At around one o 'clock in the afternoon, the sun was still strong. Under the sunlight, the projection from the stadium's ceiling made the entire stadium show two distinct parts of light and dark. It was commonly known as the "Yin Yang Field." Whether it was for the broadcasters or the fans, the experience was very bad.
The broadcasters had to constantly adjust the camera's sensitivity according to the position of the football, and the fans' eyes were also very uncomfortable.
Moreover, in this warm winter afternoon, many fans could not help but feel a little sleepy. Even if the referee blew the whistle for the game and everyone shouted loudly to cheer, it always felt that the excitement was not as high as the late game.
However, after the start of the game, the mood of the fans quickly rose to an extremely high level after a short period of low tide. The entire El Prat stadium seemed to be boiling!
The reason was simple. As soon as the game started, RCD Espanyol scored.
At this time, the scoreboard showed the time, and the first minute of the game had not passed yet.
The camera panned back to before the start of the game. RCD Espanyol was determined to win the game. When everyone was still preparing for the kickoff, the players of RCD Espanyol had already shown a fierce attacking posture. RCD Espanyol was given the right to kick off. Before the kickoff, RCD Espanyol's midfielders lined up in a straight line behind the center line, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle. Then, everyone would rush to Girona's half of the field.
Generally, using this formation at the start of the game was the most direct manifestation of a team's desire to attack.
RCD Espanyol was not bluffing. The referee blew the whistle and the game began.
Iglesias passed the football to Wu Lei, who was also a starter, and then began to rush to the front field. At the same time, the other RCD Espanyol midfielders quickly pressed across the half of the field and spread out in Girona's half of the field.
Xia Ruofei was among these attacking players.
Due to the speed of everyone's insertion, Wu Lei did not even have to pass the ball back first like he usually did. In just a few seconds, there were already a few places where the ball could be sent out in front of Girona.
Among them, Xia Ruofei's plugging speed was extremely fast. He was almost sprinting with all his strength, and he had far surpassed Iglesias.
Wu Lei just glanced at it and lifted his leg without hesitation to send the ball over Xia Ruofei's head.
Wu Lei's control of his footwork was not very precise. He also had the idea of taking a shot when he had the chance. Moreover, the manager had made it clear before the game that he had to pass and make passes to Xia Ruofei in this game so that Xia Ruofei would have more chances to shoot.
Xia Ruofei did not turn back to look at the ball to judge where it would land. His mental strength had already spread out, and he had already predicted where the ball would land. Therefore, he did not need to slow down at all. Instead, he stepped on the ground and sped up a little.
Wu Lei's pass drew a parabola as it rapidly descended from the sky.
Xia Ruofei did not rush to the best position for the football to land, because in that case, he would not have a chance to receive the ball and would be cleared by the opponent's defensive midfielder with a header.
Xia Ruofei's choice of point was slightly forward. When he ran to his position, Girona's defensive midfielder was already stuck in this position.
However, Xia Ruofei just squeezed gently and used a reasonable collision to squeeze the opponent's player to his side. He himself occupied the best position to receive the ball.
In the blink of an eye, the football had already fallen from the sky.
Xia Ruofei opened his arms and firmly trapped Girona's defensive midfielder behind him. At the same time, he slightly leaned back and jumped in the direction of the ball, and used his chest to lightly stop the ball.
The football was cleverly deflected by Xia Ruofei's chest and only bounced up gently. It was completely within the range of Xia Ruofei's control.
At this time, Girona's defensive midfielder was still desperately squeezing forward from behind him. In fact, Girona's defensive midfielder had completely lost his position, but he had to do his best to use some small movements to interfere with Xia Ruofei so that he could not easily receive the ball.
Otherwise, RCD Espanyol had already fired many arrows, and several attacking players in the middle and front field had already arrived at Girona's half. If the ball was easily diverted by Xia Ruofei, it would immediately become a great threat.
However, Girona's defensive midfielder had overlooked the possibility of Xia Ruofei turning and breaking through, because in a sense, he was already stuck in his position. Xia Ruofei's back was now facing the goal, and he had stopped the high ball. Not far away, another Girona midfielder had already come over to assist in the defense. Under such circumstances, it was very difficult for Xia Ruofei to turn around.
