"How's it going, Xiao Shi. What do you think after watching these two games?"
Li Zhifei asked Shi Wuyuan on the phone.
"No idea, Lao Li."
"How could you not have an opinion? Just a few comments?"
“No comment, no opinion.”
"Hey, you...I'm not a reporter here to pry into your mouth!"
Shi Wuyin laughed: "I know, Lao Li. But I really don't have any opinion. The national team coached by Dong plays the same football as we did back then, and even the staffing is the same. What else do you think I can think about?"
?Did we not see too many games like this?"
"Isn't it good to continue our style of play?"
"Ha, don't try to trick me, Lao Li. I said, after you retire from the national team, don't talk about the national team. Especially don't criticize the current coach, that is not good. When I was the head coach,
I also don’t like to see colleagues making irresponsible remarks about me.”
Seeing Shi Wuyin's firm attitude, Li Zhifei had no choice but to stop talking about the issue. He changed his mind and asked, "Okay. I understand. How are you living your life now?"
"Sleep until you wake up naturally every day, don't feel too good!" Shi Wuyin laughed.
Hearing this, Li Zhifei also laughed. After laughing, he asked: "Then what are your plans in the future?"
"In the future? I will definitely have to work. But I plan to give myself a holiday first to recharge my batteries."
"Oh, I feel relieved when I hear you say that you still want to work... I just want to say, when do you decide to go out, remember to call me and I will give you a partner!"
Shi Wuyuan was happy when he heard this: "Oh, Lao Li. You are already over 60 years old. You are not at home to raise your grandson, and you still want to go out and wander around?"
"How do you say this? Can't I, my old man, only aim at a thousand miles?"
"Okay, okay, that's great. It's settled then. When I make my comeback, I will definitely ask you to form a team." Shi Wuyin agreed.
"Okay, I'll wait for your call!"
After hanging up the phone, Shi Wuyuan's wife asked him: "What are you doing? Brother Li is unwilling to be lonely again?"
"I think...it's most likely that my sister-in-law is talking about him again." Shi Wuyuan murmured, "These hand-washed dishes...are not as clean as those washed by machines..."
The wife laughed after hearing this, and then asked: "You can really hold it back. So many media reporters came to you to ask about these two games, so you just don't say anything. Brother Li, are you still on guard?"
"It's not that I'm guarding against Lao Li, but that I have to remind myself all the time to keep my mentality straight." Shi Wuyin shook his head, "If you're not in your position, you won't do what you want. Since you're no longer the coach of the national team, then don't get involved in the national team's affairs. Otherwise,
When the time comes, if there is any trouble, I won’t be able to get rid of it. How can I still enjoy the comfortable time at home?"
Shi Wuyuan said and hugged his wife.
But his wife looked up at the white hair on his head with heartache: "It's a pity that after two months of rest, your hair has not turned black again..."
"You can't go back to black. If you don't want to see white hair, you can dye your hair. But... I think it's pretty good." Shi Wuyin touched his hair, "This way when you look in the mirror every day, you can think of me leading the team to fight.
The World Cup...ha! That was your husband's most awesome experience!"
※※※
After the match against Mexico, the national team was disbanded on the spot.
The international players who were going to play in Europe arranged to fly together from Jingyang to Frankfurt, Germany, and then transfer in Frankfurt to their respective destinations.
In this way, everyone will have a companion during the long journey of more than ten hours, so that it will not be too boring.
Hu Lai used to go back to Europe by himself and pass through those airports and cities alone.
Now he is surrounded by teammates, chatting and having fun together, and time is no longer difficult.
And when they appeared together in the Frankfurt airport terminal, they even met a few Chinese fans in this foreign country.
After they discovered this group of international players, they shamelessly came up and asked for photos and autographs.
When everyone fulfilled their wishes and prepared to leave, they kept waving and blessing loudly: "Come on!!"
"Oops! Why do I suddenly feel a little stressed..." Chen Xingyi said with emotion as he bid farewell to those enthusiastic fans.
"With a normal heart, what kind of pressure can you have? If the sky falls, there will still be a tall man holding it up..." While Zhang Qinghuan was talking to Chen Xingyi, he even glanced at Hu Lai.
Hu Lai didn't pay attention to Brother Huan's little look. He said to Zhang Qinghuan: "Brother Huan, when I go to Barcelona as a guest, you have to treat me to dinner!"
"Why should I treat you to dinner?" Zhang Qinghuan asked warily.
"Because I want to help you beat Catalonia, our city rivals!" Hu Lai spread his hands.
Just when they flew back to China to participate in the national team competition, the results of the new season's Champions League groupings were also released.
As the defending champion of the Premier League, even though Leeds City participated in the Champions League for the first time, they were still classified as "seeded teams".
So they were assigned to a group with Catalonia United, the strongest team in the second tier...
In addition to Catalonia, this group also includes the traditional strong team Vesuvius from Italy and the league champion Gulf Lighthouse from Turkey.
Premier League champion, La Liga runner-up, Serie A third runner-up and Turkish Super League champion.
This group can simply be called the "Group of Death".
At the draw, when he saw this result, Leeds City club general manager Eric Duffy looked unhappy. A close-up of his serious and tense face appeared in the live broadcast footage.
When any Leeds City fan sees such a group draw result, I'm afraid the expression on his face will not be much better than that of Duffy.
For the first time in the history of the Leeds City club, they were placed in the group of death in the Champions League. Their hopes of qualifying from the group were very bleak.
