Chapter 1 When the Asian Cup came to an end amidst a cacophony of noise and a scene of utter disarray, the Athens Olympics were poised to take center stage.

Since the football tournament was scheduled to commence well in advance of the official opening ceremony, the national Olympic team, along with the women's national football team, had to arrive in Athens earlier than the other members of the Chinese Olympic delegation. It was the first time in Chinese football history that both the men's and women's teams had qualified for the Olympics.

The players appeared somewhat weary from the recently concluded series of training matches in Europe. However, Qiu Suhui reassured the concerned Chen Wei, "Don't worry. The fatigue is a good thing. An athlete's body is always fluctuating between optimal condition and exhaustion, like a curve constantly rising and falling. I've pushed these guys pretty hard, and they're currently at their most fatigued. But as the games begin, their fitness and form will gradually return to their peak, and they'll maintain that state until the Olympics are over."

However, the national Olympic team wasn't at full strength; they were missing a key midfielder.

"Everything's okay now, just waiting for Li Yongle to return," Qiu Suhui said, clapping his hands.

Chen Wei pondered, "I never imagined he'd be scouted by Inter Milan."

"Haha! Besides his own talent, Hua Fang is quite resourceful. After promoting Yang Pan to AC Milan, she sold Li Yongle to Inter Milan. The Milan Derby will be something to see in the future."

"Well, the Football Association has no objections either. They support any of these young players who have the opportunity to go abroad. And since Li Yongle doesn't have any domestic club holding him back, it'll be much easier." Chen Wei also reassured Qiu Suhui. In fact, Li Yongle had registered as an amateur player with the Chinese Football Association to participate in the college league, but the Football Association had no right to prevent Li Yongle from playing wherever he wanted. Chen Wei's words were mainly intended to let Qiu Suhui know that the Football Association would support the national Olympic team players playing abroad in the future.

Chen Wei knew that Li Yongle, whose brilliance during the European training period was second to none after Yang Pan, was bound to leave sooner or later. But he never expected him to go to such a big club -- Inter Milan, even if he was just going as an apprentice.

News finally reached the media that Li Yongle had left the team midway and gone to Milan, Italy, with Hua Fang. Although there had been much speculation about Li Yongle's destination before, and there were rumors of Inter Milan's interest in Li Yongle, no one had expected that it would really be Inter Milan making the final decision.

AC Milan, Inter Milan. These two names, worshipped by countless Chinese fans, were now so closely linked to Chinese football in a single summer, it was all like a dream.

As for our protagonist, he had just snapped out of this dreamlike reality. Inter Milan was interested in him, and he was interested in Inter Milan, so there shouldn't be too many problems. However, the restriction that Serie A only allowed one non-EU player to be introduced each year made things a little tricky. But with Hua Fang's maneuvering, Li Yongle finally entered Inter Milan's youth team as an apprentice, joining the team to participate in the Italian youth league. Although he was already the core midfielder of the national Olympic team, he would have to start all over again at Inter Milan, just like when he first joined the national Olympic team half a year ago.

"Isn't it just starting from scratch?" Li Yongle thought optimistically. He was already very happy to be able to train at the club he loved.

The two sides quickly signed a contract, but Inter Milan only signed Li Yongle for one year. According to them, if Li Yongle didn't meet the club's requirements within a year, then there would naturally be no need to renew the contract.

Hua Fang had some disagreements on this point, but Li Yongle said to her, "One year is enough." He said it quite seriously, not joking or making excuses to comfort Hua Fang, but simply because he had absolute confidence in himself.

The news that such a confident person had joined Inter Milan as an apprentice caused quite a stir in China. Many people sighed repeatedly: the rising star of Chinese football was actually going to be an apprentice there. Wouldn't it be better to go to a lower-tier team in a second-rate European league and be a starter than to pursue this vanity?

What a pity!

※※※

"Hey, Yang Pan. Li Yongle went to Inter Milan, and you're at AC Milan. There'll be some great matches between your two teams in the future!" A group of people were eating in the Olympic Village restaurant. Because the Chinese delegation hadn't moved in yet, the restaurant wasn't serving Chinese food for the time being. Fortunately, the players had gotten used to Western food during their training in Europe.

Yang Pan looked up. "Yeah, I'm looking forward to playing against him too. But it probably won't happen this season. He has to work hard to get promoted to the first team, and I have to fight for my position."

"I really envy you guys!" Zhao Pengyu sighed. He was now gradually getting some playing time in the Beijing team, thanks to the Olympic qualifiers. But in the national Olympic team, he was surrounded by people who were already playing as starters abroad or were about to go abroad, which made him want to go out and see the world too.

