Chapter 2 The Olympic Games Asian Qualifiers

The next day of the Olympic Games Asian Qualifiers, the Chinese Olympic team faced the challenge of the Qatar Olympic team at home.

Four of the Five Little Dragons started the game.

In their home stadium, the Four Little Dragons performed brilliantly, leading the Chinese Olympic team to a 1-0 victory over the Qatar Olympic team.

After winning two consecutive games, the Chinese Olympic team ranked second with six points, only one point behind the South Korean team, which had seven points. The South Korean Olympic team drew 1-1 with the Qatar Olympic team in the previous match.

In this way, the gap between the two teams was not so obvious.

The rules of the Olympic qualifiers are that the top team in each of the three groups directly qualifies for the Olympic Games, while the second-place teams in the three groups will fight each other, and the team with the best record will get the last spot.

If the Chinese team wants to qualify for the Olympic finals, they must at least get second place in their group.

However, in the hearts of the Four Little Dragons, second place in the group is not a goal. For the four of them, if they have to compete with the second-place teams in the other two groups, it is simply a waste of time.

They themselves cannot have so much time and energy to frequently fly back to Asia from Europe to compete.

So there is actually only one choice, which is to get first place in the group and go straight to London. As for the South Korean team?

Let them compete with the second-place teams in the other two groups for that last spot.

On February 22nd of next year, the Chinese Olympic team will welcome the South Korean Olympic team at home. This game will determine who is the boss of this group.

As long as the Chinese team can defeat the South Korean team, they can complete the comeback.

※※※

After the end of the Olympic team's game, the Four Little Dragons returned to their respective clubs from China to prepare for their leagues.

On the other side, Zhou Yi's Dortmund also rose to the top of the league after winning the Revierderby.

Because in the same round of the league, Bayern Munich lost 2-3 to Mainz on the road.

Now the two teams are a full three points apart.

In fact, from another perspective, it can be seen as Schalke 04 sending their arch-rival to the top of the league.

A newspaper was placed on the desk of Schalke 04 coach Stevens, which was the local media "Gelsenkirchen," and published the content of the just-concluded Revierderby in an important position.

The accompanying picture was the frustrated expression of Schalke 04 players after losing the ball, while the background was the scene of Dortmund players celebrating happily.

The title was a bit scary: "Complete Defeat!"

The subtitle was "Our midfield was completely suppressed, with no power to fight back!"

Stevens crossed his hands and rested his chin on them, his gaze falling on another small photo in the newspaper.

The small photo was next to the main text, and it was a close-up photo of Zhou Yi.

The article next to the photo read: "...As the midfield core of Dortmund, Zhou Yi did not encounter too much trouble in the game, and our midfield could not contain him at all. I think this is the key reason for the loss in this game... Jones worked very hard in the game, but it seems that he has nothing but hard work. A yellow card in the first half ruined his second half, he was too reckless... Of course, Zhou Yi is a very good player, but is he invincible? I don't believe it is, it's just that we haven't found a suitable way to deal with him..."

※※※

After Yang Muge returned to Schalke, the first thing he did was call Zhou Yi: "Zhou Yi, I think maybe it would be better for me to leave Schalke 04."

Zhou Yi was not surprised, but jokingly said, "That's a pity, we can't have a Chinese derby in the Revierderby." Then he said, "But actually I don't really recommend you leave now."

"Huh?" Yang Muge was surprised to hear Zhou Yi say this on the phone. Because in the past, Zhou Yi had always suggested that he be loaned out to find a stable opportunity to play, but he had never made up his mind at the time.

Now that he finally made up his mind, he didn't expect Zhou Yi to advise him not to leave.

"Why?" he asked.

Zhou Yi patiently explained to Yang Muge on the phone. "If it weren't for this Revierderby, Lao Yang, I would really suggest you be loaned out in the winter break. But after a Revierderby, many things have been changed. The weakness of Schalke 04's midfield has been exposed, do you know what it is, Lao Yang?"

"Defense?" Yang Muge guessed.

"Bingo. Why did Schalke 04 lose to Dortmund? Isn't it because they didn't defend me in the midfield?" Zhou Yi said this shamelessly, but Yang Muge did not ridicule Zhou Yi, because this was the truth. "This is actually your chance, Lao Yang. Everyone realizes that there is a problem with your midfield defense, and you are the one in the midfield defense. Do you think this is your chance now? I think as long as your coach Stevens has no problems with his brain, he will come to you, you don't need to go to him at all."

