Chapter 1 The World Cup Ends

China's World Cup journey ended, and they flew back to China two days later, but the World Cup continued.

Italy, who eliminated China, did not realize their dream of winning the championship. The hard battle with the Chinese team consumed too much of their energy. In the quarter-finals, they were defeated by Zidane's French team and eliminated.

France also won with difficulty, but they were a little luckier than the Italians.

Kaka's Brazil encountered a real strong enemy. Their quarter-final opponent was their old rival, Argentina.

This game attracted the attention of more than one billion television viewers. It was a collision of the highest level. Before the game, even FIFA President Blatter sighed that the premature meeting of the two teams was a loss for this World Cup: "These should be two teams entering the final."

Pele and Maradona also came out to support their respective teams, but the two were slightly different. Maradona firmly believed that Argentina would achieve the final victory. The famous "crow's mouth" Pele was very "modest" and believed that Argentina would win, and predicted that Argentina would win the World Cup.

His prediction caused a huge panic in the hearts of Argentine fans around the world. Many Argentine fan groups even issued statements strongly condemning Pele's inhuman behavior and demanding that he withdraw his predictions on Argentina's performance.

But Pandora's box had been opened, how could it be easily closed?

Thus, taking his auspicious words, Brazil defeated their old rival Argentina 3-2 in the quarter-finals and advanced to the semi-finals. They maintained a 100% win rate against Argentina in major world competitions for three consecutive years. Argentina, following the Copa America and the Confederations Cup, lost to Brazil again in a major game.

Kaka performed quite well in this game. His breakthroughs and passes caused a lot of trouble for the Argentine defenders, so that Cambiasso had to rely on fouls to stop him.

This was a very exciting offensive battle. Both sides seemed to have forgotten that this was the World Cup, throwing their defenses aside and attacking with all their might. All five goals were wonderful.

This game became the most classic game of the World Cup, and it also established Kaka's status in international football. He was the best player in this star-studded game, with one goal and two assists. Seventy percent of Brazil's offense was directly or indirectly related to him.

As an attacking midfielder, he pushed Ronaldinho to the front line, and Adriano could only sit on the bench in frustration.

※※※

The final was undoubtedly between the best-performing team and the most popular host.

Brazil vs Germany.

It seemed to be a remake of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. The German media had been shouting "revenge" ever since they learned the results of the match.

Under the guidance of Klinsmann, the German team has been supplemented with fresh blood. The combination of old and new players in the team is reasonable, and it is much higher than the German team in Portugal two years ago. After the training of the Confederations Cup, they now have the strength to challenge the Brazilian team.

Brazil came with the dream of winning their sixth title. The whole team, the whole country, seemed very confident in adding another gold star to their chest. The only regret was that Kaka could not appear in the World Cup final. Because he accumulated yellow cards in the semi-finals, he was suspended for one game by FIFA.

But Brazil also had Ronaldinho, who was a very, very good attacking midfielder in himself. After he retreated to play as an attacking midfielder, Adriano started and partnered with Ronaldo as a striker.

This time Pele also said that he was optimistic about Brazil, but no one blamed him anymore, because his "curse" was ineffective against his own country's team.

Ronaldo had said before the World Cup that this would be his last World Cup. After the World Cup, he would officially withdraw from the national team and give his position to the younger generation. Therefore, the whole team hoped to use a World Cup to bid farewell to Ronaldo and thank him for everything he had done for the Brazilian team in the past twelve years.

But the impact of Kaka's absence was something no one had expected before the game. Without him, the Brazilian midfield lacked speed and strength. Ronaldinho could make the Brazilian team more artistic and beautiful. Kaka could make the team run and operate at high speed, making them more impactful and aggressive.

The Germans played with a "revenge" mentality, wanting to avenge the hatred of the Korea-Japan World Cup and the Confederations Cup today. Their movements were very large, even close to rude, but the referee did not blow the whistle for fouls. On the one hand, the Germans grasped the measure very well, and on the other hand, it was the so-called "home advantage."

Ronaldinho, who was used to playing leisurely defense like he did in La Liga, seemed a little unaccustomed to such fierce defense and couldn't find his form for a long time.

