Chapter 5: EAFF E-1 Football Championship

Mo Mo's suspension would last until the nineteenth round of Serie A.

For the nineteenth round of Serie A, Inter Milan would travel away to Turin's Stadio delle Alpi on February 2, 2003.

This would be Mo Mo's debut in Serie A. Actually, Li Qing's visit this time was, firstly, because it was during the holiday, and secondly, because recent public opinion had some criticisms regarding Mo Mo.

Among them, the *Munich Evening News* had become the main attacker against Mo Mo, with Vathli even penning articles titled "The Recanting Chinaman" and "The Biggest 'Lemon' of the Winter Transfer Window."

Recently, he even wrote a report claiming that Mo Mo would rot on the bench at Inter Milan, detailing the "glaring brilliance" of Inter Milan's forward line.

He also mocked the fact that Mo Mo's transfer came with "his whole family in tow."

Mo Mo's valuation of 20 million euros was actually not quite at the top tier at Inter Milan. In the summer transfer window not long before, Inter Milan had spent 23 million euros to buy Fabio Cannavaro.

Of course, leaving Fabio Cannavaro's abilities aside for the moment, his current injuries had practically determined that he would spend close to two seasons battling injuries.

Regarding this, Vathli made a malicious "curse," hoping that Mo Mo would end up like Fabio Cannavaro, constantly moving in and out of the hospital ward.

However, the most important issue right now was not this, but the national team's call-up for Mo Mo for the friendly match against Brazil on February 12, 2003. It was rumored that Shao Jiayi had already agreed to participate in this match, thereby missing Bayern Munich's second local derby.

The current national team head coach was Arie Haan. During his playing career, Arie Haan had scored two super long-range goals at the World Cup, becoming an eternal classic in World Cup history, and had twice won the World Cup runner-up with the Netherlands.

Facing such a track record, even Hao Haidong had to give a thumbs up and call it pretty good.

Arie Haan had successively managed clubs such as VfB Stuttgart, 1. FC Nürnberg, Feyenoord, and Anderlecht. After the World Cup ended, he replaced Bora Milutinović as the national team's head coach (ahead of schedule).

Mino rejected the invitation for the friendly match on Mo Mo's behalf, but agreed to the newly created East Asian Four-Nation Championship (East Asian Cup).

This first edition of the East Asian Cup (also known as the East Asian Four-Nation Championship, formerly known as the East Asian Football Championship) would be held in Japan. The participating countries were China, Japan, South Korea, Macau, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Mongolia, and Guam.

Well, actually, if possible, Mo Mo wouldn't even want to go to this so-called East Asian Cup. Out of all eight teams, apart from Japan and South Korea, what on earth were the rest of them?

(Ahem, historically, the first-champion was South Korea, the runner-up was Japan, the third place was China, and the fourth place was Hong Kong, China.)

However, this matter gave Mo Mo a reminder: Arie Haan was very good at long-range shooting! Then wouldn't Zhang Meng be very suitable for Arie Haan to train?

In fact, although Héctor Cúper thought highly of Zhang Meng, there was no place for Zhang Meng in the first team, and now Zhang Meng was 22, almost 23 years old.

The current national team locker room was relatively dominated by the old guard's one-word-dictator style. At that time, the players from Shanghai Shenhua, Shandong Luneng, and Shenzhen mostly played the roles of younger brothers. The dominance of the Dalian faction allowed Chinese football to continue to shine and emit heat after its brief glory.

Back then, there were relatively fewer people nitpicking. By the 2006 World Cup, Rong Guang would be 20 years old, Wang Qidong would be 22, and Zhang Meng would be 26. By then, whether these three fellows would turn out capable could be roughly seen.

In fact, there were quite a few things driving Mo Mo crazy right now: first was this year's East Asian Cup, second was the 2004 Asian Cup, and third was regarding the Olympic national team.

What? You ask about the starting position at Inter Milan? Well! It seemed Héctor Cúper hadn't promised Mo Mo a starting spot, but having been bought for 20 million euros, he couldn't possibly just be left to warm the bench!

(Quite a few players more expensive than Mo Mo warmed the bench, especially on the forward line.)

Regarding the East Asian Cup, Mo Mo hoped to win the championship. What? Was the tone too big?

They said there were eight teams, but the ones with genuine strength were only South Korea and Japan. As for the rest—Macau, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Guam, and so on—Mo Mo could only give a helpless chuckle.

In addition was the Asian Cup. If the championship could be won at the East Asian Cup, why not the Asian Cup? Australia was not even considered an Asian country back then.

Finally, regarding the Olympic national team, Mo Mo chose to refuse. Even Arie Haan supported Mo Mo on this matter, hoping Mo Mo could fight for a starting position at Inter Milan.

Mo Mo joining one of Milan's giants also caused Chinese fans to boil with excitement. In the time ahead, the tasks of the East Asian Cup and Asian Cup were already heavy enough. The Olympic national team? Was that something for Mo Mo to participate in?

"In Europe, or rather in the Netherlands, what is the concept of the Olympic national team? Simply put, it's just a youth team, an immature team. Whether the Dutch Olympic team can participate in the Olympics is not that important. It's best if they can; if they can't, they just play in the youth league, and not many people will pay attention. The players who secure a starting spot in their club leagues don't necessarily all go to play in the Olympics. This is the common view shared by various European countries."

These were the words of Arie Haan. In fact, these were also the words Mino said to Mo Mo. This made the leaders of the Football Association somewhat unhappy, but given Mo Mo's surging momentum, they temporarily made no rash moves.

However, Arie Haan felt somewhat worried about this, as Mo Mo's stance made him somewhat uneasy.

In the days that followed, the training sessions of Rong Guang and Wang Qidong gradually got onto the right track. Lahm would join VfB Stuttgart via a transfer in April, and Bastian Schweinsteiger was promoted to Bayern Munich's first team. It seemed the head coach was beginning to lose trust in his old cronies.

As for Klose, he could be said to be in glorious form, having won Germany athletes' highest honor, the Silver Laurel Leaf, being named the Rhineland-Palatinate Athlete of the Year, and even making the shortlist for the French Ballon d'Or. Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that 1. FC Kaiserslautern ultimately withstood the pressure and did not sell Klose, but Werder Bremen was still pursuing him, and everyone knew it was only a matter of time.

Well! The most important thing right now was how to perform brilliantly in his debut and secure his spot as the starting forward!

At this moment, Mo Mo learned of some news—whether it was a joy or a sorrow, he couldn't tell—which was that Perugia had defeated Inter Milan 4-1 at their home stadium, Stadio Renato Curi!

They had already led Inter Milan 2-0 by the first half. Mo Mo's opportunity seemed to be arriving.