Chapter 1 Persuasion

Almere, Flevoland, Netherlands, April 2003.

On a green football training field in Chengbei Sports Park, a group of 16-year-old Dutch teenagers are forming a circle, playing a football game called scramble ring. Although they are training, the faces of the teenagers are full of With an unusually relaxed look, there was not the slightest bit of tension that training should have on the spot, it was more like a joke, even a joke.

There is another name for the game of grabbing the circle, walking the monkey.

The group of Dutch teenagers were walking with the Chinese teenagers in the circle who were in charge of grabbing the ball.

Black hair and yellow skin make him eye-catching in an all-Dutch team, and he runs and grabs the ball with all his strength on the court, like a headless fly who is rambling around, causing a flurry of buzz around him from time to time. The burst of laughter further stimulated the playfulness of the Dutch teenagers.

The fans watching on the sidelines were also very excited, as if they were not watching a football training, but a wonderful performance of the Royal Amsterdam Circus.

The ball was skillfully passed back and forth under the feet of the Dutch teenagers in a circle. Although the Chinese teenagers were running non-stop, chasing the ball, they were never able to grab it. Sounds, but in the end they still pass by the ball.

At the beginning, every time he failed to grab the ball, there would be laughter around him, even sarcasm and ridicule, but gradually, the sound became smaller and smaller, and finally became silent.

Any cruel game may stimulate the audience's adrenal glands with freshness at the beginning, but when it is played again and again, gradually, the audience will become numb, and instead will feel tragic.

A kind of tragic and solemn in which the weak are allowed to be slaughtered by the strong.

"Poor child, why insist?" Someone sympathetically shook his head and sighed.

"Not surprising, he does this every time."

"It's been almost a year, why hasn't he given up?"

"If you want to replace me, I have already given up."

"The speed is very fast, and the physical fitness is good, but the basic skills are rotten."

"I've been watching football for so many years, and this Chinese boy really has no future, let alone a professional league. I'm afraid that even the amateurs can't meet the requirements. I should give up quickly and find another way out as soon as possible."

"Who said it wasn't? Mr. Rip has persuaded him many times, but he just refuses to live or die."

"What a stubborn boy."

"It's a pity, if he had come a few years earlier, with his speed and physical strength, coupled with this will, there is really hope to play in the professional league, but now..."

"Cough, what can I do?"

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Head coach John Repp finally blew the whistle that the training was over.

Including him, everyone on the scene sighed heavily.

it is finally over!

The short ten-minute game time for circling was so long in their eyes.

After the whistle sounded, the Chinese teenager who still failed to grab the ball was so tired that he knelt down on the training ground without any strength, gasping for breath.

Teammates passed him, occasionally a sympathetic hand or two patted his head and shoulders.

But the consolation from his teammates did not make him feel better, but felt humiliated, clenched his fists, slammed the grass hard, and kept blaming himself in his heart.

His name is Yang Yang, 16 years old, from a small county in Quanzhou, Fujian, China. His parents run a small shoe factory. His family conditions are okay. Seeing that he likes football, he has been taught by a retired professional player in the city since he was a child. , and he is also very good, and has always stood out among his peers.

My uncle Shen Ming runs a Chinese restaurant in Almere, the Netherlands. When he returned to China to visit relatives, he happened to watch Yang Yang's school team game, and he said something along the way, suggesting that he go to the Netherlands for further studies, which made Yang Yang's heart beat.

At first, his parents disagreed. After all, the gap between Chinese players and European players is so huge. Yang Yang has not even experienced formal professional training. How could he succeed?

But Yang Yang insisted again and again, and with the help of his uncle Shen Ming, in the end, the parents could only reluctantly agree, as it was going abroad for training.

Within one year, if Yang Yang can gain a firm foothold in the Netherlands, they will allow Yang Yang to continue playing football, otherwise they will return to China, study hard, and completely give up the dream of becoming a professional player.

Landing in the Netherlands with great ambition, what awaited Yang Yang was a series of heavy losses.

First, he was frustrated in the trial training of several Amsterdam teams and was not accepted by the other team. He had no choice but to persuade the third-level amateur team Almere through sponsorship through the relationship of his uncle, allowing Yang Yang to follow the youth team of the team. After a year of training, as a result, compared with his peers in a group of amateur teams in the Netherlands, he is still far behind.

In the year he trained with Almere, although he tried his best to improve himself and integrate into Almere's training, the poor basic skills were still exposed in daily training, especially in this seemingly simple , but in the highly demanding game of catching the ball, he can only enter the circle again and again to grab the ball with frequent mistakes in passing and receiving.

Similar to this scene today, it is repeated almost every day.

If Yang Yang wasn't sober enough before, his personal experience in the past year has made him fully appreciate the disparity between himself and players of the same age in the Netherlands.

He was not reconciled, but there was nothing he could do.

He has missed the best age to lay down the basics.

Seeing that the year is approaching, Yang Yang's situation in the team is getting worse and worse. Even though he has tried his best, he has never been able to improve. This makes him feel very annoyed and self-blame, so he can only keep hammering the grass. Express your inner depression.

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"Yang."

After the players all left, John Repp came to Yang Yang, looking at the sweaty and panting teenager, he felt helpless for a while.

He naturally knew everything that happened on the training ground.

If it is said that a year ago, John Repp was somewhat disgusted with this relationship, then through the performance of the past year, Yang Yang used his diligence and determination to completely change the Dutch star, but this does not hinder the John Repp's judgment on Yang Yang's future.

