Chapter 136 An Italian's Tenderness

Kaka couldn't stay in China for long because there were still many things to sort out regarding his transfer to Milan, and he had to return to Brazil as soon as possible. However, before he left, CCTV5 specially invited him, Zhang Jun, and Yang Pan to Beijing's studio for an interview program.

As witnesses to Zhang Jun and Yang Pan's growth, Liang Ke and Chen Huafeng were also invited to go to Beijing together. Originally, Liang Ke still didn't plan to go, but he couldn't resist the three's persuasion and finally agreed.

The vacation was actually very busy. After participating in the filming of this program, Zhang and Yang had to fly non-stop to Hefei to shoot commercials at their alma mater. Sophie, accompanied by her mother, had already arrived in Hefei, where the advertising crew was waiting for her.

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Despite knowing that the *Sports Night Talk* program was pre-recorded, not live, and that mistakes were allowed, Zhang Jun was still a little nervous. He hid in the toilet and called Sophie for ten minutes to calm down a bit.

Before going on stage, the makeup artist touched up their makeup, making them all look a bit serious. Liu Hongmin, the host of *Sports Night Talk*, kept reminding them backstage to keep smiling and not to look so stiff. But the effect didn't seem significant. Only Kaka was a little better than them, after all, he had seen the world. It wasn't until the four of them were seated in the studio and Liu Hongmin introduced the special guests for the program: Qi Wei, the host of *World Football*, and Li Yan, a reporter from *Sports Weekly*, that Zhang Jun and Yang Pan saw familiar faces, relaxed, and smiled.

"Okay! Five, four, three, two, one, wide shot! Program start!" The director gave the order in the production room, and Liu Hongmin immediately smiled at the camera: "Good evening, everyone, and welcome to this episode of *Sports Night Talk*. Friends who care about football all know that there have been several very happy things happening in our football scene this year. And they certainly won't have failed to hear the names of Zhang Jun and Yang Pan. In addition, the fact that Kaka, a member of the Brazilian national team who lifted the World Cup, is actually Chinese is also really surprising. Today, we are fortunate to have invited the three young players to the studio to talk about their football journey."

A burst of warm applause erupted from the audience in the studio.

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His mother looked at An Ke packing things into his suitcase strangely. "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah!" An Ke folded his clothes one by one and put them into the suitcase.

"Are you going back to school so early? Doesn't your summer vacation last until August?"

"Anyway, I've seen everyone I need to see. Besides, if I go back late, I'll lose my job. The boss is nice and said he'd keep the position for me, so I can't make things difficult for him." An Ke continued packing without looking up.

His mother sighed and didn't say anything. An Ke was too sensible. He knew that the family had spent all their savings to send him to study abroad, and he earned almost all of his living expenses himself by working part-time. When he first arrived in Germany, he could only say "hello" and "goodbye," and he went out to find a job. Unfortunately, she and her husband were just ordinary workers, and the factory wasn't doing well, so they couldn't help their child much.

His mother walked in, took all the clothes out of the suitcase, folded them again one by one, and then sorted them into categories, neatly putting them back into the suitcase. The suitcase, which had been so messy that it couldn't be closed, suddenly had room to put more things inside.

"Have you bought your plane ticket?"

"Yeah."

"Aren't you waiting for your friends to come back and see you off?"

"No, they're busy. Besides, I never let them see me off."

"Not even us?"

An Ke looked at his mother. Today was Saturday, but his father was still working overtime at the factory, doing double shifts to make sure he could study in Germany without worries. Going abroad wasn't as wonderful as some people thought. "No, Mom. That day is Wednesday. You and Dad have to go to work. I don't want you to take time off. Anyway, it's not like I've never traveled alone before. I'm used to it." An Ke smiled, even though he knew he couldn't smile at all.

His friends had successively become big stars, filming commercials, going to big clubs, earning big money, and appearing on TV. Wherever they appeared, there was a surge of people. They were always the focus of attention, the darlings of the media. He, on the other hand, still had to nod and bow to drunks in a restaurant in Dortmund for his school living expenses, just to get a little more tip money.