On the contrary, the German team was very active from beginning to end. In the crazy cheering of tens of thousands of fans in the audience, they kept pressing Brazil. As long as the Brazilian team got the ball, they would be greeted by unscrupulous boos and curses.

This was also part of the home advantage.

Ballack said before the game that he would use a goal to complete his revenge, and he did it today. Teammate Kuranyi created a penalty, which he took and scored in one fell swoop. When he scored this goal, the entire Berlin Olympic Stadium seemed to be collapsing from the cheers.

Subsequently, the German team relied on tenacious defense, rude fouls, and the support of the home fans to maintain this one-goal advantage to the end!

Brazil's proud offense had no way to deal with Germany's eleven defenders.

When the referee blew the whistle to end the game, the Berlin Olympic Stadium was boiling. The German team defeated Brazil 1-0 with the advantage of the host and won the World Cup for the fourth time!

This was a night that made the Brazilians sad. Kaka was already crying like a tearful person on the bench. He really regretted it. If he hadn't impulsively stretched his foot out, he wouldn't have gotten that yellow card, and maybe it wouldn't be this result now.

Everything Zhang Jun had experienced half a month ago, he also experienced personally today. Since being selected for the Brazilian national team, it had always been good memories. This was the first painful failure in his national team career. And precisely because he didn't play, this memory of failure was even more unforgettable.

But all bystanders had reason to believe that this young player who did not play would definitely become stronger after this failure. In South Africa four years later, he would definitely make a comeback. At that time, the world would wait to see him engrave his name in the history of the World Cup.

In the background music of "We Are the Champions" and the sleepless cheers and celebrations of the Germans, the 2006 German World Cup came to an end.

All awards had been won.

The German team not only won the World Cup, but also captain Ballack won the World Cup Golden Ball. The Brazilian team won the runner-up, and the team's top scorer Ronaldo became the Golden Boot with six goals. Kaka won his first personal honor in a world competition – the World Cup Silver Ball.

The Chinese team did not win any honors, but Zhang Jun won the Bronze Boot award with four goals. He could still guarantee one goal per game in the World Cup. His goal-scoring ability was really terrifying.

These awards will be presented together at the FIFA World Player of the Year awards ceremony at the end of the year.

※※※

After the World Cup journey, the Chinese team did not disband on the spot. Instead, they rushed around to participate in various celebration parties sponsored by enterprises and fulfilled the commercial activities that the Football Association had signed with some enterprises. They toured the country to accept the worship of fans from all over the world. These were just collective activities, not including the various commercial and public welfare contracts signed by the players themselves, as well as the celebration banquets held by the governments of each player's hometown and club.

This summer, they were busier than ever before.

Throughout the entire process, Zhang Jun was holding on with a sick body. Due to the rain that day and being too sad after being eliminated, his cold worsened, and he had a persistent high fever. But he still had to participate in these activities, because as the World Cup Bronze Boot, he was the protagonist. If he didn't go, there would immediately be rumors that he was putting on airs and that his appearance fee was too low.

In fact, since being eliminated by Italy, there has been a kind of pretending-to-be-sober voice in the country, whether in the media or among fans, thinking that Zhang Jun's performance was not worthy of the title of starting striker for the Chinese team, and his performance against Italy was even worse. "He didn't even score the last goal when facing an empty goal! This can't help but remind us of Piero in the 2000 European Championship. He didn't score two one-on-ones, which led to Italy losing the championship, and he was immediately knocked off the altar. Why can Zhang Jun still receive so much worship? As a main striker, he wasted opportunities several times and was so weak. We originally had a great chance to enter the top eight, but we ruined our great future." – I really didn't see what he was talking about as a great future?

Zhang Jun didn't read it – he never read anything from the media anymore. But Yang Pan read it, and he was used to reading newspapers to get information. At that time, he directly crumpled the newspaper into a ball of waste paper and threw it away. He didn't dare to tell Zhang Jun, because he was afraid that Zhang Jun would be angry. He just called Li Yan to ask if he knew the reporter who wrote the article.

Li Yan told him that that person was still an old acquaintance of theirs.

"Huang Deren, don't you remember? He was the one who exposed Su Fei's identity."

