The final round of the 2002-2003 mixed county league season took place on May 5, just a day after they won but lost the entire season. Chu Zhongtian didn't skip class to participate in this game, this day was Monday, and he still had to go to class. Anyway, the team has no hope of promotion, and there is no other pursuit, so it doesn't matter if he goes or not. In the last month or so, he is studying his homework, making up for the homework he missed because of playing football, and preparing for his final exams -- he still wants to get a scholarship for this semester. As long as he can get excellent grades, he can get a scholarship of five hundred pounds, which is not a small amount, with this money, his life can be much easier, and he does not have to work so hard, he can free up more time to participate in training - he actually felt that his energy could not keep up for a long time, study, social practice, part-time work, and playing football made him unskilled, and he began to consider whether to give up his job as a dispatcher in Mack China. Recently, this thought has become stronger.

Chu Zhongtian has not been promoted this season, and he hopes to make up for this regret next season. Then next season you will have to train harder, which will inevitably take up some time, and getting a scholarship is a good way to reduce this burden.

Fortunately, he usually has time to review his homework in the bar, and Lao Yang, as a senior in the same department, can also help him in his homework, Chu Zhongtian didn't feel much struggling yet.

Wimbledon's final league game of the season drew more than 4,550 fans to the Kings Ranch, with Emily once again skipping class and Borger skipping class to play. Only Chu Zhongtian returned to his normal life. Although the team failed to promote the team, it did not disappoint or anger the fans, and their support for the team was as good as ever, and even more - they were interpreting the phrase "love you even if you win, love you when you lose".

According to Emily's later account, the score of that match was 5:1. Wimbledon didn't lose their fighting spirit by losing their promotion qualifications, but instead vented all their frustration with not being able to get promoted on their poor opponents. That's the only thing the team can give back to the fans after a promotion failure.

The reason why the fans of a team can "love you when you win and love you when you lose" is because the performance of the team they support is worthy of respect and deserves the fans' "love to win and love to lose". On the other hand, looking at Chinese football, why do fans scold and make trouble after losing, is it not because the performance of Chinese football is not worthy of making fans "love to win and lose"?

Although it was not able to be promoted, this hearty victory still drew a perfect end to Wimbledon's first season. For a team that has only been in existence for a year, finishing third in the league is already a very good result.

Few people could have imagined that their team would achieve such results before the season, and most people thought that this team would have to run in for a season, so don't count on the results of the first season, as long as they don't get relegated to the 10th tier.

Unexpectedly, this dynamic team gave all Wimbledon fans a big surprise.

Now everyone is hoping that next season will be better. Isn't our goal of returning to the top flight not so far away?

The season is over, and on Saturday the team is again concentrated. Eames announced the performance of the players this season, and Chu Zhongtian was among the best in it. The coaching staff commented on him as "extremely good defensively, tenacious, courageous, saving many times at key moments, and being a trustworthy defensive backbone." ”

There are no material rewards for outstanding performances, and there are no more bonuses for them, but it is an affirmation and reward for a player's performance over the course of a season, and for this group of literal kickers, it is enough to give them a sense of accomplishment.

After announcing the list of players who had performed well, the coaching staff told the team to take a break from now on and resume training until the end of June, and that they would have more games to play next season, in addition to the normal league, the FA Cup and FA bottle, and some other messy cup competitions, the names of which Chu Zhongtian couldn't remember. He doesn't need to remember it, anyway, his task is to play games, game after game, and then see what kind of future he plays.

Head coach Eames hopes that everyone will not forget to exercise and stay in shape during the holidays so that they can better integrate into the team's preparations for the new season. He also emphasized that the main force of this season is not necessarily the main force next season, and everything depends on your condition.

"We're going to expand the squad and don't think we're going to be able to do that next season when you're on the bench or in the stands, and hopefully when you're on the bench or in the stands, you don't regret that you drank too much in the summer. Let me tell you, our goal for next season has been clear from the start, and I'm not content to stay in the ninth division anymore! Our only goal and ultimate goal for next season is ......," he raised.

The players shouted in unison as his hands fell, "Upgrade!!" ”

"Good." Eames had a rare smile on his face: "Then the team is disbanded, I wish you all a good time during the holidays!" See you next season, guys! ”

※※※The season is over, Emily and Borger are no longer skipping classes, and everyone is in the final stage of preparing for the exams.

Emily has missed a lot of homework due to her work in movies and commercials this school year, but passing the exam shouldn't be a problem. As for Borger, it seems that there is a little problem, but seeing that he doesn't care, he doesn't take his studies to heart.

