Godfather Of Champions

“One, two, three, start.”

“Hello everyone, I am the thirteenth contestant and my name is Chen Jian. I’m nineteen years old and from Chengdu, Sichuan province.” A dark-skinned teenager, standing in front of the camera, introduced himself with a grin that revealed his striking white teeth. He turned his head to look to the side, and there was a man gesturing to him.

“Shout out a slogan and strike a POSE!” the man mouthed to him.

The teenager, who called himself “Chen Jian” turned back and thought about it. The camera’s monitor entered a brief silence.

“I want to play professional football and hopefully everyone will… like me.” He laughed nervously. He wanted to say, “I hope everyone will support and vote for me,” but he remembered that the talent show did not have an audience vote, so it was useless even if the audience supported him. He had to change his words. Therefore, when he thought about it, he laughed.

“Good!” The cameraman put down the camera and muttered, “luckily it wasn’t live…”

“Next!” The man waved to another teenager waiting at the side, and motioned for him to go up for his introduction. Chen Jian returned to a group of teenagers of similar ages.

It was the training camp for the finals of The Football Kid talent show held by the Hunan Television and a number of local and foreign media and companies.

The audition for the country’s six competition districts had already ended, with fourteen lucky winners selected from the six areas. Now they were gathered in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province to participate in three and a half months of training. A variety of assessments and competitions would be conducted with the contestants to gradually eliminate them and three contestants would advance to the finals. After that, three judges on live television would rate the three contestants based on their performances over the past three and a half months. The top two contestants would be rewarded with a one-year trial in England’s top teams. For these Chinese teenagers who liked football and desired a future in professional football, it was a good dream and more exciting than one million dollars.

Chen Jian was one of them. Watching him stand in front of the camera and introduce himself with a smile, how many future television viewers would know the story behind the smile?

※※※

The nineteen-year-old youth, who spoke Mandarin with a slight Sichuanese accent, initially auditioned for the Beijing division where he attended the Justice Jingguan School in Tianjin, close to Beijing. However, he was eliminated. The reason for his elimination was simple — he was not strong enough.

Out of the ten thousand people who auditioned in the Beijing division, his strength was not enough to even enter the top one hundred.

The majority of the youth who came to audition were able to enter the final one hundred and then face the British coach’s personal assessment. Most of them were professionally trained, from a sports school or from a third team of a professional football club. Chen Jian had not received even a day of professional training. He got played football as a hobby. He was one of the best in terms of amateur playing and as a hobby. Since he was young, he was the main player in the school teams, including in Tianjin Justice Jingguan School, where he was also a main player who represented the university in the China University Football League. That was also what gave him the confidence and motivation to participate in this talent show.

But compared with people of similar ages who had received professional training, he was not strong enough as an amateur player who adopted football later in life. He barely made it into the top one hundred before he was eliminated by the British coach.

When an average person was eliminated, they would be depressed and return home dejected. Chen Jian was not the average person. He was only frustrated for one night. Once he heard that the people who were eliminated in that division were also free to participate in the other division selections. He rekindled his hope. He felt that he had a turn of bad luck. In the next division, he would be able to play to his strongest level and impress the coaches.

The next day, he called his instructor to apply for a leave of absence, packed his bags, and left from Beijing for Wuhan.

This time, he stopped at the top fifty. The first time, he did not make it to the top fifty, but what was the point? He was still eliminated.

Chen Jian refused to admit defeat. He continued to apply for leave and went to Changsha to participate in the auditions in the Changsha division. He got into the top thirty.

As Changsha was the location of the organizers, there was some preferential policies. The other divisions only had two candidates who could enter the final training camp, whereas Changsha was allowed to have four spots. The extra places might let some people achieve what they wanted, but if one could not get in that division, the remaining Chengdu division was basically pointless.

Chen Jian still did not pass the assessment. Did he give up?

No. Chen Jian did not even apply for a leave and skipped class to take the train to Chengdu.

It was his last chance to try. He would give up if he failed again. He would set his mind at rest and study to become a policeman, work to support his family, and find a decent girl to start a family with. As for my love of football, I can at least play football in my spare time and watch the games.

The road to happiness was paved with hardships. Chen Jian did not manage to buy a train ticket for the right day. The train ticket he bought to Chengdu was on the afternoon of the audition. He even did not have time to rest before the selection.

To make matters worse, he was burning up with a fever from the mental stress and being constantly on the move. He also had the runs from eating contaminated food on the train.

