Chapter 1 Da Lian: The Pride of China

Although the Dalian team lost to Fiorentina, the courage and tactical skills they displayed in the final left a deep impression on the audience. The president of FIFA praised Chen Wei after the game, "You have a brave team and a brave coach."

Domestically, the voices saying they "disgraced the reputation of the world champions" could no longer be heard, replaced by a chorus of praise. Under these circumstances, the Dalian team returned home in triumph.

The domestic media even preemptively placed Luo Shengmao in the position of head coach of the Chinese national men's football team.

Chen Wei did indeed meet with Luo Shengmao in Beijing on the same day the Dalian team returned home, hoping he would take on the role of national team coach. The conversation was very sincere, just like when he approached Qiu Suhui.

However, because he often discussed domestic and international football matters with Qiu Suhui, Luo Shengmao didn't have much affection for this Football Association chairman. He told Chen Wei that such an important matter couldn't be decided rashly, and he needed to carefully consider it before giving the Football Association an answer.

Chen Wei was satisfied with Luo Shengmao's response, as it was indeed a very important matter. He knew that if anyone agreed too hastily, he, Chen Wei, would be the first to feel uneasy. So, he agreed to let Luo Shengmao go back and think it over carefully before giving him a reply, while also expressing his confidence in his own appeal. Luo Shengmao was currently the most skilled and energetic head coach in China. How could he possibly refuse such a good position as the national team coach? There were so many people in the country vying for this position who didn't even qualify. How could Luo Shengmao refuse?

He promised to wait in Beijing for Luo Shengmao's good news.

Back in Dalian, after dealing with various social engagements, Luo Shengmao finally had a moment of peace to call Qiu Suhui.

"Old Qiu, there's something I need your advice on."

"What is it?"

"Well, when I was transferring in Beijing, Chen Wei came to see me. He wants me to be the national team coach."

A chuckle came from the other end of the phone. "I figured he'd come looking for you. He's been going crazy trying to find the most suitable head coach."

"What do you think I should do?"

"Don't agree," Qiu Suhui replied definitively.

"Huh? Why? When you recommended me to be the coach of Dalian, wasn't it for the sake of becoming the national team coach in the future?"

"That's right, it was for that reason back then. But that was for the national team coach position in the future, not now. You've only coached Dalian for one season, and you still lack experience. Now is not the best time for you to be the national team coach. If you take the job rashly and something goes wrong, I'm afraid you won't have another chance to coach the national team in the future. Endure it for now, watch others make a mess, continue coaching your Dalian team, and then after a few years, when your experience, reputation, and connections are sufficient, apply to coach the national team. I think that will be a natural progression."

"But, China's golden generation may only have a few years of activity left..." The thought of not being able to coach talented players like Zhang Jun, Xiang Tao, Yang Pan, and Li Yongle made Luo Shengmao feel somewhat unwilling.

Qiu Suhui sighed deeply. "This can't be helped. After glory, there is bound to be a low point. I think Zhang Jun and the others are probably well aware of this natural law, right? It's not that I'm pessimistic, but Chinese football is destined to take a detour, or even a step backward, destined to fall into a trough and enter a low tide. A world championship is not a panacea; in reality, it solves no problems. But some among us believe that winning a world championship means Chinese football is truly world-class, and what's scary is that these people are leaders with power... I dare not even imagine what consequences their thinking will cause. We've discussed this problem before, haven't we? I remember you agreed with my view."

"That's right..."

"Then, knowing that the situation is already beyond redemption, pushing you into the spotlight is obviously unwise. This is a tribulation that Chinese football is destined to suffer. None of us can do anything about it. What you need to do is to focus on coaching your club, continuously improve your experience and popularity, and lay a solid foundation for coaching the national team in the future."

"Are we just going to watch all of this slowly get worse, and do nothing?" Luo Shengmao was a little emotional. After all, he was also a passionate young man who loved Chinese football and was willing to dedicate everything to it...

