Chapter 117 Nike's Advertisement

The dazzling Zhang Jun was invited by Nike to participate in the filming of a commercial, and his print ads would soon appear in the streets and alleys within Nike's sphere of influence.

This was the second time Zhang Jun had participated in the filming of an advertisement for such an internationally renowned brand, and he wasn't as nervous as the first time. In a warehouse specially decorated in black, he, Brazilian star Ronaldinho Gaucho, and some streetball masters filmed the commercial called "Freestyle." The sound of football impacts combined with music formed a percussion piece with powerful drumbeats, coupled with fancy streetball moves, creating a visual and auditory impact for the audience. This novel form of expression would leave a deep impression on the audience, which was very effective in increasing and consolidating brand loyalty.

The star of the commercial was Ronaldinho, and Zhang Jun would have a few shots in it, but he wasn't the main character. He didn't care about that; he was just excited to be able to observe Ronaldinho's ball skills up close. Apart from a few simple juggling and passing moves, Zhang Jun's most brilliant move in the whole commercial was naturally his signature "Scorpion," when facing a defender, he pretended to kick the ball forward, but used the move known as "Scorpion" by Europeans and "Long Teng" (Dragon Soaring) by the Chinese to pass the football from the other direction with his heel.

Ronaldinho was also very interested in this move, and he sat on the side and watched carefully while the director shouted "Cut" again and again. Then, when Zhang Jun came down, Ronaldinho excitedly shouted to him in broken English: "Hey! Zhang, my friend, I've already learned your special move, you're finished! I'll show you my 'Scorpion'!"

As he spoke, he pulled over a football and tried to kick out the Scorpion, but his final kick was so inaccurate that it directly hit the back of the director's head.

Ronaldinho whistled and tiptoed away, as if nothing had to do with him. Zhang Jun stared wide-eyed as the director turned around to find the culprit. This Ronaldinho, after just a few glances, had almost completed it perfectly, truly a genius!

Ronaldinho's playfulness was normal, because he was always like that throughout the filming of the entire commercial. The director even asked Ronaldinho to listen to the music and then express football in his own way. The effect was much better than filming according to the script.

Participating in the filming of an advertisement for a large brand with international influence was not just about depositing more money into one's bank account. In fact, this was an important step in enhancing one's position in the international football world. Being able to film with those top players would be considered to have the same strength and status as them, especially for those countries with underdeveloped football. Even if their players couldn't compete on the same field with superstars such as Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Ronaldo, and Thierry Henry, being able to shoot commercials with them was also very exciting.

For the above reasons, Zhang Jun filming a commercial with superstar Ronaldinho in the same black room naturally became a matter of concern for many Chinese media outlets. Even "xxx China Entertainment Report" made relevant reports on this matter, not to mention various sports news media such as *Sports News*, *Football Weekly*, *Titan Sports*, *Football*, *Southern Sports*, etc.

"Zhang Jun is the only world-class star in the small club Volendam!" Some media even couldn't wait to declare this.

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Sophie carefully pasted the Nike promotional poster on the wall on one side of the bed. On the pitch-black poster, Zhang Jun was just soaring into the air, performing a standard "Long Teng" (Dragon Soaring). On the other side was Nike's "swoosh" logo and its slogan: "Just do it."

The poster was sent to her by Li Yan from Italy via air express. It wasn't yet available in China, and the one on her wall was the first. There was no other meaning, just collecting everything about Zhang Jun.

After Sophie pasted the poster, she sat cross-legged on the bed and examined it carefully. Because of the angle and lighting, she couldn't see Zhang Jun's face clearly, but his right eye was shining in the darkness, very striking. As Sophie watched, she began to study the shooting techniques, the setting, the lighting, the angle, and how the photographer captured this moment when Zhang Jun was moving quickly, so that the picture was not shaky or blurry...

Wait a minute! Sophie suddenly came back to her senses, hehe, she was getting a little carried away. These days she was always studying photography, and she was even studying it in front of Zhang Jun's photo.

