Chapter 4 The Fourth Round

The fourth round of the Europa League group stage.

Norwich City, the Canaries, host the Belgian team Club Brugge at home.

Wang Dongyue entered Carrow Road, immersed in a sea of gold. Even though he had been to Camp Nou and felt the cheers of nearly 100,000 people, he was still shocked by the packed stadium in front of him.

This was only the English Championship, the second tier league in England.

It would be understandable if the opponent was a top team.

But Club Brugge from Belgium is nothing in European leagues.

The fact that Carrow Road still had so many fans meant that these were die-hard supporters.

Wang Dongyue looked at the high-raised flags. There was even a single one with the letter "zhao" on it!

Such treatment was probably only enjoyed by the team's star player.

And Zhao Gang had only played four games, yet he already had this kind of popularity.

Wang Dongyue felt that he had underestimated Zhao Gang.

"Farke really gave up on the Europa League, what a waste!" Brooke shouted loudly. He was more on the fans' side, so he was a professional at scolding Farke.

Fans want to see goals and wins.

But Farke has too much to consider. Although the Europa League has a lot of fame, what does it have to do with Norwich?

Hoffenheim in the German Bundesliga, and even the giants Borussia Dortmund are in the Europa League this year.

The Premier League even has Arsenal and Manchester United!

You want a Championship team, Norwich, who was still struggling to stay up four rounds ago, to fight them?

Not to mention that they have already lost three in a row and have almost no chance of qualifying, even if they had a 60-70% chance of qualifying, he would still give up.

There is no hope of winning the championship at all, and what is even more deadly is fighting on two fronts. What if the players get injured and fail to stay up?

Fortunately, they were eliminated early from the FA Cup and the League Cup, otherwise they would have to continue defending the FA Cup and fight for the League Cup?

Do you want our players to die?

"This garbage Farke, adjusted seven starters, and even changed the goalkeeper! Zhao came on as a substitute against Nottingham, and fans thought he would get more playing time in the Europa League, but he's still on the bench!

Farke might not let him play! Fans may not see what they are most looking forward to!"

What do Norwich fans want to see most now?

A large number of fans may want to see that magical teenager keep scoring goals on the field more than the team winning!

At the same time, in Long Country, although it was already close to one o'clock in the morning, a large number of fans still poured into the Europa League live broadcast room on the GuGu live broadcast platform.

Zhao Gang's performance has already spread among fans, and with the publicity from Dong Qiu Wang (King of Football Knowledge) and the Sports Daily, more people know this name.

And GuGu Sports, which won the Europa League live broadcast rights, is now taking advantage of Zhao Gang's popularity to vigorously promote it.

As a result, Zhao Gang was only a substitute.

"Damn, just like Wu Lei, a water dispenser manager, is he really as good as they say?"

"That's right, he's a substitute in a Championship team, and he probably won't play. I thought he was the core of the team!"

A large number of keyboard warriors poured in, as if they couldn't stand to see others doing well, and were full of doubts about Zhao Gang.

"8 goals in 4 games, and you guys are saying this? Can the keyboard warriors get out of here??"

"Oh, so awesome, why isn't he a substitute in the Premier League? Scared me."

"Come on, Zhao Gang!"

"Zhao Gang, come on!!"

In the live broadcast room, a large number of fans began to spam the screen, directly sweeping away these negative comments.

These fans are obviously not from the GuGu platform. They act in unison, as if they are working for money.

But this is indeed a spontaneous unity.

Those who kept sarcastically shouting "paid posters" were soon drowned out in shouts of encouragement.

"Okay, GuGu Sports is bringing you the live broadcast of the fourth round of the Europa League group stage, Norwich vs. Club Brugge!

Today's fans and viewers are particularly enthusiastic. Most of us know why, but I still need to briefly explain it to everyone, because some viewers may not know what's going on.

Chinese football player Zhao Gang signed with Championship team Norwich twenty days ago. He scored 8 goals in four league games, leading the team to four consecutive victories!

Everyone must be shocked by this number. What's even more incredible is that his playing time is actually less than two hundred minutes!

He scores an average of one goal every 24 minutes!

This data is currently unprecedented in Europe and even the world!

And he only used four league games to get within 5 goals of the top scorer in the Championship!

The top scorer in the Championship is good enough to start in the Premier League, so many fans think that Zhao Gang can only come on as a substitute in low-level leagues. This view is inaccurate!

More importantly, everyone should remember that he is only eighteen years old!"

The Chinese commentator Shen Jian used to be the leader of the Wu Lei fan club and has been commentating on La Liga. Today, he is specially working overtime to commentate on the Europa League.

Because he is the best at hyping, and fans enjoy listening to him.

He knows best what fans like to hear, so in the past, he was actually embarrassed to hype up things so much in his commentary.

He could use all kinds of flowery language to praise Wu Lei's every touch.

Why? Because the fans liked it!

Today, he found that the things he was commentating on still sounded like bragging, but they were all facts!

He even felt that he was being a bit conservative.

Norwich defeated not ordinary teams, but Fulham and Watford, who are truly at the Premier League level!

And Nottingham Forest, who have almost Premier League strength!

Four goals in one half, Norwich scored ten goals in four league games, and Zhao Gang contributed eight goals and one assist.

If this were in the Premier League, wouldn't the fans be celebrating the New Year every week?

Shen Jian trembled just thinking about it.

"Today, the Norwich coach rotated most of the starting players, and Zhao Gang was not in the starting lineup. I believe he will definitely get a chance to play today!"

