A week later, Hu Lai used the excuse to attend the birthday party of his deskmate Song Jiajia and went with the team to the provincial capital Jincheng to participate in the Anton Cup final.
Different from the first time they came here, this time the Dongchuan Middle School players will no longer be shocked by the natural turf.
Because Jiaxiang High School failed to reach the finals this time, their massive cheerleading team was not put to use.
The stands at the Provincial Sports Center are somewhat empty.
However, this time after Dongchuan Middle School reached the finals, some of their own cheerleading teams came. The number of people was not very large, but it was still an amazing breakthrough.
These cheerleaders organized themselves to take the high-speed train to the final venue with the team. After boarding the stadium stands, they began to hang their cheering banners and slogans.
Another team that reached the finals, Jincheng No. 13 Middle School, was a local middle school, so many students came to cheer for the team.
So although the number of people watching the game was not as large as last year's final, the momentum was still pretty good.
Dai Zetao also appeared in the stands of the stadium.
He came to observe Hu Lai.
After that semi-final, he followed Wang Guangwei's advice and decided to observe Hu Lai carefully.
After all, in this Anton Cup competition, the most noteworthy local young player is Hu Lai.
After the semi-finals, Hu Lai, who scored ten goals, has become the top scorer. Since another competitor's school stopped in the semi-finals, there is no chance to overtake Hu Lai. It can be said that Hu Lai gained it in advance.
The golden boot honor of this Anton Cup - after the final, he will receive a small trophy as a reward for the top scorer.
This trophy belonged to Luo Kai last year.
This year it fell into Hu Lai's hands.
In Dai Zetao's view, this seems to mean a kind of "inheritance."
Hu Lai, who succeeded Luo Kai, became the top scorer in the Anton Cup. So what kind of performance can he perform in the national competition?
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The final itself was not very suspenseful.
Although Jincheng No. 13 Middle School can be regarded as half of the home game, more people came to cheer them on.
But the strength gap between the two sides is there.
Before Jiaxiang High School, Dongchuan Middle School had always been the king of high school football in Andong Province. They were the first middle school in Andong Province to receive the "Football Traditional Strong School" - this brand is not a so-called "key middle school"
", it can be obtained by just one school. So far, only two schools in the entire Andong Province have received such an honorary title, one is Dongchuan Middle School and the other is Jiaxiang High School.
After defeating Jiaxiang High School, another "traditionally strong football school", 3:1 in an away game, the players of Dongchuan Middle School were full of confidence. They were confident that no other team in Andong Province could stop them from going to the national competition.
This allowed them to quickly enter the state of the game, and after 27 minutes of resistance, the goal was declared lost.
It was Hu Lai who scored the goal for Dongchuan Middle School!
He opened the scoring for the team with a shot in front of the goal!
When Hu Lai once again made his signature celebration move, he simultaneously heard the task completion sound in his mind.
This made the smile on his face even brighter.
When he looked at the slogan "Come on Xiaoyu" in the stands, his eyes softened a lot.
Finally, I will have my own female fan group!
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Hu Lai's goal opened the door to victory for Dongchuan Middle School.
In the second half, Xia Xiaoyu scored a goal with a long shot, rewriting the score to 2:0.
In the end, Dongchuan Middle School defeated No. 13 Middle School with this score, successfully defended the Anton Cup championship, and also qualified to participate in the national competition for the second time.
After the award ceremony, there was no need for the captain to look for Hu Lai this time. Hu Lai himself and Yan Yan had already sandwiched the trophy between them, one on the left and one on the right. Behind them and on both sides were all the players from Dongchuan Middle School.
them.
They surrounded the trophy and completed the family photo of winning the championship.
On the high-speed train from Jincheng back to Dongchuan, Li Ziqiang came to Hu Lai and asked him proactively: "Do you still need me to take your clothes back this time?"
Hu Lai was stunned for a moment and nodded quickly: "I need it, coach. You can keep this for me for the time being..."
After saying that, he put his Golden Boot trophy into his sports backpack and handed it to the head coach.
Looking down at the backpack in his hand, Li Ziqiang asked: "Your dad still won't let you play football?"
Hu Lai smiled sheepishly: "I told him that I came out to celebrate my classmate's birthday today..."
"You do have talent, and you have proven that you can follow this path."
"It's useless. My dad doesn't care about this. He just hates football and hates me being exposed to football."
"Why"
"I don't know..." Hu Lai shook his head in confusion.
Li Ziqiang did not continue to ask this question. In today's society, there are indeed some people who are full of natural prejudice against football.