"This isn't doing nothing. Aren't you accumulating experience in a new position? After a period of rest, I will definitely come out and do something too. Our patience now is only for better work in the future. As the saying goes, after a low tide, there must be a high tide. Chinese football was even worse ten years ago. How much worse can the situation get? It's just going back ten years. Old Luo, a small impatience can ruin big plans. What we need to do now is to endure. Don't worry about how the Football Association messes around, and don't worry about how many unfair things you see that you can't stand. You have to endure. When the time is right, there will be an opportunity to change everything."

Luo Shengmao had to admit that everything Qiu Suhui said was correct. These were obviously his well-thought-out words, just like his decision to retire bravely from the position of national team coach, which was definitely not simply an impulsive decision because he hated Chen Wei. Perhaps from the moment he resigned, he had been brewing a plan to save Chinese football again, and his coaching of Dalian should also be a step in that rescue plan.

"Okay, I understand... I know what to do."

Reporters with a keen sense of smell quickly learned that Chen Wei had spoken to Luo Shengmao alone, so they excitedly announced: The Football Association has narrowed down the final candidate for the national team coach to Luo Shengmao!

This decision was widely expected, and the Football Association's decision received support from almost all fans and media. People were waiting for Luo Shengmao to take office.

The Football Association did not refute this report and speculation, perhaps because they believed that with the current popularity of the national team, no excellent head coach would give up the opportunity to coach.

Just when the whole country was waiting with confidence for Luo Shengmao to come out, what they got was a press conference held by Luo Shengmao's club, Dalian.

"Regarding the recent rumors about coach Luo Shengmao coaching the national team, we must clarify that Luo Shengmao has not promised anyone that he will go to the national team to coach, and he himself hopes to continue staying with the Dalian team to continue his work. We are very honored that the Football Association has taken a fancy to coach Luo Shengmao, but we respect Luo Shengmao's own decision. He wants to stay in Dalian and will not go anywhere."

The whole country was in an uproar.

In fact, before this, Luo Shengmao had called Chen Wei and clearly rejected the Football Association's call. The reason he gave was also very high-sounding – that he lacked experience and was not famous enough, and was afraid that he would not be able to control the stars of the national team, and that his low level of coaching would harm the national team and tarnish its reputation. After all, there were only six months left until the Asian Cup, and the Chinese people's goal was definitely the Asian Cup championship. Luo Shengmao admitted that his ability probably couldn't do this. "I can make the team play very well, but I can't make the team win the championship." Therefore, he refused to take the position of national team coach, and said that there were many head coaches in the world who were better than him, and the Football Association would definitely be able to find someone who was truly suitable for the national team.

Chen Wei could hardly believe his ears. He later did a lot of work on Luo Shengmao, but Luo Shengmao was "determined", and no matter what he said, he would not agree to come out and coach the national team, but repeatedly emphasized that he lacked coaching experience, and that his working ability still had many shortcomings, and that he needed to study and improve. Coaching the national team now was too hasty.

Originally, Chen Wei wanted to continue to work hard, but he didn't expect the Dalian club to break the news in advance, leaving him with no room for maneuver. Moreover, Dalian's move was also understandable. Recently, rumors about the head coach leaving were rampant, which had seriously affected the work of their club. If they didn't come out to refute the rumors, things would probably get out of hand.

Amidst a wave of regret and sporadic curses, Luo Shengmao and the Chinese team missed each other in this way, and Chen Wei, after a headache, finally decided to lock the scope of selecting a coach in foreign countries. He had lost confidence in the domestic coaches in China.

"Luo Shengmao actually rejected the position of national team coach?" Zhang Jun was a little surprised by the news he had just heard. Li Yan was a guest at his home in Florence, and he was the one who told him the news.

Li Yan nodded, "Almost no one would have thought that he would refuse, and that he would refuse so simply. He and Dalian joined forces and didn't leave Chen Wei any room. I even suspect that they had planned this in advance."

"What a pity, I think he is the most suitable person to be the national team coach. I was really looking forward to seeing what the Chinese team would be like under his leadership." Zhang Jun's voice was a little low. After the battle in Tokyo, he greatly appreciated this brave coach. He always felt that in order to control those unruly players in the national team, it must be a coach with courage and魄力. In his opinion, many of the candidates rumored by the outside world were not suitable, but Luo Shengmao, who had only debuted for one year, was very much to his liking.

