Chapter 1 The Youth Team

Although the u21 league had ended, the more than thirty youth teams from various regions stationed at the Honghe training base in Kunming, Yunnan, did not leave. The u21 league was just one of their purposes for training here; in fact, the twenty-four Class A youth teams were mainly here to prepare for the new season. Such centralized training, whether in Kunming Haigeng or Honghe, can be said to be a continuation of the planned economy era of Chinese football and has become a characteristic of Chinese football. Perhaps no other football association in the world would force all professional clubs to concentrate in a "concentration camp" surrounded by barbed wire and security guards for unified training and physical fitness tests, right? This can be considered professional football with Chinese characteristics to some extent.

For almost the entire week, all the teams at the Honghe base scheduled their training programs as physical training. The reason was simple: their head coaches, including many assistant coaches, were concentrated in the base's large activity center to attend lectures. What kind of lectures? Lectures on "How to Correctly and Effectively Cultivate Youth Players," given by Qiu Suhui, the head coach of the Henan Zhongyuan Club youth team, the newly crowned champion of the u21 league.

"Football is not only the number one sport in the world, but for hundreds of millions of fans, football is also a source of joy. Similarly, for our youth football coaches and players, happiness is equally important. Coaches should do everything possible to increase young players' interest in football. Einstein said: 'Interest is the best teacher.' This sentence applies to any condition, including football."

"Cultivating players' interest starts with the most basic and important aspect: daily training. For those coaches who only hold a textbook and let the players train chapter by chapter according to the order of the table of contents, they are stifling the children's enthusiasm for football. Monotonous and boring training can easily cause players to lose concentration during training, which is very dangerous. Because it will lead to unreasonable technical movements, resulting in injury. When a player is caught in a struggle with injury, how can he still be interested in football?"

A group of coaches, young and old, were taking notes carefully in the audience. After all, Qiu Suhui's resume was something that many of them could not compare with. Seeing him turn an unknown Henan youth team into a national u21 champion in half a year, they knew how powerful he was.

"An excellent youth football coach should be able to arrange training in a skillful and interesting way, allowing the players to accept high-intensity training content in a pleasant atmosphere. This kind of training is many times better than those training methods that simply repeat the same content and do not change the form."

...

"A week is not a long time, but it should allow everyone to avoid some common mistakes in training. These mistakes are even imperceptible to you, and these subtle mistakes are the most harmful. Please forgive my alarmist talk, but the fact is indeed so. For example, thinking that players should start on a large field as soon as they come up, or thinking that physical fitness is more important than personal skills, or that the team is more important than the individual, which limits the individual's performance in training. This situation is especially serious in China. Think about why we haven't had players with excellent personal skills and creativity for a long time?"

"To give another example: modern football has become overly obsessed with formations. Before a game, we often hear a coach say that they will play with a 442 or 352 formation in this game. The news media then publicizes it, and we see it and think it is the most normal thing. Then, when the team loses, the coach will announce that they will switch to a 433 formation in the next game. We still accept it without question, thinking that the coach has finally found the crux of the loss, and then victory will follow. But what is the reality?" Qiu Suhui spread his hands, shrugged, with a very European expression.

"After Brazil won the World Cup in 1994 with their classic 442 formation, the whole world began to popularize 442. To what extent? Even women and children who had a superficial understanding of football would blurt out '442' as the first word they mentioned. In the 2002 World Cup, Brazil won the championship with 352, and then created a new round of popularity, but this time it was 352. Now, if someone talks about 442, they will be laughed at as tactically conservative! How ridiculous!"

"Why doesn't anyone want to think about the fact that in 1994, Brazil had Dunga, the iron gate, and Tafarel, the best goalkeeper in Brazilian history? Pereira insisted on a defensive style of play, which stifled Brazilian artistic football, but relied on Dunga, the Brazilian team's defensive tactics, and the 'golden combination' of Romario and Bebeto, who were in full swing in the frontcourt, to conquer cities and fortresses. And in 2002, everyone focused on the 3Rs and the two K's. But no one saw the excellent state of Brazil's three central defenders, and no one saw the crazy tackles of the two unknown defensive midfielders. It was with the progress of the game that Brazil's defense gradually entered the state, and they finally won the championship."

