Team Spirit

Chapter 57: China's Buffon, Youth Has You (Please Share)
Two years ago, Yang Chen joined Bundesliga Frankfurt, Fan Zhiyi and Sun Jihai joined League One Crystal Palace, and at the beginning of this year, Xie Hui joined German Second Division Aachen, which more or less satisfied the delusion that "Chinese football can reach the world's top level at this stage."

For a time, all the players took this as a benchmark and gradually became overambitious.

As a result, if a player wants to join the third-level league or below, he will be criticized by the domestic media, who say that they are shameful, self-degrading, and causing the level of domestic football to be looked down upon.

But there are also those who take a different approach.

There was a young player in Dalian Shide who suffered from a lack of playing opportunities. After returning from loan, he was told by the team that it would still be impossible for him to play in the first team next season and there was no hope of making a breakthrough.

The young player just thought about going abroad to play football.

He is definitely not good enough for a big club.

But probably with the guidance of an expert, he actually thought of joining Dartford!

Firstly, Dartford is quite popular in China, so joining here would make a splash. It is better than going to a secondary league with absolutely no traffic.

Although many secondary leagues have reached the second, third and fourth levels in England.

Secondly, Dartford is more popular in England and has become the best springboard for some players who want to join the top teams.

They have several players going to Manchester United and Arsenal for trial this summer.

If you don’t get stuck with such a good bug right in front of you, you’re not a Chinese.

Thirdly, this player is not yet 19 years old. If he joins an English team now, he will be included in the local youth training after three years.

The English Football Association does not have strict work permit appearance restrictions for leagues below the fourth level, that is, below the professional league.

So even if the player fails to get an olive branch from a top club through Dartford, he can continue to play for Dartford or try to join a team in the fifth or sixth level.

No matter where you are, once the three-year period is up, you will get the status of a local youth training camp and gain an extra layer of competitiveness.

Just like the teacher’s certificate, you have to take the test first.

It's better than sitting on the bench in the country.

Just by listening to Fan Zhiyi, Lu Kai guessed the opponent's court position.

It must be the goalkeeper.

Only the goalkeepers with the longest professional life can come to low-level teams to "test" their qualifications based on the principle of giving it a try first and then seeing if there is any result.

For players like forwards who rely on their youth, this kind of planning should never be done.

Dalian Shide, around 18 years old, goalkeeper, just returned from loan... With these factors added together, the opponent's identity is obvious.

That’s right, he is An Qi!
She was a trainee in the second season of Youth With You, made her debut successfully with the sixth place, joined THE9 group and became the captain. Um, no... not this An Qi.

It’s Dalian Shide Youth Team goalkeeper An Qi!

He didn't get a chance to play in the team for a long time.

A year later, his career took a turn for the better when he was selected for the Chinese team coached by Milu, and he quickly grew into a hot rising star in the country.

He was once called "Chinese Buffon" by fans.

Unfortunately, he fell into a slump in 2005 due to the zipper gate incident, ruptured his cruciate ligament in 2008, and retired in 2010.

In 2018, photos of him selling cherries at a roadside stall were exposed by netizens, causing people to sigh and becoming a hot topic.

In response to this, An Qi calmly said, "Selling cherries makes more money than playing football... If hard work can make my family live a better life, I can do more."

With this traffic, An Qi returned to football and became a goalkeeper coach.

It was precisely because the other party was An Qi that Lu Kai agreed to Fan Zhiyi without hesitation.

Apart from anything else, An Qi is definitely a hundred times stronger than Dartford's current goalkeeper Jason.

Originally, Lu Kai had other options for the goalkeeper position, but they were too young, so having An Qi as a transition player was just the right thing to do. Everyone was just making do, and no one looked down on anyone else.

However, it is not easy for An Qi to come to Dartford. After all, he is from Dalian Shide, and the team may not be willing to let him go.

As expected, this matter has caused a wave of discussion in the country.

Domestic media have criticized An Qi for not being enterprising and not playing in the second-tier Chinese football league but going to the eighth-tier English league.

What? So our top domestic league is not even considered a professional league in England?
Of course, some people also saw that An Qi wanted to get an olive branch from a wealthy club through Dartford. Once she joined a wealthy club and completed her gilding, she would immediately become a hot commodity even if she returned to China.

What a roundabout way to save the country!
Dalian Shide therefore directly offered a price of 300,000 pounds and would not release the player unless the money was paid!

Dartford ignored them.

As one of the top central defenders in Asia, Fan Zhiyi joined Crystal Palace for only 750,000 pounds.

How could An Qi be worth three hundred thousand pounds?

In recent years, whether in football or basketball, there is a huge gap between the valuation of players in China and abroad.

What people look at domestically is the comprehensive expectations, that is, what the player’s future will be like, including popularity and commercial value.

What foreign countries look at is the existing strength and potential at the competitive level.

Finally, Fan Zhiyi used the domestic football support fund and lent An Qi some money to help An Qi raise 300,000 RMB and successfully redeem himself from Dalian Shide.

An Qi joined Dartford on a free transfer.

The reason why Dalian Shide is willing to recover only this "cost fee" is because the results of the Dartford players' trials at Arsenal are out.

Thomas Madeira and Tim Eastwood were both returned by Arsenal.

This also made the front pages of several football media in England.

Many people are laughing at Dartford.

The "Green Gun Five Tigers" who were once the shining stars in the eyes of fans, none of them could leave that remote little pond.

One or two of them, it can be said that the big teams don’t know the value of it.

The 100% return rate clearly shows that the level of the Five Tiger Generals is too low.

Football News: "Amateurs are amateurs! Anyone in China who claims Dartford can win the championship by playing in China's top league will be treated as a football idiot!"

Southern Daily: "What a shame! No one in England cares about green guns, but you've treated them like treasures for the past six months?"

The tide receded, the domestic green gun wave died down, and the red gun became the mainstream again.

An Qi joining Dartford is equivalent to self-exile. How can there be any chance for her value to double?
Only then did Dalian Shide agree to let go.

But just as An Qi left the country, new news came back to China.

An Qi's new club Dartford was promoted out of thin air and will compete in the seventh-level league in England in the new season!
From ninth to seventh, two jumps in one year, creating another miracle.

This incident was also recorded in many European football media.

……

Dartford, England.

When An Qi reported to the team, Royal VCD had not yet officially started training.

To be honest, he regretted it when he saw the container-like tactical meeting room, team office, and player locker room that looked like a mobile toilet next to the stadium.

Aren’t these conditions too bad?

Um, Dad Shide, how about we discuss this again?
(End of this chapter)