Indeed, Zhao Gang did not play in the entire match.

Manchester City won 1-0 away against their opponents.

Because of the Champions League, Manchester City's players didn't perform well enough throughout the match.

Aguero, who didn't play in the last Champions League match, was also extremely out of form, wasting three sure-goal chances. Sterling scored the only goal of the match in the 99th minute.

After the match, Manchester City media described Aguero's performance as a "disaster."

Sterling's goal saved Manchester City and Aguero. If the match had ended in a draw, Aguero, in poor form, would have been torn to shreds by fans and the media, inevitably becoming the scapegoat.

Aguero has also been extremely unstable in the entire Champions League campaign, wasting many opportunities.

Many media outlets believe that if it weren't for Zhao Gang paired with De Bruyne and Silva in midfield, Manchester City would probably still be struggling in the Champions League group stage, fighting for a qualifying spot.

After a brilliant start to the league season, Aguero's form has declined considerably after the Champions League and international breaks.

In the Dragon Country, the Zhao Gang-De Bruyne-Aguero combination was initially called the ZAD combination. Now, due to Aguero's poor performance and missed opportunities, another name for the combination has spread like wildfire: "Guo De Gang" (Guo means pot in Chinese).

Aguero is gradually evolving into Real Madrid's Benzema, a short and stocky player who may have to bear a heavy burden when Manchester City underperforms.

...

After eleven rounds of league matches, a new international break began.

This time, the Dragon Country will be hosting Qatar at home, launching a new offensive for a World Cup ticket.

Aoli didn't return to the Dragon Country with Zhao Gang because of work.

After the Premier League match, Zhao Gang prepared and left England to pursue his dream of two lifetimes.

The World Cup, representing the Dragon Country in the World Cup, is Zhao Gang's greatest pursuit. Even though Dragon Country football is terminally ill, there are always countless people who hope to save it.

The national team changed coach, with Lippi taking over from Gao Bo, whose performance was lackluster.

The entire team seems to have a completely new look in terms of form.

Whether it can be maintained remains to be seen.

In order to ensure the state and performance of the national team players, the Football Association requires all players to be managed in a closed environment. During this period, players are not allowed to contact family members or girlfriends.

This requirement is also very explosive in the history of football in various countries.

Because almost no other Football Association has this strange requirement, it is more like formalism, blaming women for poor performance.

When Zhao Gang arrived at the training base to report, the national team had already been training for two days.

Lippi specifically sought him out and chatted with him alone for a morning.

From the Premier League to the Champions League, and then to Italian football, the whole of European football.

Of course, there is also the Dragon Country team's construction policy. Lippi kept emphasizing one point: Zhao Gang must be the core, and all players must be united.

The two talked happily, and Lippi liked this steady young man very much.

Not only because of his skills, but also because of his character.

In the afternoon's training, Zhao Gang officially met his teammates.

Among these people, the old captain Zheng Zhi is one that Zhao Gang respects the most. At this age, he still has to contribute to the national team.

It's not that he is desperately trying to stick to the national team, but that the Dragon Country can't find a central defender of comparable level, which is somewhat laughable.

There is also a big figure that Zhao Gang remembers deeply, one of Lippi's assistant coaches, a master of hair blowing, a giant Li Tie whose persona is very well established.

This former national team main player, who is simple in front of people and extremely extravagant behind them, has actually started his money-making life at this time, using Lippi's reputation to add glory to his resume.

He was particularly amiable when facing Zhao Gang. If Zhao Gang didn't know what kind of person he was, he would have been fooled by his past achievements and Lippi's appreciation.

However, Zhao Gang came to play football, not to engage in infighting, so on the surface, Zhao Gang did not show too much disgust.

These national team members seemed very enthusiastic about Zhao Gang's arrival, especially Wu Lei, whose eyes were shining.

Zhao Gang could feel Wu Lei's excitement and agitation.

As for others, it's hard to say whether it's genuine or fake.

Most of these players are from the Hengtai team. Lippi is not only their national team coach, but also their club coach, so the impact on these people is huge. If Lippi had a meeting with them in advance and told them about Zhao Gang's importance, even if these players had resentment in their hearts towards this young outsider, they would not dare to complain in the slightest.

Before the training started, Lippi solemnly began his speech in front of everyone.

"In the few years that I have come to the Dragon Country, I have had some contact with the culture of the Dragon Country, and I know some of the interpersonal relationships in the Dragon Country, some strange circle cultures, but I tell you, I have the final say in this national team! I can dismiss any of you from the national team at any time!

Zhao has proven himself in the Premier League, his skills, his attitude towards the game, have been recognized by everyone, so I will definitely use him as the core to arrange tactics. If I find anyone of you doing something that is not conducive to unity, I will directly dismiss him!

I will not leave any room for sentiment, I will tell the media what happened!"

Lippi still doesn't know much about the players in the Dragon Country. With his prestige and reputation, there is nothing wrong with saying such harsh words, but saying them in front of everyone will definitely make these players feel rebellious.

Who is Zhao Gang?

He's awesome in the Premier League, so we have to play around him when he comes back?

We don't even know him, why should we care about him?

If we win the game, he will get media praise, fan love, all the glory belongs to him, and we won't get any of the spotlight.

If we lose the game, it's not Zhao Gang's fault, it's our fault, we will be criticized by the media and cursed by the fans, why?

This is not fair, this is not scientific!

But Lippi's power and prestige are too great, and these players dare not say anything at all.

Moreover, on the field, they dare not blatantly ignore Zhao Gang and not pass the ball to him.

After all, Lippi is really going to do what he says, this foreigner doesn't care about leaving a line for others, so we can meet again in the future.

Listening to Lippi's words, Zhao Gang knew that most of these players would not be convinced, but fortunately Lippi could suppress them, and they would not dare not to work hard during training and games.

Being kicked out of the national team means losing fame, and therefore losing bigger contracts, not making money, not picking up girls, and a vicious cycle.

As long as you stay in the national team, no matter how the results are, you will become famous and get bigger contracts.

So in the short term, Zhao Gang doesn't need to worry about these people daring to form a small circle and isolate him.

Zhao Gang sighed in his heart. Even though he hated this feeling of bullying, it's true that things are easier with someone in power.

If Lippi wasn't here, and it was another coach, he would definitely not have such courage, and he would have to go to great lengths to get along with these teammates.

Now, it saves a lot of trouble!

Afterwards, the players were divided into two groups and started training, and Lippi also started his assessment to determine the final roster.

With the addition of Zhao Gang, the current Dragon Country team is considered complete.