Chapter 1 The Roar

Veronica hadn't stopped cheering since Zhang Jun's backheel flick sent him surging into the penalty area. When they saw him finally slam the ball into the goal of NEC Nijmegen, the cheers exploded a hundredfold, becoming an exhilarating storm that swept through the entire Veronica Stadium and the small town of Volendam.

"GoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooAL!!! Zhang--Jun!!!"

Zhang Jun was visibly excited after the goal. He shook off his teammates and charged to the edge of the stands, roaring, "I'm back! I'm back!! I'm back!!!"

It was no wonder he was so thrilled. For nearly eight months, he had endured grueling treatment and rehabilitation, only to be mocked as a "cripple" upon his return.

You always said I couldn't score, that I was useless? Well, I'll score one today and shut you all up!

After roaring, Zhang Jun turned to the cameras on the sidelines and made a gesture, putting a finger to his lips. "All of you, shut up!"

This action naturally provoked the visiting team's fans, but they could only swallow their anger in the face of the home crowd's frenzy.

Amid the cheers, Zhang Jun slowly walked back to the center circle. The entire Nijmegen team was waiting for him to take his place so they could kick off.

To be honest, although he was excited after scoring, he hadn't been thinking about scoring when he broke through. He was just angry at the visiting fans for booing him and wanted to give them a taste of their own medicine. When he saw that there was no one in front of him, he naturally wasn't going to hold back.

In any case, a goal was a good thing. A striker's position was somewhat strange. A long period without scoring would not only draw criticism from the outside world but also make oneself anxious and unconfident. Therefore, for a striker, especially a star striker, a continuous drought was simply a disaster. But as soon as one scored a goal, confidence and praise would instantly return. Going from zero to hero could happen overnight.

Zhang Jun was in just such a situation. After scoring a beautiful goal, he became full of confidence, believing that nothing on the field could stop him.

Not even a foul.

※※※

"Whistle!" The referee rushed over, pulled a yellow card from his chest pocket, and flashed it in front of Patrick Pothuizen, the Nijmegen defender who had been marking Zhang Jun. A yellow card warning!

Just now, Zhang Jun had used a feint to break past him, and the thirty-two-year-old Pothuizen was too slow to turn, so he had no choice but to reach out and pull down the already past Zhang Jun.

After Zhang Jun equalized the score in the fourteenth minute of the first half, he became increasingly active. Dribbling, taking the ball forward, crossing from the wings, and shooting made Nijmegen's defense strained. Pothuizen had been assigned the task of marking Zhang Jun specifically, but many times, his slow turning left him powerless against Zhang Jun's quick breakthroughs, forcing him to resort to fouling tactics to stop the Chinese player.

In the forty-first minute of the first half, Volendam won a direct free kick twenty-five meters from the goal.

Amid the shouts of "Zhang Jun! Zhang Jun!!" from the fans, Zhang Jun picked up the ball and walked to the spot designated by the referee. Without a doubt, he was going to take the direct free kick.

The Nijmegen players knew how dangerous Zhang Jun's free kicks were. His free kick conversion rate last season was one goal for every eight shots, which was already terrifying. Although he had just recovered from injury and might still need to find his form, with seven free kicks missed in the previous four games, who could guarantee that this eighth one wouldn't go in?

The wall had seven players, blocking the area in front of Zhang Jun solid. They knew that Zhang Jun would shoot directly, so they wouldn't waste manpower on other Volendam players.

Wang Hua stared intently at Zhang Jun from the stands, memorizing every movement and trying to analyze Zhang Jun's psychology: He put the ball down and carefully positioned it. He stood up and took a few steps back to gain momentum. He stopped, it seemed the distance was enough. He raised his hand and fiddled with his hair. Did that gesture… uh, did that gesture have any meaning?

It had no meaning. Wang Hua was just obsessed with studying Zhang Jun.

※※※

His hair had grown longer over the past few months. When Sophie wasn't around, he was too lazy to braid it, only using a brown headband to hold back the hair at his forehead, letting it fly around as he moved. Zhang Jun brushed the strands of hair that were blocking his eyes behind his ears, then squinted at the wall.

The wall was very wide, as if afraid he would go around it on either side.

Zhang Jun smiled. He knew what to do.

