Chapter 1 When a Father is About to Be

Before Yang Pan wreaked havoc in the Chinese team, Zhang Jun's Fiorentina faced what was perhaps their toughest game of the season.

Fiorentina's ranking in the domestic league had fallen out of the top six, and Zhang Jun's goals had also started to decline. Sometimes he wouldn't even have many shots in a game, let alone the basketball-like scoring he used to have. The media and fans believed that Zhang Jun's condition was starting to decline, and even if he was healthy, he wouldn't be as strong as before.

His opponents no longer feared him, no longer praised him; they began to mock and ridicule him. Some, out of kindness, thought Zhang Jun should have cleanly announced his retirement after his last injury, instead of just retiring from the national team, so that his good reputation and grand image could be preserved.

Of course, these mundane views could only sadden mundane people. Zhang Jun had his own principles in his heart, and he treated other people's mockery and ridicule, even their advice, as wind in his ears. He knew very well that Fiorentina could temporarily unite now precisely because he was still in this team. If he retired, this team would probably have been divided up by the great powers long ago.

A pillar doesn't necessarily have to perform well; as long as he's there, that's enough.

In this situation, Fiorentina welcomed their Champions League semi-final opponent, the champion team from Portugal, Porto.

The media didn't think that Porto reaching the semi-finals was a dark horse, because this team had also won the Champions League before and had great strength. But if Fiorentina had met Porto two years ago, it goes without saying that no one would have thought Fiorentina would lose to Porto, or even draw.

As a result, in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, Porto defeated them 1-0 at Fiorentina's "devil home" ground, the Stadio Artemio Franchi!

Zhang Jun performed poorly in this game. He played for seventy-seven minutes before being replaced by Pazzini. The statistics for those seventy-seven minutes were as follows: two successful dribbles, one shot, zero shots on target, fouled eight times, five fouls, four offsides. These statistics were almost in the bottom five of his career.

This showed how poor his condition was.

Unable to pose any threat to the opponent's goal, the Portuguese media mocked Zhang Jun after the game, saying he must have drunk too much before the game.

Even Porto's coach, Jose Conceicao, gloated after defeating Fiorentina on their home ground, saying, "We are the most perfect team!" and threatened to eliminate Fiorentina when they returned to their home ground. The current Fiorentina was no longer the Fiorentina that shook Europe two years ago, and defeating them was not difficult at all.

Conceicao's words were not entirely without reason, because it wasn't just Zhang Jun who performed poorly in this game, but the entire team. The attack was disorganized, and the defense was crumbling. If it weren't for Frey's outstanding performance, they would have lost even more miserably! Therefore, the ESPN commentator was saying that only one person was playing football for the entire Fiorentina team, and that was Sebastien Frey.

Apart from the goalkeeper, the whole team was sleepwalking… Faced with this situation, Sabato didn't roar in anger on the sidelines for the first time; he just stood there, watching silently, looking very helpless.

Perhaps for this team that had temporarily decided to unite, it was already not easy to persist to this point. With the season coming to an end, most people were focusing on having their agents find them a good club.

At the same time, almost everyone was pessimistic about the next leg. Because the Asian and South American World Cup qualifiers clashed with the Champions League schedule, when they traveled to Porto's Dragão Stadium in Portugal a week later, the team would be missing all the players who played for South American and Asian national teams, whether they were starters or substitutes. Because it was an official match, Fiorentina had no choice but to let them go.

As a result, their starting lineup would be missing at least a third of its players. With a lineup mixed with substitutes and starters, coupled with a continuous decline in form, and having conceded an away goal… attacking the second leg of the Champions League semi-final like this was really a long shot.

In the subsequent league match, in order to protect the starters, Sabato used many substitutes, and lost again. Their ranking had dropped to tenth.

The continuous losses had made the players' morale very low, and they internally showed little confidence in challenging Porto away from home.

Zhang Jun was the captain, so he had to put on a "no problem" look in front of the players no matter what, and he could only keep the bitterness in his heart and tell Sophie when he returned home. She was his spiritual pillar; as long as Sophie was by his side, he could persevere no matter how tired or bitter he was.

※※※

That day, when he returned home in low spirits as usual, he didn't see Sophie waiting for him at the door. Feeling uneasy, Zhang Jun looked for her in the kitchen, but he didn't see Sophie either. Just as his heart was beating faster and faster, he saw Sophie walking down from upstairs, putting on a coat.

