Chapter 1 Wilshere’s Opponent

Wilshere’s opponent was naturally Zhou Yi.

The Arsenal youth team initially thought they could easily snatch the ball from these Chinese teenagers and launch an attack.

But in reality, when the Chinese team controlled the ball in midfield, it wasn't that easy to steal it from them.

The football was passed back and forth between the Chinese players, sometimes with consecutive one-touch passes without stopping.

Although it was just passing around, it made the Arsenal youth team players feel a bit worn out.

Wilshere was among them.

Although he was an attacking player and not very good at defending, it was normal for him to go up and try to steal the ball against a much weaker team. But after trying a few times, he realized he couldn't get the ball, and it was just being passed around him...

Slightly out of breath, Wilshere stopped this foolish behavior after fifteen minutes.

To be honest, this was the feeling they should be giving to their opponents.

Arsenal's football philosophy was passing, control, and movement. Passing, especially short-range passing and movement between two or three people, was the essence.

So usually, it was their opponents who were being worn out by their passing. Since when were they being treated like this by their opponents?

Wilshere began to seriously think about this problem.

Soon, he focused his attention on the number sixteen on the Chinese team.

He could see that this person was the core of the Chinese team's midfield, because the ball always went to him, and it was always passed out by him.

Rather than saying that the Chinese team was wearing out the Arsenal youth team players, it was better to say that this person was directing everyone.

He used passing to give orders, making the Chinese team players constantly run on the field, and making the Arsenal youth team players run around as well, like puppets on a string.

And all of this was achieved by him using only the most basic actions of passing and movement.

Could there really be such a powerful figure in the Chinese team?

Was this a mysterious master from mysterious China?

※※※

"Zhou Yi's performance is really outstanding. Thanks to him, we are now evenly matched with Arsenal in terms of the game!" Assistant coach Xu Yang said with emotion as he sat on the sidelines. Saying "thanks to him" showed that Xu Yang didn't hide his admiration and praise for Zhou Yi at all.

Hao Dong was also satisfied with Zhou Yi's performance, but he was also a little worried: "Don't be too happy too soon, Xu *zhi*. Zhou Yi's stamina is a big problem. He hasn't recovered from the last game yet." (*zhi* - short for coach/instructor)

Hearing this, the excited expression on Xu Yang's face faded a lot, and then he sighed: "Ah, if only this kid had received training in a professional youth academy since he was a child..."

"That's hard to say, Xu *zhi*. You know what the requirements for players' physical fitness are like in our country. Looking at this kid's physical fitness, I'm afraid he wouldn't even be able to pass the twelve-minute run. Not many youth team coaches would be able to see anything in him. If that were the case, maybe he would have lost interest in football a long time ago? It's good the way things are now. He's silently sprouting and growing in a place that none of us noticed, and that hasn't been contaminated by those messed up things. By the time we see him, he's already blossomed, for us to admire. How great is that?"

"That's what they say, but I still hope he can perform better. He has such talent, he should be seen by more people, and the flower should bloom even more beautifully."

"Take it slow, Xu *zhi*. He's only seventeen years old. Stamina can be trained, and strength can be enhanced through training, but this..." Hao Dong pointed to his head, "is an innate talent. He's already luckier than ninety-nine percent of the people. At least he came to participate in our program. So many people in China signed up for the audition, and he was the only one selected in the end. If it hadn't been me as the judge for that final, maybe he would have been eliminated?"

Speaking of this, Hao Dong suddenly smiled.

Because he remembered that Zhou Yi had actually fallen asleep on the bench during such an important final!

This kid... in addition to a clever brain, he might also have a naturally big heart!

※※※

Hao Dong's worries were correct. Zhou Yi's poor stamina was no secret within the team. He had played the entire game against Dortmund, his first appearance in a match, and he had performed very hard, which put a lot of strain on his body.

Although it had been five days since the last game, Zhou Yi's stamina had not recovered to its best condition.

In fact, even in his best condition, it would be difficult for him to last a whole game.

In the last game, it was because Hao Dong had no one else to substitute, so he could only let Zhou Yi persist on the field, and even said that he wanted to see how he would perform when his stamina was low. Although Zhou Yi ultimately gave everyone a big surprise with a goal, this was not a long-term solution.

Moreover, Zhou Yi's style of play actually required a lot of running ability, because he had to constantly look for openings on the field. Looking for openings with your eyes wasn't enough; you had to use your legs. You had to run over there to find them, otherwise just seeing them was useless.

He had to keep running on the field, from one opening to the next.