The referee raised his whistle to Zhang Jun, signaling that he could shoot after hearing the whistle. Zhang Jun nodded to show he understood.

"Whistle!"

Zhang Jun started his run-up, his steps light and quick. He raised his left foot, his instep taut, his toes pointing down, and then powerfully struck the lower-middle of the ball!

It was an outside-of-the-foot shot. The ball drew an arc, flying quickly toward the far corner of the goal – where the goalkeeper was standing! The seven-man wall was useless against Zhang Jun's shot towards the far corner.

Generally, the wall blocked the near post, and the goalkeeper was responsible for the far post, so there was a lot of space on the far post for the ball to pass through. However, few people shot at the far post because the goalkeeper was there to intercept the ball.

But Zhang Jun shot at the far post because he anticipated that the goalkeeper would think he was going to shoot near post and would lunge in that direction the moment he shot.

Sure enough, the goalkeeper had just lunged towards the near post when he realized something was wrong. The ball was heading straight for the far corner where he had been standing! By the time he wanted to turn back and dive, how could he be fast enough?

Shooting with the outside of the foot was to increase the speed. Even if your brain reacted, so what? Could your body react?

It was useless to try to save it. He could only pray to God to make the ball go wide or fly high.

Unfortunately, today God was Zhang Jun.

The ball cut through the air like lightning and drilled into the upper corner of the goal, while the only thing the goalkeeper could do was watch the ball go into the net!

The second goal!

"Zhang Jun's Smile!"

Veronica boiled over again. Zhang Jun either didn't score or scored two goals. Probably no one had expected this before the game!

This time, Zhang Jun didn't run around excitedly. He just stood still, raising both arms, a bright smile on his face.

Wang Hua remembered Li Yan's words: Write about Zhang Jun's smile. What in this world is more radiant than this young man's smile?

※※※

This beautiful direct free kick by Zhang Jun helped Volendam finish the first half with a 2-1 lead. Veronica was filled with joy, and the fans' loud songs echoed in the stadium.

Inside Volendam's locker room, it was the same as outside. Familiar teammates came up to Zhang Jun one by one to hug and celebrate his "revival." Although the teammates wouldn't be as anxious as Zhang Jun had been, they were still happy for him that a once very familiar teammate had regained his form. Of course, competitors were excluded from these teammates.

At this moment, Beukering sat sulkily in the back row, watching Zhang Jun's happy appearance, still somewhat unwilling. Zhang Jun's two goals were actually very beautiful, but to Beukering, who had always seen Zhang Jun as an eyesore, they were pure luck.

The backheel flick was luck, passing through the small door with the big door was also luck, and that outside-of-the-foot shot was even more luck. In this case, Zhang Jun's luck was too strong.

Adriaanse smiled and signaled everyone to be quiet. He was going to arrange the tactics for the second half. Although he didn't show much excitement in front of everyone about Zhang Jun's explosion, he was very happy inside. Now, not only was Zhang Jun's pressure gone, but even the pressure on him as the coach was gone. Someone testified that assistant coach Steur clearly heard Adriaanse mutter, "That fat Hognes can go see God!" when Zhang Jun scored the second goal.

Even when Zhang Jun was sitting in his seat, people would still pat his shoulders and head to congratulate him. The atmosphere in the locker room finally became lively again. Before Zhang Jun returned to the team, he didn't know how much the continuous winless streak had hit Volendam. The atmosphere in the locker room was always very tense, as if it was full of gunpowder. As long as there was a little spark, it would explode with a "bang!"

If Adriaanse hadn't asked everyone to have a unified voice to the outside world and focused on internal appeasement and secondary punishment in the Beukering incident, the team would have split long ago in this very period.

"Okay, everyone be quiet!" Adriaanse pressed down with both hands. "Everyone saw Zhang Jun's performance in the first half, so we will still let him be the offensive core in the second half."

"No problem!"

"Coach, you don't need to say it, we know what to do! Haha!"

The players below shouted again. What they said was true. In the past, when Zhang Jun was there, the team's offensive tactics were all arranged with Zhang Jun as the core, so these people knew how to play on the field. After all, most of them had played together for two years, so they still had some tacit understanding.

Seeing everyone shouting like this, Beukering felt even worse. Old players always had an advantage, he thought unhappily.