"Actually, although Luo Shengmao's rejection was unexpected by many people, if we think about it carefully, it is also reasonable. Most of the previous speculations about him were because we were too excited, but we ignored some major issues. His experience and reputation are indeed a big problem. As he himself said, he can lead the team to play beautifully, and win the unanimous praise of the audience, but he cannot win the championship. Compared with Qiu Suhui, there is still a big gap." Li Yan said this, and Zhang Jun and Su Fei also nodded in agreement.

"It's a bit difficult to ask such a coach to lead the Chinese team and win the Asian Cup championship."

Su Fei suddenly looked at Zhang Jun, "Speaking of the Asian Cup, you will definitely participate, right?"

Zhang Jun nodded, "Unless I'm injured at that time."

"But I heard that Ren Yudi plans to have Fiorentina go to China and Japan for a tour this summer."

"Isn't that even better? I'll just wait for them in China then."

"No, what I mean is that your rest time will be almost non-existent."

Zhang Jun smiled, "Taking the team back to China to see is not only Yudi's idea, but also my wish all along."

Li Yan laughed aside, "Is it returning home in glory?"

Zhang Jun scratched his head, "You can also understand it that way. After playing against the Dalian team, I am very interested in the level of other domestic teams. I lack too much attention to the domestic league. I think this is a good opportunity for me to get close to the domestic league teams and see what the achievements of our professional reforms have been over the years."

Li Yan suddenly thought of Chen Wei, the only good thing this arrogant and conceited chairman is doing now is that he is still sticking to the reform plan he originally formulated. On second thought, this is also very reasonable, right? That plan was formulated by himself, if he doesn't insist on it, isn't it like slapping himself in the face? No matter what this person's character is, the set of plans he advocates was really made with the hard work of countless Chinese football people, and it has indeed had an undeniable influence and role on Chinese football.

"I am more concerned about the selection of the national team coach." Su Fei said from the side.

"This should be known soon..." Li Yan sighed.

Li Yan was right. Two days later, the Chinese Football Association announced to the public that the head coach of the Chinese national men's football team had been determined: the famous Dutch head coach, Dick Advocaat.

It is said that Advocaat had also been selected for the Football Association's candidate list before, but he was not a popular one. Why was the head coach problem, which had been unable to be solved for a long time, solved in just two days? According to Li Yan's analysis, Chen Wei obviously did it for Luo Shengmao and Dalian to see, so as not to let outsiders think that he, Chen Wei, couldn't do it without Luo Shengmao.

This time, Chen Wei's standard for selecting a coach was very clear: famous coach, world-class famous coach. He couldn't stand ordinary coaches.

For example, people like Troussier, Chen Wei couldn't stand.

Advocaat is a famous coach who has twice served as the head coach of the Dutch national team. He is also a disciple of Michels. His nickname "Little General" comes from his teacher Michels' nickname "General". At the same time, he has also coached the Korean team and is still familiar with East Asian football. These conditions are in line with Chen Wei's requirements for selecting a coach.

Advocaat, who was unemployed at home, was also happy to use coaching the newly crowned world champion to prove himself again – his team's results in the 2004 European Championship and the 2006 World Cup were not too satisfactory, especially the latter, and the remarks that he was old were rampant.

The contract signed by the Chinese Football Association and the 64-year-old Advocaat is valid for four years. Their main goal is the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and the Asian Cup is just a preliminary assessment. After all, the Chinese Football Association also knows that it is a bit far-fetched to ask a foreign old man to familiarize himself with the team in half a year.

At the same time, considering that Advocaat will be 68 years old in four years, both parties agreed that no matter how the World Cup results are at that time, the Football Association will not renew the contract with Advocaat.

Chen Wei's 2014 Brazil World Cup strategy is: the possibility of defending the championship is very small, so the Football Association will not make a fool of themselves, just be clear in your heart. But at least they must be able to enter the top eight of the World Cup. The top eight is the minimum requirement. As the defending champion, it is indeed a bit shabby.

"Dutch head coach? That's good, maybe we'll have a common language." Zhang Jun expressed his opinion on the new head coach. This is what he said to the news media. It was also considered by the media to be a positive attitude.

