Chapter 114 Full of Laughter

Barios's goal excited the Chinese fans in front of the TV because they saw Zhou Yi for the first time in a live broadcast of the game. And Barios went to hug Zhou Yi after scoring, which made everyone very happy—it showed that Zhou Yi was getting along well with his teammates in the team. Otherwise, why would he not hug others after scoring a goal, but hug Zhou Yi instead?

But for the Chinese fans who had been waiting in front of the TV, this was the happiest scene of the game.

Until the end of the game, Zhou Yi was not able to play. Although he had left the bench to warm up, he eventually returned to the bench after warming up and was not sent to the field.

The Bundesliga TV broadcast only gave Zhou Yi a few shots, which was disappointing for the Chinese fans who had been waiting for Zhou Yi to play.

Of course, it wasn't all bad news.

The good news was... Borussia Dortmund finally won their first league victory in nearly seven rounds!

1:0, Borussia Dortmund won a somewhat difficult and thrilling victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach away from home, their second victory in eight league games.

"Klopp can breathe a sigh of relief! Barios can also breathe a sigh of relief!" Marcel Reif said at the end of the game. "But we can still see from this game that winning has a lot of luck involved..."

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"Sigh." Zhou Jianliang sighed in front of the TV when he saw the end of the game. After waiting for ninety minutes, his son only appeared in a few shots and didn't play at all.

He felt like he had wasted his time. Even if he was a fan, he didn't watch every team's game, or every game. As he got older, he rarely stayed up late to watch games. He had been crazy when he was young, but that didn't mean he would be crazy now.

Waiting for ninety minutes in vain was exhausting, both mentally and physically.

He was very disappointed that he didn't get to see his son play.

When he withdrew his full attention from the game, he realized that his shoulder was very heavy. He turned his head and saw that his wife had fallen asleep on his shoulder at some point.

Not only had he waited ninety minutes in vain, but his wife had also waited ninety minutes in vain...

He turned his head to look at the TV screen.

Son, if you don't work hard to play, you're not just letting your dad down, you're letting your mom down, who never watches soccer!

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After the game, Zhou Yi went to the locker room with his teammates to celebrate the victory.

But in the mixed zone, he was stopped by a group of Chinese reporters.

Because Zhou Yi was on the roster for this game, there were more Chinese reporters traveling with the team than usual. They all hoped to witness Zhou Yi's first official appearance for Borussia Dortmund's first team as soon as possible.

As a result, they, along with Zhou Yi's parents and countless fans in front of the TV, waited in vain for a game.

But they still had questions to ask Zhou Yi.

"Why did Barios specifically run over to hug you after scoring a goal, Zhou Yi?"

This was the question everyone was most concerned about, because it meant whether they had any material to write about for this game.

Zhou Yi didn't hide this question, nor did he feel embarrassed to talk about it. He was generous and honest and said, "Maybe it's because I told him this morning that he would score in today's game..."

The Chinese reporters suddenly understood.

Another reporter took the opportunity to ask Zhou Yi if he was disappointed that he didn't get to play.

"Of course, anyone who gets on the roster hopes to play. But whether or not I can play, and when I can play, is up to the coach. He definitely has his own considerations. As a player, all I can do is train hard and wait patiently." Zhou Yi's answer was quite mature, not at all like an impatient young man, but more like a veteran who had seen a lot...

But to the reporters, Zhou Yi's words sounded more like platitudes. They certainly weren't there to hear Zhou Yi say platitudes. Moreover, Zhou Yi's maturity also had a negative connotation, which was that he was worldly-wise and couldn't speak his true feelings...

"Be honest, Zhou Yi! We know this is definitely not what you really think!" A reporter shouted.

He immediately received the approval and agreement of other Chinese reporters: "That's right, that's right, we all know what you said, whether you play or not is up to the coach, but we want to hear your innermost voice."

Zhou Yi looked at the jeering reporters and thought of his parents at home. Although he hadn't contacted his parents after the game started, he knew in his heart that his mom and dad were definitely waiting in front of the TV during the game, hoping that he could play.

Although before the game, Zhou Yi had repeatedly emphasized to his parents that the possibility of him not playing in this game was very high, and that they shouldn't waste their time waiting.

But after the game really started, there wasn't a moment when he didn't want to be able to play.

If a player doesn't care at all about whether he can play, then that player must be unqualified.

Zhou Yi was obviously not that kind of unqualified player.

Even if it wasn't for himself, but just for his parents waiting in front of the TV, he hoped to be able to play.

After the reporters jeered, they saw Zhou Yi suddenly fall silent, and they knew something was up. So they all quieted down and waited for Zhou Yi to tell them what was on his mind.

But what they got was Zhou Yi's funny face: "I'm not going to tell you! Otherwise you'll write nonsense to attract attention!"

After saying that, Zhou Yi made a funny face at the reporters and ran away.

A group of reporters didn't expect Zhou Yi to give them such an answer, and they immediately felt like they had been played.

"Hey! This kid!"