But now no one was paying attention to him anymore.

※※※

The fifteen-minute halftime break passed pleasantly. The Volendam players returned to the field with the good mood of "Zhang Jun's Revival." Veronica, which had been silent for fifteen minutes, became lively again. The fans were happy to see Zhang Jun still in the lineup. He would bring more wonderful moments for them in the second half!

During the halftime break, Wang Hua had already called the domestic headquarters and asked them to reserve space. Tomorrow would be a cruel and fierce news war, because everyone knew that Zhang Jun had returned with his smile!

※※※

"Zhang Jun! Zhang Jun!! Zhang Jun!!!" From the beginning of the second half, as long as Zhang Jun got the ball, Veronica would roar like this. This scene was nostalgic. When was the last time this had happened?

Zhang Jun was Volendam's number one star. If you didn't come here, you wouldn't know what kind of position he held in the hearts of the fans. This was the treatment he deserved, not doubts and boos.

After the halftime break, Volendam fought more and more bravely in the cheers of the home fans. Nijmegen was obviously hit by Zhang Jun's sudden "revival," and they seemed unprepared for it - who told them to believe the media's reports and evaluations?

One person couldn't defend him anymore, they had to add another one, but if there were two people, could the team withstand the Volendam offensive, which was like a tide?

The team could only rely on defense and counterattack to occasionally harass Volendam's defense.

The Nijmegen coach was a little discouraged. Zhang Jun's sudden outbreak was beyond his expectations, a pure accident. Originally, according to Zhang Jun's performance in the previous few games, the lead they had gained in the thirteenth minute of the first half could not only be maintained but also expanded.

But now… who could guess what would happen on the football field in the next minute?

Nijmegen was very embarrassed and tired of dealing with things in their own half. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't get the ball past the midfield.

Zhang Jun feigned a shot, but passed the ball to Hena, who still tried to shoot despite being blocked in front, but was intercepted by the opposing goalkeeper.

Then the goalkeeper threw the ball to launch an attack. Nijmegen counterattacked. This time they passed the midfield and made it into the penalty area in one go.

This counterattack was too fast. Uh, it only took three passes to get to the penalty area. Volendam hadn't had time to return to defense. Great opportunity for Nijmegen!

Unfortunately, Frank Demouge, perhaps didn't expect to get such an easy opportunity, he hurriedly kicked, but the shot was weak and powerless!

"Damn Frank, damn it!" the Nijmegen coach cursed. Raising soldiers for a thousand days, using them for a moment. You’re going to get stage fright at this crucial moment? What did you do last night?

But just as he was annoyed at wasting an opportunity, Volendam generously sent a big gift. Patrick Leeflang, who was also rushing back to defend, actually used his hand to hit the ball after his foot failed to block the shot. The ball changed direction and flew to the right side of the penalty area!

The linesman raised his flag, and the referee blew his whistle. Penalty kick! It would actually be a penalty kick! Volendam actually made a mistake and gave the other side a big gift in a good situation!

This ball came suddenly, and Veronica didn't react at all. There was no diving, no malicious violation. The two sides put on a "farce" that was both laughable and lamentable without any physical contact.

The Nijmegen coach suddenly came to his senses. Sure enough, no one knew what would happen on the football field in the next minute. He knew that if this ball went in, the team would still have hope. It was only the fifty-seventh minute, and there was still a lot of time left.

Demouge, who created the penalty kick, took the penalty himself. The other side was so enthusiastic, so why be polite? So this time there was no more stage fright, and he scored with one kick. The ball went into the net!

2:2! Nijmegen luckily tied the score again in the fifty-seventh minute!

While the Nijmegen fans were cheering for this goal, the Volendam fans began to call out Zhang Jun's name in unison. They firmly believed that as long as there was Zhang Jun, the result would definitely not disappoint them.

On the other side, Beukering was gloating as he watched Zhang Jun: Now let's see what you're going to do? Hat-trick? Hahaha!

※※※

Zhang Jun was also a little helpless. The two beautiful goals he had scored in front had been ruined by the stupid mistakes in the defense. It seemed that this game was really not easy to play! He wasn't deaf. He could hear the fans' calls and feel their eagerness, but scoring twice already made him very happy. A hat-trick was really too much…

It wasn't that Zhang Jun wasn't ambitious. For him, who had just regained his form and was still a little apprehensive, what more could he ask for? He was already very grateful to God for being able to score two goals.

