Madrid, Spain.
Ma Dawei, a reporter for an authoritative Chinese newspaper based in Spain, followed the ecstatic crowd out of the Calderon Stadium.
A wonderful goal feast had just ended in the magnificent football field behind him.
In the 35th round of the Spanish Second Division, Atletico Madrid, playing at home, defeated the visiting Murcia 4-2.
This victory completely established Atletico Madrid as the leader of the Spanish Second Division, and it is only one step away from returning to La Liga.
Ma Dawei could clearly see that all the Atletico Madrid fans who walked out of the Calderon Stadium had excited and excited smiles on their faces, and everyone was full of infinite longing for the future.
This traditional Spanish powerhouse has finally returned to La Liga!
Ma Dawei did not have much empathy for the feelings of the Atletico Madrid fans around him.
He came to watch this game with a mission.
Not long ago, Spanish media revealed that Atletico Madrid is interested in introducing a young Chinese international, which caused a great sensation in the country and countless fans are full of expectations.
The Chinese national youth team performed well in the World Youth Championship in Argentina and made it to the World Cup finals for the first time in history. Everyone in the country is full of hope for the future of Chinese football, especially for this young rising star.
The Spanish giants studying abroad are undoubtedly what the Chinese people are eagerly looking forward to.
In the next ten years, he will also hold up the banner of the national team and become an iconic figure of Chinese football.
Everything will get better!
Ma Dawei thought to himself.
…
As the crowd left the Calderon Stadium, Ma Dawei came to a street cafe.
There is no longer the tranquility of the past. Everyone is enthusiastically discussing the just-concluded Spanish Second Division game and the upcoming La Liga journey, discussing the young Fernando Torres and Antonio Lopez, and the veterans Aguilera and Stankovic.
There is also the old coach Aragones who rushed to put out the fire before the season but led the team all the way to the top of the Spanish Second Division.
Everything is getting better and better.
Just like Chinese football.
Ma Dawei thought to himself.
He picked up the phone, found a familiar name in the address book, and hesitated whether to dial it.
This is a scout with a lot of connections in Spain. It is said that his network not only connects Atletico Madrid, but also has friends in local giants like Real Madrid and Barcelona. His network even extends to giants like Inter Milan in Serie A.
It took Ma Dawei many twists and turns to get to know this scout through a friend of a friend.
Although they were not close friends, Ma Dawei hoped to get some information from the other party.
For example, what progress has Atletico Madrid made in their plan to bring in this rising Chinese star?
Can it happen this summer?
If successful, he will be the first Chinese player in history to land in the Spanish league and La Liga.
Just thinking about it makes people excited and their blood boils.
Ma Dawei considered for a long time and finally made the call.
"Hello, Mr. Garcia, I'm David Ma."
"Which David?"
"No, it's David Ma, Ma Dawei, a Chinese journalist. I had dinner with you once before, remember?"
"Oh, yes, of course."
"It's like this, Mr. Garcia, I wonder if you are free these two days? I want to treat you to a meal and ask you about the transfer of Chinese players to Atletico Madrid. I wonder if it's convenient for you?"
"Excuse me, David, I'm in Portugal with my friends."
"Really?" Ma Dawei couldn't hide his disappointment. "That's okay. I can wait for you to come back."
"I know what you want to know, David, but I want to tell you that the possibility of this transfer is very low."
Ma Dawei was stunned, "Why?"
"Atletico Madrid don't need a player like this."
"But that's not what the media said before. They said..."
"Yes, David, but you have to know that the media's mission is to sell, but clubs don't consider media sales when recruiting players. Even when they are recruiting superstars like Real Madrid, the first thing they consider is definitely not what the media says."
Ma Dawei felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured over him, with disappointment written all over his face.
"Is there really no chance?"
"As far as I know, no," Garcia replied affirmatively. "You know, they already have Fernando Torres, who is younger, stronger and more talented."
"But he hasn't scored many goals this season, and he's in the Spanish Second Division."
"Don't look at it that way, David." Garcia smiled slightly on the other end of the phone. "You have to know that Torres participated in the U16 European Championship last summer. As a main player, he helped Spain win the championship and won the Golden Boot Award."
"After that, he skipped the U17 and U18 national teams and went directly to the U19 team. He performed very well in the qualifiers for the European Youth Championship in Denmark. He is currently the main striker of the U19 national team and one of the youngest players. The other one is Barcelona's genius Iniesta."
"This is the kind of player Atletico Madrid needs and is willing to focus on cultivating."
Now that things have come to this, what else can Ma Dawei say?
If even Garcia finds it impossible, then this transfer will basically be difficult to achieve.
