Chapter 11: The War of Righteous Names (Revised)

  As Chu Jiang's reputation rose in the football circle of Jianghai City, especially with the title "Jianghai City's First Genius" being spread around, it would naturally make some young men who thought they were extraordinary feel discontent.

  "A student from a football school, a young kid who hasn't even played professional football yet, actually dares to call himself the 'Number One Genius of Jianghai City'! How arrogant and ignorant! His face is thicker than that of Furong Jiejie, he's simply the new generation of Furong Gege!"

  Many people have similar thoughts when they hear this rumor.

  It is worth mentioning that there is a second-tier football club in Jianghai City, called Jianghai Chenghua Football Club, which is a superpower in the second-tier league. The performance of Chenghua team this year is quite impressive, and many football experts have predicted that it will successfully enter the first-tier league at the end of this season.

  As the only football club in Jianghai City, it naturally gathers most of the top football players in Jianghai City, including some young people with exceptional talent. Among them, the most outstanding one is Chenghua team's midfielder, Yuan Chenhai, who has just turned 21 this year and is known as "Little Shuai".

  Yuan Chenhai and Shao Jiayi, the core player of the Chinese national team and the frontcourt commander of the German Cottbus team, play in the same position. They are good at playing as a forward and also as a shadow striker, and they are not unfamiliar with any attacking position in the midfield. In terms of technical characteristics, they are also very similar, both having excellent footwork, especially excelling at free kicks. According to rumors, due to his outstanding performance in the second division league, Yuan Chenhai has already been booked by a super league giant and will transfer after this season.

  Before Chu Jiang, Yuan Chenhai was always considered the number one genius in Jiang Hai City. Now, there are rumors that a young kid who has never even played amateur football has surpassed Yuan Chenhai and become the leader of the new generation of young players in Jiang Hai City. Such rumors have moved Yuan Chenhai's heart when he heard them.

  Although Yuan Chenhai ultimately laughed off such rumors, his two good brothers in the team were not happy about it.

  These two players, one 19 years old and the other 22, have become crucial to Chenghua team. Although young, they are already key players in the team and naturally have some pride. They admire Yuan Chenhai, the soul of the Chenghua team, but they can't accept Chu Jiang, who claims to be the "first genius" out of nowhere.

  Five days ago, the two went together to the International Milan Football School to challenge Chu Jiang, but ended up with a crushing defeat.

  No matter whether it's a small field, or one-on-one with the ball, they are not Chu Jiang's opponents at all. Especially in the one-on-one ball link, both of their scores were 10 balls only scoring 1 or 2 goals, and there was also some luck involved. To know that Chu Jiang didn't even make a move, relying solely on his excellent judgment and super-strong goal-line technology, he could block their one-on-one shots.

  Later, when kicking the school's internal confrontation match, they were allowed to join the main attacking side. In the game, they even learned about Chu Jiang's perfect governing ability in the game. The attacking side was repeatedly blocked at the front of the large penalty area, and the attack could not be fully unfolded, but was often counterattacked by the defending side, and finally lost 0:4. In the match, Chu Jiang, as the goalkeeper, assisted three goals, completed a hat-trick, and also scored a long-distance direct free kick, becoming the brightest star of the game without dispute.

  After this game, the two players from Chenghua Club were convinced of Chu Jiang's abilities and returned to the club praising him highly, which piqued Yuan Chenhai's interest. Even someone as strong as Yuan Chenhai had to rely on several games of stable performance to win over these two, but now Chu Jiang had won them over with just one game, which couldn't help but make Yuan Chenhai, and even the entire Chenghua team, take a keen interest in him.

  To know, in the football world, most young talents are concentrated in various clubs. Football schools have some good seedlings, but they can't be compared with real professional clubs at all. Although some people in school may be favored by Super League teams or even top-level league teams, it's just that various clubs need to supplement their youth teams. There is not a single one who is directly called up to the first team and recognized by the first team.

  Chenghua Club has basically locked in a spot in the North-South Division finals, and can be said to have one foot in the top-level league. The two players who went to challenge Chujang are basically capable of playing in the top-level league, even if Chenghua ultimately fails to get promoted, they will still be poached by top-level league teams. And Yuan Chenhua has already reached the level of a Super League player, and once the second-tier league ends, he can directly report to the first team of a strong Super League team.

  That can make these two people convinced, means that Chu Jiang is at least the level of a first-tier league player, and it's even possible to directly play in the Super League! Players who can play in the Super League are not rare, Yuan Chenhai asked himself if he has this level too. However, one must know that Chu Jiang is only 17 years old this year.

  At 17 years old, he can already reach the Super League level. Such a talented young man is absolutely rare in the whole of China! Will Chu Jiang be one of them?

