Zhang Xu stood wearily in front of the gate of the Belgian Second Division club Woluwe White Star. Looking at the training field inside, which was not luxurious and even a bit shabby, and the scattered and low office buildings, his eyes were deep and firm.
He shook his head and sighed deeply.
This was not his first time trying out at a European club; he had lost count of how many times he had done this.
Zhang Xu was actually a legendary top student with a solid family background. In high school, he excelled academically, representing his province in the Math, Physics, and Chemistry Olympiads multiple times and achieving commendable results.
He was also a football enthusiast. Since the age of eight, he had been in football academies, studying professional football for eight long years.
Moreover, he had been the midfield core and captain of the Hunan Youth Football Team, leading the team to third place in the national youth football championships.
Later, due to academic pressure and family expectations, he had to stop football training and focus entirely on his high school studies.
However, he never gave up his love for football. In high school, he played football with friends whenever he could, even training and competing with former teammates at the football academy on weekends.
Zhang Xu harbored a dream: to don the national team's jersey and represent China on the international football stage, even during a time when the country's football scene was experiencing a downturn, with the hope of elevating its global standing and prestige.
In early 2010, as Zhang Xu entered the second semester of his senior year in high school, the pressure of the college entrance examination increased. His parents hoped he would get into prestigious universities like Peking University or Tsinghua University, adding to his stress.
Give up football and focus on studying for the college entrance exams?
At this point, Zhang Xu, obsessed with football and unwilling to give up, had a radical idea:
Apply to universities abroad, in Europe!
Why?
Because Europe was the paradise of world football!
It had the most professional football leagues in the world!
If he could get into a European university, he could use his time away from his parents to immerse himself in top-level football while trying to join a decent football club, thus embarking on a professional football career and fulfilling his football dreams.
Also, applying to famous European universities wouldn't go against his parents' expectations. He believed they would approve of his plan to study in Europe.
Whether he could get into a renowned European university was not his primary concern. In his own somewhat arrogant words: "If I can't get in, then I don't deserve to be called a top student."
As expected, his parents excitedly agreed when he shared his plan (only mentioning the part about studying in Europe, of course).
So, Zhang Xu's wish was fulfilled.
In the following months, he not only passed the TEF exam (mandatory for French universities) and got admitted to the University of Paris VI for sports science but also self-studied Italian and Spanish to avoid language barriers. (English? He was already proficient.)
Why not Oxford or Cambridge in the UK? Because of the troublesome work permit issues in the UK leagues, which Zhang Xu didn't think he could overcome.
On June 11, 2010, Zhang Xu boarded a plane to Paris, France, officially heading to Europe.
After arriving at the University of Paris VI, his academic talents once again impressed the professors and classmates.
Zhang Xu, who often skipped classes, not only kept up with his courses but also mastered most of the sports science curriculum in just two months, waiting only for the end-of-semester exams.
The rest of the time naturally became his own.
In reality, this was the time for training and trials.
Starting in August and continuing until January of the next year, he looked for clubs to trial with. From Paris Saint-Germain in Paris to various clubs in other French cities, he tried out with clubs in both the French First and Second Divisions but none wanted to keep him.
He tried playing in every position, from forward to midfield to defense, even goalkeeper, but none satisfied the coaches.
The reason?
Simple. Although he had a strong physique, his skills and tactics were far from their requirements.
Every time he started his trial, the coaches would look at him with surprise on their faces because his physique was truly impressive.
With a height of 1.81 meters, a weight of 68 kilograms, a 100-meter sprint time of 11.6 seconds, and excellent strength and endurance, all his physical attributes left the coaches speechless.
"Zhang, I have to say, your physique is incredible, you're like a prehistoric monster!"
"Are you from Mars? Such a strong body!"
"Can I call you Godzilla, Zhang?"
However, as soon as he entered technical and tactical aspects of the trial or participated in group exercises and intra-team matches, Zhang Xu, who had previously considered himself to have decent technical and tactical skills back home, immediately turned into a pile of rubbish in their eyes, so you can imagine the results.
"Sorry, Zhang, you're not suitable for our club!"
"Zhang, I think you should focus on studying instead of playing football. Your talent is just simply too far from the professional level!"
"Are you sure you're not a track and field athlete? Ahh, never mind, it's a shame with such a good physique!"
These were relatively polite responses, while some responses were less pleasant.
"Oh, damn it, Zhang, do you want to kill him?"
"Is your head filled with porridge? I told you to tackle aggressively, not to kill him!"
"Zhang, your football IQ is zero! Zero! Do you know that? The way you play is a pile of crap! No, it's worse than crap!"
There were also insulting remarks that infuriated Zhang Xu:
"You damn monkey, I told you to disrupt the opponent's defense, but you've messed up your own teammates. Are you retarded?!"
"Hmph! I knew that you people from backwaters couldn't play. Look at you, you damn idiot, I imagine your head's full of pig shit! You can't even do a simple one-two!"
"You stupid pig..." This sentence wasn't even finished before an angry Zhang Xu had beaten the coach to a pulp, and then... well, there was no "then."
In fact, Zhang Xu's football skills and tactics were not particularly bad. After eight years of specialized training and as the core midfielder of the Hunan Provincial Youth Football Team, his passing, receiving, and shooting actions were quite standard.
However, on one hand, he had not touched professional football for two full years, causing a decline in his technical and tactical skills. On the other hand, the gap between domestic Chinese football and European football, both in terms of training level and football philosophy, was considerable, creating a certain gap between him and professional football players.
The series of failures did not discourage Zhang Xu; instead, it ignited his strong self-esteem. In his own words, "I want to see how low my level really is!"
At the same time, this made him even more eager to join European clubs.
The former core midfielder of the Hunan Provincial Youth Team couldn't even make it into a French Ligue 2 club. How high was the level of European football? In his heart, he secretly made up his mind to join a European club, even if it was the smallest one! He wanted to personally experience and learn European football.
"Let's just consider it a vacation!" This was Zhang Xu's self-deprecating mantra.
After a perfect failure in France, Zhang Xu did not give up. He simply ran to Belgium next door to see if his level was good enough to establish himself in the Belgian football league, one level lower than the French football league.
Similarly, he started with clubs in the Belgian Pro League and went from one to another. If he failed, he moved on to the next one until he joined a club.
As the days passed, Zhang Xu was too busy with trials to even think about going home for the Spring Festival. But fate did not favor Zhang Xu despite his persistence and inner strength. In the five-plus months, he faced one failure after another.
Today was already July 3, 2011, and the clubs in the Belgian Pro and Second Divisions had almost completed their trials.
After this trial failed, Zhang Xu planned to return to school to complete the annual exams and then continue his journey to the next trial.
Zhang Xu pinched the not-so-abundant euros in his pocket, took a deep breath, straightened his back, and walked towards the entrance of the WoluwΓ© White Star Club...