As he was speaking, Yang Pan's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID, then got up and walked outside, answering the phone at the same time, "Hello, Sister Hua? What's up?"

Xiang Tao watched Yang Pan leave, glancing at the food on the table that he hadn't even touched. "Big stars are big stars, they're so busy they can't even have a proper meal," he said in a deliberately drawn-out tone, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Wang Yu, who was sitting next to him, nudged Xiang Tao. "What do you think about what Coach Qiu said?" He was referring to the Belgian club that Qiu Suhui had found for Xiang Tao through connections. Because Belgium didn't have non-EU restrictions, and was close to the three football powerhouses of the Netherlands, Germany, and France, its level wasn't bad. It should be beneficial for Xiang Tao's growth.

In fact, Qiu Suhui hadn't just been training the team during this European training period. He had arranged so many friendly matches in order to showcase this brand new national Olympic team to European clubs. So, as the team's performance improved, it attracted the attention of many club scouts. Several outstanding players had already been contacted by scouts and their agents. For those players who didn't have agents, Qiu Suhui acted as a temporary agent, but this couldn't last long. After all, he didn't have a FIFA-recognized agent's license, and many things were difficult to negotiate. So, he directly recommended these players to some clubs he had been with in the past, of course, only those clubs that had a guarantee of credibility and the conditions for these kids to grow.

This was how Xiang Tao was recommended to a Belgian club called Anderlecht. As an old powerhouse in Belgium, the team had a long history and good traditions. As a regular in the annual European Champions League, they had many opportunities to play against European giants. In addition, a series of comprehensive youth training systems and professional management made Qiu Suhui feel very confident in them.

But most importantly, Qiu Suhui, as the head coach of the national Olympic team, had worked here as a youth team coach for a period of time. Anderlecht's current chairman, Roger Vanden Stock, and first-team coach, Hugo Broos, were both close friends of Qiu Suhui. Broos had even been Qiu Suhui's assistant in the youth team.

With this relationship, it was relatively easy for Qiu Suhui to recommend Xiang Tao, especially since the South Korean player Seol Ki-hyeon had a successful experience here. The club was also happy to accept inexpensive and high-quality Asian players.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that the current head coach of the Chinese national team, the Dutchman Arie Haan, spent the most glorious years of his coaching career in Anderlecht for seven years, and he transformed Anderlecht into a team that the whole of Europe dared not underestimate.

Plus, Brussels has the famous scenic spot, the Chinese Pavilion. Anderlecht's connection with China is not shallow.

Xiang Tao nodded. "If there are no surprises, I'll go to Belgium for a medical examination and signing after the Olympics, starting from the second team." The Sichuan club didn't put up too much resistance, just made a few token attempts to keep him, and then let Xiang Tao go. It seemed that the club really couldn't wait for Xiang Tao to leave.

"Great! Then we'll be teammates in the future! Please give me some guidance!" Wang Yu shouted happily.

"Huh? You..."

"If there are no accidents, I'm going to Belgium after the Olympics for a medical examination and contract signing, and I'll start from the second team with you," Wang Yu said, imitating Xiang Tao's tone just now.

"What? Why didn't Lao Qiu tell me?" Xiang Tao was very surprised.

"Hehe! I didn't let Coach Qiu tell you, I wanted to give you a surprise!" Wang Yu said with a smile.

Xiang Tao then realized that when Qiu Suhui mentioned this matter to him, there was always something unfathomable in his eyes. It turned out that he suspected that there was that kind of abnormal male-male relationship between him and the girl!

Damn it! Xiang Tao suddenly felt a chill.

※※※

"What? Back to Bologna?" Yang Pan was a little surprised.

"Yes, AC Milan and Bologna have reached an agreement. As an AC Milan player, you will be loaned to Bologna until the end of the season," Hua Fang said to Yang Pan on the phone. While she was in Milan dealing with Li Yongle's affairs, she also took care of Yang Pan's matter. It seemed that Mazzone valued Yang Pan very much and still wanted to loan him back after Yang Pan transferred to AC Milan.

AC Milan also considered that Yang Pan couldn't play in Milan at the moment. As a team that had just won the league title, the coach wouldn't easily replace players, unless they were particularly famous or strong. Obviously, the current Yang Pan couldn't make Ancelotti feel at ease to use him, so it would be better to let him go out for training, just like the Argentinian center-back Coloccini back then. The two clubs hit it off, then Milan told Hua Fang, and Hua Fang confirmed Yang Pan's opinion.

"Are you unwilling to leave Milan?" Hua Fang saw that Yang Pan hadn't spoken for a long time, and thought he was dissatisfied with being loaned out.

