Chapter 155 Asia’s Number One Star

When Klopp announced before the game that Yan Min would start in place of the injured Reus, it did not cause an uproar in the locker room. Everyone was aware of Yan Min's ability and state in recent times. Here, his attitude in training is also obvious to all. With such performance, there is nothing surprising about getting a starting opportunity.

Even Yan Min himself was not very surprised.

Two hours before the game, the outside world also got the starting lineups of both sides for this game. There are no surprising arrangements for Leverkusen.

For Dortmund, Royce did not appear in the starting lineup, and his replacement was Yan Min.

"Royce didn't even start. It seems that his injury is really not optimistic..." The hosts and guests of the TV station were discussing this list.

"Dortmund's luck this season is really bad. Many of the team's main players have suffered injuries... And looking at this trend, Dortmund's injury wave will continue and it will not be solved in a short time. of……"

"Of course it cannot be solved. As long as Klopp insists on his current tactical style and training intensity for one day, Dortmund's injured soldiers will continue to increase..."

"I don't quite understand Klopp's thinking. This team has won enough championships. It can be said that Dortmund's players have been squeezed to the limit by him. Why do they continue to insist on this style of play? You know , if this continues, it will inevitably cause more injuries. And the players' fighting spirit may not be as strong as before... Dortmund's ups and downs this season are not only affected by injuries, but also by the players' desire to win. It has something to do with it not being as strong as before..."

The guests started discussing Dortmund's injury problem endlessly, and the host had to bring the topic back: "Anyway, Royce is injured. As a substitute, Klopp chose Yan Min , this young Chinese player who has performed well recently, what do you think of this adjustment?"

The guests looked at each other, and one of them said: "Yan Min is indeed a very talented and capable player, but he seems to have not adapted well to European football yet. I find that he has an obvious problem now - —When he comes off the bench, he can often produce amazing performances, but when he comes on as a starter, his performance is far inferior to that of coming off the bench..."

"Super substitute?" the host asked.

"Yes, that's a bit of a meaning. I don't know if it's because of his physical fitness that he can run better than other players when he comes off the bench, or because of his mentality - after starting, he thinks more, demands more, and is more impatient. Coming off the bench, his positioning is relatively low, and it may be easier to perform..."

"So it means that Klopp's choice to let Yan Min start in place of Reus was not a good choice?"

"I didn't say that. But I do have concerns about this. In fact, Dortmund has no shortage of players on the wing. They also have Kuba and Mkhitaryan can also play on the wing. I think K. Lopp chose Yan Min to reward his performance in recent games - the Champions League group matches against Naples and Arsenal, and the game against Bayern Munich. Yan Min played a vital role even when he came off the bench. It plays an important role. For a player in such excellent condition, it is impossible to keep him as a substitute..."

In China, there are no such worries and discussions. Whether it is commentators, media reporters or ordinary fans, they are all very happy that Yan Min can start.

This means that Dortmund will have two Chinese players starting at the same time, and they naturally hope that Yan Min can establish his starting position from now on.

※※※

When the players from both sides walked out of the tunnel and onto the court, the TV broadcast gave a close-up shot of Zhou Yi and Sun Xingmin respectively, which fully demonstrated that these two people were the key figures of their respective teams in this game.

Zhou Yi is the core of Dortmund, and Sun Xingmin can be said to be the "Dortmund nemesis."

He scored three goals against Dortmund alone, which can be regarded as the person who has scored the most goals against Dortmund in the Leverkusen team.

Although Royce's replacement Yan Min was discussed before the game, when it comes to the game, everyone still has to look at Zhou Yi and Sun Xingmin.

It can be seen from the starting lineups of these two teams that they have no intention of holding back in this game and do not intend to reserve their strength for the Champions League group stage next week.

The Champions League group stage is of course important, but this league is equally important.

Although it was an away game, Leverkusen played very proactively after the game started.

They did not play relatively conservatively because it was an away game, nor because Dortmund was strong, nor because there was a Champions League group stage next week.

Only eight minutes into the game, Son Heung-min passed back the ball in the penalty area. Leverkusen midfielder Hegler followed up with a shot from the front of the penalty area. Weidenfeller fell to the ground and blocked the ball.

Four minutes later, Leverkusen's offensive came again. Full-back Emre Can dribbled the ball from the left, cut inside, and then shot a long shot from the top of the penalty area. The football went over the crossbar.

