Chapter 1 All in the Past

Zhang Jun felt that everything was in the past, or at least that's what he thought. As usual, he played soccer every day, slept, surfed the internet, played games... life was the same as before. However, in some places, changes were actually happening without this super-dense guy even noticing. For example, Lin Wei never came to Zhang Jun again to ask about soccer. Now, she didn't even say a word to him when she saw him. But Zhang Jun thought this was normal; he wasn't the type of guy who liked to deal with girls anyway.

On the other side, Sophie hadn't received any more calls from Li Shuai either. Over time, she simply forgot about him. Of course, she couldn't avoid that kind of thing fast enough; who would want to run into it again?

In short, the days passed by peacefully, but warmly.

Zhang Jun joined the school team, and Sophie also officially joined the art teacher's art club. As a result, they spent much less time together. But they no longer worried about each other, just like Yang Pan said when Kaka called, "Don't expect to swim across the Pacific to be a hero. By the time you get here, they'll probably already have a baby."

Yang Pan's ending was, of course, very tragic. Afterwards, he was beaten up by Zhang Jun. However, speaking of the phone call from Kaka that day, it really surprised and delighted them both.

As soon as the dormitory phone rang, Zhu Hui rushed over. He had been chasing after a female senior recently, so he was very excited when he heard the phone ring. "Hello!"

"Hello, is Yang Pan there..."

Zhu Hui lost interest as soon as he heard it was a male voice. He curled his lips and handed the phone to Yang Pan, who was reading a book. "It's for you, a guy." His tone was full of disappointment. "Don't talk for too long!" Then he warned Yang Pan again, because he was still thinking about his female senior.

Yang Pan ignored Zhu Hui's "threats" and took the microphone. "Hello, this is Yang Pan. May I ask who's calling?"

"Hehe! Guess!"

"...When did you start liking to play these kinds of tricks, Kaka?"

"Kaka?" Zhang Fan glanced at Lele on the top bunk. "Strange name..."

"Kaka!" As soon as Zhang Jun heard this name, he jumped down from the top bunk excitedly and sat next to Yang Pan.

"I heard Zhang Jun's voice, hehe!" Kaka laughed.

"Yeah, he's right next to me... By the way, how did you get our dormitory phone number?" Yang Pan set the phone to speakerphone and gently put down the microphone.

"I asked Sophie."

Hearing Kaka's familiar voice, Zhang Jun suddenly felt as if he had returned to more than two months ago. Luoyang, the sunny airport, a few people, a few pieces of luggage, a reluctant farewell, a lost three years of wonderful time...

"You have Sophie's phone number?" Yang Pan was a little surprised.

"Through the internet! Didn't we leave our email addresses last time? Dummy!"

"Oh, oh... Speaking of which, you actually called Sophie first; you value the opposite sex over your brothers!"

"Sophie is thoughtful, so of course I have to greet her first. Gentle, considerate, caring, lively, and most importantly, beautiful, haha!"

Yang Pan reminded him, "He's sitting next to me. Aren't you afraid he'll swim across the Pacific to settle the score with you?"

"If Zhang Jun really comes, I'll pay for the plane ticket!" Kaka laughed.

The remaining three people, upon hearing talk of men and women, immediately perked up their ears and rudely crowded over.

"Hehe! I'm just kidding. But you don't have a chance to be a hero and save the damsel in distress. By the time you actually swim over here, the two of them probably already have a little baby..." Before Yang Pan could finish speaking, Zhang Jun kicked him aside.

"Don't listen to his nonsense, Kaka!" Zhang Jun sat down in front of the phone. "How are you doing?"

There was a pause on the other end. "I'm fine, Zhang Jun. It makes me so happy to hear your voice again!"

Those three low-taste people glared at Zhang Jun with equally wicked eyes.

"Hehe! Yang Pan and I have joined the school team and are preparing for the college soccer league."

"That's great! You're finally going to play soccer after all! I also have good news. I've joined the São Paulo (sanpaulo) club and am now considered a professional player!"

