Chapter 1 The German Club's Reply

The Chinese Football Association quickly received a reply from Borussia Dortmund, stating that they would consider the suggestions made by the CFA as appropriate.

"Consider as appropriate?" National team assistant coach Fu Bo was puzzled by Borussia Dortmund's attitude after receiving the reply. "Does that mean they'll follow our suggestions or not?"

Gao Hongbo shook his head. "I don't know. But whatever they do, they have legitimate reasons. The players are signed with the club, not with the national team... Actually, I didn't agree with the CFA sending that fax in the first place, because there's no such rule..."

He seemed helpless, but it was unclear whether he was helpless about the bureaucracy of the CFA or about the outcome.

"What do we do then?" Fu Bo frowned at the thought of China's upcoming away match against Iraq.

"Prepare for the worst," Gao Hongbo said calmly.

※※※

It seemed as if Gao Hongbo's preparations were accurate, as Zhou Yi appeared in Borussia Dortmund's starting lineup for the match against Wolfsburg.

The Chinese Football Association had hoped that Borussia Dortmund would allow Zhou Yi to come on as a substitute, but Klopp clearly wasn't willing to consider the Chinese national team's request.

Now, those who cared about the fate of the Chinese national team could only comfort themselves by saying that Germany was closer to Qatar – the location of Iraq's home stadium – than China, so Zhou Yi could fly a shorter distance, saving some time, which might reduce the impact on his physical fitness...

After the match began, Borussia Dortmund launched a fierce attack on Wolfsburg's goal at their home stadium without any probing.

Wolfsburg could only parry and had no power to fight back.

It should be noted that in the 2008-2009 season, Magath led Wolfsburg to surpass Bayern Munich and win the league title that season. But later, things got worse year after year.

In the 2009-2010 season, Wolfsburg eventually ranked eighth in the league. In the 2010-2011 season, Wolfsburg ranked fifteenth, escaping relegation by only two points...

So the current Wolfsburg no longer had the momentum of winning the league title in those years.

This was a common problem for many Bundesliga teams: they rise quickly and fall quickly.

Zhou Yi's suggestion wasn't just about his own confidence, but also a full consideration of the opponent's strength. Before learning that the Chinese Football Association had sent a fax to Borussia Dortmund, he had played against Wolfsburg in the virtual system many times and knew the current strength of the team. He felt that as long as he went all out, spared no effort, and showed no mercy, he could secure victory early.

In other words, it wasn't a suspenseful matter for Borussia Dortmund to defeat Wolfsburg at home; the only suspense was how many goals they would win by.

If ordinary matches were like Borussia Dortmund driving a car in comfort mode, starting calmly and elegantly, even a little slowly, then in this match, Borussia Dortmund had transformed into a sports-enhanced car, darting out with just a little gas. And the one controlling the different driving modes was Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi determined Borussia Dortmund's match mode.

In the sixth minute, Zhou Yi suddenly sent a diagonal pass from the ribs of the penalty area, and the ball passed by Wolfsburg defender Schäfer, reaching Mario Götze's feet.

Götze, receiving the ball in the center, turned and shot, and the ball flew into Wolfsburg's goal!

"Mario Götze!!" Marcel Reif shouted, "Götze! He opened the scoring for Borussia Dortmund! The one who assisted him was Zhou Yi!!"

After scoring, Götze turned to find Zhou Yi to celebrate the goal, and other teammates also rushed up. The songs and cheers of Borussia Dortmund fans resounded in the stands.

Borussia Dortmund took the lead just six minutes into the match. Klopp on the sidelines smiled happily, not because of the goal itself, but because Zhou Yi had done what he said and hadn't let him down.

Six minutes later, in the twelfth minute, Borussia Dortmund scored again. This time, the scorer was Shinji Kagawa, and the one who assisted him... was still Zhou Yi!

"Shinji Kagawa! Borussia Dortmund leads Wolfsburg 2-0! Zhou Yi provides another wonderful assist!"

※※※

"The match has only been going on for twelve minutes, and Zhou Yi already has two assists! His form today came out very early and is very good!" On the TV broadcast, commentator Duan Xin was praising Zhou Yi's performance.

Fu Bo, in front of the TV, frowned. He was worried that Zhou Yi's good form had come too early. Generally, if a player is in particularly good form in one match, it will be discounted after a long journey. He was worried that Zhou Yi would use up his best form and luck in this match, and then be completely different when he arrived at the Chinese team...

