Chapter 14 Olympic Dream (2)

The entire nation was ecstatic about the National Olympic team's victory, with everyone supporting them and Qiu Suhui. People began to make all sorts of arrangements for the team's future in this Olympics, and with Yang Pan's words, "Champion, gold medal," some people began to treat the future irrationally.

The Chinese national team had just miserably lost the championship in the Asian Cup, but the National Olympic team immediately brought joy and a glimpse of victory.

Considering the situation when this National Olympic team was first formed more than a year ago, almost no one had any hope for these inexperienced youngsters. The pessimistic sentiment even included a lot of dissenting voices, but now…

Fate really likes to play tricks on people.

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Within the Football Association, however, Yang Pan's words and actions were met with great annoyance. How could a captain casually say something like winning a gold medal, putting the FA's position in jeopardy? But annoyed as they were, the FA didn't plan to dwell on this issue at this time. After all, the Olympics is a major international event, watched by billions of eyes. Punishing a player for this would be ridiculed internationally. Moreover, when making a punishment, they had to consider that the target was the number one contributor to the Chinese team's first victory, the best player of the match, and the most popular player at the moment. Punishing him would cause public outrage at home.

So, when a reporter interviewed a high-ranking official of the FA about his thoughts on Yang Pan's "gold medal" declaration, the official could only awkwardly smile and say, "He's still young, so it's normal to talk big. Ha, haha!"

The person involved, however, acted as if nothing had happened, ignoring other people's opinions. Li Yongle admired him a bit, being at the center of the storm, yet acting like it was none of his business. So calm, truly worthy of coming from Serie A. It seemed that Italy really trained people, and thinking so, he looked forward even more eagerly to his upcoming life in Italy.

Li Yongle wasn't just drooling every day, waiting to go to Inter Milan. With Yang Pan's help, he began to learn Italian. With a college background, Li Yongle learned faster. Plus, as a midfielder, he was good at using his brain to think, so he could already blurt out a few simple everyday Italian phrases.

However, this tormented his teammates. They had to face Li Yongle's sudden Italian attacks every now and then.

In addition, Anderlecht's coach, Bros, who had scouted Xiang Tao and Wang Yu on the spot, was very satisfied with the two young Chinese players' performance. He told Qiu Suhui, "Very promising, especially that number 13, Xiang Tao. He will become an excellent star in the future!"

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The next important event was the Olympic Games opening ceremony. The opening ceremonies of all previous Olympics were highly anticipated, and each participating delegation especially valued the entrance during the ceremony. Because in a sense, this moment was the real beginning of their sixteen-day Olympics, from the moment they stepped into the Olympic main stadium.

Because of the National Olympic team's inspiring performance, the Chinese Olympic delegation temporarily decided to adjust the order of the teams. They had originally planned to put the National Olympic team at the very back of the line, but now it was different. They would be at the very front, right after the four delegation leaders.

Yang Pan had no objection to this arrangement. Wasn't it just following along? What was so difficult about that? The other players didn't think so. They were all nervous to death. Wow, so many cameras are pointed at them! Wow, so many eyes are staring at them! Wow, if they made a mistake, they would lose face internationally! Wow…

Qiu Suhui really couldn't understand these guys. He hadn't seen them so nervous during the games. They were practically spinning in circles!

"Hey, Xiang Tao. What clothes do you think I should wear then?" Wang Yu repeatedly held up his few pieces of clothing in front of the dressing mirror, acting like a girl.

"Damn! It's stipulated that you can only wear the Olympic uniform, what else do you want to wear? An evening gown?"

"Oh, I forgot, forgot… Then, what do you think I should do if there's a camera pointed at me? Smile? Wave? Or act cool?" Wang Yu made "smiling," "waving," and "cool" poses in front of the mirror.

Xiang Tao was a little impatient. He was lying on the bed writing postcards to his family. "Are you a girl? Why don't you just dance into the stadium doing a striptease!"

"Hmm, good idea… What? What did you say?" Realizing what he said, Wang Yu pounced on Xiang Tao, but Xiang Tao nimbly rolled to the ground, causing the girl to miss.