"Yes, Farke should have given up on the Europa League, but he should replace a few main players in the second half to find their form.

And another thing, he probably won't risk public anger by not letting Zhao Gang play, because many Norwich fans want to see Zhao Gang play now!" Another commentator also tried his best to talk about Zhao Gang's importance to comfort the fans, so that they would not leave. You have to wait, the main event is coming soon.

"Yes, that's right."

"Okay, the game officially begins!"

Norwich's home commentator cursed Farke for the entire first half!

Because Brugge relied on all their main players to lead 2-0 in the first half!

Brugge is a dominant force in their country this year, and the league title is basically locked in.

So they have greater expectations. It is almost impossible to be the first in the group, because German giants Borussia Dortmund have recovered again this season after their decline last season. In this group, no one dares to compete for the first place except Borussia Dortmund.

But they still have a good chance of qualifying.

Norwich is like a team that gives away points.

In the last round, they easily won 3-0 at home. This time, they took a 2-0 lead in the first half.

They can't beat the main players, so won't the substitutes be even more screwed?

"Coward! Loser!!" Brooke scolded Farke, and the fans in front of the TV cursed along with Brooke.

Farke listened to the boos from the fans, listening to them shouting the names of the main players like Zhao, Leitner, Philipps, and Mendy, but he basically didn't care.

These fans are booing now, but when they win the league, they will cheer louder than anyone else.

His previous goal was to stay up, and his current goal is to enter the promotion playoffs!

Of course, because they lost too much before, they are still a distance from the promotion playoffs, so he will not shout out the slogan of promotion to the Premier League now to put pressure on the fans and players.

Europa League?

It's just for training and finding a feel.

It's better to lose, if you win, there's still hope, which is even worse.

If you lose this game, you will definitely be eliminated, and the remaining two games will be even more casual.

In the second half, Brugge continued to attack, and Norwich's substitutes certainly wanted to show themselves in front of the coach.

So their defenders desperately cleared the ball and kicked it long.

The scene was quite ugly, but they didn't concede any more goals.

Wang Dongyue sat in the stands, listening to the fans cheering for the players on the field, followed by loud scolding of Farke.

Brooke even called him garbage and a waste over and over again.

Stirring up the emotions of all the fans.

But Farke remained unmoved, sitting on the coach's bench, as if he was stunned by Brugge.

In fact, he felt nothing inside.

He has been a coach for so many years and is no longer the ignorant young man he used to be who didn't know how to make trade-offs.

The Europa League is not Norwich's cup of tea!

Finally, an even more terrifying and intense sound erupted from the stands.

"Farke, get out!"

"Farke, get out!!!"

We came to support the team, and you show us this kind of garbage game???

The fans' patience was exhausted, spreading from point to point. At first, only a few fans shouted, but later it turned into a huge wave, and the entire stadium was filled with violent sounds.

Wang Dongyue shrank his shoulders, thinking, "They won't come down and beat people, will they?"

Farke listened to the roar of the fans, and the sound continued to rise.

It seemed that even the referee's whistle could not be heard.

If he really angered these fans, and there was another mishap in the next league game, the problem would be too big!

So Farke thought for a moment and decided to bring on some main players to calm the fans' anger and warm up the main players.

"The useless Farke finally made a substitution! Seventy-ninth minute! What's the point of making a substitution now? Just pretending?" Brooke slammed the table angrily.

Four substitutions in a row?

This is just warming up!

Shen Jian finally perked up, "The moment that the audience has been waiting for has finally arrived! Eighteen-year-old Zhao Gang has come on as a substitute!

Will we see the first goal scored by a Chinese player in a European official match?"

"Coming on in the eightieth minute, is this still a main player?"

"Is he going up to stall for time?"

"Zhao Gang, come on!"

"We love you, win glory for the country!!"

"Slap those keyboard warriors in the face!!"

When Zhao Gang appeared on the screen, preparing to come on as a substitute, the entire stadium shook.

The angry boos turned into cheers.

"Zhao!"

"Zhao!"

The entire stadium shouted Zhao Gang's name.

The entire stadium roared with cheers.

This scene made not only the Brugge players, but also the Norwich players envious and even jealous.

Being able to receive this kind of cheers in their home stadium, for them, as players, was worth it in this lifetime.

Wang Dongyue opened his mouth wide and stared blankly at the excited fans.

The various signs at the beginning had prepared him mentally, but when it really came to this moment, he still couldn't believe his eyes.

He quickly picked up his camera and recorded this shocking scene.

The Chinese live broadcast room had exploded.

"Did you hear that?"

"Are they shouting Zhao?"

"A Chinese player, gaining the worship and love of English fans in England, but falling under the keyboards of his own countrymen, how funny!"

"Zhao!"

"Zhao!"

"Zhao!"

The live broadcast room's comments took off, and for a while, only this one word could be seen.

Shen Jian looked at the words floating on the screen, and listened to the enthusiastic and crazy shouts of the Norwich fans, and was instantly speechless.

As a football commentator, broadcasting European matches, watching those players score goals and celebrate, and listening to the fans shouting those difficult names, Shen Jian felt both emotional and helpless.

He hoped so much that Chinese players could also have that kind of treatment.

Now, that moment had come, but he opened his mouth and couldn't say anything.

When he opened his mouth, he realized that he was a little choked up.

Not only the Norwich fans' enthusiastic shouts, nor only the figure standing quietly waiting on the sidelines.

But also the comments in the live broadcast room that were breaking the dam.

We also have crazy, enthusiastic, united, and passionate fans!