The celebration of the whole city of Florence continued, they did not seem to know the exhaustion, and this celebration has been going on for three days in a row. The Fiorentina team was disbanded the day after returning to Fiorentina. Players who don't have a World Cup assignment will have about a good vacation for about a month. Players with national team assignments don't even have time to catch their breath and immediately go to their respective national teams to join up and then participate in the World Cup in South Africa.

Mascherano is going back to Argentina, Joaquín is going back to Spain, Frei is going back to France, Kyle is back to Germany with Lahm, Van Persie is back to the Netherlands, and Pazzini, Gasballoni, Bonella, Montorivo and other local players are being recruited into the Italian national team.

Zhang Jun, Xiang Tao and Crewe went north to Germany to join the Chinese national team.

Since everyone was scheduled to return to the national team at almost the same time, a group of people simply gathered in the club and then took the team's special bus to the airport.

"I feel like we're going to play away." Xiang Tao said.

Zhang Jun looked at the bus, where more than half of the seats were empty, and he said to Xiang Tao: "How do you look like you are going to play an away game, so you can bring such a few people?" But ......"

He didn't say it later, but what? However, this situation reminded him of the past season, there are too many places to remember, such as this bus, which takes them to the airport and back from the airport, and every time they return from victory, it is the most lively. It's a bit deserted now, and most people are silent.

After the group arrived at the airport, they were going to say goodbye. Because Zhang Jun's flight was the last in time, the three of them sent away batches of teammates.

Carrying a backpack, Mascherano shook hands with his three Chinese teammates in turn, who were the last to leave before Zhang Jun.

"Goodbye, we'll see you at the World Cup." Zhang Jun said, holding Mascherano's hand.

Mascherano smiled: "Should I pray that I don't meet you guys at the World Cup?" ”

Seeing that Zhang Jun was stunned for a moment, he immediately smiled again: "Just kidding." If we do see each other again at the World Cup, I won't show mercy, captain. ”

Zhang Jun smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "We don't need your mercy, I hope it will be a good game then." Let's go, it's time to delay your plane. ”

Mascherano nodded, then turned and walked towards the gate, waving back to his three teammates as he handed his boarding pass to the staff.

This kind of scene and dialogue has happened to several people before, and it is amazing to see that teammates who usually work hard in one team can immediately become opponents in the national team.

Watching Mascherano disappear on the other side of the gate, Zhang Jun turned to the two teammates standing behind him and said, "Let's go, it's time for us to board the plane too." ”

※※※

Two hours later, the three met their long-lost national team teammates, Qiu Zhi, and Yang Pan, who arrived an hour earlier than them, at the Chinese team training center in Munich, Germany. Teammates all congratulated the three people who won the championship cup, including Yang Pan, two days after the game, when the fierce smoke of the game has been blown away, Xiang Tao and Yang Pan, who almost scuffled on the field, also talked and laughed with each other like no one.

In that game, they were mortal enemies. Now it's teammates who are desperate for the same goal. The care of the club and the national team is interesting.

At this point, all the players of the Chinese national team have been assembled, and their time in Germany has come to an end.

The next day, they all boarded a plane in Cairo, Egypt, and then transferred from Egypt to Johannesburg, South Africa.

It's going to be a long flight.

When the plane was transferred, it was the scorching heat, and the weather in Egypt, which was located near the equator, was very hot, and in the air-conditioned airport terminal, looking at the space outside that had become distorted by the high temperature, all the players couldn't help but sigh that fortunately the game was not held in Egypt, otherwise the weather would have made their strength compromised.

This World Cup is special because it is winter in South Africa, and the team has to bring enough training supplies and warm clothing.

On the plane to South Africa, Qiu Suhui reminded the team members over and over again that they should wear warm coats in advance to avoid catching a cold there, which is a serious illness at this time. So everyone hilariously put on heavy team jackets inside the air-conditioned plane.