When the train arrived in Chengdu, he felt weak as he dizzily walked out of the compartment. He did not know how he rushed to the selection venue, Sichuan Gymnasium.

When he arrived outside the stadium and saw the sea of people at the scene of the audition, he felt faint.

After he obtained a number, he found a shady spot to sit down and rest. It was 2:30 in the afternoon. He had not had breakfast or lunch. Although he was hungry, he did not have an appetite to eat. His fever had not receded and his limbs were sore and weak. He felt dizzy and cold.

There was no contestant more wretched than him.

Most people would have gone to the hospital for an IV drip and headed home after they recovered. It’s not my wish to meet with such an awful situation and it looks like God does not want me to pass. So why should I still bother to do it?

A lot of people would think that. But Chen Jian was not the average person. He was tough and obstinate. He refused to concede. He would take that last chance to finish.

He leaned against the concrete border of the flower bed. Around him, competitors were either eating a simple lunch to replenish their strength or doing warm-up exercises and drills. He leaned there lethargically and did nothing. It was not that he did not want to warm up. He did not have the strength to warm up. He could only save his strength at the most critical moment.

He sat like that until he heard the speakers in the square blaring the contestants’ numbers from 9500 to 9550 and pushed himself against the platform to stand up. He staggered into the crowd.

He did not know how he had held on, nor did he know how he passed each of the assessments. All he knew was that the sky had dimmed, and the bustling crowd outside had dispersed with only the trash littering the ground. He could not hear the buzzing noises. He stood in the grassy stadium. With the exception of five coaches, three television camera men and reporters, only ten of his peers wearing training vests were left.

And he, Chen Jian, stood among these ten men.

He was in the top ten of Chengdu division, which was his best result after his participation in the four competitions.

Among the five coaches, there was also the chief judge whose face was familiar to Chen Jian. He was the British coach who had eliminated him in the Beijing division. He saw the man twice again in the Wuhan division and Changsha division. Chen Jian could not remember this person’s name until now. It was useless for him to know. He had to rely on his own strength to pass the assessment rather than claim connections with the chief judge to climb higher.

He glanced a few more times and averted his gaze to stand in line to wait for the next assessment. As he had not eaten for a day and could barely stand, but he clenched his teeth to persevere. He smiled on the outside and looked confident while he gritted his teeth behind his closed lips.

The chief judge, Kenny Sansom swept his gaze across the ten lucky contestants standing in front of him and discovered a familiar face — Number 9527 with his smiling face, tanned skin and strong body. If he had only seen the face once in the Beijing division, Sansom would not have remembered the youth at all. But he saw the smiling, tanned face four times: Beijing, Wuhan, Changsha and Chengdu.

He had a deep impression of the smile because he could see that this kid was trying his hardest to hold on.

The Chinese coach at his side looked at him, and he nodded to his colleagues who worked on this with him.

The local Chengdu coach stepped forward and faced the ten lucky contestants. “Your strength to be able to break into the Chengdu division’s top ten. I know a lot of the contestants who came here are not Chengdu or Sichuan natives. Some people were even unwilling to give up and come here for the last fight because they were eliminated in the other competitions. So, I can say without exaggeration that the Chengdu Division is the strongest, most competitive, and most brutal division among the country’s six divisions!”

He raised his voice, and the ten youths in front of him applauded in response.

“So, to be able to get into the top ten is enough to show how strong you are. However, according to the rules, only the last two contestants in this division can advance to the finals’ training camp, so that means eight of you will be eliminated. But don’t give up on your love of football even if you don’t win.” The coach’s words stirred everyone up.

“Now…” He looked back at the British coach and other colleagues behind him and turned around to continue, “there’s no final assessment.”

The ten contestants had a look of surprise on their faces. They thought that there had to be the most brutal and severe assessment waiting for them at the end and they would have to push past their limits to pass.

“This is the end. There is no more assessment or test. The final two places will be awarded based on the performances the ten of you gave throughout the selection process. The two people who score the highest will be given tickets to Changsha.” He raised his hand and somehow two envelopes appeared in his hand.

Everyone knew what was in there. It was not a ticket to Changsha but a ticket to their dream.

With that, he stopped talking and just stood aside. The Englishman, Kenny Sansom, stepped forward. His job was simple but was the one with the most attention. He just had to read the two winners’ numbers. He was the one to announce their fate.