Yang Pan was stunned for a moment and remembered that there was indeed such a person. "Damn, that scumbag? Okay, I see, no wonder he would say that. A dog's mouth can't spit out ivory." It was perfectly normal not to remember such a small character. After that, as long as he saw anything signed by Huang Deren, he would crumple it up and throw it away without even looking at the main text.

Huang Deren just didn't like Zhang Jun for some reason, but it was undeniable that there were some people like this in China. At first, they didn't expect anything from the World Cup at all. When they saw that the results were good, they started to daydream, as if not entering the top eight or the top four was a failure. Some of them understood football, and some of them didn't understand football at all and were just blindly humming along with the World Cup craze.

They were people who had been brainwashed by utilitarianism, and they only recognized results. They turned a blind eye to the efforts made.

These people were typical of those who eat what's in their bowl while looking at what's in the pot, and they would never be satisfied. If the Chinese team upset and won the championship, they would probably be clamoring for defending the title, clamoring for consecutive championships – did they really think they were reading a YY novel?

The existence of such people was the deformed people who grew up in the environment of Chinese football. It was the sorrow of Chinese football.

Zhang Jun didn't want to give these deformed people a chance to gossip, so he had to insist on being present.

In the month after the World Cup, he lost a lot of weight, which made Su Fei and his mother very distressed.

The most exaggerated and terrifying thing was the "grand occasion" of his return home.

Because of his performance in the World Cup, he was already a big figure in this central plains city. And

Since he got off the plane, the crowded crowds on the road had not stopped. From the arrival hall of the airport to the parking lot, and even along the highway, there were people holding banners to welcome Zhang Jun home.

When the special car of the municipal government drove to the gate of the community where his home was located, he was almost not scared to death.

Fifty meters in front of the community gate, there were already people everywhere. Some fans even climbed up the trees. Even with the armed police maintaining order, they could not make way for the car to pass through.

Helplessly, Zhang Jun had to get out of the car accompanied by the municipal government officials and then squeezed in with all his strength. Along the way, people kept reaching out to pull him, greet him, and touch him. People he knew and didn't know were touching his body and head. Several times they almost poked their hands into Zhang Jun's eyes. Fortunately, he was wearing sunglasses. Even so, when he squeezed through the whole journey, his poor sunglasses had long disappeared.

Chen Huafeng also went to the scene. He later described the scene at that time:

"...People were very crazy. The entire community, from the gate to the building where Zhang Jun's home was located, was full of people. There were reporters, neighbors, fans who came to admire him, and many people who didn't know anything and just came to join in the fun. Of course, there were also some people of unknown origin. The flower beds in the community were full of people, and there was no place to set foot. The community was very noisy. The sound of car horns, people shouting, girls screaming, children crying from being squeezed, and the police scolding were mixed together, making people feel upset. Zhang Jun was in the crowd, being pulled and tugged. It felt like he was a small boat without support in the sea, being pushed and drifting by the wind and waves, as if it would capsize at any moment. I felt sorry for Zhang Jun. Once he became famous, that body seemed to no longer be his. But he was still smiling at everyone. Even so, there were still corners that were not taken care of. There were several girls next to me who were complaining that Zhang Jun was putting on airs and acting like a big shot and deceiving the feelings of the fans because Zhang Jun didn't see them – what qualifications did they have to represent the fans? Did they ever think about Zhang Jun's situation and feelings? Everyone only considered their own interests. Once their own interests were not satisfied, they pushed the responsibility onto Zhang Jun. The media was like that, and so were the fans. How can people be so selfish?"

Even if Zhang Jun squeezed into the door of his house, there were still people who wanted to squeeze in with him. Zhang Jun's mother and Su Fei's parents had to block the door and persuade everyone kindly: "Zhang Jun is already very tired, can you please let him rest? Please go back, please go back!"

Reporters? They were not allowed to step in at all.

In the end, the municipal government had to transfer two policemen to stand guard at the door of Zhang Jun's house to block the crowd.

