Chapter 1 The Match Begins

After the coin toss, both teams stood in their respective positions, ready for the match to begin.

As mentioned before, the Chinese youths' challenges against various youth teams were not closed-door events. Especially the match against Barcelona's youth team, which was held on La Masia's outdoor training field. This field was right next to the road, without any surrounding walls, providing a clear view. Nearby was the Camp Nou stadium, so anyone visiting Camp Nou could also witness what was happening here.

Although it was a bit far from the first team's training grounds, preventing too many people from coming, it didn't mean there was no one.

Around the training field at La Masia, a number of people gathered.

Some were parents of La Masia's Youth B team players, and others were simply passersby who stopped to watch the spectacle.

Still others... were scouts from various places.

Some of them were originally there to observe La Masia's young players but happened to stumble upon the match.

Others came specifically for the Chinese football youths. The earliest to track and observe the Chinese team was Dortmund's scout, Tim Steed, followed by scouts from Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, and other teams.

Many of them were observing Zhou Yi and He Ying.

He Ying was the Chinese team's top scorer, attracting attention as the most prolific goal scorer. Zhou Yi was the team's assist king.

However, as Tim Steed watched the game from the sidelines this time, he felt somewhat uneasy.

Although Zhou Yi had reached an agreement to join Dortmund, it was a gentleman's agreement, with nothing in writing, relying entirely on mutual trust.

If Zhou Yi performed exceptionally well in this match, it might attract Barcelona's attention.

Steed wasn't too concerned about competition from other teams. But if Barcelona joined the fray, the situation would change.

If Zhou Yi couldn't withstand Barcelona's advances and went back on his word, there seemed to be little he could do.

After all, Barcelona spared no expense in recruiting talent. When Messi suffered from dwarfism and was deemed unsuitable for football, Barcelona not only paid for Messi's treatment but also brought Messi's entire family to Barcelona, giving Messi's father a job and buying them a house in Barcelona.

This showed how highly they valued talent.

If they offered similar terms to recruit Zhou Yi... could Zhou Yi resist?

After all, Dortmund hadn't promised to solve Zhou Yi's entire family's relocation to Germany, buy them a house in Germany, arrange jobs for Zhou Yi's parents, and take care of the employment or education of Zhou Yi's siblings if he had any...

So Steed was conflicted. On one hand, he hoped Zhou Yi would perform well, proving his judgment and showing that Dortmund hadn't made the wrong choice.

But on the other hand, he didn't want Zhou Yi to perform too well, as that would attract the attention of more teams, especially drawing in the behemoth that was Barcelona. With increased competition and more temptations, Zhou Yi could demand exorbitant prices.

Among these scouts was also Alan Powell, the Arsenal scout who should have already left Barcelona. After all, the higher-ups had closed the door on signing Zhou Yi.

But he wanted to persist a little longer. He wanted to observe Zhou Yi's performance one last time. If he still performed exceptionally well and could hold his own against Barcelona's youth team, he wanted to send the recording of the match back to the club, hoping to make one last effort to see if the club could make an exception and bring in this midfield genius.

After all, Powell had been observing Zhou Yi since the Chinese team's match against Chelsea's youth team, attending every game and gaining a deep understanding of Zhou Yi's abilities. It would be a real shame if such an outstanding player couldn't be signed because of the club's dogmatism.

In addition to these people, La Masia's technical director, Garcia, was also present to watch the match.

The small training field was surrounded by dozens of people, making it the game with the largest live audience the Chinese youths had played in Europe in the past two months.

Thus, the match began with so many people watching.

※※※

La Masia won the coin toss, so the kickoff went to the Chinese youths.

After the whistle blew, He Ying passed the ball to Zhang Tao, who turned and passed it to Zhou Yi outside the center circle.

After receiving the ball, Zhou Yi didn't rush to pass it out again but turned and dribbled back.

After the formation spread out, he passed the ball back to center-back Guo Nu.

As Guo Nu received the ball, Zhou Yi shouted, "Pass the ball to Li Liang!"

Hearing this, Guo Nu passed the ball over.

When Li Liang received the ball, the players of La Masia's Youth B team had already rushed up. Zhou Yi then told Li Liang to pass the ball back to him.

When Zhou Yi received the ball, the players of La Masia's Youth B team didn't even come up to defend him.

This showed that they hadn't studied their opponents for this match at all.

From the players to the coaches, they probably felt that there was no value in studying a team that they had once defeated 12-0. They could win with ease and didn't need to specifically arrange any tactics.

It would be too much of a fuss to study their opponents and watch match recordings.

Therefore, they missed the opportunity to learn about this team and naturally wouldn't give Zhou Yi any special treatment.

When Zhou Yi got the ball, the players of La Masia's Youth B team just watched from a distance, not coming up to press him, allowing Zhou Yi to calmly receive the ball and turn around.

Seeing this scene, Zhou Yi smiled -- they really look down on us.

But that's good. I want you to look down on us.

On the sidelines, some people shook their heads after seeing this scene.

If Zhou Yi isn't marked closely and pressed... perhaps La Masia will suffer a bit in this match?

Seeing that no one was coming up to press him, Zhou Yi simply dribbled forward.

