At the end of the summer in London in 2002, international student Chen Feng stood on a street corner with a half-used backpack on his back, looking at the crowd cheering for the World Cup in the bar. His fingertips clenched the worn football keychain in his bag - it was the only souvenir left when he was forced to give up his football dream three years ago. After his father was disabled in a car accident, he sealed up his jersey, bid farewell to the stadium, and went to the UK to study business with the obsession of "making money to support his family." However, in the boring academic and financial life, he increasingly missed the freedom of running on the green field.
His friend Wang Hao's words, "Amateur clubs recruit players," were like a fire that ignited his silent heart. When he stepped onto the uneven field in the suburbs of London wearing an ill-fitting red jersey, the love in his muscle memory finally broke through the shackles of reality. From the "Chinese student" who made frequent mistakes to the core midfielder who stunned the audience with his precise passing, Chen Feng thought he was just adding some color to the monotonous career of studying abroad. However, he did not expect that this experience of playing football that started as a "pastime" would one day make him stand in the European Champions Cup final and say the words that shocked the football world: "My country is not a football powerhouse, but this is my World Cup."
This is a story about regret, restart and perseverance. It tells how ordinary people in a foreign country use love to fight reality and let their dreams grow from the weeds of the field to the light that illuminates world football.
