Chapter 1 The Kickoff

China defeated Qatar on their home turf, giving themselves a good start to the top ten qualifiers. Qatar and Oman were opponents that China had to get points from, and away games were the most difficult.

Originally, everyone planned that drawing with their opponents away from home would be considered very good. Now, to their surprise, they won, and with a two-goal lead!

For a time, the Chinese media was filled with an optimistic atmosphere.

Back on home soil, China was about to welcome Oman.

This opponent wasn't strong, and China was playing at home, so this game not only had to be won, but they also had to win by several goals, striving for a greater goal difference. This way, if they had the same points as their opponents, they would have an advantage when comparing goal difference.

But things didn't go as planned. China's performance at home wasn't as good as their performance away. They ended up only beating Oman 1-0 at home.

The team exposed the problem of insufficient scoring ability in the game. Gao Lin had never been a scoring machine; his most important role was to weave through the front line and set up plays for his teammates. But when it came to scoring, he was still lacking. Although he was China's top scorer in the Asian Cup, that was because Zhou Yi had fed him passes that were several times the number of his goals.

In the second half, Gao Hongbo replaced him with Yang Xu, a tall center forward with excellent heading skills, but he still failed to score. In the end, they only broke the deadlock with a corner kick, with defender Zhang Linpeng scoring with a header. Relying on this goal, China secured two consecutive victories.

Although they won, everyone felt a little regretful—only winning by one goal against the weakest team in the group at home, what would they do later?

The Chinese media and fans, who had been quite optimistic, suddenly became worried about the national team's prospects for qualifying.

Some media also suggested that Gao Hongbo must solve the problem of difficulty in scoring, otherwise China would suffer a great loss when they faced Japan and Australia.

But these were all problems that Gao Hongbo should be concerned about and consider, and had nothing to do with Zhou Yi.

After the national team's games ended, Zhou Yi participated in a few commercial activities and then went home for vacation.

However, he only rested at home for four days before setting off again.

This time, he was going to report to the national Olympic team's training camp.

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On May 19th at the Allianz Arena, the home team Bayern Munich was leading for almost the entire game, but Chelsea equalized in stoppage time. The game was eventually dragged into a penalty shootout, where Bayern Munich lost to Chelsea 3-4, losing the Champions League title at their own doorstep.

And Chelsea, who were not favored by anyone, won the first Champions League trophy in the club's history under the leadership of interim coach Di Matteo.

"Hey, Panpan, what a pity. If you had stayed at Chelsea, you could have won the Champions League title while sitting on the bench! But you missed the glory of becoming the first of us five to win the Champions League!"

At the national Olympic team's training camp, Zhou Yi said this to Sun Pan.

"Get lost!" Sun Pan glared at Zhou Yi. Of course, he knew that Zhou Yi was making fun of him. "Isn't Guo Nu the first one among us to win the Champions League while lying down?"

"None... none of my business!" Guo Nu had been laughing at Sun Pan just now, but when he heard the cannon aimed at him, he quickly defended himself.

Seeing this, Yang Muge and He Ying next to them laughed.

"But Panpan, don't be modest, you're still the first of us to win a European championship. The Europa League is also a European championship." Zhou Yi said.

In the recently concluded 2011-2012 season of the Europa League, Atletico Madrid entered the Europa League final and defeated Athletic Bilbao, also from La Liga, 3-0, winning the Europa League.

In that game, Sun Pan, as Atletico Madrid's starting goalkeeper, performed brilliantly, shutting out his opponents and ensuring Atletico Madrid's complete victory. He also won a Europa League gold medal.

So, in fact, although Guo Nu was with Inter Milan when Inter Milan won the Champions League, and Sun Pan belonged to Chelsea when Chelsea also won the Champions League, these two championships had nothing to do with them. Sun Pan's Europa League was the first European championship that truly belonged to a Chinese player.

Sun Pan became the first person in history to be recorded in history books.

Sun Pan was very happy to hear Zhou Yi say this, and he laughed foolishly. This was indeed something he could be proud of. He was loaned from Chelsea to Atletico Madrid, quickly became a starter, and eventually won the Europa League title. This experience was as dreamy as a movie. Of course, if he had stayed with Chelsea's first team, maybe he really could have won the Champions League while lying down, but even if the level of the Champions League was higher than the Europa League, Sun Pan wouldn't have cared.

"You have to treat us, Panpan," Zhou Yi said.

"No problem, I'll treat you to a big meal in London!" Sun Pan said excitedly.

"Damn, that's not sincere at all!"

Zhou Yi didn't appreciate it, which surprised Sun Pan a little: "It's not sincere to treat you to a big meal? You don't want me to treat you to something else, do you?" He felt very wronged.

"Treat us to a big meal in London? Are you planning to treat us to fish and chips or Stargazy pie?"

"Uh..." Faced with Zhou Yi's question, Sun Pan was speechless...

Everyone laughed, making fun of British "cuisine" was a popular pastime.

This wasn't the first time the quintet had gathered, but this gathering had an extraordinary meaning.

Because this time they gathered together not for eating, drinking, and having fun, but to win glory for the country and go on an expedition for the country.

For the third time in the history of Chinese men's football, they were participating in a world-class competition. This time, they were no longer spectators and viewers, but were able to experience it firsthand and create history.

Everyone had a sense of mission in their hearts.

Because of the European Cup, the European leagues ended earlier this season, generally in mid-May. Only He Ying was a little miserable. The Spanish Second Division had more participating teams and a longer schedule, and the final round of the league wasn't over until June 2nd.

