Chapter 1 After Entering the Stadium

After the two teams entered the stadium to warm up, the focus of the Chinese and Japanese media shifted to the field.

Several cameras were set up on the sidelines, and the commentators and guests from the Chinese and Japanese TV stations were already on the sidelines with tactical boards, getting into work mode.

The backdrop for them was the two teams of players warming up, and the stands that were slowly filling up.

Before this match, both teams had already qualified in advance, so this game should have been a happy occasion for both sides to advance together.

But because the teams playing were China and Japan, due to issues of pride or historical grievances, the importance of this match was no less than the fight for qualification...

In the Japanese domestic studio, the hosts and guests were introducing the Chinese team, Japan's opponent, to the Japanese fans watching TV, focusing on the star players of the Chinese team, or rather, the Chinese players who posed a threat to the Japanese team.

They used the images from the field to introduce each player one by one.

Of course, they also adhered to the Japanese people's consistent style of "exaggeration," or rather, "chunibyo" (middle school syndrome).

When Sun Pan, who was warming up, appeared on the screen, the host said in an exaggerated tone: "This is China's 'Wall of Sighs'!"

At the same time, some special effects appeared on the TV screen, with the Japanese subtitles for "Wall of Sighs" appearing with the effects, as well as the "speed lines" that often appear in comics, which was full of chunibyo comic style.

The professional guest then began to introduce Sun Pan: "Well, he played for two years with the La Liga giant Atletico Madrid, helping the team win the Europa League, and is hailed as a world-class goalkeeper of the future..."

The beautiful vase-like hostess next to him widened her eyes and asked in an exaggerated tone: "World-class?"

"Yes, he is a very powerful player, with a very high level of skill. It is said that Atletico Madrid is making every effort to negotiate with Chelsea in order to be able to sign him!" the guest said, nodding.

"Sugoii (amazing)..." the beautiful hostess said with a face full of admiration. Although it was not known whether she really understood this explanation, or was just pretending, her superficial work was impeccable. If Chinese fans saw the Japanese TV broadcast, they would definitely feel very, very good...

This also showed the importance that the Japanese side attached to this match, and the importance they attached to their opponent, the Chinese team—the former Chinese team could never have expected to receive such treatment from the Japanese media; probably only the Chinese men's and women's table tennis teams could get this kind of treatment...

Chinese players warming up continued to appear on TV. After Sun Pan was Guo Nu, and the professional guest introduced him as a center-back playing in the Italian league. Although he was not tall, his physical fitness was very good. It was said that Inter Milan wanted to take back half of his ownership, so he would probably be playing for Inter Milan next season.

Another male host then asked: "Wouldn't that mean he'll be teammates with Yuto Nagatomo?"

The guest nodded: "Yes, they will likely become partners on the defensive line..."

"Ah, that really makes you look forward to what kind of sparks they will create together next season..."

After Guo Nu was Yang Muge, and the professional guest introduced him as a defensive midfielder playing for the Bundesliga powerhouse Schalke 04. He was not very strong, but he was known for being agile and nimble, and he was very difficult to deal with when defending.

This professional guest was indeed very professional, and was able to clearly explain the technical characteristics of every Chinese player who appeared in the camera. This was just a TV guest, which showed the Japanese football's ability to collect information.

In fact, Japanese fans knew about these players, because the Japanese Olympic team had played against the Chinese Olympic team during the London Olympics, and they had been formally introduced and reported at that time.

But it was still necessary to introduce them again, because a season had passed, and there might have been some changes.

After Yang Muge was He Ying, who happened to be doing a sprint shuttle run in the camera, so the professional guest took the opportunity to introduce: "He Ying's speed is very fast, which is his advantage. In the game, our defense must pay attention to his speed... He was loaned to Paris Saint-Germain last season, and got a lot of playing time, and performed very well... In the previous match against Australia, he scored twice..."

Japanese football was not unfamiliar with He Ying, because he had represented China in Asian events many times during his youth and junior years.

Next, the screen changed, and Zhou Yi appeared in the camera.

"Ooooh! Ooooh! Ooooh!" the male host's chunibyo soul was burning again. "The new European king! Dortmund's 'Bee King'! The 'Wizard' with mysterious powers!"

If Zhou Yi heard the nicknames that the Japanese host had given him, he would definitely roll his eyes—the Wizard was fine, but what the hell was the Bee King! Just because Dortmund's nickname was "The Black and Yellows" didn't mean that Dortmund's core player was the "Bee King"...

