Chapter 115 Quarterfinals
Hu Lai, who suffered a nosebleed, went to the sidelines to stop the bleeding and change his jersey at the request of the referee. There was also a nosebleed on his jersey. Although it was not much, according to the requirements of the competition organizing committee, As long as there is blood on the jersey, it must be changed.
When he went to the sidelines to receive treatment to stop bleeding and change his jersey, Dongchuan Middle School was missing one person on the court.
And Li Ziqiang had already made adjustments when the team was celebrating a goal. Now he could let the team recover across the board and defend until the end of the game.
Like an enraged swarm of bees, Huitang Middle School came out in force and launched the fiercest attack on Dongchuan Middle School's goal.
With little time left, they could no longer patiently move in the midfield and frontcourt as before, looking for loopholes in Dongchuan Middle School's defense. The players of Huitang Middle School are very anxious now. When they get the ball, they want to shoot directly through the goal of Dongchuan Middle School. It is simply unrealistic for them to slowly follow the original tactics.
But Huitang Middle School has always insisted on this style of play. Now they are required to quickly change their tactics in the last few minutes. If they start simple and crude long passes, crosses from the side and direct long-range shots, the offensive effect will be great. Discounted.
I believe Lu Jianbai, the head coach of Huitang Middle School, must understand this very well, but he has no choice.
In fact, any team put in this situation would make the same choice as Huitang Middle School, even those wealthy professional teams would probably do the same.
Because this is the most suitable way of playing in this situation, pursuing more attacks, and then hoping that at least one of these many attacks can hit the target... To put it bluntly, it is just luck.
Hu Lai, who was receiving treatment on the sidelines, looked a little anxious as he watched his team being bombarded by his opponents in the half-court.
He kept asking the doctors on the medical team: "Are you okay? Is it okay? I don't feel my nose is bleeding..."
"Don't worry, young man. You are in a hurry to play. If you bleed again, won't you have to come down?" The doctor on the medical team is an old doctor with white hair and a calm and leisurely manner in his speech and behavior. . If you are sitting in the consulting room, you will feel a sense of trust and security as soon as you see him.
But now on the sidelines of the fierce competition, his slowness can only make teenagers like Hu Lai feel impatient.
"Wouldn't that be better?" he replied.
"Better?" The old doctor couldn't understand why his nose was bleeding again...
"Then I can come down for another treatment. By the time I slowly walk off the court due to excessive blood loss, there will be only a few seconds left in the game." Hu Lai gave his explanation.
"..." The old doctor was speechless. What are the children these days thinking about all day long?
He patted Hu Lai on the shoulder hard: "Okay, let's go on the field!"
Hu Lai quickly stepped forward, stood on the sidelines, raised his arms high and waved to the referee, hoping that he would see it early.
Just as he raised his hand, the referee had already made a hook gesture to him, indicating that he could play.
At this time, Huitang Middle School had almost turned the game into a half-time offensive and defensive battle.
When Hu Lai ran onto the field, all the substitute players on the Dongchuan Middle School bench behind him had left their positions and stood side by side on the sidelines, eagerly awaiting the whistle that ended the game.
Beside Li Ziqiang, the team leader also stood there with an expectant expression on his face, waiting for the game to end.
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Li Qingqing raised his eyes and glanced at the game time. The fourth official had already raised the sign indicating injury time. The injury time was three minutes.
There are three minutes left and the game will be over.
In other words, Dongchuan Middle School is only three minutes away from reaching the quarterfinals of the national competition.
As a team that entered the national competition for the first time, it was able to become the top eight. This performance is very remarkable.
She was happy for her father. Being able to lead a high school football team to achieve such results immediately after coming out of Transit fully proved his ability.
At the same time, she was also happy for Hu Lai.
When I watched him awkwardly training alone in that small open space, I never imagined that one day, this clumsy boy would actually score three goals in the national competition and help the team reach the top eight in the country.
But when she first met him, she just thought he looked like a dog holding a Frisbee...
Li Qingqing couldn't help but laugh again when she thought of that first meeting.
She never told Hu Lai what his image was in her mind - she was afraid that Hu Lai would be angry if she told him. No one would like to be thought of as a dog, right?
She looked at the little figure on the TV screen with a smile.
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As time goes by, the players of Huitang Middle School become more and more impatient, while Dongchuan Middle School’s countermeasures are very simple, focusing on safety. When they get the ball, they will directly kick it to the front sideline, trying to make the football out of bounds.
In this way, it takes time to re-serve the throw-in, and the game time is consumed reasonably.
Hu Lai panted and ran on the court, running wherever there was the ball. At this time, he didn't care about his position. Even if he could interfere with the opponent's offense, it would be good.
He is not good at defense, so he can only make a small contribution to the team in this way.
In the process, he had no time to pay attention to how much time was left in the game.
