Chapter 18 Back on Track

When they came out of the locker room, the Chinese youngsters' expressions were much better than before.

Zhou Yi and the head coach's double confirmation made them somewhat believe that the Chelsea youth team they were about to face wasn't that strong.

Only Sun Pan remained cautious, trailing behind the team and pulling Zhou Yi back. He asked in a very, very soft voice, "Is this Chelsea team really not strong?"

"That's compared to Arsenal and Barcelona. They're still a strong team for us," Zhou Yi replied, echoing Zhang Tao's exact sentiments.

"Damn it! Then what you said just now..." Sun Pan was so startled that his voice almost rose an octave, but he quickly covered his mouth.

However, his jumpiness still attracted curious glances from his teammates, which he glared back at fiercely.

"What a waste of Old Yang's trust in you!" he said, his mouth still covered.

"If I hadn't said that, I was afraid everyone would surrender before the game even started..." Zhou Yi said helplessly.

"Tsk, now that you say that, I've lost my fighting spirit. I feel like I'm going to be picking up who knows how many balls from the back of the net again..." Sun Pan was disappointed. After seeing Zhou Yi's performance in the locker room, he really hoped to pick on someone his own size this time...

Zhou Yi raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder. "You're different. I think you're the kind of person who isn't afraid of strong opponents, the stronger the opponent, the stronger you become. That's why I told you the truth, Chelsea is strong, but you're even stronger!"

When Sun Pan heard Zhou Yi's words, a look of joy appeared on his face, and he nodded repeatedly. "That's right, I appreciate your straightforwardness! You're right, the stronger the opponent, the stronger I become! I'm not afraid of Chelsea at all! Let them come! These big hands of mine..."

Sun Pan stretched out his hands, opening them wide, and they were indeed quite large, like two big fans.

"Will show them what an immovable object is!"

※※※

When both teams came onto the field, Sun Pan asked Zhou Yi again, "Did that guy, Gai Zhonggai, come?"

Zhou Yi naturally knew who he was talking about.

"He's not here." Zhou Yi scanned the Chelsea youth team's bench, and that person wasn't even on the bench.

He was obviously suffering from a very serious injury and hadn't trained with the team at all, so it was impossible for him to participate in this game.

Actually, Zhou Yi didn't need to say anything. Anyone with a normal IQ should be able to see it—Gael Kakuta was black, and by coincidence, all the midfielders and forwards in Chelsea's youth team were white players, not a single black player!

The black players were all concentrated in the backfield...

The Chinese players knew then that Zhou Yi's words were true.

If he was just talking nonsense, how would he know that Chelsea's midfielders and forwards didn't have a single black player in this game?

Liang Qiqi sat on the bench, unhappily watching the field.

That kid is stealing the spotlight again!

And he's doing it with my help...

※※※

Considering Zhou Yi's stamina, Hao Dong designed tactics for the Chinese team that focused on attacking aggressively from the start and taking the initiative in the game. If they could score as soon as possible, that would be even better.

Zhou Yi's stamina couldn't last the whole game, so they couldn't drag it out.

With Zhou Yi's style of play, even if they didn't speed up the pace after the start and played slowly, it wouldn't slow down Zhou Yi's stamina consumption.

So, it was better to strengthen the attack while Zhou Yi's stamina was good, which might have unexpected results.

From the start of the game, the entire Chinese team, led by Zhou Yi, increased the pace. All the passes and runs were aimed at scoring goals.

After Zhou Yi's explanation and what they had seen, the players regained a lot of confidence.

On the Chelsea youth team's side, even without their absolute core, Gael Kakuta, they didn't take this Chinese team seriously.

First of all, the name "China" in the field of soccer was enough to make people look down on them. Secondly, they had heard that they had just played a game against Arsenal and lost 0-7. How could the Chelsea youth team players take such a team seriously?

Facing the Chinese team's attack, they pressed very hard in midfield, as if they could definitely intercept the ball from the Chinese players with a single tackle.

But what was the reality?

The Chelsea youth team players rushed towards Zhou Yi, who had the ball, but Zhou Yi didn't hold onto the ball. Instead, he directly passed it to Yang Muge, who was supporting him in the center.

So the Chelsea youth team players missed.

Zhou Yi didn't stay where he was, but continued to run forward, bypassing the Chelsea youth team player who had missed.

Yang Muge was also facing the situation of being tackled by his opponents. Fortunately, Zhou Yi quickly moved forward, creating a passing lane. Yang Muge was able to calmly pass the ball again, and the opponent missed again.

After passing the ball, Yang Muge didn't stay behind either, but ran forward like Zhou Yi.

It wasn't just the two of them doing this. All the Chinese team players were running like this. Anyone who passed the ball to Zhou Yi didn't stay where they were, but ran.

Running to play soccer is one of the most important characteristics of modern soccer. Therefore, physical fitness has become the most important requirement of modern soccer.