Advocaat, after taking office, the first thing he had to do was to express his attitude to the players of the national team. Naturally, he had to praise several main players. Regarding Zhang Jun's evaluation, he also made a positive response: "Zhang is a great player. He is in good shape now. I believe that under his and Yang Pan's leadership, the Chinese team will continue to create glory. I have confidence in leading this team well, and I will also bring the excellent traditions of Dutch football to them. I also assure the enthusiastic fans in China that you will see a Chinese team that is even better than before!"

In private, Zhang Jun contacted many of his teammates who played in Italy. Most people didn't have many opinions, only Yang Pan didn't think much of Advocaat's arrival. Zhang Jun knew that Yang Pan must have a lot of complaints about this Dutch old man, but as long as he didn't show it, he would let it go. Zhang Jun was not interested in changing the thoughts in other people's hearts.

These days, the Chinese media are full of news about Advocaat's inauguration and his introduction. Luo Shengmao and Qiu Suhui have gradually been forgotten. This is exactly the effect that Qiu Suhui wanted. If he was stared at all day long, it would be inconvenient for him to do many things. I believe Luo Shengmao is also like this. The Dalian team returned from Tokyo in triumph. They were going to prepare for their vacation. China's domestic league has ended, and the Dalian team won the league championship again and participated in the Asian Champions League next season.

In his first year as coach, he led the Dalian team to the top of Asia. In his second year as coach, he led the Dalian team to second place in the world and夺回 the league championship from Shandong team. Luo Shengmao is steadily advancing, accumulating his experience bit by bit, and working hard for more ambitious goals in the future.

Just after the selection of the Chinese team's coach was finally settled, Zhang Jun and all the fans who supported him also ushered in a festival of their own.

On December 18, Zhang Jun received the European Golden Globe Award trophy – a glittering golden football – at the headquarters of *France Football* in Paris. This was the second consecutive time he had won this honor.

The European Golden Globe Award is provided by the organizer *France Football* with a list of fifty candidates, and then senior sports journalists from the 52 member states of UEFA vote. Many Chinese players were selected for this list, as well as many stars who performed well in the European leagues, but in the end, Zhang Jun won the title with an absolute advantage. He scored a high score of 190 points, while Kaka in second place scored 121 points, and Zhang Jun's teammate Cruyff was third with 115 points.

Zhang Jun won the European Golden Globe Award for the second consecutive time without any suspense. Almost after the list of candidates was announced, people awarded him the Golden Globe Award in advance. Because in the past year, no one's achievements could compare to him. He led Fiorentina to defend the Serie A league title, and for the first time in history, he lifted the European Champions Cup, and then won the Italian Football Association Cup, becoming the unparalleled Triple Crown winner. A few days ago, he won the club's highest honor – the World Club Cup champion. At the same time, he became the top scorer in Serie A for three consecutive seasons. In a league known for its defense, he scored more than 30 goals for three consecutive seasons, becoming the most terrifying forward on this planet for defenders and goalkeepers.

When the reporters' cameras were all aimed at Zhang Jun, who was smiling while holding the trophy, they were all clear that this was not the end of everything.

The last period of each year is the stage when various major awards in international football are released. The past year must be summarized at this time, and it is also a season of harvest for players.

A day later, the "World Player of the Year" award of the famous British football magazine *World Soccer* also came to fruition. Zhang Jun, who was in the limelight, was elected as the world's best player again after winning the European Golden Globe Award. In the readers' vote for the *World Footballer of the Year*, he received 34.8% of the votes, while Messi, a midfielder who played for Barcelona, received 20% of the votes, and Cruyff, who was still from Fiorentina, was still in third place. He made the fans intoxicated with his amazing footwork and imagination, and also received 19.2% of the votes.

In the evaluation of the best coach of the year, although Sabato led Fiorentina to win the first Triple Crown in history, because this year is the World Cup year, many evaluations depend on the World Cup record. Sabato, who did not have a World Cup record, had to be content with being runner-up in the end. The best coach award was given to Qiu Suhui, who led the Chinese team to achieve a historic breakthrough and win the World Cup.