Zhang Jun gasped for breath and lay on the bed. Before, he had told Yang Pan that he wanted to go back to see his mother, see his uncle and aunt, see Lao Liang, and see his classmates. Now he realized that Yang Pan was the wisest. After participating in various activities, he immediately flew back to Milan. And his parents had already gone to Milan a few days ago to wait for him. His family could reunite in Italy and have a rare quiet vacation.

Moreover, Zhang Jun speculated that Yang Pan let his parents go to Italy this time to let them meet Yi Lan. Had their relationship reached the point where they were meeting each other's parents? This development speed was really fast, almost as fast as his 100-meter speed...

In order not to cause more trouble for his mother and uncle and aunt, it seemed that he had to go back to Italy sooner. It was really hard to have to deal with so many people from various sources every day when opening the door. Since returning home, the phone at home had been ringing non-stop. They were either reporters or relatives and friends who were not related to him at all. The former wanted to interview him, and the latter came to ask for money directly and indirectly. At first, his mother was kind to everyone. After Zhang Jun came back, the first thing he did was to unplug the phone line. Ah, the world was finally quiet...

He originally wanted to spend a few days with Su Fei, but he didn't have the mood now. On the way home, he tried to dial the phone number that Ren Yudi left when he graduated. The electronic synthesized voice inside gently told him: "I'm sorry, the number you dialed is a vacant number. Please check the number and dial again..."

He couldn't be with the people he wanted to be with, and he couldn't find the people he wanted to see. What was the point of spending this vacation?

It was already almost August. Hua-jie said that AC Milan had agreed to his transfer to Fiorentina, but they had not completely given up, but retained 50% of the ownership. Fiorentina had no objection. As for that 50%, they would find an excuse in two years and take it back with some money. There was no need to entangle with AC Milan on this.

In this way, he could go directly back to Florence to start the new season.

He was more looking forward to the new season than anyone else. He had to take back all the debts he hadn't finished collecting in the World Cup.

He was full of confidence and looking forward to the new season, but he was completely unaware of how deep the impact of this World Cup had been on him, so much so that he was completely at a loss later.

※※※

At nine o'clock in the morning, Zhang Jun had already washed up and was standing on the balcony of his apartment, stretching. The morning sun sprinkled its brilliance on Florence, warm and soft like butter spread on bread. Occasionally, flocks of pigeons flew across the azure sky, while the distant green mountains were still shrouded in mist, hazy and unclear. Everything was like a serene and beautiful oil painting.

Florence, the European capital of art, was itself full of artistic atmosphere.

Zhang Jun took a deep breath of the morning air, as if it really had the fragrance of milk.

He had returned to Florence from China. The hasty reunion with his family could not soothe his tired heart, and he did not see Su Fei. On the contrary, after returning to the "battlefield" of Florence, he slept well. He woke up in the morning listening to the birds singing outside the window, instead of being awakened by the crazy screams and roars of fans.

He looked downstairs. There were no crazy crowds, only a few tourists with backpacks. It was still mid-August, during the summer tourist season. He knew that in September, the leisurely tourists on this street would be replaced by passionate, singing fans every weekend.

He closed his eyes and stretched, very intoxicated.

A beautiful morning, the beginning of a new season.

※※※

After a summer, the Fiorentina team had undergone very big changes. Boss Della Valle spent a lot of money to buy or rent many people, and many people in the original team also left. Just Zhang Jun's 50% ownership cost him 7.5 million euros. Calculated, the whole person was 15 million euros. When Milan bought Zhang Jun, it only cost 8 million euros. Galliani seized the opportunity of Fiorentina's eagerness to get people and made a big profit.

Della Valle, who had just entered Serie A, was ambitious and wanted to make a big splash. He spent money very lavishly, almost never bargaining when buying players and almost giving away players when selling them. Coupled with Fiorentina's long history, as a "senior", they also had some prestige, and the introduction of players was still relatively smooth.

After suffering losses for two years, Abramovich had also restrained a lot in buying people, so this summer's transfer market focus naturally became Fiorentina, who was spending a lot of money.

They bought half of the ownership of midfielder Maresca and striker Miccoli from Juventus, and also bought half of the ownership of Udinese's powerful player Jorgensen. With the joining of Obodo, Gicu, and Valdes, the midfield became the most luxurious line.