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"Yes, please speak." Hua Fang answered the phone in the corridor outside the CCTV studio. She found a quiet corner so she could hear Mr. Ferrio's heavily Italian-accented English as clearly as possible.

"You mean Milan has already found a new home for Zhang Jun? Which one is it? Brescia? Okay, I understand. You said Brescia needs an excellent forward? No problem, I'll notify Zhang Jun. Thank you, Mr. Armando."

Hua Fang closed the phone and breathed a sigh of relief. Zhang Jun's destination had been decided. Now that there was a direction, it would be much easier for her. At least she could take control of the future in her own hands. After finishing the advertising business, Zhang Jun and Yang Pan would report to the national Olympic team, and she would immediately fly back to Italy. In just over two weeks, she would go to Bologna and Brescia to fight for more benefits for Yang Pan and Zhang Jun.

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"For this program, we also invited three witnesses from their high school days. One is their high school team's coach and class teacher, Teacher Liang Ke, and the other is Mr. Chen Huafeng, a reporter who has been following their growth." Liu Hongmin introduced to the audience. Liang Ke and Chen Huafeng stood up and waved to the audience, then sat down again.

"Teacher Liang Ke, you are their teacher. Can you talk about their situation in high school? We only know that they won two national high school football championships. Were they like ordinary students outside the football field?"

Liang Ke took the microphone handed to him, coughed, and stabilized his emotions slightly. "Yes, they are no different from many students. Except that they are a little more talented in football, in my opinion, they are just ordinary students, still not handing in homework, still talking in class."

Zhang Jun and the others were a little embarrassed, while the audience and the host laughed. "Is Teacher Liang right?" Liu Hongmin asked with a smile.

Zhang Jun scratched his head: "What the teacher said is all correct, haha! We weren't good students at that time."

"Then, Teacher Liang, did you ever think that they would become professional players, or even football stars, one day?" Liu Hongmin continued to ask Liang Ke.

"Well, I knew they had the strength, but I didn't deliberately let them develop in that direction. I personally think that as students, in addition to studying, playing football happily is the right thing to do." Liang Ke seemed quite emotional. Since Zhang Jun and the others started, for five years, he watched the children of the football team enter the team with smiles, and then leave with smiles and a trace of reluctance, embarking on their chosen future.

"Indeed! If players can play football with a happy mood, our football wouldn't be in such a state now!" Realizing that this topic shouldn't be discussed here, Liu Hongmin quickly asked the three: "Do you think what Teacher Liang said is right? Are you happy when you play football?"

Kaka nodded: "High school was the happiest two and a half years of my life."

"Happier than personally lifting the World Cup?" Liu Hongmin said with a smirk.

Kaka laughed: "I think these are two different kinds of happiness. The World Cup is more like ecstasy, like an accident, like winning a big prize. And high school, playing football with them, I think it's a simple kind of happiness, a kind of happiness that can never be found again after leaving school."

Liu Hongmin was quite satisfied with this answer. He smiled: "Next, I will show you a clip. In fact, I think everyone must have seen it already, but I think it's necessary to relive it with everyone again."

Several people turned their heads to the big screen behind them, and the director inserted a clip.

The fans' uproar and the huge sound effects of the stadium immediately brought Zhang Jun and Yang Pan back to the Philips Stadium on June 5th. Wang Jianxiang's passionate voice resounded in the studio. It had been a long time since they had heard his voice so full of passion.

"Zhang Jun is dribbling the ball on a counterattack! He quickly poked the ball past Ajax's Galásek! Trabelsi is also up to defend, he wants to stop Zhang Jun with a fierce sliding tackle! Zhang Jun still wants to continue dribbling! He used an incredible sudden stop and change of direction to accelerate past Trabelsi!"

Kaka's eyes lit up at the scene, ninety degrees!

"Chivu rushed up, but was passed by Zhang Jun in the same way! Two consecutive sudden stops and changes of direction!"

Zhang Jun stumbled into the penalty area! Just as the opposing goalkeeper, Timmer, was about to attack, he saw Zhang Jun get the ball, flick it with his right foot, parallel to the goal.

"Zhang Jun shoots... oh no!"

