Chapter 1 Two Teaching Matches

After two days of intensive training, the Chinese team's training sessions were no longer open to the public. Subsequently, the national team played two teaching matches against a local Shanghai China League One team at the training base.

In these two teaching matches, Zhou Yi started the first game and was substituted off after playing for half the time.

In the second game, he came on as a substitute in the second half and also played for half the time.

Because these were closed-door teaching matches, no media were present, and the stands were empty. Only the coaching staff set up a DV to record the games for video analysis.

Zhou Yi's abilities were even more evident in the matches than in training, as there were many situations in the matches that could not be anticipated in training.

And Zhou Yi's handling of these situations was truly admirable—he handled them like a seasoned veteran, which was in stark contrast to his age and appearance.

The other national team players couldn't help but be impressed.

Because they couldn't handle the same situations as calmly as Zhou Yi.

They were all starters or key players in their respective clubs and had plenty of match experience. But when they got into the match, something just felt off.

The concept of "experience" might sound a bit mysterious, but in essence, it's simply the "accumulation of solutions." When you encounter a situation enough times and have enough solutions to deal with it, you will be confident and not flustered when you encounter the situation again.

Experienced people have experienced many different situations in their lives, and they have enough ways to deal with each situation, so they naturally appear calm.

The same is true on the football field.

Zhou Yi gave the impression of being a "veteran" who had been playing professional football for many years, which was completely different from his record of only playing four professional matches.

This was what made many people feel strange.

In the end, they could only attribute it to some people being extremely talented. What ordinary people needed to accumulate through countless repetitions, such geniuses could completely master without being taught—they were simply… born with knowledge.

In fact, no one knew that Zhou Yi had also accumulated these experiences through countless repetitions. It's just that he could accumulate experience in his dreams and bring the experience he dreamed of into the real world.

Without the virtual system, Zhou Yi might need five or six years, or even longer, to reach his current level.

※※※

The coaching staff members who watched the game from the sidelines were also deeply aware of the qualities that Zhou Yi demonstrated in the match.

"At first, I thought that since it was his first time being selected for the national team, he would be a bit rusty in coordinating with these players and wouldn't be very in sync. I expected a lot of passing errors in the beginning. But I didn't expect…" On the coach's bench, assistant coach Fu Bai watched Zhou Yi handle the ball on the field and sighed in admiration. "He doesn't have any of that awkwardness at all, and he coordinates very well with this team!"

Gao Hongbo smiled slightly beside him: "I've heard a 'legend' about Zhou Yi—that no matter which team he's on, whether it's Dortmund's u17, u19, or the first team, he integrates into the team very, very quickly. His first training session never has any of the problems that a newcomer should have. Do you remember his first training session when he first came to the team?"

Fu Bai nodded.

"You didn't feel like he was a player who was joining this national team for the first time, did you?"

Fu Bai thought carefully, then nodded: "That's true…"

"Although I don't understand why, he seems to have already integrated into this team. That's good."

"Yes, and seeing his performance in the match, it's hard to believe that he's actually only eighteen years old and has only played four professional matches," Fu Bai nodded and sighed.

"Indeed, he seems very experienced. That's actually what I like about him. As for how outstanding his technical ability is, he really doesn't have that," Gao Hongbo said. "But the way he handles the ball on the field makes me feel very good. Look at how easily he connects the team, using seemingly ordinary passes, receptions, and runs. When you face a tangled mess of ropes with no clue where to start, don't you feel a headache, Lao Fu?"

"I feel that way every time I see the headphone cable in my bag," Fu Bai frowned.

Gao Hongbo laughed: "But Zhou Yi can always easily untangle that mess. He seems to know what's useful and what's useless information. He knows what to do first, what to do later, and then what to do as an afterthought…"

After listening to Gao Hongbo say so much, Fu Bai understood: "You really like that kid."

Gao Hongbo showed a shy smile: "Lao Fu, our team has always lacked a true organizer. Although Deng Zhuoxiang plays as an attacking midfielder, his technical characteristics are not suitable for being an organizer. He's more like a winger, and he prefers to operate on the wing. And Zhou Yi is actually the person we've been looking for all along. Before, I wasn't very sure whether to let him play so soon, but now I'm sure."

※※※

In the hotel restaurant, Zhou Yi was chatting and laughing with his roommate, Yu Hanchao, as they prepared to go to dinner. But as they passed the coaches' table, he was stopped by assistant coach Fu Bai.

