Chapter 1 A New Beginning

Zhang Jun stared wide-eyed at everything before him. Just now, a Palermo defender had viciously slid into Fiorentina's forward, Kokuni, sending him sprawling to the ground. But the referee simply waved him to his feet, issuing no warning to the tackling player. And this kind of thing was commonplace in the match.

*Is this Serie B?* Zhang Jun repeatedly asked himself in his heart. *Can I persevere in this kind of competitive environment? Can I finish this season unscathed? Can I succeed here?*

"Massimo! What are you doing lying on the ground? Get up and defend!" Mondonico shouted from the sidelines.

Kokuni didn't complain, but stood up from the ground and ran back.

Everyone's used to it... Zhang Jun simulated the situation on the field in his mind, trying to see if he could adapt. But in the end, he gave up, because just imagining it in his head couldn't determine whether he could avoid serious injury.

If he wanted to know if he could do it, thinking about it off the field was useless. He'd have to go on and try it out.

This was an Italian Serie B match, Fiorentina hosting Palermo. Thirty minutes into the first half, neither side had scored, the score stuck at 0-0.

Zhang Jun wasn't in the starting lineup, as many Chinese media outlets had speculated before the match. Mondonico had placed him on the bench. But sitting on the bench for Fiorentina and sitting on the bench for AC Milan were two completely different feelings.

Back then, he was restless with every second wasted on the bench, but now he sat calmly, observing everything around him, not eager to play.

Unless the coach let him play.

"Zhang, warm up now, you're going in at the start of the second half," Mondonico suddenly turned and said to Zhang Jun beside him.

Zhang Jun was a little surprised; he hadn't expected to play so soon. He had thought the coach would have him warm up for the last five minutes, the outcome of the match irrelevant to him. His chance should have been in the next league match.

Now it seemed like he was being entrusted with an important task, to charge and break through, to win the game for the team.

Being given such high expectations for his first appearance, without even saying hello, Zhang Jun smiled and shook his head lightly, got up, took off his jacket, and ran to warm up.

*What kind of greeting should he give the Fiorentina fans?*

※※※

Zhang Jun was pulled in front of Mondonico, listening to him shout instructions over the noisy stadium, using gestures to amplify his words: "You're replacing Massimo, partnering with Christian. He's on the right, you're on the left. You have only one task on the field: score goals! Understand? Don't worry about defending, just think about scoring goals!"

He patted Zhang Jun on the shoulder and pointed to the field, "Go on!"

Before the match, Zhang Jun had always thought that when he was about to play, he would be fully prepared. Now, he wasn't sure if he was completely ready, because he felt that giving him a half-game in his first match was a bit unexpected.

But... Zhang Jun tucked his purple Fiorentina jersey into his shorts. Since he was already standing here, he must be prepared. There couldn't be any hesitation in his heart.

*I can do it, no matter how intense the game is, I can do it! I can score goals, coming to Serie B doesn't mean my downfall, on the contrary, I want to be reborn from Serie B!*

Watching Kokuni limp towards the sidelines, Zhang Jun took a deep breath, and then exhaled it: *Sophie, watch me play!*

After silently saying this sentence in his heart, Zhang Jun couldn't help but smile. How long had it been since he said that?

Massimo reluctantly gave Zhang Jun a high five as he left the field, then put on the jacket handed to him by a staff member and returned to the bench.

Zhang Jun ran straight to the front line. During the half-time break, he could tell that Riganò was a little anxious, perhaps eager to show his strength in front of him.

He didn't seem to like him very much. Could he cooperate well with him?

The number on Zhang Jun's back was his favorite, 11. When he came to Fiorentina, he was pleasantly surprised to find that no one in the entire Fiorentina team had chosen number 11, even though some people's numbers were as high as 85. No one wore 11.

Being able to play in his favorite number made Zhang Jun feel pretty good.

Di Livio stopped Zhang Jun as he ran past him: "Are you ready? Serie B is very different from Serie A."

