Chapter 1 Declaration

Yang Pan's 100-meter speed improved by 0.02 seconds, and Zhang Jun's reaction speed also improved by 0.03 seconds. This was a very gratifying change. Although the numbers were small, they were enough for football players.

Rice knew that the recent diet and high-intensity training had worked. The two Chinese teenagers already possessed the physical qualities of professional players. With this solid foundation, everything else would be easier to improve.

Rice had watched the Chinese team's performance in the 2002 World Cup. He felt that the Chinese players always had tense expressions on their faces on the field, as if they were extremely nervous. Rice didn't understand why they were like this. Psychological tension would lead to physical stiffness, and some technical movements that were originally familiar would not be able to be completed. The first 15 minutes of the game between China and Brazil were fine. They organized several threatening attacks, but when Brazil's Roberto Carlos scored a goal against the Chinese team with a free kick, China became nervous again, and in the end, they became more and more chaotic and lost 0:4.

Rice believed that the Chinese team's players did not have good psychological qualities and were under too much pressure. Their legs could not bear such great pressure, perhaps because they had 1.3 billion people behind them.

Fortunately, he didn't see that bitter look on Zhang Jun and Yang Pan's faces. Except for the first two days, when they seemed relatively silent because they were unfamiliar with the situation and had slight diarrhea, he could see the smiles on their faces most of the time later. Yang Pan was more cheerful, and laughter mostly came from him. Zhang Jun was a little more introverted, with more smiles.

Rice believed that they would have a very bright tomorrow playing football with such expressions.

Adriaanse led the team in the last warm-up match before the Super League, challenging the Super League team Willem II (willemiitilburg) away. This game was obtained by Adrianse through personal connections because he had coached Willem II in 1997. In that year, the team won third place in the Super League and qualified for the Champions League play-offs; In 1998-1999, Willem II was rated as the fastest-improving team by the Dutch Football Association. Therefore, Adrianse left Willem II fans and the board of directors with good memories, and he used this relationship to win this warm-up match. But the final score was a 0:3 defeat, which completely failed to give Adrianse face in front of his old club. After the game, team manager Ronald smiled and said to him, "How about it? Come back, John. Hehe! This coaching position is yours!" Ronald was on very friendly terms with him when he was at Willem II. He knew this was a joke, so he just smiled and said nothing.

In this game, Willem II showed superior strength. Their defense firmly contained Volendam's attacking core, Buys. The young Buys seemed to have no chance in front of the experienced Willem II. He couldn't find anyone to pass to, and he couldn't break through the entire Willem II defense on his own. Buys was Volendam's attacking midfielder, and when he was frozen, it meant that Volendam's offense was completely unthreatening. It seemed that Willem II was not just warming up as they said before the game, but wanted to give this newly promoted Dutch team a "welcome gift." The score of 0:3 meant that Buys, a young man who had been in the limelight recently and had even attracted the attention of some big Dutch clubs, not only didn't score a goal, but was also completely out of shape due to being marked by the opponent's strong defenders throughout the game. It must have also disappointed some scouts on the sidelines, because Buys' body was indeed too weak, and he had no chance when facing more intense challenges.

Adriaanse's worries were finally confirmed by Willem II. Once Buys was marked, the entire Volendam had no chance. Because they couldn't find excellent strikers, it was indeed unrealistic to expect an attacking midfielder to serve two positions. But a clever woman can't cook without rice. No matter how capable Adrianse was, he couldn't do anything without good strikers to capture the city for him.

Speaking of strikers, Adrianse thought of those two Chinese teenagers. He had been busy with the training and matches of the first team during this period and had no time to see the situation on the youth team. He didn't know what Rice had trained them into.

A very ordinary passing practice, five days in a row, occupied a large part of the training every morning. Zhang Jun was a little tired of it. He hadn't practiced so hard since middle school. He really didn't know why a professional team still practiced it.

The red-haired kid on the other side passed the ball over. The ball bounced in front of him. Zhang Jun had a whim and gently hooked the ball with his right foot. The football was hooked up. When the football rose to his knee, Zhang Jun gently unloaded it with his thigh. The football obediently stopped on his thigh without falling.

