Emily stood in the stands, searching for the most familiar figure among the Wimbledon players who were warming up, but she was disappointed.

Among the Wimbledon players who came out to warm up, she didn't see Chu Zhongtian.

Yang Yang, an alumnus of Wimbledon Art School, stood beside her and muttered, "Strange, what about that kid in Da Chu?" ”

She and Yang Yang met outside the gate of the stadium half an hour ago, and when they heard that Yang Yang was here to cheer for Chu Zhongtian, Emily warmly beckoned Yang Yang to walk with them, occupying such a piece of feng shui treasure behind the goal.

A terrible thought flashed through Emily's mind, and she was startled by the thought of herself—Chu was always running and running on the side of the road...... There are so many cars on the road, will you encounter ...... She didn't dare to think about it anymore.

"Will there be anything delayed in Chu......," Boss John, they also found out that Chu Zhongtian was not in the team. A group of people speculated.

The people who are speculating about why Chu Zhongtian has not appeared so far are not only these people in the stands, but also the team's head coach Eames and assistant coach Ingrid, as well as Wimbledon's teammates.

"It's really strange, Chu always came early in the past, why didn't he see anyone until he started to warm up today?" Ingrid looked at the players warming up on the field and said to Eames next to him.

"Did he take a leave of absence and say he wouldn't be here today?" Eames asked.

Ingrid shook his head: "No. I remember when he was training and he said it was the last game before school started, and once school started he didn't have that much time, and he probably couldn't come every game in the middle of the week. So he's going to have to do well in today's game......"

Eames stopped talking, and he slowly furrowed his brow. Chu Zhongtian is the team's main back, and he put Chu Zhongtian into consideration when considering tactics. If Chu Zhongtian can't play, then he will have to change...... It's really troublesome, what happened to Chu?

"Hey, Russell. Did you see Chu on the way here? During the warm-up, Schilling came up and asked Russell and Borger.

The two men shook their heads. They didn't see Chu Zhongtian running on the bus today. At first they thought they had just missed it and didn't take it seriously. As a result, they didn't see Chu after they came, and they waited for a while until they went into the locker room to change their clothes, but Chu still didn't show up, and they felt that something was wrong.

"It's weird...... Chu Ke is not a person who likes to be late. Xi Lin muttered, he couldn't figure out why Chu Zhongtian hadn't come yet.

Borger suddenly said: "It can't be a car accident......

"Shut up!" Russell and Shirin drank in unison, startling Bolger.

"Uh...... Well, I'm just kidding...... He must have been halfway through the run and realized that he had forgotten to bring his sneakers, so he went home and got them......" Bolger explained ramblingly, only to make the listener's brow tighten and tighten.

※※※ "Do you have Chu's phone, Yang?" Emily asked suddenly.

Yang Yang shook his head: "He doesn't have a mobile phone." He said that no one would look for him here anyway, and if he wanted to call home, he would use a card phone. ”

Emily frowned, and she remembered that it was. has been in contact with Chu Zhongtian for so long, and I have never known her mobile phone number, nor have I seen him use a mobile phone. I thought that my relationship with him was not ordinary, but I didn't expect that he was just an ordinary friend, and I didn't know a lot about him.

That terrible thought popped up in Emily's mind again, and she couldn't press it anymore, and the more she thought about it, the more she thought it might be true.

Standing in the stands for a while, Emily shook her head: "No, I'll go find him!" ”

After speaking, she turned around and ran down the stands, Yang Yang was stunned for a moment, and also followed.

※※※ Russell, who was warming up on the field, saw Emily running under the stands, followed by a Chinese who had been with Chu, and the two people hurriedly ran towards the gate of the stadium. This gave him a bad premonition...... Did Gavin really get it right? Did Chu really have an accident?

Damn it...... I haven't tortured you kid enough...... ※※※ Emily and Yang Yang ran to Jack in one go. Goodchild's Alley. Kingston Road is bustling with traffic, and the sidewalks are lined with pedestrians hurrying down in the summer sun, looking just like any ordinary afternoon.

Emily holds her phone in her hand, but doesn't know who to call. Yang Yang frowned tightly beside him, thinking about the problems that Chu Zhongtian might encounter.

