"All these years, Old Ma... you know, I’ve felt terrible about it."
"If it weren’t for , we would have qualified in 2002. We would have made it to the World Cup finals."
"I’m the one who failed Chinese football!"
After he spoke, Gao Huairen tilted his head back, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes.
Ma Yongcheng’s heart ached as well.
Back then, Gao Huairen had been the national team’s head coach and he, Ma Yongcheng, the assistant coach. They were both blad for the team’s failure to qualify for the ’02 World Cup in Korea and Japan, but Gao Huairen had taken the brunt of it.
’But was what happened back then really all their fault?’
’Ever since Gao Huairen launched that massive football reform, how many powerful interests did he upset?’
’How many clubs suffered when their players went overseas?’
’He went against everyone’s advice to hire the Frenchman, Truxier, to coach the national team, giving no one any say in the roster. He was labeled an autocrat for it. How much slander was thrown his way?’
’The team’s performance had been excellent and stable leading up to the tournant, so why did Truxier suddenly announce his resignation right before it began?’
’And when Gao Huairen stepped up to take over as coach during the crisis, what kind of stories did people spin about him?’
’And when the campaign for the Korea and Japan World Cup ended in failure, how was he turned into a national pariah?’
At this thought, Ma Yongcheng looked across at Gao Huairen, who still had his head tilted back.
At this mont, the man he respected most in his life showed no trace of his forr vigor.
He was just an old man now, his hair streaked with gray.
His parents were gone, he had no wife or children, no family of his own. His body was wracked with illness. The only thing he still held onto was football.
After finally composing himself, Gao Huairen let out a sob and wiped the tears from his face. He clinked glasses with Ma Yongcheng again before slowly continuing.
"Adidas will ntion their partnership with our Huairun Football School in their press release, but I don’t intend to get involved in the publicity."
"This kid, Wang Shuo, made it because of his own hard work and determination. We can’t be the ones to hold him back."
"Making a na for himself in the European leagues is the best promotion our school could ever ask for!"
In the past, so players went abroad and achieved a degree of success.
Their clubs and schools back in China would then forcibly attach themselves to that success, even using the players’ image rights for promotion without permission.
This put the players in an impossible situation.
’Object?’
’Then you’re ungrateful, burning your bridges behind you.’
’Support it?’
’Not only would the player get nothing out of it, but if anything went wrong, they’d be the one to take the fall.’
Things like this had happened far too often and had caused huge controversies.
What Gao Huairen ant was, Huairun Football School wouldn’t stoop to that.
"What do you think the Football Association’s stance will be?" Ma Yongcheng asked with concern.
Gao Huairen shook his head and sighed. "I don’t know. They’ve said before that they won’t accept any players from our school. They probably won’t acknowledge Wang Shuo now, either."
’Won’t acknowledge him?’
’Then how can he get into the national team?’
...
Chinese Teenager Joins 2nd Bundesliga Powerhouse!
Bundesliga Giants Hope to Sign Chinese Phenom!
Back-to-Back Hat Tricks! Chinese Player Shines in German League!
The next day, as major dia outlets and news portals began reporting on Wang Shuo’s performance with Mainz in the German U19 league, the story quickly garnered massive attention back in China.
With the national team in a slump and their performance getting worse by the day, the initial reaction from most fans to this news was complete derision.
"This has to be another clumsy PR stunt by so player, faking success abroad to get famous at ho!"
A veteran fan on a well-known football forum declared.
Similar things had happened countless tis before.
Other mbers on the forum quickly posted in agreent, backing up his claim.
They had completely lost faith in the national team long ago.
After so many years of repeated disappointnts, who would dare to have any faith left?
But just then, the country’s most popular news portal published an in-depth feature, detailing Wang Shuo’s entire football journey.
It chronicled his life from a poor mountain village, to his first encounter with football, to playing in school tournants, and finally to his ti at the Huairun Football School.
It described how, with sponsorship from Adidas, he was able to travel to Germany for trials.
He went from trial to trial at 18 different clubs before finally getting a chance to prove himself at the 19th: Mainz.
And that was what led to his recent rise to fa.
Reading the report, people began to realize he wasn’t so overnight sensation or a born genius.
This was a true underdog story, built one step at a ti from the ground up.
At first, many people were still skeptical of the report.
But as it was shared across the internet, more and more netizens ca forward to verify the details.
"I went to Lingshan Seventh Middle School. What the article says is true. Wang Shuo and his friends started our school’s first-ever football team. I even watched him play."
"Wang Shuo and I are from neighboring villages. His aunt married soone from my village. He has a younger cousin who’s a really good student. Wang Shuo’s family was really poor; his dad was just a truck driver."
"When Wang Shuo was at the Huairun Football School, he played a match against our club. He was really good."
"Everyone, stop doubting. I’m in Germany. Let show you an article from *Bild* a couple of days ago. It’s about Bayern being interested in a young player from Mainz U19. This is the real deal, not so manufactured hype."
"I’m in Germany too. I specifically checked the German football match data. Everyone, take a look: Mainz U19 beat Bayern Munich U19 at ho, 4-3. Wang Shuo, hat trick."
"And this one: Frankfurt U19 lost at ho to Mainz U19, 0-4. Wang Shuo, another hat trick."
"The news is all true! Hat tricks in two consecutive gas. Even if it’s just youth league, that’s insanely good!"
"Holy shit! Way to go, Wang Shuo!"
"I think this guy’s got it. He’s only 17, playing up in the U19 league, and he’s already scoring back-to-back hat tricks?"
"To the guy above, don’t celebrate too early. Our youth players always look great, but then they fall apart when they make it to the senior team."
"Exactly. Who knows if he’s lying about his age? We should wait and see."
"To the two geniuses above, German data sites and dia outlets have all reported on it. You think they’re all faking it?"
"I heard Mainz is already preparing to apply for playing eligibility for Wang Shuo. Apparently, this would only be the third ti this has happened in Germany. Only a prodigy acknowledged by both the club and the German Football Association is even qualified to apply."
"That’s fucking aweso! When’s Mainz’s next match? We have to watch it live and support him!"
"Forget about it. A certain TV station doesn’t even broadcast the Bundesliga anymore, let alone the Second Bundesliga."
"Is there really no way to watch a live stream of the Second Bundesliga in China?"
"Co to our football forum! We’re trying to find a source for online streams of Second Bundesliga gas. We’ve also contacted Chinese students in Germany to go watch the gas in person. If all else fails, we’ll have a live text-and-photo feed, so everyone can get the latest info."
"For real? Post the link."
"Poster above is a legend! It’s not every day we have a player make it in a German league. We have to support him!"
"Bump! Bump! Bump!"
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