Chapter 22 He Can Run Again!

As the halftime break ended and he walked from the locker room toward the pitch, Götze sidled up to Zhou Yi. "Hey, Zhou Yi, why weren't you subbed off?"

Zhou Yi raised his head, humming triumphantly. "Didn't I tell you? The coach values me! Or did you think all that training was just to torture me?"

This time, after hearing Zhou Yi's words, Götze didn't roll his eyes, but fell silent, his pace slowing unconsciously.

The first time he heard Zhou Yi say this, he thought Zhou Yi was joking and bragging.

But again and again, combining what he saw in usual training with Zhou Yi's words, he began to waver.

Now, in this game, everyone else was subbed off at halftime, but Zhou Yi remained on the pitch, practically ironclad proof of Zhou Yi's words!

Now Götze had no choice but to believe it.

Zhou Yi didn't notice Götze's change. Cherishing beautiful visions of the future, he stepped onto the pitch, ready to welcome the second half of the game.

※※※

During the halftime break, the Chinese reporters gathered together, discussing Zhou Yi's performance in the first half in their native language.

"No question, he performed excellently!"

"More than that, he performed exceptionally!"

"Yes, yes, you can clearly see his importance in this Dortmund midfield, and his teammates trust him and are happy to pass the ball to him… I think that's the most important thing. The teammates' actions show that Zhou Yi has won their trust and support. This is very important for Zhou Yi to integrate into the team…"

"That assist was really beautiful. Did you notice Zhou Yi's run? It's normal to run forward after passing the ball, and many players would choose to do that, but that would put them in a crowded defense. Zhou Yi did the opposite, using a feint to create space for himself… tsk tsk, so clever!"

"In the *Green Field Reality Show* program, didn't Hao Dong say that Zhou Yi is a player who uses his brain to play football? That evaluation is very accurate. I think Chinese football lacks players like Zhou Yi who use their brains to play!"

Everyone was full of praise for Zhou Yi's performance in the first half. Pre-season friendlies usually only involve a player playing for half the game, so now they could give Zhou Yi's performance a score. In their hearts, if ten was a perfect score, Zhou Yi's first half could be scored at least eight and a half points.

Some reporters had even begun to draft the manuscripts they were going to write in their minds.

But what surprised them was… Zhou Yi appeared on the pitch in his jersey, instead of changing clothes and sitting on the bench!

What does this mean?

He's going to continue playing in the second half?

But look at those Dortmund players who started with him in the first half, they're all sitting on the bench now!

The Chinese reporters were surprised, but also happy—they were naturally happy to see more of Zhou Yi's performance.

※※※

After the second half of the game started, Zhou Yi initially wanted to play like he did in the first half, but in less than ten minutes, he felt like he was losing steam.

Seeing that Zhou Yi, the Dortmund player who was so active in the first half, was still on the pitch, the Wolfsburg players naturally treated him as a key target. In order to prevent him from continuing to orchestrate dangerous attacks, as soon as Zhou Yi got the ball, at least one Wolfsburg player would rush up, and more often than not, two.

Zhou Yi had to mobilize all his strength to physically confront them, trying to keep the ball under his control under the close pressing of the opponent.

However, most of the time, he failed. He would be knocked to the ground by the opponent and lose possession.

Sometimes the referee would call a foul on Wolfsburg, sometimes the referee would remain indifferent, because it was a fair challenge.

Soon Zhou Yi felt a little out of breath. In these few minutes, his energy was used to fight against the opposing players, and he had no way to properly organize the attack.

Fortunately, Dortmund still had a commander on the pitch. Şahin controlled the team's offensive rhythm, so that Dortmund wouldn't be at a loss for how to attack after Zhou Yi was restricted by the opponent.

Later, Zhou Yi had to speed up the processing of the ball, but he could pass the ball out as quickly as possible, but he couldn't run to the open space as quickly as possible to get rid of the opposing players marking him.

Because he had no energy.

Only ten minutes into the second half, and he felt like he couldn't run anymore, which shocked Zhou Yi—he wasn't like this in the youth team!

He didn't perform like this in the simulated games in the virtual space either!

※※※

"Zhou Yi seems… unable to run?" Assistant coach Buvac also saw Zhou Yi's current predicament.

Klopp nodded. "Of course."

"Should we sub him off?"

"No, wait a little longer." To Buvac's surprise, Klopp shook his head and rejected the suggestion to sub Zhou Yi off.

"But he can't run."

"If he can't run, he can walk, Željko."

Buvac didn't understand why Klopp said this.

However, Zhou Yi on the pitch seemed to think so too.

Because he really started to stroll on the pitch!

This kid really wants to stroll until the end of the game…

Klopp, seeing this scene from the sidelines, complained in his heart. It seems he really wants to win his bet with himself.

But… even if you walk, you probably won't last long.

Klopp was confident about the bet with Zhou Yi.

※※※

Şahin noticed that his midfield partner's activity level had dropped a lot. After he passed the ball to Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi passed it back to him directly, and then stood still, not moving forward.

The Turkish youngster could see that Zhou Yi's stamina was almost exhausted—he couldn't run anymore.

So Şahin passed the ball to the other side, while thinking that maybe the coach would sub him off soon.

Actually, it's already very good that he was able to persist for so long before being subbed off. There's nothing to regret about being subbed off at this time.

