The 2004-2005 Ligue 1 season started in early August. Metz's first game was to face Nantes at home, and the specific time was 4:30 pm on August 7.

Although Ribery, who had been observing, did not show any flattering qualities in the warm-up match, except for her fast speed and liked to break through, he was selected into the roster and was also the starting list. This decision was somewhat unexpected by the local media, and they all said that Ribery must have let Fernandez's long-lost nephew - otherwise it would be impossible to explain why such a mediocre former amateur player who was able to get the starting qualification for the first league game as soon as he joined the Metz team. You must know that Chu Zhongtian, who is also an amateur player and is favored by the Premier League team Chelsea, did not even make the roster here.

When Xu Xiaodi heard that Chu Zhongtian had not even made the 18-man roster, he was very disappointed.

Originally, Chu Zhongtian planned to practice for himself while the team was going to the game, but Fernandez asked him to watch the game on the spot, and even the tickets were prepared for him.

The purpose of this is to give him a close experience of the French top league.

"I like your diligence, but Chu. It's not possible to just bury his head and practice hard. You have to see how others play football and learn more to make progress." Fernandez said to Chu Zhongtian.

A month has passed, and Chu Zhongtian can basically understand what the coach said.

He nodded and replied in French that he was not very skilled: "Okay, coach."

He actually wanted to ask the head coach why he didn't even play warm-up matches on loan. But he was worried that his French was not good and that he said the wrong words without expressing his meaning, which caused misunderstandings.

At least Coach Fernandez is still very concerned about him now, so he can only wait patiently.

On August 7, Chu Zhongtian came from the apartment alone to the home court of Metz, the stade_saint-symphorien. When he felt that the outside of the stadium was full of people, French fans were talking about the first game of Metz in accent that he still couldn't understand.

Chu Zhongtian felt very curious. This was not the first time he saw fans entering the court, but French fans and English fans still had some differences. When entering the court, English fans would sing songs and show others their energy enthusiastically. However, the Metz fans here were a little quiet. They also made sounds when entering the court, but most of the time they were talking, not singing. Maybe they would become enthusiastic after entering the court and going to the stands?

Metz fans account for the vast majority, wearing red Metz jerseys, waiting in line to check in for tickets. Those wearing yellow jerseys are fans of the visiting team Nantes. The fans of both sides look very friendly before the game, and they get together to chat and then laugh together are common.

Chu Zhongtian felt that French football and English football were indeed completely different. Different cultural backgrounds gave birth to different footballs, so he had to take some time to adapt.

Just as he looked around, looking around like a curious baby who had first come to the world, he felt someone touched behind him.

At first he thought it was a normal body touch with the crowd, but he ignored it. Later, several rhythmic touches came in succession, and he felt that this might be calling him.

Looking back, I saw two Chinese faces - don’t ask him how he knew that the two yellow-skinned, dark-haired and black-pupiled faces were Chinese, not Japanese, Korean, and Korean... He just knew that the two people in front of him were Chinese, maybe it was a telepathy?

Those two faces looked very tender, not tall, and were smiling in surprise.

"It's really Brother Chu Zhongtian!" the taller boy shouted in Chengdu dialect.

"Do you know me?" For the past month, Chu Zhongtian's ears were all French and French. There were occasionally some English. I had never heard of Chinese, let alone Chengdu dialect in my hometown.

"Who doesn't know?" said the taller boy, laughing, "You are so famous. We watched your competition when we were still in Chengdu!"

Have you seen my game?

Chu Zhongtian thought that meeting an old friend in a foreign land was a great joy in life, but he didn't expect that he would meet fans in a foreign land... "That FA Cup, we watched it! Your two balls were so beautiful!" The taller boy smiled, his smile as bright as the sunshine that afternoon. Although he was quite young, he could already tell that he would be a handsome guy in the future.

Although he was very happy to be praised, Chu Zhongtian still didn't understand who the two people in front of him were, so he asked, "I'm sorry, you are..."

"Oh, I'm just happy!" The young man slapped his face, "I'll introduce myself. My name is Wang Hao, from Chengdu, Sichuan, and his name is Jiang Ran, from Wuhan. Like me, he plays football in the Metz Youth Team!"

Chu Zhongtian realized this... He had known before that several players were sent to Metz for trial training in Chengdu. In the end, he was selected by Metz club and only two people were left to sign the contract. They were called Wang Hao and Jiang Ran... On the day he signed with Metz, a Chinese reporter asked him about his comments on these two people.

Later, because he was busy training and learning language, Chu Zhongtian completely forgot that he had two of his compatriots and fellow villagers in the club. He really didn't expect to meet him on such an occasion.