Meanwhile, on another plane, Sophie and Li Yan were also on their way to Johannesburg. Although Sophie is no longer a reporter of Sports Weekly, she is still entrusted by Li Yan to make a cameo appearance as a special photojournalist during the World Cup, taking many photos of the Chinese team for Li Yan and Sports Weekly.

"Sophie, I'm so sorry to trouble you again."

"What's polite, Brother Li. I want to get closer to seeing Zhang Jun play football anyway, and photojournalists happen to be a good position. Sophie rubbed the lens of the camera.

Maybe the journey was a little dull and boring, Sophie took the initiative to talk to Li Yan: "Brother Li, let's predict the results of the Chinese team in this World Cup." Zhang Jun: How far can they go? ”

Li Yan shook his head directly and refused without thinking about it: "I don't predict." ”

"Why?" Sophie was a little surprised.

"Well, this can be said to be an old problem, a problem that fell from a long time ago, and there was no Zhang Jun in professional football at that time, haha." Li Yan smiled, "At that time, I hoped that the Chinese team would win in my heart, but every time the result was contrary to my inner thoughts. So over time, I stopped predicting any matches for the Chinese team. It's an ambivalence, emotionally hoping that they won, but reason tells me it's impossible. So I simply don't predict the score. ”

When Li Yan said this, Sophie also seemed to return to the old days, at that time Zhang Jun and Yang Pan were not professional players, and there was no coach named Qiu Suhui in Chinese football. At that time, the Chinese national team really made people lose hope, and she would hope that the Chinese team would win before every game, but Yang Pan always hit her, saying that it was impossible. What makes Sophie very depressed is that every time Yang Pan is right.

She thought she could understand Li Yan's feelings.

With a large number of talented players of similar age, a reliable and excellent coaching staff, and countless joys to fans in international football, people seem to have forgotten the dark period when there was no way forward.

Li Yan once told her that because of the success of Zhang Jun and others in European clubs, many new fan groups have been cultivated in China. Just like when Yao Ming went to the NBA, he brought a lot of new fans to the NBA. These people are happy, because they have caught up with the golden age of Chinese football since they watched the football and were interested in football -- the stars are emerging in an endless stream, the foreign players have their own brilliant achievements, and the reform of the domestic professional league has also achieved initial results, which is much more orderly than before...... Their football memories are filled with joy and pride.

But if you don't have a deep understanding of the past and painful memories like Sophie and Li Yan, how can you know how to cherish everything in front of you?

"What do you predict?" Li Yan asked suddenly.

Sophie was stunned for a moment.

"Can you predict the results of the Chinese team?"

Sophie thought about it carefully before saying: "I believe that the national team will play very well this time, and it will definitely be one step closer than the last cup." ”

"So you think you can at least make it to the quarterfinals?"

Sophie nodded.

"Why are you so confident?"

"Brother Li, the current national team is not the same national team as before, if they can't do it, then no one can do it. Now predicting their results, my heart will not be so conflicted, I hope they win, I will say win. ”

Li Yan looked at Sophie's confident smile, and he muttered, "The current fans...... It's a blessing. ”

※※※

The skies in Johannesburg are clear, and when you look at the planes, you don't feel like winter at all. But when the players walked down the ladder, a wind blew at the airport, and a chill suddenly made everyone shiver.

Xiang Tao opened his mouth and exhaled a breath of white air, his teeth were fighting: "...... Damn it! Is that how South Africa welcomes us? It's hard to believe that we were in the heat of Cairo more than a dozen hours ago, and the weather on Earth is amazing! ”

"You really sound like a Martian." Zhao Pengyu, the left forward, who has a good relationship with Xiang Tao, gave him a blank look.

"Martians? Why Martians? ”

Zhao Pengyu was defeated by Xiang Tao, and he said angrily: "The earth is very dangerous, you better go back to Mars as soon as possible!" ”

Zhang Jun sighed, then raised the collar of his coat and shrugged his shoulders, even though he was in the passage, the wind outside was still blowing inside. It seems that this World Cup will be a very special World Cup.