The honor of the annual best team was undoubtedly taken away by the Chinese team. "From a weak football team to a new world champion, the Chinese team has completed what Chinese football has been unable to complete for half a century. They have created many firsts in their country's football history, and such achievements are enough for future generations to worship. They are the most magical team this year." The above is *World Soccer's* evaluation. Fiorentina, who won the Triple Crown, ranked second.

It is not unreasonable that December was rated by many media as "China's month" and "Chinese month". In the year-end summaries and awards, Chinese football became the biggest winner. A world championship brought them countless honors.

Two days before Christmas, the most important awards were announced.

The "World Footballer of the Year" sponsored by FIFA and voted by the head coaches of all national teams under FIFA is undoubtedly the personal honor that all professional players dream of.

At the awards ceremony held at the Zurich Opera House, Zhang Jun once again became the ultimate winner. He won the 2010 World Footballer of the Year with an absolute advantage. Ranked second was Kaka from Brazil and AC Milan, and third place was still Zhang Jun's teammate Cruyff. This ranking is the same as the European Golden Globe Award, which also shows that the election of the three people is well-deserved. It is important to know that FIFA originally created the World Footballer of the Year award to compete with *France Football's* Golden Globe Award, so almost every time their final winners were against *France Football*, but once they coincided, then the selected best is definitely well-deserved and undisputed. For example, Baggio in 1993, Ronaldo in 1997 and 2002, Ronaldinho in 2005, and Zhang Jun this time.

When the result was finally revealed, Zhang Jun first smiled and hugged Kaka and Cruyff next to him. These two people were his good friends. In fact, no matter who among them took first place, the other two would not have any objections, only sincere congratulations.

Then Cruyff took the bronze ball award from the president of FIFA, and Kaka took the silver ball. When Zhang Jun held the golden ball in his hand, all the guests present stood up and applauded him at the same time. In their opinion, this was not suspenseful, and it was also a matter of course. With his wonderful performance this year, Zhang Jun not only brought countless honors to the two teams he played for, but also put a huge halo on himself.

This is the peak of Zhang Jun's personal career. He may never be able to surpass this peak again in the future, because he has won almost all the awards he can get. For a time, Zhang Jun reigned supreme in international football, and no one dared to look him in the face.

At the FIFA awards ceremony, the president of FIFA even said to Zhang Jun in front of the television cameras broadcasting to the world: "You are the miracle of modern football since the 21st century, and fans all over the world are proud to be able to see you play football." This is a great compliment. It is really amazing for Zhang Jun to be able to let the president of FIFA say such blatant praise.

In the post-match news reports, the three major news agencies gave Zhang Jun very high evaluations. Some senior critics believe that Zhang Jun no longer needs to prove anything to this world, because there is nothing to prove.

At the same time, the annual best team and the most improved team were awarded to the Chinese team. But compared with Zhang Jun's coronation of the annual awards, this honor seems a bit childish.

Earlier, Zhang Jun had already won the Chinese Footballer of the Year and the Asian Footballer of the Year. There is also a small episode about this Asian Footballer of the Year.

Originally, in order to reflect its pitiful "authority", the Asian Football Confederation had a very incomprehensible rule in the selection of the Asian Footballer of the Year: any player who cannot attend the awards ceremony and receive the award in person will first lose their candidacy, and naturally there will be no possibility of winning the final award. After this rule was introduced, it caused a lot of controversy, because the Asian Footballer of the Year selected in this way often lacks persuasiveness and becomes a laughing stock for other continental football federations. However, in order to maintain their authority, the AFC insisted on not amending this rule.

Until this year, because Zhang Jun was too popular, even his competitors publicly stated that if they had the right to vote, they would definitely vote for him – of course, most of his competitors were Chinese, and Chinese players accounted for five of the ten candidates. The awards ceremony happened to be held during Zhang Jun's league, and if the previous regulations were followed, then Zhang Jun would definitely miss the Asian Footballer of the Year, which would become a big joke. Under these circumstances, the media in various Asian countries made very merciless criticisms and satires of the AFC's regulations. At the same time, even FIFA intervened. In the end, the AFC had to announce the cancellation of the idiot rule that "players who cannot attend the awards ceremony have no right to be elected as Asian Footballer of the Year", and Zhang Jun was able to become the Asian Footballer of the Year as expected by everyone.

