Life Changes on the Soccer Field

Chapter 7: No Longer Dispirited

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Lu Ang did not realize that his facial muscles had been relaxed the night he chatted with Xia Mengyin.

Yes, he hadn’t smiled in a long time.

It seemed like after Xia Mengyin mentioned that he became famous at the age of 18, he didn’t have any other expression.

Right now, Lu Ang felt all the cells in his body telling him that the arena was still waiting for him and that he had to be optimistic.

…

Coach Wang Tie realized that Lu Ang was different. Lu Ang no longer felt dispirited.

One afternoon, after Coach Wang Tie finished training the school soccer team, the players left and Lu Ang came over from the other field.

Lu Ang said, “Coach Wang, can I make a copy of the data sheet that you record for me every day?”

Wang Tie replied, “Huh?”

Lu Ang said, “I want to understand myself better and see if my training has improved.”

Wang Tie was a little shocked. This was the first time Lu Ang had asked him this. He had been in school for so long, and it had always been him giving feedback after assigning tasks to him. Lu Ang had never asked him for feedback.

Wang Tie was delighted. “No problem. I’ll go back to the office later and give you the previous ones as well.”

Lu Ang said, “Oh right, Coach Wang, I have another question. I’ve been training alone over there, so it’s not a problem for me to improve my offensive capabilities. But for defense, I’m not too sure about my current level with those physical education students.”

Coach Wang Tie was also very puzzled. Why did Lu Ang suddenly become so proactive and talk so much? Lu Ang’s attitude was already very clear. He had been training all along and could not tell his standard without competing.

…

Wang Tie called Coach Zhang Lei and told him, “Lu Ang, that kid, actually started putting pressure on me.”

Zhang Lei said. “That young man probably hasn’t played in a long time.”

Wang Tie said, “That’s true, but there’s still some time before the University Soccer League. There’s just enough time for him to recover.”

Zhang Lei said, “In the future, when we officially kick off the University Soccer League, I’ll officially entrust Lu Ang to you.”

Wang Tie said, “It’s just hard on him. The University Soccer League didn’t have any exposure. It’ll be even harder for the professional teams to discover him now.”

Zhang Lei said, “Hey, this isn’t the Coach Wang Tie who Lu Ang often mentioned. He called me previously to say that you’re a good person and kept encouraging him.”

Wang Tie replied, “Didn’t I tell you? I didn’t send any negative emotions to the team members.”

Zhang Lei asked, “Right, are you training him as a defender?”

Wang Tie said, “Definitely. I’ve already told him to get his weight up to the standard first. But I’ll be honest with you, you’ve trained him to be a forward for so long, so even though he has an advantage in height, he’ll definitely need time to adapt to the new position and adjust his consciousness. It won’t be that fast.”

Zhang Lei said, “That’s true.”

Wang Tie said, “But he is indeed better than the average student. He also has high expectations for himself. Every morning and night, he will take the initiative to train.”

Zhang Lei said, “That’s for sure. School is still in session. His training volume is definitely incomparable to when he was in our team. He also mentioned this to me before. Otherwise, why did he listen to me when I suggested for him to take a break from school and play in the Youth Soccer League? Besides, even though he dislikes speaking, he has always been very strict with himself. He definitely can’t stand the training that he received when he was hospitalized.”

Coach Wang Tie felt that it was quite a pity.

Lu Ang’s stats had improved, and he was even more proactive in training. However, his weight had not reached the standard that Coach Wang had expected.

That was true. For athletes, it was rather difficult to gain weight during training.

…

Doctor Wang Lingjia asked, “Coach Wang, is Lu Ang’s training condition improving?”

Wang Tie said, “He’s doing great. He suddenly doesn’t seem so depressed anymore. He’s very active and looks very energetic.”

Wang Lingjia said, “That’s good. His eye pressure has been normal for the past week, and his condition has suddenly improved a lot this week. You must be careful of his mood.”

Wang Tie responded, “Of course.”

Wang Lingjia said, “I suspect that the accident to his eyes has something to do with the constant stress. The worry and anxiety overlapped, so it affected his optic nerves. Remember, don’t give him too much pressure.”

Wang Tie and Wang Lingjia were old friends who had worked with each other for many years. He understood the pressure on Lu Ang, so he did not pay too much attention to him when he just returned to school. He needed to train by himself first. Therefore, Wang Tie told Lu Ang to train at another venue after he had given him the target. Finally, he would train with the non-soccer-major students.

Although Wang Lingjia had said not to give Lu Ang too much pressure, Wang Tie still decided to let Lu Ang join the school’s soccer team earlier than expected. Only then would he be able to play small-scale matches with his team members.

Wang Tie had also been a member of the team. He knew that for a player, it was more psychological stress than physical exhaustion. If he didn’t continue with the competition training, he would lose confidence. Compared to being afraid that he wouldn’t be able to kick well, he was more afraid of being praised to the skies and then forgotten by others, and eventually becoming suspicious of himself. This was probably what Lu Ang had experienced.

All along, they had been the focus of attention. They had focused their gazes, wanting to escape but not wanting to lose the match. The pressure could not be released, and it affected their eyes. But when all of this disappeared, what remained was their disappointment and self-blame.

I can’t let this happen to him.

…

Andong City Professional Soccer Club.

In a meeting of the high-level executives.

Executive A asked, “Do we still need to sign Lu Ang?”

Head coach said, “His previous soccer skills and physical fitness were quite good in all aspects, but it’s unknown now.”

Executive B was a little furious. “We’ve already released so many rumors a long time ago, saying that we want to sign him. Lu Ang hasn’t done anything, and has never talked to us personally. Isn’t he too arrogant?”

Head coach said, “Yes, but Coach Zhang Lei said that this player is not bad.”

Executive B responded, “But now, Zhang Lei didn’t even tell us the exact time of his recovery, and even his conditions are so vague.”

Head coach agreed. “Indeed.”

Executive A said, “Anyway, no one knows why he hasn’t appeared in the competition yet. Besides, he was very popular in the Youth Soccer League previously. The clubs in the A-League have never signed such players. If we become the first, we will definitely attract more attention. It’s fine if he doesn’t go on stage, so be it.”

Head coach replied, “But for this season’s Youth Soccer League, he has never been on the big name list, nor has he ever made it to the field.”

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Executive B said to Wei Xinheng, “Put the contract signing announcement in the middle. Let’s see if Xia Chuang has a chance to sign it.”

Sure enough, it was the usual style of the Andong City Professional Soccer Club. In fact, during the six months he had been here, Wei Xinheng had also felt very depressed. This was because they really knew how to make use of all sorts of media and news to benefit the club. They used all sorts of publicity and gimmicks. As for the players, they were very particular about their current standards. It seemed like they had given the injured players a contract, but for players who needed money, it was indeed quite good. They could easily earn money. However, in the long run, it would cause the players’ value to decrease and their standards to decrease as well.

Moreover, most of the time, the head coach would be influenced by the higher-ups in Andong City Professional Soccer Club.

As for Lu Ang, he would never agree to sit on the bench.

However, Wei Xinheng didn’t think it was a big deal. After all, Lu Ang had been recovering from his training. There was no harm in letting him know about the contract from time to time. It was just that Lu Ang’s attitude of not paying attention to the outside world made Wei Xinheng speechless.