Chapter 1 A Draw Means Defeat

Panting, Zhou Yi stood outside the penalty area. He looked at the ball in the goal, then turned his gaze to the celebrating players of La Masia Youth B team.

They’d equalized.

Looking around at his teammates, they all looked dejected and demoralized.

In fact, considering the strength of the Chinese team, a draw against La Masia would be a pretty good result.

If he wanted to comfort his teammates, all he had to say was, "A draw is acceptable."

But Zhou Yi himself couldn't accept those words.

A draw was unacceptable.

Because a draw meant defeat.

He thought of the last match he played in his "dream" last night.

Although the world of FIFA Online 3 where Chu Ling was, was virtual, it perfectly mirrored reality. Every match in it could actually exist in reality, and the probability wasn't low.

In the last match, the Chinese team and La Masia Youth B team were tied 1:1, and it lasted for a long time. It looked like the Chinese team would end the match in a draw, achieving their only draw against La Masia Youth B team.

At that time, Zhou Yi in the game had the idea that "a draw is acceptable."

But what happened in the end?

La Masia Youth B team launched their most fierce offensive in the final moments of the match. In their wave after wave of attacks, the Chinese team still couldn't hold on and eventually collapsed.

In a very short period of time, they conceded two goals in a row and lost the game 1:3.

In fact, for the Chinese team, this score of 1:3 was the best score in the hundred or so matches Zhou Yi had played against them.

The other scores were appalling.

Logically speaking, losing 1:3 to a team like La Masia Youth B team was completely acceptable, even if it was a defeat.

But Zhou Yi couldn't accept it.

He wanted to win.

When he lost the draw, he realized that a draw was unacceptable. He had to win, he could only win, and only by striving for victory with all his might would he get a satisfactory result in the end.

If you only want a draw, you probably won't even get that.

There are three possible outcomes in a football match: defeat, draw, and victory, but no one would want a defeat from the start, right?

A draw is a helpless choice when you can't win. To put it bluntly, anyone who has the ability to win wouldn't choose a draw.

So, did the Chinese team have the ability to beat La Masia Youth B team?

It didn't seem like it.

But it would be wrong to expect the outcome of a match solely from the perspective of "whether they have the ability to win."

Football matches aren't just simple competitions of ability.

If you have the ability, you have to win, and if you don't have the ability, you still have to win.

Knowing it's impossible and still doing it is foolish.

But Zhou Yi wanted to be a fool right now.

It was the last match, and if he didn't act foolishly and recklessly, he wouldn't have another chance.

If he ultimately accepted the premise and outcome that "our strength is inferior to La Masia Youth B team, so it's normal for us to lose to them," then even if he went to Borussia Dortmund and started his professional football career, these two months of obsession would turn into a huge tumor in his heart, making him feel uneasy and resentful.

There is no eternal victory on the football field; there will always be defeats.

The road of life can't always be smooth sailing either; there will always be setbacks.

Zhou Yi understood these principles, but understanding didn't mean he could accept them with equanimity.

If they had to lose, hadn't they lost enough before? Why did they have to lose this one too?

If there had to be setbacks in his life, wasn't the 0:12 defeat enough? Did he have to use this setback to prove that "life is impermanent"?

No, thank you. I don't accept it!

He ran into the goal and, next to Sun Pan, hugged the football in his arms. Then he reached out his hand to Sun Pan: "What are you lying there for? Is the artificial turf comfortable to sleep on?"

Sun Pan, who was feeling dejected and regretful, slapped away Zhou Yi's outstretched hand when he heard this, and then scrambled up from the ground: "It's not comfortable!"

Seeing him get up, Zhou Yi ignored him and ran towards the center circle with the football in his arms.

When he passed Guo Nu, he slapped the back of Guo Nu's head, who was hanging his head: "Don't hang your head, Lao Guo. Hanging your head will make you even shorter."