※※※

Yang Muge was still a little skeptical about Zhou Yi's confident judgment. He always felt that things would not be so simple—Schalke 04 lost the Revierderby, and he would get a chance?

Wouldn't that be like what Zhou Yi said before, that he should hope that Schalke 04 loses the game?

But the next day, when he returned to the team for training, he was called to the office by coach Stevens alone!

When he heard the coach looking for him, Yang Muge was stunned.

He never expected Zhou Yi to be so amazing, completely predicting things like a god...

But is the coach looking for him just for the game? Yang Muge was not sure.

He knocked on Stevens' door with various guesses in his heart.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw the coach sitting behind the desk, signaling to him: "Sit down, young man."

Yang Muge sat on the chair and looked at the coach.

"How is it? Tired? I know, China is very far away."

Seeing the coach talking to him kindly, Yang Muge thought about what Zhou Yi had said to him yesterday.

Is this kind of concern... important?

"I'm not tired after resting yesterday, sir," Yang Muge replied politely.

"I heard you won both games, what position do you play in the Olympic team?"

"Also a defensive midfielder."

"Defense?"

"While defending, I also have to take into account some organizational attack tasks..."

Stevens seemed very interested in Yang Muge's playing style in the Olympic team, and asked in detail, and Yang Muge also answered all the coach's questions in detail.

After asking the questions, the two chatted casually for a few words, and Stevens let Yang Muge leave.

From beginning to end, Schalke 04 was not mentioned, nor was any promise made to Yang Muge for the first team.

It seemed just out of curiosity.

※※※

But before the 15th round of the league, Schalke 04's home game against Augsburg, Yang Muge learned that he had been put on the starting list for this game...

He called Zhou Yi in surprise and joy: "Zhou Yi! I'm starting!"

"Isn't that great, Lao Yang. Seize this opportunity!" Zhou Yi laughed loudly on the phone.

Hearing Zhou Yi say this, Yang Muge thought of Hao Junmin's advice.

"If the opportunity arises, be sure to seize it."

"Yes, Zhou Yi, I will definitely seize it!" Yang Muge said.

That night, the group also learned about Yang Muge's starting appearance, and everyone congratulated Yang Muge.

However, Yang Muge did not respond to them, he did not go online at all.

"I guess Lao Yang is so nervous that he went to bed early, so he's not online..." Guo Nu guessed.

"Bullshit, if he's really nervous, he shouldn't be able to sleep!" Sun Pan refuted Guo Nu's guess.

"If he can't sleep, why doesn't he go to the group?"

"Who knows..."

※※※

In fact, Yang Muge was indeed a little nervous, so he didn't fall asleep, but he didn't have the mind to go online and chat with everyone.

He tossed and turned in bed, and it took him a long time to fall asleep.

The next day when he woke up, Raul, who shared a room with him, smiled at him: "Young man, didn't sleep well last night?"

"Uh..."

"The tossing and turning was a bit loud."

Yang Muge quickly apologized to Raul: "I'm sorry, Raul, I disturbed you..."

"Nervous?" Raul shook his head with a smile, and then asked.

Yang Muge scratched his head.

"It's normal to be nervous in your first professional game." Raul waved his hand and said to Yang Muge with a smile: "I was also very nervous before my first professional game."

Yang Muge looked at Raul in surprise. He was familiar with Raul's story. He was selected for the starting list in the game against Zaragoza. It was his first appearance for the Real Madrid first team.

And before the game, when he learned from Valdano that he was going to start in this game, he was very confident and calm.

But that was all the information he saw in other ways. He was not Valdano, nor was he Raul Gonzalez. He did not know every detail of what happened back then.

Maybe those information were made up by others?

Yang Muge himself didn't know.

"Yes, I was quite calm at the time, but the night before the game, I tossed and turned like you. Thank you for letting me recall my youthful days again, haha!" Raul laughed.

Yang Muge also laughed. He didn't know if Raul was really as nervous as himself and couldn't sleep, but he was very grateful to Raul now, because his words made him less nervous.

"Thank you, Raul. I feel much better."

"You're welcome, young man. Today's game is the starting point of your career. I wish you all the best in the future."