"Zhang Jun, we're not eating at home today; we're going out to eat."

"Huh?"

"Don't you get tired of eating at home every day?" Sophie sat on the sofa, looking a little lazy. Zhang Jun rarely saw Sophie like this, and he was a little strange: "Hey, Sophie, are you sick?"

Sophie giggled, "No."

"Why do I feel like you're not very energetic?" Zhang Jun frowned and observed Sophie.

"That must be your illusion." Sophie reached out and waved her hand.

"Then why do you insist on eating out?"

"To celebrate."

"Celebrate?" Zhang Jun felt even stranger. The team had been losing repeatedly, and his condition was declining. What was there to celebrate?

"Mmm, to celebrate that you're going to be a father in eight months." Sophie said calmly, but Zhang Jun was taken aback. "You… what did you say?"

"I'm pregnant." Sophie said softly, blushing.

Zhang Jun pounced on her and hugged Sophie tightly.

"Gently! Don't bump the baby…" Sophie gently pushed Zhang Jun away, and he smiled embarrassedly.

"Boy or girl?" Zhang Jun asked impatiently.

"I don't know yet. I felt a little unwell this afternoon, so I went to Milena for a checkup, and she told me I was pregnant." Milena was Zhang Jun and Sophie's private doctor, and they usually went to her when they were sick. Her skills were very good.

Zhang Jun almost wanted to kneel on the ground and thank all the gods he could thank. He and Sophie had been married for three years, and although they had tried very hard every time, they had never been able to get Sophie pregnant. He even suspected that he had a problem, and Sophie blamed herself. Zhang Jun's mother wanted to hold a child very much, but they couldn't fulfill her wish. Although Zhang Jun always comforted her that it was okay even without a child, and if it really didn't work, they would adopt an orphan and raise it as their own child.

That's what they said, but adoption was never as good as having their own child. Because Zhang Jun had a lot of things to do in the past three years, the two of them didn't delve too deeply into this matter, but decided to go and take a good look when Zhang Jun retired. Unexpectedly, she was now unexpectedly pregnant. How could they not be happy?

A child, his biggest wish since he got married a few years ago was to have a child. No, if he could have more, of course, that would be even better. If he had a child by his side, he would have another spiritual pillar. No matter how bitter it was outside, he would be satisfied if he could see his child's smiling face every day and hear him call him "Dad." Every time he went to Yang Pan's house and saw his cute daughter singing and dancing, he felt very envious, and Sophie's eyes couldn't leave her when she saw her.

Sophie was smiling at Zhang Jun, but suddenly found him crying, which startled her: "Zhang Jun, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Zhang Jun wiped his eyes, "I'm too happy. You're right, this is indeed a great thing to celebrate. It's a pity that Xiang Tao and Kulu aren't here. Let's call Youyou; she's quite lonely at home alone."

Sophie nodded. "Go and change your clothes; you can't be seen like this." She pulled on Zhang Jun's tracksuit.

Only then did Zhang Jun let go of Sophie, and then got up and walked upstairs, muttering to himself, "If it's a boy, I'll teach him to play football; if it's a girl… uh, if it's a girl, she'll learn from you, she'll definitely be beautiful, she'll definitely fascinate all the boys' hearts. When the boys who pursue her stand in the Stadio Artemio Franchi, standing one by one, I estimate that they can fill the Stadio Artemio Franchi from the stands to the pitch, and then we'll pick them one by one, hmph!"

Sophie covered her mouth and smiled. Having such a happy event to counteract the bad luck when Zhang Jun's career was in a slump might help him get out of this quagmire.

Everything was slowly getting better, Zhang Jun.

※※※

The couple called Youyou out, and the family went to their favorite Chinese restaurant for a delicious meal. During the meal, Sophie couldn't wait to tell Youyou the good news about her pregnancy and share her joy. When she couldn't get pregnant before, Youyou was also very worried and helped her with many ideas, and also found many folk remedies for Sophie to try. This time, she didn't know if her folk remedies worked.

Faced with two chattering, extremely happy women, Zhang Jun, the soon-to-be father, could only sit aside and smile foolishly.

He felt the dark clouds above his head were dissipating, and the bright sunshine was shining into his heart again.

※※※

The next day, Zhang Jun, driving to training, met Gasparoni in the parking lot, who was frowning and unhappy, still worried about the team's recent poor performance.

