Chapter 262 Bernabéu in the Heavy Rain (Part 2)

The white Santiago Bernabéu stadium stood in the center of Madrid, a silent legend as its name suggested. It was one of Madrid's iconic buildings, the glorious home of Real Madrid.

The lights on the roof of the Bernabéu made the entire stadium look like a shining pearl of Madrid. The surrounding neon lights, streetlights, and car lights merely served as a backdrop.

"Beautiful like a pearl, shimmering in the night!" Qiu Suhui recited poetically.

"More like a wet pearl," Hu Li said, looking at the Bernabéu stadium in the heavy rain outside the car window. The lights made the stadium appear both near and far in the night rain. He frowned. "You're still in the mood for poetry. The bad weather makes our match against Spain even harder."

"Haha, Lao Hu, you're wrong about that. Spain relies on delicate footwork and ground penetration. The rain will affect them more than us. Actually, I hope it rains even harder, so we can turn the Bernabéu turf into a vegetable garden in the first half and snatch victory from chaos."

"Xiao Qiu, are you kidding?"

"Hehe!" Qiu Suhui smiled without answering.

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Due to the rain, the Bernabéu, which could hold 95,000 people, was less than half full. Compared to any Real Madrid home game, the attendance could only be described as "dismal."

But for the Chinese players who played for smaller clubs, even 50,000 people was impressive.

"Tsk tsk! This is much bigger than the Vanden Stock Stadium!" Xiang Tao looked around the stands of the Bernabéu, the stadium larger than he had imagined.

Wang Yu wiped the rain off his face: "You're stating the obvious! What kind of team is Real Madrid? And what kind of team is Anderlecht?"

Yang Pan kicked a ball onto Xiang Tao's back, and it bounced off and hit Wang Yu next to him. "What are you two standing around for? Come over here and warm up!"

Actually, most of the time, Yang Pan seemed more like a captain than center-back Zheng Jun, but that was just the feeling of the new recruits.

Zhang Jun threw the football on the ground, and it rolled five meters before stopping. He turned to Yang Pan and said, "Do you think we can play a game on this field?"

Yang Pan spat out some rainwater: "We have to trust the Bernabéu's drainage system, and we have to trust Qiu-zhi's tactical arrangements. He wants us to turn the field into a vegetable garden and snatch victory from chaos."

Zhang Jun looked at Yang Pan in surprise: "Are *you* kidding, or is Qiu-zhi?"

Yang Pan smiled: "Qiu-zhi said it to me in a joking tone, and I'm saying it to you in a joking tone. Before a big game, it's just to ease the tension. Aren't you nervous? Our opponents are the sixth-ranked Spanish national team."

Zhang Jun kicked up a puddle of water: "Seeing this terrible field, I'm not nervous anymore."

"There are even Chinese fans!" An Ke noticed a group of about two hundred people in the stands behind him, wearing red clothes, waving small national flags, and two people holding up a five-star red flag, waving it at the field.

"That's normal, they must be Chinese students in Madrid." Zhang Jun gently kicked the ball towards the far corner of the goal. Although An Ke tried his best to save it, he only grazed the ball with his fingertips, unable to change its trajectory. The ball hit the inside of the post and bounced into the goal.

"Damn it! An Ke, you can't even block such a weak shot! You might as well give the starting position to Sima!" Zhao Pengyu joked with An Ke. An Ke was a very outgoing person, and many of his teammates were familiar with him, so no one felt bad about jokes like that.

"Bullshit!" An Ke retorted, "The ball shot in the rain is heavier than usual. If this was normal weather, I would have made a beautiful save! Zhang Jun, you're the striker, you prove it!"

Zhang Jun ignored An Ke's plea and shrugged at Yang Pan beside him: "See, I'm in great shape today, so how can I be nervous?"

The people around them laughed, and An Ke was speechless with anger.

Kru was juggling the ball, looking over at them. In his opinion, this national team was very strange. Some people became enemies, while others had good relationships like friends of many years. In short, they didn't seem like teammates.

This was truly an interesting group. He still couldn't understand Xiang Tao's Sichuan dialect, couldn't understand Sima Hongxin's silence, couldn't understand many people's habits… but he felt at ease being here, being with these people, very comfortable.

Wang Yu discovered something unusual about Kru. He exclaimed, "Good heavens! Can you still pay attention to other things while juggling the ball?"

As soon as he shouted, everyone turned to look at Kru, even some of the older players who pretended to be indifferent secretly glanced over.

Kru quickly stopped the ball, shook his head, and said in very slow Chinese: "Only the most ordinary ones can do that."

"Then what's not ordinary?" Wang Yu asked curiously, "Show us all!"

"Yeah! Yeah! Show us, anyway, Assistant Coach Hu isn't here right now," many people shouted.

Kru looked at the group of people, their faces full of anticipation. He stomped his foot on the turf, making sure there was no standing water and the ground was solid. Then he began to perform.