A No. 131 bus came, the red bus stopped in front of the platform, the door opened, and two people came down from it, but it was not Chu Zhongtian.

"He may be sitting on the next ......," Yang Yang muttered.

Emily thought to herself that if Chu had been in the car, he would have arrived a long time ago, and he wouldn't have been missing until now...... The red No. 131 bus let out an exhaust sound, lifted its body, closed the door, and drove away slowly from the front of the platform.

Just when Emily and Yang Yang's brows were tightening tighter and tighter, Emily, who had good eyesight, suddenly saw a figure on the horizon, at the end of the road, a figure appeared little by little.

He had black hair that was somewhat pale in the bright sun. His neck and arms were covered in sparkling sweat, and he was wearing a white T-shirt and undershirt. Slowly peeking out of the horizon, revealing the upper body, exposing the legs, and finally revealing the ...... under the feet Football.

When he ran up completely, Emily and Yang Yang both saw Chu Zhongtian slowly running in their direction with the ball. He dribbled the ball with the inside of his right foot for two steps, then for two steps on the outside of his foot, then for two steps on the inside of his left foot and two steps on the outside of his foot...... And so on and so forth.

He lowered his head and focused on dribbling the ball, completely ignoring Emily and Yang Yang in front of him, until Yang Yang shouted happily: "Da Chu! ”

He stopped, looked up at the two people standing in front of him in some surprise: "Why are you here?" "I was breathing unevenly and panting heavily. Much more tired than when he ran over.

Emily noticed that when he stopped, the sweat on his body was sliding down his neck, arms, and legs, like a stream.

Yang Yang saw Chu Zhongtian appear in front of him peacefully, and his nervous mood just now relaxed. He pointed at Emily and smiled, "Emily was worried that something was wrong with you, so she ran out to pick you up." She said you always arrive early, what's going on today? ”

Chu Zhongtian looked at Emily, who was still stunned, and scratched his head a little embarrassedly: "I ran all the way with the ball, but I overestimated my ability to carry the ball...... Running slower than usual, the time is not pinched, am I late? ”

Emily finally came to her senses, and she shook her head, "Not yet, they're warming up." ”

Chu Zhongtian sighed: "That's good." ”

"What's good?" Emily sneered, "How did you get on the ball on the road?" She could see that Chu Zhongtian's strange rhythm with the ball was the last time Russell taught him ball control exercises.

"I like to hurry up and practice, I don't have much time to ...... when school starts," Chu Zhongtian defended himself.

"Okay, okay, let's get in, if it's too late, you'll have to be a bench!" Emily pointed at Yang Yang and said, "What a disappointment it will be for Yang who came to play football for you when the time comes." ”

Yang Yang, hey, hey, a pleasure.

Chu Zhongtian lowered his head and picked up the ball again. Emily saw it behind her and shouted angrily, "Why are you still so slow!" ”

"I haven't reached my destination yet." Chu Zhongtian answered her and ran to the court with the ball.

"What a stubbornness!" Emily pouted as she looked at his back.

Yang Yang smiled next to her: "He is very serious. If he says he wants to run to the pitch with the ball, he really wants to run to the pitch, not a meter less. ”

※※※When Chu Zhongtian walked through the main entrance of the stadium with a football and appeared on the sidelines, someone from the Wimbledon players who had just finished the warm-up and was walking off the field saw him at a glance.

"Look, Chu!" Borger screamed very loudly and was very happy. Because of his previous lack of mouth and unlucky words, he has been coldly regarded by Shirin, Sullivan and Russell, which makes him particularly psychologically stressed. Now seeing Chu Zhongtian completely appear in front of him, how can he not be happy?

"Hey, Chu! Here and here! He waved his hand to Chu Zhongtian, as enthusiastic as if he was a little daughter-in-law who hadn't seen her husband for a long time.

Chu Zhongtian also saw Boljie who kept waving to him, so he picked up the football and walked over.

Seeing him coming, his teammates also surrounded him.

"Why are you sweating so much, are you hot, Chu?" The team's main defender, Sim. Johnston looked at Chu Zhongtian sweating profusely and panting in surprise.

