Chapter 2 The Roster

The next day, the roster for Borussia Dortmund's first game on August 8th was announced and quickly spread to China.

Everyone couldn't wait to find Zhou Yi's name on it, but they were disappointed.

They looked at the list over and over again, but Zhou Yi's name wasn't there.

At the same time, domestic media reported on this matter.

"Zhou Yi misses Borussia Dortmund's first game!"

"Borussia Dortmund announces the roster for the first game, Zhou Yi is not on it!"

Fang Shuai forwarded these news reports to the Tieba forum, then sighed in front of his computer.

Yesterday, he had endured his mother's disapproving looks and begged her to buy him a year's subscription to the Fengyun Football Channel, only to see the news today that Zhou Yi would not be playing. It was like a bolt from the blue!

Fang Shuai habitually refreshed the webpage and found a new post on the homepage.

The title was very eye-catching, called "Zhou Yi Saves You Money!"

Clicking on it, however, was full of mockery.

"Why buy the Fengyun Football Channel? Huh? Why buy the Fengyun Football Channel? I told you he wouldn't have a chance to play! A bunch of idiots, where did you get your confidence? What do you think the Bundesliga is? An eighteen-year-old kid can get a chance to play just like that? What else can the unscrupulous domestic media do besides bragging? He's just training with the first team, and you're all as excited as if you're having an orgasm, rushing to interview him, it's embarrassing! I wonder what the Germans think when they see those stupid Chinese reporters, they're probably laughing at us for being so provincial!"

Fang Shuai, who was already annoyed, was instantly ignited by this post, and quickly replied: "You know jack shit,楼主!"

The poster with the ID "Zhen She Ni Wu Zui" quickly replied: "Yo, a forum moderator is swearing! No wonder one fan can do more harm than ten haters, hehe. I don't know jack shit, but you do, you play with it every day."

"Hehe your ass!" Fang Shuai, with the ID "Fanfu Suzi," went all out, "Don't act tough here! When I was online teaching idiots a lesson, you were still being covered by your mom's mouth! Don't say stupid things like 'one fan can do more harm than ten haters', you just want to find an excuse for hating on Zhou Yi, you should hate him openly and honestly, don't hide behind the excuse of 'one fan can do more harm than ten haters', you coward!"

"So this is the quality of Zhou Yi's fans? Hehe, birds of a feather flock together."

"Sorry, I speak human language to humans, and I swear at idiots. I'm just that straightforward, not convinced? Go home and cry to your mom! Idiot!"

The two sides started arguing.

And soon attracted other Tieba forum users to watch and participate.

The vast majority supported Fang Shuai and cursed at the other side. Of course, there are all kinds of people in the world, and even the best people have haters these days, so there were also haters who came to support the poster.

The two sides cursed at each other, and the scale grew larger and larger, becoming the most popular post in the Tieba forum.

However, it was clear that Zhou Yi not even making the roster made many fans who were eagerly waiting to see Zhou Yi wearing the Borussia Dortmund jersey for the first time on TV feel very bad...

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Zhou Yi originally thought that on days without games, it would be good to stay at home and watch the game on TV.

Unexpectedly, at noon, he received a call from Mark.

"Hey, Zhou Yi. Do you want to go to the Westfalenstadion to watch the game this afternoon?"

Zhou Yi was stunned for a moment, then asked: "The South Stand?"

"Of course!" Mark replied loudly.

"But I don't have a ticket..."

"Did you forget, my sister's ticket..."

"Oh oh! That's great!" Zhou Yi agreed immediately. He thought to himself that he was free anyway, and watching the game in the South Stand was indeed a wonderful experience. Every time he watched a game in the South Stand, he would love football even more.

"Okay, where do you live, we'll pick you up."

"I live..." Zhou Yi was about to say his address when he suddenly remembered and quickly changed his mind: "No need, I know where the stadium is, you'd have to go around, there's no need. I'll go myself, let's meet at the entrance."

"Don't be so polite, Zhou Yi."

"I'm really not being polite, by the time you guys get here, I might already be there, so it's settled, I'm going to change my clothes!"

Zhou Yi quickly hung up the phone.

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Mark put down the phone, shook his head, and said to his father: "He said he'll go directly, we don't need to pick him up."

"Okay, we'll wait for him outside the stadium." Mrs. Wagner patted the center console: "Let's go! Target Westfalenstadion!"

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Zhou Yi could more or less guess why Mark would take the initiative to call him and ask him to watch the game. Probably because he didn't make the roster and he was afraid he would be depressed?

How thoughtful...

Zhou Yi called a taxi, changed his clothes, went out, and took the taxi straight to the Westfalenstadion.

After arriving at the stadium, he contacted Mark by phone, and the two met in front of the ticket exchange point. Old Wagner smiled and handed Zhou Yi the ticket for the South Stand.

"Thank you, Uncle Wagner," Zhou Yi said.

"You're welcome," Old Wagner said with a smile, shaking his head. "Let's go."

Mark bumped Zhou Yi's shoulder and nodded: "Yeah, you're a little stronger than before."

"Are you kidding me? I crawled out of hell!" Zhou Yi hummed.

"Is the first team that scary?"

"Of course, you'll know when you come. By the way, how are you doing in the youth team?"