Just as Zhang Jun was complacent about his action, he heard a piercing whistle. Then he saw coach Rice striding angrily towards him, followed by Mr. Wang, the translator, who didn't know what was going on.

Everyone stopped and watched Rice walk towards Zhang Jun, not understanding what had happened.

Rice roared at Zhang Jun angrily, and Zhang Jun looked confused, not knowing what he had done. After a long time, Mr. Wang translated Rice's jumbled words to Zhang Jun. Of course, the tone was definitely not as intense.

"He reminds you that you are now doing the most basic passing practice, not a fancy football show. You only need to use the most ordinary way to stop the ball within three touches. Those fancy movements are completely unnecessary now. This is the Volendam youth team training ground, not a circus."

Mr. Wang deliberately lowered his tone to the most gentle level, just not wanting to stimulate Zhang Jun. He didn't translate verbatim either, because Rice's words contained too many words that could easily make the listener angry, such as "damn" and "hell."

But Zhang Jun still seemed a little excited, because Rice compared him to a circus clown. In his mind, a clown was someone who was ridiculed. So in the next break, he kicked a water bottle on the ground.

This action, of course, did not escape Rice's eyes. While the other players were resting and drinking water, Rice walked up to Zhang Jun and Yang Pan.

Zhang Jun was telling Yang Pan what had just happened. Yang Pan was not by his side at the time and didn't know the situation. He glanced at Rice.

Rice said to him through the translator, Mr. Wang: "Zhang, come to the field and receive my pass."

Yang Pan pulled Zhang Jun's clothes, signaling him not to accept. This was clearly a one-on-one challenge. And going against the coach would definitely not end well. If he was smart, he should apologize to the coach for his impulsiveness just now, and then obey all the coach's arrangements...

But Zhang Jun directly uttered a word: "Okay!"

Yang Pan was so anxious that he pulled his clothes hard, but Zhang Jun甩脱杨攀’s hand, and took the lead in walking onto the field. Rice called his assistant to drag a large bag of footballs over and placed them one by one in front of him.

"Okay, just there!"

Zhang Jun stood on the edge of the penalty area, while Rice stood on the other side of the field, closer to the center line.

All the players stopped joking, stood up, and paid attention to this special "match." Although they had not been together for a long time, everyone could see that these two Chinese people had great potential and would join the first team sooner or later. Because Rice had a lot of demands on them in training, almost harsh. Thinking about how Rice treated Buys and Heuvel last year, they knew what the future of these two Chinese people would be like.

The assistant blew a whistle, and Rice kicked any one of the footballs in front of him towards Zhang Jun. This was a long pass.

Zhang Jun saw the ball coming and ran towards the landing point of the ball. Then he spread his arms to maintain his balance, raised his left leg to meet the ball, and used the inside of his left foot to receive the ball. The moment the ball touched the shoe surface, his left foot quickly cushioned downwards, while pulling the ball down.

The football stopped steadily half a meter in front of him, a perfect stop. A small round of applause suddenly rang out from outside the field.

Zhang Jun just raised his head, wanting to see Rice's expression, when he saw another football flying towards him at high speed! He was startled, but he immediately reappeared at the landing point of the ball and raised his leg to meet the ball again in the same way.

But this time, the moment the football came into contact with his foot, Zhang Jun clearly felt that it was different. He couldn't say what it felt like, but it just didn't feel right. This time, the football stopped three meters away.

A slight sigh rang out from outside the field. Yang Pan was very close to Rice. He thought that Zhang Jun should have been able to catch the second ball well. Why would there be two different results for a ball that looked the same as the first one? He began to pay attention to observing Rice's foot movements when kicking the ball.

