Chapter 138 The First Round of the League

After a day off, Borussia Dortmund resumed training to prepare for the first official match of the new season.

August 7th was the opening match of the league, with last season's league champion Wolfsburg playing against last season's league third-place Stuttgart.

The league would fully kick off the day after. On August 8th, all the remaining matches would be played.

Borussia Dortmund's first league match was on the afternoon of August 8th, at 9:30 PM Beijing time, a very suitable time for live broadcasting.

China's national television station had already announced that they would broadcast the match on the Fengyun Football Channel at 9:30 PM Beijing time on August 8th.

Why was it on the Fengyun Football Channel instead of the traditional sports channel?

Because, unfortunately, on the same day, a match for the Italian Super Cup would be held at the Beijing Bird's Nest, with Serie A league champion Inter Milan playing against Italian Cup champion Lazio.

Because this match was not only an Italian Super Cup, but also a commemorative event celebrating the first anniversary of the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games, it was given more importance and naturally broadcast on the sports channel with the widest coverage.

The Bundesliga could only give way to the Italian Super Cup.

This made some Bundesliga fans unhappy because the Fengyun Football Channel was a pay channel, and not every household would choose to subscribe to it, which meant that many people would not be able to watch the match.

"We want to see Zhou Yi!" Someone protested online and quickly received responses from many people.

But this could not change CCTV's broadcast plan. After all, the Italian Super Cup had very important political significance, and a round of Bundesliga matches was simply too insignificant in comparison. So what if there was a Chinese player playing abroad?

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While there was constant arguing in China about broadcasting issues, in Germany, the first round of the league was just around the corner.

Borussia Dortmund's first league match was at home, and their opponent was Cologne.

So on the day before the match, Klopp announced the squad list for the next day's match.

Zhou Yi was not on it.

When he heard the head coach read out the entire squad list, Zhou Yi was not surprised by the result. He already knew that there were many signs that he would not be playing in the first team so quickly. But to be honest, even though he wasn't surprised, Zhou Yi was still a little disappointed. When he told others that he definitely wouldn't be playing so quickly, it didn't mean that he didn't want to play.

He still hoped to be able to play in the league, and he didn't want to be like Götze last year, who trained with the first team for two months and then was demoted back to the U19s. What was the point if he ended up back where he started after going around in a circle?

He could only train harder.

After announcing the squad list, the team was dismissed, and the players returned to the locker room.

Götze, who, like Zhou Yi, was not selected for the squad list, was a little depressed. Like Zhou Yi, he also hoped to be able to play in the first team, and he was probably more anxious than Zhou Yi. Because he had already been called up to the first team for training for more than two months last season, but he hadn't played a single minute. If it was still like this this time, he might as well have stayed in the youth team… At least there he could play matches.

If this time ended with him returning to the youth team, it would be too embarrassing for Götze, who had been known as "Borussia Dortmund's number one genius" since he was a child…

So his emotions were more obvious than Zhou Yi's, and Zhou Yi noticed this.

After returning to the locker room, Großkreutz put his arm around Zhou Yi to comfort him: "It's okay, Zhou Yi, I think with your ability, you'll be able to play soon!"

"It's okay, Kevin, I'm fine." Zhou Yi smiled at the warm-hearted Großkreutz. "Anyway, I have Mario to keep me company."

Götze, who was next to him, turned his head and looked at him: "What does it have to do with me?"

"Aren't you not on the squad list either?" Zhou Yi said. "Good brothers share the hard times!"

"I don't want to share the hard times with you!" Götze rolled his eyes. He was depressed about not being able to get on the squad list, and he was in a bad mood, so his tone wasn't very good.

"Ah, Mario, you're so heartless!" Zhou Yi clutched his chest, with a pained expression on his face. "I treat you like a friend, but you treat me like this!"

Götze was tricked by Zhou Yi's superb acting skills, and he quickly explained: "No, that's not what I meant, I treat you like a friend too, it's just that I also…"

Seeing Götze's flustered explanation, Zhou Yi laughed: "I'm just kidding!"

Götze was stunned for a moment before he realized it, and then he pounced on Zhou Yi: "You bastard, Zhou Yi! You're teasing me!"

"You're too stupid, you're so easily tricked!" Zhou Yi defended himself while dodging Götze's "attack."

"I don't care! You deceived my feelings!" Götze shouted.

"Don't worry, I'll take responsibility for you, Mario!"

The two young men made a scene.

Seeing this scene, Weidenfeller couldn't help but sigh: "It's good to be young, they can put their unhappy emotions behind them so quickly…"

"No, it's Zhou Yi who changed Mario's emotions. Before, Mario was silent and didn't want to say a word." Captain Kehl observed carefully. As the captain, he naturally had to try to grasp the situation of all his teammates.

"Zhou Yi has a good attitude. We all saw how hard he trained before. He must also want to play in the match, but he didn't even make the squad list, but he can still think about comforting Mario… It's not easy for him to do that at his age." Second captain Dede said.

"I used to think that Chinese people were the kind of people who silently worked hard. They were not good at talking and didn't understand humor. But Zhou Yi changed my view of Chinese people." Another Brazilian, the team's center-back, Felipe Santana, also said. "He's a super awesome kid!"

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After eating dinner at the training base's player restaurant, Zhou Yi returned home—he lived alone now, and most of the time he found it troublesome, so he would eat at the training base. The biggest advantage of eating at the training base was that he wouldn't eat anything that professional players couldn't eat.

There were several restaurants in the Brackel training base, but there was only one player restaurant, which was only for players to dine in, and no one else was allowed.

Coaches and staff had other places to eat. Those restaurants even allowed fans and reporters who came to the training base to watch training to pay for meals there, but they couldn't go to the player restaurant.

