Chapter 32 He is the Key Player Behind the Big Win Over Real Madrid!

Unlike the dejected and reluctant Real Madrid players who wouldn't agree to interviews, or who stubbornly refused to admit defeat, the Borussia Dortmund players were simply excited and happy. A sweeping victory made them forget all the pre-match unpleasantness.

After the game, Robert Lewandowski, who scored four goals, was selected as the best player of the match. He accepted interviews with reporters.

The Polish striker was all smiles in front of the camera, clearly riding high, but when answering reporters' questions about his four goals, he surprisingly attributed all the credit to Zhou Yi.

"The person I have to thank most for scoring four goals in a game is Zhou Yi."

"Zhou Yi?" The reporters were surprised, not understanding why Lewandowski would say that. It was true that Zhou Yi had also performed very well in the game. He directly assisted on two of Lewandowski's four goals and initiated the other two. But Götze also directly assisted Lewandowski on one goal and created a penalty. Why did he single out Zhou Yi for praise?

"Of course, because the 'Wizard' performed a ritual before the game, telling us that we would definitely score four goals against Real Madrid! Hahaha!" At the end of his statement, Lewandowski couldn't help but laugh.

The reporters were shocked—was this true?

They quickly asked, "Is this true? Robert? You're not joking, are you?"

Hearing the reporters' questions, Klopp put on a stern face and said, "How could he be joking? Of course it's true! Before the game, Zhou Yi told us more than once that he thought we could score four goals against Real Madrid! So you thought the nickname 'Wizard' was just a joke?"

A group of reporters looked at each other. If what Lewandowski said was true...

Then Zhou Yi's nickname of "Wizard" would really be confirmed.

Think about his previous real deeds of showing "miracles"...

There are always things in this world that science cannot explain, and Zhou Yi is definitely one of them.

Because Lewandowski opened such a topic, the focus of the reporters' interviews with Borussia Dortmund players became asking them if Zhou Yi really predicted before the game that Borussia Dortmund would score four goals against Real Madrid. As a result, news about the game itself and Götze's transfer rumors were ignored...

All the Borussia Dortmund players who were interviewed nodded and confirmed this.

When it came time to interview Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi also admitted that he did say such things, but he didn't think it was because he had some kind of mysterious power from the East. He explained, "I said that to boost morale. Everyone knows what happened to the team before... To be honest, our morale was a bit low. I wanted to cheer everyone up. Besides, this also shows that as long as you have a goal and a belief, and work hard to achieve it, you can definitely do it. No matter how outrageous the goal may seem..."

Finally, at the post-match press conference, Klopp also confirmed that what the players said was true. Zhou Yi did express his confidence in scoring four goals against Real Madrid before the game. He also joked, "The Spanish media is right, there is no 'curse', it's just the 'Wizard' casting a spell... Ha!"

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The next day, the focus of Chinese news media reports was not Götze's transfer, nor Borussia Dortmund's 4-1 victory over Real Madrid at home, but Zhou Yi's "miracle."

《The Hero Behind the Big Win Over Real Madrid is Actually Him!》

《The "Mastermind" Behind the Scenes - Zhou Yi!》

……

"...Although Zhou Yi tried to use motivational platitudes to cover up the fact that he possessed special abilities when we interviewed him, it is clear that his words are not convincing... Set a goal and then achieve it, if it were that easy, there would have been world peace long ago!"

On the internet, Chinese fans woke up and discovered that there was such a story behind this game, and they were all collectively excited.

Someone posted a photo of Zhou Yi with a smile on his Weibo, and wrote: "I don't know why, but it is said that as long as you forward Zhou Yi's photo, good things will happen to you immediately. Tested and effective, everyone forward it quickly!"

Of course, doing so would attract many people to forward it, but at first, the people who forwarded it were just joining in the fun. The nickname "Wizard" was more of a joke to them. But when someone actually came back to re-forward and express their gratitude after forwarding it, swearing that they had received a windfall, passed a job interview, or passed an exam within an hour of forwarding Zhou Yi's photo...even if many people didn't know who Zhou Yi was, they also came to forward it.

In half a day, Zhou Yi's photo spread throughout the entire internet...

Some people even seriously analyzed that Zhou Yi might really have superpowers.

"...Think about it, there were so many unfavorable news for Borussia Dortmund before the game, who would dare to think that Borussia Dortmund could score four goals against Real Madrid at home? Even the most optimistic Borussia Dortmund fans, in that situation, thought it would be good to win, how dare they hope for a 'big win'? But Borussia Dortmund really won 4-1 against Real Madrid. Besides using the mysterious power from the East to explain this result, I really can't think of any other reason..."

"Klopp: 'Originally, I also felt that this time was doomed, until I suddenly felt a mysterious power from the East...'"

"Mourinho: 'UEFA, Borussia Dortmund fouled! They used abnormal means to ensure victory!'"

"I used to believe in science, until I met Zhou Yi..."

Some talented netizens also made Zhou Yi's emoji, putting various expressions of Zhou Yi with different texts, creating unexpected "effects".

For example, they put Zhou Yi's head on a fortune teller's photo, and the cloth banner next to it read "Accurate Predictions." It was hilarious.

