"Penalty!"
"In the 13th minute, the referee awarded China a penalty!"
"For North Korea, this was a bolt from the blue. Even before the foul, they had already been on the back foot against a Chinese team stronger than them.
And this penalty shoved them straight off the cliff!"
Inside China Central Television's broadcast studio, the commentator's excitement was obvious.
The Chinese national team had found their rhythm very quickly in this match. Aside from letting North Korea seize the initiative at the very start, they had dominated the game the rest of the time.
Judging by the national football players' performance over these past ten-odd minutes, even without this penalty, a goal had only been a matter of time.
The penalty had merely sped up the process!
Xie Hui stepped up to the spot, ready to take the penalty.
Xie Hui had won the penalty himself, and no one intended to fight him for it.
Xie Hui did not disappoint his teammates. He blasted the ball powerfully into the net, helping the Chinese national team take a temporary 1–0 lead over North Korea.
Less than fifteen minutes into the match, North Korea had fallen behind.
This greatly affected the North Korean players' mentality, and they became even more anxious.
After play resumed, North Korea desperately sought an equalizer.
But against the Chinese national team's solid defense line, North Korea found it difficult to break through. After several crosses were cleared away by Chinese defenders, they were forced to try long-range shots from outside the box.
Yet the penalty area was packed with players. Their long shots either went wide on their own or were blocked by players inside the box.
After several attempts, they had not managed a single shot on target.
China's attacks, on the other hand,