In this December full of joy and glory, Fiorentina ended their league in the first half of the season. Their undefeated record in 19 league rounds made them the undisputed champion of the first half of the season. The Champions League entered the knockout stage, and the Italian Cup entered the quarter-finals. Everything was developing in a direction that was beneficial to them.

After Christmas, the calendar turned over the year 2010 full of good memories and entered the brand new year 2011. Zhang Jun and Fiorentina have a bigger future waiting for them to create.

It was in the first month of the new year that the Serie A Oscar Awards were also announced. Zhang Jun was once again elected as the best foreign aid and best player in Serie A. Fiorentina was elected as the best team, and Sabato became the best coach.

After that, the International Federation of Football History & Statistics announced that Zhang Jun became the world's best striker of the year with sixteen goals in the Chinese national team and continental club events. All the honors that could be won were won, and Zhang Jun finally achieved the Grand Slam.

In other evaluations made by the same institution, Anker, who played for Bayern Munich, was elected as the best goalkeeper of the year, the best defender of the year belonged to John Terry, the captain of the Premier League champion Chelsea, and the honor of the best midfielder of the year naturally went to Kaka, who was ranked second in various evaluations, while Cruyff had never won in his many confrontations with Kaka. The two were equally brilliant for a while. This was the happiness of the fans, but their own misfortune. Qiu Suhui was once again elected as the best coach of the year, firmly suppressing Sabato below him.

After the award selection in these two months, Zhang Jun's prestige in the world football and even other fields has reached an unprecedented height. In his hometown, Luoyang, Henan, people even erected a life-size bronze statue of him outside the stadium, replacing the previous sculpture. In the whole of China, he has been regarded as a great hero of the nation. All the media unanimously believe that since the founding of New China, there has never been a figure in sports or even all fields who can reach Zhang Jun's current height: he has a huge number of fans around the world, enjoys a high reputation in various fields, and even the German president declared that he was a die-hard fan of Zhang Jun during his visit to China. In addition, in view of Zhang Jun's great contribution to sports in Italy and his role in Sino-Italian sports and cultural exchanges, the Italian president has awarded Zhang Jun the "Knight of the Star of Benevolence" medal in Rome on December 5 last year. For Zhang Jun personally, these are all great honors.

Even some foreign media cheered – this is the new generation of ball kings. Some people even paired Zhang Jun's photo of holding the World Footballer of the Year trophy with such a text description: Coronation. Although this title is still controversial in the world football, it does not prevent Zhang Jun's supporters from cheering and celebrating for it.

His influence has surpassed football itself. Zhang Jun and his beautiful wife Su Fei accepted the invitation of the United Nations and became the image ambassadors of UNICEF. He is the idol and goal of countless teenagers around the world. The simple love story between him and Su Fei has made countless people envious. It is said that a famous director in Hollywood has already planned to make a love movie based on their love story. Not to mention that a director in China has already planned to make a documentary for Zhang Jun.

There are also those commercial contracts that have poured in. Zhang Jun has become the highest-paid athlete in the world. Some people jokingly said that the money he earns is enough for his descendants to spend for a hundred years.

For two whole months, China was full of reports about Zhang Jun's coronation, tirelessly. Around the world, the craze about Zhang Jun has not subsided, and it can even be said that it has just begun.

In this way, Hua Fang is busy again. Although she has now established an agent company, she no longer needs to run around for many things herself, but Zhang Jun's affairs, no matter how big or small, she has to be responsible for personally. After all, he is the first player she signed, and also the most successful one, and can be regarded as the signature of her company.

"These two months have been crazy. I feel like I haven't played much football, and I've just been rushing around attending various awards ceremonies."

"Do you feel tired, Zhang Jun?"

"A little bit, a little bit... but also very excited. I never imagined that I would have such a day, standing at the highest place in the world, accepting the worship of everyone... All of this is as far away as a dream."

"Then do you feel excited, Zhang Jun?"

