Starting with playing defensive midfield for Evergrande

Chapter 179 That old Fan, hanging out with these guys, you have to assume they're S
"Wow! Your popularity in China is terrifying!"

After being surrounded by dozens of police officers as he left the airport, Van Dyke couldn't wait to praise Su Hao's popularity as soon as he got into the car.

"Haha, Lao Fan, don't worry, once you officially appear, your popularity will definitely be high!"

Seeing Van Dijk's envious look, Su Hao naturally quickly comforted him.

Forehead.
The nickname "Old Van" is a nickname that Van Dijk gave himself during his time at the club.

I don't know where Van Dyke heard that, but he insisted that Su Hao call him that. And it wasn't just Su Hao who called him that; Van Dyke also forced Su Hao to use the title "Old Van" when introducing himself.

"Really? Su! Chinese people don't lie to other Chinese people!"

"Holy crap! Where did you learn so many Chinese internet slang terms?"

"Hey! I'll let you in on a secret, I've been using translation software to browse Chinese websites lately."

It's 1 p.m. Beijing time.

The van carrying Su Hao and Van Dijk finally drove slowly into the Beijing National Team training base located in the suburbs.

As Van Dijk got out of the car with Su Hao, Zheng Zhi and all the members of the national team, who had been waiting at the base, lined up and gathered around.

After all, he is the first player in the history of the national team to be a naturalized player, and he is at the level of a world-class center-back.

The national team takes this very seriously.

Not only were there flowers and a welcoming ceremony, but a CTV reporter was also present and recorded the scene to be broadcast on the evening's sports news.

"This is Zheng Zhi, our captain!"

After the welcoming ceremony was completed, Su Hao naturally led Van Dijk to introduce himself to his teammates one by one.

After Su Hao introduced Zheng Zhi, Van Dijk immediately offered his hands with a serious expression upon hearing that Zheng Zhi was the team captain.

"Zhen, hello, I'm Lao Fan, you can just call me Lao Fan from now on!"

This sentence was spoken in broken Chinese!

"Old Fan?"

Upon hearing the name, Zheng Zhi immediately looked at Su Hao with some curiosity.

"Don't look at me like that. He insisted on calling me that himself, saying that he had checked and that it would sound more friendly!"

"Haha, come on, Xiao Hao, you must have been the one fooling Van Dyke!"

"Alright, alright, Captain, now that you've shaken hands, I need to shake hands properly with my future golden partner too!"

Before Zheng Zhi and Van Dijk had even finished greeting each other, Feng Xiaoting burst in with a laugh and snatched Van Dijk's hands away.

"Hello! My borther, my name is feng xiaoting! Nice to meet you!"

The cheeky old Feng started speaking English with Van Dijk.

"Hi, my borther!"

However, to Feng Xiaoting's slight embarrassment, he only knew this one English phrase. After he took the initiative, Van Dijk assumed that Feng Xiaoting was truly fluent in English and launched into a string of greetings, also praising Feng Xiaoting by saying that he had watched Feng Xiaoting play and that he was one of the best defenders in China.

"Hey Haozi, what did he say?"

"Hahaha! You idiot, all you could say was one sentence and then you went up there to show off. Now you've embarrassed yourself!"

Qin Sheng was right behind Feng Xiaoting. When he saw Feng Xiaoting's bewildered expression, he immediately burst into laughter and mocked Old Feng.

At their first meeting, Van Dijk's old-fashioned manner put the national team players, who had been worried that the world-class center-back would put on airs, at ease.

Moreover, Van Dijk thoughtfully prepared a small gift for each of his national team teammates and coaching staff members.

It wasn't some expensive watch, but an Apple phone for each person.

Although they are all making a fortune in the Chinese Super League, after receiving a greeting gift from a world-class defender like Van Dijk, everyone immediately laughed and put their arms around Van Dijk's shoulders.

Some talked to Lao Fan about his performance in the Champions League, while others talked about taking Lao Fan to experience the local culture of his home country.

In short!
In just one day, Van Dijk integrated into the national team family almost without any obstacles.

However.
The first day was peaceful and harmonious for everyone.

But when the team started their first joint training session the next day, the atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

Yes!

Just as the veteran national team players had worried, Van Dijk simply couldn't integrate into the team's tactical system.

For example, when defending against Team B's counter-attack tactics, Van Dijk can always accurately find the first point and then put enough pressure on the player with the ball to force him to pass the ball out.