"Hello, Brother Chu." The young man next to him who looked quite quiet nodded to Chu Zhongtian after Wang Hao introduced him. Unlike Wang Hao, Jiang Ran spoke Mandarin with a Hubei accent. Chu Zhongtian used to think that Wang Hao and Jiang Ran were both from Chengdu, Sichuan, but he didn't expect that Jiang Ran was from Wuhan, Hubei.

"Ah... I'm so sorry, I always wanted to see you, but I don't have time..." Chu Zhongtian felt embarrassed about this. Everyone is Chinese and they play football in the same club, but as the older brother, he never thought of going to visit his younger brother. They are not as good as themselves. They have been training abroad for many years. They are the first time they go abroad. In Metz, who is not familiar with the place, they must miss home and be lonely. Logically speaking, as a veteran, they should take care of them more often, but they were stumbling over language problems before and couldn't even take care of themselves. Naturally, they didn't expect his two little brothers. In fact, no matter whether they knew each other or not before, since they were in a club and were both Chinese, they should take care of each other.

"We know!" Wang Hao looked much more lively than Jiang Sheng, and he liked to laugh. He was not old, but he was more mature than Jiang Sheng. "We secretly went to see you training, Brother Chu. He is quite hardworking!"

Chu Zhongtian smiled. He had a good impression of Wang Hao. Maybe it was because everyone is from Chengdu and was very cheerful and lively. In this unfamiliar environment, he has always been training and learning languages, but he can't play football. Recently, Chu Zhongtian was feeling a little depressed, but he finally got better after meeting his fellow townsmen Wang Hao and Jiang Ran.

Since you are called "Brother Chu", you have to look like a big brother: "Let's go, let's watch the football!"

He stretched out his hand and put his arms around the shoulders of the two teenagers and mixed into the crowd.

※※※ Chu Zhongtian came to the game because Fernandez asked him to come and let him learn in the stands, while Wang Hao and Jiang Ran came to the game because they had nothing to do, so they wanted to watch the first team game of Metz. They were also a little curious about what the top leagues abroad looked like. So two young men who couldn't even speak French went on a road together. Chu Zhongtian still admired them a little, and you have to know that one of them was only fourteen and the other was only fifteen years old. Thinking about what he was doing when he was fourteen or five years old, Chu Zhongtian felt that this was the gap.

When the three of them came to the stands, the players on both sides were warming up on the court. They found a good seat and stood there to watch the players warm up.

Chu Zhongtian easily found Frank Ribery from Mess. It was not because he could clearly see the scars on Ribery's face from a distance, but because Ribery's kicking movements were very special, and he could tell at a glance that the person playing football was Ribery.

To be honest, Chu Zhongtian was very envious when he saw Ribery warming up on the court - he wanted to be there too.

When I was playing football at Wimbledon, I was always the protagonist on the court. I had been sitting in the stands and watching other people's games for a long time. Unexpectedly, when Metz came, everything would have to start over.

Looking around me, except for Wang Hao and Jiang Ran whom I just met, my eyes were full of strangers. In the UK, there were Uncle John, Mr. Bent, Philip and Kenny who loved to be funny... Chu Zhongtian discovered that after those two years, he was no longer accustomed to living alone.

After the game started, he threw all the distracting thoughts aside and watched the game with concentration. Since coach Fernandez asked him to watch the ball and study, then study hard.

The game itself is actually quite plain. Perhaps because this is the first game since the start of the season, both teams are obviously not in the game yet. "Scarface" Ribery, just like his performance in the warm-up match, used his speed to create several troubles for the rear of Nantes, and then fell into the quagmire of fighting alone.

"Why don't you pass the ball? There was a good pass opportunity just now..." Wang Hao didn't pass the ball just now, but just took it out of the baseline and couldn't understand it. His position was the front midfielder, and the passing organization was his duty. He and Ribery were completely different types of players. Naturally, he couldn't understand Ribery, a player who was born in the field, was wearing No. 10, but was playing on the wing. He kept dribbling the ball and hitting Nantes' defense line on the side. Nantes players were a little afraid of Ribery's speed breakthrough at first, but later found that he almost didn't pass the ball and only broke through by himself, and then he was no longer afraid of it - the most important thing for professional players is the wild player who only dribbles and not pass the ball. Strict tactical discipline and long-term development of the position are enough to block Ribery.

The game was not exciting, and both sides played for nearly 80 minutes without scoring, so the main job of the TV commentator was to criticize Ribery and Jean Fernandez.

