Chapter 1 A Great Start

Before the match, everyone thought Norway would give Brazil some trouble, but no one expected the match to be so easy for the Brazilians. Kaka's goal just two minutes and thirty-four seconds into the game set the tone, and from then on, Brazil dominated Norway, leaving them utterly disoriented.

Adriano and Robinho each scored a goal in the thirty-third minute of the first half and the twenty-first minute of the second half, respectively, securing a 3-0 victory for Brazil.

"Alright, we've watched their game, now it's our turn," Yang Pan said, standing up and clapping his hands to signal that everyone should go out and warm up.

Kaka's near-perfect performance in that match overshadowed even Ronaldinho, and it also put a lot of pressure on Zhang Jun, who was determined not to lose to Kaka.

During the warm-up, he tried a shot from a very narrow angle, and the ball sailed over Anke's fingertips and landed in the far corner of the goal.

Anke sat down on the ground, dejected, tilting his head to look at Zhang Jun. Zhang Jun ignored Anke's resentful gaze, pumping his fist in the air, pleased with his good form.

As both teams finished warming up and headed towards the locker room, Zhang Jun ran into Zlatan Ibrahimović. The two exchanged greetings before parting ways.

Inside the locker room, the two coaches were giving their final instructions.

The Swedish team's dual-coach setup was a remarkable story in the world of football because the two of them could work together and maintain such a good understanding without much conflict. And the Swedish players had long grown accustomed to having two coaches for one team.

The specific tactical arrangements had already been set the day before, so now they basically only needed to add some supplementary instructions. Sweden needed to restrict the Chinese team's attack, and keeping an eye on Zhang Jun was their top priority. Zhang Jun had scored four goals so far and was currently ranked first on the World Cup's top scorer list, followed by Adriano, who had scored three goals. Their competition for the top scorer title had now extended to the World Cup.

The Swedish team arranged for Anderela Svensson to specifically mark Zhang Jun because Svensson knew Zhang Jun the best. But no matter how you looked at it, Svensson seemed a little lacking in confidence...

At this moment, Svensson was sitting on the bench, looking serious as he made his final preparations.

Ibrahimović noticed his strange demeanor. After changing his clothes, he walked over to Svensson and sat down next to him.

Svensson looked at Ibrahimović, but didn't say anything, turning his head to organize his equipment.

"Anderela, although you're always quiet, I think you're acting strangely subdued today. I can hear you breathing heavily. What's wrong?"

"N-nothing..." Svensson's voice sounded unnatural, so it was obvious something was up.

Seeing that Svensson wouldn't say, Ibrahimović had no choice but to shake his head, stand up, and walk out.

This was a very important match for Sweden. He, Ibrahimović, knew better than anyone how strong the Chinese team was now. Juventus didn't have any Chinese players, but AC Milan did, Inter Milan did, and Fiorentina had even more. These three teams had long been competing with Juventus for the league title, so how could he not know the strength of the Chinese team?

If Chinese players were not capable, how could Fiorentina, with Chinese players as its core, win the league championship for two consecutive seasons, and even achieve the treble this season?

If the Swedish team could get past the Chinese team, Ibrahimović was confident that they could reach the final. Yes, he had that confidence. So let the Chinese team be the touchstone!

※※※

Yang Pan stopped Zhang Jun.

"This match is a great opportunity for you, Zhang Jun. If you want to win the World Cup's top scorer title, then this match will be a good chance. Unless you're thinking about Svensson being on your former team and don't want to strike a deadly blow."

Zhang Jun was tying his shoelaces, and he said with his head down, "How is that possible? I'm not an immature kid. I'm a professional player, this is the World Cup. Actually, I can guess who the Swedish team will assign to mark me, but if I hold back, then it would also be an insult to him. Anderela can't even get a starting center-back position at Fiorentina right now, so let me teach him in this match how to be an excellent center-back." Zhang Jun tied his shoelaces, stood up and stomped his feet hard, listening to the crisp sound of the cleats, very satisfied.

"Hey! Kid, you're so cocky!" Yang Pan patted Zhang Jun's shoulder hard, happy to see his friend with this spirit.

"What a joke! How can you win the World Cup with a small tone?! Go, don't keep the teammates waiting."

Yang Pan froze, and didn't react until Zhang Jun had already left the room.

"Hey, Zhang Jun... according to the character setting, this should be my line..." he murmured, looking at the door that hadn't closed yet.

