In Italy, administrative regions are not divided into provinces, but as "regions". The Lombardy region, where Milan is located, has the largest number of professional teams, followed by Tuscany, whose capital is Florence. Fiorentina fans are even more proud of the fact that the city was the precursor to modern football in 1500. This is the home of the European Renaissance, but it may not be known as the home of classical Italian football.

It seems that because of this, Fiorentina football is full of romantic classical atmosphere, and is loved by many fans around the world. It is precisely because of this affection that in the summer of 2002, the former owner of the Fiorentina club, Cecci; When Gouri announced that he had given up on the struggle and accepted the result, a club with more than 70 years of tradition had officially gone bankrupt and disappeared from Italian football, and I don't know how many Purple Lily fans wept over her tragic fate.

Zhang Jun still remembers how shocked he was when he saw the news of Fiorentina's bankruptcy on TV, and a legendary team was gone.

Now, three and a half years later, he is standing outside Frankie Field, looking up at the tall court, behind him is his agent, Sister Hua, and dozens of reporters who have rushed to hear the news.

When I visited here on New Year's Day a year ago, I never thought he would come here again, and as a new signing, which is ironic.

Pulled back to reality by the sound of the shutter pressing behind him, Zhang Jun exhaled softly, and then walked towards the long iron fence gate of the stadium, where the chairman, Mr. de la Valle, and the head coach, Mr. Mondonico, were waiting for him.

When he entered this door, he was a Florentine man.

※※※

Yang Pan searched all the channels he could receive on television, and there were no reports of Zhang Jun's participation in a press conference in Florence. Annoyed, he threw away the remote control in his hand and called Kaka.

No sooner had he picked up the phone than he heard the sound of something falling on the floor. He smiled: "Kaka, are you fighting with someone?" ”

"I'm fighting with those bastards on TV! I'd rather play a boring soap opera than broadcast some news about Zhang Jun in Florence! Kaka said angrily. By the way, what's the matter with your call? ”

"It's nothing, I just had a fight with the TV, I want to ask you if you have any unexpected discoveries, now it seems that you don't need to ask." Yang Pan looked at the group photo of the three of them on the San Siro on the wall and smiled bitterly, that group photo was taken in imitation of the shape of the Dutch Three Musketeers.

"Yang Pan, did you say that Zhang Jun will come back after the loan expires next season?"

"Don't be stupid, Kaka. According to Zhang Jun's temper, after experiencing so many unhappy things in Milan, he would be guilty of being cheap when he came back. I asked him this question of yours, and he didn't answer it at the time, but isn't the answer obvious? ”

"But what if he can't find his form in Florence?" Kaka was a little worried. There are already many examples of promising talented players gradually degrading in the constant drift, and he doesn't want Zhang Jun to become another such shooting star.

"Then you have to sink. But I believe in him, I've been with him for over a decade and he has never let me down when it comes to football. Can you believe it, Kaka? ”

Kaka was stunned for a moment, in terms of tacit understanding, he didn't have a friendship of more than ten years like Yang Pan. He could only get to know Zhang Jun in less than three years of high school.

As a goalscorer, he has rarely disappointed those who expected him, otherwise the Dawning football team would not have gone from a nobody to a national champion.

"yes, I believe him." Kaka said, looking at a photo of the three of them.

※※※

"I'm here for one purpose, and that's to help Fiorentina get promoted to the first division at the end of the season." Zhang Jun smiled in front of many reporters.

On January 2, 2006, Zhang Jun became a member of the Fiorentina team, and until the end of the season, he will wear the purple shirt. As time passes, many of the journalists in front of him will leave, and he will no longer be in the spotlight, and the only thing that will be by his side for the next six months is football. This is also what Zhang Jun wants, and there will be a lot less miscellaneous off-site affairs.

Bidding farewell to the hustle and bustle of Milan and coming to the quiet Florence, Zhang Jun can finally fight for himself, no longer to satisfy those reporters and commentators.