Zhang Jun made an "ok" gesture to him.

But Riganò always looked at Zhang Jun with a disdainful look. Most of the training in the first three days was physical, and he hadn't seen how good this Chinese kid was.

Zhang Jun also knew that many people in the team shared Riganò's view. Now wasn't the time to be modest, he had to show his strength as soon as possible to prove it to the others.

But having always been a center forward, a leading figure, this time he had to face a situation with two center forwards. Mondonico didn't tell him and Riganò who would be the main attacker, just told them to score goals. If Zhang Jun remembered correctly, during the half-time break, the coach said the same thing to the somewhat impatient Riganò.

It seemed that they were supposed to cooperate, but... Zhang Jun remembered his hand being hurt by Riganò's grip. He thought this might be a bit difficult.

From Riganò's muscular build, one could roughly infer what his personality was like. Changing his attitude towards him might be difficult.

On the first attack, Maspero made a through pass through the middle, and incredibly, a gap appeared in the middle of Palermo's defense. This was a great opportunity for Fiorentina. But Zhang Jun and Riganò were both focused on the ball, and neglected each other's positions. As a result, the two inevitably collided, and the ball was naturally lost.

This drew a burst of dissatisfied boos from the stands of the Stadio Artemio Franchi. In the fans' eyes, it was naturally the fault of the newcomer Zhang Jun, who wasn't in sync with the veteran player Riganò.

Amidst the boos, Riganò was also a little annoyed. He waved his hand forcefully at Zhang Jun: "Do you know how to run? Colliding with your teammates, you're such an amateur!"

Faced with this blatant verbal attack, the old Zhang Jun would definitely not have tolerated it. But now, he just shook his head, smiled wryly, and walked away silently.

*Having such a teammate is really a headache.*

※※※

"It seems that they lack some chemistry," assistant coach Bottoreto said to Mondonico beside him, looking at the somewhat abnormal situation on the field.

"It's not just a lack of chemistry." Mondonico was well aware of the relationship between the two, but he just wanted to force them together. "Whether we can win this game depends on how well they both play."

"Aren't you going to make some other adjustments?" Bottoreto frowned, a little worried about the coach's composure.

"No, making adjustments might not be useful. If they can't handle the relationship between them, then Fiorentina's promotion to Serie A this season will be just another dream."

※※※

Another chance! When Maspero was dribbling horizontally in front of the penalty area, he cleverly spotted another gap in the middle. The habit of a midfielder made him pass the ball to the gap as soon as possible. As long as the ball got through, any forward who ran in could form a one-on-one opportunity.

Fiorentina fans cheered for this wonderful pass, while the Palermo defenders were in a state of panic.

But the ball did get through smoothly, but no one ran in. Zhang Jun and Riganò were looking at each other in surprise.

They both thought the other would go for the ball!

Another burst of boos.

Riganò was naturally very angry, and he opened his mouth to scold. But Zhang Jun suddenly thought of something, and he quickly waved his hand and took the initiative to take responsibility: "Sorry, my fault!" This action made Riganò unable to say the words he was about to say, and he just spat on the ground angrily. He resigned himself to his bad luck, who told him to be stuck with such a partner?

Zhang Jun had a different idea. He was willing to take the blame for this failed attack, because he suddenly thought that the reason neither of them went to get the ball was certainly a lack of chemistry. But from another perspective, he didn't go to get the ball because he thought Riganò would be more proactive, so he gave him the chance. So, was that the same on Riganò's side? Maybe he also wanted to give me the chance, which is why there was such a misunderstanding.

Thinking about it that way, this muscle man wasn't so bad after all. At least sometimes he would consider his teammates.

Zhang Jun believed that he was a new player, so it was appropriate to maintain the necessary respect for the old players. Especially these old players who fought for Fiorentina in the lower leagues without caring about rewards, they were indeed worthy of his respect.

