Chapter 144: Forward
When they went out, the two of them regretted it, Zhang Yuan's residence here is not difficult to inquire, Zhang Yuan used to be in Germany, and the main ones who paid attention to him were the local media and domestic media in Gelsenkirchen, and the domestic media were only a few people, and the local and domestic ones would not interfere too much with Zhang Yuan's daily life, but now it is different, the overall boast of the German media, and now there are more and more reporters watching Zhang Yuan.
It's not good to knock on the door rashly, so these reporters are squatting outside, and today is lucky, Zhang Yuan and his companion Mai Xuewen really went out.
A group of reporters quickly surrounded them, and there were some admiring fans, many of whom were Chinese, presumably they were all international students!
"Zhang, can you answer a few questions?"
"Zhang, I heard that Bayern Munich is very interested in you, is it true?"
"Zhang Yuan, can you take a picture with me?"
Most of the journalists' interest is focused on transfers, which become more flickering as we get closer to the end of the season.
Most fans' wish is to take a photo with Zhang Yuan and ask for autographs.
Zhang Yuan couldn't move a step forward, he had no choice but to stop with Mai Xuewen, answer a few questions, and then tell the reporters that he was going out to eat, and he would ask next time if he had any questions.
For the fans, he also signed a group photo one by one, many fans are Chinese, most of them are international students, and some even watched Zhang Yuan's game.
"Zhang Yuan, will you participate in the Olympics?" asked a handsome young student.
"I don't know, it depends on whether the National Olympic team is willing to recruit me!" Zhang Yuan was a little helpless.
"They will definitely recruit you, and if they don't look for you, they will be really blind!" said the international student with certainty.
Zhang Yuan, who was surrounded, seemed very patient, the fans left happily and satisfied, Zhang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, now he is so hungry that his chest is close to his back, and any big meal is a floating cloud, he and Mai Xuewen did not plan to go to Shizhong District again, so they found a restaurant near their home, and they were full.
After such a stubble, Zhang Yuan no longer dared to go out at will, but what he didn't expect was that when he arrived at the training ground, there were still many reporters and fans waiting at the gate, and in the end, it was the doorman Cole who relieved him.
"Haha, you kid is completely hot now!" In the locker room, Neuer patted his neighbor Zhang Yuan's shoulder with his big hands.
"It's so torturous!" Zhang Yuan let out a sigh.
"Isn't it good to be famous? You're a superstar now!" Rakitic also teased Zhang Yuan.
"You can try!" Zhang Yuan rolled his eyes.
Schalke 04 are now on a two-game winning streak under two interim managers and the team is finally coming out of the shadow of a Champions League exit and a humiliating away defeat, with laughter and laughter on the training ground and confidence in their next opponents, Hannover 96.
Hannover 96 now have 42 points, ranked 9th, in the middle of the table, relegation worries, the battle for European competition is even more difficult, it stands to reason that they should now be in a state of no desire, but on Saturday afternoon at the Schalke Stadium almost overturned Schalke 04.
At half past three in the afternoon of May 3, Schalke 04 ushered in Hannover 96 at home, this game was full again, there are four rounds left in the league, Schalke 04's home stadium in addition to this one, there is also a game against Frankfurt on May 10, and fans will naturally not miss the last two home games.
"Dad, will Zhang Yuan continue to score goals in this game?" Joseph asked his father.
Hoffman took his son to watch the game again this weekend, last week's reversal victory, Zhang Yuan's performance was outstanding, Joseph admired his idol Zhang Yuan very much, this game was at Joseph's request, Hoffman had to give up his working hours to take his son to the scene to watch the game, fortunately, he has always been the holder of the season ticket, there is no danger of not being able to buy a ticket, the last two home Schalke 04 is really hard to find.
"Of course there will be goals!" Hoffman said with a smile as he stroked his son's hair.
"Will there be three?" the son asked, looking up.
"It will!" Hoffman continued, confirming that in fact it was so easy to score a hat-trick anywhere, and he just wanted to make his son happy.
When Zhang Yuan and his teammates came out to warm up, they were greeted by the applause of the fans at the scene, and many fans did not go to the away victory against rival Hamburg, and now they see the players of Schalke 04 enthusiastically applauding and shouting to welcome.
Zhang Yuan waved to the fans around him with a smile, causing a burst of cheers and screams from the fans at the scene, and everyone sang a song compiled for Zhang Yuan:
We have a warrior named Zhang Yuan, who swears to defend the spirit of the miners, and we have a warrior named Zhang Yuan, who swears to defend the blue Schalke......