Zhang Jun went over and slapped him hard on the back, then shouted loudly in his ear, "Good morning, Andrea!"

Gasparoni was startled by him, and he had already strode ahead, humming a song! "Hey, Zhang, why are you so happy today?!"

"Secret!" Zhang Jun's happy voice came from ahead.

Looking at the captain's uncharacteristic behavior, Gasparoni stood there stupidly. At this moment, Frey, who was walking up behind him, put his hand on his shoulder, looked at Zhang Jun's back, and asked, "What's wrong with him?"

Gasparoni shook his head: "How would I know? The team is performing so poorly, but he's in such a good mood, it's really weird!"

"Could it be that he's been driven crazy by the pressure? Xiang and Kulu aren't here, and he has no one to talk to."

Gasparoni turned his head to look at Frey's serious face: "I think you have some symptoms of mental disorder." Then he slapped Frey's hand away and quickly chased after him.

※※※

The atmosphere in the locker room was even more bizarre. Everyone looked foolishly at the captain, who was humming a song while changing his clothes, not knowing what was going on. Yesterday, when he said goodbye to everyone, he was still a little depressed, but how could he suddenly become a different person overnight?

Gasparoni told them about what happened in the parking lot, and everyone was even more confused. After some discussion, they decided to draw lots to choose someone to ask what was going on. In the end, the unlucky D'Agostino lost.

"That… Cap, Captain?" Leo D'Agostino mustered up the courage to call out.

Zhang Jun didn't react and continued humming a song while changing his clothes.

"Captain!" D'Agostino shouted loudly.

Only then did Zhang Jun raise his head and look at D'Agostino strangely, "What's the matter, Leo?"

The other teammates were all encouraging and urging D'Agostino, but unexpectedly, after hesitating for a long time, what D'Agostino asked was: "Ah… Captain, what kind of songs do you usually listen to?"

Everyone fell down, only D'Agostino and Zhang Jun were still standing.

Zhang Jun thought for a moment: "I listen to all kinds of songs, but I listen to Chinese songs the most."

"Chi, Chinese songs are good?"

Gasparoni wanted to strangle D'Agostino, a failure is worse than useless!

"Well, how should I say it, each has its own merits. But I am Chinese, so I prefer Chinese songs a little more, after all, it's my native language." Zhang Jun considered it seriously and replied.

"I see, I heard you humming a song just now, Captain, was it a Chinese song?"

"You heard it? That's right, a Chinese song, what do you think, is it good?" Zhang Jun hummed it again.

"Good, very good! What's it called?"

"'Kiss My Baby,' it's a Chinese singer singing to his newborn son, it's very heartwarming." Zhang Jun had a happy smile on his face.

"So that's how it is…" D'Agostino whispered in a voice that only he could hear.

※※※

A group of people deliberately dawdled while changing their training clothes, letting Zhang Jun, who had already changed, go out first, and then they gathered together.

"Leo, well done, you really are the person I have my eye on!" Gasparoni patted D'Agostino's head happily.

He was answered by a chorus of boos.

"Everyone heard what he said, right?" D'Agostino asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Then I don't need to explain anymore."

"Wait!" Gasparoni raised his hand, "I still don't understand."

"You're so stupid!" Frey said from the side, "The Captain has already said it clearly enough. Why did he suddenly become happy? Why did he repeatedly hum that song? Doesn't that explain the problem?"

"But I really don't understand." Gasparoni spread his hands, saying innocently.

"Well, it's no wonder. It's really hard for a thirty-one-year-old virgin to understand…" Frey stroked his chin and sighed very seriously.

"I'm not a virgin!!" Gasparoni grabbed Frey by the neck, and D'Agostino spoke up from the side: "What Sebastien means is: Our captain is going to be a father!"

"What?!" Gasparoni's hand loosened, and Frey took the opportunity to "escape" from his grasp.

"See?" Frey sighed, spreading his hands this time, "I told you, it's impossible for a thirty-one-year-old virgin to understand this kind of thing. For them, the relationship between men and women is like…"

"Frey! I said I'm not a virgin!!" Gasparoni suddenly pounced on Frey, but Frey dodged nimbly, and then rushed out the door, and Fiorentina's left winger followed him out. The remaining people in the locker room looked at each other, and then burst into laughter.