"Oh! Emre Can! What a close call! Just a little higher!" commentator Marcel Leif exclaimed. "After the game started, it was Leverkusen who was playing away from home who was more aggressive. This was somewhat beyond everyone's expectation..."

The South Korean commentator was very excited: "Sun Xingmin's performance after the opening was very positive! Running tirelessly, he can appear in almost any corner of the frontcourt! This game is an opportunity for Sun Xingmin to officially challenge Asia's number one star Zhou Yi !”

Although Koreans cheer for Son Heung-min, they do not deny Zhou Yi's current status. They say that he is Asia's number one star, which is really right. After Park Ji-sung left Manchester United and left mainstream European leagues, and after Shinji Kagawa couldn't even play football at Manchester United, among the many Asian players playing in Europe, who can be compared with Zhou Yi?

Sun Pan is considered one, but he is a goalkeeper. No matter how good his performance is, he still feels a little worse.

There is nothing wrong with saying that Zhou Yi is the number one star in Asia. But why hasn’t Asia’s top star won the Asian Footballer of the Year?

This is about the pretentious rules of the AFC - in the past, the AFC did not restrict Asian players who played overseas from participating in the selection of Asian Footballer. Therefore, Hidetoshi Nakata, who played in Perugia, won two awards. Asian Footballer of the Year.

But later the AFC stipulated that the winners must attend the award ceremony, otherwise they will be disqualified. The AFC award ceremony is held at the end of November every year. At this time, the European League is in full swing, and few clubs are willing to let go. The main players in the team flew thousands of kilometers just to receive an award. For example, Park Ji-sung, the iconic figure of Korean football, has never won the honor of Asian Footballer because he directly refused the AFC award ceremony every time. Naturally, the AFC will not recognize the highest individual honor in Asian football. Award to those who don't give them face like this.

Since last year, the AFC has reformed the selection of Asian Footballer. There is no longer a separate Asian Footballer award. The Asian Footballer has become the best Asian player playing in Asia, giving awards to those who play outside Asia. players, the AFC has established a new "Best Overseas Player Award". This award is specially prepared for Zhou Yi and Sun Xingmin. But this also means that if they don’t return to Asia to play football, Zhou Yi and Sun Xingmin will never get the Asian Footballer of the Year...

The winner of the best overseas Asian player in the first year caused some controversy. The winner of this award was Shinji Kagawa. At that time, it aroused dissatisfaction in the Chinese media, which believed that the selection results of this award were controversial. In terms of strength and influence, how can Shinji Kagawa be compared with Zhouyi? You know, in the Dortmund team, Shinji Kagawa has always been under Zhou Yi. Now that Shinji Kagawa has gone to Manchester United, he won the best overseas player award. Everyone can only think that it is because Manchester United is more famous than Dortmund. .

Shinji Kagawa didn't even attend the award ceremony at that time. The external reason was that he was busy with the Premier League, but who knows if there were other reasons.

This year's Best Overseas Player Award is finally uncontroversial. Zhou Yi, who led Dortmund to win three consecutive league championships, won the Champions League, and was elected the best player in Europe last season, if he still fails to win the best Asian player, the AFC It will become a joke in world football.

The winner of this award is Zhou Yi, but the result of this award was not announced at the AFC Annual Awards Ceremony that just ended.

This is because Zhou Yi also did not attend the AFC awards ceremony.

At that time, Zhou Yi claimed that because of Dortmund's intensive schedule and many key games, he really did not have the time or energy to fly to Abu Dhabi to receive the award. He also specifically thanked the AFC for recognizing his achievements.

Both his attitude and speech were impeccable, but everyone still felt that Zhou Yi's refusal to present the award was not as simple as he said. There must be some element of "venting anger" in it.

Anyway, in China, both the media and the fans are understanding and angry with Zhou Yi's actions. Even if someone occasionally criticizes Zhou Yi for being a big name, they will soon be drowned in the saliva of more people.

Since the AFC has separated players who play in Asia and Asian players who play in Europe, even if Zhou Yi does not attend the award ceremony, the award will still be his. There will not be Park Ji-sung who does not attend the award ceremony. Award situation. However, it is hard to say whether Zhou Yi still cares about such a complete award.

Anyway, Chinese fans don’t care.