"A little bit, only a little bit... I haven't gotten to the point where my head is dizzy. I am very clear about the current situation, and I also know what I should do next. These are just a few trophies, and they will still be dusty after a long time. For me, trophies are like embellishments in life. It's good to have them, but it's not a big deal without them."

"It's great that you can stay awake under these circumstances."

... Regarding everything that happened in football this year, future generations may have many evaluations and their own opinions. But there is no doubt that Zhang Jun is an undeniable existence. He is like the sun, shining with dazzling light, overlooking all living beings from above. I am not exaggerating, anyone who has personally experienced that year will agree with my words.

When we suddenly discovered a Zhang Jun in the Netherlands like an archaeological excavation, perhaps what we felt in our hearts besides surprise was more worry. The tradition of Chinese football is like a series of modern football versions of *The Sadness of Being a Prodigy*, "Early bloomers, not necessarily successful." We have also personally watched the 2001 national youth team defeat Argentina and become a super-platinum generation, and we have poured countless efforts and hopes into them. But in the end, we can only watch the super-platinum turn into rough platinum.

Therefore, when Zhang Jun and Yang Pan were born, few people would really take them seriously, and few people would dare to place their expectations on the two young people. When I decided to follow and report on them, even I myself was not sure whether I was doing the right thing. For me, this was not a job, but more like a gamble, a gamble on the future of my career.

Fortunately, I won this time.

I don't want to say that Zhang Jun is a late bloomer, because he became famous very early. But unlike Ronaldo, it was not until this year, at the age of twenty-eight, that he truly received the world's recognition and praise, and obtained everything that a professional player could obtain. For someone with a serious hidden danger in his ankle, twenty-eight is the golden age, and after that, no one can say for sure. Even if one day he suddenly falls on the court and can't get up again, I don't think I would be surprised.

From his debut in Volendam at the age of twenty to his coronation at the age of twenty-eight, Zhang Jun spent almost six of these eight years entangled with injuries and other factors. During this period, many people lost confidence in him and turned to attack him, and many people were attracted by his football and personal charm and joined the ranks of his fans – there are many people like this around me. The only thing I can be proud of is that no matter what, I have always trusted and supported him as always, and have never regretted my original choice. Some people say that I have good vision, and some people say that I have good luck, but neither is true. If I have to say, I can only say that it is because of long-term contact with Zhang Jun that I like this young man more and more. Maybe even if he has nothing and accomplishes nothing, I will trust him, like him, and support him. Because he is like my younger brother, I have no reason to give up my younger brother.

Because I have been speaking for him, some people even put the label of Zhang Jun's "official writer" on me. To be honest, I really want to thank those who ridiculed me at the beginning. Later, he became great, and was crowned king. Many people said that my unremitting efforts over the years have finally been rewarded – I know how sour the expressions on their faces are when they say this, because I can still clearly smell that taste even after ten years when I look back at the past records.

But this is not the result of my unremitting efforts, but the reward of Zhang Jun's unremitting efforts. I am just an onlooker, just waving and shouting a few "Go" when the contestant is exhausted. This kind of effort is too easy for me. It is the contestant who is fighting fate on the field who is more hardworking. He has put in almost all his efforts, and now it is his time to harvest. This seemingly unbelievable rich reward is only because he has put in more and more sweat, tears and even blood than others.

When we watched Zhang Jun smile in front of the camera holding the trophy, we applauded and cheered for him. At the same time, I could also guess in my heart that Zhang Jun himself must understand that the current glory and scenery are temporary for himself, and the honor will eventually leave him. Once his state declines or he gets older, those harsh critics and media will immediately forget the glory he once gained and turn to attack him for being old.

We all know that this is the rule of this circle, a cruel rule that no one can get rid of. There has never been a lack of geniuses here. When one genius leaves, more geniuses will inevitably come out to fill people's empty expectations.

But I think for those who truly support and like Zhang Jun, even if one day he decides to leave this court, whether he leaves with glory or frustration, they will support him as always and sincerely wish him all the best. Because compared to those brilliant trophies, what we cherish more is the countless beautiful memories he brought us...

—Excerpt from the autobiography *Witness to the Legend* by the famous football reporter Li Yan, first edition in July 2025, first printing.