It wasn't until he was about to reach the center circle that someone came up to defend him.

Zhou Yi recognized this person because he had faced him many times in the system. His name was Bakari Mendes, a versatile midfielder who was good at both offense and defense. But he wasn't there the last time they played each other because he was still a member of the U16 team and had been called up for this match.

Zhou Yi knew this person's playing style very well, so he didn't get entangled with him. Seeing him come up, he passed the ball out.

He passed it to Yang Muge, who was supporting him nearby.

Yang Muge was a defensive midfielder who specialized in defense. However, when the team was attacking, he was responsible for supporting Zhou Yi and acting as a wall for him.

When Zhou Yi encountered pressure from the opponent and couldn't find a good passing option, he could pass the ball to Yang Muge, who was closest to him, and then run to get rid of the defense and receive the ball from Yang Muge again.

The Chinese team had become very proficient in this pattern in the previous few matches. Or rather, Zhou Yi and Yang Muge had developed a very good understanding of each other.

If La Masia had watched their match recordings, they would definitely have taken precautions against this.

But when Yang Muge got the ball, no one from La Masia's Youth B team came up to press him. They just stood in front of Yang Muge, preventing him from dribbling through, not paying much attention to his passing.

Perhaps they felt that when it came to passing ability, the team in front of them was far behind the people from La Masia. So they would let them pass the ball.

※※※

Less than a minute into the match, Hao Dong knew from the two scenes that had just played out that the opponent must have underestimated them.

But this was quite normal. No one would value an opponent that they had previously defeated 0-12.

Although this kind of contempt didn't feel good, Hao Dong and Zhou Yi had the same idea, hoping that the opponent would look down on them even more and underestimate them even more.

That way, the Chinese team would have a chance.

※※※

Yang Muge got the ball, and Zhou Yi continued to move forward.

Seeing that Zhou Yi had gotten rid of the defense, Yang Muge passed the ball over.

Zhou Yi received the ball again. He had already crossed the halfway line. Seeing that they hadn't won the ball, the players of La Masia's Youth team, who had rushed up like a swarm, began to retreat.

But their retreat speed wasn't fast. They were in a state where although they were retreating, their minds were on the attack, ready to launch a counterattack at any time. If they retreated too far, they wouldn't be able to get up for the counterattack, so they only retreated with three-tenths of their strength.

Zhou Yi knew that this wasn't the time to pass the ball slowly and horizontally. He should make a decisive through ball. Although the risk of a direct pass was high, it could yield high returns if successful at this time.

So he adjusted the ball, pretending to pass it to the wing, but twisted his body when passing, pushing the ball directly into the gap between the two defenders of La Masia's Youth B team!

He Ying suddenly started forward, intending to receive Zhou Yi's through ball.

But he was a little late. Someone reacted faster than him!

The starting center-back for La Masia's Youth B team in this match, Marc Muniesa!

He directly went to ground with a sliding tackle, using his toes to poke Zhou Yi's through ball out of bounds. He Ying was just a little short. He looked annoyed, but he still gave Zhou Yi a thumbs-up, indicating that he had made a beautiful pass.

Zhou Yi's attention wasn't on He Ying's thumb but on Muniesa.

Although this center-back was a year younger than him, his reaction just now was really fast.

In order to allow He Ying to receive this through ball, he hadn't dared to use too much force, resulting in Muniesa seizing the opportunity to clear the ball...

The gap wasn't big enough, and the ball he passed wasn't far from Muniesa, which gave Muniesa the opportunity to tackle.

But this was a direct pass. In a match, direct passes could certainly create very deadly opportunities, but why didn't everyone just use direct passes? Because the risk of direct passes was also very high, and the success rate wasn't high, making it easy to make mistakes. So in a match, when to take risks and when to be conservative tested the ability of a player and even a team.

When it was time to take risks, you had to be decisive and not hesitate, not being hesitant and cautious for fear of making mistakes and losing the ball, as that might cause you to miss a very good scoring opportunity.

And when it was time to be steady, you must never easily give up possession, being patient, meticulous, steady, and reliable, with no room for error.

※※※

On the sidelines, the Chinese team sighed regretfully when they saw Zhou Yi's through ball being blocked by Muniesa with his toes.

The audience of parents of La Masia's Youth B team cheered.

Some people were shouting, "Little Puyol!"

This was Muniesa's nickname. As a person who had served as the captain of Barcelona's various youth teams, Marc Muniesa was talented and highly anticipated. Everyone was very optimistic that he would be promoted to the first team in the future and then take over from Puyol, the current captain of Barcelona's first team.

※※※

He Ying was still annoyed that he hadn't received the ball. He knew that Zhou Yi wanted to use the fact that the opponent hadn't paid attention to them at the beginning of the match to launch a quick attack and try to score a goal to take the lead.

So this attacking opportunity was very valuable. If it wasn't successful and attracted the opponent's attention, then it would be troublesome.

But Zhou Yi raised his hand and shouted to He Ying and his other teammates, "It's okay, let's do it again!"

In the situation where this attack wasn't successful, he immediately spoke to comfort and encourage his teammates. Looking at it this way, he seemed more like a captain than He Ying...