legendary midfielder

Chapter 2 Tangled Philip
The Voluwe White Star (nicknamed White Star) club is located in the Woluwe district of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. It used to be in the Belgian third division.

Here is a brief introduction to Belgium's unique league system: The Belgian Football League consists of 18 teams (16 teams in the First Division) and adopts a double round-robin system (each team plays against other teams twice as a home and away team).The points calculation method for a single game is that the winner gets 3 points, the loser gets 0 points, and the draw gets 1 point each.At the end of the league, the team with the first total points can be promoted directly, while No.3 in the three stages of the league (that is, rounds 1-10, rounds 11-22, and rounds 23-34) of the league will play a relegation play-off with the winner of the League A relegation play-off to determine the final promotion quota.

As a newly promoted team, Woluwe White Star Club should have purchased strong players in order to avoid relegation or achieve a good ranking.It is a pity that the club is short of funds and unable to purchase favorite players in the player supermarket, so the team has always regarded cultivating and discovering young players as the primary task of the team's survival.

Philippe Jaevin is the assistant coach of the first team of Voluwe White Star Club and the head coach of U21. He is good at training, especially good at offensive tactics training, and he is well-known in Belgium.

On this day, as usual, after eating a delicious breakfast, he drove to the club, ready to start preparations for the new season.

As soon as I arrived at the gate of the club, I saw a black-haired Asian teenager walking into the club with a backpack on his shoulders.

"Asian boy? Is it a new player recruited by the club? I haven't heard Mazu mention it, how strange." Philip muttered.

Matsu is the head coach of the team's first team. Under his leadership last year, the team finally entered the ranks of the second division.

Philip opened the car window and greeted the uncle Rutherford who was watching the door: "Hi, dear Rutherford, who is the young man who went in just now?"

"You mean that Chinese boy?" Old Rutherford stood up and waved at Philip. "He said he was here for a trial training. What is his name Zhangxu? Sorry, Mr. Philip, the pronunciation of Chinese names is really weird."

"Trial training? Chinese? Zhang?" Philip nodded thoughtfully, waved to Rutherford, and drove straight into the club.

Trials can be seen everywhere in Belgium, whether successful or not, it is not a rare thing.But this Chinese Zhang is almost a household name among the coaching staff of various Belgian clubs.

Why?From trial training in various clubs in France to various clubs in Belgium, no matter how many times he fails, he still pursues his football dream without changing his mind. No matter what his strength is, this infatuation for football is worth letting everyone remember this unique kid.

Philip has always been particularly fond of this kind of boy who bursts out his love for football from the bottom of his heart, even if this boy is from Eastern China, which is known as the football desert.So he couldn't wait for this trial boy from China.

Philip is usually responsible for the trial training, so after 10 minutes, he saw this unusual Chinese boy.

After introducing himself, Philip started the routine trial training procedure.Although he has a good impression of Zhang Xu, this does not prevent Philip from being meticulous about his work.

After an hour Philip had to shake his head in disappointment.Zhang Xu's physical condition is really good, even if he wins the Premier League, which is more competitive, he can have a place.

But for other sports, if it is an amateur team, it is not bad, but it is far from enough in professional football.

Zhang Xu's trial training was conducted with the players of the first team. The players laughed at Zhang Xu's rough skills and tactics at first, but Zhang Xu, who is cheerful and lively by nature and has no language barrier, quickly became friends with the players.

Later, the players began to actively help Zhang Xu, hoping to help Zhang Xu's trial training, because as professional players, they could see that Zhang Xu's level was really low.

"If there is no accident, I can only say no to this Chinese boy like the coaches of other clubs. Alas, what a pity!" Philip sighed. At the age of 46, he really couldn't see the ability and hope of this Chinese boy to gain a foothold in professional football.

Although the trial training usually lasts for a week, three or four days is enough to judge a player's ability and potential.

"Philip, it seems that this Chinese boy really doesn't have much potential! No wonder other clubs rejected him." The head coach of the first team, Ma Zu, was also curious about the famous Zhang Xu. After hearing that Zhang Xu came for a trial training, he also came down from the office building to watch Zhang Xu's trial training. After less than an hour, he spread his hands to Philip in disappointment and said with a wry smile.

"Yes, yes," murmured Philip, his eyes lost.

The first day of trial training was over soon. Philip looked at Zhang Xu's longing eyes, and couldn't say no to him for a while.

"Zhang, uh, what about today, how should I say it?" Philip didn't even know how to organize the words.

"Mr. Coach, I know that my performance is not good enough, and I will work hard tomorrow!" Zhang Xu's tone was firm and powerful.

"Uh, well, Zhang, then, then, see you tomorrow!" Philip unexpectedly said this sentence against his will.

"Okay! Mr. Coach! I will be on time tomorrow. Oh, no, I must arrive at the training ground early!" Zhang Xu was very grateful to this kind-hearted coach, just because he was the first coach who didn't directly say that he couldn't do it.

"Uh, damn it! I should have rejected him directly! Although it's a bit cruel to him, long-term pain is worse than short-term pain. The sooner he realizes the gap between himself and professional football, the less damage it will do to him!" Philip looked at Zhang Xu who was running away from the training ground, secretly annoyed.

"Forget it, tell him directly tomorrow!" Philip shook his head and left the training ground with a trace of regret.

The second day, the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day, and the sixth day's trial training were all over, but Philip saw Zhang Xu's more and more active training enthusiasm, and he still couldn't bear to say no to Zhang Xu.

If it weren't for Zhang Xu's lack of skill, he wouldn't want Zhang Xu to leave the team.Because he faintly discovered that Zhang Xu seemed to have a kind of magical power, which could easily make everyone around him accept and work hard with him.Since Zhang Xu came to the team, the atmosphere inside the team has become very harmonious, and the enthusiasm for training has become much higher than before. All of this is obviously inseparable from Zhang Xu.

"Philip, old man, when are you going to have a showdown with him?" On this day, the head coach Mazu couldn't help asking.

"Uh, today." Philip's tone was full of entanglements.

When Zhang Xu came to Philip again, waiting for his judgment with hope, Philip was tangled up again.

"Zhang, look, uh, you've been training with us for five days, shouldn't you go back to school?" Philip finally made up his mind and cryptically said what he meant.

"It's all right, Mr. Philip." After a few days of getting along, Zhang Xu has long been able to call out the name of this gentle gentleman with familiarity: "I passed the school exam long before I came here, so it doesn't matter if I try another week."

Philip wanted to slap himself in the mouth: "Uh, okay," he took a deep breath: "Then let me just say it, Zhang, you, you really, alas, really can't meet the requirements of professional football, okay, yes."

Seeing Zhang Xu bowing his head in extreme disappointment, Philip felt that he had done a heinous thing: "Zhang, you, don't come here again tomorrow!"

After the loss, Zhang Xu raised his head and said firmly: "Mr. Philip, please give me another day, okay? After the trial training is over tomorrow, I will leave the team, please! Is it okay, sir?"

"Uh," Philip smiled bitterly: "Can I say no?"

(End of this chapter)