CHAPTER 1894: CHAPTER 989: ONE BAD NEWS, THE OTHER ALSO BAD NEWS (PART 2)

The goalkeeper of the Spanish Team judged that the ball was trying to score from the right edge.

It must be said, the goalkeeper of the Spanish Team is of high standard, with such a precise judgment. Now it depends on whether he has the ability to keep the ball out of the goal.

After judging the direction and trajectory of the ball, he threw himself desperately towards it.

Unfortunately.

The ball once again brushed past his fingertips.

Just like that, the ball scraped past the Spanish Team’s goalkeeper’s fingertips, then fiercely hit the goalpost and bounced in.

"It’s in!"

The commentator shouted excitedly.

The audience at the scene erupted into extremely enthusiastic cheers.

This doesn’t mean the national team has won.

But in the last seconds, in those final few moments, they scored, successfully bringing the score back to a 2-2 draw.

It’s going to a penalty shootout!

That’s right!

A penalty shootout is happening!

When the national team scored to make the score 2-2, the added time also ended, but since the teams were tied, they needed to continue the match to determine a winner.

And the next continuation of the match is the very exciting penalty shootout.

The penalty shootout will see players from both sides alternately step up until a winner is decided, which is the way to determine victory in a knockout match that ends in a draw, and is a thrilling segment that many fans are eager to see.

After all, penalty shootouts are truly exciting, directly testing the goalkeeper as players take shots at the goal.

"It’s actually going to a penalty shootout."

"Damn, those last few seconds were really beyond anyone’s expectations."

"Thrilling!"

"Penalty shootout to decide the winner!"

"This is the first penalty shootout of this World Cup, isn’t it?"

"Go for it!"

On the Feiyue Home streaming media platform, netizens and viewers were very excited.

Primarily because the national team’s last few seconds were so impressive; everyone thought they had lost, but unexpectedly, in the last few seconds, the national team made a massive comeback, tying the game at 2-2 and taking it to a penalty shootout.

Ding Yue also really enjoys penalty shootouts.

Including Huang Youjie, Xu Bin, and Principal Xu Dongcheng, they all love watching penalty shootouts. Of course, Ding Yue doesn’t usually want his team dragged into one, but this time it’s different; this time, the national team was at a disadvantage and only managed to force a penalty shootout through an extreme last-minute turnaround.

Since that’s the case, let’s see how the national team performs in the penalty shootout.

Very quickly.

The players from both teams got ready.

The Spanish Team went first, with the national team’s goalkeeper Zhu Cheng standing before the goal.

The Spanish Team’s first penalty shot was fortunately successfully predicted by goalkeeper Zhu Cheng.

Penalty missed!

Then it was the national team’s turn to take the penalty.

For some unknown reason, whether it was a trend or what, the Spanish Team missed their first penalty, and the national team’s first shot was saved by the Spanish Team’s goalkeeper.

Both sides ended the first round at 0-0.

In the second round, the Spanish Team used a feint, causing goalkeeper Zhu Cheng to nearly save the ball, and thus the Spanish Team successfully scored on the penalty.

The national team sent out Li Shuangying to take the second-round penalty.

Li Shuangying’s shooting skill is undoubtedly excellent.

No matter how formidable the Spanish Team’s goalkeeper is, typically, when facing Li Shuangying’s shot, he would tremble, let alone facing a penalty without defending players around.

Sure enough, Li Shuangying lived up to expectations, scoring successfully on the penalty!

Just as the penalty shootout was heating up, Ding Yue’s phone suddenly rang.

Ding Yue took out his phone to find that his mom, Zhang Cuiping, was calling.

At this moment, the cheering on-site was particularly loud, making it unsuitable for calls, and Ding Yue hadn’t brought headphones with him, so even if he answered, it would probably be hard to communicate with Zhang Cuiping.

Likely, mom Zhang Cuiping had something to discuss, which is why she called.

Ding Yue thought for a moment and decided to call his mom back in a quieter environment after the match was over, so he answered and said, "Mom, I’m watching the game at the stadium right now, it’s too noisy, but the game will end soon; I’ll call you back after it finishes."

After speaking, Ding Yue hung up.

And continued watching the penalty shootout on the pitch.

After all, this penalty shootout is too important; whether the national team can make it to the grand final depends on the players’ performance now.

By the fifth round.

The national team and the Spanish Team were tied at 3-3, both having scored three out of five rounds.

Whoever slips up first, the opponent will win.

In the sixth round.

The Spanish Team took their penalty shot, and it went in!

Then it was the national team’s turn, with Xin Feiyang stepping up to the spot.

Xin Feiyang seized the moment, took the shot, the Spanish Team’s goalkeeper hesitated for a moment but quickly reacted, judging the ball’s trajectory, and made a full-stretch dive.

Oh, damn!

Unexpectedly, Xin Feiyang’s shot was blocked by the Spanish Team’s goalkeeper.

The ball still brushed past the Spanish Team’s goalkeeper’s fingertips.

However, this time, after brushing past his fingertips, the ball changed direction and didn’t find the net but instead bounced away.

It’s a miss!

At this moment, fans and viewers across the country fell silent.

Because it was over.

In the sixth-round penalty, the national team didn’t score, but the Spanish Team did, bringing the penalty shootout score to 4-3, and the Spanish Team claimed the final victory.

That’s right.

The national team lost, ultimately losing to the Spanish Team in the penalty shootout, marking perhaps the most exciting match of the entire World Cup, despite the final score being just 2-2. The level of excitement was no less than the battle between the German team and Baxi Team; with this one even going to penalty shootouts, it’s no exaggeration to call it the most exciting match of the 2026 America-Canada-Mexico World Cup.

"Ah, this..."

Ding Yue was at a loss for words for a moment.

They lost.

The national team lost, ending their journey at the semifinals.

It seems quite regrettable.

However, having regrets can also be considered a good thing.

"Ah, what a pity, they had a good chance to reach the finals." Huang Youjie shook his head in helpless sighs.

As a fan, Huang Youjie was naturally a bit disappointed with the result, but he just said it was a pity and regret, and didn’t blame the national team.

Because the national team tried their best, their performance on the field has been great, and there’s no reason to blame them. They are still young, with a long journey ahead.

"Yeah, it’s definitely a shame, such regret; they were so close to the finals this year."

Xu Bin also felt a bit regretful.

Ding Yue shrugged slightly and said, "Guys, having regrets is a good thing; it will encourage them to keep working hard and moving forward. Maybe they will go further in future World Cups."

"Makes sense, looking forward to one day seeing our national team win the World Cup; it’s unimaginable."

Huang Youjie nodded in agreement with Ding Yue.

"Honestly, reaching the semifinals in this World Cup is an achievement that was once hard to believe." Xu Bin affirmed the national team’s success in this year’s World Cup.

"Yeah, the national team has performed very well."

Principal Xu Dongcheng chimed in from the side.

"I’ll make a call now, just received one from my mom, and I missed it."

Seeing the crowd at the stadium starting to leave after the cheers quieted down, Ding Yue decided to call his mom, Zhang Cuiping, back.

"Hey, mom, you called just now; what’s going on? Did you watch the national team’s match? Did dad watch it?"

After calling, Ding Yue asked.

His dad, Ding Jianjun, is a real national football fan.

"Your dad he..."