Zhang Jun had not yet recovered from the doubts of the second failure, and Rice's long pass came again. This time, the football was passed to a place close to the sideline, but Zhang Jun still reappeared in the right place and faced the incoming ball again. The football fell sharply when it was still some distance away from Zhang Jun, and it was also very close to the ground when it was very close to Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun reflexively used the instep of his left foot to receive the ball. He raised his left leg slightly, spread his arms to maintain his balance, and faced the incoming ball with the back of his foot. But when the football came into contact with the surface of his foot again, it bounced out of bounds!

Yang Pan suddenly stood up. Rotation! He finally knew why Zhang Jun couldn't catch these two balls. When Rice kicked the ball, his wrist flicked very quickly, like a whip hitting a spinning top. Although the flight path of the football was the same as the first one, the football itself was spinning at high speed! If Zhang Jun used the first method to catch such a ball, there would definitely be problems!

Looking at Zhang Jun again, he was pressing his knee and looking at the football outside the field in confusion.

Rice did not continue to pass the ball over, but called Zhang Jun over, and then pulled the translator Mr. Wang to say to Zhang Jun: "Next, we will be in groups of two, running back and forth from the center line to pass the ball to each other, until you kick the last pass into the goal." He pointed to the opposite empty goal. "But, I have a request, we can only touch the ball twice for each catch, the first time to catch the ball, and the second time to pass the ball out. No third touch is allowed to appear. If anyone makes a mistake, the assistant coach will blow the whistle to stop, and then start over. There are a total of five chances, no problem?"

Zhang Jun shook his head. In fact, he was not sure in his heart. Two touches, one catch, one pass, and then keep moving forward to the goal and then shoot. Zhang Jun had never heard of such a training method and such a requirement, it was almost harsh. But he thought that Rice might not be able to do it well either. He could guess from his slightly fat belly and considerable age.

The two stood on the center line, about fifteen meters apart. All the other players stood by the sideline, watching the two people in the field. They were seeing such a competition for the first time.

Yang Pan had just heard Mr. Wang's translation on the side. It didn't seem like anything, just passing the ball. When they were in high school, they and Ren Yu Di and Kaka had a record of passing directly from the backfield to the penalty area without stopping the ball and scoring a goal. But the meticulous he still had a vague feeling of unease. He watched Zhang Jun step on the ball, and then the assistant coach's whistle sounded.

Zhang Jun pushed the ball under his feet forward, and then passed it towards Rice's front, and he also rushed forward.

Rice stopped Zhang Jun's pass to his front not far away with the inside of his left foot while running, then pushed off with his right foot and passed the ball back to Zhang Jun from back to front with his left foot.

It was really two touches!

Zhang Jun didn't seem to expect Rice to do so well. He raised his right foot, and the football smashed on his calf and bounced off. Zhang Jun followed up with a big stride and then kicked the football with his right foot, but he kicked the football away. The football drew a strange arc and flew directly out of the sideline. This time, the onlookers did not make any sound, they were also thinking about whether they could do what the coach did.

Yang Pan was a little surprised. Rice used the most common ball stop in training, but the effect was so amazing.

The assistant coach whistled to indicate that Zhang Jun lost the first round. According to the rules, the two returned to the center line and started the second round of competition.

But in the remaining four rounds, the assistant coach's whistle always sounded quickly, and then sounded again. Zhang Jun lost all five rounds. His best result was only successfully completing one, and he touched the ball four times in the second time before passing the ball out.

When the assistant coach's last whistle sounded, Zhang Jun lost his balance and turned the ball into a high shot, and fell to the grass all of a sudden.

Rice did not show the joy of a victor, nor did he go up to say anything to Zhang Jun. He raised his wrist to look at his watch, and then said to everyone: "Today's training ends here, everyone go back." After finishing speaking, he walked straight out of the training ground without even looking at Zhang Jun, who was still lying on the ground.

On the way home, Zhang Jun sat in the back with his head lowered and did not say a word. He had been like this since he came out of the training ground. Yang Pan sat next to him, but he didn't know how to comfort his good friend. At that time, if it had been him, he would have been defeated without a doubt. The requirement of two touches seemed so harsh at this time.

Mr. Wang drove alone in the front, and from time to time he observed the expressions of the two young men through the rearview mirror. Seeing that the two were always silent, he also sighed softly.