"Ribery again! It's a personal breakthrough again! It's a goal loss again! I'm wondering what can that former C player do besides losing the goal?"

"Actually, Ribery's poor performance in this game did not surprise me, because I didn't have any expectations for him... What surprised me was that Mr. Fernandez used his personnel, he replaced Gayer and replaced Toum, but he just did not replace Ribery. I now believe that the local media's report on the relationship between them is correct - Ribery and Fernandez must be related!"

In the 87th minute, a goal finally appeared on the field. The goal was Metz. In the 68th minute, the forward Richard Socrier (richard_socrier) received a pass from another Metz midfielder Ludovic_obraniak (ludovic_obraniak) and easily pushed the ball into the goal.

This is the only goal in the whole game!

When the football rolled into the net from Nantes goalkeeper Mickaël_landreau, the stands at the Saint-Mount Forian Stadium finally boiled. Everyone stood up from their seats and cheered with their arms raised.

“un_buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

The stadium broadcast yelled in French, "The ball has entered!"

Even Chu Zhongtian, Wang Hao, Jiang Ran and others couldn't help but jump up and yelled together - this ball appeared at the last moment. If Metz team can win in the end, this ball is crucial! Wang Chu and Jiang Ran shouted "Yeah", while Chu Zhongtian shouted "goooooooooal". No matter what, they are now Metz's players, and they share the honor and disgrace with Metz. They are happy that Metz performs well. If Metz's performance is not good, they will not have any good mood.

After the goal, Sorill rushed to Oblaniak who assisted him, and the other players rushed up to hug them. Only Frank Ribery stood outside the crowd and shook his head in disappointment - because he had nothing to do with the goal.

The team's head coach Fernandez also clenched his fists and walked out of the coach's seat. He waved his fists and then clapped.

"I was thinking that Mr. Fernandez can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe he needs to re-evaluate Ribery's ability after this game. The next game, this scary-looking Metz No. 10, should not appear in the team's starting list..." The commentator did not forget to tease Fernandez at this time and continued to criticize Ribery.

When Ribery was hanging out in a low-level team, it never attracted people's attention, so when the head coach Fernandez decided to introduce Ribery, everyone was asking "who is he?" Some people even thought Fernandez was a mess and actually fell in love with a young boy who played in the Division C. It was even more incredible to let him wear the No. 10 jersey.

Ribery's performance in this game seemed to confirm the views of their doubters.

After the game, the goal-scoring hero Sorill was surrounded by the media for an interview, while other players gathered to celebrate their first victory in the new season.

Chu Zhongtian looked at Soriel who was surrounded by reporters and was a little envious. He had enjoyed all this. But it was gone... He suddenly remembered the advice of head coach Eames to him when he was leaving Wimbledon Athletics.

When you go to a professional team, you will encounter all kinds of troubles and difficulties. You need to learn to deal with many interpersonal relationships and learn to deal with many non-football difficulties. Compared with these, the difficulties in football are simply a piece of cake.

You must adjust your mindset and start over again.

You are nothing after Wimbledon Sports, boy... He clenched his fists tightly and then let go. He will no longer complain about why he can't even play a warm-up match, because he is an amateur player himself. He will not think about how long it will take to play the game. He only practices and learns, and one day the chance of the game will come to him. Before that, he has to be prepared.

He patted his two little brothers on the shoulders: "Let's go, to celebrate Metz's victory in the first game of the new season, I'll treat you to a meal!"

"Wow!" Wang Hao shouted in surprise. "If you want to get it, you have to get it!"

Jiang Ran also nodded vigorously: "Okay!"

※※Ribery's performance in the first game may be a bit too much to describe it as "disastrous", but after the game, local media from Metz and some national media criticized and satirized Ribery's performance. They believed that Ribery was not worthy of wearing "No. 10".

"How can a player who never passes the ball and only knows how to break through the ball in a No. 10 jersey? I can't understand Jean Fernandez's idea. Although he has trained Zidane, it doesn't mean that he is right in everything. In Ribery, I must say: Mr. Fernandez, you are wrong!"

"I believe that in half a season, this kid will disappear from our eyes and return to the C League. He should have belonged there."

"I'm not saying that players who play wild football cannot become stars, it's certainly impossible to be a guy named Frank Ribery."

Ribery is famous, but what he gives is "infamous".

No one is optimistic about the future of Ribery in Metz, or even in the professional league.

The situations that Ribery encountered after the first round of the league seemed to be sounding a wake-up call for Chu Zhongtian - you are all from low-level leagues, and you are all amateur players. No one here will ever be optimistic about you, even if you wear a hat named "Chelsea" than Ribery.

This happened not long after.