"Why is it so troublesome? We just have to follow along and be ok. If you think of so many tricks, be careful you'll mess it up." Xiang Tao grabbed the postcards from the bed, lay on the ground, and continued writing.

Wang Yu rolled over, lay on his back on the bed, and muttered to himself while looking at the ceiling: "That's right, everything will be better if it is natural… But, the opening ceremony! It's still something to look forward to!"

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The Athens Olympic Games opening ceremony was held in the Olympic Stadium in Marousi, a northern suburb of Athens. This was a large, newly built comprehensive stadium built specifically to welcome the Olympics, with a capacity of 55,000 spectators. The Olympic track and field events and football finals would be held here.

Although the opening ceremony wouldn't start until the evening, the audience had been heading to the stadium since the afternoon, waiting for the start of the ceremony.

As night fell on Athens, the opening ceremony finally kicked off with the drumming of four hundred drummers.

It should be said that the Greeks had put a lot of effort into the opening ceremony performance. They boldly turned the lawn of the main stadium into the Aegean Sea, and hung more than a hundred steel wires in the stadium to create stunts. Then, they highly condensed the Greek mythology and performed it again. More than four hundred Greek "mythological figures" appearing in small boats was indeed a bit shocking. However, for those who knew little about Greek mythology, if there was no explanation, they would not understand what these strangely dressed men and women meant at all.

This was the case for the members of the Chinese National Olympic team. A group of idiots widened their eyes, looking for the twelve Gold Saints among the four hundred people. Someone even shouted embarrassingly: "I saw the Goddess Athena! But why aren't Seiya and Shiryu next to her?"

Even more hilarious was the person who answered him: "Idiot! Seiya, that Bronze Saint, isn't qualified to stand in here at all!"

Yang Pan stood to the side, afraid that someone would associate him with them.

…

Finally, it was time for the athletes to enter. Because the order of appearance at this Olympic Games was arranged according to the Greek alphabet, the Chinese delegation, which was "kinAΣ" in Greek (the last letter corresponds to the English 's' but is not pronounced), changed from 41st in previous years to 78th. They would appear before Kyrgyzstan.

Standing in the hall, watching teams pass in front of them, disappear into the entrance, and then hear warm applause and cheers from inside the stadium, some people became more and more nervous. This was the opening ceremony, the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games! They would only have this opportunity once in their lifetime.

Yang Pan put his hand on the shoulder of a teammate next to him who was trembling with nervousness, smiled, and said to him: "Instead of missing the excitement because of nervousness, you should enjoy it. Look, learn from me!" He raised his phone, which could take pictures, and pressed the shutter towards the surroundings. "Take a picture as a souvenir. It will be very interesting to look at in the future!"

The Kenyan delegation entered, and they began to move outward.

"Everyone be quiet! We're next! Everyone get ready, check your gear. Then walk into the stadium in order!" Li Furong, the head of the Chinese delegation, raised his hands and shouted to more than two hundred people.

The crowd quickly quieted down. Qiu Suhui was also in the National Olympic team. Today, like everyone else, he was wearing the delegation's uniform—a red suit, white trousers, and holding a small national flag in his hand. "Okay, it's our turn! Let's go!" Seeing that everyone was a little dazed, he shouted to the players. "Go up and compete!" He pointed to the brightly lit exit.

Yao Ming, who was two meters and twenty-six centimeters tall, took the lead holding the national flag, followed by several delegation leaders, and then the National Olympic team.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Now entering is the Chinese sports delegation. The flag bearer for the Chinese sports delegation today is the little giant Yao Ming. Since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, the flag bearer for the Chinese delegation has always been a male basketball player. A total of two hundred and thirty-seven people from the Chinese delegation are participating in tonight's opening ceremony. Ah, now appearing on camera is the Chinese men's Olympic football team! They just defeated the host Greece 2:1 in yesterday's game, achieving a historic first victory! This is the captain of the National Olympic team, Yang Pan. This summer, he successfully joined the Serie A giant AC Milan. It was his two goals in the game that helped the National Olympic team achieve a good start!"