Just when Ma Dawei was feeling frustrated and wanted to end the call, Garcia on the other end of the line suddenly remembered something.
“By the way, David, if I remember correctly, you are from China, right?”
Ma Dawei was somewhat embarrassed to find that the other party probably had even forgotten who he was.
"Yes, Mr. Garcia, I am Chinese."
"I wonder if you have heard of a player who studied abroad, Su Dong?"
"Su Dong?"
"Yes, how was he doing in China? What is his family background? How did he come to Portugal?"
Ma Dawei felt Garcia's concern on the other end of the phone and was very surprised.
He had never heard of the name Su Dong, let alone who Su Dong was.
"Wait, Mr. Garcia, I don't understand, who is Su Dong?"
"Oh my God, David, don't you know Su Dong?" Garcia seemed to have heard something extremely strange.
"who is he?"
Garcia did not answer but asked, "Do you have many Chinese players playing football overseas in Europe?"
"Not many, three in total."
"Then you don't know Su Dong?" Garcia was even more puzzled.
"Mr. Garcia, may I ask, who is Su Dong?"
"I suggest that instead of focusing on the unlikely transfer of Atletico Madrid, you should pay attention to Su Dong of Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese Super League. He just made his debut in the Portuguese Super League, assisting and scoring a goal to help Sporting Lisbon reverse Setubal, which shocked everyone."
"This is a crucial battle for the Portuguese Super League title this season. Sudon's performance is better than that of Portuguese genius Quaresma and Cristiano Ronaldo. He has even attracted the attention of Inter Milan. Luis Suarez praised him highly and thought he would become an excellent center forward."
"This...how is this possible?" Ma Dawei was completely stunned.
When did China produce such a player?
This is impossible. There is absolutely no news from the country.
"That's the truth, David. Wait and see tomorrow's Portuguese newspapers."
Garcia chuckled and hung up the phone.
Ma Dawei sat there in a daze, unable to digest the information Garcia had just brought.
He quickly took out his notebook, opened the web page, and searched for news about the Portuguese Super League on the portal website. Sure enough, several real-time news items popped up at once.
"The Chinese God of War shines in the Portuguese Super League!"
"The 17-year-old talented center made a stunning appearance and scored a buzzer-beater in his debut!"
"One pass and one shot, the youngster from Sporting Lisbon staged a crazy comeback!"
"Setubal coach: He reminds me of Kluivert!"
" The substitute youngster shined throughout the game, and Boloni praised him highly: he still has huge potential that has not been tapped!"
"Jadel rarely responds to being left out of the national team: Ronaldo without a goal is worse than Su Dong!"
…
Ma Dawei was stunned and he searched out a lot of news at once.
The name Sudong seemed to have suddenly appeared in Portugal overnight.
A seventeen-year-old Chinese player?
Ma Dawei had no idea where he came from, which team he played for, when and how he stayed abroad.
After finally calming down, Ma Dawei immediately called the editor-in-chief of an authoritative domestic football newspaper.
But what surprised Ma Dawei was that the other party had never heard of the name Su Dong.
"This is impossible! There are only a few Chinese players studying abroad, and each of them is treated like a treasure. If there really were Chinese players playing for a European powerhouse like Sporting Lisbon, how could there be no news in China?"
“Are you overseas Chinese?”
Ma Dawei shook his head to deny it. Garcia told him clearly that it was a Chinese player, and there were more than a dozen news reports online, and the number was increasing. Some of them were accompanied by photos of Su Dong, a sunny and handsome Chinese teenager wearing a Sporting Lisbon jersey. How could it be fake?
Unwilling to give up, Ma Dawei found the phone number of a friend inside the Football Association and wanted to get to the bottom of the matter.
"Su Dong? I don't know him, never heard of him, I don't know him, and he is definitely not a Chinese player." The other party denied it immediately.
But when Ma Dawei talked about the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in detail, especially when he mentioned Portugal, the other party was shocked.
"It can't be him, right?"
"who?"
"A player who was banned last year."
"Banned and banned?"
Following his friend's advice, Ma Dawei quickly found a rather inconspicuous piece of news on the domestic Internet, with only single-digit click counts.
The general content of the news is that a Chinese player illegally transferred to Sporting CP in Lisbon, Portugal, and the Football Association banned him from the game, without even listing the duration of the ban.
"What's going on?" Ma Dawei was shocked.
Why was a talented rookie who shined in his debut in the Portuguese Super League and was even the focus of Inter Milan banned in China ?
Illegal transfer?
But he was able to transfer from Sporting CP to Sporting Lisbon and successfully landed in the Portuguese Super League.
What's the violation here?
Ma Dawei's repeated questioning was met with only an awkward smile.
This is a confusing account.