However, Xia Ruofei was so unexpected. After he used his chest to stop the ball, the football only bounced up a little and then fell down. He did not wait for the ball to land. Basically, when it reached around his waist, he suddenly stretched out his right foot and gently kicked.
The football drew an extremely beautiful arc and directly passed over Xia Ruofei's head. It also passed over the head of the defensive midfielder responsible for defending Xia Ruofei and fell behind them.
While Xia Ruofei was picking up the ball, he had nimbly lowered his center of gravity and quickly bypassed Girona's defensive midfielder. The whole movement of picking up the ball, turning around, and bypassing the defender was done in one breath. It made the image of Ronaldinho at his peak appear in one's mind.
Xia Ruofei's turning speed was extremely fast. When he went around Girona's defensive midfielder, the football had not even landed on the ground.
At this time, Xia Ruofei's position was about thirty-six to thirty-seven meters away from the goal. In the eyes of the opposing defenders, this was a relatively safe distance, so Girona's center back did not rush up. They just stood in a defensive position to ensure that they did not lose their position first.
The center back did not press, nor did he immediately make a move to intercept to interfere. Xia Ruofei was naturally acutely aware of this gap in the shot. He even had time to glance at Girona's goalkeeper and found that the goalkeeper's position was actually relatively closer to the front.
So, how could Xia Ruofei be polite?
He did not wait for the ball to land at all. Using the inertia of turning and rushing over just now, he firmly planted his left foot in the turf and quickly swung his right leg. His thigh propelled his calf, and he solidly kicked the football in the mid-lower part.
There was a loud bang, and even the players nearby could not help but tremble.
The football was like a cannonball fired from a heavy artillery, whistling straight to the top left corner of the goal.
The speed of the ball was really too fast. The thirty-seven meters shooting distance was actually directly in front of the goal in the blink of an eye.
Girona's center back, who was defending a little further in front of the penalty area, even felt a strong gust of wind sweep past his cheek, scraping his face painfully. When Xia Ruofei shot just now, the football had just swept past his ear.
And when Girona's goalkeeper realized that Xia Ruofei was directly shooting, he almost reflexively pounced to the left side.
This was also because the shooting distance was still relatively far. Otherwise, with such a speed of the ball, the football would have already entered the goal by the time the goalkeeper reacted.
But Girona's goalkeeper was still too far away. He felt as if his fingertips were about to touch the football, but at that moment, the speed of the football seemed to have increased a little. It brushed past his fingertips and continued to rise, and then drilled into the angle between the left column and the crossbar of the goal.
The accuracy of this shot was so high that it made people's hair stand on end. The ball just happened to drill into the top left corner of the net, but it didn't touch the pillar or the crossbar at all. It was only after it hit the net with a swoosh that the net was suddenly pushed back.
By the time everyone came back to their senses, the football was already spinning around inside the goal line.
From the time the referee blew the whistle to the start of the game to the goal, only fifteen seconds had passed.
These fifteen seconds included when Iglesias passed the ball to Wu Lei. Wu Lei paused for about a second, then raised his long leg to hoist the ball to the front of the field. The football then flew in the air for a few seconds, and Xia Ruofei received the ball at a position of about thirty-seven or thirty-eight meters. After stopping the ball with his chest, he immediately flicked the ball past someone. Then, without waiting for the football to land on the ground, he shot a shot.
Throughout the whole process, Girona's players did not touch the ball. Other than Iglesias and Wu Lei, who kicked off, the other RCD Espanyol players did not touch the ball either.
In just fifteen seconds, RCD Espanyol gained a one-goal lead. It was simply a dream start!
Many RCD Espanyol fans were still looking for their seats when they saw the fans next to them suddenly stand up. Then, the whole stadium suddenly boiled over. These fans who were looking for their seats looked at the field with a confused expression, only to find that Girona's goalkeeper was gloomily scooping the ball out of the net. While RCD Espanyol's players had not even gotten into position for their first sprint, they all turned around and ran towards Xia Ruofei.
