Chapter 154 Zhou Yi and Sun Xingmin

In a sense, Sun Xingmin and Zhou Yi are actually very similar, and they can indeed be compared.

Both came to Germany in 2008.

Seventeen-year-old Zhou Yi went to Dortmund, while 16-year-old Son Heung-min went to Hamburg.

At that time, both of them were unknown players in German football and did not attract everyone's attention.

Son Heung-min benefited from the open policy of the Korean Football Association. As part of the cooperation project between Korea and the German Football Association, he was chosen by Hamburg Club and went to Germany to receive football training. At that time, a total of six Korean players got the opportunity, three of them, Sun Xingmin, joined Hamburg Football Club, and the other three joined Nuremberg.

Zhou Yi was spotted by the Dortmund club because of a football reality show and joined the Dortmund youth training camp. At the same time, several other partners who participated in the reality show filming with him also joined different clubs and started their own different football lives.

After Sun Xingmin entered Hamburg, he received youth training in Hamburg and participated in the second-line team at the same time. Accumulated a lot of competition experience. From 2008 to 2010, he spent two years growing up in Hamburg's youth academy.

Compared with him, Zhou Yi's path is a little wilder. Not long after he arrived in the Dortmund youth team, he was directly promoted from U17 to U19, and represented U19 in the Youth League and Youth German Cup. His performance was outstanding. In less than a season, he was transferred from the youth team to the first team.

It can be said that from this point of view, Zhou Yi indeed embodies a stronger talent than Sun Xingmin, and the development trajectories of the two people here are completely different.

Zhou Yi, who was promoted to the first team, only stayed dormant for less than half a season. He seized the opportunity in Dortmund's game against Hoffenheim and became famous in one battle. Later, he gradually established himself as the main force of Dortmund's first team. By the end of the season, Dortmund even simply let go of the original midfielder Shaheen for his sake. Facts have proved that their decision was correct.

Although they lost Shaheen, Dortmund created an era that belonged to them.

Winning the league championship for three consecutive seasons and winning the Champions League is the most glorious period in the history of the Dortmund club. Even the time when they won the Champions League in the 1990s cannot compare with it.

At this time, Zhou Yi not only quickly grew into the core of Dortmund, but also became a hot star in world football - it is wrong to call him a "new star" - and his name is inextricably linked to other wealthy clubs every summer.

It is a coincidence that Zhou Yi established his core position in Dortmund starting from the 2010-2011 season, and it has only been three seasons so far.

Son Heung-min received his first professional contract in his life and played in the Bundesliga for the first time on behalf of Hamburg's first team, which was also in the 2010-2011 season.

In three years, Zhou Yi became a hot star, and Sun Xingmin also grew up little by little in Hamburg.

Now, Son Heung-min has joined Leverkusen. The transfer fee is worth 10 million, which shows his strength.

These two young men have now rapidly grown into leaders of their respective national teams. Therefore, it is not a stretch to say that the confrontation between the two of them is the highest level of football between China and South Korea.

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Before the game, the two were also asked by reporters about their impressions of each other.

"Son Heung-min? He is a very good forward and very threatening. Klopp has reminded us to pay special attention to him in the game. He scored three goals for us when he was in Hamburg last season. He is a very powerful player. Opponent." Zhou Yi said this to the Korean reporters, which made the Korean reporters feel as if they were eating honey after hearing this. Being able to receive such an evaluation from Zhou Yi greatly satisfied their vanity.

Zhou Yi didn't say this just to take care of Korean people's face. Everything he said was true.

Klopp did draw their attention to several players in Leverkusen's squad;

Son Heung-min is one of them.

Zhou Yi is no stranger to Son Heung-min. When he was still in Hamburg, he played against Dortmund three times, starting twice and coming off the bench once. Son Heung-min scored three goals in these three meetings, all of which were scored last season.

Among them, Dortmund lost 2:3 away to Hamburg in the fourth round of the league last season. The culprit was Son Heung-min. He scored twice in the game, helping Hamburg win and giving Dortmund their first game of the season. , was also the only failure.