Volendam, who lost the ball, launched another siege against Nijmegen. Naturally, they wouldn't be willing to be tied by their opponents in a situation where Zhang Jun was in such good shape. They wanted victory and wanted to end the twelve-game winless streak. And Zhang Jun became the arrowhead to break the record, the key player, and the ball was passed to him more often.

When the ball was passed to Zhang Jun's feet, he wouldn't simply pass the ball out again in a generous manner. Since Adriaanse asked him to be the main attacker, he wouldn't let the coach down.

However, with the same defense, Nijmegen's mentality was now completely different from before the goal. They were now full of confidence. As long as they withstood Volendam's bombardment during this period, they would definitely find a flaw. Then, they would launch a quick counterattack again, and relying on Volendam's terrible defense, they would definitely be able to overtake the score and get the three points as they wished.

Sure enough, after continuously bombarding Nijmegen for nearly five minutes, Volendam finally ran out of steam and temporarily handed over the initiative on the field. Nijmegen changed from a defensive posture and began to try to attack. Volendam's defense was not good. Simply defending was just courting death, and dying faster. Adriaanse knew this well, so he stood on the sidelines and kept whistling to remind his players: "Attack! Attack!!"

Herve retreated to the front of the penalty area and blocked an opponent's powerful shot. After wiping his sweat, he said to Zhang Jun, "It's easy for the coach to say, we just attacked so fiercely, we're still recovering, how can we go up and attack!"

Zhang Jun looked at his teammate and then patted him on the shoulder: "Just give me the ball, we'll launch a counterattack!"

Herve was a little surprised: "You want a hat-trick?"

Zhang Jun smiled: "If I have the opportunity, I won't refuse. Stop talking, go defend, their throw-in."

※※※

"Volendam's Herve intercepts Nijmegen's direct pass, he's looking for someone!"

When Zhang Jun saw that Herve had the ball, he quickly waved to him for the ball, but this action also attracted the attention of Pothuizen, who quickly marked Zhang Jun.

When Herve saw that Zhang Jun was being marked, he changed his mind. He flicked the ball and accelerated forward!

"Oh oh! Herve is taking the ball himself! This is unexpected, they didn't stop him!"

Herve ran wildly with the ball on the left. He was very fast, but the opponent quickly chased up and interfered with him.

Herve poked the ball away and glanced at Zhang Jun, who was running to meet him in the middle, to see if he had gotten rid of the mark... Hmm?

Zhang Jun was sprinting forward at full speed, and the opposing defender was following closely, but he suddenly slammed on the brakes and turned back! At the same time, he raised his hand: "Here!"

Pothuizen, who was marking him, didn't expect this and rushed past him. Now was the time! Herve took the lead and passed the ball to the middle. Zhang Jun stopped the ball very steadily, and at this time, Pothuizen turned around and chased up.

Was he going to shoot or break through? Pothuizen, who was rushing up, was a little nervous.

But Zhang Jun lifted his right foot in place.

Did he intend to shoot without running up at this distance? Pothuizen changed direction slightly, preparing to block Zhang Jun's shot.

Zhang Jun swung his right foot in place, and then used his heel to flick the ball behind him. Salden happened to be rushing up, and he took the ball past Pothuizen, whose center of gravity was completely out of balance!

"Damn, he actually passed the ball!" Pothuizen turned around and rushed towards Salden as soon as possible. He was certain to shoot in this situation!

But Salden turned to the right and flicked the ball to the left with the outside of his left foot! The ball rolled diagonally into the penalty area. Salden's turn to the right fooled everyone, and the left-footed pass was very concealed. The left side of the penalty area was disturbed by him, creating an opening, and then Zhang Jun, who had passed the ball earlier, appeared there!

Pothuizen was shocked when he saw Zhang Jun's back in the back: When did he… But he didn't have time to study this question. Zhang Jun was unmarked, and he swung his left foot to shoot!

Could anyone stop Zhang Jun in this situation?

No.

So the ball went in. Although the goalkeeper tried his best, he just did a useless job.

"GoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooAL!!! Zhang--Jun!!! Hat-trick!!!"

What a loud shout!

