Chapter 1 The Beginning

“CCtv5, CCtv5, audience friends. We are now broadcasting live for you a match that has been followed closely by domestic fans recently, the first round of the 0506 season of the Italian Serie A, where AC Milan faces Cagliari at home." Wang Jianxiang, who was responsible for broadcasting Serie A, began his work.

"As predicted before the game, AC Milan coach Ancelotti has put Zhang Jun on as a starting striker in this game. I think this is also a recognition of Zhang Jun's strength." Commentary guest Zhang Xiaolu began to analyze the lineups of both sides for everyone. He and Wang Jianxiang are old partners, and he had already started football commentary work before Wang Jianxiang joined CCtv. At that time, his partner was Song Shixiong.

"AC Milan has lined up in their favorite 4312 formation, and Yang Pan did not start. Zhang Jun's performance in this game will be a highlight. The Italian league focuses on defense, and strikers don't get many chances. Under tight defense, the space for strikers to move is also very limited. I wonder if Zhang Jun can adapt to this style of football. He is a forward who rarely falls back to get the ball, and AC Milan is at home, with their strength stronger than their opponents, they will definitely press Cagliari. In this way, the space for Zhang Jun to play will become smaller and smaller."

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The referee glanced at the fourth official on the sidelines, and seeing him indicate that the game could begin, he looked down to confirm the kickoff time, and then blew the whistle to start the new season.

Cagliari adopted a steady defense and counter-attack tactic from the start, relying on a front trident composed of Zola, Langella, and Esposito to threaten Milan's defense.

On Milan's side, according to Ancelotti's requirements, Zhang Jun was to stay in the penalty area, Shevchenko would often fall back, and the left and right sides would switch positions with each other, and their running positions should be erratic. In short, they had to prevent Cagliari's defenders from catching him.

But Zhang Jun didn't like staying in the penalty area to be an Inzaghi-style poacher. He wanted to be like Sheva, without a fixed position, with many opportunities to get the ball, and able to dribble the ball to attack. Basten had told him that as a center forward, you must have the ball at your feet. A center forward without the ball is basically equivalent to non-existence. Scoring goals is the only mission of a center forward, no matter what method is used.

Zhang Jun always kept this sentence in mind. He wanted the ball at his feet, he wanted to show himself.

Four minutes into the game, Cagliari's attack was ended by Nesta, and Milan launched a counterattack. Pirlo passed the ball to Kaka, who took advantage of Cagliari's lack of time to return to defense and dribbled the ball quickly through the center. San Siro cheered, people had seen this Brazilian kid dribble the ball past several people in a long run many times, but they never got tired of watching it.

As soon as Kaka passed the center circle, Shevchenko and Zhang Jun ran away to the left and right. This was a tactic to attract the opponent's defense and create space for Kaka to break through in the middle.

Cagliari had obviously studied Milan's tactics. Two defenders followed Shevchenko and Zhang Jun respectively. But a center back was still waiting in the middle, and Cagliari's defensive midfielder was still fighting Kaka to prevent him from speeding up.

Kaka was under great pressure, he had to pass the ball out as soon as possible, otherwise there was a risk of being intercepted.

Kaka had an unusual advantage: he could always keep his head up even when dribbling at high speed, and he didn't have to look at his feet. This provided him with good spontaneity for distributing the ball during dribbling.

Kaka discovered that Sheva was under greater pressure. Cagliari's defenders were very afraid of him, but they didn't pay enough attention to Zhang Jun. He smiled, I'll make you suffer soon.

He pulled the ball towards Sheva's direction, posing as if he was about to pass it to him at any time. The defenders became more vigilant. The Ukrainian nuclear warhead had been the top scorer in Serie A for the past two seasons, which was rare in the defense-oriented Serie A.

As for that Chinese... the media is hyping him up!

Kaka snickered, and his body turned to the left, which further strengthened the Cagliari defenders' guess. But he used his right foot to poke the ball in the opposite direction, a diagonal pass!

The ball passed right between the central defender and the defender marking Zhang Jun.

"Zhang Jun is isolated on the outside, it looks like he won't be able to get the ball! The goalkeeper is attacking..." The Italian commentator was saying when he felt something was wrong.

Cagliari's defender Bega was only focused on squeezing Zhang Jun outwards, and didn't pay attention to the position of the ball. He wanted to block Zhang Jun's position, and then let the goalkeeper attack and get the ball directly. It could be said that this was the right choice. But he underestimated Zhang Jun's explosiveness. Kaka knew this very well, so he passed the ball like this. This pass was not a mistake, it should be said that it was premeditated.