Mr. Wang's home was not far from his restaurant, but since Mr. Wang was blamed by Rice, he never took the two to the restaurant to taste authentic Chinese food again. Now they all went straight home, and Mr. Wang cooked the "nutritional recipes" provided by Rice for them himself.

Noodles, beef, vegetable salad, a glass of juice. This dinner was tasteless. Zhang Jun and Yang Pan ate in silence with their heads lowered, while Mr. Wang sat on the side watching their "mechanical movements."

It was not easy to complete the last "training task" of the day. Zhang Jun got up first to thank Mr. Wang, and then turned and went upstairs. Mr. Wang looked at his back, wanting to enlighten him a few words, but he didn't say it when the words came to his lips. He could only watch Zhang Jun disappear at the corner of the stairs and shook his head.

After a while, Yang Pan also finished eating and got up. This time, Mr. Wang stopped him.

"Is there anything wrong? Uncle Wang."

"Zhang Jun is in a bad mood, and you don't seem happy either."

"Yes, we are best friends, and my mood is always the same as his."

"I don't think Mr. Rice is targeting him, although he was indeed a little excited. But it seems to be out of a feeling of 'hoping that iron will turn into steel.' You should go back and persuade Zhang Jun. That child is introverted." Mr. Wang said very concerned, "It's easy to have problems if you always keep some words to yourself."

Yang Pan thanked Mr. Wang and then turned and went upstairs.

As soon as Zhang Jun entered the room, he closed the door, and then took Yang Pan's CD and listened to it. It was still the Scottish bagpipe "Buttons & Bows." He listened to it on the plane when he left, and it had been half a month since then. He only made a safe phone call to his family in the middle, but he didn't talk for a few words, and then he didn't contact them again because of the time difference and training. Now he suddenly missed home, missed the three partners in dormitory u Da 701, missed Li Yongle, who was still in the university league, and missed the lonely Sophie...

Today's frustration made this feeling even stronger. How good it was in school! Usually, he would play football with those guys when he had nothing to do, call Sophie out to play together. Although the food in the cafeteria was scolded by them at that time, he now felt that it was really a delicacy—compared to that Rice's "nutritional recipe"—and everyone always had to chat together for a long time after the lights were turned off every day. Zhang Fan seemed very interested in the story of him and Yang Pan in Dawn. He didn't know how this guy was doing in the school team now. He left, and Zhang Fan would definitely be the center forward. And the coach, he must have a headache that they just left like this, right? It was the coach who brought him and Yang Pan to the national championship position, and then gave them the opportunity to go abroad to visit and sign a contract with a professional team, but he had not had time to say thank you to the coach in person...

Now in this strange country, the daily training, the coach's stern eyes, and even the glamorous prostitutes on the streets of Amsterdam put pressure on him. This kind of life is really tiring. If you don't work hard in training, you will be eliminated and forced to return home... In school, he would never think about the issue of pressure and responsibility. Now, it was really on his shoulders and pressed on his heart.

He was not a person who could do everything seriously under heavy pressure. In this regard, he could not compare to Yang Pan, who had grown up with him since he was a child. Yang Pan was always the captain, and he had learned how to face pressure and take responsibility. But he still seemed to be just a child who wanted to play football easily. Was it just stimulated by Kaka's expression after scoring a goal at the Morumbi stadium (morumbi) when he said that sentence "I want to be a professional player"?

For the first time, from seeing Kaka's expression after scoring a goal on TV to coming to the Netherlands, Zhang Jun doubted his initial decision for the first time. Was he really suitable to be a professional player? Could his legs really last through this long road?

"Squeak!" The door opened, and Yang Pan walked in. Zhang Jun was lying on the bed listening to a CD. Hearing the door ring, he opened his eyes. Yang Pan stood in front of the bed, looking at him.

Zhang Jun took off his headphones, and then sat up straight, looking at this partner who had grown up with him since he was a child: "Yang Pan, do you think my choice was wrong?"