  5 days later, it happened to be the warm-up period for the B-League. At Yuan Chenhai's request, the head coach of Chenghua Club agreed to arrange a warm-up match with Inter Milan Football School on this day. Soon, the school side readily agreed to Chenghua team's invitation and temporarily cancelled the traditional intramural competition, replacing it with a warm-up match between the school team and Chenghua's first team.

  Thus, on the 19th day after his rebirth, Chu Jiang welcomed his strongest opponent yet, challenging the B-League champion, Jiang Hai Cheng Hua team!

  At the beginning of this game, Chenghua naturally took on an attacking posture, with a 4-2-4 formation and mainly substitute players on the field.

  The school team, under Chu Jiang's arrangement, adopted a 4231 formation known for its defensive stability. In terms of positioning, it borrowed from Mouri?o's tactics at Inter Milan, requiring the two wing forwards to make large-scale runs up and down, pinning down the opponent's flank attacks. Tactically, it emphasized quick counter-attacks after gaining possession.

  In the match, Chenghua team soon found that their offense was always difficult to organize, always trapped in the opponent's heavy siege, and basically had no chance to shoot. In the midfield back pass, they also failed to attract the opponent to press forward. The opponent didn't look like a amateur team playing wild football at all, but rather looked like an experienced professional team that didn't fall into Chenghua team's trap.

  Compared to the ineffective offense of Chenghua team, several quick counter-attacks led by Chu Jiang made the defenders of Chenghua team repeatedly break out in a cold sweat, and they dared not easily cross the midfield.

  This situation is completely different from what Chenghua team expected before the game. They all thought that this game would be a one-sided big score slaughter. After all, Chenghua is an almost middle-level league team, and the players are all experienced professional players, while their opponents are just a group of amateur children's team. Whether it's individual skills or overall coordination, both sides should not be on the same level.

  Not yet, under the leadership of Chu Jiang, this team of players has played with great momentum. Especially in defensive organization, compared to the opponents encountered by Chenghua team in the second-level league, they are not at all inferior.

  Seeing the stalemate on the field, Chenghua's coach simply withdrew all substitute players and put out a main lineup. Yuan Chenhai was finally able to take the field.

  When he was sitting off the court, he didn't feel it, but once on the court, Yuan Chenhai felt the strength of Chu Jiang.

  As the midfielder of Chenghua, Yuan Chenhai is best at capturing the defensive gaps of his opponents and sending a fatal pass to his teammates. However, in this game, Yuan Chenhai found that the defensive gaps of his opponents were far fewer than he had imagined. Every time he discovered an opportunity, Chu Jiang would predict it in advance and loudly call on his teammates to go and defend together, killing the possible danger in the cradle.

  Such a defense, Chenghua team has never encountered in the second-level league, and can be compared with some mid-to-low-end players in the first-level league. Chu Jiang led a group of 16- and 17-year-old children to successfully organize such a steel-concrete defensive line.

  Despite this, Yuan Chenhai still created several good scoring opportunities, including a one-on-one chance. However, all the shots were resolved by Chu Jiang, and even that one-on-one chance was easily saved by him.

  After discovering that Yuan Chenhai was the most threatening player in the opponent's lineup, Chu Jiang immediately instructed his teammates to specifically guard against him. Every time Yuan Chenhai appeared on the midfield to take the ball, the midfielder and defensive midfielder would press forward to intercept; every time he made a breakthrough on the wing, the corresponding winger and full-back would move forward to block him. Moreover, on his forward passing route, there were often defenders intercepting.

  The success rate of breaking through has decreased, and it's hard to find a receiving point for passing the ball. As a result, Yuan Chenhai's threat was greatly reduced, and Chenghua's offense also fell into a quagmire. Although Chenghua team later got several free kicks in good positions, Yuan Chenhai, who is known for his expertise in free kicks and has scored six goals from free kicks in the second division league, failed to make an impact against Chujang, either being blocked by the wall or saved by Chujang.

  On the contrary, the only direct free kick opportunity outside the penalty area for the school team was firmly grasped by Chu Jiang, and a beautiful curved ball directly attacked the Chenghua team's castle.

  0: 1, the final B-League champion Chenghua team lost unexpectedly to the football school team. To be exact, they were defeated by the exceptionally strong Chujiang.

  "No wonder someone said that a good goalkeeper can hold up half of the team. In my opinion, Chu Jiang can hold up an entire team, and it's a strong one!" This was said by the coach of Chenghua team after the match.

  "Chu Jiang is very strong! He deserves his reputation as a genius on the first day." This was what Yuan Chen said to his friends after the competition.

  "The Jade-Faced Dragon, Little Chu Jiang, with strength to hold back the raging waves, rivaling the Golden Strongman. Free and easy, the most elegant, single-handedly covering the sky, he is the strongest!" This is the domineering declaration of "Ginger Rice Ball"...