After two days and eight matches, the first round of the competition has concluded.
Including the Civil Engineering Department, which had a bye in the first round, a total of nine teams will advance to the second round.
The draw was still used to determine matchups, and this time the Veterinary Medicine Department had a bye.
The opponent for the Management and Engineering Department in the second round was the Business Department.
The match was scheduled as the first game on Saturday afternoon.
Before the match, Xu Xiuwen informed Tang Weiwei.
Tang Weiwei didn't respond, but Bai Yue'er and Su Yanyan both sent messages saying they would definitely come to cheer.
Before the match, all four girls from Room 601 arrived at the stands of the soccer field.
The match started quickly.
The Management and Engineering Department continued to use the 4-1-2-3 formation.
In the first half, the Management and Engineering Department concealed their strength, playing a cautious game with the opponent, who was also probing with a weak offense. The half ended in a tie.
At the beginning of the second half, the Business Department had the first possession and immediately ramped up their offensive efforts.
The teams that made it through the first round were quite skilled. The Business Department's forwards were three tall players, each over six feet tall, big and fast, making them hard to stop as they charged forward.
Their coordination was also good. After a few passes, the ball crossed the midfield, and with the cooperation between their center forward and winger, they launched an attack on the Management and Engineering Department's goal.
In the stands, whether it was Dong Jun and a few other boys or the four girls from Room 601, everyone felt anxious as they saw the opposing players dribbling into their half, fearing that the opponents would score a goal.
However, the players on the field were not very nervous.
The opposing team was able to quickly pass the ball to their half of the field, not only because of their skill, but also because they did it on purpose.
When the opposing center and wingers rushed in, they were met with a tightening pocket formation.
Yang Baishan and the other two wingers closed in from behind, while Xu Xiuwen and another defender closed in from both sides. Jin Haonan, Liu Zhihao, and the others also tightened their formation, blocking the two business school players' path.
The two business school players were like birds trapped in a pocket, jumping left and right but unable to escape.
Xu Xiuwen seized an opportunity, accelerated, and made a sliding tackle to knock the ball away.
Yang Baishan reacted extremely quickly. While the other business school members were still running towards their half, he suddenly ran in the opposite direction.
After Xu Xiuwen knocked the ball away, he immediately got up.
He quickly controlled the ball, then aimed at Yang Baishan's position and made a long pass, sending the ball accurately to Yang Baishan.
The precision of Xu Xiuwen's long pass over such a long distance impressed the referees.
At this point, there were only two defenders left in front of Yang Baishan, and they were far from his position.
Yang Baishan dribbled the ball towards the gap between the two defenders. As they closed in on him, he trapped the ball between his feet, lightly jumped to avoid one tackle, and then used a feint to get past the other defender.
Now, the path ahead was clear and unobstructed.
Yang Baishan took two steps with the ball towards the upper right side, aimed carefully, and made a powerful and precise shot. The ball flew over the Business Department goalkeeper's head.
"Swish!"
The ball crossed the line and went into the net.
"Bullseye!"
Hearing the sound, Dong Jun immediately shouted excitedly.
His loud voice startled the four girls beside him.
Once they recovered, the girls also became excited.
Bai Yue'er cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Xu Xiuwen, you're the best!"
Shen Minyao was excited too, but when she heard Bai Yue'er's shout, she was taken aback and couldn't help but ask, "The goal was scored by Yang Baishan, why are you praising Xu Xiuwen?"
Without turning her head, Bai Yue'er replied, "Of course Xu Xiuwen is more impressive. Didn't you see that he was the one who won back the ball? Yanyan, don't you agree with me?"
Su Yanyan, who was a little fan of Xu Xiuwen, echoed, "Yes, sister Minyao, if it weren't for Dada winning the ball back, it would have been dangerous. Of course, Dada is the best."
Seeing Su Yanyan agreeing with her, Bai Yue'er was quite satisfied and gave Shen Minyao a pleased glance, smiling happily.
Shen Minyao, however, didn't feel as good.
She turned to look at Tang Weiwei beside her, who was watching the field intently and seemed unaware of everything else.
She sighed, said nothing more, and turned back to continue watching the game.
On the field, after Yang Baishan scored a goal, he immediately ran back towards his classmates.
A group of boys hugged each other happily, laughing out loud.
The boys on the business school side mostly looked upset.
Especially the center forward who had just been tackled by Xu Xiuwen, who glared at Xu Xiuwen viciously.
After the game restarted, the Business Department students were much more cautious than before. Their forwards no longer blindly charged towards the engineering school side, but instead, with the cooperation of their teammates, began to gradually advance towards the Management and Engineering Department's backfield through passing.
This time, the opponent did not advance recklessly but proceeded steadily.
As a result, if the Management and Engineering Department team continued to use the netting tactic, it would be hard to achieve success.
On the field, the Management and Engineering Department students also noticed the Business Department team's strategy. Yang Baishan and his fellow townsmen from Chengdu were giving their all to catch up.
Several times, they nearly intercepted the ball, but the opponent quickly regained control.
On the contrary, Yang Baishan and his teammates' excessive pressing led to them being out of position.
The opponent made a direct pass to their center forward, and their winger somehow slipped to the flank, facing only Shi Xiangming, who was not very good at playing soccer.
Shi Xiangming certainly couldn't defend against the Business Department team's winger.
However, the Business Department team's center forward did not immediately pass the ball; instead, he advanced with the ball, aggressively heading toward Xu Xiuwen.
Xu Xiuwen immediately guessed his intention: he wanted to dribble past him and then look for a passing opportunity.
The situation on the field was changing rapidly.
The opponent had already rushed in front of him.
The Business Department team's center forward made a feint, pretending to break through on the left side. Seeing that Xu Xiuwen didn't fall for it, he immediately dribbled towards the right side.
The center forward thought to himself that his first feint was intentionally unconvincing to trick the opponent into believing that his real intent was to break through on the right.
But actually, this was the real trick; his true goal was the left side.
In his anticipation, the opponent would surely fall for it and move to block his route on the right.
However, just as he dribbled to the left and was about to break past his opponent,
He looked up and found himself running straight into the opponent. With a slight touch, the opponent dislodged the ball from under his feet.
Before he could react, the opponent had already made a nimble turn, moved behind him, and passed the ball to a teammate.
The guard from the Business Department saw the ball lost and shouted urgently, "Defense! Defense!"
In an instant, the situation on the field turned around. Under Yang Baishan's leadership, the teammates from the Management and Engineering Department immediately switched from defense to attack, pushing towards the opponent's half.
Meanwhile, the winger from the Business Department was just waiting for the center forward to pass the ball to him so he could break through the opponent's defense and score.