Chapter 1 The Team's Lofty Ambitions

"Due to the success of staying in the league, the players are in high spirits and have beautiful dreams for the Dutch Cup final in three days. But I must remind them that our opponent is Ajax, who have just lost the league championship and are as hungry as a pack of wolves."

This was written by Adriaanse in his private diary, his faint worries and premonitions wandering between the lines. The more the players laughed and talked, the tighter his brow furrowed. It was strange, other coaches wanted their team to relax, but he wanted them to be tense.

A bowstring that isn't taut cannot shoot an arrow that can kill a beast.

"Zhang Jun, tomorrow is the final. What are your thoughts?" Yang Pan asked, lying on the bed, flipping through a book aimlessly.

"Thoughts? Win the game, get the championship!" Zhang Jun replied crisply.

"Oh? When did you become so determined?"

Zhang Jun glanced at Yang Pan, "We're in the final. If anyone doesn't want to win the championship, then it's definitely not their real thought."

"But do you have a way to deal with Chivu?"

Zhang Jun thought for a moment, "Not now, but there will be, right? When the feeling comes during the game, I'll have it."

Yang Pan laughed, "Haha! You're something else, playing by feeling on the field!" After laughing, he muttered, "But, I really admire you."

"What?" Zhang Jun didn't hear clearly.

"Nothing. Let's sleep. I didn't sleep well today, or I'll be sleepwalking on the field tomorrow!"

The Philips Stadium was more than familiar to Zhang Jun. Besides his home field, Veronica, he had been to Philips Stadium the most, a total of four times. This was also Volendam's third visit to this place. But despite being "old acquaintances," the local Eindhoven fans were not very friendly to them. It was Volendam who eliminated Eindhoven in the Dutch Cup semi-final, and it was Zhang Jun's wonderful lob shot at the last moment that kicked Eindhoven, who aimed to win both championships, out of the Dutch Cup. Therefore, the fans had a very big opinion of Zhang Jun, even during the pre-match warm-up, as long as Zhang Jun made a move, the stands would be filled with boos.

"Why do they have such a big opinion of me?" Zhang Jun looked suspiciously at many Eindhoven fans in plain clothes, "Aren't they Ajax's deadly rivals?"

"Who told you to score in front of them twice? Once to tie, once to win," Yang Pan said, holding the ball on his forehead against Zhang Jun. "You are the main culprit for eliminating them from the Dutch Cup, who else would they boo?"

"But that's why Eindhoven can concentrate on the league! Otherwise, could they have won the league championship trophy now?" Zhang Jun didn't understand what was bad about participating in the Champions League, knowing that Ajax, who came in second, could only participate in the Champions League through the qualifying rounds.

"Idiot! People are never satisfied! If it were you, wouldn't you want to win both the league championship and the cup championship?"

"Yes! Of course I would!" Zhang Jun nodded.

"Isn't that the end of it?" Yang Pan shrank his neck, the football fell at his feet, and then he passed the ball to Zhang Jun. "Pass the ball to me horizontally." He pointed to the penalty arc on Zhang Jun's side. Zhang Jun passed the ball as instructed, Yang Pan chased the ball, and then shot directly with great force, the football curved and flew into the upper right corner of the goal. "This game must be won, for the UEFA Cup!" Yang Pan said decisively to Zhang Jun.

"Hey! Yang, wasn't that supposed to be my shot just now?" Westerwelle, who was frightened, shouted at Yang Pan.

"Sorry, my foot was itchy for a moment!" Yang Pan waved apologetically to the goalkeeper.

"Hey hey, Yang Pan, why did you suddenly become so sure?" Zhang Jun asked Yang Pan.

"Didn't you say that since we've come this far, it's fake if we don't want to win?" Yang Pan turned and walked towards the locker room.

"But the opponent has Chivu, are you so confident in me?" Zhang Jun shouted at Yang Pan's back.

"That's what you said, I don't care. Anyway, I'm only responsible for passing the ball to you." Yang Pan waved his hand without turning his head and鑽entered the player tunnel.

Zhang Jun was still standing at the end of the line, in front of him was Yang Pan, and next to him was his opponent, Ajax. Captain Chivu stood at the front, but he kept turning his head, as if looking for someone. When the two met eyes, they finally found the person they were looking for. Chivu smiled at Zhang Jun and turned his head back, and then he never turned back again.

