Chapter 301: Chapter 248: The Game Was Played Yesterday, the Man Was Arrested Overnight

The sun lit up the earth, chasing away all the darkness.

"Don’t overthink it. Even if you don’t trust others, you should trust me. Rest assured, your career won’t be in jeopardy." At the main entrance of the hotel, Chen Yu smiled as he comforted Donovan.

Everyone else was gathered around.

Donovan’s knee was in a thick brace. He was heading back to the United States.

Reina walked over, hugged Donovan, and said, "That’s right, Landon. You have to believe in Chen. He’s the best doctor in the world. You’ll be fine."

Donovan nodded, then turned to hug Lexi goodbye.

Since the United States Team was about to head home anyway, Chen Yu had asked Lexi to travel back with them so she could look after Donovan on the way.

As for when exactly the surgery would happen, it could wait until Chen Yu returned himself.

The car disappeared into the distance under police escort.

Andy Dunbar told the players to go back inside to catch up on sleep and pack their luggage.

The plan was to return to the United States the next day.

Chen Yu didn’t move. His gaze fell upon the reporters held back by the police outside the hotel’s perimeter.

The angry fans had caused a commotion all night before finally giving up and dispersing.

Then the reporters arrived.

There were reporters from every country. In yesterday’s match, Moreno had issued more red cards than in the entire group stage combined.

Not to mention, the head coach had been sent off and six players had left the field with injuries one after another. It was, without a doubt, the biggest travesty of the World Cup.

On top of that, with the post-match press conference canceled, neither team had released any statements or opinions to the public. The reporters, eager for a scoop, were going crazy.

"Should we hold a small press conference to release some information?" It was the United States Team’s media officer, McFarland, who spoke.

Contiguglia thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Not yet. Let’s wait a little longer."

They should at least wait until there were results from Derek Xiao’s side.

Chen Yu didn’t offer an opinion. He was, of course, furious about what had happened yesterday, but it was over now. Chen Yu believed that people like Moreno and Zheng Mengjun would pay the price sooner or later, and he had already given his testimony. So for him, this World Cup journey was effectively over.

Even if Zheng Mengjun was actually arrested later, it would, at most, give Chen Yu a sense of satisfaction. It wouldn’t affect him much in other ways.

Besides, he had a pile of things to worry about back in Phoenix.

The men returned to the hotel, gathering to chat and keep an eye on media developments.

And there was quite a stir.

After all, a huge number of foreign journalists had come for the World Cup.

Anyone with eyes could see the biased officiating, let alone reporters who loved to stir up trouble.

Among them, the most furious were the Portuguese, who had been eliminated at the last moment.

Although several days had passed, the fans and media from Portugal were still indignant about those two red cards. Now, they had finally found their chance and were letting loose.

Portugal’s newspaper, *Record*, fired the first shot. Citing the Portugal Team’s head coach, Oliveira, it decried the two questionable red cards in the final group stage match, accusing the Koreans of stealing the victory. The paper called the Koreans "despicable thieves" whose actions led to Portugal’s early exit and declared their intent to file a complaint with FIFA to demand an investigation.

Then there was their president. The match had taken place just a few days after their national day. He had watched the game with many of his citizens, only to see the National Team receive two red cards and get knocked out. At the time, he had no grounds to protest, but now, with the Koreans sinking to new lows, he directly lodged a complaint, calling it "the darkest day in World Cup history."

The Spanish media, who had benefited, also chimed in. *Marca* even brought up how South Korea had forcefully snatched half of the hosting rights from Japan. The paper claimed that in a fair game, the South Korea Team would have been no match for the United States Team, but they had reversed the outcome through despicable means—by deliberately injuring players. *Marca* called it shameful and said the South Korea Team didn’t deserve to be in the World Cup.

Other media outlets weren’t staying quiet either.

After all, the South Korea Team’s tactics were too vicious: bribing the referee, deliberately getting you red-carded, and even resorting to dirty tricks to take out your players.

Who wouldn’t be afraid of that?

Now that the South Korea Team had squeezed into the quarterfinals, what if they eliminated Spain next? Which of the remaining teams poised for the semifinals wouldn’t be afraid of getting cheated?

"No matter how much the media says, its impact is limited." Contiguglia curled his lip. The media’s voice was certainly useful, but in his opinion, its effect was truly limited.

’You think just shouting about it will make FIFA change its ways?’

"FIFA really does some shady things," Contiguglia snorted. "Back in 2000, when they were deciding the host for the ’06 World Cup, Brazil originally wanted it. They had already given up the ’94 hosting rights to us because of economic problems. And since Avelange and Tesla are father and son-in-law, they were planning to host the ’06 World Cup."

"South Africa wanted to host it too, and they were competing fiercely. But Blatter, seeking re-election and needing the European votes, gave the hosting rights to Germany. Do you know how they pulled it off?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Chen Yu sat up a little straighter, listening with curiosity to this gossip.

Contiguglia continued, "Blatter went to Beckenbauer, who controlled Bayern at the time. To buy votes, he had Bayern play friendlies in countries that had a vote. The voting day was June 6th. In the month leading up to it, they arranged four overseas friendlies in one go."

