Football Road: Towards the Top of the World

He comes from a cement court in Jiangcheng, wearing cheap sneakers, and standing in front of a 14-year-old opponent - and he is only 9 years old. Three crotch piercings, one goal, all recorded on the mobile phone of an unknown boy who was hidden behind a tree by a youth training coach. Jingchuan, the ghost of football emerges from the concrete floor of the community. His passes were as precise as bullets and his vision seemed to float above the pitch. He has no background and no funds. His father is a machine factory worker and his mother runs a small bakery. In the youth training system where "favor fees" are rampant in Chinese football, he should not even be able to sit on the bench. But when he was 10 years old, he came on as a substitute in the U12 league and scored one goal and two assists, beating the main players who relied on connections to become speechless. From the abyss of Jiangcheng's substitute to the Spanish trial training, from the provocation of racial discrimination to the spotlight of La Liga's debut, from the institutional resistance of the National Youth Team to the ultimate redemption in the World Youth Championship finals - Jingchuan proved one thing with both feet: Talent can be suppressed and origin can be looked down upon, but a true "ghost" will never disappear from the court. Chen Shuyan's badminton footwork helped him break through his physical limits. Blogger Chen Feng's lens opened the door to Spain for him. Atletico Madrid's youth training director called him "a once-in-a-century tactical brain"... And what he has to do is to hold up the trophy and say something to Chinese football: "Technology is our future." ⚡If you have ever believed that the grassroots can counterattack and talents should not be buried - this summer, work with Jingchuan to crush those prejudices.