my football i call the shots

157 The Homeland of Chongzhang

"Your flight A0088 is about to land at Yanbian Airport. I wish you a pleasant journey, thank you."

……

Looking at his homeland outside the plane window, Gao Xun's eyes were blurred. He has forgotten how many years he has not returned to the land of Yanji where he was born, raised and raised.

Although Gao Xun is unwilling to count the specifics, but roughly calculated, there are more than ten years.

The environment here has changed a lot since before he left.

Once bungalows and small couches have turned into high-rise buildings, the land of Yanji has changed so much that Gao Xun can hardly recognize it, but fortunately, the two big "Yanbian" regular script characters on the airport are enough for Gao Xun to be sure: Myself, I'm back! ! !

After getting off the plane, he followed a familiar path into the waiting room. Two familiar faces had been waiting for Gao Xun for a long time.

"Old Gao! Here, here!!!"

It was none other than Gao Xun's former Yanbian football teammate Li Hongjun who called Gao Xun.

Li Hongjun, who is a few years younger than Gao Xun, is also one of the players who went out of Yanbian football team earlier. In the 1997 season, Li Hongjun transferred to Beijing Guoan and became an important member of Beijing Guoan's defense line.

Li Hongjun, who is only 168 cm tall, can be regarded as a special existence among defenders. Although he is not tall, Li Hongjun's foot is very stable, his defense is tough, fierce, and his feet are fast. Don't fall behind.

Li Hongjun played for Beijing Guoan for four seasons, but in order to adjust the age structure of the team, Guoan finally gave up the defender from Yanbian.

In the 2001 season, Li Hongjun joined the Chengdu Wuniu team and announced his retirement in the same year. After retiring, he was the same as Gao Xun.I chose to stay away from the football circle and returned to Beijing to start a businessman.

(PS: The Korean players in Yanbian football are generally short in stature, but unlike the "dwarf tiger" players in southern football, the Korean players are relatively stocky in stature. Their football style is fierce, tough, and high-intensity pressing. It is characterized by defense, while the "Bantam" players of the southern football team are more inclined to the speed of the wing, the combination of dribbling, and the aura of frontcourt running.)

Looking at this old teammate who had already cut off his long hair, Gao Xun felt a burst of warmth.

Back then, when Yanbian football was selling people for blood, Gao Xun encouraged these teammates who were younger than himself to go out and see the outside world more, and he stayed as a "hands-on" figure of Yanbian football. Perhaps, there are regrets, but Gao Xun, as the big brother of the team, is somewhat relieved to see the high-spirited looks of his former teammates.

"Old Li, ah...you are still so young."

Gao Xun, who was walking towards his old friend, couldn't help but joked. Although a group of them relied on the development of the information age and communicated through phone calls, text messages, and even WeChat voice, it was the first time they were in this area again after so many years. The hometown of Yanji gathered together.

"Hey, if Lao Li didn't cut his hair, he would probably be ten years younger, hahahahaha."

The one who spoke at this time was another iconic figure of Yanbian Football—Jin Guangzhu!

Jin Guangzhu, Yanbian football team, the national team's double defense core, can be called the back defense.Its excellent defense and good overall situation are also talked about by the younger generation of Yanbian football.

Jin Guangzhu has been the captain of the Yanbian team longer than Gao Xun. In the Yanbian team, he set an example and set an example for his teammates.Jin Guangzhu is not only superb at the game, but also kind and honest.

It is a pity that at the end of 1997, Jin Guangzhu had to leave the team for recuperation and treatment due to hepatitis. In 1999, he went south and chose to join the Guangzhou Sun God Team (now Guangzhou Evergrande). However, due to physical problems, Jin Guangzhu's physical fitness was greatly restricted. , had no choice but to retire early the following year.

In 2002, Jin Guangzhu went to Japan to study at his own expense, and became a football player in a university to participate in the college student league.

During his study abroad, Jin Guangzhu learned a lot of advanced concepts of Japanese football.After his academic success, he returned to Yanbian State Sports School and has been engaged in football work.

As a coach, Jin Guangzhu has served as the head coach of the Jilin Provincial National Games, the head coach of the Yanbian Second Team, the first team assistant coach, team leader, and head coach. He is also one of the coaches who have successfully transformed Jilin Aodong one.

"Guang Zhu, you are old too, unlike me... well, your hair is all gray."

Looking at these two former best buddies, Gao Xun couldn't help but sighed again. Li Hongjun was hot in Shanghai, and Jin Guangzhu continued to exert his residual heat in the position of coach of Yanbian football, but he was far away from it. Those brothers who used to be together for Yanbian football and for their dreams ran to a small seaside city to live a life of incognito.

How much this made Gao Xun look a bit vicissitudes.

Perhaps because of seeing the unnaturalness on Gao Xun's face, as the captain of the former team, Jin Guangzhu signaled everyone: "Let's go, don't take other people's place in the waiting room, find a small restaurant to eat some hot food, old Gao I haven’t been back to Yanbian for so many years, I don’t know how much I can remember about the taste here.”

"Yes, it must have been more than ten years. Oh..."

Seeing that Gao Xun was still sighing, Li Hongjun also stood up to warm up the scene. He patted Gao Xun on the shoulder, showing the same sunny smile as before: "Let's go, don't sigh, come back, let's go Have a good time, have a good meal, rest for a few days, and then go to the court to learn from each other."

Under the urging of his old teammates, Gao Xun took a nostalgic look at the airport outside, then followed the steps of the big guys and left the waiting room.

