legendary midfielder

Chapter 1 I'm Really Not a Sports Student
Zhang Xu stood tiredly in front of the gate of the Woluwe White Star Club of the Belgian second division league, looking at the not-so-luxury, even a bit rudimentary training ground and scattered low-rise office buildings, his eyes were deep and firm.

He shook his head and sighed deeply.

This is not the first time he has gone to European clubs for trial training. He has lost count of how many times.

In fact, Zhang Xu is a legendary academic master. His family is fairly well-to-do. When he was in high school, his academic performance was very good. He represented the province many times in the Olympic competitions of mathematics, physics and chemistry, and achieved good rankings.

He is also a football lover. Since he was eight years old, he entered the football school and studied professional football for eight years.

Moreover, as the core midfielder and captain of the Hunan Provincial Youth Football Team, he represented the Hunan Provincial Youth Team in the National Youth Football Competition and achieved good results in the third place in the country.

Later, due to the pressure of study and family, I had to stop football training and devote myself wholeheartedly to high school studies.

But even so, he never gave up his love for football.When I was in high school, I played football with my friends when I had nothing to do, and even used weekends to go back to the football school to train and compete with my former teammates.

Zhang Xu has a dream, that is, one day he will be able to wear the jersey of the national team and compete in all directions when the football in his country is at a low point!Raise the prestige of my country!
At the beginning of 2010, Zhang Xu's studies entered the second semester of senior three, and the pressure of the college entrance examination became even greater; moreover, his parents also hoped that he could be admitted to famous key universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua University, which put even greater pressure on him.

Give up football?Concentrate on studying for the college entrance examination?
At this time, Zhang Xu, who was obsessed with football, refused to give in, and refused to give up football, suddenly had an incredible idea:

Go to a university abroad!Go to Europe!
why?
Just because Europe is the paradise of world football!
There is the most professional football in the world!
As long as you are admitted to Europe, you can take advantage of the opportunity to stay away from your parents and use the spare time after studying to absorb the nutrition of the world's top football while trying to see if you can join a good football club, officially embark on the road of professional football players, and realize your football dream.

Moreover, hey, taking the entrance exam to a famous European university does not violate the expectations of my parents. I believe that my parents will agree with me knowing that I want to go to a famous European university.

As for whether he can be admitted to a famous European university, this is not in Zhang Xu's consideration.Take his own slightly arrogant words: If I fail the exam, I will be called a super student for many years in vain.

The fact did not meet his expectations. When he revealed his idea to his parents (of course he could only reveal his idea of ​​going to a famous European university, football or something, that can’t be mentioned.), his parents immediately agreed excitedly.

In this way, Zhang Xu's wish came true.

In the next few months, he not only passed the TEF exam perfectly (French is mandatory), but also obtained the admission letter for the major of sports and kinesiology at the University of Paris VI. In order to avoid the problem of language barrier and communication difficulties, he also deliberately taught himself Italian and Spanish. (English? Hey, don't need to say more about this, you understand the world of Xueba).

Why not go to Oxford and Cambridge, UK?That's because there is a labor certification issue in the British League that is a headache for Zhang Xu. He doesn't think he has the strength and opportunity to obtain a labor certification.

On June 2010, 6, Zhang Xu got his wish and boarded a plane to Paris, France, and officially headed for Europe.

After coming to the Sixth University of Paris, his potential to be a master once again shocked the professors and classmates of the school.

Zhang Xu, who was often absent from class, not only did not miss the course, but also learned a lot of sports and physical education courses in just two months, and only waited for the exam at the end of the semester.

The following time naturally became Zhang Xu's free time.

In fact, it is Zhang Xu's football training and trial training time.

From August to January of the following year, he looked around for club trials.From Paris Saint-Germain in Paris to various large and small clubs in other French cities, whether it is Ligue [-] or Ligue [-], he has tried all of them, but no club is willing to keep him.

Similarly, during his trial training, he tried forward, midfielder, defender, and even goalkeeper, any position on the field, and no position could satisfy the club's coaches.

reason?

It's very simple, apart from having a strong body, his skills, tactics, etc. are too far from their requirements.

Every time at the beginning of the trial training, the coaches looked at him with surprise, because his body is so strong.

With a height of 1.81 meters, a weight of 78 kilograms, and a speed of 11 seconds per 6 meters, various physical data such as strength and fitness have left a series of saliva on the coaches.

"Zhang, I have to say, your body is really amazing, you look like a prehistoric monster!"

"Are you a Martian? Such a strong body!"

"Can I call you Godzilla, Zhang?"

But once he entered technical and tactical training or group training, team competitions, etc., Zhang Xu's technical and tactical level that he thought was pretty good in the football school immediately turned into a pile of garbage, so the result is naturally conceivable.

"Sorry, Zhang, you are not fit to stay in our club!"

"Zhang, I think you should concentrate on studying instead of playing football. Because you are too far away from professional football!"

"Are you sure you're not a sports student? Oh, no, it's a pity that you have such a good body, alas!"

This is still a more polite answer, and some answers are not so pleasant.

"Oh hell, Zhang, do you want to kill him?"

"Is your head full of paste? I told you to steal fiercely, not to kill him!"

"Zhang, your football IQ is zero! Zero! You know what? You're playing shit! No, worse than shit!"

There was also an insulting curse that made Zhang Xu extremely angry:
"Damn yellow-skinned monkey, I asked you to mess up the opponent's back line, but you messed up our team, you really make me sick!"

"Hey! I knew that the yellow people from the football desert can't play football. Look at you, you damn bastard. I can imagine that your head must be full of pig manure! You can't even do a simple two-pass one. good!"

"You stupid yellow-skinned pig" hadn't finished the sentence, the angry Zhang Xu had already beaten the coach until his nose was bruised and his face was swollen, and then... of course there was no more.

In fact, Zhang Xu's football skills and tactics are not particularly bad. After eight years of professional training, and he is also the core midfielder of the Hunan Provincial Youth Football Team, his passing and shooting movements are relatively standard.

However, on the one hand, he has not been in contact with professional football for two full years, and his technical and tactical level has declined; on the other hand, compared with European football, domestic football is far behind in terms of training level and football philosophy, resulting in a certain gap between him and professional football players.

A series of failures did not make Zhang Xu discouraged, but aroused his strong self-esteem. In his own words: "I want to see how bad my level is!"

At the same time, it also made him more eager to join a European club.

The former core midfielder of the provincial youth team can't even enter the French second club. How high is the level of European football!He secretly made up his mind in his heart that he must join a European club, even the smallest club!In any case, feel and learn European football.

"Just treat it as a trip!" This is Zhang Xu's long-term self-deprecating resignation.

After the perfect failure of the French trial training, Zhang Xu did not give up. He simply ran to Belgium, next door to France, to see if his level could be established in the Belgian Football League, which is one level lower than the French Football League and comparable to the domestic Super League.

Likewise, he started with clubs in the Belgian First Division and ran one by one.Fail and move on to the next one until you join the club.

Time passed day by day, and Zhang Xu didn't even have time to go home during the Spring Festival because of the trial training.But the God of Destiny still didn't take care of Zhang Xu because of his persistence and inner strength, but in the past five months, he once again faced one failure after another.

Today is July 2011rd, 7, and the clubs in the Belgian First Division and Second Division are only one short away from the Woluwe White Star Club to complete their trial training.

Zhang Xu planned to return to school to finish the annual exam after failing this trial training, and then continue the journey of the next trial training.

Zhang Xu squeezed the euros that were not considered abundant in his pocket, took a deep breath, straightened his back, raised his head and walked towards the gate of the Voluwe White Star Club
(End of this chapter)