Chapter 2 The Next Day

The next day, the most prominent images in Chinese media were, of course, those of Zhou Yi holding the European Super Cup, celebrating with his teammates.

Zhou Yi defeating Sun Pan to win the European Super Cup was what Chinese media and fans cared about most.

It was also a matter of concern for European media, so there were many related reports in European media as well.

However, Chinese media had some additional points of focus compared to their European counterparts.

"...Zhou Yi, in high spirits after winning the game, was even inspired to write a poem on the spot, explaining why he can always score against Sun Pan..."

"If heaven had feelings, it would also grow old, seeing Panpan kick it; thousands of mountains and rivers are filled with love, just shoot when you see Panpan. Alone as a stranger in a foreign land, just shoot at Panpan when you meet him. For ten years, life and death are vast and unknowable, a world-class goal, a background wall. Panpan is speechless, only tears flow..."

"Sun Pan refused to comment on Zhou Yi's 'poem.' But reporters later discovered that he posted a selfie on Weibo giving the middle finger, and then @ed Zhou Yi. I think this must be his response..."

At the same time, on the internet, Zhou Yi's doggerel also sparked the creative enthusiasm of the vast number of netizens. For a time, a large number of "verses" about Sun Pan appeared on the internet.

For example:

Not knowing the true face of Mount Lu, Panpan is just a backdrop.

The majestic pass is truly like iron, a blast to Panpan's bloody face.

Heaven gives me abilities for a reason, just ask Panpan if he can handle it.

Butterflies linger and dance often, is Panpan bitter in his heart?

Meeting is hard, parting is even harder, Panpan says you guys have fun.

There is fragrant grass everywhere, another shot, okay?

Looking horizontally, a ridge; sideways, a peak, meet Panpan and get confused.

The sky is vast, the wilderness boundless, Panpan's background is stained with tears.

...

Of course, normal people actually know that this is a kind of teasing, and no one will deny Sun Pan's ability to keep the goal because of this. He is still a first-class goalkeeper in Europe, and his performance in the European Super Cup has won almost everyone's praise. Although there were two goals conceded, if it weren't for him, Chelsea would not have been able to drag the game into overtime at all.

No matter what Mourinho thinks, anyway, everyone thinks that this game fully demonstrates that Chelsea, who just welcomed Mourinho back, is not strong enough to directly challenge the European champions. The creativity and momentum that Dortmund showed in the offense in this game made Chelsea only able to rely on Sun Pan to support themselves in the game.

Count how many key saves Sun Pan made in the game, and you will know how powerful and how difficult it was for him.

Zhou Yi's teasing was based on his friendship with Sun Pan. If someone really believed it and thought Sun Pan was nothing special, they would probably be regarded as fools...

In fact, after teasing Sun Pan, Zhou Yi also praised Sun Pan on Weibo, mainly to say to those who might misunderstand: "Don't get me wrong, what I mean is: if a goalkeeper only allows you to score with world-class goals and lucky shots, then he is invincible. Panpan forced us so badly in the game, pushed us to the brink of the cliff, so after winning the game, I felt that only writing a poem could fully express my respect for him!"

He posted this Weibo for fear that someone would misinterpret the joke between him and Sun Pan. Although Sun Pan wouldn't think too much about it, they always made fun of each other like this, they were used to it. But he couldn't stand the public opinion.

So Zhou Yi had to explain it specifically.

So as to prevent some people with ulterior motives from exaggerating the matter.

※※※

After this game, the British media did not criticize Sun Pan for losing the ball at the last moment. On the contrary, many media publicly supported Sun Pan, believing that Sun Pan's performance in this game was enough to silence those who questioned that he should not have squeezed out Čech's starting position.

Even if Sun Pan's strength is comparable to Čech's, he is younger and has unlimited potential, so he should be given a chance.

Although Čech has been guarding Chelsea's goal for many years and has always performed well, he is old, and handing over the position to young players is a normal metabolism of the team. Such things happen in other positions all the time, so there is no need to be unable to accept the same thing happening in the goalkeeper position...

Čech should of course be respected, but Sun Pan should also be respected.

After the game, Mourinho also talked about the issue of Sun Pan and Čech—in fact, this issue has been quite controversial in England.

"We now have two extremely good goalkeepers, I think this is our happiness, not our trouble."

Although he did not explicitly express his support for who should start, judging from Sun Pan's amazing performance in this Super Cup, since Sun Pan is the starter now, unless he makes a big mistake, it will be difficult to return to the bench. The goalkeeper position is about stability, and changing it casually is not a good thing.

When he coached Real Madrid last season, he dared to put Casillas, the symbol of Real Madrid, on the bench. Now that he has returned to Chelsea, it is not too difficult to put another banner on the bench.

Čech has played for the team for many years, and now that Sun Pan has returned, he has been squeezed onto the bench, which makes many Chelsea fans very dissatisfied. For them, although Sun Pan is also a Chelsea player, he has been on loan for many years and has never played for Chelsea's first team. In their hearts, they feel that Sun Pan is similar to a player who joined this summer. Emotionally, they will of course be more inclined towards Čech.

