The 30th Minute

The match restarted at the sound of the referee's whistle; Zhang Jun kicked the ball to Yang Pan.

In fear that the other team would secure possession and get Ma Ni to put on an encore of his "90 Degrees Show", Shu Guang carefully held on to the ball. It took them quite a while to notice that, without their star, the other players were not of the same caliber as them.

That fact alone emboldened them.

Wang Ning sent a through pass to Kaka. It looked like the Brazilian was about to receive the ball when he crossed his legs and allowed the ball to roll past him, before turning and chasing after it. A Yingcai defender who had latched himself on Kaka was left rooted to the spot. He did not even react, not quite understanding what had just happened.

Zhang Jun, Yang Pan and Ren Yu De helped out by catching the attention of the other defenders, while Kaka calmly dribbled and took a shot from the right!