The recipes in the player restaurant were strictly controlled according to the requirements of the head coach and the team doctor, taking into account nutrition and energy, while also ensuring the source of ingredients, and avoiding meat containing hormones.

So eating here was reassuring and healthy for Zhou Yi, and it was also worry-free.

If it weren't for the fact that Cortana's cooking was so delicious, Zhou Yi would have wanted to eat here all the time.

After eating, Zhou Yi returned home, turned on his computer, logged on to QQ, and told his father through a message that he would not be playing in the first round of the league.

"...Dad, I'm telling you some bad news—your son, I, wasn't selected for the squad list!"

As soon as the message was sent, Zhou Yi was about to take a shower, and his butt had just left the chair when he heard the "beep beep beep" sound. He looked at the screen and saw that his father had replied in seconds: "What's going on?!"

"Damn, Dad, you're not asleep?" Zhou Yi quickly sat down again and replied in surprise. It was 7:30 PM Berlin time in Germany, and there was a six-hour time difference between Germany and China. It should be 1:30 AM at home at this time, so Zhou Yi was naturally surprised that his dad was still awake so late.

"Watch your language! I'm your dad, don't 'damn' this and 'damn' that! I'm asking you what's going on? Haven't you been training well?" His father's reply was unexpectedly serious.

"Training well doesn't mean I have to play."

"Then I should at least be on the squad list, right?"

"Dad, there are thirty-three people on our first team, do you think it's so easy to get on the squad list? Didn't I tell you before? My physical fitness isn't up to standard yet, and I can't meet the coach's requirements for the match. It's impossible to get on the squad list for the first round of the league..."

After a while, Zhou Jianliang replied, "Oh. I was going to buy the Fengyun Football Channel to watch your match, but now it's fine, I've saved money..."

"Fengyun Football Channel? What's going on?"

"Channel Five is broadcasting the Italian Super Cup tomorrow, and Borussia Dortmund's match has been moved to the Fengyun Football Channel. Many fans online are scolding CCTV."

"Hey, there's no need for that. The Super Cup match is definitely more important than an ordinary league match."

"But with your match, it's not an ordinary match."

"Then it's lucky I'm not playing, otherwise the fans would be in an uproar, right?"

"You can't say that. Your attitude is wrong, son. You can't be glad that you missed the opportunity to play!" Zhou Jianliang said seriously.

"I know, I know, Dad. I'm also unwilling, but what can I do if I'm unwilling? Whether I play or not is not something I can decide, it's the coach who decides. Besides training, I have no other way."

"Well... Dad shouldn't put pressure on you. You've already worked hard, son. If you didn't play, then you didn't play. We still have time and opportunities. Don't worry, training hard is the right thing to do, but don't get injured. It's really not worth it to get injured in training. You're alone out there, and your parents can't help you much. You can even send money home now, and you're completely independent financially, so we can't always treat you like a child..."

Seeing the words that his father typed on QQ, Zhou Yi was a little touched, and he touched his nose.

In fact, he knew that the most disappointed person when he didn't get the chance to play was his father. Since he was a child, his father had placed a lot of hope on him playing football. It was a feeling that his own youthful dreams were placed on his child.

When it came to hoping that he would succeed, no one in this world could compare to his father.

Why did he like football, why did he play football?

Wasn't it because his father had brought him along since he was a child?

In Borussia Dortmund, Zhou Yi had seen examples like Mark, whose parents liked football, so they also liked football. There were many such examples throughout Germany and even Europe.

And he was also fortunate to have a father who loved football in China, a place with a lack of football culture.

He didn't think that his father placing his youthful dreams on him was a kind of pressure.

He preferred to think of it as… inheritance.

"Dad, I will work hard and protect myself, don't worry. You and Mom have a good time at home, and I'll go back to see you when I have a break in the winter."

"Well, don't worry about your mom and me. As for going home, don't think so far ahead, play football well, it's more important than anything else."

"I know, then I'm going to take a shower, Dad. I haven't showered since I got back."

"Go ahead, I'm going to sleep too."

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Zhou Jianliang took his glasses off his nose and placed them on the table, then rubbed the Qingming acupoints on both sides of his nose.

"Finished chatting?" His wife's voice came from behind.

"Yeah, my son didn't make the squad list."

Li Cuiyun, who was behind him, sat up from the bed: "What does that mean?"

"It means he definitely won't play."

Li Cuiyun was silent for a moment before saying "Oh."

Zhou Jianliang sighed: "I don't know how long we'll have to wait now."

"Hey, Old Zhou..." Li Cuiyun hesitated.

"What?"

"Do you think... do you think our son will go back to the youth team because he can't play in the first team?"

"Impossible!" Zhou Jianliang was stunned for a moment, then shook his head decisively. "He's been registered, how can he go back to the youth team? Impossible, impossible, that's absolutely impossible..."

"Oh, that's good. Let's go to sleep, it's almost two o'clock." Li Cuiyun yawned and fell back onto the bed.

"Okay." Zhou Jianliang got up and took off his clothes. But his mind was still thinking about his wife's last words.

Although he said "impossible" several times, he was still a little uncertain in his heart, because as a fan, he naturally knew that this situation could happen. If he couldn't play in the first team, the team would always have to find a way out for Zhou Yi. Not playing for a long time would be a great obstacle to the growth of his ability, so… it was not impossible to go back to the youth team to participate in matches.

But if his son went back to the youth team, wouldn't he not be able to see him on TV again?

Zhou Jianliang was conflicted. He probably wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight...

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ps, the third update will be at eight o'clock in the evening, don't forget!