Van Dijk did a perfect job, it's just that Veigar just couldn't click with him.

Either he ran too slowly, allowing the opponent to complete a one-two pass, or he didn't mark the route, allowing the opponent to complete the pass.

Once, twice, three times.
After this happened several times, Van Dijk's smile gradually disappeared.

Van Dijk's smile vanished, and Feng Xiaoting, his partner, naturally began to tense up as well.

"Boss! Is this...?"

On the sidelines, seeing that Feng Xiaoting couldn't keep up with Van Dijk's pace at all, Wang Gang, who is now an assistant coach, also started discussing it with Lippi.

"Let's see. Feng is already the best player in the country. If he can't keep up with Van Dijk's pace, then we don't have anyone else to use. If all else fails, we'll have Van Dijk play as a deep-lying player and Feng play as a deep-lying player."

While Lippi and Wang Gang were discussing how to resolve this troublesome situation on the sidelines, Su Hao, who had also noticed something amiss on the field, walked directly to Van Dijk's side and whispered something in his ear.

After muttering a lot of words in hushed tones and exchanging a few more with Feng Xiaoting, Su Hao called for the training match to resume.

But when the training match resumed, something unexpected happened.

Yes!

The defense, which had looked completely disorganized just moments before, suddenly transformed.

Whenever Su Hao deliberately gave Team B an attacking opportunity in midfield, Van Dijk would immediately say "left" or "right" to Feng Xiaoting, along with a "dog" or "mememe".

That's how this series of commands, coupled with Van Dijk's downfall, came about.

This prevented Team B from penetrating Team A's penalty area even once in their subsequent attacks. "Haozi, what exactly did you say to Van Dijk?"

After the training match ended perfectly, Wang Gang, who was a little curious, naturally walked up to Su Hao and asked him about it.

"Brother Wang, I didn't say anything!"

"Bullshit! I don't believe you didn't say anything. How could they have gotten it if you hadn't said anything?"

"Ahem, Brother Wang, please don't tell anyone, or I'll never be able to face anyone again!"

"Okay, fine. You don't trust your brother Wang's character? If I leak this out, I'll have someone shave my head tomorrow!"

"Hehe, actually I didn't say much. I just explained to Van Dijk how I play!"

"Wow, you have a secret recipe!"

Upon hearing Su Hao's words, Wang Gang also became curious about why Su Hao could now cooperate so smoothly with the national team!
"Exactly... just slow down the pace, play like a U16 youth team, and don't expect your teammates to have any brains and cooperate with you. Just shout and direct them to move or do whatever they want!"

Youth training U16?
Don't expect to cooperate willingly with your brain.

This is basically treating all your teammates like idiots.
"You, you..."

"Haha, Brother Wang, we agreed to keep it a secret, you absolutely can't tell anyone!"

Wang Gang left the training ground with Su Hao in his arms, whispering to each other.

Meanwhile, on the training field, it seemed that Old Feng felt he had finally found a way to connect with Van Dijk, the world's top defender. He excitedly pulled Van Dijk aside to practice more and try to find that telepathic connection again.

Got it!
After hearing Feng Xiaoting's request through Zheng Zhi's translation.

Just when Lao Fan thought he could finally get some rest, he could only manage a forced smile.

"Okay, Feng, your performance is definitely getting better and better! It's so great to be your teammate!"

"Really? Lao Fan?"

"Yes, really, Feng, you need to know, Chinese people don't lie to other Chinese people!"

Upon hearing the phrase "Chinese people don't lie to Chinese people," Feng Xiaoting's eyes welled up with tears for some reason.

Old Feng was fooled by Old Fan.

This scene was naturally observed by Zheng Zhi, a seasoned veteran.
However, just as Zheng Zhi was thinking of going back to rest,
"Brother Zhi, why don't you stay and practice with us?"

I wiped it!
Five days passed quickly.

2015 6 Month 17 Day.

There are less than five days left until the official opening of the Asian Cup.

On this morning, the Chinese men's national football team, boasting the strongest duo in Asia, finally boarded a special plane bound for Australia amidst the farewells of countless reporters and fans.

Just before the plane took off.

CTV5 reporters interviewed Su Hao again, who had already stirred up media outlets across Asia with his declaration of victory.

And facing the reporter's camera.

Su Hao still looked as confident as ever.

"Twenty days from now, at this same airport, we will return with the trophy in hand!"

After saying that, Su Hao turned and left gracefully.

