Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Finally, Coach Wang Tie wanted to insert Lu Ang into the school’s soccer team.
Coach Wang Tie said, “Everyone, take note. Today, I’ll introduce a new team member. Lu Ang, he’ll be a member of our team from now on and train with us.”
Lu Ang, who was wearing sports glasses, said, “Hello everyone, my name is Lu Ang.”
One of the players, Ai Wu, said to Chang Yu, who was next to him, “Isn’t this the Four-Eyes who was training alone at the other venue? Why is he on our team?”
Chang Yu said, “Look at him, he has the same name as that Lu Ang. How can he even compare to him, hahaha.”
In the end, the two of them were so loud that the others heard them. The entire team laughed.
Captain Wu Youming said, “Hey, no discrimination within the team. Coach told me about Lu Ang’s situation. He’s also from our school, but he was taking a break from school to play soccer.” Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Ai Wu.
Chang Yu said in surprise, “Oh my god, taking a break from school to play soccer? Sigh, what a pity. You’re probably just as pitiful as us. Even though I don’t know where you used to play soccer, your role in this team probably is to act as a chaperone. You won’t even have the chance to play. After all, there really weren’t any players who wore sports glasses in the competition.”
Lu Ang had been listening to their conversation. He didn’t know how to respond, so he said, “It’s not that bad.”
That was because he did not like to talk when he was in the Youth Soccer League.
Wu Youming continued. “Since you’ve joined our team, we’re all brothers. Everyone welcomes you. Besides, there are also people with short-sightedness in our team. Lu Ang, I’m the captain. If you don’t know anything in the future, you can ask me. For people like them, I’ll help you deal with them after training.”
Lu Ang nodded.
Wu Youming said, “Ai Wu and Chang Yu just like to bicker. Don’t mind them. Let’s train together.”
Seeing that he was so nervous, Ai Wu also patted Lu Ang on the shoulder. “Yes, yes, yes. Please don’t take it to heart. Our team likes to joke around. The atmosphere is quite good. Also, we’ve seen you training at another venue. It’s not bad.”
The players applauded. After all, they were all players on the same team just joking around.
Lu Ang forced a smile.
Coach Wang Tie said, “This year’s competition will start a little earlier. We will be taking part in our Anxi City’s University Soccer League. Previously, there were a total of six universities participating. This year, there are two more universities, making it a total of eight universities. The top ranked team in this league will participate in the main tournament of the Zhongju Province. There will be a total of five teams from five cities—Andong, Anxi, Anbei, Annan, and Anzhong. The top five teams will compete with one another respectively. The final winner will become the representative of Zhongju Province participating in the National University Soccer League.”
Chang Yu’s gaze suddenly became resolute. “Actually, it’s about the same as before. It’s just that we have to pass many obstacles.”
Coach Wang Tie said, “Right, but when it comes to the national rankings, it won’t be a point system anymore. It will be an elimination round.”
This is like a mini World Cup. Lu Ang thought.
Coach Wang Tie said, “Everyone, train hard. This year there are two more universities in our city that formed a soccer team. As you know, there are many teams, so you have to work harder. Last year, we lost to the neighboring Andong University. We didn’t represent our province in the competition.”
The team members responded, “Yeah, we can’t accept this.”
Wu Youming said, “That’s why everyone has to work harder. Only when we reach the University Soccer League will the professional teams see us.”
Coach Wang Tie nodded. He was glad to see his team members’ excited faces, but he reminded them, “Don’t let your guard down in Anxi City’s University Soccer League. There are many skilled athletes in the top few cultural schools.”
The team members all understood this, because many of the higher-level players would also choose the sports departments from the stronger schools.
Coach Wang Tie asked, “Where’s the camera? Why isn’t it here yet?”
Wu Youming asked, “Coach, are you talking about Mengyin? She said that she doesn’t have enough battery on her DSLR and it’s still charging.”
Mengyin? Xia Mengyin? Lu Ang thought to himself.
His mind was filled with questions.
Coach Wang Tie looked at his watch. “Alright then, let’s start practicing first. When she arrives, we’ll start the small-scale competition.”
The team members nodded.
Chang Yu was puzzled. “Didn’t she say two weeks ago that she was preparing for her internship and wouldn’t come?”
Wu Youming said, “I think she’s not shortlisted in the internship.”
When the team members heard this, they were all shocked. How could this be? Lu Ang also looked at them in surprise and thought of something.
First, he practiced his shooting skills on the field. Then, he raised his legs high and squatted down… After a series of warm-ups, he practiced his endurance and ran circles around the soccer field.
This was nothing to Lu Ang, because his training at the soccer school was even stricter than here. Besides, he had been training alone at Anxi City Sports University for more than a month.
Coach Wang Tie said, “Same old rules. There’s a new team member joining today. We’re going to run laps, completing 10 km. Let’s compete on speed.”
This was to test the maximum endurance of the team members running continuously without dribbling. In fact, this kind of competition was not a standard physical training program. It was just that Coach Wang Tie liked to do this when new members came. The last time such a competition was held was 10 months ago.
As he spoke, Wang Tie had already picked up the timer. He instructed the players to take note of things. They just had to do it according to their own abilities. There was no need to purely pursue speed. Then, he put the whistle to his mouth. The technical data book was already in his left hand.
Chang Yu placed his hand on Lu Ang’s shoulder. “Sigh, Brother, show me how you run.”
Lu Ang replied, “Okay.”
They quickly calculated how they should split the 10km. When Wang Tie whistled, everyone started running.
Out of the 25 players, Lu Ang was in fourth place at the start, but he was always faster than Chang Yu. Lu Ang had a notebook that was specially used to record some scientific data about himself, as well as some physical data related to soccer. It was all to make his soccer game more scientific.
Chang Yu said, “Brother, don’t be so hard on yourself just because we were talking about you just now. If you get too tired later, you might hurt yourself.”
Lu Ang said, “No, I’m fine.”
Lu Ang was already the tallest in the team. He was even taller than the captain and goalkeeper, Wu Youming. His legs looked long too. Although his weight had only increased to 80 kg, he was still 5 kg behind his previous weight, and 9 kg behind Coach Wang Tie’s target weight.
As the goalkeeper, Wu Youming had to train his stamina by running 5 km every time. However, at this time, he would still accompany his team members. His long-distance running speed was not as fast as the midfielders and defenders, so he was behind them.
Coach Wang Tie looked at Lu Ang on the field. He was indeed a player suitable to play as a defender.
Coach Zhang had once reminded him to keep it a secret, and treat Lu Ang like a normal player.