“Football, football is my partner."

When Zhou Yi said this, the colleagues around Zheng Lulu looked up in surprise, staring at the projection screen. The bar was also much quieter all of a sudden.

Zheng Lulu herself was also very surprised, she didn't expect that Zhou Yi actually... didn't have a girlfriend yet!

But she then laughed, because she remembered that Zhou Yi must be teasing that nosy female host...

This was very much in line with Zhou Yi's personality. He looked harmless, but he always had some small thorns, gently pricking those who didn't understand him, harmless little jokes that could still protect his own interests.

The colleague next to her also laughed happily, hugging Zheng Lulu and saying, "That's great! Zhou Yi is still single! Great! Haha! I knew it, how could my Zhou Yi have a girlfriend! Right, you must think so too, Lulu!"

Zheng Lulu couldn't dampen her colleague's spirits at this time, so she just nodded with a dry laugh.

Of course, that wasn't what she meant...

She didn't care whether Zhou Yi had a girlfriend or not, because whether he did or didn't, it had nothing to do with her.

Zheng Lulu hoped that Zhou Yi was doing well, both on the field and in love.

※※※

"Football?" Mrs. Wagner was taken aback.

Her husband next to her laughed loudly, very happily.

Zhou Yi's answer was really witty and likable.

In his loud laughter, Mrs. Wagner also reacted, she clapped her hands with a smile: "That's right, it's football! Football is the best partner!"

After speaking, she turned to her husband and said, "Old man, you're not jealous of what I said, are you?"

"What jealousy do I have? I like football too..." Old Wagner's eyes narrowed into a line with a smile. "Zhou Yi is such a good young man!"

Listening to her parents praising Zhou Yi so much, Cortana sat on the side and just wanted to roll her eyes - this kid was actually showing off on this occasion!

Although she was secretly complaining, Cortana was also secretly relieved deep down...

※※※

"Damn it! I even took off my pants, and this is what you show me, Zhou Yi?!" Sun Pan roared in the group.

"Damn, Sun Pan, you can take off your pants for Zhou Yi, what do you want to do?" Guo Nu was very surprised.

"Damn it, it's a popular internet phrase! It's so tiring to talk to Lao Guo! I told you to go online more often to learn knowledge, but you don't listen!"

"Hey, actually I think what Zhou Yi said is pretty good..." Yang Muge said weakly.

"Of course it's good, he spoke with a lot of skill," He Ying said. "He avoided sensitive topics and made a very gossipy question profound..."

"Or he just showed off..." Sun Pan complained.

"That understanding is also correct." He Ying didn't object to Sun Pan's rather vulgar statement.

Sun Pan lamented: "Zhou Yi took all the glory, what am I going to do when it's my turn next time..."

"Don't worry," He Ying said. "It's unlikely to be your turn."

"Hey!"

※※※

Thus, the 2012-2013 European Player of the Year awards ceremony ended amidst surprise, joy, and complaints, also leaving people with some food for thought.

After the ceremony, Zhou Yi rejected all requests from the media to interview him, explaining that he couldn't because he was about to board a plane to Prague. The chairman of Borussia Dortmund didn't have a private jet for him, and if he was late and missed the scheduled flight, Klopp would be the first to go crazy.

"See you in Dortmund!" Before getting into the car arranged by the club, Zhou Yi waved to the reporters who surrounded him and shouted.

Then, with a bang, he closed the car door, and the car quickly drove away from the Grimaldi Forum.

No reporter complained that Zhou Yi was putting on airs, because he really had to rush back to participate in the game. UEFA's arrangements were indeed not scientific enough. If the European Super Cup was still held at the Louis II Stadium in Monaco, Zhou Yi could naturally hold the trophy and talk eloquently into the microphones and cameras of the reporters, letting them ask questions and take pictures. They believed that with Zhou Yi's friendliness and affinity towards the media, he would definitely do so.

One reporter sighed, "Football, after all, is just an extension of politics..."

Some people knew what he was sighing about, but no one responded.

This was a very sensitive topic, and one that couldn't be explained clearly in just a few words.

※※※

Klopp sat at a table in the hotel restaurant, having just opened a newspaper when assistant coach Buvac walked in, first looking around before coming to Klopp's table and sitting down: "Zhou Yi hasn't gotten up yet?"

"Hmm," Klopp said, staring at the newspaper without looking up. "Let him sleep a little longer, if he doesn't get enough rest, he won't be in good shape for the game tonight. He had quite a night last night..."

Buvac noticed that Klopp was looking at the newspaper the whole time he was talking to him, he tilted his head, somewhat surprised: "There's even *Marca* in a hotel in Prague?"

"It's a major newspaper," Klopp pointed to the several newspapers on the table: "There's also *La Gazzetta dello Sport* and *Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung*."

