Chapter 163 National Team Call-Up

After the home game against Freiburg, the Bundesliga went into its winter break.

The next round of league matches wouldn't be until January 22nd of the following year.

Originally, Mark's parents had planned to invite Zhou Yi to spend Christmas with them, but before they could call Zhou Yi, he received a transatlantic phone call.

Zhou Yi was a little surprised to see an unfamiliar number with the 086 prefix.

086 is the area code for Chinese phone numbers, so any number starting with that meant it was a call from China.

But the only people who would call him from China were his parents, and he had their phone numbers, including their home landline, saved in his phone. It couldn't be an unfamiliar number.

Zhou Yi hesitated for a moment, but still answered—even if it was a scam call, it wouldn't be his phone bill that was wasted.

As soon as the call connected, a man's voice came from the other end: "Is this Zhou Yi's phone?"

"Yes, this is Zhou Yi. May I ask who's calling?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Hello, Zhou Yi. This is Gao Hongbo."

Hearing this, Zhou Yi was stunned.

Gao Hongbo?

Even though he was far away from China, Zhou Yi, who hadn't distanced himself from Chinese football, naturally knew who Gao Hongbo was.

What surprised him was, what would the national team coach be calling him for?

"Hello, Coach Gao..." Even the way he greeted Gao Hongbo was filled with confusion.

Gao Hongbo could also hear the confusion in Zhou Yi's voice, so he laughed and said, "It's a bit abrupt to call you like this. Sorry, I got your phone number through some media connections. Even the Football Association doesn't have your contact information... The thing is, the national team will have a training camp in Shanghai starting on December 22nd, and I'm planning to include you in the training camp roster, so I wanted to hear your opinion."

Actually, after his initial surprise, Zhou Yi had already understood why Gao Hongbo was suddenly calling him.

It certainly wasn't to chat with him about the weather in Dortmund.

There was only one explanation.

He was going to join the national team!

As a teenager who had loved football since he was a child, the Chinese national team was indeed his long-cherished goal. Even during the years when Chinese football's image was at its worst, he had fantasized about being a member of the national team and leading the team to victory.

Did he know about the corruption?

He knew, but he didn't care, or hadn't thought about it. Wearing the national team jersey with the national flag on his chest felt more like a child's vanity.

Zhou Yi had this kind of vanity.

It was just that as a student, he only fantasized about it.

Unexpectedly, now his childhood fantasy had become reality.

He was really going to become... a "national team player"!

How many Chinese football teenagers would refuse this invitation?

Unless this invitation came with a 300,000 yuan "kickback"...

But 2009 was the year of the crackdown on corruption in Chinese football. Many Football Association officials had fallen from grace, and former well-known referees had also been imprisoned. The environment in domestic football was indeed better than before.

After Zhou Yi came back to his senses, he said, "I have no objections. I'll listen to you, Coach Gao."

His answer was very straightforward.

Seeing Zhou Yi answer so quickly, Gao Hongbo explained further: "It's better to clarify some things in advance. This is just a national team training camp. We'll play three matches, two training matches against local Shanghai teams, and a friendly match against Jordan. It's just an opportunity to get to know each other better. It doesn't represent the future, do you understand, Zhou Yi?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Of course I know that. I didn't expect to become a starter just by attending one training camp. Don't worry, Coach Gao, I've always had a good attitude."

Hearing Zhou Yi say this, Gao Hongbo laughed: "That's true, you're not in a hurry even after not being able to play in Dortmund's first team for three months, so you really do have a good attitude."

Zhou Yi scratched his head. He really didn't know if Gao Hongbo was praising him or teasing him.

"Alright then, since you agree, I'll put your name on the list. Our training camp check-in time is the 21st. You can arrive one day later since you're the furthest away."

"Oh, am I the only overseas player?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Yes, you're the only one."

Zhou Yi thought of He Ying, Sun Pan, Yang Muge, and Guo Nu.

They hadn't made a name for themselves yet...

Maybe in the future, he could reunite with the four of them in the national team?

That would be really... interesting!

※※※

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yi didn't have time to notify his parents that he had been selected for the national team. Instead, he immediately went to book a flight from Germany to Shanghai.

At this time, he received a call from Mark. In the call, Mark invited Zhou Yi to spend Christmas at his house.

But Zhou Yi could only decline.

"You've been selected for the national team?!" When Mark heard Zhou Yi's reason, he exclaimed.

"Yeah..."

"That's great! Amazing, Zhou Yi! You're amazing!" Mark cheered on the phone, as if he himself had been selected for the national team. "Mom, Dad! Zhou Yi's been selected for the national team! The Chinese national team!"

Mark even called out to his parents, as if he was afraid that not enough people knew about it.