In addition to Leeds City, the other three teams in this group have a record of winning the European Cup. Catalonia has won the Champions League five times and the Europa League twice; Vesuvius has won the Europa League three times.
Champions. Bay Lighthouse also won two Europa League titles.
Only Leeds City have the most lackluster European title honors in this group.
So even though they are the first-tier team, in fact they may be the weakest in this group.
If it weren't for the Champions League reform, the seed teams of the Champions League would be composed of the defending champion, the Europa League champion and the top UEFA league champion. If we still use the European war points to divide the grades, Leeds City, the Premier League champion, will be properly ranked.
Fourth level team.
Perhaps because he knew how difficult Leeds City's situation was in this group, Zhang Qinghuan did not quarrel with Hu Lai this time, but simply agreed:
"Okay, considering your unlucky draw results, I'll treat you to dinner as a consolation for your loss to Catalonia..."
Chen Xingyi was yelling at the side: "Hu Lai, if I were you, I would never eat this food!"
Hu Lai chuckled: "But you are not me."
Then he turned to Zhang Qinghuan and said:
"It's okay, winning or losing will be invited anyway, I don't care."
Wang Guangwei was still very concerned about Hu Lai. He asked: "Hu Lai, how far can you go in the Champions League this season?"
"I don't know, I can go as far as I can." Hu Lai looked very free and easy, and didn't seem to be obsessed with the grouping situation.
"Has your coach announced his Champions League goals?"
"No. When I came out, I didn't know the results of the lottery yet. How could I announce the goal? The goal must be set based on the group results..." Hu Lai shook his head. "Anyway, I guess it's just a battle, can I?"
Whatever it looks like, it will look like that."
"The problem is not that simple." Wang Guangwei shook his head, "How to choose between the Champions League and the league? The Champions League is a battle, but what about the league at the same time? Should we give up?"
Others nodded after hearing this, saying that Wang Guangwei was right.
For a team like Leeds City that is not a wealthy team, multi-line combat is a big problem, and the choice is very important.
After all, there have been many similar precedents before, where the team's performance in the league plummeted due to its participation in the European competition.
"Yes, I went to Sarria and met some fans and listened to them talk about what happened back then. Many fans regretted it and said that if they had known this was the case, it would be better not to win the Europa League at all.
Eligibility."
What Zhang Qinghuan was talking about was an old incident. Such an incident happened five years ago in Saria, where he worked.
The previous season had just returned to the European competition after 16 years and qualified for the Europa League in the new season.
This was originally a great event, and it seems like yesterday that the whole team's fans cheered and celebrated at the end of the season.
As a result, Saria, who fought on two fronts in the new season, was unable to continue his magical performance from last season.
Not qualifying for the Europa League group stage also dragged down the league.
Losing after losing in the league Before the winter break, they had only won one game in the league and had two different head coaches.
Although Saria did not have any European competition to play in the second half of the season, the decline they accumulated in the first half of the season could not be reversed and formed a huge inertia, which eventually pushed this team, which was ranked sixth in La Liga last season, to the next level.
Entered the second league...
After that, Saria languished in the second division for two years before returning to La Liga.
Although the opportunity to play in the European Cup is a huge attraction for all teams. Fans yearn for the honors represented by the European Cup, while clubs pursue the generous bonuses brought by the European Cup.
However, it may not be a good thing for a small team with a small financial background to accidentally qualify for the European competition.
Even if you can get the group stage participation bonus, it cannot make up for the economic losses caused by being relegated from the top league.
Not to mention that it is impossible for a small team to compete for the European championship. In the end, no matter how good it performs, it will just be a green leaf for the wealthy and study with the prince.
"But Brother Huan, those fans who said that, you didn't ask them if Saria had another chance to participate in the Europa League, would they not want the team to go?" Hulay asked back.
Zhang Qinghuan was stunned for a moment.
Hu Lai smiled and said: "So, don't worry about what you say and how to analyze rationally. In fact, if there is a real opportunity to participate in the European War, which team would give up? Even though they know it will affect the team's performance in the league
...Does this mean that we will give up the European war and not compete for the Champions League qualification? There is no such reason, right? Of course we may be relegated from the Premier League just because we play in the Champions League. But relegation is something in the future, and it is not certain yet.
But the Champions League is the current game. It’s too stupid to give up the current game for the possible outcome in the future. I don’t know what goals our head coach will set for the Champions League, but I will fight for every game anyway. This is me
It’s my first time participating in the Champions League!”
Hearing what he said, several people looked at each other in confusion. Wang Guangwei slapped his forehead and said: "That's right, Hu Lai has a chance to participate in the Champions League. We... Sigh! What are we doing here who can't even play in the Europa League?"
Heart?"
Chen Xingyi pointed at himself: "Me! I have a chance! Our team is also participating in the Champions League!"
Zhang Qinghuan scolded: "What a fool you are! Your club didn't even register you in the Champions League!"
"What if our team reaches the knockout round? We can register again in January next year."
Everyone said: "Haha."
Zhang Qinghuan waved his hand: "It's gone. The road is facing the sky, everyone goes to one side! Bye, everyone!"
He went to Barcelona, Xia Xiaoyu went to Lisbon, Chen Xingyi and Luo Kai flew north to Amsterdam together, and Wang Guangwei went south to Genoa.
Hu Lai flew west alone, back to Leeds.
The six people said goodbye in the terminal of Frankfurt Airport and went their separate ways.