Even if this kind of running wasn't sprinting, running for the full ninety minutes would probably mean running more than ten thousand meters.

And Zhou Yi, when participating in campus football at school, played as a forward and didn't need so much running. Maybe in a ninety-minute game, he would only run two thousand meters at most, which would be considered diligent - you should know that the average running distance per game for players in the Chinese professional football league, the Chinese Super League, is only about seven thousand meters, and some players even only run three thousand meters per game. In the current Chinese football scene, players who can run an average of ten thousand meters per game are very rare.

With Zhou Yi's current stamina, it was indeed difficult to last too long. In fact, not only Zhou Yi, but other players also had stamina problems to varying degrees, but they didn't show it as obviously as Zhou Yi. There were many reasons for this, such as their rich experience and knowing how to use their stamina, or that some people were lazier in the game, and would rather stand still than move, and would rather stroll than run...

Only Zhou Yi was constantly moving, so his stamina consumption was greater.

※※※

After thirty minutes, the Chinese team's control in midfield began to decline sharply, and the Arsenal youth team was finally able to control the absolute upper hand.

And their attacking threat followed.

Sun Pan made high saves and desperately stopped Arsenal's attacks, and Guo Nu also received a yellow card near the end of the first half.

For a time, there was a tense atmosphere in front of the Chinese team's goal.

Hao Dong also stood up from his seat and walked to the sidelines. He looked down at the watch on his wrist. Forty minutes had passed in the first half.

Then he looked up and nervously watched the field.

When the team was suppressed by Arsenal, Zhou Yi disappeared on the field. He really couldn't play much of a role in defense, and once he ran out of stamina, he would be powerless in attack.

Hao Dong pursed his lips. Although he was not very willing, he could only substitute him at half-time...

※※※

When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half, the score was temporarily fixed at 0:0.

This result was difficult for the Arsenal youth team players to accept. They couldn't believe that they hadn't been able to score a goal in the first half!

They had thought they could end the game in the first half...

In stark contrast to them were the Chinese players. They were very happy that the first half ended in a 0:0 draw.

After all, in the last fifteen minutes of the first half, they were completely beaten by the Arsenal youth team, and they were lucky not to concede a goal.

It was a draw without conceding a goal!

So when the whistle for the end of the first half sounded, some Chinese team players even clenched their fists and waved them excitedly. Everyone was celebrating this first half.

Only Zhou Yi stood still, neither walking off the field nor celebrating.

He just stood there with his hands hanging down and his back slightly hunched, motionless.

Yang Muge came over and grabbed Zhou Yi's arm and shoulder: "Are you alright?"

Zhou Yi turned his head and smiled at him, but he didn't say anything, because he didn't have the strength to speak. He was so tired that he just wanted to stand here. Taking one step felt like it would drain all the remaining strength from his body.

Yang Muge could see that Zhou Yi was too tired to walk, so he supported Zhou Yi and walked towards the sidelines.

Sun Pan also ran over from in front of the goal and asked with concern: "Cramping?"

Zhou Yi didn't have the strength to speak, so he just shook his head.

"He's probably just exhausted," Yang Muge speculated.

Zhou Yi nodded.

"I'll do it!" Sun Pan took Zhou Yi from Yang Muge's hands. His height and build of nearly 1.9 meters made him look like he was grabbing a little chicken when he helped Zhou Yi walk.

※※※

In the locker room, the Arsenal youth team's coach, Steve Bould, was very dissatisfied with the team's performance in the first half.

"You are Arsenal! Although you are all under eighteen years old, you are wearing Arsenal jerseys. When people see this jersey, the first thing they think of won't be that you are the youth team, but only 'Ah, that's Arsenal'! We didn't even score a single goal in the first half, which is simply unbelievable! Lads, didn't you sleep well last night?"

Everyone lowered their heads, scolded by the coach. Actually, even if the coach didn't scold them, they wouldn't feel good in their hearts.

The first half was really badly played.

Everyone secretly worked hard in their hearts, and they must score more goals against their opponents in the second half, and they must use a hearty victory to wash away this shame!

At the same time, in the Chinese team's locker room, Hao Dong was making personnel arrangements for the second half. He replaced the exhausted Zhou Yi.

Everyone could tell at a glance that Zhou Yi couldn't last the whole game.

Liang Qiqi was secretly smug - of course he didn't dare to show this emotion - he didn't expect Zhou Yi to only last half the game. This left him with forty-five minutes, and he would seize the opportunity of these forty-five minutes to show himself well.

He would use practical actions to take back his starting position!