This is a critical moment for the Tang Guo team's players to test their unity!
Without Cao Baming on the field, Wu Dahai still took over the captain's armband. He had some authority among these players, and he usually ate the most sea cucumber!
Under his rousing words and active organization, everyone decided to do their best to defend and get through the remaining ten-plus minutes!
Everyone was exhausted, but they still held on with the passion in their hearts, standing firm, their eyes fixed on every move of the opponent ahead, wanting to connect with their teammates beside them to form a solid wall!
They wanted to let the France team witness the civilization of Tang Guo, and how impregnable and unshakeable the Great Wall of China was.
With such a bus-parking formation, even the forwards had retreated into the penalty area to participate in the defense, and the thought of offense had almost been abandoned.
Because they understood that as long as they held their ground, they would win this match steadily, and the difficulty of defense was greatly reduced compared to offense.
Moreover, the opponent was already down to ten men.
Although Cao Baming was no longer on the field, his mental fortitude remained. He watched from the sidelines, not rushing to the medical room for treatment.
He had left the field, but he had left them with this excellent situation: a two-goal lead and a man advantage. He had done everything he could, and even more!
The France team's attacks were continuous but somewhat lacking in power!
Just before the Tang Guo team's defensive formation was fully established, they had managed to seize an unexpected counter-attack opportunity, which led to that seemingly easy goal.
But once the Tang Guo team had set up their defensive formation and everyone was serious, it was truly difficult for them, with only ten men, to break through this gate!
This was a defensive system that Li Gang had devised overnight after Cao Baming fell ill, and it was a highly targeted setup designed for all eleven players of the France team. And now, they only had ten men!!
Five more minutes passed in the blink of an eye. The France team's prolonged attack yielded no results, and they started to get anxious.
After Tchouaméni's haphazard long shot from outside the penalty area, Mbappé followed up with a shot.
Unfortunately, both were blocked by Tang Guo players. Wu Dahai even dived his body to block Mbappé's thunderous shot. It looked very dangerous, but as the current captain on the field, he had to lead by example and show his teammates this spirit of struggle!
The Tang Guo players inside the penalty area resisted tenaciously, causing all of the France team's continuous attacks to end in various forms of failure!
As a fan of Tang Guo, they now witnessed another strength of their team: their resilience!
Li Gang shouted loudly from the sidelines, urging his players to be careful with their tackling and not to give the opponents a penalty at this moment!
Because he knew that this was the most common point of breakthrough for parking the bus in the final moments!
The players seemed to hear him, and everyone was very cautious.
Watching the Tang Guo players fight hard, the fans saw a team truly worthy of lifting the World Cup trophy.
At this moment, Tang Guo's team was not just Cao Baming. Everyone was striving for the final championship. With this spirit of facing death without regret, if they don't win the championship, who will?
Zidane remained as calm as ever. As the organizer, when everyone was at a loss, the ball would be passed to him.
And at this moment, he felt the responsibility on his shoulders. Zidane's gaze was steady as he scanned every corner of the field, observing everything.
At this moment, he was mobilizing every cell in his brain to think of a way to break through and find potential scoring opportunities.
Passing to the left, then to the right, passing to the right, then to the middle, passing to the middle, and then shooting himself.
After all, he was Zidane. Every subtle glance or movement agitated every Tang Guo player on the field, but at this moment, everyone was fully focused.
Only one step away from the championship!!
After persisting for a while longer, the France team still couldn't break through!
And the regular time of the match had reached its end. It was over!
Deschamps began to panic, all the France team players started to panic, and the France fans also began to panic!
Time had run out, and everyone was waiting for the assistant referee to hold up the board indicating the stoppage time for this match. Especially the France fans, they hoped it would be longer!
The Tang Guo team, naturally, hoped for it to be as short as possible, but it was unrealistic to think so, given the sheer number of unexpected events that had occurred in the second half.
As expected, soon the referee announced the total stoppage time. It was a total of 12 minutes!
Although it didn't break the record for the longest stoppage time in this World Cup, it was still considered very, very long!
The Tang Guo fans were now a little worried. In the last ten minutes, everyone had given their all and it was still full of danger, almost conceding a goal. If there were another ten minutes, who could guarantee that there would be no more unexpected incidents!
But fortunately, the Tang Guo players encouraged each other. They seemed to no longer feel the fatigue in their bodies. Their confidence had grown, and they all believed they could continue to defend and trusted their teammates.
With this confidence, the players maintained a high level of mental concentration.
After a few passes, the ball returned to Griezmann's feet.
The France team's defensive line had also pushed up, and several defenders were constantly making runs towards the goal.
Knowing that the Tang Guo team was unlikely to venture out, they simply stopped defending!
"Come on, come on! Ten minutes left!"
"Hold on!"
Li Gang shouted hoarsely from the sidelines.
In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Griezmann's right-footed cross was headed out by a Tang Guo player!
The same scenario, but this time it was a little different!
The France players went wild! They raised their arms and protested to the referee!
There was a suspected handball by a Tang Guo player in the penalty area!
This was the darkest moment for the Tang Guo team. Everyone's hearts tightened, pounding like drums, threatening to break free from their chests.
And soon, the VAR ruling came out.
"Handball! Verified!"
"Penalty!"
The main referee firmly raised his hand, pointing towards the Tang Guo team's goal!
Griezmann jumped up with joy!
And at this moment, the Tang Guo players' defense finally broke. Had they failed to hold on after all?
Why did this happen?!
After the video replay, everyone saw that the player who had handled the ball was Captain Wu Dahai.