Su Hao spoke with great confidence!
Unsurprisingly, Su Hao's video of returning home with the trophy soon appeared in the news on major Asian media outlets.

The Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun broadcast this interview video of Su Hao in its midday report.

Moreover, not only was Su Hao's video played, but former famous Japanese soccer star Hidetoshi Nakata was also invited to comment on Su Hao's bold statement.

Originally, domestic fans expected Xiao Rizi's comments to be as sarcastic and dismissive as ever. However, to everyone's surprise, Hidetoshi Nakata stated with certainty that the Chinese team's probability of winning the championship is indeed the highest among all participating teams.

"Su Hao is a top-tier midfielder who is rare to find in Asia or even the world. He has world-class passing skills and a powerful header that can ignore any Asian defender. In addition to Su Hao, the Chinese team now also has one of the best center-backs in the world - Van Dijk! With a midfield and defense that are already at the level of world-class powerhouses, neither the Japanese nor the South Korean teams can pose much of a threat to the Chinese team!"

Hidetoshi Nakata's words were very insightful. Moreover, Japanese fans, who already admire strong teams, began to include China in the ranks of Asia's top teams after carefully analyzing Nakata's remarks.

But
Just as the Asahi Shimbun's report in Japan began to go viral, South Korea's KBS television station also broadcast Su Hao's remarks live in their special program "The Republic of Korea's Asian Cup Journey".

Moreover, KBS also invited Ahn Jung-hwan, who was the biggest contributor to the South Korean team in the Japan-Korea World Cup, and Park Ji-sung, South Korea's top football star who had just announced his retirement less than 20 days ago, to their live broadcast room.

"Haha. Sunbae Ahn Jung-hwan and Sunbae Park Ji-sung, you've both seen the video of Su's speech from China. What are your thoughts?"

As soon as Su Hao's interview video ended in the live broadcast room, the South Korean reporter, who had been covering his mouth and clearly mocking Su Hao's boastful words, immediately turned to look at his two guests.

In South Korea!
Especially in live broadcasts broadcast to all South Korean citizens.

Although he actually had a different answer in his heart, in order to please the numerous domestic fans in the live broadcast room who were mocking Su Hao, Ahn Jung-hwan still went along with the host's mocking tone and began his performance.

"China, haha, although they've strengthened their lineup with Su Hao and Van Dijk, their forward line lacks any truly threatening players. Not only is their forward line weak, but their flanks are also their biggest weakness in both attack and defense. In their current group, they should be able to beat Uzbekistan, but as for Saudi Arabia and North Korea, haha, I think they'll have a lot of trouble even qualifying from the group stage! What do you think, Zhixing?"

Park Ji-sung, sitting next to Ahn Jung-hwan, clearly understood that what the Chinese man, Su, said wasn't an exaggeration.

But since his senior was already going along with the host's wishes to please the audience, how could he, being a shrewd person, invite criticism for no reason?
He grabbed the microphone and gave Ahn Jung-hwan a look that said "look at me."

"Yes! Senior Jeong-hwan, I think the same way. Football is not a sport for one person. Although the Chinese team's midfield is indeed stronger than other teams with Su Hao, apart from Su Hao and Van Dijk, no other player on the Chinese team poses much of a threat. If they meet our Republic of Korea, I think it would not be difficult for us to defeat or even win by a large margin!"

"Yes, yes, yes, I completely agree with the assessments of the two seniors. Given the current group stage, if South Korea does well, it's very likely that the final of this Asian Cup will be between us and China! Oh dear! What am I saying?! Haha, China making it to the final... that really doesn't seem very likely?"

The program has ended.

Unsurprisingly, given the South Korean nationalistic mindset that handsome fathers must be number one and South Korea absolutely number two, this program became a huge hit.

Countless South Korean fans began circulating videos online of a host mocking the Chinese team, suggesting they might not even make it out of the group stage.

Moreover, many South Korean fans even posted the video directly on Su Hao's social media account.

That evening, after arriving at the hotel where the Chinese team was staying and taking a shower, Su Hao habitually opened his laptop and soon saw a video on Twitter of South Korean fans mocking him.

What's Su Hao's temper like?
With even the Barcelona team daring to operate independently, how could Su Hao possibly tolerate the Koreans?
After typing a sentence in a flurry, Su Hao promptly posted it!

"I really hope to meet the South Korean team in the final! Because we want to set a new record for the biggest score difference in Asian Cup history with the South Korean team!"

(End of this chapter)