One night passed, and the match day arrived as scheduled!
Cao Baming and Wu Xue followed the team to the stadium for pre-match preparations.
Just as they reached the entrance of the locker room, suddenly, the familiar event occurred again!
Cao Baming's vision was instantly covered in white, and everything in front of him disappeared!
This feeling was familiar! Cao Baming's thoughts were a bit confused, but he clearly understood what might happen next, as he had already experienced it once.
But this time, it was different.
Two seconds later, the white gradually faded, and the scene returned to the present moment, with his hand still on the locker room doorknob.
"What's wrong?"
Behind Cao Baming, Fang Hao asked curiously.
After a few seconds, Cao Baming turned his head, then opened the door without a word.
Everything that just happened was too strange…
Teammates entered the locker room one by one, preparing to change into warm-up jerseys and head to the field for the match that would begin that afternoon.
On the field, the Costa Rican players had already started training. They looked particularly serious, at least arriving earlier than the Tangguo team.
Cao Baming walked along, casting his gaze towards the Costa Rican team training and warming up in the distance. They were practicing basic passes in several small circles.
Visually, it was already apparent that their ball control was not particularly good. Compared to the German team, they were no match, not even close.
Looking at his own teammates on the field, they weren't much better either!
These guys were really a handful!
But while he complained, Maradona could lead his team to the finals and win all by himself back then, so why couldn't Cao Baming?
…
Amidst the anticipation of thousands upon thousands of fans worldwide, the match finally commenced!
Both teams walked onto the field for the national anthem ceremony.
Cao Baming sat on the substitute bench, looking at the field, his mind wandering.
He imagined the opposing team must also be filled with fervent emotions at this moment. To win the World Cup for their country was the dream of countless football players.
Even if they couldn't succeed, they would surely fight to the death and strive not to be eliminated too early.
And looking at the fans at the sidelines, weren't they feeling the same! But the game was ultimately cruel. Even in the group stage, two teams would be eliminated. Out of four teams, two would be eliminated by the end of the group stage, which was a fifty-fifty chance.
They must also understand now that their team had no great hope of advancing from this group.
Soon, the opening ceremony concluded, and with the referee's whistle, the match officially began!
This match, in Tangguo, attracted hundreds of millions of viewers. The commentators were the beloved duo, and with their passionate commentary, the fans' emotions gradually reached a climax.
At the start, the Tangguo team, just like in the previous match, had a steady opening, attempting to control the rhythm first and foremost.
And this time, the opponent wasn't too strong. Even without Cao Baming organizing on the field, with everyone's diligent effort, there were no major issues.
Five minutes passed, and the opponent had their first good shooting opportunity. Benegas's close-range shot ultimately went wide, missing a golden chance.
The opponent was nothing special.
The next chance that followed was initiated by Fang Hao, and Tangguo's counter-attack was well-executed.
In the midfield scuffles, the gap in strength between the two sides was not obvious. Watching, Cao Baming felt quite satisfied.
In the eighth minute, Wu Lei advanced with the ball on the right wing. As a shadow striker, he rarely had opportunities for wing breakthroughs. However, against strong teams in La Liga, his skills were not enough, but against Costa Rica today, it was more than sufficient.
After successfully reaching the byline, he sent in a cross, full of threat!
The hearts of Tangguo fans leaped into their throats, and they held their breath!
The player who made a late run to the far post arrived in the penalty area to contest the ball. However, at this moment, a green fist appeared!
Costa Rica's goalkeeper rushed out in time and forcefully punched the ball away with one fist, sending it directly out of the penalty area!
"Alas!"
All the Tangguo fans sighed in unison with helplessness, while the entire Costa Rican team breathed a sigh of relief.
Their goalkeeper was Navas, who was also their greatest confidence in defense. Navas's nickname wasn't given for nothing.
Without sufficient strength, who would be called "Dad" by outsiders!
Cao Baming sat on the substitute bench, his excitement becoming increasingly difficult to contain. He really wanted to play now!
He hadn't expected that his club would bench him today under the pretext of preventing him from accidental injury, which was frustrating!
The match continued, and for over ten minutes, no major incidents occurred, and the Tangguo team even had several good shooting opportunities in the attacking third.
The most threatening shot came from Tao Qianglong in the center, who received a chance from Wu Lei's desperate effort. He shot directly without controlling the ball after a back-heel pass!
If it weren't for Navas, the opposing goalkeeper, it would probably have gone in!
The game was back and forth. Seeing this situation, Li Gang even felt a bit surprised.
It must be my brilliant tactics; the game is not difficult at all! Much better than I expected!
The possession rates of both sides were almost fifty-fifty, and both teams adopted balanced offensive and defensive tactics. From the start until now, even the number of chances created was astonishingly consistent!
By the end of the first half, the score had yet to change.
"The score is zero-zero. Who knows how long this will last. Now, we need someone to step up and break the deadlock!"
"I just want to know, will Cao Baming get a chance to play?"
"Right now, for Tangguo, when it comes to breaking the deadlock, there's no one more suitable than Cao Baming!"
"That's right!"
However, Li Gang's expression remained very calm, staring intently at the situation on the field, showing no hint of any intention to make a substitution.
The current situation was quite satisfactory to him.
He had originally planned to bring Cao Baming on in the second half of this match, which was also the unanimous decision of the club and Cao Baming's own wish.
So, even if they conceded a goal in the first half, it would be acceptable. He thought they would concede at least one goal.
But now, they hadn't conceded yet, which was great!
Li Gang smiled smugly, of course, he was only smiling secretly in his heart, not daring to show it on his face.
At this moment, the match time reached the 42nd minute, with only the last 3 minutes of regular time in the first half remaining.
The situation on the field gradually began to change slightly.