Chapter 1 The Beginning

The youth team's game was scheduled to kick off at five o'clock in the evening, so according to regulations, Mark and Zhou Yi were supposed to be at the Brackel training base by three o'clock in the afternoon.

But as of this time, they hadn't even left yet.

Why?

Because they were waiting for Kotana.

"That child... I called her, but no one answered. I changed it to leaving a voice message, but I don't know if she heard it..." Standing in the living room, Mrs. Wagner kept looking out the window, hoping to see her daughter's figure.

Old Wagner was wearing a suit, sitting as upright as possible in his chair, trying not to wrinkle his suit. He didn't speak, but he frowned.

Mark and Zhou Yi had already packed all the equipment they needed for the game and were just waiting to get in the car and go to the training base.

But now, because Kotana hadn't arrived, they couldn't leave. Zhou Yi was also quite helpless.

That woman... it's not like it's a date, why is she playing the tardiness game!

Mark's mood was a little low.

At this time, he naturally wanted all his family members to come, especially his sister, with whom he had a good relationship. This was also an excellent opportunity for him to prove to his sister that he could pursue the path of football.

Regardless of the reason, he didn't want his sister to miss his game today.

Even if it was just a scrimmage.

※※※

But in the end, they didn't wait for Kotana. It was already three-thirty, and Kotana still hadn't arrived. The family had no choice but to get in the car and head to the Brackel training base amidst his mother's complaints.

On the way, because it was already a bit late, Old Wagner remained silent, driving the car very fast. Zhou Yi sat in the back seat, wearing his seatbelt and holding onto the handle above the window, just to feel a little safer.

He suspected that silent Old Wagner was burning with anger inside. He really wanted to tell Old Wagner that road rage was a bad idea...

Old Wagner sped along the way. A journey that normally took twenty minutes, he completed in twelve minutes today, which shows how nervous Zhou Yi must have been the whole way—he didn't want his Dortmund dream trip to end because of a car accident.

After getting out of the car, Zhou Yi and Mark grabbed their backpacks and rushed toward the youth team's training building. When they pushed open the locker room door, everyone, including the head coach, Eckel, was already inside.

"Sorry, sorry..." Mark quickly apologized to the head coach and his teammates.

"Mark, you're late! You've lost your starting spot for today's game!" a teammate teased.

Mark immediately looked dejected. Eckel waved his hand at him, "If you don't get back to your spot, you really will lose it!"

Only then did Mark realize that his teammate was joking with him, and he quickly ran back to his position with Zhou Yi.

While the two of them were changing into their jerseys, Eckel continued his previous speech.

"...The Dusseldorf u17 team is still in the lower leagues this season, so we don't have the chance to meet them in the u17 league, and we don't know much about them. But I hope everyone doesn't underestimate them. This game should be played according to what we usually train. The important thing is not how well the opponent plays, but how well you play yourselves."

After speaking, Eckel turned his gaze to Zhou Yi: "Zhou Yi, you are responsible for organizing the team's offense."

This was actually part of the daily training. Zhou Yi dared to do this in training, and everyone was used to it. No one would raise such naive objections as "Why should we let this newcomer command us?"

Zhou Yi nodded and agreed very naturally and confidently: "No problem."

He was really confident because he and these teammates had already cooperated countless times in the virtual world. He was not unfamiliar with this team.

Not to boast, but he really didn't have anything to be afraid of when it came to commanding this team.

These people were all players who had undergone long-term, high-level training, and they should have stronger tactical discipline and cooperation awareness than the team he had cobbled together when he participated in the reality show, right?

He was able to defeat Barcelona, ​​Chelsea, and Liverpool with that team back then.

Now, what's impossible about commanding the Dortmund youth team to defeat the Dusseldorf youth team?

※※※

Old Wagner parked the car and walked slowly with his wife from the parking lot towards the playing field.

On the way, Mrs. Wagner kept complaining about her daughter.

Germans attach great importance to football. When their children have games, the whole family comes to cheer them on and take photos together. This is a very important family memory and an indispensable part of the child's life and growth.

If a family member is absent, it will become a lifelong regret.

When was the last time Mark mobilized the entire Wagner family?

That seems like a very distant past.

The two arrived at the stands and were looking around, planning to find a good spot when they heard their daughter's shouts: "Here! Mom and Dad!"

They looked in the direction of the sound and saw Kotana waving at them.

"Why did you come directly!" Mrs. Wagner walked over and complained.

"I heard the recording and came directly."

"Then you should have called us. We waited for you until three-thirty and almost missed the game. Your dad drove so fast that I almost had a heart attack."