As a result, the quality of today's training was so good that Sabato was surprised. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, sweeping away the previous dullness. He didn't know what had happened, but things were getting better, weren't they?

The only trouble was that Gasparoni seemed to be targeting Frey in training. In shooting practice and scrimmages, he was shooting with great force, wherever Frey was, he would shoot there…

※※※

Just like that, Zhang Jun left Florence with the good mood that he was going to be a father, and boarded Ren Yudi's private plane to Porto, Portugal. There, a strong opponent and a difficult game awaited him, as well as his teammates.

From the moment the plane landed, Fiorentina clearly felt the hostility of Porto's fans and media. There were many fans "welcoming" them at the airport, holding banners with slogans such as "Porto Must Win" and "Fiorentina Go Home" to pay tribute to the "guests" who had come from afar. The media asked almost entirely questions about Fiorentina's embarrassing performance in the previous leg: Why was Zhang Jun's performance so poor? Has Zhang Jun's condition become difficult to recover? The team's overall performance is so poor, what are coach Sabato's chances of winning the second leg? It is rumored that there was a conflict in the Fiorentina locker room after the game, and some people blamed each other. Is this true? If you are eliminated from the Champions League and have nothing again this season, how will you face the fans?

All kinds of questions were thrown at them, shattering all the team's good mood.

As if to add fuel to the fire, the originally sunny city of Porto began to rain continuously. The oppressive sky was like the team's oppressive mood, difficult to relieve.

Sabato was once again harassed by the local media at the press conference. Faced with those tricky and blunt questions, he still stubbornly insisted that he would win and would definitely reach the Champions League final. But at this time, not many people believed him anymore. The Portuguese reporters below looked at Sabato's performance with smiles. Everyone knew what Fiorentina was like now. It was no longer the time when they could scare off their opponents just by roaring a few times.

Zhang Jun saw the report on the press conference on the TV in his hotel room. He couldn't understand Portuguese, but he could see from the scattered words and the expressions of the reporters that his beloved Fiorentina had lost even the status of being respected. The football world values strength. Without strength, you deserve to be humiliated. When watching a game, if a weak team is slaughtered by a strong team, how many people will say that the strong team is too much and doesn't leave any face for the weak team? Wasn't their Fiorentina the same when they were strong? Sabato not only wanted to humiliate the opponent on the score, but also wanted to make the opponent wish they could kill him with their own hands. It's just that Fiorentina dared to humiliate both strong and weak teams at that time.

Now that Fiorentina had fallen into a low point, those teams that didn't dare to do anything to them before would naturally take the opportunity to humiliate them, not only in words, but also in the score. Looking at their shameful 0:1 at home in the first leg, and then looking at their series of words and deeds at the press conference and the airport, you could feel a very deep insult.

This is football, there's no way around it, the winner is king and the loser is a bandit!

And Sabato, he was arrogant and rogue, but he also had the capital to be arrogant and rogue. Fiorentina's strong strength made people believe him even when he was talking big. But now, the impression he gives is that he only has a mouth left. Apart from not admitting defeat verbally, he has nothing. His control over the team is also slowly weakening. Perhaps that incident last summer really had a huge impact on him. He also responded with words to the provocations of so many reporters at the press conference. Faced with this situation, people said that he was a dead duck with a hard mouth, which is not a good metaphor.

The good mood that he originally had because of the child was immediately extinguished. He frowned again, considering how to face such a difficult away game.

At that time, Porto's players would not be polite to them, and the fans definitely wouldn't be either.

※※※

Two days later, the second leg of the 1213 season's European Champions League semi-final began.

Porto's Dragão Stadium was packed to the rafters. All 52,000 seats were filled before the game started, and the entire stand was an ocean of blue. The local media compared themselves to a vast ocean, saying that any team that came would be submerged in the ocean and die without a burial place! And Fiorentina was a withering Bauhinia flower, sprinkled in the ocean, and in an instant, a wave would wash over it and it would be nowhere to be found.

When the game started, Fiorentina mustered up their courage and pounced on Porto's penalty area, and they did pose some threat to Porto's goal. Zhang Jun even completed his first shot of the game. Although it was also off target, compared to the previous leg, his shot flew out grazing the post, scaring the Portuguese into a cold sweat.

During the game, the rain that had been falling for two consecutive days didn't stop, but instead tended to get heavier.