Sansom looked at the ten Chinese teenagers in front of him. Over the months in China, he followed the entire process of the selection in the various competitions and interacted with a wide variety of people from the top — the Chinese Football Association officials and people from the media — down to the ordinary fans and these young players. He recognized that football in China was different from in the United Kingdom. But there was one thing in common: the passion and love for football.

In an earlier interview with BBC Television, he said that given the poor results of the Chinese national men’s soccer team in the AFC Asian Cup, their early elimination in the World Cup qualifiers in South Africa, the continued slump in Chinese football, and other factors, he had thought the event might not get as good a response as expected. He did not think that the auditions would be a sea of people each time, not to mention how much attention the media paid. It was not known how high the show ratings would be. When he saw so many adolescent faces hopeful with dreams appear in front of his own eyes, he felt… How could he put it? It was incredible. It was hard to understand why there were so many football-loving teenagers in this country when the football standards were so low.

“Boys, among you… there can only be two people to advance, so good luck to you all.” He spoke in English before he announced the two numbers. “3084.”

The teenager, who stood on the right side of Chen Jian, screamed with his arms held high. Everyone turned their heads to look at him. The number on his chest was “3084.”

Someone congratulated him, but more people were worried and anticipating the last spot. Who would get it?

For the nine remaining boys, the cruelest moment had arrived. This was the last chance. Unlike the previous five divisions where they could move on to the next division and continue to try to win after being eliminated, if they were eliminated there, there would be no a “next time” again.

Although Hunan Television had publicized that there might be a second season, it depended on the impact and earnings for the first season in China. Who could predict it?

Chen Jian was still smiling. He did not want anyone to see his nervousness.

Sansom looked at the teenager, who was still cheering, with a smile on his face. He beckoned the lucky kid to come forward and stand to the side. His excitement was too out of step with the nervousness of the other nine people.

“And…9527.”

The lucky “9527” contestant answered and fainted. It was not due to excitement, but exhausted. After Chen Jian heard the results, he could no longer hold on and fainted because he had not eaten the entire day, his fever still ran high, his head was dizzy, and his legs trembled.

※※※

Chen Jian had a dream, which was short but wonderful. He dreamed of the beautiful Qiuxiang Sister embracing him in deep concern and anxiously calling his number —

“9527? How are you feeling?”

“9527? Wake Up!”

“Someone fainted, someone fainted! Quickly!”

“9527… Chen Jian, Chen Jian… Wake up, wake up!”

Someone shook him awake. After some haziness, he looked clearly at the people in front of him. Where was the appearance of the beautiful Qiuxiang Sister? There was only a Caucasian man’s face. Then he turned his head and saw more concerned faces.

“You’re awake.” The Caucasian man had a reassuring smile on his face.

Chen Jian did not understand. He turned his head and looked at the people around him in confusion.

“You fainted when we announced the result,” the Chengdu coach said as he crouched down. Chen Jian realized that he was lying on the ground. There were nine other peers next to him who were also concerned about him.

“You’re running very hot. Do you have a fever?” The Englishman asked quickly, but Chen Jian looked confused. He immediately remembered and asked the man next to him to translate for him.

After he understood the translation, Chen Jian bobbed his head. “I had a fever on the train ride here and I also had food poisoning. I didn’t eat for a day because I was worried about what would happen during today’s assessment.”

Sansom was moved when he heard the translated answer.

Even the Chinese coaches and his competitors who were familiar with the situation were very surprised. It turned out that he competed with them in such a condition and still emerged the winner.

“Hey, buddy.” A teenager with a Beijing accent who had also rushed there from other divisions stepped forward. “I’m impressed.” He patted Chen Jian on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. “You’re awesome!”

Chen Jian remembered him because he was also eliminated and came from the Beijing division, but he was in the top ten in the Beijing division before he was finally eliminated. He once trained in the youth team of the Beijing Sinobo Guoan Football Club and could be considered a professional. He always thought highly of himself and felt that his elimination was only a matter of luck, not strength, so he went to Chengdu to prove himself again. He did not expect to lose to Chen Jian.

Initially, he was unwilling to accept the outcome: how could someone like him with a professional background lose to an amateur player? Now he was sincerely convinced and ready to concede because he thought he could not even get through the primaries with his physical condition.

The majority of people would probably not even participate in the selection and give up because they were not feeling well.

Sansom laughed. “OK, kid. Now you can go have a good meal, take a hot bath, and then get some sleep. When you wake up tomorrow, whatever discomfort will be gone. Of course, don’t forget to take medicine.” He reached his hand out and congratulated Chen Jian.

“Congratulations, 9527, Chen Jian.”