"But these were all ignored under the halo of victory. Once they fail, the formation is likely to be the first to become a tool for coaches or players to shirk their responsibilities. When there is a problem with the team, they think that as long as they change the formation and personnel, everything will be fine. But the fact is not so simple. Of course, I am not saying that we must stick to one formation. Football is very重视 zhòngshì (to value; to attach importance to) tactical thinking, and the so-called various formations are just bottles used to hold the wine of tactics. If you don't consider the problem of your own tactical thinking, but only focus on the formation, it is just new wine in old bottles, without any novelty."

There was a slight commotion in the audience. In their usual view, the problems that Qiu Suhui mentioned were not considered problems, but they did not expect that after Qiu Suhui pointed them out, they felt that there were problems everywhere.

Qiu Suhui was obviously very satisfied with their reaction. He waited for the discussion to subside slightly before continuing, "I think everyone here must have had such experience, right? We should formulate corresponding tactics and play styles according to the characteristics of our own team's personnel, and then not stick to the form in terms of formation. No formation can improve the players' shooting accuracy and passing skills, and no formation can make players not need to cooperate with each other, and no formation allows players not to run or not want to run. Formation is just a superficial thing. Coaches should see through the essence of the game's victory or defeat through this superficial phenomenon--attitude determines everything."

As soon as Qiu Suhui said these words, it caused another commotion. This sentence, which was embroidered on Milu's hat back then and was "shown off" by him everywhere, has been reprinted a thousand times by the media, but how many people really understand the meaning of this sentence? Was Milu really just putting on a show? After the Chinese team was defeated in South Korea, this sentence and another sentence, "Happy Football," were criticized by many people for creating gimmicks and being flashy. But who was creating gimmicks? Everything that Milu had done in China was completely overthrown. People only remembered how many advertisements he had shot in China and how much "blood and sweat money of Chinese football" he had earned, but never remembered his true value. This naughty old man from Yugoslavia, his good intentions were never understood by some people in China, and these people were the ones who controlled the power of speech and greater power. This is just a manifestation of the great tragedy of Chinese football, and it is better not to say more about other things.

Qiu Suhui had also heard about some of Bora's affairs in China. At that time, Bora did not explain this sentence in detail to the Chinese people. Perhaps he thought that the Chinese people, who had been engaged in football for decades like him, were very smart and could understand his meaning. But until he left China amid a barrage of criticism, he still couldn't figure out why the hardworking and intelligent Chinese people, who had a civilization of five thousand years, had become so dull on a small thing they had invented.

For four days, all he did was give lectures. Qiu Suhui shared his experience with everyone without reservation and hoped that they could apply it in their future work. Because he knew that an excellent grassroots coach was worth a hundred excellent players. Only by doing a good job in cultivating youth football can Chinese football truly have some hope. If the foundation of the football pyramid is not solid, how can the superstructure be built?

It is inevitable that lecturing on theoretical things alone will be boring, so he made the last three days all practical operation. The so-called practical operation is to personally lead the team to demonstrate how to train. Here, he played a small trick. Instead of using his own Henan team as a demonstration, he asked Chen Wei to come forward and select twenty-three players from the thirty-two teams in the entire Honghe training base to form a temporary team for him to train and demonstrate.

He said to the outside world that it was to make his training more convincing, and that after training the temporarily pieced together team for three days, he would have a teaching match with Dalian, the runner-up of the u21 league. In fact, this was just a superficial factor. Qiu Suhui's plan was ringing loudly. He wanted to take this opportunity to first familiarize himself with the players he had selected, to see how they performed in training, so that he could have a clear idea in his mind.

Chen Wei and Qiu Suhui found a quiet corner to drink coffee. "No problem, there is no problem with any of the requirements you have put forward." Chen Wei took a sip of coffee and agreed to Qiu Suhui's request to borrow players from other teams. "How have you considered that matter?"

Qiu Suhui took a sip of the rich coffee in his cup: "Thank you very much for the Football Association's trust. I will try my best to live up to the expectations of the leaders." He said it lightly, but it made Chen Wei ecstatic. He told Luo Wenqiang that it would take a week, but he didn't expect it to go so smoothly. He had taken it down in less than a week.

"Great!" Chen Wei drained the remaining coffee in his cup.

"Hey, this is coffee, not Erguotou..."

"Haha, do you want two bottles of Erguotou?" Chen Wei asked Qiu Suhui with a smile.