It is precisely because of this history of confrontation that Klopp reminds everyone to pay attention to Son Heung-min.

After moving to Leverkusen this season, Sun Xingmin started ten times, came on as a substitute once, and scored six goals. He ranked third in the Leverkusen team in terms of goals scored, second only to Sun Xingmin who scored nine goals. Strike partner Keesling and seven-goal midfielder Sydney Sam.

Some Chinese reporters also went to interview Son Heung-min, wanting to hear his views on Zhouyi.

In South Korea, Son Heung-min is an idol and superstar, but when he mentioned Zhou Yi, his attitude was quite respectful: "For me, he is not only a strong opponent, but also our Asian players, especially East Asian players. I am proud of him. I also dream of one day being able to achieve great things in the club like him."

It also made Chinese reporters feel happy when they heard it.

And no one would think that Sun Xingmin said this just to coax them. Zhou Yi's achievements and status are there, and Sun Xingmin just told the truth.

Although Zhou Yi is one year older than Son Heung-min and played in the Bundesliga one season earlier than Son Heung-min, he can also be regarded as Son Heung-min's senior. So Son Heung-min speaking with such an attitude is not an insult to him.

No matter what opinions Korean fans have on China, they have no right to express dissatisfaction on this matter.

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In addition to the contest between Zhou Yi and Sun Xingmin, this game is also a "brother derby" between the Bender brothers - Lars Bender, the twin brother of midfielder Sven Bender who plays for Dortmund, played in Leverku Mori also plays as a midfielder.

Although both players are midfielders, their positions and characteristics are different.

Sven Bender is a purely defensive midfielder who is fierce defensively, but lackluster offensively and has nothing to show for his performance.

Lars Bender is a "BOX_TO_BOX" player, that is, a midfielder who goes from the penalty area to the penalty area. He is good at both offense and defense, has a tenacious style, covers a large area, and has a strong ability to move back and forth.

The competition between the two brothers will definitely become one of the highlights of this game.

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Originally, everyone's focus was on these things. But just one day before the start of the game, an accident happened.

Royce got injured in training!

Although it's not a very serious injury, I don't know if he can make it to the game against Leverkusen.

Team doctor Dr. Braun's advice was to keep Reus out of the game and take a break.

But this game is very crucial for Dortmund. If they lose to Leverkusen at home, they will be widened by the opponent and Bayern Munich. By then, the league championship may be in vain.

But if you insist on letting Reus play with injury, you must take into account the Champions League group match away to Galatasaray next week. That game is equally important and critical for Dortmund. If Reus' injury becomes serious due to him playing injured in the game against Leverkusen and he misses the next game against Galatasaray or misses more games, who will lose? Responsible?

After much deliberation, Klopp finally put Royce on the roster. But he also promised Dr. Braun that he would not let Royce start. As for whether to let Royce come on as a substitute, it depends on the specific situation.

This can be regarded as a kind of approach. Considering the pressure he bears as a head coach, Dr. Braun did not strongly insist on his own suggestions, but acquiesced to Klopp's approach. Of course, he still didn't forget to say one more thing: "If possible, try not to let him play."

Royce, who was originally going to start, was unable to start, so his position was vacated. So who can replace the position vacated by Royce?

In the last away game against Mainz, Mkhitaryan started as the starter, but his performance was not satisfactory. Of course, although Mkhitaryan is an attacking midfielder, he can also play as a sideline, so it is not impossible for him to replace Royce. If there is no better option, Klopp may just do it.

But now, there is actually a better choice, and Klopp has set his sights on Yan Min.

Yan Min performed well financially and worked as hard as ever in training. In the limited playing time, he performed convincingly. Moreover, he is originally a wide player and is more suitable to replace Royce. The only problem is that he is better on the left, even though he is right-footed.

Of course, in Klopp's view, this is not a big problem. Because it's not like Yan Min has never changed positions during the game, nor has he never played on the right side. When his right foot is on the left wing, he can cut in and shoot, and when he switches to the right wing, he can send a cross with good accuracy.

Is there any better candidate than him?