※※※

Swapping jerseys with opponents, press conferences, simple showers and changes of clothes. Half an hour passed by casually. After the Brazilian team got on the bus, Kaka habitually looked up at the TV hanging on the front of the bus, which was playing the scene of the Chinese and Swedish teams entering the stadium.

He picked the best spot to watch TV, then sat down and looked up at the TV, ignoring the fans outside who were calling his name, hoping he could turn around and smile.

Knowing the relationship between Kaka and some of the Chinese team's players, this match also received a lot of attention from the Brazilian players. Baptista, who was sitting next to him, also looked up at the TV and suddenly blurted out, "Kaka, don't you think the Swedish team's yellow jerseys and blue shorts look a lot like our Brazilian colors?"

Kaka casually hummed and continued watching TV. Baptista realized he couldn't get Kaka to speak, so he had to focus on the TV.

※※※

Standing in position, singing the national anthem, shaking hands with each other, captains choosing sides. Zhang Jun stood on the sidelines watching Yang Pan, since the coin toss was in the center circle.

This time Yang Pan lost the coin toss to the opposing captain, Ljungberg, and the Chinese team lost the right to choose sides, but gained the right to kick off. Zhang Jun consciously walked into the center circle, grabbing Yang Pan at the same time, and waving for Li Yongle to hurry over, he had something to say.

The three heads got together.

"We must win this match, so the opening is very important. In this World Cup, we used the first attack in the match against Colombia, although it failed, but I think we can continue to use it. The Swedes will definitely not think we will do that again. What do you think?" Zhang Jun said his idea, and after seeing Kaka score the fastest goal in this World Cup, he had been considering this issue.

"Very good, we'll give Kaka a big greeting gift, that kid must be watching our match on TV right now," Yang Pan nodded in agreement.

And for Li Yongle, who wanted to fully demonstrate the accuracy of his long passes, he naturally had no objections.

※※※

"The match is about to begin! Viewers, what you are seeing now is the second match of the round of sixteen in the 2010 South Africa World Cup, between China and Sweden. We see that three players from the Chinese team have gathered together, perhaps to encourage each other. This match is very important for them. Because Zhang Jun shouted out the oath before the World Cup that the Chinese team would win the championship, every match they play now is attracting a lot of attention."

The commentator must have been spitting wildly at the commentary booth, but Kaka was filled with emotion looking at these three people. Ten years ago, two of these three people were his teammates, and the other was an opponent. And ten years later, these three people have become his opponents, and he has become all alone.

Zhang Jun, I said yesterday that this is our World Cup, but I was wrong. This is yours, and mine, and theirs, it's everyone's World Cup.

※※※

Sophie pointed the camera lens at Zhang Jun in the middle of the field, believing that many other people were doing the same at this moment. She liked this feeling, the man she liked was the focus of the world, making her feel incredibly proud and self-satisfied.

The finger on the shutter was trembling slightly, she was waiting quietly, as long as the referee's whistle blew, then her finger would not stop, until the end of the match.

The TV gave a close-up of the referee, he put the whistle in his mouth, then looked at his watch, checked the sensor on his arm one last time, and was about to blow the whistle to start the match.

At this time, He Wen, who had been waiting impatiently in front of the TV, began to murmur, "What are you waiting for... start the match already!"

Anke's parents next to her smiled and looked at the little girl with affection. This niece was so naughty, hoping she wouldn't bring too much trouble to Li Yongle, haha.

The screen displayed the subtitles, the English names and flags of the Chinese and Swedish teams, and the score, 0:0.

※※※

"Whistle!" The referee blew the whistle.

0″.

Zhang Jun lightly passed the ball to Wu Shangshan next to him, and at the same time, he sprinted forward with all his strength.

Behind him, Wu Shangshan didn't let the ball stay too long. This was what Zhang Jun had told him, to pass the ball back to Li Yongle outside the center circle immediately after receiving his pass.

At the same time, Yang Pan, who was pulled to the far right, started running from the halfway line as fast as if he was in a 100-meter race.

1″.

The ball passed between Crew's legs and then passed to Li Yongle's feet.

Zhang Jun had already rushed out of the center circle.

Yang Pan increased his speed to the highest, running towards the baseline at his fastest possible speed.

2″.

Li Yongle looked up to confirm the positions of Zhang Jun and Yang Pan.

Ibrahimović ran past the center circle, hesitated for a moment, thinking about whether to come up and intercept Li Yongle's ball directly. But he quickly dismissed this idea, deciding not to waste time here and mess up his team's formation.