Sorry, hee hee, Zhang Jun. After Sophie confirmed that there was no one else in the dormitory besides her, she leaned over, pursed her lips, and kissed Zhang Jun's face on the poster. Keep working hard, I'm working hard here too!

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In the two Eredivisie league games before the second leg against Marseille, Volendam lost again. Adriaanse did it intentionally, he was preparing for the away game in the UEFA Cup. After all, they were now creating club history with every step, and no one was willing to give up the opportunity to continue creating history, right?

Therefore, in those two league games, Volendam used mostly substitute lineups, and the result was predictable. Twenty-one league rounds had passed, and Volendam had accumulated thirty-eight points, ranking in the middle to upper reaches. Currently, it seemed that there was no problem in successfully avoiding relegation this season, because their excellent performance in the first half of the season laid a solid foundation for them. Now it was time to strive for a championship.

UEFA Cup Round of 16, second leg, Marseille hosted Volendam. Before the game, the official website of UEFA used a lot of space for the first time to introduce a player from China. They introduced his football journey in detail, from his student days to his current brilliance in the UEFA Cup. There were also some exciting videos of Zhang Jun's goals, among which, of course, was his "Scorpion" that shocked European football.

Under the picture of the "Scorpion", there was a passage: Since breaking Ajax's goal in this way in the 0203 season of the Dutch Cup final, it has become Zhang Jun's symbol. In Europe, people call it "Scorpion" because it looks very much like the constellation of Scorpio. In his hometown of China, people prefer to call it "Long Teng" (Dragon Soaring). "Dragon" has been a symbol of China since ancient times, like a totem, a legendary animal that can ride the clouds and soar in the sky and the sea. They seem to use "Long Teng" to hope that their country's football can soar to the skies like a "Dragon", and in their eyes, Zhang Jun is the embodiment of this "Dragon".

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Despite shooting advertisements and being on the official website of UEFA, none of these brought good luck to Zhang Jun's Volendam. At the Velodrome stadium, only one mile from the Mediterranean Sea, Marseille beat Volendam in front of their home fans.

The Velodrome was much larger than Veronica, and Marseille's home advantage here was even greater. Tens of thousands of fans shouted the Marseille club's slogan in unison: "Forward to the goal, we are the glorious Marseille! Forward to the goal, we are the great Marseille! Forward to the goal, nothing can stop us! Forward to the goal!"

In comparison, the songs of more than a thousand Volendam fans were simply negligible.

Faced with a powerful Marseille with home advantage, Adriaanse chose defensive counterattacks. It should be said that there was nothing wrong with his tactics, but the strength of the people executing the tactics was too different from that of the opponents. When the tactics were correct, the people executing the tactics were the key.

Unfortunately, in this absolute strength competition, Volendam didn't even have good luck. Just five minutes into the game, Zhang Jun, who was in good form, broke into the penalty area with the ball and was brought down by Barthez's attack, but the referee turned a blind eye. According to the replay, it was indeed a clear and unmistakable penalty. It can't be said that the referee was a black whistle, because this was just part of the home advantage.

Subsequently, Marseille launched a quick counterattack, taking advantage of the fact that the visiting team's players had not yet recovered from the referee's misjudgment, and Drogba scored a long shot to equalize the aggregate score!

This goal did not dampen Volendam's morale; on the contrary, it aroused their fighting spirit. The team counterattacked frantically. For about fifteen minutes, Volendam almost surrounded and attacked the Marseille team, and the home team was very embarrassed. Even the home commentator was worried about Marseille.

"If Marseille can't get through this period, then the situation will become complicated again! Volendam quick attack! Their counterattack speed is quite fast! They reached the front of the penalty area after four passes! Zhang Jun smeared into it, he shoots! Barthez pounced out of the baseline! So dangerous! What are our defenders doing? How can they let such a dangerous person enter the penalty area?"

The corner kick was taken, and Zhang Jun, under the cover of Henna, made a powerful backward header!

"It's Zhang Jun again! It's Barthez again! But the ball didn't go out of bounds, now there is chaos in the penalty area! I can't see what happened at all!"