Regarding what happened to Yang Yang, the 51-year-old Dutch middle-aged man felt unbearable and regretful, but in the end he hardened his heart. Instead of calling to stop training in advance, he continued to watch from the sidelines.

If it had been a few years earlier, with Yang Yang's persistence, he believed that there must be a chance, but now... he can only politely persuade him to quit.

He believes that this is responsible for Yang Yang's future.

"Mr. Rip." Yang Yang got up from the ground and shouted respectfully.

In the past year, he has learned a lot from the Dutch star and never dared to be slighted.

"You know, there is still a month left, and this session of training will end, and we will hold an internal assessment at that time." John Rep said lightly.

Yang Yang nodded, this is the youth training model that Almere borrowed from the Dutch giants Ajax.

The annual assessment will eliminate some unqualified students, and then add some fresh blood to stimulate internal competition, while the outstanding students will be recommended by the club and will go to Amsterdam to participate in the Ajax Talent Day selection in July. , have the opportunity to be selected into the Ajax youth academy.

As a satellite club of the Dutch giants, Almere has three recommendation places every year, and only the best students are eligible to receive this recommendation letter.

If it is said that a year ago, Yang Yang, a newcomer, was still looking forward to Ajax with confidence, then now, he has only one thought, that is to stay in Almere.

But it's getting harder and harder.

"You know, Yang." John Repp couldn't bear to look at Yang Yang, his eyes full of helplessness, "We are the first team that hopes to enter the professional league in the past 30 years since the city of Almere was founded, the city government And all sectors of society are very concerned about the development of our team, and this year's assessment site will definitely attract a lot of guests and fans, so..."

There were some words that John Repp couldn't bear to say to his face, but the meaning was clear.

Although he has only been in the Netherlands for a year, John Repp believes that Yang Yang's Dutch proficiency is enough for him to understand what he means inside and outside the words.

"Your grades in culture classes are very good, and the school teachers have very high evaluations of you. We all believe that you should concentrate more on this direction. If you want, I can convince Mr. Chairman that even if you leave the team, You can still continue to study in the secondary school that we cooperate with, and you will definitely have the opportunity to enter the University of Amsterdam in the future.”

The University of Amsterdam, the best university in the Netherlands, is also one of the most prestigious universities in Europe.

In John Rip's view, the possibility of Yang Yang becoming a professional player is even slimmer than being admitted to the University of Amsterdam, although the competition for the latter is also very fierce.

Yang Yang understands what John Repp means. Such persuasion has been repeated many times in the past period of time, and the head coach's remarks are becoming more and more straightforward, and he knows that today John Repp's promise to him has been That's great.

The middle school he is currently attending is a famous local private school in Almere. If it wasn't for the Almere youth training players, he would not have been able to enter the school. The team has never given similar compensation to other eliminated players before. It's an exception.

But Yang Yang still couldn't accept it.

"Thank you, Mr. Leip." Yang Yang raised his head after thinking for a moment, looked directly at the head coach, and shook his head firmly, "I understand your good intentions, but I really don't want to give up like this, as long as it doesn't come At the last minute, I won't admit defeat."

"You again..."

"I've decided, Mr. Rip." Yang Yang ended the conversation non-negotiable.

John Repp was already mentally prepared for this result. He didn't take it personally at all for Yang Yang's stubbornness and persistence. Instead, he admired it very much, but the more he appreciated it, the more regretful he felt.

If Yang Yang had appeared in front of him a few years earlier, I believe the result would have been completely different from what it is now.

At the very least, his basic skills will be more solid than he is now. With his speed and physical fitness, he can definitely gain a foothold in Almere, and hopefully even do better.

It's a pity that he has missed the best age.

Thinking of this, John Depp looked at Yang Yang's back as he turned away and sighed.

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Almere is a satellite city of Amsterdam. Most of the people living here work in Amsterdam. They leave early and return late, and dinner is the best time for restaurant business.

Yang Yang was not like usual today. After training, he went to help in the restaurant, called his uncle and told him. When he got home, he locked himself in the room.

He felt that he needed to be quiet.

Lying on his back on a single bed with a large poster of two of his favorite idols on the low ceiling.

The Brazilian superstar Ronaldo, currently playing for Real Madrid, and the retired Dutch star Van Basten.

He has been like this countless times, lying in bed, watching idols fall asleep, and even dreaming that he is competing with them.

But he had never hesitated like this before.

He has self-awareness and knows the gap between himself and his peers in the Netherlands, but he is not reconciled to his failure and gave up his football dream in despair.

He thought of his parents in China, who would definitely be disappointed when they heard the news.

Although his parents always persuaded him to give up playing football and return to China to study hard, they hoped that he would give up on his own initiative.

No parent would want their child to suffer such a setback, would they?

There is also the uncle's family. They must have been psychologically prepared, but they must still be very disappointed.

Thinking about it, before he knew it, he seemed to fall asleep.

In a daze, Yang Yang had a very strange dream.

He came to a pitch-dark, unknown space where he couldn't see his fingers.

He wasn't sure if he was dreaming, screaming desperately, running desperately, trying to get out of this terrifying place.

But he was dumbfounded and tired of running, but he seemed to be still there.

At this moment, from a distant place, there was a wisp of voice that seemed to be absent.

Yang Yang!

He vaguely heard as if someone was calling his name, very faintly at first, but gradually, he heard it clearly.

So, he immediately followed the sound and ran over.

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