Chapter 108 A Flawless Debut

When Zhou Yi and his teammates passed the ball frequently in the backfield, the rhythm was slow, making people drowsy.

Don't say that Hoffenheim fans were booing them; even neutral fans probably found this Dortmund despicable—using any means necessary to win, without even a shred of decency!

They would also wonder: Wasn't Klopp supposed to be a passionate coach? How could his Dortmund play such passive football?

Just then, the style of play on the field suddenly changed!

Zhou Yi turned around, and Subotić passed the ball to his front. Dortmund changed from passing in the backfield to attacking forward!

The other Dortmund players, who had been watching the show, also moved. Some approached Zhou Yi, while others scattered, creating space.

After turning around, Zhou Yi didn't dribble much before passing the ball to Großkreutz, who came up to meet him.

He didn't stop after passing the ball and continued to run forward.

Even though Großkreutz didn't pass the ball back to him.

"Dortmund's attack!" Marcel Reif roared. As a commentator, he had a clear view from the high commentary box—because Dortmund had been passing the ball in the backfield, Hoffenheim had pressed high, and there were as many as four players near Dortmund's defensive line—the three forwards Ibisevic, Demba Ba, and Obasi, plus the attacking midfielder Salihović.

The players behind them had also pushed up, a move made to avoid the lines being disjointed. But now, it made their backfield look very empty!

Especially between the defensive line and goalkeeper Hildebrand, there was a lot of space!

Dortmund's sudden acceleration of the attack hit Hoffenheim right in their vital spot!

Was this an accident?

No!

Marcel Reif believed this was carefully planned by Dortmund, or rather, carefully planned by that number twenty-three, Zhou Yi!

In the time it took to say a sentence, Dortmund's attack had already crossed the halfway line.

After dribbling, Großkreutz passed the ball back to Zhou Yi, who had run up.

As he received the ball, Zhou Yi took it forward and continued to move forward.

Gustavo had originally been defending Großkreutz. Seeing that Großkreutz had passed the ball to Zhou Yi, he immediately turned around and tried to pounce on Zhou Yi.

Just as he rushed up, Zhou Yi, who had just taken one touch, immediately sent the ball out.

This time it wasn't a horizontal pass or a back pass, but a decisive forward pass!

A through ball!

The ball skimmed across the grass, passing five or six meters in front of Gustavo. Gustavo had no way to stop it but to watch the ball go past. He couldn't even slide tackle it—the distance was too far!

Zhou Yi's pass went through the gap between Hoffenheim's center-back Šimunić and full-back Eichner.

It fell at the feet of Kuba, who was cutting in from the wing!

"Kuba!!"

When Kuba received the ball, he was already behind Hoffenheim's defense, so Šimunić immediately raised his arm, signaling that Kuba was offside.

But the linesman didn't raise his flag, and the referee didn't whistle to stop the game. The game continued!

"A beautiful pass, not offside!"

Kuba didn't care about offside or not. After receiving Zhou Yi's ball, he directly took the ball into Hoffenheim's penalty area.

Barrios was supporting in the middle, and the other Hoffenheim center-back, Compper, didn't dare to defend Kuba and could only follow Barrios.

Kuba didn't hold back. After entering the penalty area, he directly swung his leg. It was a shot!

The ball was like a cannonball, fiercely kicked by Kuba towards the upper corner.

Hildebrand made a save, but in the face of Kuba's powerful shot, his save was still too slow...

The ball flew past his hand and under the crossbar, into the goal!

3:1!

Dortmund completely locked in the victory!

"Kuba—! Oh oh oh! A beautiful attack! There's no suspense in this game anymore!" Marcel Reif shouted.

Back in China, Duan Xin was so excited he couldn't control himself: "Goal! Goal! Zhou Yi! This is only his first league appearance, but he already has a goal and an assist! This goal was completely orchestrated by him! This match that we have all been waiting for for four months, although Zhou Yi only came on in the sixty-fifth minute, it was full of substance!"

"It's really not easy to have such a performance in the first game!" Tao Wei also said excitedly. "The domestic media say that Zhou Yi is a player with a big heart, has a good attitude, and is full of confidence. Now it seems that the media isn't just talking nonsense. How many players can have such an amazing performance in their debut? I think even our national team players may not be able to perform like this when they go to Europe!"

Tao Wei's evaluation of Zhou Yi was quite high, directly saying that he was more powerful than the current national team players of China.

This made Zhou Jianliang feel great, very great.

"That's right!"

"Exactly!"

"My son is just that awesome!"

For every sentence the commentators and guests said, he would echo it.

Li Cuiyun couldn't help but look sideways frequently: "Even if you're excited, you don't have to be like this, right?"

"You don't understand!" Zhou Jianliang said, "I've had a dream ever since I knew you were pregnant with a son, but I didn't see that it really had a chance to come true until today!"

Li Cuiyun was curious. Her husband had never told her about this: "What is it?"

"My son, Zhou Jianliang's son!" Zhou Jianliang said with his head held high and exhaling through his nose, "is going to become the best soccer player in the world! And then lead the Chinese team out of Asia and into the world!"

※※※

After scoring, Kuba ran to Zhou Yi to hug him. At least half the credit for this goal had to be given to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi also ran towards Kuba.

The two quickly embraced, and the other teammates rushed up and hugged them both.

Marcel Reif, watching the Dortmund players huddled together, exclaimed: "Dortmund's attack was simply like flowing water, smooth and natural, and so fast that it was dazzling! From the boring passing in the backfield to the sudden forward movement... it's amazing!"