Yang Pan then came back to his senses. "No, I'm happy to go back."

Hua Fang didn't notice that Yang Pan used "go back" instead of "go to." He had been stunned since hearing the news, not because he was reluctant to leave Milan, but because he was reminded of the memories in Bologna, especially that Chinese restaurant.

"Oh, that's good. Since you agree, I'll tell both clubs. You don't have to go back to Milan after the Olympics, just go to Bologna to report." After saying that, Hua Fang hung up the phone in a hurry, it could be seen that she was very busy.

Yang Pan also put away his phone. He didn't expect that he would have to leave Milan and return to Bologna without even seeing what his Milan teammates looked like. But that's fine, he can see Yi Lan again. He smiled and turned to walk back to the restaurant.

※※※

The Olympic football tournament should be the earliest event in the Olympics. When many countries' Olympic delegations had just moved into the Olympic Village, the football matches had already started in advance.

In the men's tournament, China was placed in Group A, along with hosts Greece, Mali, and Mexico. In this group, Mexico's strength should not be underestimated, and hosts Greece are a major obstacle on China's road to advancement.

The situation in the other three groups is: Paraguay, Japan, Ghana, and Italy are in Group B; Argentina, Serbia and Montenegro, Tunisia, and Australia are in Group C; Group D includes Costa Rica, Morocco, Iraq, and Portugal.

The top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals, and after a series of matches, the ultimate champion is determined. Among all the participating teams, Argentina and Italy are the strongest, and they are the favorites to win the gold medal. Portugal is slightly behind, and is a team capable of competing for a medal. After the top three are assigned, the remaining rankings are determined by the strength of the remaining teams.

This is the view of many critics.

But this summer's dark horse whirlwind has not let go of the Athens Olympics.

In the women's football match held on the afternoon of August 11th, the first day of the competition, China's women's national team, once ranked second in the world and a traditionally strong team, which also carried countless fond memories and expectations of Chinese fans, was surprisingly thrashed by the reigning World Cup champions, Germany, without any chance of fighting back.

It should be known that in the warm-up match between the two teams before the Olympics, the Chinese women's national team had even narrowly defeated the newly crowned champions 1-0, which gave the Chinese people great confidence, believing that the Chinese women's national team's transition between the old and the new had finally been completed smoothly. Zhang Haibin and his players also took the field with an extremely relaxed attitude. But Prinz, the German forward, World Cup Golden Boot and Golden Ball winner, was not to be trifled with. She scored four goals alone in the match, causing the once-heroic "Steel Roses" to wither overnight. Even the German reporters at the scene said apologetically to the Chinese reporters, "That's terrible, how could this happen?" In fact, they didn't need to apologize at all. If you fall behind, you will be beaten, this is inevitable. The blame should be found on oneself, rather than complaining that the Germans are ruthless in destroying flowers.

When the news of China's women's national team losing 0-8 to Germany reached the headquarters of the Chinese Olympic delegation, officials of all sizes couldn't help but shudder. This result, this score was simply unheard of! Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chinese football had never conceded eight goals to an opponent. The most embarrassing thing for the Chinese men's national team was losing 0-6 to Barcelona in the European training camp in the first half of the year, which was unanimously regarded by the media as a great shame. Some fans even demanded that that day be designated as the day of shame for Chinese football. But unexpectedly, a few months later, the Chinese women's national team refreshed this record of shame. 0-8, the fig leaf that the Chinese Football Association had tried and tested was torn into eight pieces. At this moment, everyone who caused this result was nailed to the pillar of shame.

Chen Wei received a notice from above that as the men's football team, which received the most attention in the football program, they could not be so embarrassed no matter what. Even if they lost, they must not surrender.

This news was immediately passed on to the national Olympic team, which undoubtedly made the already somewhat abnormal atmosphere within the team even more abnormal. Qiu Suhui was annoyed by the "good deeds" done by those "officials." Every time he spent a lot of effort to adjust the players' mentality, those officials would definitely come to make trouble with a straight face, as if these people were born to make trouble for Chinese football.

But there were still two people in the team who didn't belong to the vast majority. Yang Pan always had a blank expression in front of the media, so people couldn't tell from his face whether he was nervous. But he himself knew very well that after experiencing Serie A, if there was anything that could make him tremble, it would only be because of excitement, not nervousness.

As for the other person, everyone knows who it is.

"Wahahaha! The hosts! We're actually playing the opening game against the hosts!" Xiang Tao was excitedly shouting after seeing the match results.