The slap made Guo Nu, who was feeling dejected and pained, feel a pain in his molars. The dejection of conceding a goal instantly turned into anger, but he was stunned after hearing Zhou Yi's words.

He shrank his neck, covered the back of his head, and looked up at Zhou Yi's back.

Zhou Yi didn't look back after hitting him, and just continued to run forward. He ran very slowly, saying it was running, but it was actually walking, walking faster than a slow walk, and walking slower than a slow run.

He saw Zhou Yi run past Yang Muge, and Yang Muge also looked up, his eyes following Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi ran into the center circle and then put the football on the kickoff spot.

He Ying had been standing in the center circle when the goal was conceded, and he was still standing there now. He saw Zhou Yi run over from the goal and put the football on the kickoff spot next to him, then he used his hands to press down on the football to push himself up.

"Hey, Zhou Yi," He Ying said suddenly.

"Huh?" Zhou Yi looked up at He Ying in confusion.

"You should go off the field," He Ying said, pointing to the sideline.

Zhou Yi followed his gaze and saw that Hao Dong was giving Yang Fei instructions.

He then realized that the match had already passed the seventieth minute...

But if he was substituted now, how could he talk about going all out?

Realizing this, Zhou Yi quickly ran towards the sideline. This running speed was much faster than before.

He ran directly to Hao Dong and Yang Fei, and said, panting, "N-no... D-don't..."

He wanted to say don't substitute him, but this sprint left him breathless, and the words just wouldn't come out of his mouth.

Seeing Zhou Yi like this, Hao Dong shook his head: "Zhou Yi, I understand your feelings, but your stamina can't hold up anymore. Leaving you on the field won't do anything..."

Zhou Yi couldn't speak because he was panting, but he still knew how to wave his hand. He kept waving his hand. After Hao Dong finished speaking, he finally caught his breath, although he was still panting a bit, but at least he could speak: "Coach Hao, I'm fine, really, I'm fine!"

Hao Dong raised his hand and showed his watch to Zhou Yi: "It's already the seventy-third minute. You've been substituted at the seventy-first minute at the latest before."

"I know, I know, Coach Hao... But this time is different, my stamina is really fine. Before, I was always being suppressed by them, I didn't even have many chances to get the ball, so I didn't actually use up much stamina... Look, at least I can still run from the center circle to here, which means my stamina is fine. Otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to run..." Zhou Yi argued repeatedly.

At this time, Yang Fei, who had been silent all along, suddenly said, "Coach Hao, why don't we let Zhou Yi continue playing? I actually think it would be better to have Zhou Yi on the field."

Hao Dong turned his head in surprise to look at Yang Fei, and even Zhou Yi cast a surprised look at Yang Fei.

He still remembered that Yang Fei used to be very close to Liang Qiqi...

Facing the gazes of the two, Yang Fei appeared very calm: "I think if we let Zhou Yi off now, we really can only try our best to secure a draw, without any room for maneuver. If Zhou Yi stays on the field, at least... at least..."

He hesitated for a moment, but still said, "At least, we still have a chance to win."

Hao Dong's gaze moved back and forth between the two teenagers, then he said, "Okay."

Zhou Yi couldn't wait to cheer, but Hao Dong stopped him: "But Yang Fei, you also have to warm up for me, and be ready to play at any time!"

"Okay," Yang Fei nodded and turned to run towards the warm-up area.

Zhou Yi also quickly returned to the field.

Hao Dong shook his head as he watched Zhou Yi's back running back.

"He must be hoping to prove to you that he really has stamina," Xu Yang said from the side.

"I know, but I'd rather he save that stamina..."

"Could it be that you also..." Xu Yang was a little surprised.

Hao Dong smiled: "Who doesn't want to win?"

※※※

Seeing Zhou Yi running back, He Ying said, "Did you convince Coach Hao?"

Zhou Yi nodded, panting: "Yes!"

He Ying shook his head as he looked at Zhou Yi like this: "Why bother?"

"Because I want to win." Zhou Yi evened out his breathing.

