blogombal Chapter 3: The Chinese Olympic team is a deep and complicated place, but good wine needs no bush!
Chapter 3: The Chinese Olympic team is a deep and complicated place, but good wine needs no bush!
"Xiaoyu!"
"Good morning, Brother Zhi!"
"Xiaoyu!"
"Good morning, Brother Li!"
"................."
Although the whole country is now criticizing Su Yu for not even reaching the level of Dong Fangzhuo, Su Yu is not as unsociable as everyone imagines within the national Olympic team.
Just like now, when the three senior members of the national Olympic team, Zheng Zhi and Li Weifeng, saw Su Yu, they immediately took the initiative to give him a high-five and greet him.
Of course, Su Yu didn't get this treatment for nothing. The reason why everyone was so friendly to Su Yu was because when the national Olympic team was training in Spain, Su Yu didn't invite these brothers to enjoy the local specialties and culture of Spain.
As an orphan with no connections, Su Yu knew very well that in the current environment in China, having one more friend was far better than having one more enemy, especially in the vast pool of Chinese football.
So, with real money invested, coupled with Su Yu's skill level far exceeding that of other goalkeepers of his age in China, the friendship naturally blossomed.
A score of 69 is indeed terrible for Barcelona, but what about domestically?
This level of skill is enough to make him a starter for a top Chinese Super League team. So even though Su Yu hasn't trained with the national Olympic team many times in the past year, his position as the starting goalkeeper for the national Olympic team remains unshakable.
However, just as Su Yu greeted his teammates from the national Olympic team and was about to receive the yellow vest symbolizing the starting goalkeeper, just like he had done during the Dujkovic era, Coach Yin Tiesheng, who had simply nodded to Su Yu as a greeting, suddenly handed the yellow vest that Su Hao had always worn to Qiu Shengjiong, who had previously been Su Yu's substitute.
This sudden little incident caused the other members of the national Olympic team, who were waiting to greet Su Yu, to quickly return to their positions.
The 2008 national Olympic team....
This is the most complex and unpredictable team in the history of Chinese football.
These days, everyone standing on this field waiting for the Olympic opening ceremony is a seasoned veteran with connections. The reason Su Yu was able to get along with everyone before was not only because Su Yu was very generous and magnanimous in Spain, but more importantly, everyone knew about Su Yu's relationship with Director Li of the Football Association.
But what about now?
As the actual head coach of this national Olympic team, Yin Tiesheng removed Su Yu from the starting lineup in such an emergency, leaving no room for speculation.
Therefore, adhering to the principle of "better to avoid trouble," the once bustling grass field of the Beijing national team training base suddenly became quiet.
"Su Yu, go to Team B first!"
The scene quieted down, and then Coach Qi spoke.
"The rest of you continue with what we've been practicing lately, using our old tactics: keep both flanks active, and Xiao Dong is our finishing point in the attack!"
"Left flank.............."
After coldly relegating Su Yu to Team B, where he had virtually no chance to play, Yin Tiesheng ordered the start of his training matches.
"Xiaoyu, don't overthink it. Coach Qi probably thinks you need to recover your physical condition after just returning from Spain!"
Everyone else started to subconsciously distance themselves from Su Yu, but Zheng Zhi, who had been in contact with Su Yu all this time and could even be said to have taken good care of him, took the initiative to go to Su Yu's side and comfort him.
"It's alright, Brother Zhi. You know my situation! Coach Qi must have his reasons. I'll follow the organization's arrangements!"
Seeing Zheng Zhi taking the initiative to comfort him, Su Yu, who had been ignored in the Camp Nou stands for nearly a year, felt a sudden warmth in his heart.
However, despite the warmth, Su Yu knew very well that he had to take action today given the situation.
Gift-giving?
With the Olympics just around the corner, who the hell would dare to cause trouble at this time?
When a new leader arrives, it's perfectly normal for him to use someone like himself, the second-best person who studied abroad but didn't achieve much, as a tool to establish his authority.
At this moment, Su Yu, who has the experience of living two lives, knows very well that he can only play it safe and prove on the court that he is much more valuable than that domestic Qiu Shengjiong.
Did he leave the team in anger, or clash with the coach?
With the entire nation watching, he's practically asking himself to be blacklisted.
Anyway, I joined this national Olympic team for that rare mission, plus waiting for the official template to be revealed the day before the match, so I have absolutely no need to have any conflicts with anyone!
As long as I can shut out Team A in the upcoming training matches...
Thinking of this, Su Yu nodded to Zheng Zhi and quickly ran towards Team B's goal.
Moreover, once he took his position, Su Yu began to communicate with Tan Wangsong, Yuan Weiwei, and the others, who had basically never worked with him before.
"Brother Tan, watch the high ball, I'll cover for you. And Brother Yuan, try your best to get the first kick from Brother Dong, don't get caught out..."
"Okay, Xiaoyu!"
"Shout it out loud later, you're a Barcelona player who played abroad, I believe in you!"
Although Tan Wangsong and Yuan Weiwei have become rotation players or even starters in their respective Chinese Super League teams, they still have to show respect to Su Yu, who has returned from playing for Barcelona.
Besides, those two had eaten quite a bit of Su Yu's local specialties back then.
Having settled things with the two center-backs, Su Yu then began communicating with the two full-backs.
After roughly planning the order of their attacks and the routes to block them, Yin Tiesheng, who had watched Su Yu's maneuver from the sidelines, gave Su Maozhen a knowing look.
"Beep!"
A whistle blew.
With only 6 days left until the official matches of the national Olympic team and the unveiling of Su Yu's official template, the first intra-team training match of the national Olympic team has officially begun!
..........................
The combined data of 69, plus more than a year of training with a team of Barcelona's caliber.
Honestly, with Su Yu's current skill level, leading Team B, whose strength isn't too far behind Team A, shouldn't be too difficult.
There was no way around it. Having seen the playing styles of top teams before, Su Yu looked at the main attack of his own national Olympic team as if he had suddenly skipped a grade from middle school to kindergarten and was using a picture-writing exercise for kindergarteners.
And so!
Team A's first attack was disrupted by Yuan Weiwei moving ahead of time at Su Yu's call.
In the second attack, although Dong Fangzhuo received a through ball from Hao Junmin and got a one-on-one opportunity, Su Yu, relying on his solid basic skills and the experience he learned from high-level training at Barcelona, defused the attack the moment Dong Fangzhuo received the ball.
With a textbook-perfect sliding tackle followed by a swift retreat, King Dong frowned angrily and put his hands on his hips.
"Coach Qi, Su Yu's skill level is truly unmatched in China!"
With such an outstanding performance, Su Maozhen, who had been greeted by Director Li, naturally chimed in with this comment.
However, even so, Yin Tiesheng still didn't say anything.
Until the end of the training match, Su Yu truly relied on his outstanding defense to shut out Team A. He then immediately went to Yin Tiesheng and humbly asked him if he was still in good form.
Yin Tiesheng finally nodded, officially accepting Su Yu, the national Olympic team's starting goalkeeper who had come a little late from his overseas stint.
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