"Hey, Xiang Tao. Aren't you nervous about playing the hosts? Besides, it's our first time playing in the Olympics. And the superiors just issued..." Lin Feng looked at Xiang Tao worriedly, afraid that he would laugh like a madman.

"Damn it! Let those officials die! I'm not interested in minding them! I'm just excited at the thought of being able to slaughter the Greek team's sons of bitches in front of the Greek fans!" Xiang Tao was indeed very excited, like he had taken ecstasy.

"I'm afraid they'll slaughter you, you idiot," Li Suisheng snorted coldly from the side.

"What did you say, Lebanese?"

"Hey! Quick, hold Xiang Tao back, otherwise we'll lose two main players before the evening's match even starts!"

"Don't! It's not easy for Xiang Tao to transform once, how can we stop him?"

"Yeah, yeah, watch the show! I'm selling tea and melon seeds here!"

"Then I'm in charge of opening the betting, raise your left hand if you bet on Xiang Tao to win, and raise your right hand if you bet on Li Suisheng to win!"

"Damn it! Girl, gambling is illegal, you know?"

"Hahaha!"

Qiu Suhui straightened his back, then turned his head and shrugged at Chen Wei behind him. "You heard that? These kids... hehe! Don't worry too much. Maybe we'll encounter some trouble, but it shouldn't be a problem to break into the quarterfinals. Let's go, accompany me for one last cup of coffee, the game is almost upon us."

Chen Wei turned his head and looked at the door again. The people behind the door seemed to be having a great time. He had originally wanted to come and relieve their stress, but it seemed that he had overthought it. But...

That player named "Xiang Tao" is really uninhibited...

※※※

The famous tourist destination of Crete in southern Greece is the site of the Athens Olympic football tournament. The Heraklion Pankritirio Stadium, whose name is a bit tongue-twisting, is where China will play the opening match of the Olympic men's football tournament against hosts Greece. Due to the unexpected large defeat of the women's football team in the afternoon, people naturally focused all their attention on the men's football team, hoping that this time it wouldn't be too embarrassing.

But there are still many fans who have great hopes for this national Olympic team. Just like during the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, people always have greater or lesser illusions about the Chinese team, but the final result is disappointing, and even the so-called weakest Costa Rica in the group stage was not beaten, which made many people's previous wishful thinking fall through.

So what about this national Olympic team?

"Greece's national team just won the European Cup, and their morale is high. The national Olympic team is also in high spirits as a result. But this is also their weakness, because they will underestimate the enemy. Yang Pan will be the person they pay the most attention to, and others will naturally be ignored, which gives us opportunities. Li Yongle, after an extra trip, how are you doing?"

Li Yongle gave Qiu Suhui a thumbs up. "There's no better than now."

"Very good. The opponents don't understand us, but we don't understand them very well either. This is an encounter battle. But no matter who the opponent is, just play your own game like you did during training. Also, I'll tell you one more thing." Qiu Suhui said very seriously. The players thought it was something very important and stared at Qiu Suhui equally seriously, expecting his next words.

"Don't pay attention to the orders from above. Actually, they're all farting."

Everyone was stunned, then burst into laughter. Coach Qiu used this trick again at a crucial moment. Now they completely forgot about the opponent's situation, and their minds were filled with the image of Football Association officials turning red in the face and farting during the match.

※※※

When the two teams stood in the field listening to the national anthem, some people came back to their senses. They suddenly realized that they had stepped onto the Olympic arena just like that, not as complicated or sacred as they had imagined before. It was as ordinary as any normal match.

Yang Pan stood at the front of the team with the captain's armband on his arm. He put his right hand on the national flag on his left chest and looked up at the somewhat dazzling ceiling of the Pankritirio Stadium with a blank expression.

"Tsk! He's getting more and more mature, you can't see a trace of emotional change in this kind of occasion!" Li Yan put down his binoculars and sighed to Wang Hua beside him. "He's a natural-born captain."

"The March of the Volunteers" echoed in the stadium, making some people sigh with emotion. Sixteen years, finally played again on the field of the Olympic men's football match.

After the national anthem was played, the Chinese players raised their hands and greeted the hundreds of Chinese spectators who had come from all directions. Regardless of whether they were fans or not, they were here to cheer for China. Of course, the fans themselves were more enthusiastic, such as Niu Jianhua, Old Niu. He came to Greece at his own expense just to watch the national Olympic team's match and cheer for Chinese football.

He was bare-chested and painted a five-star red flag on his chest with oil paint, which shone brightly under the stadium lights. At this time, he was vigorously waving a national flag that was several times larger than him.

I just heard the news of the women's football team's disastrous defeat this afternoon, I hope the men's football team can win honor for China.