"There are still twenty minutes left, how long can you run like this?"

"It's not like I have to run myself," Zhou Yi smiled.

Zhou Yi's words surprised He Ying. He widened his eyes and looked at Zhou Yi in confusion.

Not run himself? Wasn't his position and style of play all about running all the time? How could he connect the whole team and organize the attack if he didn't run? What was he doing on the field if he didn't run?

Watching the show?

※※※

The match started quickly. The players of La Masia Youth B team were impatient. They couldn't wait to score a few more goals against the Chinese team. It seemed impossible to score twenty-four goals against them now, and twelve goals was also hanging by a thread... But scoring another seven or eight goals should be possible!

He Ying passed the football to Zhang Tao, and Zhang Tao passed the football back to Zhou Yi.

He Ying didn't bury his head and rush forward, but looked back at Zhou Yi while running forward.

He wanted to see how Zhou Yi would resolve the contradiction between his declining stamina and the demands of the match.

After receiving the ball, Zhou Yi didn't delay and quickly passed the football back, directly switching it to the feet of center-back Guo Nu.

At the same time, the players of La Masia Youth B team swarmed up, surpassing him and pouncing on Guo Nu.

Zhou Yi suddenly shouted, "Lao Guo, pass to Li Liang on your left!"

Guo Nu obediently passed the football to the left, even though he didn't actually see what the situation was on the left at all, and he wasn't sure if Li Liang was definitely there.

But the football was really passed to Li Liang's feet.

As soon as Li Liang received the ball, Zhou Yi's voice rang out again: "Right forward, pass to Yang Muge!"

Li Liang didn't have time to think or observe, and when he heard Zhou Yi shout this, he quickly poked the football to his right front.

Yang Muge, who was retreating, received the ball he passed.

"Pass to me!" Zhou Yi shouted again.

Yang Muge passed the football over.

Zhou Yi, facing away from the direction of the attack, directly transferred the football to the right, passing it to right-back Li Linyuan.

Along with the football came Zhou Yi's voice: "Pass forward to Yang Hua!"

So Li Linyuan obediently passed the football to Yang Hua.

When Yang Hua got the ball, he heard Zhou Yi shouting again: "Pass to He Ying!"

In this way, the football arrived at He Ying's feet.

He Ying couldn't quite believe it after the football had been passed around among the Chinese team's players... He finally understood what Zhou Yi meant by not needing him to run...

He was actually using language to command! He couldn't run anymore, but his teammates could.

In the past, he would personally run over to support his teammates, but now he was having his teammates support each other, using this method to connect the whole team...

He Ying was very curious about the structure of Zhou Yi's brain, why he could come up with such a method.

But despite the surprise, He Ying hadn't forgotten his mission.

He dribbled the ball towards La Masia Youth B team's penalty area.

Of course, he was quickly blocked by two opponents. He Ying didn't hog the ball and immediately passed the football out, giving it to Zhou Yi.

After the football had been passed around the Chinese team's players for so long, Zhou Yi had also arrived at his destination. With that much time, even if he crawled, he should have crawled there.

He created a time difference, allowing the football to be passed around among his teammates to buy himself time to recover his stamina and move into position. This way, he wouldn't have to rush around like he was racing against time, without even being able to catch his breath before having to go to the next place.

Next, Zhou Yi's voice kept ringing out in the sky above the stadium, even the cheers from the sidelines for La Masia Youth team couldn't suppress his voice.

And under the command of his shouts, his teammates passed the football back and forth, for a full three minutes, without letting the La Masia Youth team players, who were eager to intercept the ball and launch a counterattack, touch the ball!

Xu Yang watched from the sidelines, dumbfounded, then shook his head and kept muttering, "Amazing, amazing..."

He hadn't expected Zhou Yi to use such a method to organize the attack, connect the team, and control possession.

Hao Dong didn't say anything, but his eyes were shining.

Zhou Yi had once again brought him a surprise!