In the defense line, they signed Czech iron defender Ujfalusi and young center-back Dainelli, who performed well in Brescia and attracted the attention of major clubs. Negotiations with Perugia regarding the introduction of defender Di Loreto were still in progress, but the prospects were not optimistic. Fiorentina originally wanted to acquire Real Madrid youngster Pavon, but were flatly rejected by Real Madrid.

At the same time, as compensation, Real Madrid loaned young striker Portillo, who had difficulty playing in the team, to Fiorentina to help them improve their forward strength. In this way, the Fiorentina forward line simultaneously had four quite strong players. Zhang Jun - the World Cup Bronze Boot, he would undoubtedly be the main force in the new season. Miccoli, who had outstanding performances in Juventus and the Italian national team, had to leave because of a conflict with Piero. He would partner with Zhang Jun. Veteran Riganò, with his excellent physical condition and heading skills, had won a place for himself in the team. He would be a key piece. And young player Portillo would be a substitute.

At this point, although Della Valle was still trying to buy more high-level strikers, Mondonico believed that Fiorentina did not need to buy any more strikers. What they really needed was an attacking midfielder. Serie A was different from Serie B. Mondonico believed that relying on powerful strikers in Serie B could conquer the world, but in Serie A, they would definitely run into a wall. Having coached the team for so long, he also knew that the team's weakness was in the midfield, not the forward line. He had repeatedly stated: "What we really need is an attacking midfielder like Rui Costa to build the team around him."

What he meant by this was that they needed a high-level attacking midfielder, because he knew that Rui's return was just a dream. But under the calls of the Fiorentina media and Fiorentina fans, Della Valle really tried his best to contact Rui Costa, hoping that he could return to Florence to retire.

He believed that Rui should agree to it both emotionally and rationally.

In terms of goalkeepers, they introduced former Chievo's "No. 10" goalkeeper Lupatelli.

These people, plus the players who stayed in the team, formed a team to compete in Serie A. Some of them were core figures in lower-level teams, and some were substitutes in strong teams. No matter what their past was, this next season was the time to test them. Could this "mercenary" team shoulder the expectations of 380,000 Florentines?

※※※

As the World Cup Bronze Boot, Zhang Jun naturally received the most attention. Everyone expected him to have an outstanding performance, become the new generation of "God of War," and lead the team to reproduce its glory.

Zhang Jun also wanted to do this very much, of course not to become the new "God of War," but to let Florence reproduce its glory.

In preparation for the season, he was working hard to get along with everyone, even Maresca, whom he didn't like very much. He forced himself to accept such a teammate. He trained hard, participated in warm-up matches hard, and worked hard to give Mondonico a good impression.

Because the head coach had said that all the performances during the promotion were invalid. He would decide who to let play based on everyone's state and performance.

After all, this was Serie A, not Serie B, Zhang Jun could understand.

More importantly, Zhang Jun had a lot of confidence in his own state. Winning a Bronze Boot in the World Cup greatly increased his confidence. He believed that he could completely gain the upper hand in the competition with the other three people.

He, like all the people who supported him, was full of optimism for the current season, optimism...too optimistic.

Negotiations with Rui Costa ultimately broke down. Rui Costa insisted on retiring in Milan and was unwilling to return to Florence.

Because they overestimated Rui Costa's feelings for Florence, Della Valle had been operating this attacking midfielder transfer throughout the summer. By the time the negotiations broke down, they didn't have much time to find a replacement.

In this way, Florence could only let Maresca play as an attacking midfielder.

It was the mistakes of the higher-ups on this issue that led to many problems this season. When many people recalled this precarious season, they only focused their attention on the conflict between Zhang Jun and the coach, but ignored what triggered this series of conflicts.

It was this terrible, self-righteous, and ultimately broken forward transfer negotiation.

※※※

On September 2, 2006, the ten matches of the first round of Serie A kicked off simultaneously. The match between defending champion AC Milan and newly promoted Empoli was used as the opening game, opening the curtain on the 0607 season of the Italian Serie A. Countless loyal Serie A fans around the world once again focused their attention on the Apennine Peninsula.

For them, this was where heroes and legends were born.

