The goalkeeper for the English Major was a well-built white guy.
He wasn't slow to react, keeping his eyes on Yang Baishan.
Seeing the opponent shoot, he judged the position and dove for it.
He judged the direction correctly but missed the exact spot.
He dove to the lower right, but the ball curved high above the bar and into the goal.
"Swish!"
The ball went into the net!
The students from the Management and Engineering Department in the stands erupted in cheers.
The four girls from dorm 601 were all excited and thrilled.
Bai Yue'er and Su Yanyan even joined the boys in cheering and shouting.
Tang Weiwei and Shen Minyao were more reserved.
Many female students from the Foreign Language Department had come today, and their expressions turned sour hearing the loud cheers from the Management and Engineering Department side.
On the field, after Yang Baishan scored first, the Foreign Language team members looked grim.
Their white goalie was especially furious, cursing at his two full-backs in English.
The two first-year students from the English Major, though good at English, didn't dare to retort and kept apologizing.
Xu Xiuwen felt a bit upset seeing this.
But the others from Management and Engineering Department were busy celebrating, not noticing his mood.
Soon, the English Major resumed play, and the game continued.
After gaining control of the ball, their center, winger, and midfielder launched a tidal wave of attacks.
Six or seven white and black players quickly broke through the midfield.
Everyone was aware of their own defenders' level.
Yang Baishan immediately fell back, chasing hard to intercept.
But their opponents were fast, passed accurately, and had excellent positioning.
In no time, the ball reached the edge of the penalty area.
At the forefront was a blond white guy, forming a triangle attack with two others.
The ball was at the feet of No. 1 at the top of the triangle, who then passed to No. 2 on the right.
No. 2 sprinted a few meters, then cut into the penalty area. No. 1 sped to the far right of the box.
This simple but effective attacking strategy worked.
The ball successfully entered the penalty area.
The left winger, No. 3 white guy, ran straight towards the goal, but No. 2 didn't pass immediately. Instead, he kicked the ball back to No. 1.
No. 1, positioned deep, parallel to the six-yard box, made a sudden cross.
The ball slipped between Shi Xiangming and Liu Zhihao, rolling to No. 3.
No. 3, now in front of the goal with Jin Haonan blocking him, feinted with a step-over, bypassed Jin Haonan, and went straight for the goal.
Within five meters of the goal, No. 3 lifted his foot and shot.
The ball flew over the goalkeeper's head, crossing the line into the net.
The English Major scored.
They equalized.
The English Major students in the stands erupted in cheers, completely drowning out the Management and Engineering Department voices.
Dong Jun and the others were all very disappointed.
This was the first time in three games they had conceded a goal.
The English Major's goal made the four girls from dorm 601 very nervous.
Bai Yue'er murmured, "Xu Xiuwen, you can do it."
Su Yanyan also said, "DaDa, come on!"
On the field, the Management and Engineering Department team looked displeased.
Both the goalkeeper and the defenders felt they had let the team down by allowing such an easy goal.
Yang Baishan and his fellow Chengdu natives said nothing.
Xu Xiuwen knew if he didn't offer some comfort, their morale might stay low.
He stepped up and said, "It's okay, they scored one, but it's just a tie. We have Yang Baishan and his Chengdu mates. We can score more goals. Don't burden yourselves."
Hearing this, Yang Baishan adjusted his mood and promised, "Trust me, I'll score again!"
As the Management and Engineering Department team was encouraging each other, the No. 3 white guy who just scored suddenly made a throat-slitting gesture towards them, saying in broken Chinese, "Trash!"
This immediately ignited everyone's anger.
Yang Baishan, in a rush of blood, almost charged at the guy.
Luckily, Xu Xiuwen reacted quickly, pulling him back.
"Old Yang, don't be impulsive. They're trying to provoke us. We should retaliate by scoring more goals!"
Others quickly came to calm him down.
Yang Baishan gradually cooled off.
He glared at No. 3 white guy, determined to taunt him back after his next goal.
Management and Engineering Department kicked off. After a few passes, the ball came to Xu Xiuwen.
He didn't rush to pass to the right midfielder but assessed the situation and sent the ball over to the right winger.
Aware of the Management and Engineering Department forwards' excellent cooperation, their opponents didn't dare to be careless.
As soon as the ball crossed the midfield to the winger, two defenders rushed up, blocking his path.
He had to pass back to the right midfielder.
The right midfielder quickly passed to the left forward, moving their defense.
The left forward, seeing someone approach, passed to the left midfielder, who dribbled a bit and then crossed to Xu Xiuwen.
Xu Xiuwen received the ball and quickly passed to the right forward.
The right forward still faced defenders and passed back to the right midfielder.
The right midfielder then passed to the left midfielder.
The ball was being circulated among the players.
Soon the ball was back with Xu Xiuwen.
This time, Xu Xiuwen didn't pass to the right midfielder or winger again.
He noticed a gap in their defense and immediately sent a through ball to Yang Baishan.
The ball threaded through the defenders, finding Yang Baishan.
Seeing the ball coming, Yang Baishan received it steadily. The left and right wingers had drawn three defenders, leaving only one center-back, a white guy, in front of him.
As the white defender charged at him, Yang Baishan smirked mockingly.
One step-over move threw the defender off balance. Yang Baishan dribbled forward, reached the box, and shot.
The English Major's goalkeeper misjudged again, diving left as the ball flew right.
The fast-spinning ball drew a beautiful arc through the air, nestling into the net.
For a moment, the field was silent. Then the Management and Engineering Department players erupted in cheers.
Yang Baishan, having mimicked No. 3 white guy's step-over move, now ran up to him, mimicked the throat-slitting gesture, and shouted, "You're the trash!"
The Chengdu-accented insult took No. 3 a moment to understand, then his face turned livid.
But No. 3 didn't lash out at Yang Baishan. Instead, he yelled at the two full-backs in English, "F**k you," and in broken Chinese, "You two are pigs!"
Yang Baishan, seeing No. 3 scold his own teammates instead of the defender he had just tricked, thought this was simply bullying the weak.