I don't know who kicked the ball out of bounds, and the chaos finally ended.

"The ball is out of bounds, and the linesman indicated that Volendam will take a throw-in. I think there should also be a pause time, like basketball, so that Anigo can make adjustments. He's jumping up and down on the sidelines, too tired," the commentator joked.

"What are you doing? Bastards! Don't think that 1:0 can guarantee promotion! Attack! Attack! Completely defeat them!" After returning to the home court, it was not only the players and fans who became confident, but also Marseille's coach Anigo. Although he was an "interim coach," he was still very invested and could make himself official through excellent performance, which was what he hoped for.

Marseille was eliminated from the Champions League group stage, which made this old team, which was full of hope for revival, feel that the end of the world had arrived. There were also many contradictions within the team, but since replacing the coach in January, the team has gradually regained its feeling in various events. Anigo, this "temporary coach," has given people hope again.

It should be known that in February, in a survey conducted on a famous French website, most French fans believed that Anigo was just a transitional figure. Many officials of the Marseille club also thought so, so they announced that they would decide at the end of May whether Anigo would stay this summer.

"Anigo's three-back mission is very heavy. They may not be able to defend against the successive impacts of Zhang Jun, Henna, and Van Persie. Maybe we can only pray for Fabien's bravery," the commentator was a little unconfident, which showed how crazy Volendam was.

However, as time went by, Volendam's attack did not gain any rewards, except for making the home fans' hearts beat too fast a few times. As the commentator said, Barthez performed quite bravely, and his high resistance made Zhang Jun, Henna, and Van Persie return without success again and again.

If this continues, a lot of physical energy will be consumed, and it will be impossible to organize a continuous attack threat to the goal for a long time. The more serious consequence will be that the opponent will take the opportunity to score, which will undoubtedly be a devastating blow.

But this unfortunately became a reality.

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Taking advantage of Volendam's large-scale pressure, eager to equalize the score, the Marseille team launched another quick counterattack. Barthez had already been praised for launching attacks with accurate long passes in the 1998 French World Cup. This time, after he blocked Henna's shot, he directly passed the ball to Drogba in front before the opponent had time to return to defense!

Drogba once again performed his good show of dribbling the ball for a long distance, but this time he did not face the goalkeeper and shoot again, but chose to pass the ball after deceiving the goalkeeper out of the goal. The right winger Butler followed up and easily flicked it with his instep, and the football flew into the empty goal!

The ball went in again! Marseille took a 2-0 lead at home! They exceeded the aggregate score!

"A beautiful counterattack! Drogba is the biggest contributor to this goal! Marseille is leading, and now it will be very difficult for Volendam to achieve anything in our home court!" Look, this is the commentator, one minute ago he was still constantly nagging that Marseille was in danger, Marseille was in danger. A minute later, he could immediately shout that Volendam had no chance. It really had a bit of the realm of "turning hands into clouds, turning hands into rain."

Zhang Jun shook his head helplessly looking at the scoreboard. He worked very hard, but it was still the same group of people. Why would they be so different when they returned to the home court? Whether it was offense or defense, they all revealed the aura of an old strong team. Was this Marseille? Was this the Marseille that had won the European Champions Cup?

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In the second half, Marseille took advantage of Volendam's goalkeeper Westerop's save and scored the third goal.

Leading 3:0, with an aggregate score of 4:2, Volendam really had no chance. Adriaanse also took into account the recent intensive schedule. Since the UEFA Cup did not belong to Volendam, why not give up? So he replaced Zhang Jun, who had not scored a goal, to save his energy for the league and the Dutch Cup.

Zhang Jun's departure also officially declared that the dark horse Volendam had given up the UEFA Cup. Zhang Jun, who was infinitely glorious on the European arena this season, also waved goodbye to the UEFA Cup in the sixty-seventh minute, although he himself did not want to leave so early.

A few minutes after Zhang Jun was replaced, Van Persie and Kezer were also replaced one after another. Volendam was eventually eliminated with a score of 0:3 and an aggregate score of 2:4. The dark horse road came to an end.