"And then there were the television rights. Blatter also approached the German media giant Kirch. Kirch put up a lot of money for this. Why? Because if Germany hosted the ’06 World Cup, they stood to make 500 million from the TV rights alone!"

Contiguglia held up one hand.

Alina looked quietly dejected and sighed. "When will the World Cup ever be about the sport itself?"

Contiguglia simply shook his head. ’Pure? With such huge interests at stake, how could it possibly be pure?’

"But for this World Cup," he continued, "I have a feeling things might be a little purer from here on out. Although the South Korea Team eliminated the United States Team, they’ve basically crippled themselves in the process. And with Zheng Mengjun under investigation, they probably won’t dare pull any more stunts with biased referees."

In that case, the South Korea Team most likely wouldn’t be able to beat Spain.

With that, all the powerhouse teams had advanced to the quarterfinals.

The Brazil Team, led by the 3Rs.

The Germany Team, led by the dream midfield trio of Ballack, Desler, and Scholl.

The France Team, with a healthy Zidane returning, supported by Pires.

Argentina, with Redondo and Batty linking up.

And England, with Gerrard anchoring the midfield.

The rest of the World Cup was going to be absolutely spectacular.

As he spoke, he looked up at Chen Yu.

All of this was, in one way or another, connected to Chen Yu.

Just as he was speaking, a news bulletin suddenly interrupted the program on the television.

On the screen, footage appeared of Zheng Mengjun being escorted out of a hotel by police. There was even a photo of a panicked Zheng Mengjun covering his face.

"Zheng Mengjun was arrested already?" Alina exclaimed.

He knew Contiguglia had contacted the FBI to investigate Zheng Mengjun, but he also knew it wouldn’t be easy. After all, the man was a South Korean citizen and a member of their National Assembly.

Contiguglia was also surprised. He had been furious and had pulled some strings, framing the situation as a matter of damage to the United States’ national interest and honor. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

But after calming down and thinking it over, Contiguglia knew it was a difficult matter to handle.

After all, they were on someone else’s turf, and there was no direct evidence.

So, Contiguglia’s plan had been to use the FBI to pressure Zheng Mengjun. He had also contacted American reporters from outlets like the *New York Daily* to leak the story and damage Zheng Mengjun’s reputation.

He never expected the FBI to be so efficient. The game was played yesterday, and the man was arrested overnight.

"Good, they must have gotten some evidence," Chen Yu commented.

After saying that, Chen Yu inexplicably recalled how Derek Xiao had pulled him aside for a brief chat before leaving yesterday. He had even asked about Chen Yu becoming the president’s medical advisor.

’That felt a bit strange,’ he thought.

Outside the hotel.

Media vans had gathered, their cameras all aimed at the hotel. Various outlets were providing continuous, live coverage.

But the police control was too strict, and they couldn’t get any useful information.

Just then, many of the reporters’ phones started ringing.

"Fack, Zheng Mengjun was actually taken away by the police."

"I have confirmed information. It’s an FBI-led investigation. They had the South Korean police arrest Zheng Mengjun."

"Well done, America."

"Exactly. I don’t know what the South Korea Team was thinking, daring to use a biased ref in a match against the United States Team."

"The South Korea Team had no choice. You saw it yourself—when they played a normal first half, they were no match for the United States Team."

The crowd of reporters was in an uproar, buzzing with discussion.

No one had expected the United States Team’s revenge to be so swift. It wasn’t enough that they had taken out four South Korean players on the field; they immediately turned around and had the president of the Korea Football Association, Zheng Mengjun, arrested.

Everyone knew the Americans could be domineering and unreasonable, but this time, they were truly getting a taste of it.

Many reporters had already caught wind of the news and were preparing to head to the local police station to follow the story.

They weren’t getting any useful information here, anyway.

Just then, a business van drove up in the distance and was stopped at the hotel entrance.

Someone got out to negotiate with the police.

In the crowd of journalists, a British reporter recognized the person speaking with the police.

"Isn’t that Robinson, the manager of the England team?"

Immediately, a large number of reporters aimed their cameras at the van.

If the police hadn’t been holding them back, the reporters would have already rushed forward for an interview.

Robinson paid them no mind. Before long, the negotiation was over, and the van drove into the hotel grounds.

"Strange, why would Robinson come to the United States Team’s base at a time like this?" many reporters wondered. "Having just eliminated Denmark, England should be more worried about their quarterfinal match against the Brazil Team."

"Could it be related to Owen?"

A reporter suddenly thought of a possibility.

In the match between England and Denmark on the 15th, Owen was substituted at halftime. Afterward, Eriksson claimed Owen had a groin problem, but said at the time it wasn’t serious and that he could definitely play in the match against the Brazil Team. But with these things, you never know if it’s true or not.

"It’s possible. The United States Team’s run is over, but Chen Yu hasn’t left yet. Zidane and Ballack made it to their group stage matches because of Chen Yu. He also helped England by treating Beckham and Gerrard. Owen’s injury must not be looking good, so they’ve come to find Chen Yu again."

For England to come all the way from Japan to South Korea at a time like this, it was the only possibility they could think of.