Sure enough, Zhang Jun understood Kaka's intention, and his right leg exerted force to push off. With just this push, his body moved half a step forward, and then he suddenly cut inside, blocking the opponent behind him!

This acceleration of his caused a burst of exclamation from the audience, too fast! It was only a moment, and he had surpassed half a body length.

Zhang Jun, who had secured his position, exerted force again and changed direction to forcibly cut into the middle. He slipped away from Bega's eyes like an eel.

Goalkeeper Katergiannakis had already lunged to save the ball, but Zhang Jun was one step faster, and stretched out his left leg to poke the ball away from the goalkeeper's hand!

"Amazing explosiveness! Zhang Jun turned a non-opportunity into an opportunity!"

Zhang Jun had just poked the ball away with his left foot, and then he exerted force to jump over the goalkeeper, chased after the ball, and then swung his left leg to prepare to shoot!

Now Cagliari has an empty goal!

Is Zhang Jun about to score his first goal in Serie A?

Ancelotti stood up.

Wang Jianxiang held his breath at that moment, preparing to cheer for Zhang Jun's goal.

But Yang Pan frowned.

Zhang Jun supported himself with his right foot, swung his left foot towards the ball, and twisted his upper body at the same time, leaning to the left. But at the most critical moment, his body leaned over too much, and his left foot was driven to deviate a little bit, and the ball flew just over the crossbar!

A huge sigh!

If this ball went in, AC Milan and Zhang Jun would have a good start, but unfortunately...

"Shot... ah! Zhang Jun shot the ball high, although it was only a little bit high. He missed a great opportunity!"

After shooting, Zhang Jun fell to the ground and punched the turf in frustration. How great it would have been if this ball had gone in!

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"How great it would have been if this ball had gone in!" Wang Jianxiang sighed.

"Indeed, but I don't think Zhang Jun should have missed this shot..." Zhang Xiaolu raised his own question. "I always feel that Zhang Jun's movements are a bit strange..."

"Well, there will be a replay soon, let's take a look together."

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The TV broadcast replayed everything that had just happened. While the Italian commentators were surprised by Zhang Jun's instantaneous acceleration, they were also angrily questioning the referee on duty: "Cagliari's goalkeeper grabbed Zhang Jun's foot, otherwise he wouldn't have missed, why didn't he award a penalty?!"

But he ignored the fact that as long as Zhang Jun didn't give up, the referee couldn't blow the whistle to stop. What if Zhang Jun scored the goal? So it's better to remain silent.

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"So that's how it is... but it's really hard for the referee to see, because the movements are too fast, and Zhang Jun didn't fall in the penalty area, otherwise he would have no way to whistle to stop the game..." Zhang Xiaolu shook his head. Zhang Jun is really persistent, but is it a good thing to be too persistent sometimes?

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Although Zhang Jun's shot didn't go in, it showed everyone part of his strength—explosiveness. It was really too terrifying, overtaking half a body length in just one step when he was half a body length behind, making it almost impossible for the defender to defend.

Milan's players were very clear about this. Zhang Jun had surprised them on the training ground. When he was one-on-one with Nesta, he didn't make any fancy moves. He just changed direction, tapped the ball to the other side, and then used his acceleration to overtake Nesta. Whether it was explosiveness, technique, or awareness in front of the goal, he was very good. It was hard to believe that he had suffered a serious injury that almost forced him to retire. When the Milan Lab routinely gave him a physical examination, they were surprised to find that Zhang Jun's two ankles were very healthy, especially his left ankle. There was no trace of injury at all. Zhang Jun told them that this was the effect of traditional Chinese medicine, and everyone was dumbfounded. Galliani even had the urge to go to China to find those hidden masters.

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After showing his amazing explosiveness in just four minutes of the opening, Zhang Jun also relaxed completely and became more and more active.

The advantage of being at the very front was that Zhang Jun could get closer to the goal and have more shooting opportunities. Within twenty minutes, all three of his shots were very threatening.

Li Yan on the stands said to Galliani with a smug look: "See? Zhang Jun is world-class. Many Italian reporters underestimated him just because he is a Chinese player who came out of Volendam. After this game, you must change your views!"

"Hey, I never underestimated him, so you have to say 'they', not 'you'." Galliani was unwilling.

"Haha, okay, okay! It's them, not you..."

But as time went by, Li Yan discovered a serious problem.

Zhang Jun's playing style was still the same as when he was in the Netherlands. He would always unintentionally waste some opportunities because he held the ball for too long. Shevchenko alone had two chances to run into the open space, but Zhang Jun lowered his head to dribble the ball and didn't see it, which made Sheva very helpless.