There was nothing to say after the failure, because of insufficient strength. The media then turned to praising Marseille. Only a small number of media outlets speculated boringly that Volendam was eliminated because the main striker Zhang Jun spent too much energy on commercial activities such as shooting advertisements. Of course, their speculation was completely untenable, and few people paid attention to them. The eyes of the masses were discerning. Zhang Jun had always been one of the most hardworking people in the team, and his jersey was always wet every time he was replaced.

Despite being eliminated, Zhang Jun personally gained a lot. Eight goals not only made him the top scorer in the UEFA Cup so far, but also made him the hottest star in European football today. Volendam fans cheered for Zhang Jun's wonderful performance on the one hand, and on the other hand, they were worried every day that they would wake up in the morning and hear the news that Zhang Jun had signed with a wealthy team.

Everyone knew how to understand Hoorns' statement that Zhang Jun was not for sale: As long as the price was high, Zhang Jun had to be sold--"not for sale."

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As the Olympic qualifiers approached, the call of the country also followed. Originally, Qiu Suhui was still hesitant about whether to recruit Zhang Jun back, because the schedule was too intensive, which would affect Zhang Jun's physical strength and state. However, Volendam's elimination from the UEFA Cup made Qiu Suhui feel relieved. He negotiated with Adriaanse, and Adriaanse agreed that Zhang Jun would return to China in advance to train with the national Olympic team. At the same time, Qiu Suhui promised to give Zhang Jun as much rest time as possible. After the first round, he would let Zhang Jun return to Volendam to participate in the Dutch Cup.

This could ensure that Zhang Jun got rest, and it would not delay the club and the national Olympic team's games, and it would save him the trouble of having to travel back and forth between the two places after a game.

However, Qiu Suhui was rejected by Bologna regarding the recruitment of Yang Pan.

Since the start of the second half of the league, Yang Pan has taken the team's main position with his performance. Two assists have brought the team a victory and a draw. He is better than Nervo in defense, and his impact is slightly better. Some Bologna media commented on him: "He lacks nothing but Serie A experience." And now he is quickly accumulating Serie A experience and adapting to life in Italy.

In the month or so that Bologna made him a starter, they ushered in their first three-game winning streak and a four-game unbeaten run this season. In the seven league rounds from January 6 to February 15, they achieved an impressive record of four wins, two draws, and one loss.

Generally, coaches will not consider changing the lineup after winning a game, or when the team is in good condition. Therefore, Mazzone personally rejected the request from the Chinese National Olympic team to recall Yang Pan. He replied: "Yang Pan is now a member of the team's main lineup. We will have many strong teams to play in late February and throughout March. I will not agree to Yang Pan returning to China to participate in the Olympic qualifiers!"

The tone was very tough, and the Chinese Football Association was equally tough. The national team's recruitment for the game was permitted by FIFA. Why did your club prevent it? But they forgot that in the same Olympic qualifiers, AC Milan successfully prevented Kaka from returning to Brazil to participate, so the club also had times when it won. Compared with the Brazilian Football Association, the Chinese Football Association has less say in FIFA.

A reporter interviewed Yang Pan, and his answer was basically the same as Kaka's: "Players will always regard serving the national team as their bounden duty. But on the issue of whether to return or not, I can only obey the decision of the coach."

He also had his own difficulties. He finally became a starter, and if he went back now, it would likely mean that all his previous efforts would be in vain. But if he didn't go back, it would give people a bad impression of only caring about personal interests and disregarding national interests. No matter what he did, it would not be good.

Qiu Suhui privately called Yang Pan to solicit his opinion. Facing the coach, Yang Pan told the truth and told Qiu Suhui about his concerns. After Qiu Suhui understood Yang Pan's difficulties, he told him to develop with peace of mind in Italy, and the national Olympic team was fine. Then he announced that he would not recall Yang Pan for the two rounds of six games in this qualifier. The meaning was clear. He should concentrate on playing football there and continue to consolidate his main position.