Kotana quickly stuck out her tongue: "Sorry, sorry, I forgot."

Mrs. Wagner sighed: "This is your brother's first game as a starter. I thought you weren't coming."

"How could I not come." Kotana took her mother's arm and acted coquettishly. You couldn't tell at all that this was the sharp-tongued woman in front of Zhou Yi who gave him a headache.

※※※

When the players from both sides walked out onto the field, the people in the stands cheered.

Although it was a youth team scrimmage, there were also dozens of spectators at the scene. They were basically the parents of the Dortmund youth team players, who came to watch their children's games while dropping them off.

Mark's parents and sister also cheered loudly, shouting Mark's name.

This was Zhou Yi's first time participating in a game between European club youth teams, and he curiously looked at the stands, suddenly feeling a little envious of the people in the stands.

This scene was something he had always imagined when playing football in China.

Anyone who has played football at school can probably understand that feeling. If there are people watching the game by the side, cheering for them, then everyone can perform beyond their normal level. If there are also beautiful women watching the game... then everyone will be as excited as if they've been injected with chicken blood.

German football, even a scrimmage between youth teams, has dozens of spectators. How could their level not be high?

In this country, football has permeated all aspects of social life.

In China, football is just football, and it loses its vitality when it leaves the football field.

Based on what Zhou Yi had seen and heard in Europe over the past few months, he felt that this was the biggest gap between Chinese football and European football, a gap like a chasm.

It's not that the national team players' skills are inferior, or even the football system.

But the gap between the entire society, in all aspects.

※※※

Although it was a scrimmage, the pre-match rituals were all in place, from lining up and shaking hands to exchanging team flags to the coin toss, it was very formal.

Then the game began.

The moment Zhou Yi received the ball, Coach Eckel's eyes were firmly locked on him.

This scrimmage actually had only one purpose, and that was to observe Zhou Yi's performance.

After all, training and games are different. Some people can perform like world-class players in training, but they immediately fail in real games.

Although Zhou Yi's drop wouldn't be that big, it still needed attention.

After receiving the ball, Zhou Yi didn't observe, but passed the ball directly, a simple pass that transferred the ball from the center to the wing.

Then he began to shake his head left and right to observe the situation, while running to the next spot.

Eckel was no stranger to this scene. He had become accustomed to seeing it in training.

What he cared more about was how Zhou Yi would command the team and lead this game.

He only watched for five minutes, and a different expression appeared on his face.

Because in these five minutes, the ball had been circulating under the feet of the Dortmund youth team players, and the Dusseldorf youth team hadn't even touched the ball!

The ball was always passed to Zhou Yi, and then by Zhou Yi to the next person. Then he ran, responded to the pass, and passed the ball to another teammate.

It was just passed back and forth like this, and not just passing in the backcourt. Such passing happened from the backcourt to the midfield, but it didn't enter the Dusseldorf youth team's thirty-meter area.

The Dortmund youth team had been practicing this kind of passing in recent training sessions, but it was still very surprising to be able to achieve such an effect.

Who was responsible for all this?

Eckel knew very well.

※※※

Zhou Yi observed the performance of the Dusseldorf youth team through five minutes of passing, and found that it was the same as what he encountered in the fifAoL3 world.

The Dusseldorf youth team was a little impatient with Dortmund's passing, and they even felt that this kind of passing was an insult to them.

So they began to press forward in a big way, trying to steal the ball from Dortmund's back-and-forth passing.

Dortmund, who had been passing horizontally and backward, suddenly sped up the pace!

When Zhou Yi received the ball again, he chose a through ball!

With a through ball, the ball went through the gap in the ribs between Dusseldorf's left center back and left full back, falling into the gap behind their defense. Dortmund youth team's right midfielder, Dennis Hoffmann, quickly inserted from behind and happened to receive the ball!

And he was already behind the Dusseldorf youth team's defense. In front of him, no one could stop him except for a goalkeeper!

The rest became very simple.

After receiving the ball, Hoffmann cut inside and faced the Dusseldorf youth team's goalkeeper who rushed out in a hurry, choosing a lob shot.

The ball drew an arc, bypassed the goalkeeper's fingertips, and went straight into the back corner of the goal, flying into the goal grazing the post!

1:0!

The game had only started for six minutes, and the Dortmund youth team took the lead in the game, and this goal was assisted by Zhou Yi!

Hoffmann, who scored the goal, ran towards Zhou Yi, who assisted him, and a group of people hugged each other.

This was simply the best proof that Zhou Yi had integrated into the team!