Zhang Jun remembered the scene in the locker room, Adriaanse repeatedly emphasized the need for teamwork, it seems that he was frightened by his and Chivu's one-on-one duel. "Zhang Jun, the opponent will still send Chivu to deal with you. Observe more, pay attention to your teammates around you, Bayers and Yang Pan are both scoring points, as well as Kozer who inserts from the back. Because you are a single forward, the role of attracting the opponent's attention and disrupting their defense in this game is more important. Don't take the ball too much, run more, and look for opportunities to grab points and make up shots in the penalty area."

Zhang Jun nodded, he really couldn't bow his head and act recklessly anymore, the interests of the entire team couldn't be ruined by the youthful impulsiveness.

Adriaanse raised his voice, this time targeting all the players: "This game must be won! Next season we will have the opportunity to appear in the UEFA Cup and show yourselves to all of Europe! Winning is our only goal in coming to Philips!"

Winning is the only goal, I believe Chivu thinks so too? Zhang Jun looked at Chivu in front of him again, but found that his body moved and he ran out of the tunnel. The entire team moved and appeared!

Sophie, watch me play football!

Zhang Jun touched the bracelet on his left wrist and ran into the football field under the spotlight.

Wang Hua looked at his watch, eight o'clock in the evening on June 5th, local time in the Netherlands, the referee blew the whistle to kick off. Two Chinese people will write a legend in Philips, if they defeat their opponent Ajax, it will be a moment that will make Chinese football crazy. Wang Hua felt it necessary to record this time, because it was likely the beginning of a legend.

Many Chinese students and overseas Chinese who came from all over the Netherlands kept waving the five-star red flag in their hands, they were fighting side by side with Zhang Jun and Yang Pan, who represented China.

The beginning of the final was not exciting, both sides seemed a little cautious, after all, it was a final. But five minutes later, the young Volendam couldn't hold back and launched an attack first.

After a one-two with Zhang Jun, Hevel passed the ball into the penalty area, but the ball was headed out by Chivu, and Yang Pan's powerful shot that followed went five meters wide of the goal. Apart from causing some superficial injuries to the advertising boards behind, Ajax was not affected in any way.

Volendam fans and Chinese spectators in the stands cheered.

Volendam completed the first shot of the game.

Chivu could feel that Zhang Jun's tireless running was obviously more than the previous two times, and the range was also larger, often running near the center circle, while Bayers had become a forward. In this way, he couldn't implement man-to-man defense against Zhang Jun. It was indeed very clever, but…

Do you think you can score goals without coming up? Or would you rather sacrifice yourself to create opportunities for others? Don't forget that you are a forward, scoring goals is your job.

Zhang Jun returned to midfield again to cooperate with Bayers. Chivu didn't go up either, he just waited in front of the penalty area.

If you have the ability, never come up, just hide in the back!

Qiu Suhui couldn't remember how many cups of coffee he had had today. To be honest, watching videos on TV for half the night every day was inevitably a bit tiring. The videotapes he had watched were piled up high behind him, and he had watched them repeatedly countless times.

Taking advantage of the gap in stirring the coffee, he closed his eyes to rest his mind, but his hand inadvertently touched a box of videotapes. It was a box of all of Zhang Jun's goals that he had filmed in the Netherlands.

Qiu Suhui suddenly decided to change his taste. He had been watching the videotapes of the national Olympic team players for a while, and he really missed the two teenagers in the Netherlands. He inserted the videotape into the machine, pressed the play button, and after a short period of static, the noise of the scene came from the TV. Yang Pan crossed from the wing, Zhang Jun jumped up and made a powerful lion's head swing, and the ball went into the net. This was the first professional goal he scored, and Qiu Suhui had collected it for a long time before he collected it. He believed that it was completely worth recording.

One goal after another, header, left foot, right foot, shooting while running, receiving the ball and breaking away to shoot, direct volley, penalty kick... He was indeed an all-around shooter. Zhang Jun could only find his sense of existence in continuous goals. This was the definition Qiu Suhui gave to Zhang Jun. Zhang Jun who doesn't score goals is not Zhang Jun, and Zhang Jun who actively participates in defense is not Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun is a center forward, isn't the center forward's task to score goals?