It is no wonder that Zhang Yuan has played very steadily in this half season, basically without much fluctuation, and he is very desperate on the field, who doesn't like such a player?! Both the head coach and the fans appreciate this type of player, which is one of the reasons why the two acting coaches still regard Zhang Yuan as the main force after taking office.
Dieter Heijin is the current head coach of Hannover 96, he is a young coach, Hannover is the first Bundesliga club he coached, he led Hannover 96 to play well in the past two seasons, and finally ranked 11th last season, and this season ranked 9th, 6 points away from Hamburg, which is in 5th place in the European circle, although everyone knows in their hearts that it is more difficult for Hannover 96 to win the European competition, but Heijin himself still thinks why Hannover doesn't try it, there are still 4 rounds left in the league, everything is possible!
Schalke 04's starting lineup has not changed much, the small variable is in the front, Rakitic replaced Asamoah, since the two acting managers took office, Asamoah's life has not been easy, he can't pass the ball, let him go to the middle to grab points is not good, Slomca used to value Asamoah's hard work, but now the two managers obviously need more creativity in the front, Asamoah was brought off to play as a substitute.
Hannover 96 kept their regular 442 formation, goalkeeper Nk, central defenders Vinicius and Ismail, right-back Cherundolo, left-back Schulz, midfielders Lara, Barish, Brooking, Justie, and the forward is Schalke 04 veteran Hank and Czech striker Steiner.
After the opening, Schalke 04, who had the advantage of the home field, took the initiative on the field, Hannover 96 fell below in the midfield control, but they took the lead in breaking through the door of Schalke 04, in the 8th minute, Brooking's free kick shot, Hank, who was ambushed in front of the goal, rubbed his foot, and Neuer could not reach it.
Buskens' face on the sidelines was almost sunk, Schalke 04 was always easy to let the opponent score first, for a variety of reasons, but to be behind is to be behind.
After that, Hannover 96 relaxed to the bottom, and the two sides fought the pitch for control of the midfield.
Zhang Yuan rarely retreated today, and Buskens was not very worried about midfield control before, so in the front court, he hoped that Zhang Yuan and Rakitic could be closer to the opponent's penalty area, but now the midfield is in a stalemate, Zhang Yuan and Rakitic have fewer opportunities to get the ball, and the threat has naturally dropped a lot.
In addition, today, Heijin arranged Cherundolo and Ismael to attack Zhang Yuan closely, and it was really not easy for Zhang Yuan to get rid of it smoothly, so so far Zhang Yuan has no decent opportunities here.
But gold will always shine, in the 40th minute, Rakitic passed the ball on the right, the ball was passed to Zhang Yuan, who was temporarily empty at the far end, Zhang Yuan received the ball, dribbled the ball horizontally, used the change in speed to shake off Cerundolo and Ismael, and scored in the far corner of the volley in the big penalty area, helping Schalke 04 equalize.
In the first half, the two sides played 1:1, and in the second half, the side changed again, and the black and gold changed their tactical play, Hannover 96 no longer played against Schalke 04 like in the first half, but used the main energy to control the midfield and the defense of the backfield, Steiner retreated deeply, and only retained Hank as a striker in front.
Schalke 04 has always been a positional battle, and now everyone basically knows that as long as Zhang Yuan's breakthrough space is compressed to death, and the middle lane restricts the high point Kuranyi, Schalke 04 basically can't come up with any good way to deal with the turtle shrinkage tactics.
But the balance of Lady Luck is in favor of Schalke 04, in the 67th minute, it was Rakitic's side cross, Ismael leaked the top, Zhang Yuan stepped forward to volley, the ball was too positive, and was blocked by Enke's conditioned reflex, but bad luck, the ball was blocked by Vinicius and re-bounced the net, Schalke 04 relied on this own goal to lead Hannover 96 2:1.
In the 70th minute, Zhang Yuan was replaced by Asamoah, and the fans at the scene burst into warm applause, and the "Lightning Boy" and "Zhang Yuan's Song" resounded in the Schalke Stadium.
In the end, Schalke 04 relied on Zhang Yuan's goal and the opponent's own goal to win Hannover 96, temporarily surpassing Werder Bremen, which had not yet started, to the second place in the standings.
After winning, Zhang Yuan was in a very good mood, humming in the locker room and singing that we walked on the road together, this song was actually learned by Zhang Yuan's mother when she was studying before, and she often hummed after getting married, they all liked red songs in that era, Zhang Yuan was exposed to it, and over time he learned it, and today he couldn't help humming "Forward! Forward! Towards victory!" (To be continued. )