Moreover, as Zhang Jun's time holding the ball increased, the defenders paid more and more attention to him. Zhang Jun was eaten down hard by two defenders several times.

Looking at the fierce movements of the defenders, Li Yan was a little worried about Zhang Jun's left foot.

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As soon as Zhang Jun turned around, he was hugged by Cagliari's defender Bega and fell to the ground. This action, which was similar to judo, naturally could not escape the eyes of the law. The referee gave Bega a yellow card and awarded AC Milan a twenty-six-meter free kick.

After Zhang Jun came, Milan had more options in terms of free kick takers, but it was also more difficult to handle.

Zhang Jun's free kicks were good, he had received the true teachings of Baggio, but Ancelotti also had to take care of Pirlo's emotions. In the end, he came up with a plan to let Pirlo take free kicks on the left and right sides, while Zhang Jun would take free kicks in the middle near the goal, where there was a greater chance of scoring.

Shevchenko made another sacrifice—he was originally Milan's number two free kick taker, but after Zhang Jun came, he became number three.

Influenced by the right-wing ideology of former chairman Berlusconi, AC Milan's players were basically the kind of "good kids" who listened very well. Although they were famous, they were not very temperamental. Even Gattuso, who looked fierce, was a kind person. Therefore, this environment should be good for Zhang Jun. He doesn't have to worry about how to please the big-name stars in the team, he only needs to rely on his performance on the field to win respect and trust.

Zhang Jun stood in front of the ball with confidence. He will personally take this free kick that he created himself.

People have already seen his smile in the Netherlands, so can they see his smile in Milan, in Italy?

Zhang Jun took three steps back, took a deep breath, and then heard the referee's whistle. He exhaled in one breath, ran up, swung his foot, and shot!

The ball just bypassed Cagliari's wall, and then accurately descended, falling towards the lower corner of the goal. Zhang Jun shot this ball very cleverly!

Cagliari's goalkeeper Katergiannakis hardly reacted, because he couldn't believe that Zhang Jun dared to shoot such a low-arcing ball from a distance of twenty-six meters.

It seemed that Zhang Jun's scoring was inevitable, and Wang Jianxiang was once again ready to cheer.

But the ball bounced on the ground in front of the goal, and then hit the outside of the post, scraping out of the baseline!

Another missed opportunity!

Zhang Jun put his hands together, looked up at the sky, and sighed.

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Opportunities were limited in the first half. Zhang Jun missed four of them. AC Milan still hadn't scored by the end of the first half. It could be seen that the players hadn't found their rhythm for this first league game.

Overall, the first half was a bit dull.

During the halftime break, Ancelotti first praised Zhang Jun's aggressiveness, but he also criticized Zhang Jun for holding the ball too much. "You have to pay attention that you are not in the Netherlands now. The defenders in Italy are not comparable to those in the Netherlands. Sometimes you have to pass the ball as quickly as possible. As a forward, don't let the ball stay at your feet for too long."

What else could Zhang Jun say? He nodded to indicate that he accepted everything. Looking at the first half, he didn't actually think that the Italian defenders were that difficult to deal with. If they were difficult to deal with, how could he have gotten four chances? He just lacked a little luck. He believed that if he worked harder in the second half, he would definitely be able to score.

Yang Pan nudged Zhang Jun and asked him softly, "Why did you force a shot at that opportunity at the beginning of the game?"

Zhang Jun replied in a low voice, "I thought I should be able to score, so I..."

Yang Pan sighed, "If you had fallen when the goalkeeper pulled your foot, it would have been an undeniable penalty. Even if you didn't take it, it would have been your assist. Isn't that a better start than missing four chances now? You idiot!"

Zhang Jun didn't refute. He knew that what Yang Pan said made sense, and that wouldn't be considered a fake fall, but "rational use of the rules." But from his personal habits, he was unwilling to do that, because as long as it didn't become a dead ball, he wouldn't give up the idea of shooting.

Not to mention faking a fall. He couldn't even do "rational use of the rules." Although he was the penalty taker in Volendam, he felt that no matter what aspect he looked at, penalty kicks were not as enjoyable and powerful as goals in open play.

Yang Pan knew that he couldn't change Zhang Jun's mind. He was just venting his inner depression just now. The only thing that changed his expression in the first half was this one time. He was very clear about Zhang Jun's current situation. Kaka only told him that when listening to the old players chat, they all thought that coach Ancelotti didn't really like him very much, and felt that it was too extravagant to spend 8.5 million euros to buy another forward now that funds were tight. If Zhang Jun couldn't prove his worth as soon as possible, his fate in Milan would be really hard to say. That's why Yang Pan was so anxious for Zhang Jun.