Qiu Suhui shook his head: "Why are you so happy?"

"The national team has hope. How can I not be happy?" Chen Wei was a little emotional. Could it be that Erguotou was really mixed into the coffee? "Ever since Deng Xiaoping, the paramount leader of China from the late 1970s until his death in 1997, we have been advocating that 'football should start with children.' It has been shouted for almost twenty years, but it is still just a slogan. Just like that sentence 'Rush out of Asia and go to the world,' when a goal becomes a slogan, do you think there is still hope of achieving it?" Chen Wei stared at Qiu Suhui and asked.

Qiu Suhui shook his head.

"So! The hope of Chinese football lies in the youth, and I am specifically responsible for this part of the affairs. Shen Weiguo's sudden resignation did catch us a bit off guard, but it also gave me an opportunity, an opportunity to do a big job and do something. The Athens Olympic Games are just around the corner. No matter what the purpose is, whether it is for utilitarianism or luck, Chinese football needs a victory too much, an inspiring victory! For me, you are the person who can bring me victory!"

Qiu Suhui looked at the man in front of him. He was in his early forties, but he had already become the vice chairman of the Chinese Football Association. Some people said that he had gotten in through the back door, and some people said that he wanted to gain political achievements. No matter what he was like before, tonight Qiu Suhui saw a truly passionate man who was thinking about Chinese football.

"To do something, this is also my original intention for returning to China!" Qiu Suhui smiled and extended his hand. The hands of two men were tightly clasped together. This was a promise between men, unrelated to a piece of paper.

"Xiao Li, everyone is talking about the new coach of the national Olympic team now. I want to hear your opinion. You can also be considered a veteran reporter who reports on domestic football." The deputy editor-in-chief walked to Li Yan's desk with a cup of hot tea. During this period, a cold wave struck, and a large area of cooling weather occurred across the country from north to south and from west to east.

Li Yan knew very well in his heart that when he knew that Qiu Suhui had decisively returned to China, he knew that he could not only be the coach of a Class B club's youth team. Otherwise, he might as well go to Camp Nou to be Van Gaal's assistant. The only thing he didn't expect was that Shen Weiguo's sudden resignation had allowed that "ambitious man"--this was Li Yan's nickname for Qiu Suhui--to realize his plan ahead of schedule.

He shook his head, frowned, and said: "I don't know either. The situation is very chaotic now. Almost every day, new candidates pop up from the media, domestic and foreign..."

"Chen Wei is now inspecting the work of the u21 in the Honghe base. Do you think there is any connection between these two things?"

As expected of a veteran, Li Yan admired him in his heart. "He's going to Honghe? But it seems that there are no coaches there who are capable enough to be convincing!"

"Qiu Suhui, have you forgotten? The coach of the Henan Zhongyuan Club youth team just led the team to win his first championship since he returned to China to coach. You should have had contact with him in the Netherlands, right?"

Li Yan thought of that extremely embarrassing meeting again. His outstretched hand stopped in mid-air, but the other party only gave him an arrogant back. "Indeed." Li Yan gritted his teeth and said, "He is a... excellent coach."

"Eh? Xiao Li, what's wrong with you?" The deputy editor-in-chief heard that Li Yan's tone was not right.

"Ah, no, nothing, a little dizzy..."

"Haha, a strong guy like a cow will also get sick. The weather is really strange, a spring cold, you have to pay attention." The deputy editor-in-chief looked at Li Yan, who was lightly dressed, "Oh, and your visa to go to the Netherlands is being processed, and it will probably be available in two weeks. Do you miss Zhang Jun and Yang Pan?"

Li Yan was stunned for a moment and confirmed that the deputy editor-in-chief had no other meaning. After all, after staying in the Netherlands for a long time, he would always unconsciously think in that direction. "Haha, I really do a little bit. Volendam has lost two games in a row, Zhang Jun is injured again, and Yang Pan is not in good condition... Spring cold is not only in China!"

Zhang Jun pulled open the curtains, and the bright sunlight poured in, making him squint his eyes involuntarily. Yang Pan went to training, and he had been "resting" at home alone for ten days. Although yesterday's check-up at the club showed that the strained muscle had recovered, Adriannse, for safety's sake, still let Zhang Jun rest for one more day before letting him participate in training tomorrow. These two days were basically spent learning Dutch in the morning and going to the club's gym to practice strength and increase physical fitness in the afternoon. But today, seeing the clear sky outside the window, he suddenly lost interest in learning. It had been snowing continuously for a week, and today it finally cleared up. It would be a real waste of such good weather not to go out for a walk.

