Li Zhifei and Shi Wuyuan tiptoed through the hotel corridor until they met in the elevator room, and then softly exchanged information:
"They were all asleep. I didn't hear any big noise in the house anyway..."
"Yes, me too."
As soon as he finished speaking, the elevator arrived and he opened the door and waited for them to enter.
After the two of them entered, they pressed the floor they wanted to go to. The elevator door slowly closed, and they looked at each other and smiled:
"Why do you feel like we two are like thieves? Be cautious..."
"Haha!" Shi Wuyuan was amused by Li Zhifei's words.
"But this time the mentality of the players is completely different from before the first World Cup group match. This time they all went to bed on time and fell asleep..."
"It shows that our players have indeed made progress and grown up during the World Cup." Shi Wuyuan said with emotion, "It's only been less than half a month... What a batch of good saplings!"
"They are no longer saplings in the nursery." Li Zhifei squinted his eyes and smiled. His dark and rough skin was covered with wrinkles, and he looked like an old farmer working in the fields day and night.
"You have also made progress, Xiao Shi." Li Zhifei said to Shi Wuyuan, "Before the first World Cup match, you were also very nervous. Now you can talk and laugh with me."
"After all, it is the last group match, and there are no performance requirements, no pressure, and naturally no nervousness. We have greatly exceeded expectations this time..."
Just as they were talking, the elevator arrived at their floor. When the two of them walked out, they saw the team leader Hong Renjie standing outside, looking at them with a smile.
"Going for ward rounds?" he asked.
"yes."
"How about it?"
"They're all asleep."
The smile on Hong Renjie's face grew wider: "The last game is tomorrow, just enjoy it. I just received a call from China. No matter how the game goes tomorrow, the leaders have decided to commend you."
Li Zhifei said with a smile: "Thank you, leader!"
"The other thing is...Xiao Shi, can you talk about the contract renewal?"
Li Zhifei glanced at Shi Wuyin and decided to avoid it: "You guys chat, I'm leaving first..."
The two of them didn't try to stay, and just watched Li Zhifei return to his room. Hong Renjie extended an invitation to Shi Wuyin: "Go to my room, I also have some good tea brought from China..."
He wanted to have a slow chat with Shi Wuyuan, have a good talk, and persuade him to change his mind.
But unexpectedly, Shi Wuyin firmly rejected Hong Renjie's kindness: "No, Lao Hong. We have a life-long friendship. I still remember the time you staked your future to help me guarantee it."
Hearing Shi Wuyin's application, Hong Renjie laughed: "I was indeed gambling at the time. I didn't expect that I was right. I have never won a lottery ticket in my life, but I won a super jackpot. I feel that I have never been lucky in my life."
Use it on your boy."
Shi Wuyin also laughed. When he rolled up his sleeves and went to Hong Renjie to "examine his crimes" and asked for an explanation, he never thought that one day they would be able to create such Chinese football together.
"But friendship is friendship, Lao Hong. I will not change my mind. If I say I will step down after this World Cup, I will definitely step down after the World Cup. I will not continue to coach the Chinese team..."
Shi Wuyin saw that Hong Renjie seemed to want to persuade him, so he made a gesture to indicate to him to wait, and continued: "It's not that I don't want to lead the Chinese team, but that I can't lead it. There was a saying on the Internet before, but I actually think it's true.
It makes sense. That is to compare the development of Chinese football to a rocket sending a satellite into the sky... The rocket is divided into one level, two level, and three level... Each level has its own mission and goal. After achieving that goal, it will separate and crash.
.This is normal. You can’t expect to put a satellite into orbit with a first-stage booster, right? As for me, I am the first-stage rocket. My mission is to bring the Chinese team to the World Cup, and then allow young people to participate in the World Cup without interference.
Learning and growth... I can only take the Chinese team to this level. If you go higher... you will have to find another coach with a higher level than me."
Hong Renjie said quickly: "Don't say that, Xiao Shi. We have studied it carefully and there may not be any coach in the country who is better than you..."
"Old Zhao Zhao Kangming is actually quite good..." Shi Wuyin shook his head when he said this, "Oh no, the club is the most suitable for Old Zhao. The national team's requirements for team performance are too high, so it's not suitable for him.
Don't go looking for Lao Zhao, just let him farm in Flash Star. That's good. We need a head coach who can work quietly in the club and cultivate talents for the country. In short, who should I look for to replace me? It's you.
I will get out of class after taking care of this World Cup. My ability is limited and I can’t help you anymore, Lao Hong."
Hong Renjie shook his head: "A head coach who led his team to draws with Algeria and Russia says that his abilities are limited. You are slapping all Chinese coaches in the face!"
"Oh, you can't say that. The draw with these two opponents was a matter of luck. And as a head coach, I actually don't do much work. The main thing is that the players' performance on the field exceeded expectations. After these two games, the outside world
Didn’t some media say that I made this team into a whole, so that they have an extraordinary tacit understanding on the court? Forming a whole is indeed what I have been doing, and to be able to do it so well...
…It’s the same as being stained with 502 glue. That’s really not something I can do. I don’t know why. I can only say that those players are far better than we thought…”
Shi Wuyin smiled.
"Really, I'm not lying to you, Lao Hong. I'm not being modest. You can't think that I can lead the team to greater glory just because of the results in this World Cup..."
Hong Renjie waved his hand quickly: "No, no, we have no such idea. As long as we can reach the World Cup finals again..."
"That's the problem, Lao Hong." Shi Wuyin said seriously. "I have said before that reaching the World Cup finals should be a beginning, not an end. If we just set the goal for the future development of Chinese football,
If we reach the World Cup finals again, we will never make progress. That's why I have to leave. Because I lead this team and can't bring them any room for improvement, so I will stay in this position.