As for Yang Pan himself, he had already had the awareness of sitting on the bench for a long time when he came to the wealthy AC Milan. Anyway, sitting on the bench was also a kind of training and learning. His impetuous heart had already been worn away during the first half of his substitute career in Bologna.

The second half started, Zhang Jun reduced the time he held the ball, but Cagliari's compression defense made it difficult for this center forward, and the midfielder could only pass the ball to Shevchenko, who retreated. If the first half was Zhang Jun's performance time, then the second half became Sheva's performance time. Zhang Jun watched Sheva take the ball and break through to shoot many times.

As a header who was better than Sheva, Milan still lacked good wing crosses, and his ability to grab points couldn't be used.

Serginho was a master of crossing on Milan's left, but he was now on the bench. Yang Pan was also a master of crossing, but he was also on the bench. Gattuso on the right was more like a defensive midfielder, with first-class defense, but his assists... the less said about it the better. Seedorf on the left preferred to cut inside and shoot hard, rather than cross. Milan's attack was originally more in the middle, and Kaka and Pirlo were also masters in the middle, but Zhang Jun couldn't easily turn around even if he got the ball under Cagliari's tight marking.

Just one halftime break and the feeling was completely different. Zhang Jun once thought that the defense in Serie A was nothing more than that, but now he had to correct this wrong view. Often it was the mid-to-lower-ranked teams in Serie A whose defense was even more difficult to deal with. Because they were all teams that specialized in defense and counterattack, they had a lot of experience in defense.

In fact, if AC Milan had encountered teams like Roma, Inter Milan, or Lazio, although they couldn't guarantee that they would definitely win, the possibility of Zhang Jun scoring would greatly increase.

Unfortunately, he encountered the weak team Cagliari.

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Ancelotti watched carefully from the sidelines. Zhang Jun had not fully adapted to Italian football, and was too weak in physical confrontation with the defenders, losing a lot of good positions in vain. The Dutch league was mainly technical, and the physical confrontation was far from Serie A.

The score was still 0:0, and Ancelotti was considering whether to make a substitution.

"Yang, go warm up."

Yang Pan got up and took off his coat with a normal expression, and then stepped onto the sidelines to start warming up. He was finally going to play for AC Milan, but he wasn't as excited as Zhang Jun. For him, playing at the San Siro was no different from playing at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.

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Zhang Jun glanced at Yang Pan who was warming up, and thought that Yang Pan would come on to replace Gattuso and play as a right winger. It seemed that the coach had realized that there was a lack of a crosser now, and let Yang Pan come on to cross.

Zhang Jun immediately felt hope. He and Yang Pan had a tacit understanding, so they would definitely be able to score a goal.

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"We see that Yang Pan is also warming up on the sidelines. Who will he replace then?" Wang Jianxiang asked.

"It's not easy to say. From the position, Gattuso is possible. But Cagliari's defense and counterattack is playing well. If Gattuso is down, Milan's midfield will lose a barrier, and Ancelotti is unlikely to replace Gattuso. I think, maybe it will be Seedorf." Zhang Xiaolu analyzed.

"But Seedorf is on the left..."

"Seedorf is also a right-footed player, and it will be very convenient for Yang Pan to cut inside and shoot on the left."

As the two were talking, Yang Pan had finished warming up and returned to the bench. He was a little surprised after listening to Ancelotti's arrangements, because the coach asked him to play as an attacking midfielder, partnering with Kaka. But he still obeyed the coach's arrangements. It was already very difficult for him to play now, so where was he qualified to be picky?

Only, if he plays as an attacking midfielder, who will he replace?

The fourth official raised the substitution sign: number 16 is on, number 11 is down.

"It's Zhang Jun who is being replaced!" The two commentators and Yang Pan were very surprised.

Judging from the first half, Zhang Jun was AC Milan's most threatening player. He has also performed well in the second half for twenty minutes. I don't understand why Ancelotti, who wants to strengthen the attack, would replace him.

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Not only were the two commentators in Beijing puzzled, but Zhang Jun himself was a little surprised. He originally thought that Yang Pan was here to help him.

After confirming that he had not misread, he ran off the field. He raised his hand while running and applauded the stands to thank them, and the fans also responded with applause.

Although he was replaced, Zhang Jun was content. He started for sixty-five minutes and had four scoring opportunities. As a player who had just landed in Serie A, he was very good. He would leave the rest to Yang Pan.

Yang Pan hugged Zhang Jun and rushed onto the field without saying anything.

Zhang Jun walked back to the bench alone with his head down. Ancelotti turned around and said something to him, but he didn't understand because he used Italian.