He still has a lot of room for improvement in terms of technology and awareness. It's just a pity that after coach Adriaanse took charge of the first team, he seemed to pay more attention to training in tactical literacy. Zhang Jun needs a teacher to guide him technically. Since he is not by his side, it seems that there is no one.

Qiu Suhui suddenly thought of a person, that person should be the most suitable, but this idea is unlikely to be realized. Can you expect a coach from the Ajax youth team to guide a Volendam player?

Bayers was blocked head-on by Galasek, and the referee immediately whistled and gave Volendam a free kick in the frontcourt, about thirty meters away from the goal.

Volendam's free kicks this season have always been taken by Hevel, but Hevel, who is very good at passing, can accurately send the free kick into the penalty area, but cannot accurately send it into the opponent's goal. Recently, Adriaanse suddenly figured it out. Since Yang Pan's powerful shots are very threatening, why not let him take the direct free kick facing the goal? Therefore, more than a month ago, he focused on this point and asked Yang Pan to practice free kicks every day, and required Yang Pan not to pursue Beckham-style curved free kicks, his reference object should be Roberto Carlos, the short Brazilian. The results in training also proved Adriaanse's idea. Yang Pan kicked three wooden mobile walls and burst two footballs in more than a month of intensive training. The result was two direct free kick kills.

Yang Pan carefully placed this free kick facing the goal on the ground, then stood up, and began to retreat, retreat, and retreat again. He was indeed learning from Carlos, even the approach distance was the same length. He retreated about ten meters, stopped, and looked at the opponent's goal and took a deep breath. The referee's whistle sounded, small steps to run up, four meters later became a big step forward, a powerful push made his speed reach the fastest, and then his left leg was firmly planted on the side of the football, and his right foot swung out, the outside of his foot hit the football like a firing pin!

It seemed that he really heard the roar of a heavy gun, the football drilled into the penalty area from one end of the wall like a cannonball, Zhang Jun shrank his waist, the football whizzed past his side with the wind, and then hit the net hard.

Tymer, who prides himself on his quick reactions, only made a save after the goal!

"gooooooooooooAL!! Yang Pan! An impeccable free kick! The heavy gun has been activated! A super long-range free kick from thirty-one meters!!"

Yang Pan excitedly rushed to the stands and waved his arms forcefully, his celebration movements were as wild and powerful as his goal.

Volendam took the lead after only ten minutes!

After the big screen replayed this goal, it then displayed the speed calculated by the computer: 148kmh.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! One hundred and forty-eight kilometers! Yang Pan once again refreshed his fastest shooting speed, Carlos II!!"

Volendam, who scored a goal, showed high morale and confidence in victory. They hoped to control the game, but only two minutes later, Ibrahimovic tied the score.

Vander Meyde's beautiful cross, Mido attracted the defenders in the front, Litmanen cleverly leaked the ball in the middle, and Ibrahimovic, who inserted from the back point, padded the ball, the football hit the goalkeeper Westerwelle and bounced into the goal!

But even more beautiful than this shot was Vander Meyde's dribbling past Hevel and Bartleh on the right wing. He first used a pull and then a buckle to easily pass Hevel, and then used two consecutive turns to shake Bartleh dizzy, lost his balance and fell to the ground, and then a beautiful cross, assisting Ibrahimovic to equalize the score.

There are already rumors that Vander Meyde will definitely leave the Amsterdam Arena next season, and many big teams are chasing him. With Figo's dribbling skills and speed, plus Beckham's accurate crosses from the right, as well as good shooting and scoring ability, he has become a hot figure in the transfer market.

There is also one person who will definitely leave, Ajax captain Chivu. Inter Milan and Roma are fighting for him, but Chivu seems to prefer Roma.

This game is about to be their last battle representing Ajax. Both of them are working hard, hoping to bring a trophy to the mother team as a farewell gift. Ajax, who just lost the league championship, led by the two wolves in the front and back, is really like Adriaanse worried, a pack of hungry wolves.

What can young Volendam use to fight them? What can they rely on to win the championship trophy?