It wasn't until he suddenly heard three whistles and the shouts in the stands became louder that he realized - the game was over!
They became the top eight teams in the national competition!
So he no longer chased the football, but ran to the nearest teammates with open arms to hug and celebrate with them.
"The game is over! The game is over! Unbelievable! Dongchuan Middle School, which participated in the national competition for the first time, actually defeated Huitang Middle School, the fourth place in the last national competition, 3:2 in the second round!" the commentator shouted excitedly, He has no obvious bias, but everyone likes to see upsets, and he is no exception.
"Comparing the strength of the two sides before the game, Huitang Middle School is stronger than Dongchuan Middle School. But this is the charm of football games. Before the final whistle blows, you never know who will lose and who will win in the end! Huitang Middle School's start It's great. They once led Dongchuan Middle School by two goals in the first half, but then Dongchuan Middle School launched a desperate counterattack and scored three goals in a row. Looking at it now, Luo Kai's goal in the first half was extraordinary! Chang was crucial, narrowing the point difference to one point, boosting the morale and confidence of the Dongchuan Middle School team, and laying the foundation for a desperate counterattack in the second half... Of course, No. 14 Hu Lai, who came on as a substitute in the second half, also played his role It played an important role. His first goal directly helped the team equalize the score. Although the second goal had some luck, it was still scored..."
While the commentator was still talking, the Dongchuan Middle School players on the sidelines rushed into the court impatiently. They cheered, screamed, jumped, spun, and some even had tears in their eyes.
Chu Yifan's eyes turned red.
Yan Yan hugged him: "What's wrong, Captain Chu? Why are you so popular?"
Chu Yifan rubbed his eyes: "There are grass clippings in my eyes."
Yan Yan laughed loudly: "I understand, I understand, I understand."
Chu Yifan looked at Luo Kai and Hu Lai who were hugging their teammates, and sighed deeply: "During the Anton Cup, I felt that I would be satisfied if I could participate in a national competition once in my life. For me, the national competition It is a very distant, very sacred stage...Any team that can participate in the national competition is the best team. I have been dreaming about this since I entered Dongchuan Middle School..."
Yan Yan said nothing, just smiled and patted the captain on the shoulder.
"I should thank Luo Kai and Hu Lai. They not only helped me realize my dream, but also far exceeded my original expectations. I just wanted to participate in the national competition, but I didn't expect that I could really reach the quarterfinals... I heard it before Others said that when Jiaxiang High School reached the top 16 and top eight in the national competition, they thought it was really amazing..."
"So now we are like Jiaxiang!" Yan Yan said.
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"Bang!"
There was a sudden sound in the locked principal's office, as if something had been thrown to the ground.
This made the principal's secretary sitting far away stand up nervously and look at the door.
He knew what the old principal was doing behind closed doors at this time, because it was not the first time the principal had done this during this period.
Of course, watching football.
But when I was watching the ball, I saw something fell...
A thought popped into the secretary's mind: Could it be that our Dongchuan Middle School lost? The old principal threw something in anger?
Thinking of this, he walked quickly to the door, but stopped just when he was about to put his hand on the door handle - the old principal locked it and couldn't open it by himself...
He raised his hand and knocked on the door: "Principal Zhai? Principal Zhai?"
He also vaguely heard the roar coming from the TV behind the door, but he couldn't hear clearly what was said...
Just when he was about to knock on the door again, the door was opened from the inside. Principal Zhai stood in front of him and said to him with a smile: "Xiao Wang, ask the cleaning lady to clean my room."
The secretary looked at Principal Zhai in front of him. There were water stains on his hair, and there were also some unwiped water stains on his shoulders and chest on his clothes.
"Principal Zhai, what are you..." he asked strangely.
"Oh, I was so excited that I accidentally knocked over the tea cup." Principal Zhai stepped aside, and his secretary saw the ceramic tea cup smashed into several pieces on the floor behind him, and the spray shape extending from the desk to the floor. Tea...
"Um, Principal Zhai, did we... lose?" the secretary asked cautiously.
"Losing? How is it possible..."
Before Principal Zhai finished speaking, the secretary heard the excited voice of the commentator coming from the TV in the room: "Dongchuan Middle School, which participated in the national competition for the first time, achieved great results! They eliminated the previous competition 3:2. The fourth place in the competition, Huitang Middle School, reached the top eight of the competition! ”
The secretary who heard these words showed a surprised expression, while the smile on the face of Principal Zhai standing in front of him became brighter and brighter, like a blooming flower.
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While the Dongchuan Middle School players celebrated their promotion crazily, their opponents Huitang Middle School all collapsed on the ground.
Many people, including captain Wang Chaolin and vice-captain Ke Yan, looked up at the sky and couldn't stop their tears from flowing down.