When the rain really got heavy, Porto, the sea dragon, took advantage of the rain to set off a monstrous wave in Fiorentina's half. They began to counterattack, compressing the once invincible Fiorentina to within 30 meters of their own half and besieging them!

After all, today's Fiorentina was not at full strength. They were missing Mascherano in the defensive midfielder position, John Jones in the forward line, Kulu in the attacking midfielder position, and Xiang Tao in the left-back position. Four people, more than a third of the starting lineup. Because they were half starters and half substitutes, they had few opportunities to play together, especially in a major competition like the Champions League, and they had little experience and little tacit understanding. After persisting for 27 minutes, Frey's goal was finally lost.

At that time, Porto's defensive midfielder, the Portuguese Raul Meireles, fired a shot from 23 meters away from the goal. The ball was slippery in the rain, and Frey fumbled the save. The ball was followed up by Postiga, who was lurking in the penalty area, and he shot into the empty net!

This goal made the Dragão Stadium boil, and the passion of the Porto fans evaporated even the rainwater. They cheered the name of the veteran Postiga, and shouted the name of the Porto club, making the Fiorentina players feel weak in the legs.

How could they play in the face of such a crazy home crowd?!

The subsequent game was completely controlled by Porto. Fiorentina once again relived the nightmare of the first leg, with disorganized attacks and crumbling defense. Everyone was fighting on their own, with no so-called cooperation at all. Even if they wanted to cooperate, it was destroyed by the terrible flooded pitch.

Zhang Jun even suspected that Porto deliberately did not open the Dragão Stadium's drainage system, creating this kind of pitch to make their skills impossible to display.

The ESPN commentators who were commentating on the game began to feel sorry for Fiorentina. They compared the Fiorentina of two years ago with the current Fiorentina over and over again, and then exclaimed, "Is this the Fiorentina we are familiar with? Are you really sure they are not some amateur team with the same name?" Then they began to praise Porto's excellent performance, and said that such a team was fully qualified to look forward to the final and the championship trophy. The era of Fiorentina was long over. Now it was not a question of whether Fiorentina could advance, but whether they could score a goal to save face in the remaining time, for their dignity and former glory.

These words made the Fiorentina fans who were watching the live broadcast on TV in Florence gnash their teeth. According to incomplete statistics after the game, about 30,000 TV sets were smashed in Florence that day. And those who were watching the game in pubs cursed the commentators and every player of Porto loudly.

Apart from that shot after the start of the game, Zhang Jun had no further performance. Then the commentators aimed their targets at him, and began to recall the good old days, explaining from the side how bad the current Zhang Jun was, and that his condition was long gone, and that maybe it would be better to put him on the bench. The forward who was once full of imagination and creativity had lost his inspiration and had become someone who would only run around blindly in front, disrupting the opponent's defense while also disrupting his own team's attack – they obviously forgot that when Kulu was in the team, Zhang Jun's irregular running allowed Kulu to thrive.

Whether it was the frontcourt, the midfield, or the backcourt, Fiorentina's active mistakes reached an alarming number. D'Agostino was known for dribbling at high speed, but when he kicked the ball forward and then accelerated, he found that he had already run in front of the ball, and the ball was stuck in a puddle and could no longer move forward at all…

On the other hand, the Porto players who were familiar with the pitch, they could often pass Fiorentina's defenders with a seemingly casual movement. Even if it was just an unknown person dribbling the ball, they could attract three or four Fiorentina players to surround and intercept him, stirring up the opponent's defense.

In the cheers of the fans, they repeatedly used skilled defensive counterattack tactics to threaten Fiorentina's goal. And they repeatedly used long shots, hoping that Frey would fumble again, creating an opportunity for a follow-up shot.

From a tactical point of view, Porto's coach Conceicao was better than Sabato, who only knew how to talk big at press conferences. From the players' performance… there was nothing to say about this. Everyone could see that the difference between the two sides was not just a little bit.

The first half ended, and apart from Zhang Jun's shot one minute and fifty seconds after the start, Fiorentina had no shots that could be called a "threat" at all.

"This is the gap, letting a Portuguese powerhouse like Porto play a smooth game at their home ground, no team can stop them. Their coach Conceicao is right, this is a perfect team, maybe any European powerhouse team has to weigh whether they can retreat unscathed when facing them."

And the two commentators in China who were responsible for commentating on this game could only sigh helplessly: "It's really a tiger falling into the plains and being bullied by dogs, a dragon trapped in shallow water being teased by shrimp!"