Since Riganò was currently the team's number one scorer, then he should sacrifice himself for the time being and assist him. It's not like he only knew how to shoot.

※※※

After the previous two lessons, Maspero didn't dare to make any more direct passes through the middle, and he distributed the ball more to the sides, either to Riganò or to Zhang Jun. The two were in completely different directions, so there would only be situations where they couldn't receive the ball, but there was no fear of the two making a fool of themselves again because of a lack of chemistry.

Of course, the number of times he passed to Riganò was more than the number of times he passed to Zhang Jun.

This time in front of the penalty area, Riganò received the ball that Maspero passed to him, and suddenly took a long shot!

The Palermo goalkeeper was highly focused and punched the ball out with both fists. Corner kick!

Although the ball didn't go in, the Fiorentina fans still cheered loudly for Riganò.

He was indeed popular here, no wonder the fans and the media called him "New God of War". Zhang Jun looked around the stands, and there was no good end to going against the most popular person. If he didn't want to be isolated like he was in Milan, he had to learn to get along with these people.

The old Zhang Jun thought that as long as he proved his strength on the field, he could easily integrate into a team. But his experience in Milan told him that getting along with people wasn't that simple, it was a million times harder than performing a hat trick with *Long Teng* in a game.

Someone always has to make a sacrifice.

The corner kick was taken, to the far post!

Zhang Jun correctly appeared at the spot where the ball was going to land. He jumped up, and there wasn't a single Palermo player around him! If he shot, then with his heading ability, the chances of the ball going in were high.

The goalkeeper knew that this was a shooter from AC Milan, and he couldn't be underestimated. He hurriedly moved his feet and rushed to the far post to block his angle.

In that case, the plan had to be changed. Zhang Jun jumped in the air, staring at every move of the goalkeeper, and his peripheral vision also glanced at the middle of the goal, which seemed a bit empty because he was at the far post, and because the defenders were all rushing towards him.

In this chaos, in that gap, Zhang Jun saw a purple figure, it was number 9, Riganò, a strong man.

Without a trace of hesitation, and without considering whether giving up a scoring opportunity was good for him, he used the force of his neck to head the ball to the middle!

No defender or goalkeeper could touch the ball, allowing the ball to fly to Riganò in the middle where no one was.

Riganò only saw the ball coming, and didn't notice who passed it. Seeing that the height and speed of the ball were moderate, he didn't think about it and headed the ball!

The ball flew into the empty goal, and at this time the goalkeeper turned his body around, just in time to see the ball hit the net.

"gooooooooooooooooooAL!!" The Stadio Artemio Franchi erupted with a huge roar!

Riganò was very excited after scoring, and rushed to the corner flag to celebrate while holding the flagpole. Even the celebration action was imitating Batistuta's. Zhang Jun watched his teammates run towards him one after another, hesitated, and finally chose to stand on the periphery and watch them smile.

Riganò didn't seem to like him now, and if he rashly went forward and acted too affectionately, it would be too embarrassing if he was rejected.

After celebrating with everyone, Riganò just glanced at Zhang Jun in the distance, and didn't mean to come up to celebrate.

Zhang Jun smiled wryly, luckily he didn't go up just now, he had foresight.

※※※

Mondonico also had a headache. It seemed that Zhang Jun's active assist hadn't gained Riganò's favor, and if that wasn't enough, he was at a loss for a while.

This problem really needed to be solved by the two on the field.

Fortunately, we're still in the lead.

※※※

Zhang Jun would think about how to handle his relationship with Riganò during dead balls. When he used to play football, no matter where he was, he only thought about how to send the ball into the opponent's goal, and didn't care about anything else. Now doing this made him feel very tired, but he had to do it, otherwise how could he stand firm in this unfamiliar environment by himself?

His experience in Milan for a few months taught him a lot, maybe he didn't understand it when he was there, but now that he came to Florence, he slowly began to understand some things.

How naive he used to be!