His left foot was originally on the ball. He exerted force, pressing his left foot down, actually squeezing the ball to bounce up. Immediately after, he stretched out his right foot to juggle the jumping ball upwards. When the football fell, it stopped steadily on his foot without falling down.

Up to now, these movements were very ordinary, and many people on the team could do them. So everyone was still waiting, waiting for Kru's "extraordinary juggling" to appear.

Next, Kru flicked his right ankle lightly, and the ball bounced up again. Immediately after, he lifted his right foot, quickly swiping it over the football still in the air! Just as his right foot swiped over the football, his left foot also jumped up and swiped over the football!

At this time, the football was falling. Kru's right foot had landed, and his left foot, after swiping over the football, went around to the bottom, his toes lightly flicking upwards, flicking the falling football back up. At the same time, his right foot jumped up again, crossing over the football from the front, his whole body and the football in the air at that moment! His body also turned with this movement.

The football was still in the air, his left foot had already landed, and his body was facing the football directly. At the same time, his right foot juggled the football that had just fallen, his left foot quickly crossed over, went around to the bottom of the football, and then gently juggled the ball, switched to his right foot, and then switched to his left foot.

This time, his left foot flicked the football higher. He raised his right leg high, went around to above the ball, and then his thigh and calf closed together, clamping the football right in the middle!

Then he supported himself with his left foot, leaned his body forward, and wiggled his right leg with the football clamped between them twice, like a fish wagging its tail.

He only wiggled it twice, then he loosened his right leg and the football fell out. Immediately after, he swung his left foot back, using his heel to knock the falling football towards Zhang Jun not far away.

When Zhang Jun stopped the ball directly, the others had time to cheer. Kru was startled, he hadn't noticed that he was already surrounded by more and more teammates.

Someone took the lead in applauding, so more and more people applauded Kru, giving him a thumbs up.

"What are you doing? Huh? Not warming up properly, what are you doing gathered here?" Hu Li's reprimand came from behind the crowd. He had just gone to tell a few staff members to go back to the locker room to get dry towels, and saw a bunch of kids gathered together, not knowing what they were doing. Their opponent, the Spanish team, was preparing seriously under the guidance of their assistant coach, without the slightest slackness because their opponent was China, ranked fifty-fourth in the world.

Looking at this group of kids again, sigh! Xiao Qiu was right, they really were a bunch of troublesome "troublemakers."

After being scolded by the assistant coach, the crowd dispersed like startled birds and beasts, honestly and methodically carrying out their pre-match warm-up.

After passing the ball to Kru, Zhang Jun took the opportunity to ask, "Does this field affect you the most?"

"As long as I don't use too much streetball technique, it doesn't affect me that much." Kru shook his head.

"It seems you're not starting this game, is that okay?" Zhang Jun was afraid that Qiu Suhui's arrangement would make Kru think otherwise.

Kru smiled: "What are you worried about, Zhang Jun? Instead of wasting time, why don't you think about how you're going to score against Iker Casillas?" He pointed to the other half of the field in front of him.

Zhang Jun shrugged: "That's something I'll know when the game starts, what's the use of me thinking about it now?"

A roar sounded, and the roof above the Bernabéu slowly extended, covering most of the stadium stands, allowing many fans to watch the game without sitting in the rain.

An Ke looked up at the sky, the rain hitting his face, feeling much lighter than at the beginning. "If only this was the Arena AufSchalke," he sighed.

The Arena AufSchalke was the home stadium of the Bundesliga powerhouse Schalke 04, said to cost as much as 400 million euros. It and the newly built Allianz Arena in Munich were the most modern stadiums in the world. It was the first stadium to use a large-screen similar to the ones used in NBA arenas. That behemoth, weighing 32 tons, was suspended 35 meters above the field and had four LCD screens, each with an area of about 35 square meters.

The entire turf of the stadium weighed 11,000 tons, but it could be laid or removed within five hours, because there were mobile tracks underneath. In addition to the removable turf, even the south stand of the stadium could be removed as a whole. The Arena AufSchalke once set an amazing record: after an intense American football game, the south stand was quickly converted into a stage, the turf was completely removed, and the stadium became a concert venue. After the concert, the stands were returned to their original position, the turf was completely re-laid, and then a Bundesliga game was held, all within 36 hours.

In addition, its roof, weighing 560 tons, could be fully opened or closed in 30 minutes, sealing off the football field so that the game would not be affected by the weather. This was also the reason for An Ke's sigh.

"Keep dreaming! You should give this suggestion to Real Madrid President Florentino, instead of muttering here. Let's go, go back to the locker room to change clothes, warm-up is over." Yang Pan patted An Ke, and many people were running quickly towards the tunnel.

"This isn't warming up, it's clearly taking a shower…" An Ke muttered, and strode towards the tunnel. He needed to hurry back and change into a dry jersey, he was going to get soaked again later.

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Qiu Suhui stood in front of the tactical board, waiting for the players to dry their hair. When the last person took the towel off their hair, he cleared his throat: "Everyone has personally experienced the weather outside, and the field is terrible, isn't it?"