French media paid a little attention to this Chinese player at the beginning. After all, he was a Chinese, which made people curious. Later, after he was reported that he couldn't even play the game, he stopped paying attention. Chinese media also began to be unwilling to be interested, and there were even many voices in China questioning Chu Zhongtian's decision to choose to play in Ligue 1 instead of the Belgian league. They believed that Chu Zhongtian chose Ligue 1 just because Ligue 1 was the top league, just to satisfy his vanity. Looking at Dong Fangzhuo's performance in the Belgian league, he had already scored his first goal to join Antwerp, and the situation between the two was simply a mess.

Chu Zhongtian didn't know what the outside world said about him, but he sympathized with Ribery, perhaps because they had the same identity and the location in the locker room was close to each other.

In the first training class after the competition, Ribery seemed to be indifferent when she came to train, and it seemed that the media comments had a great influence on him.

Chu Zhongtian suddenly walked forward and patted Ribery on the shoulder. Then he said to him in French that he had only asked Miss Mathilde last night: "Come on!" and also gave him a thumbs up.

Ribery was a little surprised at first, and then she saw Chu Zhongtian smiling and giving a thumbs up, and she also laughed. He also gave Chu Zhongtian a thumbs up and said, "Thank you. So are you."

The two had a substantial contact for the first time.

Chu Zhongtian suddenly thought of the day he joined the team. When head coach Jean Fernandez mentioned Ribery, he said to himself: "I hope you can become friends."

Maybe he can really become friends...※※※ Xu Xiaodi still sticks to Metz. He despises the views in China very much. "How good would it be if Chu Zhongtian had also gone to Belgium? The competition there was not fierce, and he would be able to play in the game soon. It is not better than being forgotten in Ligue 1?" "Maybe it is because Metz offers a higher price?" "In fact, Chu Zhongtian's ability is limited. He performed well before because he played in the amateur league, and his performance with Chelsea was because Chelsea did not pay attention to him at all..."

Those people obviously don’t understand Chu Zhongtian, so they think so. Chu Zhongtian was an amateur player before. No matter where he goes, he had to start from scratch. How could he reach the sky in one step?

He did not tell Chu Zhongtian the voice in the country because he was afraid of affecting Chu Zhongtian's mentality.

Chu Zhongtian continues to train every day, but his mentality has improved a lot. Although he still can't play the game, he made a friend of Ribery. The two young men with the same experience and are almost the same age are close because Chu Zhongtian takes the initiative to show kindness in the locker room. He now chats with Ribery in their French language and often needs to catch gestures. Despite this, in order to understand the meaning, they often have a bad talk, but they are very happy. Ribery knows that Chu Zhongtian's skills are not very good, and sometimes he often teaches him some small skills. Chu Zhongtian kindly reminds him that he should pay more attention to passing the ball to his teammates during the game... In addition, he still has time and leisure to go to the youth training camp to visit the two Chinese young players Wang Hao and Jiang Ran, and then give them some advice based on his years of wandering abroad and help them do things that they can't do at the moment.

Occasionally, they would be invited to their apartment, and he would cook himself, cook a table of good dishes for the two little brothers, and give them a tooth-beating sacrifice to relieve their thoughts and emotions due to their unaccustomed to eating and living.

At the same time, the three of them also encouraged each other. No matter how many difficulties they were, they must make a personal appearance in Metz!

Wang Hao and Jiang Ran have both played in Mets' youth team one after another, and Jiang Ran even scored a goal. He was always very happy during the goal. As a commendation, Chu Zhongtian also made a meal for him personally. Although it was Sichuan cuisine, he, a Wuhan native, also had a relish.

In Metz's Chinese trio, there is only Chu Zhongtian, the oldest, who has not played for Metz yet.

But Chu Zhongtian didn't think about this. When Wang Hao and Jiang Ran talked about their game in front of him, Chu Zhongtian listened carefully and did not feel any displeasure. For him, he had already felt his own progress in training, which was enough. His current ball control skills have improved compared to when he was playing in Wimbledon.

Now is the time when the quantitative change accumulates. When the equal quantity changes to the critical point, it will naturally transform into qualitative change.

Perhaps those who care about Chu Zhongtian are gradually losing patience.

Chu Zhongtian, who had experienced that game, was very patient. He had been pursuing his football ideal for more than ten years, intermittently and repeatedly, with twists and turns and storms. He had all these. What reason could he not be patient and continue to wait?

There will always be one day that soars into the sky, and there will always be one day that reappears in everyone's sight. By then, he will not be an unknown little fish, but a dragon roaming in the world.
Chapter completed!