It was unrealistic to mature in a few days, in one game, but he could work towards that direction.

Palermo's counterattack was a bit fierce after losing the ball, and Fiorentina's defense encountered the biggest crisis since the start of the season. Mondonico didn't want this situation to continue for too long, otherwise the team would lose the ball sooner or later. He stood on the sidelines and kept shouting at the two forwards, telling them to work harder in the front, put pressure on Palermo, and don't let them attack too recklessly.

Zhang Jun and Riganò both understood that the best defense was offense.

But relying on only one person obviously couldn't stir up much trouble in front, they had to cooperate, they had to put aside their prejudices, and act like a pair of partners, not opponents.

Maspero finally had a chance to pass the ball forward, he only saw Riganò wave his hand in front, and immediately made a diagonal pass to the other side.

Riganò originally wanted to stop the ball, but he felt someone defending behind him, and he couldn't turn around even if he stopped the ball. He turned his head to look for someone, and just in time saw Zhang Jun running towards him.

*Do we have to cooperate?*

He passed the ball from Maspero directly to Zhang Jun who was coming up.

But there was also a Palermo player following Zhang Jun, and he couldn't turn around either.

"Pass it back to me!" Riganò waved at him, and he had already turned around and ran forward.

Zhang Jun immediately passed the ball back to Riganò who was turning around and running in. But Riganò didn't completely get rid of the defense, there was a defender behind him, and the person who was originally defending Zhang Jun also changed direction and rushed towards him.

Without any consideration, Riganò flicked his right wrist, and the ball bypassed the Palermo defender in front and passed directly to the front diagonal.

Zhang Jun also turned around and ran forward, understanding his intention!

Two one-two passes in a row, a wonderful cooperation between Zhang Jun and Riganò!

Zhang Jun broke through, he only had one center back and a goalkeeper in front of him, it was basically a one-on-one!

Fiorentina's chance!

The fans at the Stadio Artemio Franchi suddenly cheered loudly.

Zhang Jun received the ball, and at this moment, he had a sense of vigor again. There were only two people in front of him, including the goalkeeper, that wasn't much, I want to score! I want to score!

He flicked the ball forward with his left foot, and his body lunged forward, his long hair fluttering in the wind.

That last defender pounced on him, looking at his strong body, it seemed that he planned to use a foul to block Zhang Jun outside the penalty area. But Zhang Jun wouldn't give him this chance, he feinted with his upper body, making it impossible for the other party to judge where he was going to break through. Just as he hesitated, Zhang Jun used his left foot to push the ball to the left, and at the same time, he exerted force on the ground with his right foot, and his body suddenly shifted to the left!

In the eyes of the defender, that shift was like Zhang Jun disappearing in an instant! He reached out to pull in vain, he didn't grab anything but air.

A burst of exclamation!

Zhang Jun easily broke through the defender, and he was going to face the goalkeeper.

The Palermo goalkeeper abandoned his goal and attacked when Zhang Jun and the defender were fighting. He wanted to catch Zhang Jun off guard. But Zhang Jun was faster than him, he just rushed to the front of the penalty area, Zhang Jun looked up and saw that he was too far forward, so he directly chipped the ball with his right foot, and the ball flew high, drawing a beautiful arc, passing over the goalkeeper's head, and then falling into the empty goal amidst louder and louder cheers!

The ball went in!!

The Stadio Artemio Franchi boiled for the second time!

Zhang Jun scored his first goal in Serie B! His first goal for Fiorentina!

Listening to the deafening cheers, Riganò regretted a little. With the opportunity just now, if he had squeezed hard with his body, it wasn't like there was no chance. Maybe the cheers now would have been dedicated to him.

*Why did I pass the ball to him again?*

Just when Riganò was regretting it, Zhang Jun rushed towards him, and then hugged him, shouting in his mouth: "Great pass! Thank you so much!"

Then the other teammates couldn't help but hug the two of them tightly, and Riganò couldn't push Zhang Jun away even if he wanted to.