Sure enough, Buvac found these two newspapers inside, so he picked up *La Gazzetta dello Sport*. Without even flipping through it, the headline on the front page was a photo and headline of Zhou Yi winning the European Player of the Year award.

*"Football is My Partner!"*

It was accompanied by a photo of Zhou Yi holding the European Player of the Year trophy with both hands. Next to him were Platini and Hotzschu, two big shots who were serving as foils for Zhou Yi.

"What a glory..." Buvac said with emotion. "He's only twenty-two years old."

"Messi had already won the FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d'Or at twenty-two," Klopp said from the side while reading the newspaper. "A double winner."

"You can't compare him to Messi, Messi is..."

"Why can't you compare him to Messi?" Klopp put down the newspaper and looked at his assistant.

"The two people are in different positions, Messi's individual ability is more prominent, Messi has the ability to change the outcome of a game by himself..." Buvac explained.

"I agree that the positions are different, but I don't agree that individual ability is more prominent. Messi has the ability to change the game by himself, doesn't Zhou Yi have that ability?" Klopp retorted aggressively.

"Hey, Jurgen, I didn't come here to argue with you early in the morning," Buvac raised his hands.

"I know, I just think that what Messi can do, Zhou Yi can also do, and the honors that Messi can get, Zhou Yi should also get. I saw some media saying that the reason why Zhou Yi was able to beat Messi this time was because he relied on the votes of professional media. If it was put to the FIFA vote, he probably wouldn't even be in the top three, like Sneijder in 2010. Frankly, I think that media is right, but that's even more sad," Klopp said very seriously.

The topic suddenly became a little heavy.

Buvac didn't like thinking about such heavy issues so early in the morning, so he changed the subject: "How are the others doing?"

"They're all fine, after a night's sleep, the tired expressions on their faces have lessened a lot." Klopp was always the first to come to the restaurant, sitting in a position near the entrance, eating while observing every Dortmund player who came in. This was a way for the head coach to understand the situation of his players.

"That's good, that's good..." Buvac felt a little more at ease.

Chelsea, especially Mourinho's Chelsea, were not so easy to deal with.

Returning to Chelsea, Mourinho was of course eager to prove himself with a championship.

The Chelsea soldiers who welcomed Mourinho back would also be in high spirits and eager to prove themselves in front of their respected coach.

But on the Dortmund side, their core Zhou Yi didn't even have the chance to adapt to the venue...

It was truly a slim chance of victory.

※※※

The day after the awards ceremony, the European and Chinese media were reporting on the Champions League draw results and the European Player of the Year results. However, the emphasis of the two was slightly different.

The European media treated these two things relatively equally, and there was no obvious bias in the content and importance of the reports.

After all, the Champions League group draw was also very important, and more people were concerned about it.

But on the Chinese media side, the results of the Champions League group draw were just listed for the fans to see for themselves, and more space was devoted to reporting on Zhou Yi's historic breakthrough.

Print newspapers, television broadcasts, online new media... all-round introduction and reporting of this matter, it is no exaggeration to describe the reporting density as carpet bombing.

Some media have already named Zhou Yi the best player in Asian history. In the future, it is unknown whether anyone will be able to surpass him, but no Asian player has ever been comparable to him before.

There were also media articles that believed that Zhou Yi's award broke a long-standing superstitious saying, that is, the racial discrimination that "Chinese people are not suitable for football." Zhou Yi's success proved that Chinese people can also play football well, and those who don't play well can no longer find reasons in race. If you don't play well, it's because you don't put your heart and effort into it, there are no other excuses.

There are also articles that analyze from a data perspective how Zhou Yi's award is well-deserved. Although Zhou Yi himself scored fewer goals than Ribery and Messi, he participated in a lot of goals. Almost more than half of Dortmund's goals involved him, either directly attacking or indirectly organizing. He is Dortmund's well-deserved core. In addition, the article also listed Zhou Yi's goals in key Champions League and league matches, indicating that Zhou Yi is definitely the top contributor to Dortmund winning these two championships. Without Zhou Yi, Dortmund would not be able to win these two championships at all.

In addition, some media extended from European clubs to the national team, believing that it was also lucky for the Chinese team to have a player like Zhou Yi. Since the national team had Zhou Yi, their results have been rising steadily, winning the Asian Cup runner-up at the lowest point, and also making it into the Brazil World Cup finals. Zhou Yi and his other "Four Little Dragons" are like a gift from heaven to Chinese football after suffering for so many years...

No one resented such reporting density and content scale, and even felt that the praise for Zhou Yi was still not enough.

At this time, no matter how many reports praising Zhou Yi's historical status appeared, everyone would not get tired of reading them.

Because Zhou Yi deserves it!