Xia Ruofei also did not know that his first shot, and it was a shot from such a long distance, was actually so accurate. He could not help but reveal a bright smile, standing in place with his arms open. Iglesias, who was running at the front, rushed over excitedly and hugged Xia Ruofei.
"Boss! You're just too awesome! "Iglesias kept roaring beside Xia Ruofei.
Although Iglesias's big body rushed over at such a fast speed, Xia Ruofei was still as steady as Mount Tai, standing in place without moving an inch. On the other hand, Iglesias seemed to have hit a towering mountain, but he was so excited that he did not feel the pain.
More and more RCD Espanyol players rushed over. Wu Lei, Granello, Mark Roca … Everyone hugged together tightly, surrounding Xia Ruofei in the middle.
The Girona players were all dumbfounded. Everyone stood in their positions at the moment when the goal was scored, with a confused look on their faces.
RCD Espanyol's players celebrated for a long time, and the time shown on the scoreboard had only skipped a minute.
Everyone had just come on the field and had not even gotten into the game state. Their bodies were not even warm at all, and they had already been hit by such a blow. One could imagine how depressed they were.
Before the game, the Girona team had fully estimated the difficulty of the game, especially against Xia Ruofei. After all, from the limited performance of Xia Ruofei in the limited games, there was no doubt that Xia Ruofei was the most versatile player in RCD Espanyol and the biggest threat.
Girona's manager arranged for someone to specifically mark Xia Ruofei, and combined with the area's defense, the goal was to mark Xia Ruofei tightly and not give him any chance to make a move.
But he never expected that when the game had just begun, the RCD Espanyol players would all rush forward, causing his own players to be somewhat disorganized. The defensive midfielder in charge of marking Xia Ruofei could not hold on at all.
In fact, even if the defensive midfielder had been bypassed by Xia Ruofei, that position was actually not too dangerous. After all, the distance was too far, and Girona's entire rear defensive line was stuck in that position.
But who would have thought that Xia Ruofei would make a move from so far away? Furthermore, with just one kick, he was able to directly enter. This was a completely unreasonable suppression!
In addition to the live broadcast of the game on PP Sports in Huaxia, many sports channels around the world were also broadcasting the game. On one hand, RCD Espanyol had been in the limelight this week. Not only did they beat Barça, but they were also the absolute focus outside the field. In addition, Xia Ruofei had expressed that he would participate in the game, which made it even more interesting to watch. On the other hand, the start time of the game was set at one o 'clock in the afternoon to accommodate the viewing of Huaxia's audience. Basically, it would not clash with the game time of the other La Liga teams, so naturally, there were more platforms broadcasting the game live.
When Xia Ruofei used his chest to stop the ball, most of the commentators just praised Xia Ruofei's technique. After all, for such a long-distance high ball, using the chest to deflect the force needed to be very accurate. Otherwise, the football could easily bounce far away.
And the pass that Xia Ruofei completed immediately after he deflected the ball was quite amazing. There were even commentators who whistled, and everyone gave all kinds of praises. They thought that the pass fully demonstrated Xia Ruofei's talent in football.
However, before the football commentators could finish their praises, Xia Ruofei did not wait for the ball to fall to the ground and immediately shot.
The speed of the ball was so fast that there was even an afterimage on the broadcast screen. If someone blinked while watching the ball, they might find that the football had drilled into the goal in the next moment.
Football commentators from all over the world went quiet almost at the same time, and then burst into passionate commentary in various languages.
"Goal … Goal … Goal …" The ESPN commentator repeated the word goal at the top of his lungs. His mind seemed to be completely blank.
"Golllll …" The voice of the commentator on Televisión de España was rhythmic, and the ending tone was like an air raid siren, fully demonstrating his lung capacity.
After a series of crazy "goal" in various languages, the commentators also came back to their senses and began to rack their brains to think of all kinds of words, and generously gave them to Xia Ruofei.
"Although this goal is still a certain distance away from the fastest goal in La Liga, it's even better in terms of the degree of excitement!"
"Before the game, Xia said that he would use practical actions to respond to those who were biased against the Huaxia players, and he did it in just 15 seconds!"
"Xia is worthy of being called the world's Mr. Ball! He once again contributed a wonderful world's ball! "
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