And He Ying's Valladolid qualified for the promotion playoffs, so he also had to participate in the promotion playoffs. It wasn't until June 16th that he finished all the playoffs. He helped Valladolid defeat Alcorcón 2-1 in the playoffs and successfully promoted to La Liga.

He also became the silver boot of the Spanish Second Division with twenty-six goals. The gold boot was won by Argentine striker José Ulloa, who played for Almería, who scored two more goals than He Ying.

Although he didn't win the gold boot, this season was also a dream season for He Ying. It was his first time leaving Barcelona and playing in a lower-level league. This was a completely unfamiliar environment for him. He worked hard on his own, and the effect was even better than when he left Barcelona at the beginning. It proved that there was nothing in this world that couldn't be tried. After taking this first step, he realized how vast and wonderful the outside world was.

"He Ying, have you had enough rest?" Zhou Yi turned his head and asked He Ying, who was smiling.

Because the Spanish Second Division ended the latest, He Ying had a month less time to rest than the other four in the quintet.

"No problem," He Ying said, shaking his head.

Zhou Yi clapped his hands: "I'm so happy that the five of us can play together again!"

The other four laughed when they heard Zhou Yi say this. It was indeed a happy thing.

This was only the second time they had played together since they met. The first time was the reality show that introduced them to each other. After that, they went their separate ways. Although four of the five had already played several games for the national Olympic team, Zhou Yi had never played with them.

"Hey, can we summon a dragon if we collect all five of us?" Sun Pan suddenly said.

"You watch too many mangas, Panpan!" Guo Nu finally seized the opportunity to retort.

"Summon a dragon my ass! You're so childish!" Zhou Yi scoffed at Sun Pan, and then said. "Of course, we're summoning a championship!"

Everyone was stunned when they heard Zhou Yi say this.

"Championship?" He Ying couldn't help but ask.

"That's right, a championship!" Zhou Yi nodded decisively, and then he spread out his five fingers. "Five players who are absolute starters in European clubs are on one team. If we still can't win a championship, doesn't that mean we're too weak?"

"But... but that's the Olympics, isn't it?" Guo Nu was a little surprised.

"So what if it's the Olympics? It's only interesting to win the Olympic championship! I like Zhou Yi's proposal!" Sun Pan was very excited. "Look at how scared you are, Lao Guo, you're even stuttering!"

"Get lost! I'm... I'm not scared!" Guo Nu waved his hand like he was shooing away flies.

Yang Muge, who was pondering beside him, also said: "I think it's right to aim for the championship no matter what. If it's possible, we'll win a championship."

"That's right, the Chinese men's football team has never won a world championship before, right? If we can win a championship, we'll be famous in history!" Sun Pan began to daydream about the scene after winning the championship.

He Ying also found Zhou Yi's proposal very tempting. Championship... As a professional player, who wouldn't want to win a championship?

The word "championship" had a natural attraction for every professional athlete.

"Then it's settled, let's work hard with the goal of winning the championship!" Zhou Yi stretched out his hand.

"Goal: Championship!" Sun Pan placed his hand on Zhou Yi's hand.

"Yeah, championship!" Yang Muge's hand was also stacked on top.

"Championship," He Ying said as he put his hand on top as well.

"Cham... cham..." Guo Nu was a little excited, and his stutter became obvious. He couldn't say the last word no matter what. His face was flushed, but everyone was waiting for him, no one urged him, and no one made fun of his stutter.

In the end, he finally said this simple but weighty word completely: "Championship!"

His hand was placed on top.

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"Yesterday, Monday, July 2nd, the Chinese national Olympic team, led by head coach Blazevic, gathered and began their training camp to prepare for the London Olympics..." In the sports news on TV, the beautiful female anchor was broadcasting news related to the London Olympic athletes with a smile on her face. The appearance of the Chinese men's football team in the news related to the Olympics was a very novel experience for both the person broadcasting the news and the people watching the news.

"This national Olympic team can be called the strongest national Olympic team in history. In addition to the young players playing in China, there are also five main players from European clubs joining. Among these five, four have already participated in the qualifiers on behalf of the national Olympic team and are important contributors to the national Olympic team's ability to participate in the Olympics. But the other person is participating in the national Olympic team's training camp for the first time..."

"Zhou Yi, the core midfielder who plays for Dortmund, appeared on the national Olympic team's training ground for the first time yesterday. Wearing a training uniform, he got along well with his teammates on the national Olympic team and didn't feel strange at all. In addition to his four friends, he also joked and communicated with other national Olympic teammates during training breaks..."

"Such a national Olympic team is highly anticipated by fans. In addition to the four overseas players who have already played as main players in the national Olympic team, Zhou Yi, a player who is of the right age but has never participated in the national Olympic team's games, is also the reason why fans are full of expectations for them. Although Zhou Yi is very young and is an age-appropriate player for the national Olympic team, he has already played as the main core in the national team. His arrival will definitely greatly increase the overall strength of the national Olympic team. Because Zhou Yi is a player who is very good at uniting a team..."

"National Olympic team coach Blazevic is also very happy that Zhou Yi can participate in the Olympics. He said in an interview that Zhou Yi is completely a first-class European midfielder. He will design tactics around Zhou Yi, and the national Olympic team's main task during this training camp of less than a month is this..."

"Let us look forward to this 'strongest ever' national Olympic team bringing us surprises in London!"

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ps, I wrote the wrong number in this chapter. The Spanish Second Division Golden Boot Ulloa scored two more goals than He Ying, not twenty-eight goals. Twenty-eight goals is his total number of goals... Sorry, I have already corrected it.

In addition, this Ulloa is the brother who later joined Leicester City and won the Premier League title with the team.