Football: He suffered a broken leg at the start of the game, but partnered with Haaland!

Henry was extremely efficient. In less than three hours, he used all his connections and connections to snag five first-class tickets for a direct flight from Frankfurt to Bangkok at great expense.

Borussia Dortmund was under partial lockdown, and the club had already issued a travel ban. As the whole family hurriedly packed their bags, Diana displayed the tough tactics of a top agent. She made a direct call to Dortmund's sporting director, Zorc.

Using the excuse that "players are prone to depression during the suspension of play" and the direct threat of "using the Dortmund brand to tap into the massive Asian market," Diana forced the management to give the green light and obtain a special exemption document for leaving the team.

Catherine was meticulous; she packed Sun Yang's everyday mid-frequency electrotherapy device and fascia gun into his checked baggage, and even made a special trip to the pharmacy to buy several large bags of medical masks.

In the early hours of the morning, a minivan drove out of the Cologne villa and sped towards Frankfurt International Airport. All of Europe was shrouded in the shadow of the pandemic, and the airport terminal was filled with families queuing in long lines, waiting to escape. Sun Yang and his entourage used the VIP lane to quickly complete security checks and boarded the first-class cabin of the Boeing 777.

The plane accelerated down the runway and plunged into the clouds. The cabin quieted down, and the flight attendants served hot towels and champagne.

Sun Yang adjusted his seat to be flat, just about to close his eyes and enter the system space to practice the zero-angle shooting techniques taught by Van Basten. Diana sat down next to him with a half-full glass of red wine.

"Son, let's talk." Diana lowered her voice, her blue eyes glancing at Sun Wu, who was already resting with his eyes closed under a blanket in the front row. "There are some things we've never told you before. But this time, you're going to wear the Chinese national team jersey, and you need to understand the weight of that."

Sun Yang sat up straight and pulled off the neck pillow.

"You only know that your father is a Peking Opera actor who runs a Chinese opera school in London. You must find it strange that with such solid skills, he would choose to come all the way to England to settle down." Diana twirled the glass in her hand and sighed. "That was in the 1980s. At that time, China was preparing to film a large-scale television series called Journey to the West."

Sun Yang was stunned. He was very familiar with this show; when he was a child, he watched the monkey that could fly and dive into the ground the most on TV.

"Your dad was the most skilled martial arts actor among the younger generation in the country back then. He even had his costume fitting photos taken for the role of Sun Wukong in that play, and the production team had high hopes for him." Diana's tone turned serious. "But just before filming started, something happened. Someone in the troupe was jealous and deliberately tried to provoke your dad during rehearsals. Your dad, young and hot-blooded, broke that bastard's nose."

Diana even uttered a London swear word. Sun Yang rarely saw his mother exhibit such emotional fluctuations.

"In those days, this was no small matter. There was a crackdown in China at the time. Let alone a broken nose, even getting into a fight on the street could get you arrested and sentenced to a heavy prison term. The other party's family had some connections, and they wouldn't let it go, determined to send your father to jail and ruin his life."

Diana took a deep breath. "Your father couldn't handle it, so he had to ask your grandfather for help. You didn't know, did you? You have a grandfather back in China."

Sun Yang was indeed stunned. He was twenty years old and had never seen what his grandfather looked like, and his father rarely even mentioned relatives in China.

"Your grandfather's name was Sun Xiaolin. He was a true Peking Opera star in China, a figure of the highest caliber." Diana mentioned the name with a hint of reverence. "To save your father, the old man spent all his wealth, swallowed his pride, and begged countless people. In the end, he managed to find a way to get your father onto an ocean liner bound for Europe."

"He fled to a distant land. Your father's household registration in China was cancelled, and he fled to London with a disciplinary record, until he met me." Diana downed her glass of red wine in one gulp.

"That Journey to the West was a huge hit across the country. But your father can never go back in his life. He missed the best years of his life and became a disgrace to the entire Sun family. He felt sorry for your grandfather and didn't dare to make a phone call back all these years."

Sun Yang turned to look at his father, who was sleeping restlessly in the front row. His father's eyelids were twitching slightly; he wasn't asleep at all.

No wonder Dad valued the title "Great Sage" more than his own life; no wonder he insisted that I incorporate Peking Opera's folding and somersaulting movements into my soccer practice every time I did it. That was Dad's lifelong regret, and he poured all that obsession into himself.

"Mom, how did you manage to get us qualified to compete in Thailand this time?" Sun Yang suddenly realized. With UEFA suspended, the Chinese Football Association couldn't possibly be that efficient. Besides, he's of mixed race, making the procedures extremely complicated.

"This is the key point I wanted to make," Diana patted her son's shoulder. "The Football Association is simply incapable of handling this. This time, it was the highest level of the General Administration of Sport that directly intervened, bypassing the football management department, and personally approached your grandfather, Sun Xiaolin. The people from the General Administration did the work on the old man in the courtyard. They made the decision, used every green light policy, and directly parachuted your name into the newly added roster of the national Olympic team."

Sun Yang's heart started racing uncontrollably.

"That's exactly what your grandfather told the General Administration," Diana mimicked a weary tone. "Our Sun family owes the country an honor, and my good-for-nothing son can't repay it, so my grandson will kick it back for him."

"Son, you're not going there to inflate data this time," Diana said, staring into Sun Yang's eyes. "You're going there to vindicate the Sun family. Do you understand?"

"Understood." Sun Yang clenched his fist tightly, his nails digging deep into his palm. He didn't say anything more, the fire in his heart was completely ignited.

This is no longer just a commercial stunt during a shutdown; it's a battle for redemption that concerns our very bloodline.

……

The long flight of more than ten hours was exhausting. After the plane landed at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Sun Yang and his group did not even leave the terminal, but directly transferred to a domestic flight in Thailand, flying directly to the southern city of Songkhla.

