Grass roots glory

Chapter 94 Interview
I don't know when it started, but Chinese fans have a habit: as long as there are non-national players who perform at a high level abroad, there will always be fans who take the opportunity to ridicule the national team and the Chinese football team.

No, Zhou Tiancheng has just scored consecutive goals for Schalke, and it was revealed by CCTV's "World Football" program that many fans know that he is only 19 years old this year.Some fans asked: How does the Football Association choose people?A player of Zhou Tiancheng's level, why didn't he choose to play in the Olympics?
This question and answer post happened to be posted at this juncture, and the response was naturally not so strong.With the Super Platinum generation of the 05 World Youth Championship as the team, and the national team captain Zheng Zhi and the World Cup experienced defender Li Weifeng, the two overage players of the National Olympic team were disastrously eliminated in the group stage with one draw and two losses, far below the expectations of the fans. The full-back Tan Wangsong even maliciously stomped on his opponent and became red. Naturally, everyone has resentment in their hearts.

The point is that everyone doesn’t know, that’s all. The Olympic team has just been eliminated, and Zhou Tiancheng has emerged in the Bundesliga, which proves that China is not without good players. The cusp.

"Masters of the Football Association, may I ask what you have been doing all day long? Such players were first disclosed by the media. What about the selection mechanism? In the past one or two years, the slogan of emphasizing the Olympic Games was loudly shouted, and in the end, such a group was selected. people?"

"Are you a new fan upstairs? I'm afraid you don't understand the urination of the Football Association, just get used to it."

The power of public opinion is quite terrifying, but it is just fans venting their emotions on the Internet, and the Football Association officials, as always, pretend to be ostriches at this time.

……

Thousands of kilometers away, Schalke 04 is preparing for the third round of the UEFA Champions League qualifying two days later.According to the latest UEFA league points, the Bundesliga is only ranked sixth, not even as good as Ligue 04, so it can only get two places for direct promotion to the Champions League group stage.Although Schalke [-] was the third place last season, it is inevitable to go through a round of qualifying tests.

And this is not just a walk-and-go form at all. Schalke will face Atletico Madrid next. The nine-time La Liga champion is definitely a hard bone.

Compared with the league level, Schalke's preparations are much more tense. In fact, the order of first home and then away in the two rounds is actually a little bit disadvantageous. Therefore, in the first round at home two days later, Slomka's goal is not only to win with all his strength, but also to keep a clean sheet. The opponent is the best, laying a good foundation for the second round.

The capacity of the two-day training session is a bit large. In addition to Zhou Tiancheng practicing tactics with the whole team, Slomka also pointed out that he also needs to speed up the rhythm of dribbling under his feet, otherwise he will be easily defeated by high-level players in the Bundesliga and even the intercontinental level. The waist steals the ball early.

It is easy to point out the problem, but for Zhou Tiancheng, it is a very painful process to change some of the habits he has gradually formed. Improvement does not happen overnight. At least Zhou Tiancheng tried to change for the first time, but found it very awkward. After a training session, The physical energy consumption is not large, but the heart is tired.This feeling is a bit like when he first entered the U19 echelon, in order to keep up with professional-intensity training, he also felt very tired at that time.

On non-match days, the team's daily training ends in the afternoon. Zhou Tianchang let out a sigh of relief. Now he doesn't want to do anything. The thing he wants to do most is to go home and lie on the bed to rest.But as soon as he reached the gate, a young woman came up to him and stopped him.

"Zhou Tiancheng! Please wait a moment."

Zhou Tiancheng stopped abruptly, and looked at him with some surprise.He was a little surprised to hear a familiar accent in a foreign country.

While showing her ID, the young woman politely explained her intentions: "Sorry to bother you. I am Xu Jing, a reporter from "Football News". We would like to interview you. Do you have time now?"

Zhou Tiancheng didn't wrong himself just because the other party was a lady, he responded reflexively: "I'm sorry, I'm very tired and I don't have time now."

But the reporter's perseverance and face will never give up once he refuses, Xu Jing continued to persuade: "It's just next to the cafe, it only takes half an hour, and I will get to know you briefly. Maybe you don't know it yet, you are now a lot of Chinese. A person that fans want to know. We also know that we cannot disturb your training, so we have been waiting here for more than an hour, and hope you understand and cooperate."

Zhou Tiancheng was slightly surprised, he was already famous in the country?Only two or three goals have been scored in total, and he feels that this is just the beginning.But when I saw the compatriots who came from afar in front of me, it was really hard to wait for me, and it was really not good for me to refuse again. After thinking about it, I reluctantly agreed.

But when Zhou Tiancheng walked into the cafe where he and his agent Loka met for the first time, he realized that two cameras were pointed at him, and four young and middle-aged reporters were staring at him full of curiosity.

"If you have any questions, let's get straight to the point. Our training is very intensive, and I'm a little tired now." Zhou Tiancheng said directly.

The faces of the two people next to him darkened, probably because they felt that Zhou Tiancheng was proud of his talent, and that he was not well-known, but Xu Jing smiled and nodded understandingly: "Don't worry, we agreed for half an hour, let's start?"

Xu Jing was really straightforward, and asked the most irritating question for Chinese fans and the media: "Tell me about yourself, how did you get to where you are today? It seems that you have never been mentioned in any of the reports of our domestic counterparts." .Many fans say you are a genius born out of nowhere."

"It's too exaggerated, it's too exaggerated. I can't accept this statement." Zhou Tiancheng waved his hands again and again, and replied: "Before entering the first team, I played for the Schalke U19 echelon. Before that, I was just a student who came to Germany to study. Ordinary college team players, some coincidences, to be honest, I still feel that this step is a bit unreal."

Zhou Tiancheng is relatively low-key, at least now he pays attention to shaping his image in front of reporters.

But what he said surprised the reporters present. Xu Jing hurriedly asked: "What about before? Did you not receive professional football training in China when you were young?"

The corner of Zhou Tiancheng's mouth curled up. He knew very well that with the knowledge of these reporters, he might not even believe that someone could cross the gap between amateur and professional, but he did it, so he didn't feel any pressure to tell the truth: That capital, if I have really received professional training, I am afraid that you should know me in a Chinese Super League club by now."

"But... this is too unbelievable, can the gap between amateur and professional be bridged?"

Speaking of this, Zhou Tiancheng became confident, and he replied directly: "I think that thinking should not be too limited. Sometimes, non-professionals in your eyes can also create miracles! After all, China has more than one billion people."

Xu Jing thought carefully about Zhou Tiancheng's words, and soon she smiled: "So you want to prove through yourself that the real masters of Chinese football are among the people, right?"

Zhou Tiancheng replied with a smile: "I agree with the truth, but I didn't say that I am a master."

Although Zhou Tiancheng repeatedly denied it, everyone present thought that was what he meant.

(End of this chapter)