The three people next to him exchanged glances, surprised and doubtful. Yang Pan got up from the ground. "São Paulo? Which São Paulo?"

"Which one do you think? There's only one 'São Paulo (sanpaulo)' in the world!" Kaka said proudly. "Brazilian São Paulo!"

"Professional player... That's so far away!" Zhang Jun was pleasantly surprised, but also a little discouraged. Kaka, who used to play soccer with him, was already a professional player, but he was still muddling through college, with no goal other than the college league.

"Zhang Jun, do you remember what I told you?"

"Oh, I remember!"

"Hehe, then work hard! I've taken the first step, but I'll be waiting for you ahead, waiting for you on the field."

Luoyang, the sunny airport.

"Will we ever meet again, Kaka?"

"Are you still playing soccer, Zhang Jun?"

"Yeah!"

"Then that's it. As long as you're still playing soccer and I'm still playing soccer, we'll definitely meet again."

The sunlight shone on Kaka's smiling face, making it even brighter. He smiled and said to Zhang Jun in a very affirmative tone, "We'll meet again, Zhang Jun!"

Noon two days later.

The cafeteria was crowded with people coming and going.

Zhang Jun looked at the almost full cafeteria and the long lines in front of each window, and he felt a wave of dizziness--there were really too many Chinese people! "Are you really planning to eat here?" he asked Yang Pan, who was next to him.

Yang Pan also surveyed the cafeteria and finally shook his head unwillingly. "Forget it, let's go back to the dormitory and eat instant noodles!"

As the two were about to leave, Zhang Jun glanced habitually at the TV above his head and stopped moving.

"Yang Pan..."

"What?"

"...Look at the TV..."

Yang Pan looked up.

The TV was showing the midday sports news.

"...The Rio-São Paulo Championship in Brazil has concluded with the crowning of its champion. São Paulo, thanks to two wonderful goals scored by newcomer Kaka, who came on as a substitute in the second half, defeated Flamengo to win the Rio-São Paulo Championship..."

The scene showed Kaka running wildly to celebrate the goal. His black hair fluttered in the wind, and his bulging shirt looked like a flag, followed by a large group of teammates. Zhang Jun could clearly hear the cheers of "Kaka! Kaka!" from the stands.

"He scored... two of them! This kid is really promising!" Yang Pan said happily. "He became famous in one battle, he became famous in one battle!"

"Yang Pan..."

"What?"

"Let's become professional players in the future, too?"

Yang Pan turned his head to look at Zhang Jun. Zhang Jun was looking up at Kaka running wildly on the TV with an excited expression.

"Become professional players, go to the top European leagues, represent the national team in the World Cup, and compete with Kaka..."

Zhao Yu found that Zhang Jun and Yang Pan had been training more actively these past few days than before. He didn't know why, but he was very happy. The college league was in two days, U University versus Y University. The opponent was not weak, and Zhao Yu wasn't sure of victory. Now, seeing his players training so hard, he felt relieved.

During this time, the team entered the practice of tactical coordination. Last year, U University mainly played with central penetration, but it wasn't effective when encountering teams with many defenders. Last year, they lost to J University in the semi-finals because of this. Zhao Yu also knew that central penetration was a double-edged sword. Don't insist on the center if you don't have enough strength. Even in the world of soccer, teams that truly should insist on a central style of play are like endangered animals. While such teams are worthy of respect, they are also mostly losers in the increasingly utilitarian world of soccer.

France has Zinedine Zidane, the number one art master in the world today, so they dare to play through the center, but in the 2000 European Championship final, both the equalizer and the golden goal that France scored against Italy were the result of breakthroughs on the wings. Therefore, the wings are becoming increasingly important in modern soccer. Of course, China's wing play can be ignored; taking the ball to the end line, crossing at the end line, and crossing out of bounds are all soccer with Chinese characteristics.

Zhao Yu had been enriching the team's offensive routines, but he was troubled by the lack of true wingers on his team. Last year, U University used a 4-4-2 formation, with two holding midfielders and two attacking midfielders. Most of the midfielders dribbled well, and the two full-backs rarely went up to support the attack. Their stamina and technique didn't allow them to do so. They lacked the kind of player who had good ball control skills in fast breakthroughs and could make accurate crosses.

