Half a month later, the China Team had one win and one loss in the second round of the World Cup qualifiers group stage, ultimately advancing to the next round as group leaders.
The China Team's World Cup qualifiers were exceptionally smooth, with a total of six matches. They drew one and lost one against strong team Iran, and achieved double victories against Lebanon and Yemen, which was entirely expected.
Gao Nuo only participated in the last two matches. The team's state was relaxed, and he wasn't familiar enough with his new teammates, only scoring one goal, which was harmless in terms of the overall result.
With half a month left until Manchester United's new season training camp, Gao Nuo finally began to enjoy his vacation, allowing his tired body and tense nerves to rest.
His days were also quite busy with various GG shoots, sneaker promotions, and so on, which added a lot of color to Gao Nuo's life compared to the monotonous training.
Unlike Gao Nuo's relaxed pace, Li Qiang and his team were entering a busy summer. Since signing Ai Feierding, Hu Hetao, and Li Hao, Li Qiang had been planning their professional careers.
Currently, Chinese players still lack competitiveness globally and have no leverage to negotiate terms with clubs, only able to follow the coaching staff's arrangements. Therefore, for Li Qiang's team, finding suitable clubs is their most important goal.
Ai Feierding is almost 21 years old, and this season has not gone well for him. He hasn't had many opportunities to play in the Swedish League, and the coaching staff arranged for him to play as an 8, a new position he wasn't accustomed to. Coupled with the need to adapt to a new environment, Ai Feierding's journey abroad has been exceptionally difficult. Having signed with Li Qiang, he yearns for a quick transfer, and his demand is for stable playing opportunities. After comprehensively considering Ai Feierding's technical characteristics, the agent team is currently in talks with some teams in the Spanish Segunda División.
Hu Hetao is already 20 years old and has matured significantly on the field after another year of training in the Chinese Super League. Moving to Europe is inevitable. Under the operation of his agent team, Reading, who recently got promoted from League One to the Championship, and Malaga in the Spanish Segunda División, are currently very good options. After further negotiations, Hu Hetao's career abroad is about to begin.
Li Hao is also 20 years old. He joined Atletico Madrid last year and performed well in U20 youth team matches, but the issue of being overage is unavoidable. After this season, Li Hao's growth rate will determine his future stay or departure.
At the Xinjiang Province youth training base led by Sun Hai, the young players have been training for half a year, and various data show significant improvements. The future looks bright.
Although many problems still exist within the Chinese Football Association, under Coach Sun's iron-fisted approach, batch after batch of corrupt officials have been purged, and the domestic football environment has improved significantly.
The Chinese Super League is no longer a place for fame and fortune. Top-down reforms have made the League more professional, and more capital has entered, leading to a certain improvement in the level of competition.
Gao Nuo's vacation was, of course, different from others. Without the pressure of matches, the Challenge Road mode in the system space felt like playing a game. After consulting the system, he spent 3 hours a day on two challenges, with the remaining time still dedicated to virtual training.
The system's main quest, 'Premier League Golden Boot', has been completed. He received three advanced virtual coaches from the system, and the virtual training ground has reached the highest level, surpassing Manchester United's standards. This allowed Gao Nuo to gain a lot of new knowledge during training, while also ensuring he could always stay in top condition.
In the Challenge Road mode, stages 30 to 40 rewarded 10 green player cards. Gao Nuo maintained his consistent 'non-African' luck, with only one Azpilicueta making him satisfied. The other 9 cards featured players from various countries, and Gao Nuo's career was still short, so he hadn't had the chance to get to know these players.
However, he did manage to extract a lot of information from the system regarding player card levels.
Green player cards correspond to players who should be at the level of the secondary Leagues in the top five European Leagues, such as Wu Lei and Van de Beek.
Blue player cards can reach the regular level of the top five European Leagues, such as Mudryk, Ziyech, and Ward-Prowse.
Purple player cards are basically at the starter level for top clubs, such as Osimhen, Leão, and Saliba.
Orange player cards are for superstar-level players, such as De Bruyne, Mbappé, and Haaland.
What frustrated Gao Nuo was that the system could only simulate active players, and at their real ages. This meant Gao Nuo had no chance to become teammates with legendary players at their peak, such as Ronaldo (the Brazilian), Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, and others.
An unwilling Gao Nuo tried to argue with the system, but the result was, of course, a rejected appeal. According to the system, it wasn't that it couldn't be done—at the very least, he could face them as opponents in Challenge Road—but they just couldn't be teammates. Such an easy 'pie' wouldn't be good for his growth.
Starting from stage 40, the clearance reward was upgraded to a blue player card, and the difficulty increased accordingly. With Gao Nuo's unremitting efforts, he could clear a stage every two or three days, until stage 50, where he encountered a bottleneck again.
For these 10 blue player cards, Gao Nuo's luck was neither good nor bad. Aside from wasting 4 cards on striker and goalkeeper positions, the other 6 could be added to his virtual lineup.
"Fifty-first Battle: The Resurgence of the Magpies,"
"Clearance Condition: Defeat opponent by 3 goals or more,"
"Match Time: 90 minutes,"
"Clearance Reward: One purple player card, with a chance to drop a set of tactics board."
"Under the leadership of Eddie Howe, Newcastle United, with new owners Saudi Public Investment Fund, has transformed, becoming a force not to be underestimated in the Premier League."
Gao Nuo's virtual lineup underwent significant changes:
Head Coach: Mourinho,
Formation: 4-3-3,
Goalkeeper: José Sá,
Defense: Alejandro Balde, Cristian Romero, Fefee, Azpilicueta,
Midfield: Páez Gavi, Fabregas, Fred,
Forward: Wu Lei, Gao Nuo, Nicolò Zaniolo.
The system was indeed impressive; virtual players at the blue player card level no longer mechanically executed tactics. They clearly exhibited individual habits and on-field performance during matches. Spanish rising star Gavi surprised Gao Nuo multiple times with his occasional flashes of brilliance and highly imaginative passes.
This lineup was actually not weak, with a good winning rate against virtual Newcastle United. However, the clearance condition given by the system was too demanding; defeating the opponent by 3 goals or more made Gao Nuo feel somewhat overwhelmed.
After overcoming the bottleneck, with continuous virtual challenges and training, Gao Nuo's own potential was unconsciously being stimulated.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Gao Nuo began preparing to return to Manchester. His relaxed time in China came to an end, and Gao Nuo was about to begin the third season of his football career.