Gao Hongbo was next to him, looking up at the TV screen, then looking down and writing and drawing in his notebook. He was observing Zhou Yi's performance in the match. This was also his habit. When he went to watch domestic leagues in China, he did the same, sitting in the stands, watching the game while recording things in his notebook at any time.

He couldn't go to the scene to watch Zhou Yi's match, so he could only learn through TV broadcasts. What he saw was limited, but he didn't give up recording his observations and thoughts.

"Hey, Lao Gao, aren't you worried?" Fu Bo couldn't help but ask, seeing that Gao Hongbo was unmoved.

"Worried about what?" Gao Hongbo looked up at him in confusion after hearing Fu Bo's question.

"Worried that Zhou Yi's form came out too early!"

"Hey," Gao Hongbo smiled, his small eyes narrowed into a line. "You're thinking too much, Lao Fu. It's just one match."

After speaking, he lowered his head again to write and draw in his notebook.

Fu Bo had no choice but to see Gao Hongbo's calmness, but his frown didn't disappear.

He would have to verify himself whether he was overthinking whether Zhou Yi's form had come too early.

※※※

Borussia Dortmund took a two-goal lead over Wolfsburg in just twelve minutes, and the suspense of the match was already very small. Unless there was a miracle, Wolfsburg could equalize or even reverse the score in the following match.

Although this probability was very small, it still existed after all, such as "theoretical possibility."

Of course, Zhou Yi didn't want to leave Wolfsburg even a theoretical possibility. He said he would win the match as soon as possible, so he couldn't be satisfied with only leading by two goals in the first half.

In the thirty-eighth minute, Zhou Yi scored himself, helping Borussia Dortmund lead Wolfsburg 3-0!

"Oh oh oh! Zhou Yi! He's going crazy! In less than forty minutes, he already has two assists and one goal!" Duan Xin's cheers sounded like an ominous omen to Fu Bo.

※※※

On the sidelines, Klopp clapped his hands vigorously, applauding Zhou Yi's goal. Leading by three goals, he believed that Zhou Yi had fulfilled his promise and ended the suspense of the match in the first half.

But what he didn't expect was that two assists and one goal didn't stop Zhou Yi.

In the forty-fourth minute before the end of the first half, Zhou Yi provided his third assist of the match, helping Lewandowski score Borussia Dortmund's fourth goal!

"4-0!! Unbelievable! Unbelievable!" Marcel Reif shouted, "Borussia Dortmund leads Wolfsburg 4-0 in the first half! There is no suspense in this match at all! But who could have imagined before the match that the game would turn out like this?"

Zhou Yi thought of it, Klopp only thought of half of it.

So Klopp was slightly surprised to see Lewandowski celebrating the goal in front of the crazy Borussia Dortmund fans.

He turned his gaze to Zhou Yi.

This kid...

※※※

During the half-time break, Marcel Reif was still saying that Zhou Yi was the best player in Borussia Dortmund's first-half match. He completely dominated the match. Under his control, Borussia Dortmund ran smoothly, while Wolfsburg couldn't find their rhythm and could only be led by Borussia Dortmund.

He even boldly predicted that a very surprising score would appear in this match.

As a result, before the start of the second half, the players from both sides were standing on the field, and before the kick-off, the fourth official raised the substitution sign on the sidelines. Kuba replaced Zhou Yi, number twenty-three!

"Huh?" Marcel Reif was puzzled to see Zhou Yi running off the field and high-fiving Kuba on the sidelines. "Is Zhou Yi injured? Otherwise, why would he be substituted after only playing half the match? No, looking at his running posture, there's no sign of injury, and there wasn't much physical contact in the first half... It seems Klopp thinks he has a sure win in this match and there's no need for Zhou Yi to waste his energy? But even so, the time he was substituted is too early..."

What disappointed Marcel Reif the most was that after Zhou Yi was substituted, Borussia Dortmund's offensive rhythm might slow down, which also meant a strategic adjustment for Borussia Dortmund.

He wanted to see a big score, but Borussia Dortmund just let it go?

Marcel Reif was very dissatisfied, but Fu Bo in front of the TV was energized: "Huh? Zhou Yi only played half a match?"

He turned to look at Gao Hongbo, who smiled: "It shows that they still considered it."

If Zhou Yi only played half a match, his physical condition would be much better than being exhausted at the end of a ninety-minute match.

"Well, the rest depends on his condition..." Fu Bo still felt that it wasn't a good thing that Zhou Yi's condition came out too early.