Russell and Shilin glanced at each other, they knew that Chu Zhongtian must have come over again. It's just that Chu Zhongtian looks even more tired today than before, is his physical condition not good?

Seeing that everyone was looking at him with caring eyes, Chu Zhongtian knew that he couldn't hide this matter today. He shook his head, sweating again. "No, Sim. In fact...... I'm here. ”

There was a moment of silence among the players, and then ...... "Wow! ”

"I heard you right, God!"

"Running? From where? Platform 131? ”

"Stupid, it should be from Wimbledon!"

"Who are you fooling, it's at least four miles from us!"

"Can you sweat so much from the platform here?"

"But how is this possible, we are about to play a game, how much energy is wasted to run here?"

"It's unimaginable......"

Ingrid and Eames found out that Chu Zhongtian was a little late, so they were squeezed out of the crowd, but they both heard Chu Zhongtian's words clearly.

The two men looked at each other.

"Can you believe it, Nicky?" Eames asked his assistant.

"Can you believe it, Terry?" Almost at the same time, Ingrid also turned to Eames.

"His sweat wasn't faked." Eames analyzed.

"And he doesn't have to pretend." Ingrid added.

"Running from Wimbledon? He's crazy...... But I'm more concerned if this is his first time or the second ......time," Terry muttered, frowning.

Ingrid thought for a moment and slammed his fist into the palm of his hand. "I said how I saw Chu before, and I always felt that he was sweating a lot. At that time, I just thought that he was afraid of the heat, and he sweated a lot when it was hot. Now it seems ......" At this point, he suddenly looked at Eames in surprise.

Eames raised an eyebrow at him. "It seems that the Chinese foreign aid in our team is still a physical pervert."

"It's unbelievable...... Run four miles, play another 90-minute game, run non-stop during the game, and be responsible for the whole defense of the midfield...... I've never seen him lose his strength and cramp......" muttered Ingrid.

※※※Kevin. Cooper saw that the discussion became more and more enthusiastic, and he almost forgot what the business was. Hurriedly took out the majesty of the captain and said loudly: "Okay, guys, don't forget that we still have a game to play!" ”

As soon as he said this, everyone reacted, they had just warmed up and were about to go to the locker room to make the final preparations before the game. Everyone looked back outside, and they saw Eames waving at them, "Go to the locker room, guys." ”

When the manager said this, everyone turned around and walked towards the dressing room. Chu Zhongtian wanted to do the same, but he was left behind by the head coach: "You wait. Clear. ”

Xi Lin winked at Chu Zhongtian and followed the team. Russell looked at Chu Zhongtian, looked up and down, and finally didn't say anything, and turned away.

When everyone was almost gone, Ingrid went to the locker room to greet the players, and Eames walked in front of Chu Zhongtian.

He looked at Chu Zhongtian and smiled, which made Chu Zhongtian laugh so much that he didn't know if the head coach was planning to punish himself - because he was late. He decided to focus on the anti-customer, and made the first move: "I'm sorry, boss." I'm late ......"

Eames interrupted his apology with a wave of his hand. "Tell me, Chu. Do you come all the way from Wimbledon to every training and competition? ”

Chu Zhongtian nodded.

Eames whistled. "It's unbelievable, I've never seen you have a physical problem, but despite that, your fitness is beyond my imagination. I feel like you've reached or exceeded your professional level in terms of fitness alone. ”

"Uh, thank you for the compliment, boss ......" Chu Zhongtian didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in the boss's gourd.

"But why are you late today?" Eames stared at Chu Zhongtian and asked. Looking at his eyes, Chu Zhongtian did not doubt at all that if he lied, he would definitely be ruthlessly exposed.

He honestly pointed to the soccer ball that was caught under his armpit: "I'm trying to bring the ball to the pitch today, boss." But it was harder than I thought it would be to keep the ball, so it slowed down. Next time I'll leave early......"

Eames interrupted Chu Zhongtian's explanation with a loud laugh.

"Do you need to warm up again?" He asked after laughing.

