The tense, fulfilling and busy pre-season training camp has finally ended. August 6 is the first round of the English Championship. Before that day, Russell gave the whole team a day off. After a month of high-intensity training, he should relax, otherwise it would be too strict and someone would be injured.

After a short holiday, the team gathered at home and welcomed their first opponent in the new season - Burnley.

This game is not the opening match of the English Champions League this season, but this game has attracted a lot of attention from the media, and the number of people reporting on this game even exceeds the opening match. This reality makes the English Football League Committee a little embarrassed - the opening match that has spent a lot of money and energy to publicize, and it is easy for Chu Zhongtian to steal all the limelight.

In fact, they have no choice. Who has made the league schedule already scheduled? It is too late to use this game as the opening game.

Since early morning, a lot of media have gathered around Kings Ranch, and several broadcast cars have been parked in the parking lot outside the stadium. Although it was not the opening game, the game was temporarily selected by the TV broadcaster to broadcast the whole country.

Since Chu Zhongtian joined Wimbledon Athletics, the popularity of this team in England has increased dramatically. Originally, the story of Wimbledon Athletics was enough to be legendary, but now another legend Chu Zhongtian has come. The double gimmick is really easy to hype.

Boss John opened the door to his bar and people waiting outside rushed in. They were all wearing Wimbledon Athletics home jerseys and Wimbledon Athletics scarfs around their necks.

"It's so early for you!" Boss John laughed when he saw them.

"This is the first game of the new season!"

"It is also Chu's first official game when he comes back!"

“We can’t wait to see the game…”

"Chu's game! Do you know I've been waiting for this time since a few days ago?" Jackson leaned over to Boss John. "Although I often watched Chu's game before, Chu hasn't seen it in more than ten years when he wore our Wimbledon competitive jersey!"

Boss John nodded while picking up the beer: “Yes, yes, I know.”

"I still remember how he looked when he played football at Wimbledon, with a youthful face..." Jackson did not rush to drink, but lay on the bar and began to recall. "...I can see Chu's youthful face in the back every day, not Boss John, you are now covered with gullies..."

"Thank you for the compliment." Boss John put a glass of beer in front of him expressionlessly.

"It was really unimaginable at that time. A player who could not do anything but defend could reach today's height... Look at the football he played now and the football he played at Wimbledon in the past are completely different from the football he played at Wimbledon..."

"Who said no? I remember that Chu Lian had a difficult goal at that time... He never even shot in the game." Someone came up to speak.

"At that time, Wimbledon Athletics had just been established, and no one expected us to be promoted to the second-level league so quickly..." Jackson turned around and leaned on the bar, looking around the extremely familiar tavern.

"Now, Mr. Chu World Footballer has taken three times, and we are all old."

Two people walked in from the door, one was white-haired and hunched. A young man next to him was supporting him and walked into the door carefully.

"Bent! Old guy!" Boss John saw the person coming in, quickly threw down the work in his hand, opened his arms and moved out from behind the bar.

"Ha...Old John..." The elderly Bent saw Boss John, stopped, straightened his chest and spread his arms.

The two old men hugged each other.

"You are a rare guest. I remember you haven't been here for a long time..." Boss John asked, letting go of his old friend.

"Yes, since I got sick... my health is not as good as before. The doctor asked me to quit drinking..." Bente's voice was no longer as good as before, trembling and lacked strength.

"Don't listen to the doctor's nonsense. I'll tell you that alcohol is a magic pill! What kind of disease is it? It's all cured as soon as you drink alcohol!"

Bente laughed, but he was interrupted by a cough after laughing for a while.

John quickly gave him a seat and asked him to sit down and rest.

Others also came up to say hello to Bente. People who drink in this bar all year round have always known each other and are not unfamiliar with Bente.

"Want something to drink? Beer or whiskey?" Boss John approached him.

Old Ben opened his mouth and wanted beer, but suddenly realized that there was someone around him, so he glanced at the young woman beside him.

The young woman is the granddaughter of Old Bente, who is already eighteen years old. "Grandpa, the doctor said..."

"Just a small cup." Bente raised his finger, "Just a small cup, a small cup... You know, I haven't drunk a long time..."

Boss John also spoke next to him: "Yes, yes, Rovina, today is different. There is a happy event today, and it's nothing to have a drink..."

"By the way, Chu is back, if you always celebrate it, right?"

"It doesn't matter if you quit drinking, but you always have to drink a drink today..."

Rovina looked at the group of people and shook her head helplessly: "Okay, just a small cup! a small cup!"

Old Bente and everyone laughed.

"Of course it's just a small cup!"

Boss John happily stuck out his butt and moved to the back of the bar, preparing wine for Old Bente.

Jackson came over with a glass of wine and sat next to Old Bente: "I just said we are all old, so you are here, Old Bente!"

Bente curled his lips: "Chu is old, how can we not grow old?"

The 34-year-old Chu Zhongtian can definitely be called a "veteran" in the football world. Many players have retired directly when they reach his age.

"Haha!" Jackson laughed.

Johnson brought the wine glass over and placed it at Old Bente's hand. It was indeed a small cup - but for the large cups that everyone usually drank.

Old Ben picked up the wine glass, took a sip first, feeling the wonderful taste of the wine included in his mouth, and then slowly swallowed it.

"Ah..." He moaned soothingly.

"Awesome!" he smiled.

The granddaughter next to him rolled her eyes and said, "A grandfather, he is just addicted to alcohol. If he wasn't sick, it would be really hard to quit."

