Team Spirit

On the afternoon of June 29, Beijing time, at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In the Confederations Cup third-place playoff, China faced the United States.

When Swedish referee Hansen blew the whistle to end the first half, the scoreboard showed a score of 2–0.

China Team trailed the United States by two goals at halftime.

It was an extremely poor result. Looking at how every American player walked off the field, beaming with excitement, it was as if they had already firmly grasped victory in their hands.

In truth, China Team had indeed been terribly unlucky today.

Before the match, China Team lost the coin toss, allowing the United States to take the more advantageous side for the first half.

After the match began, China Team had played with great composure. But in the tenth minute, the United States sent a cross in from the right. Dempsey attempted a volley that had not connected cleanly, but the ball struck a divot in the grass and deflected into the far corner of the goal.

Zeng Cheng had no chance to anticipate the ball and could only watch helplessly as his team fell behind.

After that, China Team continued to show plenty of patience. But throughout the entire first half, the United States played as if they had gone mad. They ran aggressively over a huge area, with tremendous speed and physical strength. From the way they played, it seemed as though they intended to finish the match before halftime.

Under the relentless pressure of the United States' counterattacks, China Team's defense once again showed a gap. Donovan played a one-two with a teammate, cut past the recovering Zheng Zhi, and smashed a left-footed shot into the net, extending the score to 2–0.

It could be said that the second