Zhang Jun turned around and rushed towards Salden, who assisted him. The first person he wanted to thank was him. Then there was Sophie, Qiu Zhi, Brother Feng, Dr. Sai Yang, Mr. Basten… and all the people who cared about him. He silently recited their names in his heart. This hat-trick was his best respect to them!

In the sixty-fifth minute, Zhang Jun's third goal helped Volendam regain the lead, 3:2!

※※※

Beukering on the bench almost fell off his chair. A hat-trick?! He actually did it, that Chinese!

※※※

Wang Hua was startled by a sound, but he soon became teary-eyed. It was like being separated for many years and seeing the light of day again. Eight months wasn't long, and it wasn't short, but how many people knew the hardships and pain in between?

But he finally got through it and stood in front of everyone, using a hat-trick to smash all the previous doubts and ridicule.

"Zhang Jun bless Volendam! Zhang Jun bless Volendam!!"

It was so good to hear this sound again!

※※※

Zhang Jun, who had broken free from his teammates, waved his fist at the stands again. He really wanted to hear the cheers again. It had been a long time, and he missed it very much.

As Zhang Jun wished, the fans cheered loudly again. And for a moment, Zhang Jun couldn't help but close his eyes. He was enjoying it, with a very intoxicated expression.

He couldn't help but think of the slap Sophie gave him back then. Sophie was right, he was indeed most suitable for football and couldn't leave football at all. He felt uncomfortable all over after leaving for only eight months. What if he left for a lifetime? Might as well let me die. Without football, life would lose half of its meaning.

※※※

Adriaanse finally decided to replace Zhang Jun early. Now that he was excited, he was the target of the defenders' attacks, so he let Beukering warm up.

When Zhang Jun found that the sign to replace him was raised, he realized it. He was still a little unsatisfied! But it was also good to avoid getting injured again. He hugged Herve, who was closest to the ground, and walked towards the sidelines alone. As he walked, he raised his hands to salute the fans. He didn't run, just wanted to enjoy the cheers from the fans, even a little greedy.

But this move made Beukering very dissatisfied. In his opinion, Zhang Jun was deliberately flaunting his popularity, putting on airs, and delaying his time on the field… In short, Zhang Jun was doing everything that was not good for him, and he was doing it with all his strength. So he didn't even shake hands with Zhang Jun as a formality, and rushed onto the field impatiently. He wanted to prove to people in the remaining twenty minutes that he was a hundred times stronger than that Chinese.

Wait, if he was a hundred times stronger, that meant Zhang Jun scored three goals, so he had to score three hundred goals?

Zhang Jun, who was off the field, was still receiving the fans' crazy cheers. He hugged Adriaanse, which was the latter's congratulations for his successful revival.

"Well done, Zhang Jun! Now you can take a good rest!"

※※※

Poor Beukering almost scored three hundred goals. He didn't even score one goal. There were only a handful of technical statistics that barely qualified as shots in twenty minutes. Trailing Nijmegen launched a fierce attack because they found that the newly-launched striker could not pose any threat to them at all, so even the center backs crossed the half, just to equalize. Beukering had to return to the midfield to do the work of a defensive midfielder.

Volendam finally held on. Although the situation was once very critical, they stubbornly held on to the one-goal advantage left by Zhang Jun in the cheers of the home fans.

When the final whistle sounded, the whole stadium boiled, and the twelve-game winless streak finally became history. Their first league victory came beautifully with Zhang Jun's return.

※※※

Zhang Jun became a popular figure overnight, because he was the only one who staged a hat-trick in this round of the league. All the previous remarks about him being "useless", "crippled", and "retiring early" changed their tune overnight and began to sing praises, as sickening as they could be, as disgusting as they could be, and as shameless as they could be.

In this trend of following the crowd, there were still a few media outlets that were rewarded for their continued trust in Zhang Jun.

A local newspaper in Volendam, which was quite influential, published the full report of the game on the front page the day after the game, as well as a photo of Zhang Jun's ecstatic expression when he scored the first goal.

The title above was extremely sensational and also showed the height at which the people of Volendam had placed Zhang Jun: "The King Returns - Red Carpet, Cheers, Flowers, Champagne, Welcome His Majesty the King!"

Sounds good, doesn't it, Zhang Jun?