Of course, this also has something to do with the poor image of Chinese football in the past. Not to mention match-fixing and black whistles, for youth football, it is not uncommon for various grassroots coaches to accept bribes from parents. If you don’t pay, your child will be a good talent.
No matter how capable you are, you can never get a place in the team. As long as you have enough money, even a lame player can be given a chance to play for you.
There are also some youth football coaches who do not hesitate to destroy the bodies of their children for the sake of team performance. Or the parents of children who trick them with sweet talk keep investing money, and then kick their children away when they can’t get anything more out of it.
…
This kind of thing was simply a well-known "hidden rule" in the Chinese football environment in the past.
In recent years, as China has vigorously rectified the football environment from top to bottom, this situation has been greatly improved.
But for ordinary people, this kind of improvement is not a strong perception. Instead, the long-term inherent image of Chinese football has left a deep and indelible impression on them.
As a result, it is difficult for many people to change their inner thoughts.
In Li Ziqiang's mind, Hu Lai's father should belong to this kind of person.
He sighed in his heart. This was a debt owed by Chinese football in the past, and it must be repaid by everyone in Chinese football today.
It is not only himself who pays the debt, but also Hu Lai, even though he is actually quite innocent...
"Do you want to play professional football?" Li Ziqiang suddenly asked again.
"Ah? Think, I want to play." Hu Lai quickly replied.
"Professional football is not easy to play." Li Ziqiang said with a normal expression.
"So I have to work harder. Coach, the Anton Cup is over, but next is the national competition. Do you think there is anything else I need to improve on?"
Li Ziqiang didn't say anything. He looked Hu Lai up and down and asked, "What do you need to improve on? You need to improve in every part of your body."
But he didn't say that, but said to Hu Lai: "Putting aside the winter vacation, there are only two months from now to the national competition. There is not much time. You should do both catching and shooting well, and at the same time, you must be physically fit.
And don’t stop doing strength training.”
"Ah, why don't you practice dribbling?" Hu Lai still looks forward to the day when he can dribble past five people, break into Longtan alone, enter the opponent's penalty area, and finally pass the goalkeeper three times before scoring the football.
goal.
In other words, any boy who plays football has probably had this kind of dream.
However, Li Ziqiang poured cold water on him: "Driving the ball? Is it because of your lack of coordination? Forget it. Spending precious training time on that is a waste. Let me tell you, stop the ball and shoot.
If you can practice these two well, you will benefit a lot in the future. If you can stop some balls that others can't stop, you can get more shooting opportunities than others. There are some balls that others dare not shoot, but you can shoot with confidence.
You can score more goals than others. As for dribbling... don't think about being an all-rounder. People's energy is limited. If you are good at everything, you will end up with nothing."
When he said these words, Li Ziqiang's tone was much colder and his attitude was much harsher. He seemed to be afraid that Hu Lai, a bastard, would not take his words to heart. He added: "As long as I am your coach, I will
You will not be asked to practice dribbling. If you can practice shooting and stopping the ball to the best, you will definitely have a place in professional football."
"Just shooting and stopping the ball?" Hu Lai asked.
"Do you think it's easy?" Li Ziqiang glanced at him. "I'm not talking about shooting and stopping in training, but stopping and shooting in situations of confrontation. In the Chinese national team, who can do these two things
There are not many good people. Looking at the entire world of football, the same is true."
"Okay..." Hu Lai is not ignorant about the game. He knows that the coach is right. Let alone this world, even the world he came from is the same.
Stopping the ball and shooting are the basic skills of a player, but the fact is so cruel and ironic that many people become professional players without even practicing the basic skills.
When Li Ziqiang saw Hu Lai agreeing, he added: "No one can become an all-around player. If you choose to improve in one aspect, you will naturally give up the possibility of improving in another aspect. You are a player who is good at grabbing points and shooting. You must
Know what your strengths and weaknesses are. Your second goal in the semifinals was very smart. You did not blindly fight Wu Yue physically in the middle. Instead, after attracting his attention, you decisively gave up on the middle.
Go ahead and grab points. Use your brain more. This is your football style."
After saying that, Li Ziqiang pointed to his temple, stood up and left.
Mao Xiao sat down next to Hu Lai again, turned to look at the coach, and said strangely: "The coach talked to you for a long time today, and said a lot. I feel like he didn't have so much to say to you before..."
"Because I am now the top scorer in the Anton Cup!" Hu Leon shook his head and hummed. "If you have strength, you will naturally be favored!"
Mao Xiao frowned, always feeling that things would not be as simple as Hu Lai said.
He turned around and took a peek at the head coach. He was as straight-faced and unsmiling as ever, sitting in his seat very seriously.