And for Chinese fans and reporters, this was noteworthy because there were three Chinese players here.

According to the information they had obtained before the game, Li Yongle, Yang Pan, and Zhang Jun would all start. This was a very remarkable achievement.

Yang Pan had completely squeezed Seedorf onto the bench. In Milan's pre-season tour of the United States, he started every game and performed quite well. Moreover, being able to play in the left, center, and right midfield positions at the same time on the field made AC Milan's attack more varied.

Li Yongle, with his good performance in the World Cup with the national team and Mancini's own preference, also got the opportunity to start. Although he was only starting now and was not guaranteed to get the main position, for the always confident Li Yongle, as long as he was given a chance, he could seize it. The waist of Inter Milan still had to be straightened by him, C. Zanetti couldn't do it, and Cambiasso couldn't do it either.

Zhang Jun's start was as sure as Yang Pan's. Which team dared to put the World Cup Bronze Boot on the shelf? His partner was undoubtedly Miccoli, who was underappreciated in Juventus.

Inter Milan's first round opponent was Serie A mid-tier team Chievo, AC Milan played against Empoli. Fiorentina challenged Rome, who was aiming to revive, away from home.

The three games were played at the same time. The first goal was scored by AC Milan. Just three minutes into the game, Shevchenko seized the misunderstanding between Empoli's defender and goalkeeper and scored the first goal. This was also the fastest goal in this round of Serie A. San Siro was full of cheers, and the fans were not worried about the result of this game, because they knew that AC Milan would definitely beat newly promoted Empoli easily.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long. In the eighth minute, Stam's tackle in the penalty area gave Empoli a chance to equalize. Then the penalty taker scored in one fell swoop, tying the score at 1:1. At this time, the game had only just started for less than ten minutes.

On the other side, in the fifteenth minute, Inter Milan and Li Yongle, who were playing away, also had a good start. His long pass in the midfield tore through Chievo's defense. Adriano tacitly inserted, unloaded the ball, and then easily lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper's head in the face of the attacking goalkeeper, scoring the first goal of the new season.

After scoring the goal, Adriano hugged Li Yongle gratefully. He had received the recognition of the team's number one striker, so the road ahead would be much easier.

※※※

Fiorentina was playing away. They were challenging Roma, who had Totti, Cassano, De Rossi, and Chivu, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Zhang Jun and Miccoli's partnership was not as invincible as people thought. In fact, due to similar style characteristics, it was not a wise decision to partner the two of them. The two, who could not complement each other, always did their own thing and rarely cooperated.

Miccoli was already a bit selfish in his style of play, and he was also good at long shots, so he would always take a long shot when the ball approached the penalty area, either the ball would be saved, or it wouldn't even touch the goal frame. Zhang Jun could only watch Miccoli squander the already few opportunities time and time again in the penalty area and shake his head.

Mondonico lacked experience in coaching Serie A. He even simply thought that combining the two best forwards was the strongest forward combination. He always believed that Riganò's ability was not yet able to adapt to Serie A. In fact, in this situation, Riganò should be the main force, and then Zhang Jun or Miccoli should be assigned to him according to his attitude and state.

One tall and one fast was the key.

Zhang Jun finally received a pass from Miccoli - because the latter was positioned further back, Miccoli had the most possession of the ball among the two forwards.

Facing Chivu's defense, Zhang Jun pulled his right foot to the side. Chivu flashed with him, but Zhang Jun didn't expect Zhang Jun to buckle his right foot again and then pull his left foot to the left. Chivu was faked over by him like this. Even Zhang Jun himself didn't expect it to be so easy. He used to need a lot of effort to get past Chivu.

But his shot was of a very low standard. His shot flew high over the crossbar.

Cassano whistled nonchalantly.

※※※

In the thirty-sixth minute, news of a goal came from Inter Milan, but it was their opponent Chievo who scored.

The first half then ended. The scores of the three games were Inter Milan 1:1 Chievo away, AC Milan 1:1 Empoli, and Fiorentina 0:0 Roma.