Qiu Suhui understood, but this also meant that the other of the Gemini stars, Zhang Jun, had to shoulder greater and more responsibilities. After all, their first game was against their old rival South Korea.

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After playing the game with Marseille, Zhang Jun set off to fly back to Beijing, and then transferred from Beijing to Kunming to report to the Honghe base. Just as he stepped on the land of Kunming, his teammates still tied Roda in his absence and physical exhaustion, which can be regarded as a reassurance for Zhang Jun to play in the Olympics.

And Zhang Jun's arrival also gave the national Olympic team a reassurance. After all, with the help of the top scorer in the UEFA Cup, even against South Korea, which has not been won for twenty years, they are confident to break the fate.

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"Actually, I don't believe in this so-called fate of fearing Korea." At the first press conference after arriving at the National Olympics, Zhang Jun said to many domestic reporters, "Isn't the fear of Korea syndrome shouted out by the media? Later, every time there is a game with the Korean team, you have to shout a few times, for fear that we latecomers don't know that the Chinese team has not won against South Korea for twenty years." Perhaps realizing that his tone was too serious, Zhang Jun made a joke, "The Chinese team was not afraid of Korea at first, but there were too many people shouting, so they were afraid of Korea."

The audience was indeed amused by the joke that temporarily tampered with Mr. Lu Xun's famous saying.

Seeing that everyone was laughing, Zhang Jun also smiled and said, "In fact, in many encounters, there is only a layer of window paper left between us and them. But no one has dared to poke it through." Zhang Jun's performance in the UEFA Cup not only doubled his worth, but also greatly increased his confidence. "I don't care how the outside world evaluates us and them, winning the game and entering Athens is my goal for returning."

"My teammates are all very good, I never think I am any different from them. In fact, they all entered the national Olympic team earlier than me and are all my seniors. Football is about cooperation, we are a whole, we all represent China. So please don't separate us in the future. And discussing this now is not conducive to the national Olympic team's preparation. Can we not talk about this?" Zhang Jun then euphemistically rejected a reporter's question about "Are you the number one star of the national Olympic team?"

Qiu Suhui was sitting next to him, unable to imagine that Zhang Jun would mature so much in just over a year. He talked eloquently and confidently in front of reporters. The reporter was actually right, Zhang Jun was the number one star of the national Olympic team. His worth alone was almost equal to the sum of the worth of the Chinese and Korean teams, but he was still very humble. This humility was definitely not deliberately pretended to win goodwill. He only had football in his heart, and he didn't need to rely on performances at press conferences to win goodwill.

Judging from every detail after his return, Zhang Jun was trying to integrate into the team. He did not put on any airs, and did not ask for special treatment because of the tight schedule and physical exhaustion. He just wanted to play the game and then win the game. Shouldn't players be like this?

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"Zhang Jun: We want to poke through the window paper!" "Who will be the hero who defeats Korea?" "Korean team: China only has one Zhang Jun." "Confidently preparing for the Sino-Korean War."…

The national Olympic team, which had been widely criticized and doubted for playing in a mess with the Syrian National Olympic team some time ago, immediately won back trust because of Zhang Jun's return. There is indeed such a phenomenon among many Chinese fans: as long as there is Zhang Jun, the Chinese team has no problem. Even if everyone else performs abnormally, as long as Zhang Jun performs normally, entering Athens is not a dream.

The Sino-Korean War on March 3 was hyped to an unprecedented level. All Chinese fans hoped that the Chinese team could have a good start and break the fate of grievances for more than 20 years. What if it was an away game? There is a Chinese saying: How can you get tiger cubs without entering the tiger's den? It is worthy of this Sino-Korean War.

Bearing the expectations of hundreds of millions of fans, the Chinese National Olympic Men's Football Team left the Honghe base in Kunming, Yunnan, where they had stayed for half a year, on March 1, Beijing time, and headed north to Beijing, and then flew directly from Beijing to the location of this game, Seoul, South Korea. There, their old rival, the Korean team, was waiting for them.