Chu Zhongtian looked at Eames's eyes and found that he didn't mean to blame at all, so he smiled: "No, I don't think you need it, boss." I've warmed up. ”

Eames nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, let's go change clothes now." Don't give me cramps when you're playing for a while! ”

Chu Zhongtian let out a sigh of relief and ran to the locker room with the football in his arms.

※※※Emily and Yang Yang returned to the stands. The companions at the Dons Bar all came up to express their concern about why Chu Zhongtian was late.

Yang Yang was not familiar with them, he stood aside and did not speak. Emily smiled at them, "Would you believe me if I said that Chu came here with the ball all the way and took a little more time on the road?" ”

Everyone was stunned.

Emily grimaced at them, turned her head and hummed happily and stopped talking.

※※※ "Chu, your task is to defend. In midfield, try to intercept the opponent's attack as much as possible, and after cutting off the ball, it will be handed to Russell. Eames pointed at Alai. Russell.

In the dressing room, Eames is assigning tasks to the players and laying out the team's tactics.

"I know you've just run four miles, but you still can't be lazy in the race."

Hearing him say this, some of his teammates burst into laughter. Of course, there were also people who looked at Chu Zhongtian with envy, they were envious of his perverted physical fitness.

"I'm never lazy, boss." Chu Zhongtian retorted.

Eames nodded: "I know, I know...... Anyway, you remember your tasks. He didn't care that Chu Zhongtian had just refuted his words. These are the details that he has never cared about.

Chu Zhongtian nodded. This task is not new at all, since he reconciled with Russell, he has done it as long as Russell can play.

"Russell, you have to pay attention to the distance between yourself and Chu, not too far." In fact, let the front and back not be too far apart, in the general team, in order not to disconnect between the front line and the back line, but Eames said this mainly to take care of Chu Zhongtian's pass is very general, if the distance is too far, I am afraid that he will not be able to pass accurately.

After observing so many games, Eames and the coaches of the coaching staff are already very clear that Chu Zhongtian's pass is more than 20 meters, and it may be lost. Actually, his performance in training is not so bad, but training is training, and competition is competition. In training, there are not two or three people who rush up to break your ball, pull your arms and pull your clothes. Non-distracting training performance doesn't tell the whole story.

Chu Zhongtian also knows what level his passing is, and he also wants to improve it as soon as possible, so he repeatedly takes the football to do basic foot control exercises on the way to the court. It's just that now Russell has just begun to teach him to control the ball, and he doesn't know how long it will be to reach the realm of controlling the pass as he wants.

Chu Zhongtian was in a daze at this moment, and Coach Eames had already assigned the tasks of everyone in the team. Now let's talk about the opponent.

Eames doesn't know much about their opponents in this game, Hartley Winterney (hartley_wintney), but the good thing is that the league has been played five rounds and can be inferred from the results of the last five league games.

Hartley Winterney have lost three of their last five league games, drawing one and losing one, and are currently fourth from bottom, not bottom of the table because they are not the worst of the pack. The Glenford Vikings have lost all five games so far, which is a well-deserved bottom-to-last place.

Looking at Hartley Winterney's five games, their attacking ability is quite weak, but the defensive ability is worth mentioning - two of the three games they lost were lost by 0:1, the draw was 0:0, and the win was 1:0, without allowing the opponent to score. The other game was lost 0-2.

Eames concluded that this team is good at defending, and must first defend solidly, then wait for opportunities to play the opponent's counterattack, and if they can take the lead, then defend the whole game...... This was a headache for Eames. Because this type of opponent is the most hated at Wimbledon.

Wimbledon's tactics were rough, with long balls and wide crosses and headers in the middle. But they are not conservative. Although Coach Eames is a defender-turned-coach, after becoming a coach, he has promoted the concept of offensive football.

Offensive football and defensive counter-attacks are a pair of mortal enemies. The opponent shrank up and waited for Wimbledon to attack, if Wimbledon's offensive ability could not be reached, it was likely that he would only return again and again in vain, and finally pressed on the whole line under the control of impatience, and the opponent seized the opportunity to fight a counterattack.

Is there anything Eames can do in the face of such an opponent?

He didn't.

"If the opponent shrinks the defense during the game, I ask you to pay attention to the space behind you while attacking, and be careful not to be taken advantage of by the opponent. Clear. He called Chu Zhongtian's name again.