Ancelotti also realized that Yang Pan and Kaka were not around, and he couldn't understand what he was saying, so he turned his head and stopped talking.

Zhang Jun took the towel and wiped the sweat from his face, and then sat silently in his seat, putting his attention on the game.

After Yang Pan came on, he was completely different from his performance off the field, truly "aggressive like fire." Milan's red and black jersey really matched his style.

After four touches, he strictly followed Ancelotti's instructions and launched a cannon. A powerful shot from twenty-one meters hit the opponent's defender's thigh hard and bounced out of the baseline.

Milan fans had seen Yang Pan's long shot. In the game between AC Milan and Bologna at home last season, it was here that he pierced Dida's goal with a twenty-five-meter shot. At that time, both his shot with a speed of 108 kilometers per hour and his roar after the goal left a deep impression on the San Siro fans, and also strengthened the confidence of Milan's then vice chairman, now chairman Galliani, to recruit him back—such a fierce general was too terrible to become Milan's opponent.

Compared with Zhang Jun, Ancelotti also preferred Yang Pan. After all, he had two years of Serie A experience and was quite familiar with it. He knew how to use him in his mind.

His instructions to Yang Pan were to shoot from as far as possible, or rely on speed to tear apart Cagliari's defense.

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Pirlo sent the corner kick created by Yang Pan into the penalty area. Shevchenko shook his head like a lion in front of the defender who was defending him, and the ball flew into the goal, grazing the goalkeeper's fingertips!

1:0! AC Milan finally took the lead against Cagliari in the seventy-second minute!

Shevchenko scored his first goal of the season!

The cheers of San Siro resounded, cheering for their hero Sheva!

Zhang Jun also raised his hands and cheered off the field, but watching Yang Pan being able to hug and celebrate with Kaka and Sheva on the field, he felt a little envious, and vaguely felt like an outsider compared to Yang Pan.

He had come to Milan, and although the media was hyping him up and paying close attention to him, he felt that compared to Yang Pan, this brother who was not very noticed and never became as popular as him was more popular. Whether in the eyes of reporters, teammates, or fans, Yang Pan was a very natural existence in Milan, as if he was born a Milanese. And what about himself? The teammates were very friendly, but he felt that something was wrong. Yes, he was now AC Milan's forward, wearing the number 11 jersey, starting, training and chatting with stars that he could only see in TV newspapers, but his heart had not integrated into this great team.

Could it be that the physical examination incident made him have some resistance to AC Milan from the bottom of his heart? Zhang Jun secretly asked himself in his heart, he was very afraid that it was true. He didn't even dare to mention such a question to Yang Pan or Kaka, after all, he was now a member of Milan, and thinking about this question again seemed like a betrayal that was unsettling.

Zhang Jun sighed softly in the midst of his teammates' celebrations. After the joy of successfully transferring to AC Milan, he calmed down and thought about whether his choice of Milan was the right one?

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In the first round of the 05 to 06 season, AC Milan relied on Shevchenko's header at home to defeat Cagliari 1:0 and achieved a good start. Zhang Jun, who had been thinking about things, also forgot to find Zola to exchange jerseys. He regretted it afterwards and blamed Yang Pan for not reminding him. Yang Pan was annoyed by his nagging and replied, "Anyway, there is still an away game, what are you afraid of?" Zhang Jun thought it made sense, but he didn't know that missing Zola this time became a regret that he could never make up for.

After the game, different media gave many explanations for Zhang Jun being substituted early. The official explanation was that replacing him was to consider that Zhang Jun, who was participating in Serie A for the first time, needed time to adapt, and judging from the first half, he had adapted well, but still needed to work hard. This version was what Ancelotti said at the post-match press conference.

Some people were also worried that AC Milan couldn't open up the situation when Zhang Jun was on the field, but Milan won the game after he came down, which was not a good sign.

Most domestic media reported good news to domestic fans but not bad news, praising Zhang Jun's performance and calling it "a bright spot for San Siro fans." Even the official website of the Asian Football Confederation evaluated Zhang Jun's start after the game as "absolutely a scene that should be recorded in the history of Asian football."

Only the Japanese media said a bit sourly that Zhang Jun made Chinese football recognized by the world. At this time, their then star player, the pride of Japanese football, Hidetoshi Nakata, was working hard to prove himself in Bologna.

In the first round of Serie A on September 1, Zhang Jun and Yang Pan played for AC Milan, and Li Yongle also entered Inter Milan's substitute list. The golden generation of Chinese football emerged in the international arena, and the golden years of Chinese football slowly began.