The Japanese players didn't encounter the problems they had feared after the match. They didn't see any angry Chinese fans, nor did they see their national flag being burned in front of them.

In fact, their departure was very smooth.

On the other hand, the Chinese team's departure was a bit less smooth because Chinese fans had gathered near the Chinese team's bus, cutting off the road and expressing their love and support for the team in various ways.

In the end, the Chinese team's bus was able to escape only under the heavy "protection" of the local police.

The Changsha fans didn't have much to regret about the Chinese team's departure.

The national team had left, but their celebration had only just begun.

The fans cheered and sang, then poured out of the stadium area and into the city's restaurants, bars, food stalls... ordering barbecue, hot pot, beer, and baijiu (white alcohol), celebrating their qualification and their victory over the Japanese team.

Tonight in Changsha was destined to be a lively and noisy sleepless night.

※※※

After the match against the Chinese team, the Japanese team's Top Ten Tournament was over. They finished second in the group with twelve points.

The Chinese team had one more game to play. On June 18th, they would travel to distant Australia to challenge their last opponent in the Top Ten Tournament.

But the result of this match didn't matter. Firstly, it couldn't change the fact that the Chinese team had qualified. Secondly, it couldn't change the fact that the Chinese team was first in the group.

The Chinese team, having defeated the Japanese team, now had sixteen points, and the second-placed Japanese team had no more games to play. Even if the Chinese team lost their last game to Australia, it wouldn't matter.

Gao Hongbo had obviously considered this.

So he made personnel adjustments before the game against Australia.

Some players didn't even go to Australia with the team.

Players like Zhou Yi, Sun Pan, He Ying, Guo Nu, and Yang Muge were not on the list to go to Australia.

The domestic media had no objection to this arrangement – after all, the task of the Top Ten Tournament had been overfulfilled, so there was no need for the main players to fight to the death in the last unimportant game. What if someone got injured in the game? Wouldn't that be too bad?

Especially for those players who had spent a season in European leagues and had hardly had a good rest.

Sun Pan had only arrived at the national team two days before the game against Oman. Zhou Yi's exhausted appearance in the final moments of the Champions League final was also impressive. Guo Nu's Cesena played in Serie B, which had forty-two games in a season.

They had hardly had a good rest since last summer – last summer, Zhou Yi and Sun Pan had also participated in the London Olympic Games men's football tournament.

Such a year of continuous high-intensity games must have made the players both physically and mentally exhausted.

There was no need to let them play in an unimportant game.

Gao Hongbo's decision not to let the overseas players play this time received completely different feedback from the last time he did so. Last time, it led to China losing to Qatar, but this time, even if China lost to Australia away from home, fans and the media probably wouldn't say much.

Moreover, Gao Hongbo's move could also give the Chinese team more training, after all, the Chinese team couldn't just rely on the five overseas players. If everyone else was a pig teammate, then Zhou Yi and the others wouldn't be able to carry them. It was very valuable to give other young domestic players such a game training opportunity. This was the Top Ten Tournament, an Asian top event whose gold content was no less than the Asian Cup. Using such a game to train troops was much better than just finding some team to play a warm-up or friendly match.

In this way, Zhou Yi and the others could start their holidays after playing the game against the Japanese team.

This was a good thing for them.

After all, they hadn't had a good rest since the 2011-2012 season, especially Zhou Yi, who had always been a core player for Dortmund, and had played a lot of games. Considering that there was also a World Cup next year, this summer might be his only holiday to get enough rest, but that was hard to say...

Because the Chinese team had qualified for the World Cup, the national team players would be attached with a lot of commercial value, and various social and commercial activities would be indispensable.

How much time Zhou Yi could spend at home... no one knew.

Not only Zhou Yi, but this summer was a very busy season for other players in the Chinese team, and it was also a season of "bumper harvests" in terms of money.

The last time the Chinese team entered the World Cup, there were many advertisements related to national football players on Chinese TV screens, from cars to air conditioners, from drinks to food, everything.

Among them, the national team's coach Bora Milutinovic was even more popular, making a lot of money by doing gigs everywhere. Some analysis believes that it was Milutinovic's unprofessional approach of making money by doing gigs that led to the national team's inability to prepare well for the next World Cup, and eventually it was defeated in the World Cup group stage.

This analysis actually makes some sense, but it's not just Milutinovic's responsibility. The entire Chinese team has such a problem of not doing their job properly. From the coach to the players, everyone regards "entering the World Cup" as their dazzling qualification and golden sign, but if this sign can't be used to exchange for money, what's the point?

You can't blame the Chinese players for being short-sighted and disregarding the overall situation. After all, it was the first time in forty-four years that Chinese players had entered the World Cup finals, which of course deserved to be written about. Businesses and consumers chased after them and gave them money, and if they didn't accept it, they would inevitably be suspected of having a problem with their brains.

If the Chinese team could enter the finals of every World Cup, similar crazy moves might be much less...

In those days, the national team was even elevated to the height of "national heroes", and the Wu Lihe Stadium became a blessed place and holy place for Chinese football.

It is also that things are valued because they are rare. If it is replaced by football powers such as Italy and Germany, the Allianz Arena is a holy place for Bayern Munich fans, but it may not be a holy place for Dortmund fans.

Such a story is very likely to be staged again in China this year. After all, entering the World Cup finals twice is still too little for Chinese fans, and it is still considered rare.

Zhou Yi had anticipated this situation, and he had already greeted his agent Schulze in advance, not to accept any sponsorships, and not to go on any announcements. It is still necessary to adhere to the brand image as the primary consideration.

Schulze's idea is the same as Zhou Yi's. The current Zhou Yi does not need to rely on taking a large number of advertisements to occupy the market and increase popularity. He is very popular without advertising. Athletes are not like entertainment stars. The value of entertainment stars themselves is reflected by exposure, while athletes are shown by their achievements in their respective sports. Therefore, entertainment stars have to desperately increase exposure, and scandals and hype are indispensable.

Athletes are much simpler. As long as you play well, even if there are no advertisements, it will not affect your popularity.

At this time, the image and popularity of the brands that can be contacted with Zhou Yi are very important.

If Zhou Yi goes to shoot an advertisement for Jin嗓子喉宝 (Jin嗓zi Throat Lozenges), holding a green package box, raising his head and grinning, Zhou Yi's image will immediately decline.

It is not easy to manage the image of athletes, and it is really not worth it to be damaged like this.

Schulze will not force Zhou Yi to sign many sponsorship contracts that are fundamentally inconsistent with his personal image, nor will he sign too many brand sponsorships in one go, so as to avoid too many Zhou Yi advertisements on the market, leading to aesthetic fatigue and causing consumers to lose freshness.

※※※

In a hotel in Changsha, Zhou Yi and his teammates said goodbye to other teammates. They had to leave the team temporarily. The remaining national team players had to continue to prepare for the game against Australia.

When it was Yan Min's turn, Zhou Yi patted him on the shoulder: "Work hard, intern."

He just said this sentence, then turned his head to shake hands with the next teammate.

But Yan Min straightened his chest and raised his head, just like a soldier being reviewed by a general.

In the previous two games, he didn't get a minute of playing time, but this didn't prevent him from being full of confidence and fighting spirit for his future.

For this reason, he has been preparing, just hoping that when the time comes, he will not let the opportunity slip away in vain.

After saying goodbye to his teammates, Zhou Yi and the others left the hotel by car and went to the airport, where they would separate and return to their respective homes.