There was also a photo of Zhou Yi smiling, with a line of words below: "When it comes to keeping my word, I'm not targeting anyone..."

Some netizens also compiled the real cases of Zhou Yi's "spellcasting" over the years, made them into long Weibos with pictures, texts, and emojis, and posted them online, which were immediately forwarded crazily.

Because these were all real events, with a large number of media reports as evidence to support them, people couldn't help but believe them, and couldn't help but admire them.

Everyone often accompanied their reposts with exclamations of "Holy crap."

In the evening, everyone's jokes, spoofs, and jeers about Zhou Yi's "wizard" status reached another climax. Some netizens posted a photo, at first glance, it was a very ordinary setting of worshiping a Bodhisattva at home, with incense and offerings, but a closer look would reveal that it was full of disharmony.

First of all, in addition to fruits, there was also a soccer ball among the offerings. Secondly, in the place where the Bodhisattva should have been worshiped, there was a photo of Zhou Yi!

Other netizens also posted photos of them "worshiping" Zhou Yi... In a university dormitory, a group of people were kneeling on Zhou Yi's photo in a prostrate position, each with a piece of printed paper with a Taiji Bagua diagram drawn on their backs, and on both sides of the photo were written: "Believe in Zhou Yi, don't fail; worship Zhou Yi, get a recommendation for graduate school."

Some people also said that the source of Zhou Yi's mysterious power should be from the *I Ching* (Book of Changes). Because in fact, the "Book of Changes" is a general term for three books, namely the *Lianshan* of the Xia Dynasty, the *Guicang* of the Shang Dynasty, and the *Zhouyi* of the Zhou Dynasty. And the first two books have been lost, only the *Zhouyi* has been passed down to this day, so we have every reason to believe that the *Zhouyi* has been practicing for thousands of years, has transformed into a human form, and then went to play soccer...

Netizens forwarded it, saying "reasonable and well-founded, convincing" "scientific and rigorous, deeply moving"...

So what does Zhou Yi think of this large-scale online phenomenon of "worshiping him"?

In the middle of the night, he posted a Weibo: "I said, if you worship me, just worship me, can you not use black and white photos? I was shocked when I went online today, I thought I was dead!"

This Weibo was quickly forwarded by netizens—"23333333" "hilarious" "Zhou Yi bewildered face.jpg" "Pfft, the wizard has spoken, those who use black and white photos, be careful of backlash!"

The next day, the official Weibo account of the *People's Daily* posted a Weibo, saying: "Let's see how a soccer star became an 'internet celebrity'?" At the end, a link was posted, and a click revealed that it was actually a commentator's article in the electronic version of the *People's Daily*!

The article discussed Zhou Yi's "sudden popularity" on the internet yesterday in a very serious and solemn tone. First, it described the course of events to the readers, and also introduced the previous large-scale online carnivals that had happened to Zhou Yi, and then launched a commentary, mainly exploring why such things always happened to Zhou Yi.

"...Before Zhou Yi appeared, the image of Chinese soccer players was generally negative. It cannot be said that Zhou Yi reversed the image of professional players in everyone's mind with his own efforts, but Zhou Yi did bring many changes. He may be the most popular domestic soccer player, and there is absolutely no negative evaluation of him, which is even more commendable, so why is this, and why is it Zhou Yi?"

"Zhou Yi is different from those professional players we are familiar with. He did not receive training in any professional soccer club's echelon in the first seventeen years of his life, nor did he give up his studies for the sake of playing soccer. He was just an ordinary student, from elementary school to junior high school, and then to high school. He received a complete compulsory education and a relatively complete high school education. He once said in an interview that before becoming a professional player, he was just an ordinary fan, an ordinary student. I think it may be that this experience allows him to have common feelings and ideas with the vast majority of fans, and the distance is not so far."

"...Being approachable is the biggest impression Zhou Yi gives people. Whether it is the reporter interviewing him, or ordinary fans, everyone feels that Zhou Yi has no airs, is very approachable, and normal and reasonable requests can always be met. In addition, Zhou Yi also uses social media to interact frequently with fans on the internet, and the tone and manner of his speeches are no different from ordinary netizens. The topics discussed are even closely related to popular topics on the internet... All of these give people a sense of being 'down to earth'. It makes people forget that he is actually a highly skilled professional player..."

"But if it is just a pleasing personality, can Zhou Yi be so loved by soccer fans across the country? As a professional player, Zhou Yi first has outstanding ability and extremely high professional ethics, which is why he is so loved by fans... A good personality is just a footnote to his outstanding ability... Although some people joke that Zhou Yi has become an 'internet celebrity', we must also be soberly aware that he is first and foremost a professional soccer player. If you don't do your job well, no matter how good your personality is, you will not be popular... According to the reactions of Borussia Dortmund players and coaches, Zhou Yi is the most diligent and serious in his usual training. Since becoming a professional player, he has never been late or left early for a single day of training. He started lower than others, but he ultimately achieved higher achievements than the vast majority of people, which is precisely due to his diligence and seriousness. When we are excited about every topic caused by Zhou Yi, please do not forget the efforts he has made behind the scenes..."