This match will be broadcast live to the whole of China. I don't know how many Chinese fans are staying up late in front of the TV at this time, and I believe I don't know how much beer there is either.

Wang Jianxiang sat in the press center in Athens, watching the signals transmitted from the front and providing commentary. Due to the lack of manpower at CCTV, many matches were not covered live, which Wang Jianxiang found somewhat regrettable. Watching TV and watching live are very different, with a TV in between.

"Audience friends, I believe that at this time, there must be many fans staying up late in front of the TV, right? I am now in the press center in Athens to provide commentary on this match. The Greek Olympic team is facing the Chinese Olympic team! The match is about to start in a few minutes, I'll take this time to introduce the starting lineups to everyone. China's starting lineup is as follows: the goalkeeper is number 1 Sima Hongxin; the two center backs are number 5 Liu Peng and number 6 Li Suisheng; the left back is number 13 Xiang Tao, the right back is number 2 Wang Liang; the two defensive midfielders are number 14 Wang Yu and number 15 Li Yongle; the left midfielder is number 8 Zhao Pengyu, the right midfielder is number 7 Yang Pan, who is also the captain on the field; the attacking midfielder is number 10 Lin Feng; and the striker is number 9 Li Jie. China is playing a 4-5-1 formation. Now I'll introduce the starting lineup of the Greek team..."

※※※

"Hey, girl. Did you write down the other team's starting lineup that Lao Qiu gave us just now?" Xiang Tao asked Wang Yu in front of him, taking advantage of the fact that the game hadn't started yet.

"No!" Wang Yu had a bitter face. "Greeks all start with 'this-that-and-the-other-thing,' how can I remember them? To be honest, I don't even know what the name of this venue we're playing in is..."

"Damn it, then how are you going to defend them?"

"Idiot! Can't you recognize the numbers?"

"Oh."

In fact, the Greek team's coach, Apostolakis, also had a headache about the names. In his eyes, Chinese people not only look the same, but their names are also similar. He only knows that the Chinese team is fast, because the representative figure is Yang Pan. As a teenager who has just joined AC Milan, he is definitely a dangerous person. In addition, fortunately Zhang Jun was injured and didn't come. These two people's fame is gradually growing in European football, and Apostolakis has heard some news about them. If these two people join forces, Greece will be in trouble.

But a Chinese team with only one Yang Pan is much easier to deal with. Apostolakis unknowingly made the same mistake as the South Korean team's coach, Kim Ho-kon.

"The referee blows his whistle! The match has started! The Chinese Olympic team in white shirts and white shorts are attacking from left to right. And the Greek Olympic team in blue shirts and white shorts are attacking from right to left!"

※※※

Chinese fans are all holding their breath, even Wang Jianxiang, who is commentating on the match, is holding his breath, hoping that this national Olympic team that has been given high hopes will give people a surprise in the match.

But...

"Eh?" Wang Jianxiang was stunned in front of the microphone. He didn't see it clearly just now. He only saw the Greek players suddenly raising their arms and cheering, and the football was quietly lying in the Chinese team's goal. "What's going on?"

Qiu Suhui stood up. He didn't see it clearly just now either. A corner kick from the Greek team, the penalty area was a mess, and then he saw the other team celebrating a goal.

The replay of this goal is playing on TV, and all Chinese fans are watching with wide eyes, hoping to find clues from it that the other team committed a foul that could invalidate the goal. But everyone saw that after the corner kick was taken, no one got the ball, and the football landed in the penalty area. Then Greek striker Amanatidis snatched the ball in front of Liu Peng and poked it, and the football hit the goalpost and bounced out.

Then Xiang Tao made a big clearance kick. But, but the football hit Amanatidis's back, who was instinctively dodging, and flew towards the goal again!

Sima Hongxin hurriedly dived to save it, but he was one step too late!

Seeing that the football was about to enter the goal, it actually hit the crossbar and bounced back! The Chinese players, who thought they had escaped a disaster, didn't even have time to catch their breath, but the football miraculously hit Sima Hongxin's back of the head, and then slowly flew into the goal...

"Too... too exaggerated, right?" Qiu Suhui looked at the big screen with his mouth open for a long time, unable to close it. Sima Hongxin was flying in the air, and the back of his head, which was so small, was actually hit by the football. Even buying a lottery ticket doesn't have this kind of luck!

"This... should the goal be counted as Xiang Tao's, or Amanatidis's, or Sima Hongxin's?" Wang Jianxiang said helplessly. It was really a natural disaster. No one thought that the Chinese team would concede a goal less than twenty minutes into the game, and in such a somewhat funny way...