No one else answered, but Xiang Tao blurted out: "Yes!" Then there was a burst of laughter, and Qiu Suhui laughed too. Xiang Tao was still the same as when he was in the Olympic team.

After everyone finished laughing, Qiu Suhui continued: "I know that the weather and the field make many people feel uncomfortable, thinking that the opponent is already strong, and with such terrible weather, the game will be even more difficult. But I want to say that Spain is probably more uncomfortable than we are. They are a team known for their technique and ground penetration, and the field will affect them more than us. Now I'll announce the starting lineup: goalkeeper number 1, An Ke. Center backs number 12, Li Suisheng, and number 4, Zheng Jun. Left back number 13, Xiang Tao, right back number 17, Wang Hui. Defensive midfielders number 8, Li Yi, and number 10, Li Yongle. Left winger number 6, Shao Jiaying, right winger number 7, Yang Pan. Starting forwards number 11, Zhang Jun, and number 18, Li Jie."

This starting lineup had actually been announced a long time ago, and now that Qiu Suhui read it out again, some people had lost their initial excitement.

"There are four points you need to pay attention to in this game. First, everyone knows that Spain is a team with very distinctive wing attacks, so I require the two fullbacks and wingers to pay attention to defending their two wingers. Joaquin and Vicente are not only fast, but also technically outstanding, so you must be twelve minutes on guard."

"Second, the spiritual leader of this Spanish team is still their captain, Raul, but the tactical core is defensive midfielder number 8, Xavi. Li Yongle and Li Yi, you must use pressing defense to limit his play, and don't let him comfortably control the midfield. Third, the biggest weakness of this Spanish team is in defense, and the biggest problem in their defense is their lack of aerial ability. This is why I'm letting Li Jie start. I want you to make more use of the advantage of aerial balls, seize the opportunities for set pieces, and use headers to bombard Spain!" Qiu Suhui punched the tactical board behind him, and the poor board kept shaking.

"Finally, don't let me concede a goal in the first 30 minutes!"

"Qiu-zhi, why can't we concede a goal in the first 30 minutes?" It was Xiang Tao again, asking a question that was very idiotic in the eyes of others: it was normal not to concede a goal, did you want to concede a goal in the first 30 minutes?

"Why? Because that would make me lose face!" Qiu Suhui obviously didn't answer the question directly. "If there's nothing else, go out and line up, and the substitutes go to the bench first. Kru, stay here for a moment."

After everyone left, Qiu Suhui pulled Kru aside and said to him in English: "The higher-ups, that is, the Football Association and the General Administration of Sport of China, have spoken. They believe that as a Chinese, you have blonde hair while playing on the field, which is not in line with the image of Chinese players, and they want you to dye it back to black. I want to hear your opinion."

Kru was a little surprised: "It's my business what color I dye my hair, it has nothing to do with my nationality, right? Why do they have the right to make me dye it black?"

Qiu Suhui nodded: "You're right, I also think they have absolutely no right to make you do this. But you still have to dye your hair."

"Why?" Kru exclaimed, initially hearing Qiu Suhui's tone, he thought he was supporting him. "This is a violation of my human rights!"

Hearing Kru say this, Qiu Suhui quickly lowered his voice and waved his hand, saying, "Don't bring up 'human rights'! The reason is actually very simple, China is not the same as England, China has its own national conditions. If you want to play football in peace, play football for your mother, then you'd better dye your hair. Actually, you don't have to dye your hair black, as long as you like, you can dye it dark red or brown, I think it looks pretty good too."

Kru looked at Qiu Suhui for a long time, and then decided to admit defeat: "Okay, I'll dye it. This is the first time I've heard of such a strange thing, you can't serve the country if you don't have black hair…"

Qiu Suhui smiled bitterly: "Kid, in Chinese football, you'll find that this kind of strange thing is actually very common…"

※※※

Zhang Jun stood at the back of the line according to his habit. Next to him was Spanish defender number 6, Ivan Helguera. Zhang Jun wanted to take advantage of this time waiting to go on the field to chat with Helguera, telling him about his brother Luis's situation in Florence. But he couldn't speak Spanish and didn't know if Helguera could understand his English, so he had to give up after opening his mouth.

Raul, as the captain, stood at the front of the line, and Zhang Jun could only see a small part of his back. When he was still in school, watching Raul score that beautiful goal in the Toyota Cup on TV, he had never imagined that he would one day have the opportunity to compete with him on the same field.

Professional football was truly magical, allowing him to realize dreams he never dared to imagine before. For example, right now, Zhang Jun was wondering how he should ask Raul to exchange jerseys after the game.

Just like he said to Yang Pan, Zhang Jun was indeed not nervous, but he was very excited now. A great battle in the white dream theater, the Bernabéu, against Spain!

Sophie, watch me play!

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"Dear viewers, it's now 2:30 AM Beijing time on March 28th! We are broadcasting an international friendly match for you, between the Spanish national team and the Chinese national team! Now the players from both sides are entering the field!!"