Especially when some media broke the news that one of the conditions Sun Pan agreed to at Chelsea was to make himself the main player, to ensure his main position. This will make people feel that he is threatening the club and targeting Čech. The dissatisfaction with Sun Pan is even greater. Some Chelsea fans even said that if Sun Pan wants to leave, then let him go, they don't need a "professional player" who has no feelings for the club.

So Sun Pan has always been under great pressure.

However, Sun Pan has never been afraid of pressure, and he is actually very excited about those criticisms. In addition, the news that Zhou Yi might win the award has been hyped up for more than two weeks, attracting the attention of most Chinese fans, so everyone is not paying enough attention to Sun Pan's affairs at Chelsea.

Now, after the Super Cup battle, Sun Pan has regained everyone's attention. Chinese fans realized how much pressure Sun Pan has been under in the past period of time. At the same time, they have to admire Sun Pan for being able to put on such an excellent and stable performance under such great pressure, which shows how strong his ability to withstand pressure is. Only a goalkeeper with such psychological qualities can be trusted to guard the national goal.

After the Super Cup, Čech also came forward to give an interview to defend Sun Pan: "To be honest, those two goals were not his responsibility. On the contrary, the saves he made in the game were more important. When standing in front of the Chelsea goal, facing Dortmund's fierce attack, no one could have done better than him. There is no problem between me and Sun Pan, whoever is guarding the goal, we all hope that the team can win."

This also fully reflects the demeanor of the veteran Čech, so that those who plan to continue to attack Sun Pan have no excuse—the players themselves have no conflicts, what are you outsiders doing? Are you trying to sow discord?

A Super Cup reduced the pressure on Sun Pan, and also settled the question of who should start between him and Čech... or at least that's the way it is for now.

※※※

After the Super Cup, the European leagues are temporarily suspended to make way for the national team match day.

And Zhou Yi will also return to China with Yan Min to prepare for two warm-up matches.

His parents will go directly back to Dortmund after watching the game in Prague to wait for him. The Dortmund club patted their chests and assured Zhou Yi that they would definitely arrange the lives of the two elders in Dortmund well. Not only will all transportation problems be solved, but also a Chinese translator will be hired to help the two elders live in Dortmund. This translator is not just a language translator, but more like a life assistant, accompanying them 24 hours a day. If they need anything, they can directly call and help them solve all the problems they encounter in Dortmund, from picking them up at the airport to solving all the problems in life, such as picking them up by car, supermarket shopping, dealing with people... all will be done.

They guarantee that Zhou Yi's parents will not feel any discomfort living in Dortmund, a place they are not familiar with.

The club is so eager to serve Zhou Yi's parents, of course, because Zhou Yi is worth it. Without Zhou Yi, could Dortmund have won this European Super Cup just now?

So, being able to help Zhou Yi solve some difficulties, the Dortmund club can't wait. If doing such a simple thing can increase Zhou Yi's favorability towards the Dortmund club and make a small contribution to his consideration of whether to leave or stay in the future, then the Dortmund club is definitely very, very happy to do such a thing.

※※※

In Europe, the World Cup qualifiers group stage has reached its final stage. In addition to those teams that have already qualified in advance, other teams that hope to qualify need to make a final fight for their fate.

In Asia, the World Cup qualifiers Top Ten stage has ended, and what remains is the play-offs. However, this has nothing to do with the Chinese team. The Chinese team has already qualified for the World Cup in advance.

They were the first in the group, and the Japanese team took second place in the group, and also qualified for the Brazil World Cup. And the third-placed Australia in the group will have to compete with the third-placed Uzbekistan in Group A in the next two national team match days for a spot to compete with the fifth-placed South American team for a World Cup spot.

Of course, this does not mean that the Chinese team is relaxed.

The World Cup qualifiers are over, but that is only the first step of a long journey, and it does not mean that the team can lie on this merit book and sleep soundly.

The Chinese national team has two warm-up matches on September 6th and 10th, which is also the team's first real gathering after qualifying for the World Cup—in July, although the Chinese team participated in the East Asian Cup, that Chinese team was mainly composed of domestic players, and no foreign players were recruited. Everyone can see that that Chinese team is not the Chinese team that will participate in the Brazil World Cup a year later.

At that time, some Chinese fans lamented that the current national football team can also send a second-tier team to participate in the East Asian Cup like Japan and South Korea.

You must know that in the past, the East Asian Cup was an important competition for the Chinese team. The national team attached great importance to it every time, and fans and the media also attached great importance to it.

Now, the East Asian Cup has also been reduced to a stage for the Chinese team to train the team and find new players...

After winning the World Cup qualification, the next step is of course to prepare for the World Cup, find warm-up opponents, and formulate targeted warm-up match and training plans. These tasks are not easy tasks for the Chinese team's coaching staff and the Chinese Football Association.

And for the Chinese players, except for a few, who can go to Brazil depends on their performance in the national team training camp and warm-up matches. In order to compete for the few places, everyone has to cheer up and not muddle through because it is a warm-up match.

In the current national team, there is no such thing as seniority.