In Li Hongjun's car, Gao Xun, Jin Guangzhu and his party left Yanbian Airport and headed for the familiar urban area of ​​Yanbian.

Along the way, Gao Xun has been silently looking at the fleeting scenes outside the car window.

How familiar were the once-streets and asphalt roads. However, Gao Xun hadn't seen these familiar landmarks for a long time.

Jin Guangzhu, who sat in the back row with Gao Xun, also helped Gao Xun find the memories of those years along the way.

"Old Gao, look, there used to be a small fried restaurant that we always liked to eat, but it was closed down and a commercial building was built."

"Also, look over there. We used to like to come here after training. Later, the government re-developed this land and built a cultural square."

"There, there was no used training ground before, but it was bought by the developer and a building was built. Now our Yanbian team's training ground is far away, but fortunately, it is equipped with a building bus, so it is convenient to go back and forth .”

……

During this journey, Jin Guangzhu took the trouble to recall every detail of the city of Yanbian for Gao Xun.

It's just that things are people and things are not things.

Those familiar places, those familiar people, how many are still the same?

"Old Gao, over there is the dormitory of our former Aodong coaching staff..."

For some reason, Gao Xun, who had been silent all the way, suddenly spoke. He interrupted Jin Guangzhu and said, "Guangzhu, I remember those places. I was punished by the coaching staff to run laps in the ditch over there, and now I don’t see the stinky mud ditch back then.”

Seeing that Gao Xun no longer sighed, Jin Guangzhu felt a little relieved. What he was most worried about was that Gao Xun would suddenly lose control of his emotions after returning to his hometown, but it was obvious that Gao Xun's heart was still the same as before. Powerful, he can still remember people from more than ten years ago, things from more than ten years ago, things from more than ten years ago.

"That's right, the stinky mud ditch was rectified by the government, and then it was directly buried. In the north... oh, a new ditch was built just a little further in the direction for drainage. It's not the same as before. It stinks like that."

Gao Xun obviously wasn't thinking here, and his eyes were distracted as he responded to Jin Guangzhu's words: "That relationship is good, but that stinky mud ditch is quite stinky."

"Cough cough..."

Maybe it was because Gao Xun was out of shape, as the captain of the former team, Jin Guangzhu brought Gao Xun back to his senses with a violent cough.

Looking at Gao Xun's eyes that were no longer wandering around in a blur, Jin Guangzhu hesitated for a while, then sighed and said: "Old Gao, everything has changed, Yanbian has become modernized, and Yanbian football has also returned to the top level." The league is over, and the environment for Chinese football is getting better and better... Sigh, can’t you let go of those things in the past? Let him pass the past.”

Jin Guangzhu's tone became more and more serious later on, which made Gao Xun involuntarily silent for a while.

Although everyone is already in their [-]s and [-]s, Gao Xun has forgotten his age because of the affection and intention he once played football in Yanbian.

In this scene, it seemed that Gao Xun was still a member of the Yanbian Aodong team, and he was receiving a lecture from the captain Jin Guangzhu.

"Captain, I..."

After hesitating for a long time, Gao Xun didn't say what he hadn't finished. In the end, Gao Xun used a long sigh as the full stop of what he didn't finish.

Seeing that Gao Xun had no more words, Jin Guangzhu didn't force him, after all, everyone was no longer a young man, and they were all in their [-]s and [-]s, and each had their own ideas and understandings.

In order to divert the topic away, Jin Guangzhu pouted out the window: "Old Gao, it's rare to come back once, so just take a few more glances, I don't know how long it will be until you come back to Yanbian next time."

"Um……"

Listening to the old captain's smoothing, Gao Xun was very grateful in his heart. He was grateful that his old captain didn't continue to persecute him on those issues. It was already unbreakable at a young age.

Looking out the car window, looking at the tall buildings lined up, looking at the streets and roads that are different from the past, Gao Xun's mind is in a mess at this time.

He really wanted to recall the high-spirited self more than 20 years ago, the proud self of a generation of footballers, but for some reason, no matter how hard he tried, there was only an outline left of that former self, no matter how he remembered or filled it, that The outline is still so empty, it is hard to see clearly and can't be found.

In the blink of an eye, more than 20 years have passed by, and it has been more than ten years since I left Yanbian.

In recent years, both Yanbian and the general environment of Chinese football have gradually changed. Yanbian football, which has been forgotten by people, has also returned to the top league of Chinese football after the end of the season. The former Guangzhou Sun God, now Guangzhou Evergrande has completed the feat of winning two championships in three years.

Although the level of the national team still seems to be in a slump, with the development of the youth study abroad program in full swing, more and more young players are sent to European countries with a better football environment for training. I believe that in the near future, those who have trained abroad The good seedlings of China will also step up and bring the national team back to its former Asian peak!

The world is constantly changing, and it is changing faster and faster, so fast that people dare not predict the future.

Perhaps, this is the charm of time, it can not only wash away the past, but also make the future shrouded in a veil of mystery.

Feeling all the differences between the present and the past, Gao Xun's wrinkled eyes also became filled with tears. He missed this land of Yanbian. He who has been wandering outside for more than ten years, at this moment, How much I want to forget those words in the past, return to this fertile soil that raised him, let the fallen leaves return to their roots!

In order to prevent Jin Guangzhu next to him from discovering the tears in his eyes, Gao Xun deliberately turned his body to the side of the car window, and couldn't help but mutter.

"We're all old, we can't go back, we can't go back."