"A starter!" Mark gave himself a thumbs up.

"Awesome!" Zhou Yi said with wide eyes.

Without him and Götze, Mark was still able to be a starter in the U19, which was really impressive. You know, before, Mark gave the impression that he couldn't function without Zhou Yi... He didn't expect Mark to still be the team's starter, which meant he was really stronger than before now.

"Hehe!" Mark scratched his head shyly, smiling at Zhou Yi's praise. "I always remember what you said."

"Which sentence?"

"You said that you always have to have dreams, in case they come true? So I always remind myself..." Mark said.

"Haha!" Zhou Yi laughed and patted Mark's shoulder, "That's right! Don't give up on your dreams easily, otherwise you'll be dumbfounded when you have the chance to realize them?"

Mrs. Wagner saw Zhou Yi and Mark chatting happily behind them and smiled. The two children hadn't become estranged because one was in the first team and the other was still in the youth team. Their friendship was still there, which reassured Mrs. Wagner a lot.

After the four of them went to the South Stand, Zhou Yi saw Bruno, the bald, fat old man again.

When Bruno saw Zhou Yi, he greeted him warmly: "Welcome back to the South Stand, Chinese boy!"

Others also gathered around to congratulate Zhou Yi on successfully staying in the first team.

After everyone congratulated him, Bruno said to Zhou Yi: "It doesn't matter that you didn't make the roster, I believe you'll be on the roster soon, Chinese boy. To prepare, I've asked our people to start practicing the accurate pronunciation of your name. 'Chou—Ni'. Do you think my pronunciation is accurate?"

Zhou Yi was amused by Bruno's strange pronunciation.

"'Old Daddy', it's not 'Chou Ni', it's 'Zhou Yi'. Zhou—Yi!" Zhou Yi corrected Bruno's pronunciation with a smile.

"Chou Yi?"

"Very close, but not 'Chou', but 'zhou'."

Bruno frowned, thinking and brewing for a long time, before saying in an uncertain tone: "Zhou Yi?"

"That's right!" Zhou Yi clapped his hands.

"Hurray!" The fans next to him raised their arms and cheered for their "Old Daddy".

Bruno wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Your Chinese names are really hard to pronounce..."

Zhou Yi said with a smile: "But 'Old Daddy', you've learned a foreign language now!"

Bruno was stunned for a moment before he realized what Zhou Yi was talking about, so he also laughed: "Yes, yes, yes! I can speak Chinese now!"

The people next to him congratulated Bruno and joined in the fun, and laughter filled the stand.

Someone was right, the South Stand is like a home for Borussia Dortmund fans.

Now Zhou Yi also felt the warmth of home among these enthusiastic fans.

He was very grateful to Mark for calling him from his deserted home to the lively South Stand today.

※※※

From the moment the players came out, everyone's focus was on cheering for the team.

Zhou Yi once again felt the shocking charm and passion of the South Stand.

He couldn't help but cheer for his teammates along with these fans, not at all like a player who had already registered in the first team, but still like a fan.

However, in the huge cheers of the fans, Borussia Dortmund's first official game of the new season was not going very smoothly.

They had not been able to score a goal.

The first half ended in a 0:0 draw.

This made the fans in the stands a little anxious. During the half-time break, the fans in the South Stand gathered together to discuss the first half.

Mark joked that if Zhou Yi played, it wouldn't be like this, which immediately attracted agreement from others, which made Zhou Yi flattered and waved his hands repeatedly.

In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again, but the situation remained the same.

Cologne became more and more confident.

Complaints from the fans in the South Stand began to appear and increase.

Zhou Yi was also a little anxious.

He didn't want the team to fail to win, because it wouldn't do him any good either.

It wasn't until the 75th minute that Borussia Dortmund broke the deadlock with an own goal by Cologne defender Matip.

Although it was an own goal, the fans in the South Stand still erupted in huge cheers at the moment of the goal, and the cheers seemed to be no less decibel than the shouts of the Schalke 04 fans next door.

Zhou Yi contributed to this huge cheer.

In the end, Borussia Dortmund relied on the opponent's own goal to win the first league victory of the 2009-2010 season at home, albeit with some difficulty.

Although the process was not satisfactory, the final result was barely acceptable.

Everyone discussed the game as they walked down the stands and left one after another.

"I feel that the team's midfield is not running smoothly..."

"Yes, yes. Hajnal's performance was really bad. Kuba didn't seem to be in good shape today either... The situation only got slightly better when Da Kreuz went up..."

When Mark and Zhou Yi were leaving, they heard the fans around them talking, and he bumped Zhou Yi's shoulder, winking at Zhou Yi.

How could Zhou Yi not know what Mark meant?

But he waved his hand: "Don't think too much, Mark. It's just one game, it doesn't mean anything."

Mark also felt that he was thinking too much, and he sighed: "Alas, I'm in the first team, but I don't know when I'll be able to play, it's really hard!"

"Mark, waiting is also part of the first team," Zhou Yi said in a voice of someone who had been there.

Hearing Zhou Yi say this, Mark rolled his eyes.

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ps, this chapter is a bonus for the leader, thank you leader [Hu Shuo Ba Dao De]! I'm really sorry for the long delay in adding the bonus...