CCTV5 used AC Milan's opening game as the broadcast. On the Fiorentina side, because the Fiorentina club had not yet reached an agreement with Italian Sky TV on TV broadcast fees, Chinese viewers would not be able to see Zhang Jun's games for several weeks to come.

This was a major move by Della Valle to fight against strong clubs such as AC Milan and Juventus. In fact, Fiorentina was not the only club that did not sign an agreement. There were also some small and medium-sized clubs. However, the vast number of Chinese fans were accidentally involved, which was regrettable.

Those who couldn't watch the TV broadcast could only look for news online. They were still looking forward to Zhang Jun's performance.

The second half started quickly, and the reporters became busy.

Just three minutes into the second half, AC Milan scored another goal. This time it was Yang Pan assisting Kaka. The tacit understanding the two had developed in high school made Empoli's defenders helpless. Kaka also scored his first goal of the new season.

At the same time, Inter Milan also scored. Solari broke through continuously from the left and scored a very beautiful goal. They reversed the score.

Yang Pan and Li Yongle performed well and both had an assist, but there was still no movement on Zhang Jun's side.

※※※

Zhang Jun also wanted to score, but he felt that his foot was not smooth today. Several shots that should have been on target inexplicably went wide or high.

Now the opportunity came again. Facing Roma's only defender, he broke through very beautifully and then shot. This time it was on target, but because the power was too light, it was easily confiscated by the Roma goalkeeper.

Even he himself had to shake his head this time.

After the World Cup, it seemed that he hadn't adapted to the rhythm of Serie A yet.

Fiorentina's attack was weak, and the loopholes in the defense were seized by Roma. In the fifty-third minute, Roma seized the opportunity of Fiorentina's unsuccessful corner kick and launched a quick counterattack, which Cassano scored.

The Stadio Olimpico in Rome was full of cheers. The Fiorentina players didn't show much reaction when they looked at the celebrating Roma players. They seemed to think that it was right for them to lose a goal.

Zhang Jun also knew that there were gaps in between, but it didn't mean that he could face conceding goals calmly. The failure in the World Cup made him unforgettable. He didn't want to be a loser again.

But he also had to admit that he had been looking forward to this game for a long time, but he was not in good shape.

Miccoli seemed to be in better shape than him. Because he had more shots...

※※※

Many people were still looking forward to Zhang Jun's explosion, but as time went by, the news coming from the Stadio Olimpico in Rome was all unfavorable to Zhang Jun.

He was not active in running.

He had few shots.

He was always shaking his head, looking very helpless.

He seemed to be sleepwalking.

……

He was taken off the field.

In the seventy-sixth minute, when Yang Pan and Li Yongle were still fighting fiercely on their respective fields, Zhang Jun was replaced by Riganò by Mondonico due to his mediocre performance. At that time, he walked back to the bench without saying a word, sat down, and watched the team be defeated by Roma 1:0.

At this point, the Chinese media's attention to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome also came to an end. Zhang Jun's first game of the new season also came to an end.

In the end, AC Milan was forced to a draw at home by newly promoted Empoli, and Inter Milan shook hands and made peace with Chievo away from home.

Although the teams all drew, Yang Pan and Li Yongle's performances were still commendable.

Only Zhang Jun, people didn't know how to evaluate his game. They could only vaguely say that he was not in good shape and he was unlucky. For this person who had just made a great contribution to the Chinese team's historic breakthrough, most people were still reluctant to be too harsh.

There were still many people who firmly believed that Zhang Jun would definitely be able to rise again in the next round.

Even Zhang Jun himself thought so.

In the phone call to Su Fei, he repeatedly emphasized: "It's normal for a player's state to fluctuate. I don't think it's a big deal. Moreover, in the last round, I didn't feel anything in someone else's home stadium. In the next round, we will be at home, and the opponent is not very strong. Su Fei, you just wait and see my performance in the next round!"

He said this just after he had staged a hat-trick in a training match the day before.

Next, Fiorentina will face Cagliari at home. Cagliari, who lost Zola, had long been reduced to a weak team that was at everyone's mercy. They were the biggest favorite to be relegated this season. It was also a good opportunity for Zhang Jun to help the team win with goals.

Behind Zhang Jun's optimistic mood, things were developing in a place he couldn't control.