Assistant coach Hu Li turned around at the front of the team and roared: "Cheer up!" There will be a lot of reporters out there, so don't let them see you like a bear now! Xiang Tao, don't pretend to be weird! Xiang Tao was desperately shrinking his neck, and the whole person was shrunk into a ball, looking quite obscene.

"Haha!" Everyone burst out laughing, and the cold was gone.

Qiu Suhui and Zhang Jun walked behind together, chatting casually, and when they heard Xiang Tao being scolded by Hu Li, the two looked up. I just saw Xiang Tao's obscene back.

"This Xiang Tao, hehe, his surname has not changed. Got you in a lot of trouble in Florence, right? Qiu Suhui asked with a smile.

Zhang Jun shook his head: "No, thanks to him, the atmosphere in the locker room is always very good, and he is a very good teammate." Speaking of which, I would like to thank Qiu Zhi for digging him out of the country. Xiang Tao's performance this season is very good, and Italian reporters I know say that if Xiang Tao's state continues, this year's Serie A Defensive Player of the Year must be his, and he didn't run. ”

Qiu Suhui smiled meaningfully: "The best defensive player in the Italian league is a Chinese, which is really ironic for Italians who pride themselves on defense. ”

Zhang Jun tilted his head: "It's not too embarrassing, I scored 36 goals in one season, which was unimaginable in Serie A before." Their defense is not as good as it used to be. ”

As captains, Yang Pan and Hu Li walked at the front of the team, and the players of the national team wore red, black and yellow sports jackets issued by sponsors.

Walk a few dozen meters ahead, turn the corner, and you will be the exit. Zhang Jun could already hear the commotion coming from outside, the voices of security guards, the sound of hurried footsteps, the excitement of the crowd, and the shouts of some fans.

With the arrival of the World Cup participating teams, the airport is so lively every day.

Hu Li turned left in front of him, he was the first to appear in the eyes of the people, but as a little-known assistant coach, his appearance did not cause any reaction, and he walked out without hindrance, and met with the officials of the tournament organizers, they had to discuss what car to take, where to go, and random checked baggage claim, all of which he was responsible for - due to Qiu Suhui's repeated insistence, even at the risk of resignation, the Football Association has canceled the national men's football team leader system, Qiu Suhui has the final say in everything, and the responsibility for big and small matters is handed over to assistant coach Hu Li.

Coming out after Hu Li was the captain Yang Pan, whose appearance caused the first stirring of the crowd.

The flash lit up crazily, countless cameras were pointed at him, and the microphone reached out to his mouth, looking at the momentum, as if to put the microphone directly into his mouth.

China is the only team to come to South Africa today, so they have attracted the attention of all the media. Similarly, as a dark horse in the last World Cup and a team with countless world-class stars, the future of this World Cup is limitless, so the media and the public are focusing on them.

"May I ask Yang Pan, do you have any expectations for this World Cup?"

Yang Pan looked at the reporter who asked him the question, not the Chinese reporter, because he asked it in Italian. "Try to win every game." He replied.

The next few questions made Yang Pan deal with it in such a diplomatic tone. As the captain of the national team, there are many things to consider, and there are some things that can be said that are not something that can be said if you want to, Yang Pan is much more cautious in this regard, and when he was at AC Milan, he was known for his maturity. But now his maturity has made reporters very dissatisfied, waiting for one to disappear and wasting countless saliva, just to get such a few words of nonsense that are equal to not being said? How do they go back to the manuscript and let them write it?

With the help of security guards, Yang Pan got out of the crowd, and then waited in a specially designated area for the large army to assemble.

During the period, fans came to ask for photos and autographs, and he met them one by one.

The next few players who came out were all players who played in China, and most of the foreign media automatically ignored them, except for the Chinese reporters who were present who warmly greeted them and asked some painless questions similar to personal feelings. Maybe they can't even name these people.