In the same meaning but different expressions of the commentators, the Fiorentina players walked back to the locker room with their heads down. Compared with their past pride, at this moment they looked like defeated roosters. Porto's fans got great satisfaction from this. The team they supported could make Fiorentina lower their proud heads, and could make Sabato, who was spouting wild words, suffer. It was really a thing to celebrate. Therefore, when the Fiorentina players lowered their heads and left the field, they issued ear-piercing boos and wanton laughter from the stands on both sides of the tunnel, looking as happy as if they had already won the final victory of the game.

※※※

Sabato uncharacteristically did not scold the players who performed poorly in the locker room, because this was not a problem that could be solved by scolding any player. He was even considering in his heart what to do if they lost. He was vaguely thinking about giving up the remaining 45 minutes of this game.

"Zhang Jun, how is your leg…" he asked.

Zhang Jun thought that Sabato was preparing for a general offensive in the second half, and was afraid of being substituted – in fact, Sabato had no forwards to replace him – he replied with his head held high and his chest out: "There is absolutely no problem!"

Seeing Zhang Jun's confident expression, Sabato swallowed the words that came to his mouth: You should rest in the second half.

He turned his eyes to the others. Most people had their heads lowered, unable to see their expressions, and naturally unable to know what they were thinking. Looking at this group of silent players, he felt that maybe it was time for him to say goodbye. He had never led a team for so long, and at the same time won so many honors.

He was originally an unknown pawn who mixed in the lower leagues, and he only had the opportunity to show his skills on a broader stage because he was appreciated by Ren Yudi. He should be content. No matter which team he goes to coach in the future, he will not have to worry about not having a job with such a brilliant resume in Florence.

"You guys…" he opened his mouth, "Enjoy the 45 minutes of the second half!"

Zhang Jun looked at the coach in surprise. Why would the "rogue" who never admitted defeat say such discouraging words? The other players thought the same as Zhang Jun, and looked up at their coach strangely. In the glorious years of Fiorentina, they as players had never let this person down, and he as a coach had never disappointed them. The two sides trusted each other, so they could have that glorious three years, 56 consecutive league games unbeaten, six-time champions, and the proud record of sweeping the world.

"Coach, this doesn't seem like you." Zhang Jun said with his head down. He didn't want others to see his disappointed expression, because that would shake the morale of the army. There was nothing more terrible than shaking the morale of the army in this terrible game.

"Doesn't seem like me?" Sabato chuckled twice, "Then tell me, what should I be like?"

"You are usually like this…" Zhang Jun suddenly raised his head and shouted loudly: "You fucking cowards! We are only one goal behind, why are each of you like castrated dogs?! Which bastard doesn't want to play in the second half, I have plenty of people in my hand to replace him! Don't stay here to interfere with the real warriors! What the fuck, isn't it just Porto? My team has never been afraid of anyone, whether at home or away! Get out! Get out of here, and kick those bastard-raised bastards into minced meat! Let them see who is the owner here!!"

At first, Zhang Jun was shouting at Sabato, but later his target aimed at all the players and teammates in this locker room. Rather than saying that he was reminding Sabato, it was better to say that he was taking this opportunity to spit out the grievances in his chest, reminding everyone – "What should we do".

Unexpectedly, Zhang Jun would actually swear such nasty words, and everyone was stunned.

"What are you looking at me for?!" Zhang Jun continued to shout with unfinished anger, "Is it interesting to stare at each other? Leave the fierce gaze to the field to stare at your enemies! I'm telling you here now, I, Zhang Jun! I'm going to be a father in eight months, and I want to dedicate the victory of this game to my unborn child, whose gender I don't even know. This is what I had planned long ago, and if any bastard drags me down, I will replace him immediately!" In the end, whether he was Captain Zhang Jun or Coach Zhang Jun, even he himself didn't know.

In this game, he fell helplessly time and time again, watching his team make mistakes and mistakes again, being knocked down and the referee didn't blow the whistle, and his own people would foul when they came into contact with the opponent's body. The opponent's disdainful eyes, the fans' abuse… all these things were recorded in his heart for the entire 45 minutes. Now he felt chest tightness, he wanted to tear everything in front of him apart, destroy everything in front of him, whether it was benches, cabinets, or people… If he didn't vent it out, he didn't know what irrational actions he would take when he got to the field later, maybe it would be a malicious foul, maybe it would be giving the middle finger to the fans?