Yang Pan didn't seem to know that there was a camera giving him a close-up. He was just taking pictures around with his mobile phone as a souvenir--this action once again made the State General Administration of Sports very unhappy--the other players basically waved the national flag towards the stands in unison. When passing the rostrum, Yang Pan stopped what he was doing and turned his head to look at the rostrum high above.

Zhang Jun, can you see me? I'm right under the rostrum now, with them. How great it would be if you were by my side!

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"Feifei! Look, Yang Pan! Haha, that kid is still playing with his mobile phone. He doesn't seem nervous at all!" Having been with Su Fei for a long time, Zhang Jun no longer called her by her full name, but instead used her nickname "Feifei." At this time, he was holding Su Fei and pointing at Yang Pan on TV, laughing loudly.

Su Fei did not respond to Zhang Jun, but just smiled and looked at the TV. Yang Pan was already standing at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. He used to be a neighbor who went to school and came home with him! Hehe, everyone has grown up!

But no matter what, it would be great if Zhang Jun and I didn't separate! Su Fei put more strength into the arms that hugged Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun sensed Su Fei's abnormality and looked down at her to ask, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just a little cold." Su Fei smiled and put her face against Zhang Jun's chest, snuggling in Zhang Jun's wide and warm embrace like a kitten.

"Cold? Is the air conditioner too cold?" Zhang Jun was a little puzzled. "I'll turn up the air conditioner temperature." As he spoke, he wanted to get up and find the remote control.

But Su Fei hugged Zhang Jun tightly, not letting him get up: "No, don't move. It's good like this." She said softly.

Zhang Jun looked down at Su Fei, then smiled and hugged Su Fei even tighter.

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In about two minutes, the Chinese delegation walked past the rostrum, turned a corner, and walked towards the center of the field, where they stopped and waited for the next procedures.

…

Icelandic singer Bjork performed this Olympic Games theme song, "Oceania."

Mrs. Angelopoulou-Daskalaki, President of the Athens Organizing Committee, gave a speech.

International Olympic Committee President Rogge gave a speech.

The President of Greece announced the opening of the 28th Athens Olympic Games.

…

The famous Greek sailor Kornamanas lit the sacred flame that would continue to burn for sixteen days.

The Olympic Games opening ceremony ended.

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"Ah! I'm exhausted!" Xiang Tao threw his whole body onto the bed as soon as he returned to the dormitory in the Olympic Village, too lazy to move anymore. "This is even more tiring than playing a game!"

"Then don't make any more noise and go to sleep quickly." Yang Pan's voice sounded at the door.

"You still have the energy to come visiting?" Xiang Tao sat up.

"No, Qiu Zhi (Qiu Suhui) just asked me to give you a notification. Go to bed early, there's still a game with Mexico the day after tomorrow. If you don't hurry up and rest, you'll have to do ten laps of frog jumps in tomorrow's training." Yang Pan said expressionlessly and turned to leave.

Behind him, Xiang Tao screamed and fell back on the bed.

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The next day, the 14th's training, Qiu Suhui considered that they had just participated in the opening ceremony and didn't arrange much training content. In fact, since the start of the competition, his training had been mainly focused on recovery. Today, he only practiced set-piece offensive routines and defensive-to-offensive tactics against Mexico and then dismissed them. The day after tomorrow, they would take a bus to the Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens to challenge their second opponent in the group stage, Mexico.

Since Mexico was held to a 0-0 draw by Mali from Africa in the first round, they had to win this game to have a chance to enter the knockout stage.

But the National Olympic team did not let the wishful thinking Mexicans get their way. At the Karaiskakis Stadium, in front of more than a thousand Chinese fans, Li Yongle scored his first goal in the Olympic Games with his favorite curve shot, which was also the only goal of the game.

From the perspective of the game, the Chinese team, who won the first game, had a strong morale. They fully implemented Qiu Suhui's requirement to "play offensive football," just like in the second half of the game against Greece, suppressing Mexico for ninety minutes.