※※※

ps: Friends always ask me to make a data sheet of the characters in *Champion* for Pro Evolution Soccer, so that they can be edited in the game. But because there was no such condition before, it was only in the intention stage. Now that I have bought a ps2 console and have the Chinese version of Pro Evolution Soccer 8, I have edited a Zhang Jun myself a few days ago. Similarly, I will list Zhang Jun's values for everyone to see, and I will also list the data of some other popular players. To facilitate everyone to edit in the game.

Starting from this chapter, I will provide the data of two players in each chapter. This issue is Zhang Jun, the most popular player, and his best partner, Yang Pan. The next issue will be two midfielders, the future core midfielders of the Chinese team: Li Yongle and Kru Li.

I only provide technical values and special ability options. As for appearance and other things, please feel free to use them, haha, but remember not to make them too ugly or too perverted.

※※※

Zhang Jun Height: 183cm Weight: 72kg Technical Values - Offensive Ability: 91 Defensive Ability: 38 Body Balance: 90 Stamina: 71 Speed: 93 Acceleration: 97 Reaction: 89 Agility: 86 Dribbling Precision: 79 Dribbling Speed: 86 Short Pass Precision: 70 Short Pass Speed: 68 Long Pass Precision: 50 Long Pass Speed: 48 Shooting Precision: 92 Shooting Power: 86 Shooting Technique: 90 Free Kick Precision: 92 Curve: 88 Header Precision: 90 Jumping Ability: 88 Personal Technique: 74 Aggressiveness: 85 Psychological Quality: 74 Stability: 7 Goalkeeping Ability: 24 Coordination: 84 Condition Stability: 6 Weak Foot Precision: 8 Weak Foot Frequency: 7 Special Abilities - Dribbling Master: Dribbling Protection: ☆ Positioning and Heading Ability: ☆ Good Sense of Position: ☆ Pushing Forward: ☆ Offside Trap: Shooter: ☆ Commander Tower: Passer: Two-Footed Fake Moves: ☆ Penalty Kick Master: ☆ One-on-One Ability: ☆ Powerful Throw-in: Winger: Midfielder: Shooting from Any Position: Man-Marking Ability: Commanding Defense: Tackling: Quick Long Pass: Saving Penalty Kicks: Saving One-on-Ones:

※※※

Yang Pan Height: 180cm Weight: 70kg Technical Values - Offensive Ability: 89 Defensive Ability: 79 Body Balance: 70 Stamina: 88 Speed: 98 Acceleration: 90 Reaction: 74 Agility: 79 Dribbling Precision: 75 Dribbling Speed: 89 Short Pass Precision: 88 Short Pass Speed: 80 Long Pass Precision: 87 Long Pass Speed: 80 Shooting Precision: 83 Shooting Power: 98 Shooting Technique: 84 Free Kick Precision: 82 Curve: 87 Header Precision: 81 Jumping Ability: 79 Personal Technique: 86 Aggressiveness: 92 Psychological Quality: 90 Stability: 8 Goalkeeping Ability: 20 Coordination: 89 Condition Stability: 8 Weak Foot Precision: 5 Weak Foot Frequency: 4 Special Abilities - Dribbling Master: Dribbling Protection: ☆ Positioning and Heading Ability: Good Sense of Position: Pushing Forward: Offside Trap: Shooter: Commander Tower: Passer: ☆ Two-Footed Fake Moves: Penalty Kick Master: One-on-One Ability: Powerful Throw-in: ☆ Winger: ☆ Midfielder: Shooting from Any Position: ☆ Man-Marking Ability: Commanding Defense: Tackling: Quick Long Pass: Saving Penalty Kicks: Saving One-on-Ones:

※※※

Remarks: The option below "Special Ability" indicates that this player has this ability with a five-star mark. If there is nothing behind it, it means that the player does not have this ability.

Considering that in the league mode of Pro Evolution Soccer 8, the player's values will increase to varying degrees, this data does not represent the final value of each player. As for what extent they will grow, it depends on what you can do to manipulate them, haha! Please enjoy the fun of football, whether in the game or in reality.

Also: The player qualities I refer to are *We Are Champions*, not *I Play Football, Do You Care*. So some players may seem to have very different abilities from those in *I Play Football, Do You Care*.

Tianyun Lao Mao