The next afternoon, Wang Ai, accompanied by Leonie, arrived at the western suburbs of the small town of Tubingen. It is adjacent to a large piece of farmland and the sports center of Tubingen. There are two stadiums inside, one is a competition field.
, one is the training ground, as well as the gymnasium, tennis courts, etc. The edge of the competition venue is a plastic track, and around the plastic track are about 3,000 wooden spectator seats.
This is the training center of the Tübingen team.
The Tübingen team, which has just been promoted to the interstate league this year, is composed of six local German players and 18 foreign students from the University of Tübingen. Relying on Tübingen’s abundant human resources, the Tübingen football team
It has been lingering in the top leagues of the community leagues and interstate leagues for many years, and it even reached the top 16 of the German Cup decades ago.
As a purely amateur team, the players have no salary, only game bonuses. They rely on the ticket money for weekly games to pay a little bit, which is about 20 euros per game for the main players and 10 euros for the substitute players. In short, the team
The boss has the final say.
The Tübingen football team was once under the jurisdiction of the Tübingen city government. It was sold to a Tübingen bar owner three years ago. The owner is a Czech-born German. It is said that buying the football team was the result of a failed bet.
However, the boss named Kugel really loves the football team. Every year, he lobbies hard among the freshmen in Tubingen to recruit players. Although the bonus is not large, some students who love playing football and have good skills usually do so.
If you can play games and get some money, of course it's better.
Last year, the old Kugel also invited a fringe player from the second team of the Stuttgart Football Team, named Favre, who is 36 years old. Don't look at it, Favre is just a fringe player in the German third-tier league.
The highest achievement in his life is to play in the Bundesliga for two years, but when he was placed in the purely amateur Tübingen team, he immediately became the mainstay and led the Tübingen team to promotion as captain. Of course, the captain could not get it.
How much salary is there, so Favre's main job is as a saxophonist in Kugel's Bar.
When Wang Ai came to the stands beside the court, the Tubingen team was training. The court had a clear view. The blond-haired Feiffer was blowing the whistle and directing from the sidelines. More than 20 young players of different skin colors were on the court.
The kicking was fierce and the laughter was constant.
There were a dozen or so spectators standing beside the stadium, drinking drinks, eating snacks, and talking and laughing with friends. It seemed like this was just a place for them to gather.
Wang Ai watched their training match carefully while chatting with Leonie.
Ever since she heard that Wang Ai, a Chinese junior, was actually an Asian champion, Leoni took the football topic a lot more seriously. In terms of philosophy and life, Leoni also had enough psychology towards Wang Ai.
If there are advantages, then in football, Leonie’s role has changed very well: Secretary!
Because Germany is a big football country, the entire nation has a strong value recognition for people with superb football skills. In other words, in China, if you play football well, people can cheer you on, but they don’t think it is a great skill.
, is something that can be recognized everywhere. But it is different in Germany. With a league system of thirteen or four levels, a large number of civilians participating in the game, the players of the first three levels of teams really have a star effect. Even if they are
The main players in low-level leagues often have many loyal supporters. The more people participate, the broader the base, the more top players, and the more people who sincerely identify with the stars.
For example, people who have played football and those who have not, and those who have played football and those who play football often have completely different recognition of the skills of stars. The more they practice football, the more amateur players and amateur players who try to challenge their personal limits.
Fans, the more intuitively and deeply they understand the value of stars, the more they know how extraordinary the skills of seemingly ordinary professional players are.
"The black player's name is Allison. He is an international student from Tanzania and was the team's top scorer last year." Leonie looked through the information and pointed at a big black man to explain to Wang Ai.
"The bearded white player's name is Boateng. He has the same name as Boateng of the national team. He is an Australian international student. He is an interception midfielder. He should be a junior this year. He has worked hard with the team for two years."
Wang Ai watched for 20 minutes and felt confident that the level of the Tübingen football team was roughly equivalent to the domestic second-division team, but their footwork was generally rough, and Allison was more delicate. The organization and cooperation were okay.
But it is relatively rigid, and the formation guarding 442 lacks changes. In terms of personal skills, most players are still at semi-professional level even in China. Gao Hongbo, who has retired for two years, and his friend's team are also better than this.
Only Tübingen is slightly stronger.
"Okay, the game is over, let's go down and say hello to them. I guess we have to try out?" Wang Ai said jokingly.
Unexpectedly, Leonie nodded seriously: "Yes, you must have a trial training, even if you go through this process. The German Football Association has regulations."
Wang Ai shrugged, Germans are so meticulous.
"Favre!" Leonie said: "This is Wang Ai, a master's student from China. This year's Asian Youth Football Championship champion, top scorer, and best player."
"Hello, Leonie, hello, Wang!" Favre shook hands with the two of them respectively.
After finishing speaking, Favre called the team members over: "Come, teammates, let us welcome the freshmen from China!"
Teammates came over in twos and threes and shook hands with Wang Ai in a friendly manner.
The trial training requires the approval of the boss, so Feiffer led the two of them to talk while walking out: "The boss has not been in a good mood recently. Although your results are great, the trial training may not go well."
"What happened to old Kugel?" Leonie asked casually.
Favre gave a wry smile and shook his head without explaining.
Not long after, the three of them arrived at Kugel's bar. There was no one there during the day, so the three of them went directly to the backstage, where a fat man with gray hair was looking gloomy and drinking to drown his sorrows.
"Hi! Uncle Kugel!" Leonie greeted.
Old Kugel turned back in surprise, stood up and gave a bear hug: "Oh, look who's here! My little lion, how are you doing?"
"Very good, I heard that you are having trouble? What's wrong? Aunt Meryl won't let you go to bed?" Leonie sat on the high chair, teasing with a smile.
Old Kugel gave Wang Ai a friendly smile and sighed: "Three years ago, if you, the little lion, hadn't made a bet with me, I wouldn't have bought the team. To be promoted to the third level in three years is considered as my dedication.
I tried my best, but now I really can’t sustain it.”
Leonie nodded seriously: "Is it because the team was upgraded and the players' salaries were increased?"
