Soccer: If they're using these kinds of cheats, what's the point of training?

After returning to Auxerre, Zhang Kuang immediately retrieved his bag and suitcase from the team's logistics department, then drove his Ferrari back to Paris.

The two games with a total of 5 goals each exploded across East and Southeast Asia at the end of last night's match. This is because such explosive strikers are rare among Asians. Before Son Heung-min emerged, there were almost no strikers like him, especially in the top five European leagues.

Therefore, the impact of his arrogant behavior on East and Southeast Asia can be imagined.

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The football communities in places like Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei have completely erupted after he scored five goals in two games.

Let's start with Hong Kong.

On Hong Kong's largest football forum, "Botai Forum," a post titled "Auxerre's Chinese striker Zhang Kuang scores two braces in two consecutive games, leading the top scorer list with five goals" has been pinned to the top by the administrator and has received over two thousand replies.

"What a fantastic goal! That second one-on-one chip shot was incredibly composed!"

"A hat-trick in the first game, a brace in the second game, and two consecutive MVP awards—you might not even be able to achieve these stats in a football manager game."

"Good job, mainland guy! I admit I was wrong to be pessimistic about him back then, I admit my mistake."

"His celebration is so cool, Siu—I do it every time I score a goal now."

"Does anyone know anything about his background? Why haven't I heard of him before?"

Soon, enthusiastic netizens dug up Zhang Kuang's resume—expelled from the national youth team, his father died in a car accident, was banned for five years, went to France alone for a trial, and scored a hat-trick in his debut.

The legendary nature of this story is even more astonishing than his goal-scoring statistics.

"Even a scriptwriter wouldn't dare write it like this."

"If this were a movie, I would say it's too exaggerated. But reality is even more exaggerated than movies."

"So he won't return to the national team? His post on Weibo was quite a scathing statement."

"Go back for what? His father died because of that national youth team incident. I wouldn't go back either."

"..."

Singapore.

The "Singapore Football Discussion Forum" isn't usually very active, given that Singapore's football atmosphere is far less vibrant than that of Europe and South America. But tonight, the forum's servers started lagging.

The administrator urgently posted an announcement: "Due to a surge in traffic, the forum may experience slow response times. Please be patient."

The comment section has been flooded with outrageous topics.

"This Chinese kid is the real deal. Five goals in two games in Ligue 1 is no joke."

"His positioning is a bit like Inzaghi's, his shooting is like Batistuta's, and his heading is like Ronaldo's. How did he train to achieve this?"

"Did anyone notice his physical confrontations? Nice's two defensive midfielders were knocked all over the place by him; that's not the physical condition of an Asian player at all."

"An Asian player? His physique is top-notch even among European players. I've seen Auxerre's physical test data; his physical strength is among the best in Ligue 1."

"Is anyone in Malaysia interested? I heard the owner of DT in Johor is already inquiring about him."

"Huh? Johor? Are you serious? He plays in Ligue 1, why would he go to Malaysia?"

"Asking isn't illegal, what if it happens?"

"..."

Fans from Malaysia and Indonesia also joined the discussion.

Indonesia's largest sports media outlet, Bola.net, published a lengthy article just two hours after the match, titled "Arrogance: From Suspension to Conquering Ligue 1, the Epic Football Story of a Chinese Teenager."

The article details Zhang Kuang's impressive resume, from domestic football schools to U20 training camps, from being expelled for fighting to his father's death in a car accident, from a five-year ban to venturing to France alone, from trials to a hat-trick in his debut, and now to scoring two braces in two consecutive matches.

The last paragraph of the article reads:

"In the history of Asian football, there have been many outstanding strikers. Cha Bum-kun of South Korea, Yasuhiko Okudera of Japan, Ali Daei of Iran, and Majid Abdullah of Saudi Arabia—they have all left their mark on European football."

But never before has an Asian striker conquered Europe in this way at the age of 18. His arrogance isn't just China's pride; it's the pride of all Asia.

This article was shared tens of thousands of times in Indonesia, and the comments section was filled with "Ayo Zhang" (Go Zhang!) and "Asia bangkit" (Asia is rising).

In Japan, the tone of the discussion is much more complex.

Japanese fans have mixed feelings about the player's arrogance—on the one hand, they are happy that Asia has produced a striker who can dominate in the top five leagues; on the other hand, the player is Chinese, and the rivalry between Chinese and Japanese football has a long history.

"Scoring five goals in two games is really amazing. As a fellow Asian player, I am proud."

"His headers are reminiscent of Cristiano Ronaldo. That jumping ability is amazing."

"Can't the Chinese national team call him back? He said he won't go back."

"It was the Chinese Football Association that kicked him out, wasn't it? He brought it on himself."

"Park Chu-young from South Korea also works very hard, but his rampant destructive power is on another level."

"That's an exaggeration. Park Chu-young did achieve results at Monaco. Jang Kwang has only played two games."

"Two games, five goals. How many games did Park Chu-young score five goals in for Monaco?"

"..."

Interestingly, when Japanese fans discuss his arrogance, they inevitably compare him to South Korean player Park Chu-young. The latter plays for Monaco, is also an Asian striker, and plays in Ligue 1, but Park Chu-young has only scored 6 goals this season in 19 matches.

Zhang Kuang caught up with him in just two games.

On South Korean fan forums, the atmosphere was even more delicate.

South Korean football has a strong sense of pride. They have players like Park Ji-sung, Lee Young-pyo, and Cha Du-ri who have established themselves in Europe's top five leagues, as well as top Asian stars like Park Ji-sung who plays for Manchester United. However, Park Ji-sung is a midfielder, not a striker.

In the striker position, South Korea has always lacked a player who can consistently score goals in top European leagues.

Zhang's arrogant appearance made South Korean fans feel threatened.

"Five goals in two games is outrageous. Is the defense in Ligue 1 really that bad?"

"His shooting power looks stronger than any player in our country."

"Park Chu-young scored six goals in nineteen appearances for Monaco, and this player has five goals in two games. It's not impossible for him to score twenty goals by the end of the season, is it?"

"Is the best striker in Asia now Chinese?"

"We also need a striker like that. Son Heung-min is still young, let's look forward to it."

"Son Heung-min hasn't even established himself in Hamburg yet, so he's not a good comparison point."

"..."

When Son Heung-min was mentioned, the tone of South Korean fans softened noticeably. The 18-year-old Son Heung-min is indeed already playing for Hamburg, but he's still just a rotation player and hasn't yet produced explosive statistics like Sang-kong.

South Korean fans know that if Son Heung-min cannot perform well in a short period of time, the position of Asia's top striker will likely be taken by this Chinese player.

The discussion in Taiwan carries a more complex local flavor.

On the football section of the PTT forum, posts about Zhang Kuang almost dominated the entire page.

"This mainland Chinese player is too good! Five goals in two games? Is it really that easy to rack up goals in Ligue 1?"

"I was stunned by his volley. He hit it without it touching the ground, and the ball was incredibly fast."

"I heard he was banned for five years by the Chinese Football Association, no wonder he wanted to play abroad."

"Is he mixed race? His physique doesn't look like that of a pure Asian."

"Looking at the photo, he looks a bit like Kaka, incredibly handsome."

"The key point is that he's only 18 years old. Five goals in two Ligue 1 matches at 18? What kind of monster is that?"

"So he's going to become a French citizen?"

"No, right? He said on his Weibo that he wouldn't return to the national team, but he didn't say he wanted to change his nationality."

"It's fine if we don't change it. So what if we're Chinese? Football knows no borders."

"..."