Next, Şahin was very careful not to pass the ball to Zhou Yi as much as possible. With his current physical condition, passing the ball to him would cause the team to lose possession. And this kind of problem wouldn't have to be worried about when Zhou Yi was full of energy…

But almost five minutes had passed, and there was no sign of a substitution from the sidelines.

Şahin was a little strange—what is the coaching staff thinking? Didn't they see that Zhou Yi's stamina was already failing!

He looked to the sidelines, Klopp stood on the sidelines, like a sculpture, with no intention of making a substitution.

He turned his head to look at Zhou Yi again, and this kid was slowly pacing on the pitch with his hands on his hips.

Şahin couldn't figure out what the coach was thinking.

※※※

When Şahin received the ball again, he habitually wanted to pass the ball to the wing, but at this moment he suddenly heard Zhou Yi's shout from behind: "Nuri, here! Pass it horizontally to the right!"

At the same time, Şahin's peripheral vision caught the figure of Zhou Yi running up.

This kid can run?

Seeing Şahin hesitating, Zhou Yi shouted again: "Pass me the ball, I'm unmarked!"

Şahin woke up as if from a dream and passed the ball over.

Zhou Yi still passed the ball out after receiving it, but unlike the previous few minutes, he continued to run forward after passing the ball!

※※※

"Huh?" Klopp, watching the game on the sidelines, couldn't help but utter a surprised murmur to himself. "This kid has stamina again?"

A burst of cheers rang out among the Chinese reporters outside the field.

Before, Zhou Yi was strolling on the pitch, and they really thought that Zhou Yi would be subbed off in a few minutes.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yi was not only not subbed off, but also rushed up again!

※※※

Zhou Yi accelerated and ran forward, his body was like a smartphone with a depleted battery, constantly sending warnings to the brain in the form of soreness, fatigue, and difficulty breathing: "Low battery, shutting down soon."

But Zhou Yi ignored this, just opened his mouth wide, like an oxygen-deprived fish, struggling to jump from the dry riverbed into a small puddle.

In the process of him running forward, the ball was passed back and forth between Dortmund players, and then landed at Kuba's feet.

When Kuba got the ball on the wing, he hesitated, not knowing whether to cross or break through. There was a Wolfsburg player in front of him, blocking him. If he wanted to break through, it wouldn't be easy, the success rate wouldn't be high, and there was a high chance of losing the ball.

But if he crosses…

Kuba also felt that there was only Nelson Haedo Valdez in front of the goal, and the spot wasn't very good. Directly crossing wouldn't pose much of a threat to Wolfsburg's goal.

At this moment, Zhou Yi also saw the predicament Kuba was facing. Already almost unable to run, he turned towards Kuba and shouted, "Kuba!"

This shout almost made him unable to breathe.

Kuba turned his head and saw Zhou Yi running towards him, while also making a gesture to pass the ball to him.

Zhou Yi's ability had been fully demonstrated in daily training. Kuba wouldn't doubt whether Zhou Yi could take on a big responsibility, he passed the ball over without hesitation.

Zhou Yi's sudden forward insertion completely disrupted Wolfsburg's defense—in their previous defensive plan, Zhou Yi was not considered, because Zhou Yi had been strolling for several minutes and could not threaten Wolfsburg's goal at all. So when Zhou Yi ran forward, the Wolfsburg players didn't notice him at all.

So now, when Zhou Yi suddenly received the ball on the edge of the penalty area, there wasn't a single Wolfsburg player around him!

After Zhou Yi received the ball, the Wolfsburg players didn't know whether to rush up to defend him, because they all remembered how Zhou Yi assisted Barrios's goal in the first half, wasn't it by using the space behind them when they rushed up to defend him?

And Zhou Yi, who received the ball, didn't intend to continue dribbling into the area. Just outside the arc of the penalty area, he directly swung his right leg!

Long shot!

Without marking and pressing, Zhou Yi calmly completed the shooting action, just like in the team's shooting training. The outside of his right foot solidly hit the upper middle part of the ball, and the ball flew forward quickly along the grass!

Zhou Yi's shot was very sudden. Before, the Wolfsburg players were on guard against his pass. Haedo Valdez was the object of their attention.

Even Wolfsburg's veteran goalkeeper, Andre Lenz, who was substituted on in the second half, unconsciously turned his gaze to Valdez.

But just as he had just shifted his gaze to Valdez, Zhou Yi shot!

By the time he noticed this and shifted his gaze back again, it was too late!

The ball passed through the players of both sides in front of the penalty area and appeared in front of him!

Lenz fell to the side, but the ball landed in front of his hand, rebounded, and rushed forward… passing by his fingertips and then into the goal!

※※※

Standing on the sidelines, Klopp widened his eyes. At this moment, the scene when he first saw Zhou Yi play suddenly flashed in his mind.

The game between that Chinese team and Dortmund's youth team had reached the second half. Zhou Yi, who had been running in the game for dozens of minutes, was almost exhausted.

Just when everyone thought he was useless, he suddenly played a one-two with his teammate in front of Dortmund's penalty area, broke into the penalty area, and then shoveled the ball into Dortmund's youth team's goal!

The situation was so similar to now!

How could I forget this—this kid is not someone who will give up easily!