Xia Qi run forward and raise his hand.
The [Telepathic] attribute made Walcott instantly understand Xia Qi's intention.
Walcott dribbled, feigned to take the outside channel; when Godín reacted,
stop, change direction!
Cut inside.
At that moment Xia Qi ran past him and dragged two defenders with him.
Thus Walcott comfortably moved to the edge of the penalty arc — a reasonable shooting position. Walcott feinted shots several times, drawing Uruguay defenders' attention and nerves, concentrating their focus on him.
Then Xia Qi and Wayne Rooney made another overlapping run: Rooney pushed forward through the middle to create attacking space, while Xia Qi dropped off and made a no-ball "L" run from behind Walcott.
It was akin to an NBA pick-and-roll, using Walcott's body to screen Álvaro González, who was marking tightly.
Walcott not only screened González but, without looking back, back-heeled the ball. As Xia Qi and Walcott crossed, the ball was tapped to Xia Qi.
That one touch was a stroke of genius.
Xia Qi followed the move, took one touch, then tapped toward goal — suddenly a one-on-one break emerged. Uruguay's defense had gaps in the coordination of Xia Qi, Walcott, and Rooney.
"One-on-one!"
Huang Jianxiang cried out.
"This is England's chance!" He Wei shouted too.
Closest to Xia Qi now was Ríos, slightly delayed after being screened by Walcott. He was behind Xia Qi by a beat but not completely stopped like González had been.
When he saw Xia Qi bearing down on the box, he floored it and accelerated in pursuit.
Once Xia Qi broke into the box for the one-on-one, he didn't hesitate — he swung his right foot, aiming to shoot before Ríos could arrive.
A driven shot! The inside of his right foot struck the lower-middle of the ball hard.
The ball shot up like a white streak, sprinting toward Uruguay's goal.
Muslera had just made a blocking move but then the ball vanished from his view.
He didn't know where to dive; his raised arms looked more like surrender.
No one in the stadium mocked his awkward raised hands now — everyone stared into the net, trying to find the missing ball.
They, like Muslera, hadn't tracked the ball's flight and didn't know whether it had gone in.
For a moment São Paulo Athletic Stadium was utterly silent; you could even hear breaths.
The first thing to break the hush was the referee's whistle.
"Ah!"
"Goal!"
"Goal! Three minutes after Xia Qi's first, he scores again — a brace to put England ahead!"
The stadium's stands were split between fire and ice. England fans roared like molten lava;
Uruguay fans screamed in despair like endless darkness swallowing them. After those screams and curses they looked like the walking dead.
Losing this match would send Uruguay home early — an outcome every Uruguayan could not accept.
After scoring, Xia Qi didn't coolly walk back to the center circle; he ran past the advertising hoardings toward the section of Uruguay fans.
He put his right index finger to his lips and signaled those extremist Uruguay supporters — who had been calling him "yellow-skinned monkey" — to shut up.
Xia Qi's strong counter provoked a "warm" response from the Uruguay stands: they began to throw a rain of debris.
Uruguayan fans hurled coins, lighters, water bottles, bras… and gave Xia Qi the middle finger while hurling obscene insults.
They wore innocent expressions as if they hadn't started the confrontation.
Seeing the referee approaching, captain Steven Gerrard rushed forward and was first to complain, accusing Uruguay fans of racial abuse, saying they called Xia Qi a "yellow-skinned monkey."
The referee ordered Xia Qi to move away from the Uruguay fans' section and had stadium staff clear the turf.
When the referee didn't book Xia Qi, Uruguay fans booed loudly.
The Uruguay fans' behavior provoked strong indignation among England supporters, who chanted Xia Qi's name nonstop: "Xia Qi! Xia Qi! Xia Qi!" in solidarity.
England players all embraced Xia Qi in support.
Seeing her son abused, Xia's mother angrily waved her fists toward the Uruguay stands and shouted, "Don't bully my baby — pick on me instead!"
The England WAGs in that stand approved of Xia's mother's behavior.
After discussion, Gerrard's wife, Rooney's girlfriend, and the others took off their bras and wrote one English letter on each cup — together spelling "Racism, go away!"
They held their bras aloft to show support for Xia Qi, becoming one of the most striking scenes of the World Cup.
After the match Gerrard's wife even denounced those extremist fans on television, calling for real-name registration for the World Cup to keep such football trash out of the stadiums.
In the broadcast booth, Huang Jianxiang strongly defended Xia Qi: "These extremist fans are utterly despicable. Xia Qi's firm response was right — if you always endure abroad, people will see you as weak…"
"Thumbs up to the England WAGs; they are the loveliest people off the pitch."
"Xia Qi's actions are beyond reproach — those who don't envy him are mediocre. I hope these scumbags won't affect Xia Qi's mindset."
…
Only fifteen minutes into the match, three goals had already been scored.
Facing possible elimination, Uruguay launched wave after wave of attacks after play resumed.
England, whose squad value equaled about 2.5 Uruguays, had to weather the storm for a while.
Luis Suárez was Uruguay's main scorer; on each of his breaks he had wide midfield support on both flanks.
When trailing, Uruguay supporters pinned hopes of an equalizer entirely on "El Pistolero."
In the 20th minute, Uruguay attacked again. After several passes, the ball reached Suárez.
Cristian Rodríguez ran past Suárez and moved behind the Steven Gerrard who was marking Suárez, preparing to play a one-two wall.
However, Suárez didn't pass.
The whole stadium shouted his name, pumping Suárez's adrenaline — he wanted to take the enemy by storm alone.
He nudged the ball toward Rodríguez to feign the one-two setup.