Zhang Jun put on a coat and slipped out from the back door--in order to avoid the reporters guarding the front door. Zhang Jun was already numb to those reporters who were working day and night. At first, he even wanted to go out and慰问 wèiwèn (express sympathy; console) them.

The temperature was still relatively low today. There is a Chinese saying: it's not cold when it snows, but it's cold when the snow melts. Zhang Jun walked slowly, he didn't want to hurt his newly recovered thigh again. Stepping on the snow made a "creak creak" sound. Like Sophie, Zhang Jun also began to like the feeling of stepping on snow.

In fact, he had not been in a good mood during this period. He was injured, and the team had lost consecutive games in the past two rounds of the league. Without Kozeer, Volendam's defense line was directly exposed to the opponent's firepower. No matter how hard the players tried, two consecutive losses were inevitable. In the last round of the league, although Kozeer returned, he was still unable to stop the team's downward trend.

The league has entered the final sprint stage, whether it is to win the championship or to保级 bǎojí (avoid relegation). Volendam lacks bench depth, and the bad consequences of fighting on two fronts leading to physical exhaustion have gradually become apparent. Consecutive tough battles have also led to serious injuries to the team. In the next Dutch Cup semi-final, Adriannse can only send out half of the main force, which is really bad news.

The snow made bursts of noise under his feet, as if it had life. The clear sky was cloudless. Zhang Jun even walked out with sweat on his forehead. He found a bench by the dike to sit down and rest.

The Netherlands, it's really like a dream...

Now Zhang Jun finally had time to calm down and recall the past half a year. From a college student, he suddenly became a professional player who scored goals in the Dutch Super League, and unconsciously it has been half a year. He didn't have the habit of keeping a diary. Otherwise, it would be very interesting to look back on the bits and pieces of the past half a year, right?

The moment of scoring a goal, the hugs of teammates, Rice's stern face, Adriannse's trust, Kivu's jersey, the beautiful agent Hua Jie, Yang Pan's pass, Sophie's voice... Zhang Jun couldn't help but smile. Although he was a little injured now, the past half a year was still incredibly beautiful.

"Look who this is? Ha! Our big star!" A hearty voice interrupted Zhang Jun's self-intoxication. He looked in the direction of the voice and found that there was a small boat in the waterway opposite him. A middle-aged uncle was waving to him, and behind him stood two boys about five or six years old. "Hello, Zhang Jun! It's rare to see you running out alone!"

"Hello, Uncle Dennis!" Zhang Jun stood up and walked to the side of the waterway. He was a neighbor when he lived in Uncle Wang's house, a family of enthusiastic Dutch people. "Where's Aunt Mary?"

"She's at home preparing lunch. I brought the two children out for a walk. The weather is good today, and the waterway has thawed." Uncle Dennis docked the boat on the shore. "Two little devils who can't stay idle..." Uncle Dennis looked very loving.

"Brother Zhang Jun!" The two little guys scrambled to greet Zhang Jun. He was their idol in their hearts. Zhang Jun waved to them: "Are you still playing football?"

"No, the weather is too bad, there's snow everywhere..." The two children pulled their faces. When Zhang Jun and Yang Pan were still living in Uncle Wang's house, they had taught them to play football.

"But Brother Zhang Jun is so厉害 lìhai (awesome; formidable), he can play football even when it snows..." The younger one said to Zhang Jun with an envious expression.

"Fool! He's a professional player, he has to play!" The older brother taught his younger brother.

Uncle Dennis smiled embarrassedly at Zhang Jun, and then asked, "How is your injury recovering?"

"Haha, the fact that you can see me standing here shows that there is no problem. I will return to the team tomorrow."

"That's good, go back early. The team has lost both games you haven't been in. We fans haven't tasted the taste of consecutive losses for almost half a year, haha!" Uncle Dennis laughed again, "I'm going back, will you come with me? It's been a while since you've been back to see them."