3″.

Li Yongle habitually flicked the ball left and right under his feet, this was his preparation before a long pass.

Far away in China, He Wen raised her heart to her throat, clasped her hands together, and muttered silently.

Yang Pan had already rushed to a spot nearly thirty meters from the opponent's goal, on the side of course.

Zhang Jun deliberately slowed down his speed.

4″.

Li Yongle kicked a long pass, the ball flying directly towards the right side of the penalty area.

"Long pass from the Chinese captain!"

5″.

The ball flew through the air.

"...but it looks a bit blind..."

6″.

The ball continued to fly, the camera lens following the ball towards the right side of the field.

"God! Yang Pan is so fast!" the commentator exclaimed, because he saw Yang Pan sprinting at full speed.

Zhang Jun slowed down his speed again. Svensson was nervously watching him in front of him, he could even see the freckles on Svensson's face.

Wu Shangshan ran past him at high speed with his head down, Svensson's eyes hesitated for a moment, and shifted to Wu Shangshan who was coming up from behind. Zhang Jun smiled slightly.

At this moment, the Swedish defense's attention was more focused on Yang Pan, because everyone could see that Li Yongle's seemingly sudden and blind long pass was to Yang Pan. Given Yang Pan's terrifying speed, everyone on Earth knew what they were going to do.

The height of the ball was decreasing, like a plane about to land.

Yang Pan glanced back at the ball behind him, then turned his head to look at the surrounding situation.

The Swedish full-back was waiting in front, ready to attack. Funny, Yang Pan smiled disdainfully, could he stop him with that posture?

7″.

The ball fell rapidly, and in order to make the pass more sudden, Li Yongle used almost all his strength. This also brought great trouble to stopping the ball.

But this was for ordinary people. Who was the person stopping the ball on the field today? Yang Pan! If he couldn't stop this kind of long pass well, how could he be the main right winger for AC Milan.

8″.

The ball passed over Yang Pan's head, Yang Pan accelerated to catch up with the ball, then stretched his right foot forward, at the same time he straightened his ankle, the entire right leg pressed forward, forming an acute angle with the ground. The ball landed on the ground, and when it wanted to bounce up again, it hit Yang Pan's straight instep, and honestly stopped on the ground.

This stop seemed to be not very good, because the ball stopped very dead, too close to Yang Pan, not leaving him room to play.

Just stopping the ball in front of him, looking at this distance, the Swedish full-back thought he had a chance, and quickly prepared to tackle the ball.

Yang Pan reacted quickly, he first leaned his upper body quickly inward, making the other party think he was going to cut inside to shoot. Yang Pan's long shot was world-famous, if he swung his right leg, few people would not be afraid.

Watching the other party's body move inward, Yang Pan was very satisfied with the feint, then used his right foot to push the ball out sharply again, followed by accelerating and starting to chase, using the feint of his upper body and the fast speed of his feet, Yang Pan easily shook off the opponent.

The Chinese fans in the stands erupted with the first cheer of the match so far.

9″.

The Swedish left-back was still smart, after being fooled, he immediately circled around and ran back to the baseline, trying to stop Yang Pan's breakthrough.

Yang Pan was not the kind of winger who liked to keep bringing the ball into the penalty area, his goal of shaking off the opponent was to pass the ball. So a moment of space was enough.

Looking up at the penalty area, because everything was going so fast, at this time there was only one Chinese player, Wu Shangshan, in the Swedish penalty area. Yang Pan didn't need to look for Zhang Jun, with many years of tacit understanding, he knew where Zhang Jun was at this time, and he knew what Zhang Jun was waiting for there.

Svensson was blocking Wu Shangshan, Wu Shangshan blocked all of his line of sight, he actually wanted to see where Zhang Jun was at this time, he always felt a little uneasy in his heart.

The Chinese team's opening attack was too weird.

"He's passing!"

Yang Pan passed the ball! This was not a high ball, but a low, flat ball, very fast! Not passed to Wu Shangshan in front of the goal, but to the middle of the penalty area, to the penalty spot.

10″.

Zhang Jun suddenly appeared in the path of the ball, there was not a single Swedish defender next to him! Then he leaned his body back, swung his right leg, facing the ball, at a place perpendicular to the goal, he took a shot!

The ball bounced off the ground in front of the Swedish goalkeeper, then just dodged the opponent's hands, and bounced into the goal!

10″38!!

"Goooooooal!!!".

"Itsgooooooooooooal!!!"