With the help of Yang Yang, Chu Zhongtian quickly made up for the homework he had missed because of playing football. At the end of the final exam, he felt good about himself. However, it is not possible to know the results for a while, and whether you can get a scholarship will not be announced until next semester.

It was already June 10 after the exam, Yang Yang flew back to China again, and Chu Zhongtian decided to stay here, although he did not return home last summer. On the one hand, I don't want to waste the money on the air ticket, so I will fly back if I don't go for 20 days, and the round trip is 7,000 yuan, which can save a little is a little. In addition, last season made Chu Zhongtian deeply realize that he was lacking in many aspects, he needed time to practice and improve, and it was definitely impossible to return to China. Staying in the UK, there are plenty of free and open football pitches and parks, and he can practice on his own.

He feels quite incompetent now, and if he had contributed more in the offensive effort at the beginning, then the team might have been promoted? So he has to work on his passing, especially long balls, and his ability to shoot on goal.

Passing is a standing weapon, and he used to hand it over to his teammates to handle the next step after he broke the ball. But this is a great delay in time, if the ball is broken when the opponent is attacking, this is a good counterattack opportunity in itself, but he wants to pass the football to his teammates first, and then to the front, one more step of the procedure, and it will waste some more time, in the ever-changing football game, that little bit of time can become the watershed between defeat and victory. There's also the problem that if you're not good at passing, you won't be able to launch a quick counter-attack, and that will become very prominent when Russell leaves. Chu Zhongtian felt that instead of putting his eggs in someone else's basket, it was better to take it himself.

So passing has to be practiced well.

Shots are just in case. In the game, because he has to defend full-time, he won't have many opportunities to attack. But if the team can't open the situation, it's up to him to rush up and take a few shots from distance. This is a powerful weapon to break through the dense defense and break the deadlock.

Since he was the only one, the plan and method of practice had to be adjusted. When he practiced passing, there was no one waiting for him to pass the ball in a demarcated area, so he decided to find something to mark out an area on the field and send the football there from a distance to mimic the training scene. The only trouble was that he had to run over and pick up the football every time he kicked it - he didn't have that many spare footballs. He was not afraid of expending physical strength, but he felt that it was a waste of time.

As for shooting, it's as simple as going to the parking lot of King's Ranch and shooting at the façade of the tall main stand.

As long as it's not a game day, there aren't many cars there, and there's no need to worry about a big volley that bounces off the ball and breaks someone's car.

As for the training time, there is plenty of time. Because the Dons bar didn't open until half past eleven in the morning, he only had to get there at eleven o'clock to clean up. Then he has a lot of time to train in the morning, and he can continue to train when the store is closed in the afternoon. Time is like a woman's cleavage, squeezing is always there.

In order to make the training more efficient and not blind and disorderly, Chu Zhongtian also specially formulated a self-training schedule during the summer vacation, and if there is a condition, he will stick to it until the beginning of school.

In the planner, he specifies in detail what to train each day, what kind of results to achieve, and what training mistakes to avoid. Because there is no coach around to supervise and correct at all times, he can only rely on himself to pay more attention.

In addition to the daily goal, there is also the overall goal, what kind of level he wants to reach in these three months.

Chu Zhongtian set himself the goal of at least being able to send the ball to the target teammate more accurately in training, no more than five meters away, as for the game...... He didn't have the conditions to add a sparring partner to interfere with him now, so he could only take his time - first learn to walk, and then learn to run.

The goal is to shoot undisturbed shots in groups of 10 feet, and at least 5 shots must be within the frame of the goal, and they must not be shot high. As for the interference, it can only be taken slowly, and it cannot be forced.

After the plan was formulated, Chu Zhongtian called home and told his parents that he would not come back this summer, and that he would work in the UK to make money, and by the way, he would preview the next school year's courses. His mother missed him very much and wanted him to come back, he insisted on staying in England, and gave a whole bunch of high-sounding reasons to reassure his mother, as for his father's side, he didn't say anything, everything respected his son's decision.

Chu Zhongtian didn't mention his own football in the UK on the phone, he knew that his mother didn't want him to play. If he told his mother that he stayed in the UK because he wanted to practice, then his mother would definitely scold him on the phone for being an unfilial son, and he would have to return to China for everything.

Ever since he had been planning to play here, he hadn't thought to tell his parents about it. Anyway, it's only three years of college, and when you graduate from college, you naturally can't play. He didn't say, how could parents in China know about it? If you say it, it will only increase your troubles, my mother's worries, and my own troubles here. Sometimes it's okay to tell a white lie.