※※※

Zhang Jun woke up from the early morning sun, he sat on the bed and stretched, then jumped out of bed, walked to the window, opened the curtains and looked out, and did not see the reporters waiting at his door all night, which he did not encounter in Milan, especially in these two months. "Class B also has the benefits of Class B." He smiled with satisfaction.

As soon as breakfast was ready, I sat at the table and prepared to eat, but my phone rang. Zhang Jun frowned, who would call him early? He took the phone and saw a familiar number displayed on the screen.

He smiled and pressed the answer button.

"Hey, Yang Pan? What's the matter with calling so early? ”

"Wake you up! Don't make a bad impression on everyone when you go to the team training on your first day and be late. Listen to your voice, you haven't woken up yet, have you? ”

"Holy! Lao Tzu's breakfast is ready...... "Zhang Jun remembered that he was not there these days, and he didn't know how Yang Pan's eating problem was solved. "It's delicious, do you want to eat it together?" He deliberately coveted Yang Pan.

"Forget it, I guess you've finished your lunch by driving over, and I'll just eat instant noodles."

"Always eating bubbles is not good for your health, breakfast is the source of strength for the day, you must eat well, the nutritional ratio should be coordinated, and the meal combination should be reasonable and ......"

"Damn! Don't be hungry for me! Now that you're up, I won't bother you for breakfast. ”

"Do you really only eat instant noodles? Are there any eggs? Is there any bread? Is there any milk......" Zhang Jun laughed.

"Damn! Eat it! Eat you! Yang Pan hung up the phone to see if his instant noodles were cooked.

Zhang Jun shook his head with a smile, put his phone aside, and ate his breakfast. Now it seems that the distance is not a big problem, at least this morning's conversation made him feel that Yang Pan is still by his side.

He remembered that he was going to the training ground to meet his new teammates today, and he was still a little nervous. At yesterday's press conference, he only saw the president of the club and the head coach of the team, and none of the players were seen.

For this team, Zhang Junlai deliberately went to Li Yan before coming and did some understanding.

※※※

On the evening of August 1, 2002, a few hours after the president of the Italian Football Federation, Patillo Catillo, announced that Fiorentina did not have registration in the second division, officials of the Fiorentina municipal axe said on television that they had formed a new team. Since the name "fiorentina" could no longer be used, the name "fiorentinaviola" was chosen, which means "Florentine Bauhinia". The newly formed team didn't have a single player, nor a single coach, just an empty shell, waiting for a businessman to inject money into it and make the team work.

Then, the current honorary president of the club, the largest shareholder, the famous Italian "shoe king" Diego; De La Valle officially acquired the Fiorentina Bauhina and hired a head coach, assistant coach, strength and conditioning coach, team doctor, physiotherapist...... Cleaners included. He then collected players from the amateur league to the second division and formed a team to participate in the Italian second league. The team retained Fiorentina's home stadium, the Stadio Franchi, as well as the traditional purple jersey and lily crest.

In May 2003, de la Valle became a sponsor of the team and paid 2.5 million euros to buy the rights to reuse the Fiorentina name, as well as all the trophies that the club had previously won, at a bankruptcy auction. Today's Florence is the seventy-seven-year-old Florence, and they can finally get rid of the "bauhinia" behind their name.

Then it took only one year for the team to be promoted from League C II to League C1, and then the Italian Football Federation promoted the team directly from League C I to League B on the grounds that "Fiorentina FC has a special contribution to Italian football". The "Serie A Sisters", led by AC Milan, Juventus, Roma and Lazio, have also provided a lot of help to the new team - they have loaned some of their own players who are not playing to Fiorentina.

Due to the favoritism and care of Fiorentina by the Italian Football Federation and some teams in Serie A, many second division teams have been dissatisfied. Their reasoning is simple: if we are promoted from C 1 to B Division, we will have to go through at least a year of struggle, so why should Fiorentina Bauhinia easily qualify just because of the reputation of the original club?