Timmer quickly pounced towards the far corner! But he didn't reach the ball. At this point, the editors at CCTV made a special treatment, not showing the goal at normal speed, but directly turning it into slow motion.

Zhang Jun gently nudged the ball upwards with the heel of his right foot, then rose up, and swept the football, still in the air, into the near corner of the goal on the left side of his body with his right foot.

"Goal! Goal!! Zhang Jun scored an incredible goal!" Wang Jianxiang's roar, along with the cheers of the fans at the scene, kept the audience at the scene in the studio from calming down for a long time. Liu Hongmin was right, they had watched such a goal more than once, but they still wanted to relive it, no, relive it again and again. Every time they watched it again, the excitement was like the first time they saw it. There was sustained applause in the studio.

The sound of the stadium gradually disappeared, and the big screen went dark. Liu Hongmin and the others turned back: "Everyone watched the goal just now again. You should be able to hear everyone's mood at this time from the warm applause. I remember that after that final, some Dutch media called this goal 'Scorpion,' is that right? What is the origin of this name?"

Li Yan said: "That's right. It is said that the reporter at the time took Zhang Jun's goal photo and compared it with the constellation Scorpio, and then came to this name. It should be said that it is very appropriate. Everyone can see how similar they are."

The big screen opportunely put Zhang Jun's photo of the moment of the goal and the Scorpio constellation diagram together, allowing the audience to compare for themselves.

The audience at the scene immediately exclaimed: It really looks too much alike!

Liu Hongmin smiled: "But I just learned that this goal actually existed long ago, and its name is not 'Scorpion.'" Li Yan was a little surprised: "It existed long ago?"

Liu Hongmin didn't answer him, but turned his head to the big screen again: "Please look at the big screen."

Even Zhang Jun, Yang Pan, and Kaka were very surprised when they saw this video. It was a goal in the semi-finals of the Luoyang qualifiers against Dingding High School in their sophomore year of high school.

White jersey, red stripes, and the number "11," the one dribbling the ball to the front of the goal was Zhang Jun in his sophomore year.

"Zhang Jun dribbles the ball, Xia Bo didn't attack! The two are one-on-one in front of the goal, Zhang Jun shoots..." The rest was exactly the same as what happened in the Dutch Cup final. The goalkeeper was tricked, and Zhang Jun scored with his heel.

"This is the eighteen-year-old Zhang Jun. This match was a semi-final of a regional qualifier in the high school league at that time. Therefore, the match was broadcast live on television to the local area, and therefore we were fortunate to get the videotape of the match. According to the TV station staff who gave us the videotape, this ball was only the second identical goal scored by Zhang Jun. The first one was scored in the game before this semi-final, but unfortunately, because there was no video, we don't know what the first goal looked like. But we have invited the person who witnessed the birth of this goal and named it: Chen Huafeng, a reporter from *Luoyang High School Football*! Please introduce the specific situation to the audience."

"Okay." Chen Huafeng said, holding the microphone, "I don't know how Zhang Jun came up with this kind of shooting. When I saw him score with this kind of shot in the quarter-finals, I couldn't believe my eyes. This kind of shooting can only be done by players with very good body flexibility and coordination. Later, I gave this action a name..."

"What is the name?" Qi Wei asked impatiently. "Dragon Soar," Chen Huafeng replied.

"Dragon Soar?"

"Yes, it takes the meaning of the dragon soaring to the ninth heaven." (Long Teng Jiu Tian)

"Ha! This name is more in line with the Chinese aesthetic. A while ago, Zhang Jun scored a heel goal, and the Dutch media called it 'Scorpion Tail Wagging.' But domestic media generally believe that the word 'scorpion' is inelegant, so it was renamed 'Dragon God Tail Wagging.' Zhang Jun, you really have a connection with the word 'dragon,' haha!"

Zhang Jun was a little embarrassed: "I didn't deliberately pursue anything. I only know that I am a forward, and my task on the field is to score goals."

Liu Hongmin once again set his sights on Kaka. It seemed that he was determined to grill Kaka in today's show. "We all know that Kaka is your nickname, not your real name. So can you tell everyone how you got this nickname?"