No, maybe this was the overall outbreak of all the depression he had suffered throughout the season.

"If we lose this game, our season is over! Those who don't want to play can pack their luggage and leave now, return to Italy to find your agents, let them find you the best clubs, offer the best contracts, and swear allegiance with the scarves of other people's clubs… and I myself, want to stay here! Until… I retire…"

Zhang Jun sat weakly on the stool, leaned against the cabinet behind him, and stared blankly at the ceiling, as if he was exhausted. The locker room was only filled with the heavy breathing from his violently heaving chest. No one said a word, maybe they were frightened, maybe they were speechless.

It seemed like a long time had passed – the halftime break was over – Sabato finally spoke. He still didn't scold, but said: "Time is up, let's go out, all of you play the second half well." His tone was as calm as if this was an ordinary game.

The players ran out of the locker room as if they were escaping. Sabato looked at Zhang Jun, who was still sitting on the stool, opened his mouth, but left without saying anything.

Zhang Jun was the last player to appear on the field. He made the eleven players of the Portuguese Porto club wait for him in the rain for a full three minutes, until the referee personally went to the locker room to ask him to come on the field.

When the second half started, the rain was still falling.

※※※

Zhang Jun was obviously more active in the second half. He kept running in the frontcourt and midfield, and even returned to his own penalty area. But his running seemed a bit lonely. No one supported him. He always fell into the encirclement of Porto players after getting the ball alone, and then stumbled and lost control of the ball, falling into the mud… I don't know how many times he fell. There is no such item in the statistics, but the clean white Fiorentina away jersey, which was just changed during the halftime break, was covered with mud and dyed black.

Faced with this situation, the commentators could only shake their heads. They didn't know how to say it appropriately: How could the world's best striker, who was once so proud, be so embarrassed?!

In the end, they could only change the subject: "Montolivo's performance is not worthy of the news that Inter Milan is favoring him, and Lam, he is simply like a German tank that has sunk into the mud. After firing all the shells, he is just a pile of scrap iron!" They had no sympathy for the fallen Fiorentina.

Sabato did not make any adjustments to the still same predicament in the second half, neither changing players nor changing tactics. He just stood in the rain, his back straight, his lips tightly closed, and his eyes fixed on the field.

After Zhang Jun fell to the ground for the unknown number of times, Montolivo muttered to himself: "Why does he have to do that… He has won everything, why does he still care about winning or losing this game? Why is he still working so hard? Even the coach has given up, why is he? Like an idiot…"

The Leo D'Agostino next to him grabbed his collar: "You will never understand him! You have been playing with him for longer than I have, why don't we switch places? God is so unfair!"

The nervous defensive midfielder Ahmed Yahiaoui immediately rushed up and pushed the two apart: "Hey, Leo! Be calm, we can't have infighting now!"

D'Agostino pushed Yahiaoui away and said coldly: "We are not having infighting. I have decided: I am going to help him! We must win this game! Even if we can't qualify, even if it's 2:1, I want to win! As for you, whatever."

He ran towards Zhang Jun and helped the captain, who was struggling to stand up.

At this moment, Sabato's voice, which had been silent for 67 minutes, finally sounded: "D'Agostino! Pass the ball to Zhang Jun! Run laterally, and pass to support him! Create opportunities for him to enter the penalty area at all costs!"

Zhang Jun, leaning on D'Agostino's shoulder, smiled weakly: "I really thought he was mute."

D'Agostino helped Zhang Jun up straight, "How is that possible? He will never admit defeat."

"If… we really lose this game?"

"He will also say 'This is all your illusion! Fiorentina can't possibly lose'."

Zhang Jun laughed loudly: "Haha! He does say this often this season… cough cough!" He suddenly coughed halfway through his laughter.

"Captain, are you okay!"

"It's okay, I just swallowed some rainwater…"

Pazzini took Zhang Jun's arm from D'Agostino. It was his left arm, where he wore the captain's armband. He wiped the mud off the armband, and then said to Zhang Jun: "If it's a son, he will definitely be like you, Zhang."

※※※

Sabato's words were like a thunderbolt that exploded above the field, and also exploded in the hearts of the Fiorentina players: The coach does not want to give up this game, no one should be lazy!

When the game was close to the 70th minute