But this year was different. In Zhao Yu's eyes, Yang Pan, with his outstanding speed, accurate passing, and excellent long-range shooting, was almost born to be a winger. In addition, his nearly ten years of valuable chemistry with Zhang Jun made their attacking combination even more powerful. As for the left wing, Zhang Fan was left-handed, which gave him an advantage over others. Speed wasn't his strength, and his technique was average, but what was very valuable was his physique. He didn't suffer at all in physical confrontations, so letting him play center forward should be a good choice. But it would be a shame to let him be a substitute, since he was a soccer player admitted through a special program. Zhu Hui, on the other hand, was better at distributing the ball, so playing him on the wing would be a waste.

Zhao Yu thought that he would decide on the left wing issue after the first game. There were only two days left before the game, and there were no warm-up games, so he would have to use the group stage to test things out. However, with U University's strength this year, getting out of the group stage shouldn't be a problem.

Zhao Yu had also arranged for the position of captain Xie Yun. Last year, Xie Yun played as a striker, and his characteristics were fast speed and strong scoring ability. However, Zhao Yu also saw his characteristics of good stamina, comprehensive technique, and strong fighting spirit. These were enough for him to perform well in the holding midfielder position. He also had Ou Pu as a partner. Ou Pu had always been the main holding midfielder, with rich experience, plus the newcomer Lele Le behind them. This was a tough and tenacious center back, but sometimes he needed to be a little calmer.

Zhao Yu thought that six people in the backfield were enough.

The four defenders stood in a parallel line. Ou Pu stayed back, and Xie Yun was slightly ahead of Ou Pu, which could take advantage of his strong scoring ability when necessary. Zhu Hui played as an attacking midfielder, and his distribution would create a lot of trouble for the opponent. The two wingers, or wing forwards, were not fixed in their positions on the wings and could move forward or backward, depending on the situation at the time. Then there was Zhang Jun, who was like a sharp knife straight into the enemy's heart.

In Zhao Yu's mind, the key to the success of this formation was whether the two wings could take flight together, otherwise it would be no different from last year's 4-4-2. If the two wings took flight together, then the U University tiger would be like a tiger with wings, and few teams could survive the combination of wing and center.

Old Li was arranging for the team to practice wing crosses and center finishes. This attack wasn't simply a matter of crossing from the end line and the center forward heading the ball, but rather a continuous change of the crossing point. Yang Pan's crossing skills were indeed good. Whether it was the near post, the middle post, the far post, or the cross behind the near post, his crosses were on point.

Old Li required that a finishing momentum be formed in front of the goal when crossing. Zhang Jun, as the spearhead, could both look for opportunities to score and serve as a decoy, creating scoring opportunities for Zhu Hui, Zhang Fan, and Xie Yun behind him. From the current training, Zhang Jun was doing well. He was someone who could grasp opportunities, but he could also create opportunities.

In that case, even if Zhang Jun was marked, there were still opportunities for others. The 4-5-1 was a very delicate balance. Although there was one less striker, the strength of the midfield and backfield had been strengthened. On the basis of solidifying the defense, the midfielders could boldly press forward without pressure. However, all of this was still based on the ability of the only striker, requiring him to both be able to hold the ball, wait for his teammates, and use his personal ability to find opportunities to score.

Zhao Yu believed that Zhang Jun fully met the requirements of this one and only striker.

Yang Pan made a cross from the end line, and Zhang Jun jumped in front of the defender marking him at the near post, making a very difficult header. The soccer ball flew into the goal from the near corner.

Zhao Yu remembered that the first time he went to watch a history department game, Zhang Jun's first goal was scored in this way. A header at the near post was very difficult, but precisely because it was difficult, if it was done well, the scoring rate would be very high.

Let the game in two days come quickly!

This was the first time Zhao Yu had looked forward to a game so much. He couldn't wait to see Zhang Jun shoot the soccer ball into the opponent's goal in the game.