The match time in the upper right corner of the TV had not disappeared, at the moment when the ball hit the net, it was fixed on the number ten seconds and thirty-eight.

Zhang Jun watched the ball go into the goal, he ran excitedly to the corner flag, first bowed his head and kissed the national flag on his chest, then clenched his left hand into a fist, slammed it hard on his chest, and roared at the camera lens.

Hey, Kaka, did you see that? This is my counterattack. It's not that I'm targeting you, I just want to tell everyone, I'm the strongest!

"What are you thinking? I just think the little girl is very cheerful and cute, and treat her like a little sister," Fan Hai Dong said unhappily, "You always think wildly, as if there is nothing else to do between men and women except go to bed."

"Hmph, I might not think so about others, but for you, it should definitely be an exception," Su Si said, shaking his leg on his leg, "You can count for yourself, so far with the women you have interacted with a little more, which one has not been taken to bed by you? If you have the ability, give me a counter-example?"

"Oh..." Fan Hai Dong was speechless, it was not that he didn't want to defend himself, but there really was no so-called counter-example.

"Can't give one, right? giggle…"

For a time, there was only the excited sound coming from the TV in the Brazilian team's bus.

Kaka opened his mouth wide, looking up at the TV screen in a daze, on which, Zhang Jun was celebrating the goal with his teammates, and the dejected Swedish players vaguely became the background of this scene.

Is this your counterattack? Zhang Jun… what a big hand.

Some Brazilian players shouted, especially those who had experienced the last World Cup: "Isn't this the goal they scored against us four years ago? It's almost exactly the same!"

"Ten seconds and thirty-eight! God, what is this concept!? The fastest goal in the World Cup was created by them so casually? Is breaking records as easy as eating?"

There was a gasp on the bus.

Ronaldinho was uncharacteristically unsmiling, with a very serious expression on his face. No one knew what he was thinking at this moment.

After the exclamations, many people still applauded the Chinese team's performance. Brazilians who loved football naturally respected those who were strong in football.

※※※

In the live commentary booth, in China, Zhang Jun's goal had already made everyone boil.

Leading at the start of the match, and breaking the record for the fastest goal in the World Cup by the way, the Chinese team's performance in this World Cup was so perfect that the Chinese people couldn't believe it - is this the Chinese men's football team we used to know?

Qiu Su Hui hugged Hu Li tightly on the bench, this start was really perfect.

Ibrahimović stood blankly in the center circle, then looked at the celebrating Chinese players, his eyes focusing more on Zhang Jun. He thought his team could at least compete with China with all their strength, but he didn't expect to suffer such a heavy blow just ten seconds after the start, this was not just a simple matter of falling behind by one goal, low morale, and a disadvantage on the field… these all put the two sides on unequal footing.

He couldn't beat Zhang Jun in Serie A, could he still not be able to make a comeback in the World Cup? Damn it!

Ibrahimović didn't believe in fate, never did. As a striker who became famous at a young age and was successful in everything, he believed that only strength was real on the football field, what destiny and reincarnation were all bullshit. Adriano resigned himself to not competing with Zhang Jun for the Serie A Golden Boot, but Ibrahimović had never given up.

With a height of one meter and ninety-two, but with the footwork of one meter and sixty-eight, the perfect combination of technique and body, joining one of the greatest clubs in the world - Juventus, there should have been a more perfect career, shining brightly with the light of trophies. He didn't expect to run into Zhang Jun at the most glorious period of his career.

Ibrahimović was not convinced.

※※※

The carnival had to end under the referee's intervention, and the two teams stood back on the football field waiting for the kick-off.

At this time, in a bar somewhere in China, several people rushed in in a hurry, looking at the scene of the two teams kicking off on the TV screen, one by one patted their violently fluctuating chests and breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank God! Luckily we made it! Damn traffic jam, almost didn't see the kick-off."

"See, I told you, don't rush, don't rush. See, the match hasn't started yet. Running so tired... Boss, bring a dozen beers first!"

Hearing someone shout this, the people already sitting in the bar looked at the newcomers with very sympathetic eyes.

The newcomers were very uncomfortable being watched, because their eyes seemed to be looking at lunatics. "Hey! What are you looking at? Watch the match!"

Most people turned their heads to watch the match, and the boss, while delivering a dozen beers, kindly reminded them: "You guys, take a closer look at the upper right corner of the TV screen..."

The few people obediently looked over, and then let out a tragic scream.

"Ah——!! What exactly did we miss?!"