Players who can't run can't play soccer well. This is a matter of course.

Of course, these Chinese teenagers used to stand and play soccer. This was the case in their respective club youth teams, and they played the same way when they came to this team.

Until Zhou Yi got a chance to play.

Under Zhou Yi's leadership, everyone started running—if they didn't run, they wouldn't get the ball! If they didn't get the ball, they would be scolded by Coach Hao! If they were scolded, they would be replaced from the starting lineup!

So they had to run, even if they couldn't run, they had to grit their teeth and run.

So, the teenagers who were not used to playing soccer like this were forced into this situation under the pressure.

When they were first told to run, they were very resistant. It wasn't like they would run just because Zhou Yi told them to, right?

But when they really ran to play soccer, they realized that... playing soccer was so easy! They no longer felt that sense of powerlessness in the game. They were tired, but at least they knew how to play the game!

This was much more comfortable than when Liang Qiqi started the game!

※※※

Under Zhou Yi's leadership, the Chinese team passed the ball and advanced as a whole. Even though Chelsea's defense on the edge of the penalty area was still solid, they didn't have any shooting opportunities, so they could only pass back and sideways. But at least six or seven minutes had passed, and the ball was still under the control of their Chinese team!

What about the Chelsea youth team players? They could only be exhausted by their passing.

This situation had never happened even when they played against the Borussia Dortmund youth team.

The Chinese players realized at this moment why Zhou Yi said that this team was not strong...

Damn it, we can play with the Chelsea youth team players like monkeys!

Thinking of this, the Chinese teenagers became excited and energized.

So they ran even harder, and their support for Zhou Yi was even more in place.

Everyone knew that Zhou Yi's physical confrontation was not good, so they tried not to let him hold the ball for a long time without finding a passing target. They all worked hard to run, so that Zhou Yi could pass the ball out as soon as he received it.

They did this because Zhou Yi's ability had been recognized by them. They were willing to run a little more and work a little harder for Zhou Yi. Because Zhou Yi was also thinking of them when he passed the ball. It was as if he had been playing soccer with them for ten years, and he knew the characteristics of each person—for those who run fast, he would pass the ball a little further; for those who don't run fast, he would try to pass the ball to their feet; for those who are not good at stopping the ball, he would not pass a difficult ball to stop, but would pass the ball comfortably to their feet; for those who are good at headers, he could pass some high balls to him, so that he could use his head to knock the ball out...

No one paid attention to these details at first, but after training and playing with Zhou Yi for so long, everyone could feel some of it more or less. When they chatted in private, they realized that everyone had the same feeling.

After putting everyone's feelings together and thinking about it, everyone felt that this amateur teammate was remarkable.

They heard that he used to be a forward, so it's no wonder he could only be an amateur forward in school.

He was born to be a midfielder! He was born to be a conductor!

Although Zhou Yi was the weakest in the team in terms of seniority and fame, everyone admired him now.

In the game, Zhou Yi would make a gesture to tell them where to run, and they would run there without hesitation. Even if Zhou Yi didn't pass the ball to them after they ran over, they knew that they hadn't run in vain, because their run had attracted the attention of the defense and created opportunities for other teammates.

Teamwork, teamwork, this word was always on the lips of their coaches, whether in their respective club youth teams or in this team.

But since playing soccer with Zhou Yi, they felt for the first time what "teamwork" was really like. In the past, this word was too empty.

Everyone is in this group, everyone is working hard for a goal, contributing themselves, and enjoying being contributed to by others, everyone for me, me for everyone.

This feeling made their steps light and powerful when they ran, and they were full of confidence when they had the ball, whether it was breaking through, passing, or shooting.

"I'm in position, Zhou Yi!"

"Pass the ball to me, Zhou Yi!"

"I have an opening here, Zhou Yi!"

"Zhou Yi, over here!"

"Zhou Yi!"

"Zhou Yi!"

They kept shouting on the field, and their Chinese Mandarin with local accents floated in the air above Chelsea's Cobham training base.

※※※

"It feels so good..." Xu Yang said happily, standing on the sidelines.

"Yes, everyone has regained their confidence," Hao Dong nodded.

"Dongzi, I've seen many talented kids, and I've also seen talented kids like you, but I've never seen a kid like Zhou Yi," Xu Yang said with emotion. "I'm not talking about his talent, but he seems to have something that can motivate the people around him. Look how long he's been in our team? When he first joined the team, he didn't even have the right to train with the team, and now, he has become the commander on the field. This kid is remarkable!"

"I know, Xu Zhi, I know. That's why I took a fancy to him at the final of the trials. In that game, he and his temporary teammates had just met and had never played soccer together, but he was able to lead them to defeat their opponents," Hao Dong said.

He thought of Zhou Yi running and calling out to his teammates to pass him the ball during the game. He was full of confidence, decisiveness, and determination.

It was completely different from his awkward look when he was sleeping on the bench...