Because of this, Fiorentina is very excluded in the second division, and many teams are particularly energetic when they play against them, and there are often hurtful actions in the scramble, and they will mercilessly "beat the water dogs" at every opportunity. This is one of the reasons why Fiorentina have been in the second division for two seasons and still cannot be promoted to the first division. Of course, its own strength is not enough, and it is also a very important reason not to fight for the Italian Football Association.

The team has players from the second-tier squad of Ancona, Reggina, Bologna, Catania and other teams, as well as players from amateur teams such as Ariannese, Gubio and Montvacci, who want to borrow Fiorentina to enter professional football. Although the level is uneven, they all have one thing in common: they don't care about pay - in fact, Fiorentina couldn't afford to pay at the time - they play with enthusiasm and drive, and although they have just donned the purple shirt, they are proud to have the opportunity to wear the shirt of a team with a long history.

Angelo, the team's current captain; Angelodilivio is a person who makes Zhang Jun very respected. When a team is relegated from the First Division to the Second Division, it is necessary to prove that the team has the ability to pass the Second Division registration eligibility check. It was Di Livio who went to Milan with the team's salary receipts to prove that the team's financial situation was not so bad, but the end result was still that the team did not qualify for the second division. When he was demoted to League C II because of bankruptcy, everyone was gone, and he was the only one who stayed. The former Italy international, who would rather be paid a third-division salary in his new squad than go to another first-division team, is respected by everyone in the squad and is a true spiritual leader of the team.

Zhang Jun respects him because of his loyalty, which reminds him of the god of war Batistuta, who announced his retirement at the beginning of last year. The same team was relegated, and many stars and former teammates left, but Barty stayed, relying on his own strength, and led Fiorentina back to the first division a year later.

It's a bit like him now, and as the biggest name in the squad at the moment, there are high hopes that he can lead the team to promotion like Batty, as he said yesterday at the press conference.

Before Zhang Junlai, the team's new god of war was their No. 9 center Christian; Rigano (Christianrigan-). He has great physicality and header ability, and in some ways he does have the shadow of his predecessor Barty in the number 9 shirt. The team's current top scorer was spotted by La Varle in the first division, having played a number of amateur and semi-professional teams, and is now the team's top scorer with a total of 48 goals in Fiorentina. He was twenty-eight years old when he first arrived in Florence, and now he is more than thirty years old, a true late bloomer.

Zhang Jun had never heard of his forward partner before, and later asked Li Yan to know that there was such a number one person. Since they will become partners in the future, Zhang Jun feels the need to have a good relationship with Ricano, after all, they are partners, not competitors.

Other teammates, he also knows the name, but he can't match the name with the face, let alone understand it. He can only wait for this morning's training to have people introduce him one by one.

※※※

Seeing that Zhang Jun was a little nervous, Mondonico patted Zhang Jun on the back: "Don't worry, they all get along very well." This is Fiorentina, which is very different from the giants AC Milan. Let's go in and say hello to your teammates. He gestured to the locker room door in front of them.

Zhang Jun nodded, then stretched out his hand and gently pushed the door open, and more than twenty teammates in the locker room appeared in front of him, and when they heard the door, they all turned their heads to look at him. He almost didn't know any of them, even the oldest captain Di Livio, Zhang Jun couldn't be named. He remembered how he had first entered the Milan dressing room, and bowed to everyone in the room at the door: "Big ...... Hello everyone! I am your new teammate, my name is Zhang Jun, Chinese. Loaned to Fiorentina from AC Milan. I also love this team and I hope to get along with everyone and work together to get Fiorentina promoted to the first division! ”

He memorized this passage countless times last night, and today he was finally able to say it fluently. It didn't turn out as he had hoped, but it was also expected: the response was not enthusiastic, and most people looked at him and then turned to their own business. Only a handful of people came up to greet him, including captain Di Livio, and among those who ignored him was his future partner Christian; Ricano.