As Gerrard committed his bodyweight to the feint, Suárez suddenly dragged the ball the other way, changed direction and accelerated. By the time Gerrard corrected his balance and began chasing back,
Suárez had already reached the top edge of the box and faced Xia Qi, who had come to cover.
This was a showdown between the two biggest stars on their sides.
In an instant, the temperature on the pitch rose dramatically!
Uruguay fans: "Eat him alive! Eat him alive!"
England fans: "Take his leg out! Tackle him! Tackle him!"
Fans were frenzied, but Suárez was cautious.
They had battled before; Suárez knew the youngster's capabilities.
This boy seemed to read minds — he anticipated every next move. Suárez felt uneasy facing someone who could read him.
Moreover, Suárez knew Gerrard would be back soon — time was limited.
One Xia Qi was already giving him trouble; with Gerrard closing, Suárez could not break through.
If he wanted to be a hero, he had to force a breakthrough before Gerrard returned.
Suárez nudged the ball, seemingly intending a strong right-side drive.
Xia Qi shifted his body and leaned his shoulder left, looking like he was fooled. Suárez happily pushed the ball left.
But Xia Qi quickly corrected his body, changing direction almost simultaneously.
If Suárez didn't change again, Xia Qi would step in and likely steal the ball.
Suárez was forced to brake hard to pivot. At that moment Xia Qi charged in.
Though Suárez looked bear-strong, he couldn't withstand the collision; he staggered and the ball disappeared!
After bumping Suárez, Xia Qi first dispossessed him and immediately released the ball, leaving Suárez no chance to counterwin.
The ball was played forward to Walcott, who sprinted to the ball and drove it down the flank.
In an instant, the ball was in Uruguay's half.
Godín saw that most of his teammates had dropped back and lunged to challenge Walcott.
As Godín stepped in, Walcott flicked the ball and feinted to go inside.
Godín tried to defend to the outside, but when Walcott changed direction he couldn't recover his balance — Walcott slipped past on his left.
Immediately, São Paulo Athletic Stadium erupted in cheers like an avalanche.
"Brilliant!"
"A beautiful change-of-pace dribble."
"Walcott continues to break on the right, Rooney surges through the middle — they will combine."
Álvaro Pereira shouted to José Giménez: "Watch Rooney!"
Then Pereira himself charged toward Walcott.
Walcott didn't pass immediately. When Pereira closed in to wrestle, Walcott calmly lofted a diagonal pass.
Gerrard, behind Rooney, held off Lodeiro, raised a long leg, took and laid off, and passed the ball into the left channel of the box.
Xia Qi arrived at that spot just in time. He cushioned the ball, turned, and drove into Uruguay's penalty area.
"Cáceres' cover was timely."
"González tracked back."
"Xia Qi can't shoot from distance!"
Huang Jianxiang's words had barely finished when Xia Qi suddenly accelerated, ignoring everything and charging straight ahead.
Holy moly!
González and Cáceres swore — this was too much.
They closed together to form a defensive blockade! They couldn't believe Xia Qi could bulldoze two hulking men weighing around 83 kg each!
In Xia Qi's mind he became a little devil and told the system, "Sys, if I knock them over, I'd rather have chest pain, back pain, kidney pain after the match."
Xia Qi was furious at the racial abuse, and determined to wreck them in the half.
Seeing the defensive gate close, AI-Xia Qi didn't slow down — he sped up and barreled into the gap between the two defenders.
His momentum was more resolute than Gonggong smashing Mount Buzhou!
Cáceres and González sneered and braced their centers of gravity.
They pictured Xia Qi being smashed into bleeding ruins.
A close-mic capture of the impact made teeth ache; it was heart-stabbing, suffocating.
Two 1.87 m, roughly 165-jin (about 82.5 kg) hulks felt a terrifying force as if a truck had hit them.
They momentarily lost balance and flew backward like birds falling, then sat down hard.
After hitting the ground their eyes were blank; their minds empty — they couldn't recall what had happened.
Fuck!
This world is insane!
He's Buu!
He's not one of us!
They screamed in unison, "He's not human!" "He's not human!"
On the pitch, both teams' players paid no heed to those two clowns.
After knocking the defenders away, Xia Qi nudged the ball forward and prepared to strike.
González, who had been marking Rooney, immediately abandoned him and charged at Xia Qi to block or spoil the shot.
Muslera took small steps to adjust his position, preparing to save Xia Qi's strike.
Boom!
A thunderous sound!
The ball traveled with extreme speed and wicked spin.
It brushed past González's cheek and lifted a lock of hair.
González felt a chill of summer and more an icy fear in his chest.
He was almost certain he'd be a vegetable if hit.
Other shots cost money; Xia Qi's shots cost lives! Realizing that, González broke out in a cold sweat and clapped his left chest in fright, hearing his own heartbeat.
At the moment Xia Qi struck, Muslera had already thrown himself — but it was useless.
The ball was faster!
As it splashed into the net, Muslera was still elegantly stretching mid-air!
"My God! Xia Qi has scored three goals in eight minutes and has instantly broken Uruguay."
"3–1! Uruguay's early goal didn't bring them luck; instead it enraged the great demon. In just eight minutes he's sent Uruguay home."
"This isn't even the demon Xia Qi's ultimate state. In the 2012–2013 season's Manchester City vs Arsenal clash, Xia Qi once staged a supreme performance — back then Mario Balotelli still wore blue…"
"I suspect the Uruguay fans' 'yellow-skinned monkey' taunts angered Xia Qi. In Hodgson's tactical plan Xia Qi was supposed to be the ammunition supplier, but tonight he went on a killing spree!"
"Poor Uruguay paid the price for their extreme fans..."
(END CHAPTER)
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