But now Zhou Yi didn't know about that. A teammate passed him a high ball, and he got into position and volleyed the ball directly!

The soccer ball was hit solidly, and then drew an arc, flying into the goal guarded by Sun Pan.

Sun Pan didn't even make a save during this process, just turned his head and watched, seeing the soccer ball enter the goal.

This scene also stunned the Japanese hosts and guests in the studio, and this clean and crisp shot naturally caused huge cheers from the Chinese fans in the stands.

"It looks like... Zhou-san is in very good condition today..." the professional guest said with a wry smile.

His heart was filled with more worries about whether the Japanese team could win this match.

The vase-like hostess next to him said with hearts in her eyes: "That was a super difficult volley just now, right? He's so handsome!"

Because of Shinji Kagawa, Zhou Yi was also a very popular player in Japan, and had many fans.

Japan worshipped the strong, and Zhou Yi was a strong person worthy of their worship.

※※※

"Zhou Yi, you son of a bitch!" Sun Pan, who had come back to his senses, yelled at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi's volley just now really startled Sun Pan. He didn't expect Zhou Yi to hit the soccer ball into his goal so easily with a volley.

Of course, he was more dissatisfied, especially after hearing the cheers from the stands—Zhou Yi had snatched the limelight! If he had been able to save Zhou Yi's shot just now, the cheers would have been for him now.

"No, do it again!" So he beckoned to Zhou Yi, determined to save Zhou Yi's shot.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yi refused his suggestion to show off straightforwardly: "No way. If I injure you, who will guard the goal for us?"

After saying that, Zhou Yi turned around and went to practice passing with Yang Muge.

Leaving Sun Pan extremely frustrated, he shouted at him: "Damn it! Don't run away after showing off!"

Zhou Yi thought to himself, if you don't run away after showing off, you're just waiting to get struck by lightning, right? He didn't expect to be able to hit that shot so beautifully just now, his luck was just off the charts. If he tried another shot, and it went wide, he'd be so embarrassed... Naturally, he absolutely refused to shoot again.

Seeing Zhou Yi running away after showing off, Sun Pan couldn't rush out and kick Zhou Yi even if he was unhappy. He could only vent his anger on the subsequent saving practice, blocking all the shots from his other teammates, and even saving He Ying's shots was no problem for him.

The guests in the Japanese studio frowned when they saw this state—Sun Pan, the "Wall of Sighs," seemed to be in very good condition too... For the Japanese team, today might be a very, very difficult match.

He didn't know if Zaccheroni and his disciples were fully prepared.

"Ah, we have received the starting lineups of the two teams..." the male host said, bringing the guests back to their senses.

"As expected, the starting lineups of the two teams have not changed compared to the last match..."

In the last match, the Japanese team played against Australia at home, and naturally sent out their strongest lineup. This match against the Chinese team was very important, so it was naturally impossible to make any changes to the lineup.

Players like Shinji Okazaki, Shinji Kagawa, Keisuke Honda, Makoto Hasebe, Yuto Nagatomo, Maya Yoshida, Atsuto Uchida, and Eiji Kawashima, all of whom played in Europe, all started.

Although these people were not all of Japan's players playing in Europe, they were indeed representative players, and most of them were main players playing in the top European leagues.

For example, Shinji Okazaki played for Stuttgart, Shinji Kagawa was at Manchester United, Makoto Hasebe was at Wolfsburg, Yuto Nagatomo was at Inter Milan, Maya Yoshida played for Southampton, Atsuto Uchida was at Schalke 04...

On the Chinese side, they sent out all of their players playing in Europe—Sun Pan, Guo Nu, Yang Muge, He Ying, and Zhou Yi.

Although the Chinese team was not as good as Japan in terms of the number of players playing in Europe, Japan did not dare to take it lightly, because the quality of these Chinese players playing in Europe was very high.

In particular, Zhou Yi, He Ying, and Sun Pan were the most outstanding, and posed the greatest threat to Japan.

In the first leg of the top ten qualifiers, the Chinese team did not send out all of their players playing in Europe, and He Ying was not in good shape, but Zhou Yi alone was able to allow the Chinese team to retreat unscathed and remain undefeated.

Now that several players playing in Europe had experienced a season of training and tempering in the European leagues, their condition was better than before, and plus the fact that it was the Chinese team's home game, it was really hard to say how this match would turn out...