Perhaps thinking that Zhang Jun would feel embarrassed, Di Livio took Zhang Jun's hand and comforted: "Don't worry, you just haven't gotten acquainted with them yet, and when you get acquainted, you'll see their funny side." ”

Zhang Jun smiled and didn't take the attitude of his teammates to heart: "Thank you, captain." It's okay with me, you don't have to worry about me. I think so, too, after a long time, I will naturally understand. ”

"That's fine, don't call me captain here, just call me Angelo. I'm going to introduce you to your teammates. He pulled Zhang Jun in front of a tall and strong man and said to him, "Christian; Ricano, our number 9 center, top scorer. You can call him Christian, you can call him 'Brute', but just don't call him 'The New God of War', he hates people calling him that. ”

Zhang Jun could imagine that Rigano would be a power center, but he was still taken aback when he saw his figure. Judging from his upper body, he is almost full of muscles, about 1.91 meters tall and weighs about 86 kilograms, no wonder he is called "Brute Bull".

"Hello, I'm Zhang Jun, please take care of me in the future." He reached out to shake Ricano's hand.

Unexpectedly, Rigano didn't appreciate it, he clasped his hands in front of his chest, and didn't mean to shake hands with Zhang Jun, and looked at Zhang Jun with a disdainful look: "I heard that you came to us because you couldn't get along in Milan, right?" ”

This should be considered a provocation, right? Zhang Jun thought, for a moment, he wanted to push back with a strong tone, which was also his previous style. But just for a moment, he forcibly suppressed the vitality in his heart, and just shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I heard that the things that come are always not very reliable." As for whether I came here because I couldn't get along, wouldn't it be clear on the court, Mr. Christian? His outstretched hand did not retract it, and stubbornly placed it in front of Ricano.

The locker room suddenly fell silent, and the atmosphere became a little awkward. Di Livio, on one side, had to use the captain's authority: "Christian, is this how you greet your new teammates?" He did not call Rigano a "brute", but called him by his first name, apparently dissatisfied with Ricano's attitude.

Even if Rigano scored more goals on the court, he didn't dare to have any opinion on Di Livio, although reluctantly, he still stretched out his hand and shook Zhang Jun: "Hello, I'm Christian; Ricano. You can call me 'Christian' or you can call me 'Brute'. ”

"Hello, Brute." Zhang Jun felt that Ricano's hand was obviously straining, and he didn't watch out, and as a result, he was pinched. In front of so many people, he couldn't call out in shame, so he had to frown and grit his teeth and reply.

"Don't take it personally, Zhang. Manniu has a straight temper and the same style of play as he plays. He had no ill will. Di Livio laughed and pulled Zhang Jun to meet his next teammate. Zhang Jun twisted his head back, looked at Garneau again, and then folded his hands in front of his chest and looked at him with the first look.

This interesting person! Zhang Jun gently shook the hand that was hurt by him, and shook his head with a smile.

"This is Sebastian; Sebastiancejas, our first-choice goalkeeper, moved from Newell's Old Boys in Argentina last season. ”

"Hello, Seias."

"Hello, call me Sebastian, Chinese boy."

"Ek; Eykebismark, Ghanaian, defender. ”

"Hello, Ek."

"Hello, Zhang."

"Louis; Luishelguera, midfielder. He's Ivan who played at Real Madrid; Elgra's younger brother. Di Livio added.

"Really? I'm a Real Madrid fan! Zhang Jun asked excitedly about the person in front of him who looked very much like Ivan; Spaniards in Erguera.

Elgra scratched his head embarrassedly: "I'm far worse than Ivan." Hello, call me Louis. ”

"Hello, Luis. Nice to meet you. "Zhang Jun really didn't expect to meet someone who is related to Real Madrid's main players here.

"Manuel; Manueleguzzo, defender. ”

"Hello, Manuel!"

"Hello."

"Alejandro; Alessandro Lucarelli. ”

"Christian; Christian Maggio. ”

"Robert; Robertoripa. ”

"Marco; Marco Andreotti. ”

"Matthes; Buthu (matthieubochu). ”

"Christian; Christian Manfredini, who is on loan from Lazio. ”

"Ricciardo, the team's playmaker; Maspero (Rardomaspero). ”

"Masmo; Massimoconi, striker. ”

"Michelle; Cusato (Michelecossato). ”

……

Di Livio introduced them one by one, and Zhang Jun stepped forward to greet them one by one. He felt that the forwards were the ones who were the most indifferent to him, perhaps because he had come to steal their jobs.