He and Zhang Jun became partners like this.

Actually... this Chinese kid isn't so annoying...

※※※

"Gianni, look! You just said that the two of them lacked chemistry, but these two goals were assisted by each other!" Mondonico said excitedly to assistant coach Bottoreto. What made him so excited wasn't just that Fiorentina was now leading 2-0, but also the cooperation between Zhang Jun and Riganò. "As long as the two of them cooperate tacitly, our hope of being promoted to Serie A will increase tenfold! There's still half of the league left!"

In the end, Fiorentina relied on the tacit cooperation of the two forwards to win Palermo 2-0 at home. For their dream of returning to Serie A, they took a solid step.

For Zhang Jun, this game was extremely important, but he passed it smoothly. One goal, one assist, and he won the trust of the fans.

Most importantly, his relationship with Riganò gradually improved.

※※※

Zhang Jun was accepting interviews from Chinese reporters outside the training ground. The training had just ended, and he was surrounded like this, because he scored a goal in his first Serie B game, which made the attention that had been gradually decreasing rise again.

Riganò was passing by them when Zhang Jun pulled him in.

"Let me introduce you, Man Niu Riganò, my forward partner, friend!" Zhang Jun said to the reporters in Chinese with a smile, while someone who was standing there dumbfounded didn't know why Zhang Jun pulled him over.

If the reporters who often interviewed Zhang Jun in the past saw Zhang Jun at this time, they would definitely have this feeling: how long has it been since we saw Zhang Jun with such a relaxed smile?

It seems that Fiorentina is indeed more suitable for him than Milan.

The next day, this photo of the two would appear in Chinese sports newspapers and on the Internet, and people would know that Zhang Jun now had a friend, and his name was "Man Niu".

※※※

"Man Niu, why don't you like others calling you 'New God of War'?" Sitting on the bench in the locker room, Zhang Jun asked Riganò lying opposite him while drying his hair.

Because Zhang Jun forced him to accompany him to accept the interview, when they returned to the locker room, there was no one left.

"Why? I don't like it, I just don't like it." Riganò put a white bath towel on his face.

"But there should always be a reason for not liking it, right?" Zhang Jun shrugged, "Many people can't wait to get this nickname."

"If you like it, I can give it to you."

"Uh, no. We are completely different types of shooters, this nickname is just right for your style." Zhang Jun was afraid of Riganò misunderstanding, and quickly waved his hand.

"I've been in Florence for three years, because my playing style is a bit like Gabriel Batistuta, so people gave me this nickname. At first I was very happy, and I was complacent about it, you know what that means. But later I discovered my naivety, Gabriel played for Florence for ten years before he got the title of 'God of War', I've only been here for three years. Gabriel is my idol and goal, and I also hope that one day a statue of me can be erected outside the Stadio Artemio Franchi, and I want to retire here. But I just don't want to be called 'New God of War', do you know why? It's actually very simple, there is only one God of War, unique. The so-called 'New God of War' is just a clumsy sequel, I will never be able to become a player as great as Gabriel." Riganò's words sounded a bit unwilling, but in fact he was very sincerely aware of the gap between himself and Batistuta.

Zhang Jun was silent, he thought of his relationship with Mr. Van Basten from Riganò's words.

When he was in the Netherlands, people always compared him to "Van Basten II", and he was also complacent as Riganò said. Ah, I can actually be compared to Mr. Van Basten!

So he desperately imitated Van Basten, and even when choosing his future destination, he was influenced by Van Basten and joined AC Milan.

Now that he had left Milan, he had naturally diverged from the path Van Basten once took. Was this reminding him that he, wearing the purple jersey of Fiorentina, would never be able to become a player like Van Basten? Because Marco van Basten is Marco van Basten, and Zhang Jun is Zhang Jun. No matter what honors Van Basten has won, it has nothing to do with him.

He should be Zhang Jun, not "Van Basten II".