Uncle Dennis's unintentional words stung Zhang Jun. It had been a long time since he had gone back to see Uncle Wang's family, eat the food made by Uncle Wang, and chat with the neighbors. He spent his days either playing games or training, and occasionally came to the city to buy things in the supermarket. He was chased by reporters every day and had nowhere to escape. Perhaps only in Uncle Wang's house could he enjoy those occasional moments of laziness. "Uncle Dennis, can your little boat accommodate me?" Zhang Jun looked at Uncle Dennis's boat and said with a smile.

"Haha! At worst, the boat will sink and we'll swim back! Come on up!" Uncle Dennis waved to Zhang Jun. Zhang Jun jumped into the boat, the boat shook slightly, and then stabilized. "Let's go!"

Zhang Jun was sitting in Uncle Wang's small yard, laughing loudly at the two活宝 huóbǎo (treasure, lively kid) from Uncle Dennis's family. The two little guys were playing football on the ground, but it was really hard to tell whether they were playing football or the football was playing them. Uncle Dennis's family and Uncle Wang's family were busy cooking. The other neighbors came over to join in the fun. They were very happy that Zhang Jun had returned.

"Hi! Hello!"

"How are you?"

"How's it going?"

"Not bad, thank you!"

...

Everyone greeted each other and chatted casually. Zhang Jun was not necessarily the protagonist. Everyone just wanted to be happy together. It had been a long time since they had seen a clear sky and bright sunshine. Zhang Jun's arrival was just one of the reasons why everyone gathered together.

Being in this small yard, Zhang Jun truly felt relaxed, a true relaxation of the mind. Being with these simple town residents, he could always be so happy.

Uncle Wang took some time to chat with Zhang Jun for a few words. It had also been a long time since he had chatted with this Chinese boy. Everyone was busy, with their own careers. It was really not easy to get together like this today.

Uncle Wang handed Zhang Jun a cup of homemade lemonade: "Is your injury healed?"

"No problem, I should be able to play in the next cup semi-final." Zhang Jun moved his left foot to confirm to Uncle Wang that he was fine.

"That's good, the team's performance is declining without you!"

Zhang Jun smiled. Uncle Dennis had also told him this just now. Li Yan once told him and Yang Pan that they had become heroes in the hearts of Volendam fans, the saviors of the team. He didn't quite believe it. He had just set foot on the road of professional football, how could he have such ability? Now he believed it.

In fact, Volendam with Zhang and Yang was a completely different team than Volendam without them. The results could explain everything. It was no wonder that Adriannse was so cautious about Zhang Jun's injury. He would rather let Zhang Jun miss one or two league games than not see Zhang Jun in all the remaining games of the season.

"By the way, where's your agent lady? I haven't seen her recently."

"You mean Hua Jie? She's pretty busy, she has a lot of other things to deal with. She's not in the Netherlands these days."

"Haha! It's really funny to say, those boring reporters actually thought there was something between you... Ha! But it's no wonder, she's so beautiful, who would believe that she's already thirty years old?" Uncle Wang laughed.

But Zhang Jun could only smile wryly. The past was in the past, and he didn't want to mention it again. Uncle Wang seemed to see Zhang Jun's pain, he put his hand on Zhang Jun's shoulder: "Don't worry, if you feel tired, come to me. I guarantee that no reporters will harass you! You can learn a few more good dishes from me. I'll teach you how to cook Western food and absolutely authentic Chinese food. You can also teach those two little guys to play football. I think they'll be very happy too."

"Thank you, Uncle Wang, you take such good care of me!" Zhang Jun was a little choked up. When he first arrived in the Netherlands, he was unfamiliar with the place, and Uncle Wang accepted them. He took care of their food, clothing, housing, and transportation, and served as their translator... He never asked them to repay him for anything.

"Ha! Thank you for what? We are all Chinese. Since you have come to the Netherlands, I will naturally help you! There's nothing to thank, from now on my place will be your home in the Netherlands!"

Uncle Dennis saw that the two were chatting happily, so he came up to join in the fun. Although he couldn't understand the Chinese that the two were speaking, he spoke Dutch, and everyone understood: "Zhang Jun, why haven't I seen Yang Pan?"

"Oops!" Zhang Jun suddenly remembered that he was only interested in having fun and had left Yang Pan at home, and he hadn't prepared lunch for him...

Yang Pan, facing the empty room and the empty kitchen, finally realized that Zhang Jun was not playing hide-and-seek with him. "Damn it! Zhang Jun, you bastard!"