The subsequent games were all in Ajax's control. They used their skilled personal skills and team tacit understanding, as well as this final experience, to mobilize Volendam to run with their game rhythm.

Zhang Jun was still running, retreating, passing, and defending non-stop. He had a chance to duel with Chivu in the first half, but he passed the ball out and ran past him himself.

On the other side, Yang Pan and Van der Vaart's duel seemed more interesting. The two attacked back and forth on the narrow wing, neither willing to show weakness. Yang Pan's speed and Van der Vaart's skills, every collision seemed to spark sparks.

When Yang Pan used his speed to break through Van der Vaart, Van der Vaart would definitely seize the opportunity to wash away Yang Pan with his skills. The youthful impulsiveness seemed to be transferred to the wing, but the collision between these two people made the game more colorful.

There are very few people in the Volendam team who have the ability to fight against Ajax, and only Yang Pan and Zhang Jun. Zhang Jun was bound by tactical needs, and Yang Pan took the opportunity to go on a rampage.

"Yang Pan is here again!"

Volendam's defense and counterattack is very suitable for Yang Pan's role. Just now, Kozer fought hard to grab Litmanen's ball and passed it directly to Yang Pan. Yang Pan flicked the ball forward, then buckled it back, passed Galasek who came up to defend him, and then began to accelerate along the wing.

Van der Vaart naturally wouldn't want Yang Pan to steal his limelight in his territory. He tried his best to catch up with Yang Pan, and kept pulling Yang Pan's hand, but he didn't have the upper hand in either strength or speed. Yang Pan flicked his hand and bowed his body, throwing the opponent away! Then he passed the ball to the front of the goal before the opponent's fullback came up to fill in.

This ball was a bit low, and Chivu planned to kick the ball out with his foot. But a person suddenly rushed out from the side, that person's body was very low, and he shot out like an arrow, diving header!

"Zhang Jun shoots! Oh! What a pity!"

The football wiped the post and flew out of the baseline, and goalkeeper Tymer didn't even react. Chivu was even more startled, where did Zhang Jun come out from? He was only thinking about Yang Pan's cross just now, but he forgot about the always-roaming Zhang Jun. Did he ignore him because he always kept his distance from him?

He almost made a big mistake... that dangerous person!

Zhang Jun regretfully hugged his head and climbed up from the ground. So far, he only has three shots, the first two long shots were high, this header was the most threatening but it slipped out. There are very few opportunities to get rid of Chivu like this, but he didn't seize it. He didn't know if he would regret this shot, sometimes, a shot or a save is enough to change the final result of the game.

Anyway, Zhang Jun's shot didn't go in, and the game was still tied 1:1 until the end of the first half.

In the locker room, Zhang Jun was panting heavily, and Yang Pan was pouring water on his head. Both of them consumed a lot of energy, and they were often seen doing thirty-meter sprints back and forth in the first half.

Adriaanse was loudly cheering for the players: "You guys did a great job in the first half! But you were a little relaxed after taking the lead. Zhang Jun did a great job, continue in the second half."

Zhang Jun nodded silently and said nothing. The first half was not wonderful for him. He, who had always been the core of the attack, played a supporting role for forty-five minutes. The coach asked for it, the tactics needed it, so personal sacrifice was necessary, and there was nothing to complain about.

"Yang Pan, your containment of Van der Vaart on the wing was successful, but you took too few initiative shots in the first half. After Zhang Jun creates opportunities for you, you must take advantage of them. The first ten minutes and the last ten minutes of each half are the most concentrated periods for scoring goals, you must seize this time. If you can score a goal at the beginning of the second half, the situation will be favorable to us."

In another locker room, Koeman was also saying the same thing to his disciples: "If we can score a goal within the first five minutes of the kick-off while they haven't gained a firm foothold, I believe we will achieve the final victory!"

Ajax is not interested in the UEFA Cup, they would rather participate in the Champions League through the qualifying rounds, this is a matter of identity. They win the cup only to avoid disappointing the fans and the board of directors, after all, it is not a glorious thing to be empty-handed for a season, of course, this is for Ajax.

For Volendam, being able to participate in the UEFA Cup next season is a great thing in terms of both reputation and economy. Therefore, the club will not allow them to give up.

Are both sides fighting with their backs to the water?