Qiu Suhui has been committed to improving the overall image of Chinese football, but he also has to admit that the foreign understanding of the strength of Chinese football is more because of those foreign players, and it can be said that they know little about domestic players.

Then came out a phalanx of foreign players, but the players who played in the first-class league and the first-class teams in the second-rate league were mixed. As the famous "big mouth" of the Chinese team, Anke is very popular with reporters, because he can always know everything and say everything. At this time, he was chatting with Shao Jiaying, both of whom are from the Bundesliga and have a lot of common topics, although Anke plays for Bayern, and Shao Jiaying's team Bayer Leverkusen is basically hovering in the middle and lower reaches.

The flashing lights are no longer able to make the players look sideways, and they are taking care of their own business. Some people call to report their safety, some people talk and laugh, and some people wear sunglasses and pretend to be cool.

The reporters were targeting Anke, and Anke was no surprise to him. He stayed where he was, while Shao Jiaying left first.

"Okay, let's talk, what's your problem?" Anke took off her sunglasses and looked at the reporters in front of her as if she was used to seeing big scenes.

Immediately, a reporter shouted: "If every player is like Anke, how worry-free we reporters are!" ”

A slight laugh rang out. Immediately, a reporter asked: "Four years ago, we were impressed by the scene of you bursting into tears after losing to Italy. I'd love to ask, will you cry again this year? ”

The question was a lot of gossip and didn't belong to football at all, and the reporters laughed.

But Anke didn't care at all, he grinned widely and smiled the same: "Cry!" Why not cry? As long as we win the championship, I will cry a lot! ”

The reporters laughed even more, they thought that Anke was joking again, and he was talking again. Anke put on his eyes and didn't care about the attitude of the reporter, and with the help of the security guards, he broke away from the crowd and walked towards his teammates.

If Anke and Xiang Tao's appearances can make the atmosphere of the scene a lot more lively, then Crewe's appearance immediately halved the temperature of the scene.

Most Chinese and Italian journalists would not take the initiative to interview Crewe, because they would go in a hurry and get the ignorance of others. A better treat would be for him to look at you, then snort inside his nose and walk straight over.

This time too, many reporters stopped talking as soon as Crewe came out, and then continued to look at the passage behind him as if they didn't see him. Crewe paid no attention to the reporters and the crowd welcoming him, and walked over with his head held high and sunglasses.

This uncomfortable atmosphere was broken by a reckless fan who broke through the security guards and then excitedly ran to Crewe, a small yellow-haired kid who spoke English. Nervous and excited, he begged Crewe to sign his photo of Crewe. At the same time, he kept looking back, for fear that the security guards would rush over and drag him away. Crewe followed the other man's gaze and looked ahead, the security guards were indeed running here, but they were stopped, and a group of teenagers about the same age as the child stopped the security guards, and then kept shouting, "John! Come on! We can't hold on! ”

"Stop him! Hold him! Don't let him pass! ”

Watching several teenagers desperately stop the able-bodied security guards, this scene made Crewe laugh. Then the reporters watching the play were so stupid that they even forgot to take a picture of Crewe's rare smile.

Crewe bowed his head and signed for the kid, then asked, "Are they all your friends?" ”

The kid didn't expect Crewe to take the initiative to speak to him, he was a little stunned, and then immediately reacted: "Yes, they are all my friends!" We play a lot in various neighborhoods, we're all your fans, you're awesome! We all imitate your moves when we play football, but only I imitate the most. So they asked me to come to you for an autograph! ”

"The reward for winning the game?" Crewe took everything the kid had in his hands - three photos of himself, two posters of him, a Fiorentina scarf, and a No. 8 jersey for the Chinese team. All of them were signed. "Give it to them." Crewe will return it to the other party after signing.

The security guard finally broke through the children's barriers, rushed to Crewe, and reached out to pull the reckless kid away, but Crewe stretched out his hand to stop them: "Don't move, they are my fans, I have to take a picture with them." With that, he put his arms around the boy and walked towards a group of staggering children.