The moment the hatch opened, a wave of sweltering heat at 30 degrees Celsius rushed out.

Henry wiped the sweat from his forehead and frantically fanned himself by pulling at his collar.

"Damn it, even the air here feels like freshly boiled water! Last night I was wrapped in a down jacket in Cologne, and now I feel like a turkey being stuffed into an oven. Yang, if Puma doesn't send a car soon, their Champions League hero is going to turn into a puddle of water on the roadside."

Catherine changed into a crisp white short-sleeved shirt and sun-protective pants, her tall and alluring figure attracting countless stares from passersby at the airport. She deftly took an electrolyte solution from her backpack, poured it into a mineral water bottle, shook it well, and handed it to Sun Yang.

"The humidity in the tropics is too high." Catherine professionally examined Sun Yang's calf muscles. "In this high temperature environment, you will sweat twice as much as in Europe, and your physical exertion will be enormous. You must replenish fluids in advance. When we get to the hotel, I'll give you a deep ice pack to relax you."

"Don't worry, I'm not that delicate." Sun Yang took the water and drank a big gulp.

He possesses the "Kanter perpetual motion machine lungs" rewarded by the system. Let alone 30 degrees Celsius, even under the 40-degree sun, he can run for a full 90 minutes without breaking a sweat.

They chartered a large Toyota van and headed straight to the hotel where the national Olympic team was staying in downtown Songkhla.

At the same time. In the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Songkhla Hotel.

Fabio Cannavaro, the head coach of China's U23 national Olympic team, is on the verge of exploding. This legendary defender, who once helped Italy lift the World Cup trophy and is still basking in the glory of being a former FIFA World Player of the Year, now resembles a lion trapped in a cage.

He slammed a thin stack of data reports onto the coffee table and bombarded the Chinese team leader sitting opposite him with a barrage of questions. The trembling translator beside him quickly began to translate simultaneously.

"Someone here can teach me how to play with this depleted squad! We only have three days left before the game against South Korea! Three days! My two key center-backs are stuck in China due to the lockdown, and my only reliable defensive midfielder pulled a thigh muscle in a warm-up match. The eighteen players you've given me are half rookies who can't even get playing time in the Chinese Super League—they have absolutely no match experience!"

Cannavaro waved his hands in mid-air; the Italian's body language was extremely rich and carried a strong sense of pressure.

The Chinese team leader was sweating profusely, constantly wiping his forehead with a handkerchief. "Coach Cannavaro, the situation in China is special. The Football Association is also in a difficult position. Let's overcome these difficulties and show our fighting spirit."

"Can our mentality even stop their strikers?" Cannavaro angrily pointed at the tactics board. "That winger Lee Dong-jun from South Korea is lightning fast. And that Jung Woo-yeong, he played in the Bundesliga. My midfield can't hold the ball, we're just getting bombarded in our own half. I need a playmaker who can hold his ground in the center circle and deliver killer through balls. Look at the roster you gave me, it's a bunch of workhorses who just run around aimlessly!"

Assistant coach Mario quickly grabbed Cannavaro's arm. "Fabio, calm down. We have no choice but to defend like a rock. Park the bus and try to get a draw or a point."

"Get a point? Can that paper-thin defense hold up?" Cannavaro scratched his head in frustration. "If God could send down a decent midfielder right now, even just a substitute from one of the top five leagues, I could turn this deadlock around!"

"squeak--"

The sound of tires screeching against the pavement came from outside the lobby. A Toyota minivan came to a smooth stop in front of the revolving glass door.

The hotel doorman quickly ran over and opened the car door.

Henry was the first to jump out of the car, swinging his arms and directing the unloading of luggage. Sun Wu followed closely behind, and Diana, in high heels and oversized sunglasses, strode into the lobby with the powerful aura of a strong woman. Catherine followed closely behind, carrying her physiotherapy kit.

The last person to enter the lobby was Sun Yang, dressed in a pure black tracksuit.

He wasn't wearing a mask, and his highly recognizable mixed-race face appeared sharply defined under the hotel lights.

Having experienced the high-intensity competition of top European leagues for a long time, his muscle lines made his large clothes look full and firm, and his whole person exuded a sense of pressure from the baptism of European competitions.

Several South Korean reporters checking in at the front desk suddenly turned around, and upon seeing who it was, they all gasped in surprise. Then, like madmen, they raised their cameras and started snapping photos. The flashes of light turned the hotel lobby into daylight.

Cannavaro was interrupted and frowned as he looked toward the commotion at the door.

The tall, composed young figure, standing at 1.85 meters, entered his field of vision with remarkable clarity.

Cannavaro stood there, stunned. He stared wide-eyed at Sun Yang's face, his mind involuntarily replaying the Champions League highlights that had gone viral on Twitter a few days earlier.

That terrifying young man of Chinese descent who, in front of 80,000 men in Westphalia, unleashed a spectacular volley and then dribbled past six players on the road, sinking the giants of Paris Saint-Germain. That rising star of the Bundesliga, whose market value has skyrocketed to eight million euros.

The translator understood the head coach's ghost-like expression and quickly leaned in to whisper his report.

"Coach Cannavaro... I haven't had time to show you the urgent document from the General Administration of Sport yet. This is the new signing who was specially approved by the higher-ups to be added to the roster, bypassing the usual level. Sun Yang, the midfield core of Borussia Dortmund."

Cannavaro's mouth was slightly open.

He glanced at the tactical board in his hand, which was filled with frustrating defensive routes, and then looked up at the top European combat force in the center of the hall, which looked like a fully leveled-up super-powerful character.

The legendary defender, who had won the FIFA World Player of the Year award, loosened his grip, and the tactical board slammed onto his leather shoes with a "thud."