"Old guy, are you going to watch the football today?" Boss John sat down and asked him.

Ben nodded: "Of course, otherwise what should I do? I just want to watch the football!"

"Hehe, I know you're going. Everyone here wants to go!"

※※※For cost saving reasons or some considerations that maintain the original tradition, Wimbledon Athletics did not arrange for everyone to stay in a hotel collectively before the home game, but to stay at their own homes. Then on the morning of the game, they gathered together for lunch, and after lunch break, they prepared for the afternoon game.

The team gathered at the training base next to Kings Ranch. After lunch in the restaurant here, they went to the stadium to play.

When Chu Zhongtian drove to the car, the outside of the stadium was already filled with many reporters and impatient fans.

Instead of driving the car directly into the parking lot of Kings Ranch, he circled around and entered the training base.

Today is the first game of the new season, and it is a long journey. Chu Zhongtian parked his car in the parking lot. He did not rush to go down, but sat in the car to rest.

He doesn't know what the first game will be like. Maybe it will be very good, maybe it will be bad, maybe it will be neither good nor bad.

When will a summer training bear fruit?

Chu Zhongtian didn't know the answer, but he felt that as long as he worked hard toward this goal every day and the whole team would have hope of achieving this goal as soon as possible.

The results of the warm-up match are not ideal enough. Will this affect the confidence of teammates? When the team encounters problems during the game, will the teammates unconsciously move back on the old path? Faced with the pressure from the media and the expectations of fans, what should the entire team do?

These questions circling in Chu Zhongtian's mind. He was not like most people, just looking forward to the coming of the game. He still had many questions, just like the head coach of a team.

Some people may think that Chu Zhongtian is too tired like this, but Chu Zhongtian enjoys this process.

※※※ "Chinese people pay attention to a good start. If they can win the first game, it may foreshadow a good season..." In front of Kings Ranch, media from China are recording special programs. Although no Chinese TV agency has obtained the right to broadcast the Championship, at least they can report the game in their own way.

"We can see that there are many Wimbledon Athletics fans at the scene, all holding posters with Chu Zhongtian's avatar... We can even see Chinese, among the fans, there are some yellow-skinned and dark-haired faces. They may be local Chinese students... Chu Zhongtian has a very high status in the minds of Wimbledon Athletics fans..."

Some fans saw these Chinese reporting agencies and came up to shout at the camera: "i-love_chu!!!"

Someone said to the camera in very unfamiliar Chinese: "Hello! Goodbye!"

Chu Zhongtian's position in the minds of Wimbledon Athletics fans has also led to some Wimbledon Athletics fans becoming interested in China and even have the idea of ​​learning Chinese. This is why the scene in front of him is here.

Immediately, a Chinese media took the opportunity to come forward to interview these seemingly friendly Wimbledon Athletics fans and asked them what they thought about Chu Zhongtian joining the team and what they thought about Wimbledon Athletics’ performance in the warm-up match some time ago.

Most fans' answers are quite positive. Many people think that the warm-up match cannot explain the problem. The warm-up match is to make the team make mistakes. As long as the mistakes can be found and corrected, the warm-up match will play a role.

Everyone was tolerant of Chu Zhongtian's performance: "He has just been in this team for a month, and he still needs to find a tacit understanding of cooperation with the team. I think this is normal."

"Chu's performance is very good. He works hard, but we should give him time... I saw the criticisms of him by the media, which is unfair!"

Unlike the tolerance and support of fans, Chinese journalists interviewed their peers, and many British journalists were not optimistic about Wimbledon's start of the league.

"It's really hard for us to have too much expectations for the first game of Wimbledon..."

"I think at least the first half of the season, this team's performance will definitely not be stable."

"I think Chu is a high-level player, but he needs to adapt to the team. In addition, Russell, as the team's head coach, has a little unclear...ha!"

"Wimbledon Athletic spent more than 9 million pounds to buy seven players this summer. This level of money burning ranks among the top five of the 24 teams in the English Champions League, but their performance in the warm-up match was a mess. I think head coach Russell should be the main responsibility. If he can't achieve good results after spending so much money, then Wimbledon Athletic Club may consider changing coaches. As Chu said, they are here to upgrade, not to relegation..."

The British colleagues are not optimistic about Wimbledon and think that the future of this team is not very bright.

When Wimbledon Athletics performed poorly in the warm-up match, the media made a fuss, as if Wimbledon Athletics shouldn't have performed poorly.

Now after a month of warm-up matches, the media have become accustomed to this performance of the team. Wimbledon's football seems very chaotic, so the media no longer expects any good performance in their first league game.

※※※After lunch, Wimbledon Athletic players were resting in the training base. At the same time, under the scorching sun, more and more fans appeared around Kings Ranch.

The game started at 4:30 in the afternoon. It was because this was the first league game of the new season. Everyone wanted to come early and didn't want to miss such a great moment.

At 3:30 pm, the visiting team's bus arrived at Kings Ranch. At the same time, the Wimbledon Athletics players also came from the training base to the home team's locker room of Kings Ranch.

The stadium began to check tickets and let the fans enter.

The fans who had been waiting for a long time were still full of passion. They were not listless because the sun was so vicious and the temperature was high. Many fans were naked and singing various songs, following the large team into the stadium.

With 40 minutes left before the game started, the players began to warm up.

When the first Wimbledon Athletics player appeared on the sidelines, the fans in the stands who were busy looking for seats made their first wave of cheers.

"It's out!"
To be continued...