Under Li Yongle's dispatch in the midfield, he created a lot of opportunities. If Li Jie wasn't too wasteful and lacked a bit of luck, the final result would definitely not have been 1:0.

Nevertheless, Qiu Suhui was very satisfied with the game. He reiterated to reporters that the Chinese team's goal was to reach the quarterfinals. This move was also equivalent to relieving Yang Pan, who had shouted the "gold medal" declaration, and created a buffer between the higher-ups and Yang Pan.

Li Yongle also won the title of Best Player of the Game. Facing reporters, he was obviously a little more enthusiastic than Yang Pan. He admitted that the feeling of scoring was great, and then made his own explanation for going to Inter Milan to play in the youth league: "Going to play in the second team at the beginning doesn't mean that I will always play in the second team. I believe that I can prove myself with my own strength. So the situation is not as bad as you think."

Yes, Li Yongle's proof action has already begun. He knew that there must be scouts from Inter Milan in the sparse stands. He wanted to impress them through his own practical actions, thereby impressing Inter Milan and impressing Mancini.

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Since then, the National Olympic team had won two games in a row and had already secured a spot in the knockout stage. In other words, they had completed the task set by the FA in advance. The rest was as Qiu Suhui had told Zhang Jun, taking it one step at a time. He didn't want to demand too much from the results. After all, it was most important to let these players seize the opportunity to grow.

But at this moment, the country had exploded! For the second time entering the Olympic finals, they had reached the quarterfinals in one breath and entered the knockout stage! Although it was just Olympic football, for the long-term impotent Chinese men's football team, it was like Viagra. Fans, media, and Football Association officials all had happy smiles on their faces.

On the night when the National Olympic team defeated Mexico, countless firecrackers exploded across the land, and countless men were flushed with drunkenness and cried with their eyes. When the sun rose, the earth must have been a sea of red.

Yang Pan, Li Yongle, Qiu Suhui... these names were worshiped by the fans.

At the same time, enthusiastic fans and the media began to calculate for the National Olympic team: How should we play against our third opponent, Mali, to avoid the strong Italy?

This question was also being considered by Qiu Suhui.

Italy was very strong, and many players in the team were already playing as the main players in their respective clubs. There was even a veteran like Pirlo, the main player of the Serie A champion team, sitting in the midfield. But their performance in the Olympic Games was not convincing. After being forced to a 2-2 draw by Ghana in the first game, they narrowly beat Japan 3-2 in the second game. With four points from two games, Ghana and Paraguay had four and three points respectively. Except for Japan, who had lost both games and was destined to be eliminated, all three teams had a chance to qualify.

The uncertain situation in Group B made Qiu Suhui a little headache. How should China play against Mali in the third game to make the subsequent games more favorable?

If they met Italy in the quarterfinals, then Qiu Suhui knew that it would be difficult for the current National Olympic team to defeat Italy. Even if they tried their best to defeat Italy, it would only be a pyrrhic victory, killing one thousand enemies while losing eight thousand of their own, which would not make sense when facing the next opponent.

But Paraguay, who was able to eliminate Brazil led by Kaka in the South American division, should not be underestimated. What's more, there was also Ghana, a traditional youth powerhouse in Africa. None of the opponents were easy to deal with.

Should China take first or second place in Group A?

In the end, the impatient Qiu Suhui simply threw all the opponents aside. No matter what kind of opponents he would encounter later, he would not give up the game against Mali. The starting lineup for the game on the 18th would not be adjusted in any way. Qiu Suhui wanted to take all three points and qualify from Group A with a perfect record.

What a glorious achievement this would be!

After Japan was eliminated, the only ones capable of fighting for honor and dignity for Asian football were China and Iraq, another dark horse that had also entered the Olympic Games for the second time and had won two consecutive games and qualified in advance.

Choosing an opponent was not wise. It was wise for smart people to play each of their games well and learn valuable experience from them. Now the Chinese team would be fully prepared for Mali. As for who the next opponent would be, let fate decide.