Zhou Yi had to let Yu Hanchao go ahead, while he stayed behind.

"Is there something you need, Coach?" he asked Fu Bai.

Fu Bai asked Zhou Yi, "Zhou Yi, let me ask you, do you want to participate in the upcoming Asian Cup qualifier against Syria?"

Zhou Yi was surprised that the assistant coach would ask this question: "Of course I want to."

"Well, but if I remember correctly, Dortmund's first league match after the winter break is on January 17th, and our match against Syria is on January 6th. If you want to participate in this match, then you won't be able to participate in Dortmund's winter training camp."

Zhou Yi hadn't really thought about this issue, but he didn't think it was a problem, so he said to Fu Bai: "I still want to participate in the match against Syria. I know that Coach Gao said that we should strive to qualify as the top team in the group. If we lose to Syria, we can only be the second team in the group, right?"

Fu Bai said: "A draw would also work. But you have to think it over. We will communicate with the Dortmund club. Generally speaking, they will release players, after all, it's an official national team match. But there are exceptions, because of your importance in Dortmund recently…"

"If necessary, I will personally plead with Klopp," Zhou Yi said.

Seeing Zhou Yi express his stance, Fu Bai also breathed a sigh of relief.

He hoped that Zhou Yi would be able to play in the match against Syria. After all, based on Zhou Yi's current performance, his presence would increase the strength of the national team.

But players who play abroad always face the dilemma of being torn between the national team and the club, after all, Europe and China are too far apart.

Some players who play abroad lose their form due to frequent back-and-forth travel, and their starting positions in the club are taken away.

He was worried that Zhou Yi would also have these concerns.

But he didn't expect Zhou Yi to be so decisive.

Of course, he didn't know why Zhou Yi was so decisive—missed Dortmund's winter training camp? No problem, he could spend half his sleep time every night to train with Dortmund.

※※※

The two teaching matches against the local Shanghai club were not broadcast. Therefore, the friendly match between China and Jordan in Yiwu became the first match in which Zhou Yi could potentially appear in public.

This match naturally attracted a lot of attention.

Everyone thought that Gao Hongbo would let Zhou Yi start in the friendly match against Jordan. At the pre-match press conference, the most frequently asked question by reporters was whether Zhou Yi would start.

And Gao Hongbo gave an answer that disappointed fans across the country: "No, he will not start. He has only just arrived in this team and still needs to understand and get familiar."

"Will he play at all?"

"I can't guarantee that. I will decide whether to let him play based on the situation of the match."

Gao Hongbo had no expression on his face when answering the questions, and it was impossible to tell whether he wanted Zhou Yi to play or not…

But in any case, there was no doubt that Zhou Yi's first national team journey was born during this coach's tenure.

In the friendly match against Jordan, Zhou Yi was indeed on the bench. The television broadcast repeatedly showed close-up shots of him on the bench.

In the shots, Zhou Yi's expression didn't change much, he was just concentrating on watching the match.

"Hmm… That's my son!" Zhou Jianliang, who saw this scene on TV, nodded approvingly. "He's calm! Just like his old man!"

Li Cuiyun rolled her eyes at Zhou Jianliang, who was praising himself.

The television broadcast also cut to a close-up of a foreigner with a big nose and a beard in the stands.

The commentator, Duan Xin, said: "The Syrian coach is also in the stands for this match. It seems that he's here to observe our players' condition. In that case, maybe Gao Hongbo is not letting Zhou Yi start in order to avoid exposing him too early?"

After a while, Duan Xin perhaps felt that there was a problem, and added: "But he personally admitted at the press conference that Zhou Yi still needs to understand and get familiar with the team. Familiarity and understanding are not developed on the bench, right? If Zhou Yi is not given time to play, how can he and the team increase their understanding of each other and coordinate well?"

In the first half, Zhou Yi sat on the bench all the time, without even going to warm up.

During the halftime break, he did go to the field with his teammates on the bench to warm up.

But after the second half started, Gao Hongbo still didn't seem to want to substitute Zhou Yi in.

Zhou Jianliang was getting a little impatient, but Zhou Yi, who occasionally appeared in close-up shots, still had a calm expression on his face.

Finally, in the seventieth minute, the Chinese team made a substitution, and Zhou Yi was substituted onto the field!

Zhou Jianliang's "suffering" finally came to an end.