The kid was a little excited when he heard that his idol Crewe offered to take a photo with them: "Really? Are you sure? Did I hear me right? Would you like to take a picture with us? ”

"Yes." Crewe looked around for a while, and finally decided to lead them to the rest area of the Chinese team, where there were only the least number of idle people, "Let's go find a good place, a place where no one disturbs." ”

The teammates of the Chinese team watched in surprise as Crewe led a group of children to them, and then introduced them one by one, and the children naturally took out the notebooks in their hands one by one and asked for autographs.

Xiang Tao finished signing, then looked up and said to Crewe next to him: "Say, do you kid have any bad intentions?" Planning to abduct and sell juveniles? Or molesting a minor? ”

Crewe gave him a blank look: "Don't measure me by your dirty mind. ”

The teenagers who signed the name of the circle were very excited. At this time, Crewe beckoned them to gather around Jide, and then casually found a wandering photojournalist next to him and asked him to take a picture of them.

Under the flashing lights, the teenagers were smiling happily, and Crewe also had a faint smile on his face.

After the photo was taken, Crewe asked the teenagers to give him their contact information, and then passed the contact information to the reporter, asking him to wash the photos and send them to the teenagers.

"Hey, Crewe, I really can't read you. Why are you doing this? You're not even a journalist. Xiang Tao asked Crewe very seriously.

Kru looked at the teenagers who were leaving happily, and turned to look at Xiang Tao, "Why?" Because when I was their age, I played football in the streets, and I didn't get the joy I deserved. ”

Xiang Tao was so frightened that he took a step back, but he just stepped on Zhao Pengyu's feet, Zhao Pengyu screamed, and the rest area of the Chinese team suddenly became a mess.

※※※

It wasn't until Crewe walked past that the reporters came back to his smile. At this time, the number one star of the Chinese team appeared.

Jang Jun spun out from behind the aisle with a handbag, and when he appeared in front of the public door with a smile, the flashing lights almost connected and countless fans began to scream. Zhang Jun alone was welcomed almost as much as everyone in the Chinese national team who played in front of him combined.

Jang Jun still smiled politely, even though he was tired from the long journey.

It wasn't until the photojournalist had taken his picture that he stepped forward to be interviewed for an interview that he couldn't run.

After some congratulatory greetings and very ordinary questions about the World Cup, a reporter remembered the joke Anke had just said - he thought it was an obvious joke - so he also decided to tell it to attract Zhang Jun's attention and find something to talk about.

"Zhang, just now your teammate An said that he would cry after the Chinese team won the world championship, what do you think about this matter?"

The reporters burst out laughing again.

Zhang Jun said with a smile: "Very good, I will personally supervise him, if he dares not to cry." ”

What does this mean? The reporters didn't react for a moment, maybe it was a polite response, and let's tell another joke. The players now have a real sense of humor, huh......

Immediately, a reporter asked another question: "Two days ago, also at this airport, Kaka said in an interview that he regretted that he did not fight you again in Germany four years ago, and this time he will not let you go." What do you think about that? He was asked by Kaliani, who had a good relationship with him among Italian journalists.

"Brazil didn't win the title four years ago, so this time they must be aiming for it." Zhang Jun thought of Sophie, and remembered what he said on that warm afternoon of this year's Spring Festival. "So do we."

There was an uproar, yes, the reporters were speechless, or could not find the right words to describe what they had heard. What is the concept that the Chinese team wants to compete for the World Cup championship? A team that has only reached the World Cup finals three times wants to compete with world-class teams such as Brazil, Germany, England, Argentina and Italy for this honor!

Seeing that the effect he wanted had been achieved, Kalyani said, "It seems that you are very confident. So at this moment, when the World Cup is about to start, do you have anything to say? ”

Zhang Jun smiled at Kaliani, then into the camera lens of the photojournalist, into the camera lens of the cameraman, into the eyes of everyone, and said: "Tell all the participating teams that the Chinese team is coming." ”

(To be continued)