It makes no sense. This group of players is so good... it would be a waste of their talent to just settle for another World Cup final."
"Okay, I'll let you finish everything..." Hong Renjie spread his hands helplessly.
Shi Wuyin smiled: "That's the truth, Lao Hong. This time we entered the World Cup and scored two draws and three goals, which actually looks pretty good. What about the next World Cup? Should we hope?
At least we can win one game? Can we try to qualify for the group stage? We must have this idea so that we can make progress. Otherwise, we will be satisfied with reaching the World Cup finals... maybe we will not be able to make it again.
?”
Hong Renjie remained silent.
"Isn't there a saying on the Internet? Oh, not just on the Internet, I think the media is also mentioning it now. It says Hu Lai, Luo Kai, Chen Xingyi, Zhang Qinghuan, Wang Guangwei, and younger ones Xia Xiaoyu, Zhou Zijing, and Lin Zhiyuan
This group of people is the golden generation of Chinese football. I think...it's quite right. So many talented and motivated young people suddenly appeared, aren't they the golden generation? With such a group of players, of course we can
Be bold. I have laid the foundation for you now and brought them to the World Cup to gain knowledge. Then it is the turn of people more capable than me to let them grow stronger instead of dying midway."
After saying that, Shi Wuyin waved his hand: "So I will definitely not renew my contract with the Football Association. I can't let them be ruined in my hands and let them become mediocre even if they are ruined."
Seeing Shi Wuyin's firm attitude, Hong Renjie could only sigh: "Forget it. I won't force you..."
"Ha!" Shi Wuyin himself smiled happily, "Relax, Lao Hong. Don't worry about who the next head coach of the Chinese team will be. Just enjoy tomorrow's game. It's very likely to be
It's our last game of this World Cup."
"It sounds like you can really enjoy something..." Hong Renjie muttered. He had just been rejected by Shi Wuyin for irrefutable reasons, and his mood was not very high.
"Based on my understanding of those boys, they can at least... score goals in tomorrow's game." Shi Wuyuan smiled. "A goal for the world champion Brazilian team."
※※※
"How did you sleep yesterday?"
"Not bad, how about you?"
"I'm pretty good too, which is really rare to say... I was so nervous before the first game that I couldn't sleep..."
"Ha! Who is not? Now there is no reaction at all."
At breakfast time, the Chinese team players would greet each other like this after meeting in the restaurant, and the answers they received were similar.
"Xiaoyu, did you sleep well yesterday?"
Wang Guangwei put the dinner plate on the table and asked Xia Xiaoyu, who was sitting at the same table.
Xia Xiaoyu nodded: "I slept very well. Zhou Zijing said that I actually snored."
Zhou Zijing looked a little tired: "Damn it, I didn't sleep well! Can you imagine that a skinny little person like Xiaoyu snores as big as a bear?! Fuck it!"
"Hahahaha!" Everyone else at the table laughed.
Xia Xiaoyu's face turned red: "What are you talking about? It's not that big!"
"Speaking of which, everyone slept well," Zhang Qinghuan said with emotion.
"After all, it's the third game, so I'm used to it," Chen Xingyi said.
"Maybe it's because we don't have much pressure in this last game, right? It doesn't matter whether we win or lose, we just need to try our best." Wang Guangwei analyzed.
As soon as he finished speaking, he found that everyone was looking at him.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing..." Zhang Qinghuan looked back and shook his head with a smile, "I just didn't expect that it would be the last group match. It feels like these ten days have been both fast and long."
"This World Cup is different from what I imagined..." Chen Xingyi also expressed emotion.
"What do you think it is?" Everyone was curious.
"Losing all three games, not scoring a single goal, and then being called a dog when I returned home..."
"Fuck, I didn't expect you to have masochistic tendencies, little Xingxing!" Hu Lai exclaimed.
"You are the one who has masochistic tendencies! Isn't what I think so true?" Chen Xingyi glared at Hu Lai and continued, "But after I came here, I realized... Hey, in fact, we are not as good as we thought.
Not bad."
Wang Guangwei pointed at himself: "I didn't expect that I could guard against 'Terror Ivan'. When I watched the Serie A live broadcast before, I felt that Romanov was asking for everything in front of the opponent's goal. He could do whatever he wanted. The opponent's central defender was in front of him.
Just like Chicken Little... Of course, Romanov is older than before, but I still didn't expect..."
He did not continue speaking, but shook his head.
He will treasure the jersey he exchanged with Romanov. Not because it is the first jersey he exchanged with an opponent in the World Cup, but because this jersey is proof that Romanov recognizes him.
Xia Xiaoyu said: "I didn't expect that I could still play in the World Cup and have assists..."
He didn't even expect to be able to play... But he only benefited from this because Gao Ruimin was injured and retired from the game, so Xia Xiaoyu didn't mention it.
Hu Lai: "I didn't expect that I would be able to score in the World Cup... No, I thought of it! Unlike you, I knew that I would definitely be able to score. The real strong are so confident!"
"Do it!" A group of people gave Hu Lai the middle finger.
Laughter rang out from another table. Looking around, it was Yao Huasheng, Hao De, Jiang Wanqing, and Mao Junzheng, the four veterans of the national team. They didn't know what they were talking about, and they suddenly started laughing.
Everyone's faces were filled with bright smiles.
It was as if they were not going to play a World Cup match, but preparing to attend a grand holiday party.
Shi Wuyuan, Li Zhifei and Hong Renjie happened to enter the restaurant and saw this scene. He said to Hong Renjie next to him: "Old Hong, look. Let's choose the head coach first. Put aside the future of Chinese football for the time being and simply enjoy the World Cup.
.This is a major event in world football, ha!"
※※※
PS, there will still be one update tomorrow, but it will be three updates starting the day after tomorrow!