Kaka smiled: "When I first arrived at Shuguang, Teacher Liang arranged an internal team match. The two sides drew in that match. After the match, Zhang Jun found me. He felt that my name was not loud and nice enough, so he changed my name to what everyone hears now, 'Kaka.'"

"Zhang Jun often gives people nicknames," Yang Pan interjected from the side.

"Is that so? Then did he give you any nicknames?"

"He doesn't dare, because I'll shoot him with the ball."

Thinking of Yang Pan's powerful shot comparable to Roberto Carlos, everyone laughed.

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The one-and-a-half-hour program took nearly three hours to record, and finally it was done. In the backstage, Liu Hongmin and Qi Wei took the time to say goodbye to the three young players.

"What a pity." Liu Hongmin looked at the handsome Kaka and sighed, "Do you know why I always asked you questions specifically in the program?"

"Because of my nationality, so you are more interested in me," Kaka said with a smile.

"No." Liu Hongmin shook his head, "When I see you, I always think about why a Chinese talented player returned to Brazil to play, and China only knew of your existence through the appearance of Zhang Jun and the others. Why would you represent Brazil in the competition, and not China..."

Kaka didn't say anything, because he had also been troubled by this question. Although his father said that he was not qualified to obtain Chinese nationality, he only had Chinese blood. But he was still a little unwilling. He played football with Zhang Jun and the others for two years, and he really wanted to continue playing together. Wearing Brazil's yellow jersey and lifting the World Cup, but as he said, that kind of happiness was an ecstasy like winning the lottery. He shouldn't belong to this team. It would be the same if someone else came. Many people envied him for being a member of the World Cup champion team at such a young age, but his heart seemed more willing to work hard with Zhang Jun and the others for the future of Chinese football... Reality is too cruel. Why can't it be done according to his wishes? Why?

"You two have to work hard in the national Olympic team and Italy! For the future of our Chinese football, haha!" Liu Hongmin and Qi Wei said to Zhang Jun and Yang Pan.

Kaka looked a little jealous. Having the expectations of more than a billion people is a burden, but it is also a kind of happiness, right?

After saying goodbye to Liu Hongmin, Qi Wei, and Li Yan, the three had to rush to the airport. Zhang and Yang were going to Hefei to participate in the filming of commercials, while Kaka was going back to Brazil and then transferring to Milan. Their vacations were over, and everyone would become famous in the future and become even busier. He didn't know how long it would take before they could have another day like this summer, carefree, gathering with old friends, and putting up a "no interviews" sign at the door.

The car sped along the highway, and the scenery on the side of the road receded quickly. Did the carefree past also recede quickly like this scenery?

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"What?" Yang Pan shouted, "Zhang Jun is going to Brescia?"

Hua Fang nodded with a smile on her face.

"I really envy you, Zhang Jun." Kaka shook his head.

"Oh my god! Zhang Jun, let's switch!" Yang Pan said, grabbing Zhang Jun's hand.

"Hehe, no way!" Zhang Jun suddenly pulled out his hand, "Being able to play with Baggio, oh, I'm so happy, haha!" Zhang Jun deliberately provoked the other two.

Roberto Baggio, who played in Brescia, was the idol of countless young football players, and Zhang Jun was no exception. Since the 1994 World Cup, Zhang Jun had fallen in love with Baggio, who repeatedly saved the team and brought Italy to the final. When Baggio kicked the penalty kick into the sky in the final battle at the Rose Bowl, Yang Pan, who had stayed up all night to watch the game with him, cried because his beloved Italy lost. At that moment, Zhang Jun didn't know whether he should cry or laugh. His beloved Brazil won, but his beloved Baggio lost...

For Zhang Jun, Baggio was like an unattainable and distant dream. But he didn't expect that one day, he would be given a chance to touch his dream. He would be able to stand next to Baggio when the game kicked off.

Baggio's ponytail, Baggio's goals, Baggio's back... While Yang Pan muttered unwillingly, Zhang Jun closed his eyes and began to look forward to the future of fighting side by side with Baggio.

The car continued to speed along the highway to the airport, and Zhang Jun's heart was also speeding. He couldn't wait for the next season to come sooner.