Chu Zhongtian straightened his waist.

"You have to remember that your job is to defend, and in any case your job is to stay behind and defend. I know you've got a good header, but if we get a corner, the centre-backs have to go up and fight for the top and you have to stay at the back and defend and prevent the opposition from counter-attacking. ”

The manager thinks so highly of himself, which is an affirmation of his own ability. Chu Zhongtian nodded, without any objection to this decision. Although he had a little regret in his heart - he couldn't rush up and participate in the attack.

Eames assigned the tactical requirements and went out and the players were ready to play. Russell grabbed Chu Zhongtian, and the two of them fell at the back of the queue.

"You came here with the ball?" Russell asked.

Chu Zhongtian nodded. "As you said, two steps to smash the ball and two steps to pluck the ball. It's slow to run, that's why it's here. ”

Russell looked at Chu Zhongtian in a daze, and his eyes were as if he had seen a monster. After a while he scolded, "Damn! ”

Then he threw off Chu Zhongtian and ran out of the locker room first.

Chu Zhongtian felt inexplicable, and he shouted at Russell's back: "Remember not to be too far away from me!" ”

Russell ignored him, shrugged his shoulders himself, and ran out as well.

The stands at Kings Ranch were almost full of spectators, and even though the game hadn't even started, Wimbledon fans were already singing to vent their emotions and cheer on the team.

As the Wimbledon players took to the pitch, the Kings ranch erupted in louder cheers than ever, and the anticipatory crowd was enthusiastic about their team.

AFC Wimbledon plays in the Mixed County League (CCL), the ninth tier, and the average attendance in this league is generally between 50 and 100 players, with many stadiums having a fraction of the attendance of the Wimbledon team. Wimbledon's first league game was away at Sandhurst Town, and according to statistics, 2,449 spectators poured into that game, a new mixed county league attendance record. And now, that new record has been broken by Wimbledon – the first league game back at home was set by a new league attendance record of 4,142 spectators at Kings Ranch.

In fact, in this ninth division of the league, AFC Wimbledon is an outlier. They are more popular than the other teams combined, and they are not willing to stay here for long, let alone believe that they will be here. It's just that the meal has to be eaten bite by bite, Ruth has to go step by step, although she hopes to return to the high league as soon as possible, and the games in the lower league have to be played one by one.

Even if they were to be promoted every season, it would take eight seasons to get back to the top flight. And that's not even counting the stronger the opponents you encounter the higher you go, the greater the resistance to escalation. When it comes to the professional league, if there is no large amount of financial support, it is almost impossible to move an inch by relying on the enthusiasm of the fans alone, and then it will be like a boat sailing against the current, and if you don't advance, you will retreat.

"That's amazing!" Yang Yang looked at the almost full stands in front of him and sighed.

He once paid for tickets to see a Wimbledon league game in League One, and he went there to experience the football atmosphere in England. In his opinion, today's King's Ranch is no different from the Shehrst Park Stadium of yesteryear.

Although one can only accommodate more than 4,200 people, the other can accommodate 26,400 people, and the huge number difference did not make today's game look cold. Fans waving their arms and clapping, their cohesive high-pitched singing, the blue and yellow scarves that dotted the stands, and the swaying Wimbledon flags and slogans looked no different than the Premier League.

"It's unbelievable, it's just an amateur league ......"

He muttered as Emily clapped them.

Hearing his whisper, Emily proudly said, "Because it's our own team's game!" ”

Like Chu Zhongtian, Yang Yang's heart was a little pantothenic when he heard this. He also wanted the opportunity to puff up his chest and say with such pride that "this is our own team's game!" ”

He thought about his experience in the stands of the stadium in South Korea, and he couldn't be proud of it, and he really didn't know how to react to Emily's words.

So he was silent.

Emily didn't quite understand why Yang Yang, who was quite excited just now, suddenly stopped saying a word, but she didn't have the heart to think about why, her attention was now on the court.

The captains of both sides have completed the rituals such as picking the sides in the midst of the full field singing, and the players have stood according to their different positions on the field, and everyone is waiting for the referee to blow the whistle to start the game.

(To be continued)