Mrs. Wagner and Old Wagner also took the phone one after another to congratulate Zhou Yi.

Finally, Mrs. Wagner said to Zhou Yi, "Serving your country is indeed more important than celebrating Christmas. Good luck in the national team, Zhou Yi!"

"Go for it, Zhou Yi! I'll work hard with you as my goal!" Mark shouted over the phone.

"Then I'll be waiting for you, Mark!"

After ending the call with the Wagner family, Zhou Yi continued to book his ticket.

After booking the ticket, he proactively made two calls. The first call was to his parents, to tell them the news that he had been selected for the Chinese national team.

His mother didn't have much of a reaction to the news, but his father was excited.

As a veteran Chinese football fan, Zhou Jianliang had been heartbroken by Chinese football, but his love for Chinese football had never changed. Now that his son had also entered the national team, this was naturally his wish. Moreover, with his son in the team, maybe there would be some hope for the national team's performance?

The second call, Zhou Yi made to his agent, Schulze.

Such a big thing as being selected for the national team definitely had to be communicated to his agent. Firstly, it was to facilitate Schulze's work. After all, the commercial value of a national team player and a non-national team player was completely different. Zhou Yi was very clear about this. On the other hand, it was related to the issue of trust between the player and the agent. If his own agent didn't even know about this kind of thing, what trust and cooperation could they talk about?

Schulze was very happy that Zhou Yi could be selected for the national team.

As an agent, he naturally knew the importance of this national team player label even more clearly.

Especially for players on the Chinese national team.

It should be known that behind Zhou Yi was the huge Chinese market, and this huge market potential was something that all brands cared about. So how could they explain to those Western companies Zhou Yi's appeal and influence in China?

Say that every game of his had a large number of people paying attention, say that every goal he scored caused a huge reaction on the Chinese internet?

None of these were as simple and effective as saying, "He's a national team player for China."

When Zhou Yi's identity was that of a Chinese national team player, his commercial promotion and operation in Europe would become much easier.

"How many games does the national team have?" Schulze asked.

"They say three games, two training matches and one friendly match..."

"Will the friendly match be broadcast live?"

"I don't know..."

"Will you play?"

"I don't know..."

"Alright. In short, being selected for the national team is something to be very happy about. Congratulations, Zhou Yi!"

"Thank you, Tino."

Not long after hanging up the phone, Schulze called back: "Zhou Yi, I just checked. Doesn't your national team have an Asian Cup qualifier on January 6th next year? That's not a friendly match."

"Oh, really? Coach Gao didn't tell me. I'm not very clear..."

"Will you be able to play in that game?"

"How would I know..." Zhou Yi spread out his hands.

"Uh, alright... Anyway, I'll be paying attention. Don't worry about things outside of football." After saying that, Schulze hung up the phone in a hurry again. It could be seen that he was indeed very busy now...

※※※

When the plane Zhou Yi was on was still in the sky, in China, the media had already announced Gao Hongbo's roster for this national team training camp.

This training camp, because it was closely followed by two Asian Cup qualifiers, was receiving a lot of attention.

In fact, since taking office in May of this year, Gao Hongbo had been receiving a lot of controversy. Although his first game led the national team to a 1:1 draw against the world champion Germany, in the eyes of many experts, the value of a friendly match was too low, and even if they drew with Germany, it couldn't explain anything.

However, many fans had fallen in love with the kind of passing and controlling football that Gao Hongbo's national team played.

But in August, Gao's team suffered two unexpected draws. Both were friendly matches, and the Chinese team drew 1:1 and 0:0 with Singapore and Malaysia respectively.

In the minds of Chinese fans and media, these two teams were undoubtedly weak teams. Not to mention winning, if the Chinese team won by less than four goals, their performance probably wouldn't be considered good.

As a result, Gao Hongbo's team was unable to win.

In these two games, the Chinese team's weakness of lacking offensive power was exposed.

In the subsequent Asian Cup qualifiers, facing the Lebanese team composed of many amateur players, the Chinese team's technical football almost disappeared under the opponent's high-intensity pressing. Although they won by two goals, some people thought that those two goals were controversial.

Next, in November, the Chinese team, back in Hangzhou, only narrowly defeated Lebanon by one goal at home.

Such a performance led to the reappearance of "Gao Hongbo Out" headlines in the media.

Therefore, it can be said that Gao Hongbo was currently under tremendous pressure.

The next Asian Cup qualifier, at home against Syria, if the Chinese team couldn't win, they would be overtaken by Syria and unable to obtain first place in the group.

Before such a crucial game, Gao Hongbo's training camp roster was naturally attracting much attention.

As soon as the training camp roster came out, everyone discovered a remarkable thing!

Zhou Yi's name was prominently listed!