Half an hour later, after finally introducing himself, Di Livio took Zhang Jun to a locker and said to him: "This cabinet belongs to you, your clothes and shoes can be placed in it." "It looks like it's been prepared a long time ago, because inside the cabinet is his training clothes.

"Now, change your clothes and get ready for training." Di Livio took out the purple training uniform and handed it to Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun took the shirt, he saw the lily logo on it, and below was the year the team was founded: 1926. As of this year, exactly 80 years have passed.

※※※

With a Serie B match in three days' time, Mondonico focused on physical training for the players returning from vacation, trying to recover as much as possible. In the second division, skills and tactics are actually secondary, and physical fitness and body are the key.

Zhang Jun followed the training at first, but he didn't adapt very much. Such frequent physical training made him feel resistant. But he soon realised where he was and that if he was to succeed at Florence, he would have to adapt to the style of Serie B and, in his words, change himself for the sake of it. Thinking about it this way, he was reluctant to participate in physical training.

Mondonico was pleased with his assistant Gianni; Giannibortoletto said: "Zhang's foundation is very good, maybe he will soon be able to adapt to the style of the second division. ”

"Are you still sticking with the number seven game to start him?" Bottoretto asked.

"No, I changed my mind." Montorini remembered a scene in the dressing room and it seemed that it would take some time and opportunity for his players to accept the striker from AC Milan. "Our opponents are Palermo, who have been relegated from the first division, and they are very good. I think it was a litmus test for Zhang, whether Zhang was suitable for Fiorentina or not, and that game should give some clues. ”

"Thanks to him, I don't know how many percentage points the team's influence in China has increased." the club's director, Fabricio; Fabriziolhesi walked into the pitch from the outside. "I was surrounded by 10 Chinese journalists just now, and I have to hear what I think of Zhang. I can see why some teams are so keen to buy Asian players. ”

"Why are you here, Fabrigio?" Mondonico was a little surprised, as the director, Luches didn't come to the training ground very often.

"I'm here to see how Zhang is performing, and I can't always rely on text and statistics to understand a new player. How, Mondo, his performance? ”

"Except for the fact that I was not familiar with my teammates at first, I have behaved normally so far. He can do a good job of the training tasks I gave him. I don't think this level of training will be a problem for him, it's just about how he performs in the game. After all, Class B and Class A are very different. ”

"Well, I think everyone should be waiting for his performance in three days. Not just us and the journalists, but them. Luches pointed to the players who were training on the field.

※※※

After three days of training, Zhang Jun has been able to adapt to the team's training, and he has indeed benefited a lot from crazy physical training during this time. Due to the last two months in Milan, he was riddled with all kinds of mundane things, his training was not very systematic, his physical reserves were almost exhausted, and his physical strength was not very good. When he came to Florence, he was worried about whether his physical strength would slow down his performance, but now he feels much better after some bad treatment.

Tomorrow at home to Palermo, he is not a starter, but a substitute. Zhang Jun thinks this is normal. The head coach must have asked him to get used to the atmosphere of the second division first, and see off the field how the second division plays and what is the difference between it and the first division. If you don't figure these things out first, if you go up recklessly, making jokes is a trivial matter, and it is a big thing to mess up your debut and affect the trust of the manager and teammates in you.

The current Zhang Jun doesn't care that he can start as soon as he comes to Fiorentina, he pays more attention to everything when he plays, including his physical condition and mentality. Either he was a substitute first, and when he came on he had everything ready.

Tomorrow, he's going to face a completely unfamiliar league, will he be able to survive and succeed in this league? Zhang Jun doesn't know now, but he is sure of one thing: even if the second division league is Shura's hell for him, he must succeed here. Because now he has no way back.

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