"Kuba scored twice, but the greater contributor to this goal is number twenty-three, Zhou Yi! Since the sixty-fifth minute of this game, I have been constantly chanting this name, and now I can pronounce it correctly very skillfully. I think that after this game, this somewhat tongue-twisting name will probably be known by more people! When Klopp sent him on, many people may have been thinking, 'Who is this kid?' But now everyone is probably thinking, 'Who is this kid!' Aha!"

※※※

When Kuba scored, the Dortmund bench and coaching staff were jubilant.

Klopp jumped onto the field and bounced around before rushing back down, then hugged assistant coaches Željko Buvač, Peter Krawietz, and Teddy de Beer one by one, not even letting the team doctor off the hook.

It was clear how excited he was.

The difference between 3:1 and 2:1 was that for the rest of the game, he didn't have to worry or be afraid.

After the wild celebration, Klopp looked at Buvač and smiled at him: "So? Can he handle the pressure?"

Buvač shook his head helplessly and in surprise: "When he was passing the ball back and forth in the backfield with Subotić and Hummels, my palms were sweating with tension. Every time he passed the ball, I would wonder what would happen if he messed up? But he looked much calmer than me, this kid! He really doesn't look like a rookie making his debut, but more like a veteran who has been through hundreds of battles!"

Hearing what his assistant said, Klopp laughed heartily. Having seen Zhou Yi's performance in the reality show, he was no stranger to Zhou Yi's backfield passing!

※※※

Kuba's second goal completely crushed Hoffenheim. When the game restarted, neither pressing nor shrinking the defense could change the outcome of the game. With a two-goal lead, Dortmund could play as they pleased in the remaining time. They could control the ball at a slow pace, or suddenly launch a threatening counterattack.

As for Hoffenheim, they had no countermeasures but to passively endure. They didn't even know when a fatal arrow would suddenly shoot out from Dortmund's seemingly ordinary passes...

In the ninety-third minute, the referee, Kempter, blew the whistle to end the game.

"The game is over! Dortmund has finally ended their two-game draw streak and ushered in another victory. But I think the biggest gain from this game for Klopp and Dortmund may not be this victory and three league points, but that they have discovered a dazzling diamond!"

As Marcel Reif said this, the TV broadcast gave Zhou Yi a close-up shot. The number twenty-three and the letters of the surname "zhou" on his back were prominently displayed in the center of the screen.

"In my commentary career, I have witnessed many geniuses making their debut on this stage, but every time I see these geniuses' genius-like performances, I can't help but get excited. This is also one of the reasons why soccer is so charming—because you never know which genius will shine in this game, what stories will be staged, and which people will step onto the stage from now on and appear in our sight and memory for a long time... I love soccer, thank you all! I am Marcel Reif, thank you for watching the live broadcast of this game, see you next time!"

Marcel Reif was truly moved by Zhou Yi's performance and even said such emotional words.

※※※

Back in China, Duan Xin's praise was much simpler and more direct: "The game is over! Zhou Yi has completed a near-perfect debut! Coming on as a substitute, he turned the tide and helped the team complete a transition from difficulty to complete victory! This game was divided into two completely different parts because of Zhou Yi's appearance! I think after seeing Zhou Yi's performance in this game, everyone shouldn't regret the long wait before, right?"

Tao Wei nodded beside him and said, "What takes so much time and effort to wait for must be worth it!"

"Yes! This was a worthwhile wait! Zhou Yi must have made full preparations for this appearance, so what we saw in the game was a calm and experienced veteran, rather than a clueless greenhorn! Thank you Zhou Yi for all the sacrifices he made for this game, whether it was sweat or tears!"

Fang Shuai, wearing headphones in the internet cafe, listened to Duan Xin's words, and the lenses of his glasses reflected Zhou Yi on the screen, but his vision gradually blurred—he was already teary-eyed without realizing it.

Yes, from July when he learned that Zhou Yi had entered the first team to November 28, a full five months of tracking and attention, searching for information on the internet, organizing news, managing the forum and QQ group... all the expectations and time spent, and even the arguments, were worth it.

At this moment, not as Zhou Yi's high school classmate, but simply as an ordinary Chinese fan, Fang Shuai was full of tears, but his heart was as sweet as honey.

The TV screen was already playing commercials, but Zhou Jianliang remained sitting on the sofa in the upright posture he had maintained while watching the game.

Li Cuiyun stood up and looked back at him: "Reluctant for the game to end?"

Zhou Jianliang didn't answer her, but leaned back and lay diagonally on the sofa in a very lazy posture, then looked at her and smiled.

"What?" Li Cuiyun asked strangely.

"My back has been hurting for a long time, I can't get up," Zhou Jianliang said, still smiling at his wife.

Li Cuiyun rolled her eyes when she heard this: "Look at your uselessness! This is just one game, if every game is like this in the future, will your back still be okay?"

After saying that, she came up, reached out and held her husband's shoulder, and pulled him up.

"Hey, slow down, slow down, slow down..." Zhou Jianliang called out repeatedly.

"I haven't even used any strength yet! Is it that bad?"

"How can it not be? My old bones can't take the tossing!" Zhou Jianliang supported his waist with his hand, and with his wife's support, slowly stood up from the sofa, straightening his body.

"Oh, you're old now!" Li Cuiyun teased her husband while supporting him towards the bedroom.

Zhou Jianliang retorted: "How can I not be old? My son has grown up and become successful, how can his father not be old?"

He thought of the scenes of his son in the game. It turned out that unknowingly, that stinky boy who was always worrying in his and his wife's eyes had become so remarkable...