After getting his home, Chu Zhongtian no longer has anything to worry about, he wants to make good use of this summer vacation to further improve his level, and then help the team upgrade successfully in the new season.

We must not make a mistake again this time!

※※※Emily was very interested in Chu Zhongtian's training plan, and she offered to participate.

"What are you going to do?" Chu Zhongtian felt strange. Is it a girl's house to watch and cheer herself on? But I don't need this kind of thing...... "I'll be your sparring partner!" ”

"Sparring? You? Chu Zhongtian glanced at Emily suspiciously.

"I'll just say you're a bit of a man chauvinist, Chu!" Emily pouted, "Don't underestimate me, I can spin fifty balls in a row without dropping!" ”

Chu Zhongtian was even more surprised, he really didn't expect the beautiful girl in front of him to be so unbearable. Although her legs are very slender, they are obviously not used to kick football...... "Don't you believe it? Emily suddenly stretched out her foot and hooked the football from Chu Zhongtian's feet, then put the toe of her right foot on the football, stepped down hard, and then picked it up on her toes, and the football was picked up by her.

Chu Zhongtian found that she was very skilled in this action, and she was really not the kind of girl who couldn't play football.

After jumping the ball up, Emily began to switch her feet to bounce the ball back and forth, this kind of penalty kick with her left foot kicking up and catching with her right foot, kicking the ball with her right foot and catching it with her left foot is the simplest and most ordinary, as long as Chu Zhongtian is willing, he can keep turning the ball up and down for hundreds of times without stopping. But a girl can do it so skillfully, he still didn't expect it. In his opinion, those beautiful girls who like football are all star chasers, even if they really know football very well, but they are just a typical example of "talking on paper".

Although Emily is right, he does have a bit of a macho chauvinism...... Emily counted as she tossed and turned, and after counting to fifty, she continued to toss until seventy-seven, when she failed to control the soccer ball and let it fall to the ground. It seems that the continuous penalty kicks consumed her physical strength, which made her later technical movements a little out of shape.

Emily, who was blushing, looked at Chu Zhongtian with provocative eyes, as if asking, "How is it, have you taken it?" ”

She's really a strong girl.

Chu Zhongtian nodded: "Okay, I admit that you are stronger than those girls I thought." ”

Hearing Chu Zhongtian say this, Emily happily asked, "So, can I be your sparring partner?" ”

But Chu Zhongtian still shook his head: "No." ”

"Why is that?!" Emily screamed, she was a little angry.

"I've been training for a long time and I'm going to stick to it every day, can you stay with me every day for the whole summer? No matter how windy or rainy, no matter how hot the weather is, can you accompany me? After saying this, Chu Zhongtian suddenly felt that this sentence was a bit like the pastor's inquiry when he got married, so he lowered his head, a little embarrassed.

He didn't hear Emily's answer, so he collected his mood, looked up and said to Emily, "If you're going to be my sparring partner, it's going to take up almost all of your time, don't you go out and play?" Don't you go on a tour? And what about your job? ”

Emily looked at Chu Zhongtian and did not answer.

Chu Zhongtian felt that she must be dead, but he was not exaggerating at all. No matter how bad the weather is, he will keep training. Time is too precious for him, with less than three months to go in the summer, he has to improve himself before the start of next season, he is no longer satisfied with just being a defensive core, he now wants to take control of the game in his own hands.

If it rains, he can train with an eye on the rain. But is Emily okay? What should I do if I catch a cold? Now she is a rising star who will enter Hollywood in the future, although he has not met Emily's family, but he knows that such children, parents value them very much, and they will never allow them to do something out of the ordinary. A beautiful woman, or a future big-screen star, follow yourself to go crazy? When your own sparring partner?

Chu Zhongtian didn't dare to have such a delusion.

That day, Emily left without giving him any answer. Chu Zhongtian didn't feel regretful, he felt that this was a reasonable result.

No matter how much Emily loves football and how deep her friendship is, she should not and cannot do such a thing with her. He also has no position, no right to ask Emily to do anything for herself.

But when he ran to the school court with the ball at eight o'clock the next morning, he saw a man sitting under the goal.

"Emily?" When he saw who this person was, Chu Zhongtian was taken aback.

Emily, who was wearing a blue Wimbledon jersey and pants and a pair of sneakers, stood up and looked at the unexpected Chu Zhongtian, very proud.

"I can't promise you to come every day, but I promise to be your sparring partner when I'm fine!"

Emily smiled brighter than the sun today.

(To be continued)