"But he's already told us, hasn't he?" An older reporter said, reminding everyone.

The others thought about it carefully, and that was indeed the case—although Zhou Yi didn't say it directly, his attitude had already shown that he clearly wanted to play very much...

It was just that he didn't want to say it explicitly, so as not to leave any room for criticism, he chose this method.

He really deserved to be someone who played soccer with his head, so smart!

Everyone praised Zhou Yi's cleverness, but they didn't know that Zhou Yi didn't think so much at all. He really didn't want to tell the reporters his true thoughts, it was just that these reporters were used to opening their minds and had good association skills, so they were still guessed correctly...

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When Barios came, some Chinese reporters also stopped Barios and asked him about hugging Zhou Yi—to verify Zhou Yi's statement with each other, so as to avoid some nitpickers saying that it was Zhou Yi's one-sided statement and that Zhou Yi was forcibly bragging after they reported Zhou Yi's statement.

So they needed to get Barios's testimony.

Barios was also very happy to see the Chinese reporters, because of Zhou Yi, he now felt very kind to Chinese reporters, so he was happy to stop and accept the Chinese reporters' interviews.

"First of all, congratulations, Lucas, you broke your goal drought. Also, we are very interested to know, why did you take the initiative to find Zhou Yi to hug after scoring a goal?"

"Ah, that's to express my gratitude to him. Because it was Zhou Yi who encouraged me before the game and told me that I could score in this game. When I really scored in the game, he was naturally the first person I thought of." Barios said with a smile.

When the Chinese reporters heard this, they got the evidence. Now that they praised Zhou Yi again, those who picked bones in eggs probably had nothing to say.

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Although it was only a narrow victory, it was always something to be happy about. So after the game with Borussia Mönchengladbach, the Borussia Dortmund players were very happy.

Barios was the happiest, with a constant smile on his face.

This joyful atmosphere also made everyone have a good appetite when they tasted the food in the car.

As mentioned before, players often can't eat too much before the game, so replenishing energy during halftime is very important. A good replenishment can even help with an outstanding performance in the second half.

But a good time to replenish energy is not only during halftime, but also after the game, and even more important after the game than during halftime.

Sepp Herberger, the coach of the West German team that won the 1954 World Cup, had a famous saying: "The game starts after the game." Perhaps this sentence is relatively unfamiliar, and fans don't hear about it very often, but you must be familiar with another sentence he said, which is known to the world: "The ball is round." (Fußball ist rund)

Herberger's sentence "The game starts after the game" is not a slip of the tongue like Bobby Charlton's "The most important thing about the game is the ninety minutes before the game." Herberger meant that replenishment and recovery after the game are very important.

Because of Herberger's legendary status in German soccer, his philosophy is very popular in German soccer. Many Bundesliga coaches attach great importance to energy replenishment after the game.

For example, Duisburg's former coach Köller once said: "After a large amount of physical exertion, you must recover the lost carbohydrates. So after the game, I will definitely gather all the players together for a good meal."

Former Hamburg coach Doll and former Hertha Berlin coach Götz shared the same view.

"It's best to eat something as soon as possible after the game, so we prepare a lot of snacks and drinks in the locker room."

Moreover, now not only after the game, but also after daily training, the team will provide some small snacks and refreshments in the locker room for the players to enjoy. Especially in teams like Borussia Dortmund, where the amount of exercise during training is particularly large, exhausted players must eat something when they return to the locker room.

This time at Borussia Mönchengladbach's home stadium, after finishing the game, the Borussia Dortmund players enjoyed the fried cutlets smeared with Bologna sauce that the team's coaching staff had specially ordered for them on the bus.

Although Zhou Yi didn't play, he also ate one.

Grosskreutz joked with him, with a straight face, "Hey, Zhou Yi, you didn't play in the game, there's no physical exertion, how can you eat the same things as us?"

Zhou Yi stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth, took a bite, and the gravy contained in the tender meat splattered everywhere, instantly filling his entire oral cavity, and the aroma even drilled out of his nostrils. Zhou Yi took a deep breath, sucking those aromas back in.

After doing all this, he said to Grosskreutz, "I got up to warm up four times during the game, and celebrated the goal once. Isn't that also a lot of physical exertion, 'Master'?"

Grosskreutz didn't expect Zhou Yi to answer him like this, and was speechless for a moment: "Hey!"

And Hummels, who was next to him, almost sprayed out the drink in his mouth when he heard Zhou Yi say this. Fortunately, he held it back, covered his mouth with his hand, and his face turned red.

The other players also laughed when they heard the conversation between Zhou Yi and Grosskreutz, and the carriage was filled with laughter.

The coaching staff sitting in the front row also heard the laughter coming from the back of the carriage.

"It's great to win the game, the team's atmosphere has improved..." Assistant coach Buvac said with emotion.

Klopp took a bite of the tender and juicy fried cutlet, chewed it in his mouth, and nodded without being able to speak, not knowing whether he was praising the cutlet for being delicious, or agreeing with Buvac's words.