They ranked fourth in the country last time, but they stopped in the second round of this competition.
Such a huge gap is unacceptable to many people.
Especially senior players like Wang Chaolin. Failure in this game would mean the end of their high school football careers.
After returning to school, they will retire from the team and devote themselves wholeheartedly to preparing for the college entrance examination.
Unless some of them choose to develop into professional football...
Lu Jianbai, the head coach of Huitang Middle School, walked onto the court after shaking hands with Li Ziqiang.
He walked up to the frustrated players, looked at the players crying, pursed his lips and didn't speak for a long time.
He just quietly gave the children time to cry.
As boys, this may be one of the few times when they can cry without being laughed at.
He didn't bother them.
It wasn't until a while later that he said: "Everyone, get up. I still have to shake hands with my opponent."
He didn't yell at them, scold them, criticize them like before.
After the players gathered together, he looked at the sad and fearful players and said: "Don't worry, I won't scold you. I don't scold you, not because you tried your best in this game, so I have no complaints. I'm sorry. You still have many problems in this game, some of which are even serious, otherwise we wouldn't have lost. It's a game. I won't scold you because the game has been lost. Calling you a bastard now will have no effect. If we have another game, I will definitely scold you until you can't eat at night. I can’t even sleep after eating, I promise, you all know what kind of coach I am.”
The players pursed their lips and looked at the ferocious head coach that they were used to.
As the captain, Wang Chaolin choked up: "Coach, we..."
Lu Jianbai waved his hand: "Don't apologize in a hurry. You made mistakes in the game, and I also made mistakes in the game - I shouldn't ignore the No. 14 who was replaced. I ignored him, so you also ignored him. But it doesn’t matter now. Students, youth is like this. Just like a football game, you will always make mistakes. You will make mistakes here or there, and you may even make mistakes again in the same place.”
At this point, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled: "Remember these mistakes, don't use those excuses to deceive yourself. Remember, you lose the game because you made a mistake. If you make a mistake, you will be hurt." You have to pay a price, and this is the price. If you are sad because you were eliminated, you must remember this, and then in the rest of your life - not only in football, but also in other things. - Remember this, don't take chances and think that as long as you make a mistake, it will be fine. I don’t know when in the future. I hope my words can be of some help to you. Now go shake hands with your opponents and be more generous. They are playing better than you!”
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The players of Jiaxiang High School did not turn off the projector and leave after the game. When they saw that the opponents they defeated in the third and fourth place finals last year now fell on the way to the sixteenth and eighth places, they were inevitably a little sad. .
The single-elimination national competition is too cruel. A team has prepared carefully for a year, but they didn't expect to have to go home after playing only one or two games.
In fact, since the birth of the national competition, there has been a controversial voice, believing that the national competition should adopt a group stage plus knockout format like the World Cup, so that the team can play more games and have more participation. feel.
However, this will prolong the competition time and may delay students' preparation for the college entrance examination. It may cause senior players to withdraw from the national competition directly.
Therefore, the national competition has always adhered to the current single knockout format.
Although it is cruel and has its shortcomings, as long as it is competitive sports, how can it be without cruelty and regrets?
Chongwen Middle School, the champion of the last national competition, was eliminated in the first round of the last competition. It was even more cruel and regrettable than today's Huitang Middle School.
Everyone has to get used to and accept this kind of cruelty and regret. After all, there are more cruel and regrettable things waiting for them in society than the national competition.
Seeing that everyone's emotions were affected, captain Wu Yue stood up and clapped his hands: "Hey, everyone should correct their positions. We are a team from Andong Province. Dongchuan Middle School represents our Andong Province. Everyone should stand up for them. I am happy with the outstanding performance!”
At this moment, the live broadcast on the projection screen continued, and Hu Lai appeared on the screen and was being interviewed.
The Jiaxiang High School players who saw this scene were a little surprised: "I'm going to interview Hu Lai after the game today?! This kid..."
"It's normal. He scored two goals in the game. Looking at the goals alone, he is the biggest contributor to Dongchuan Middle School's advancement to the quarterfinals..."
"It's really unbelievable. When he played against us, he actually brushed the captain's hair with his hands. He was just an unreliable little kid...but now he is a player who can score three goals in the national competition... …”
A live interview voice came from the speaker: "Student Hu Lai, first of all, congratulations to your team for advancing to the quarterfinals. Before the game, many people thought that this was the first time Dongchuan Middle School participated in the national competition, and it would be difficult to win again after finishing fourth in the previous session. Move on. But the fighting spirit and level you showed in the competition are unforgettable. How do you feel about reaching the quarterfinals in your first national competition?”
Hearing this question, the Jiaxiang High School players who were discussing each other shut their mouths and turned to look at the person on the big screen.
I saw Hu Lai showing a puzzled expression: "Is it incredible to defeat the fourth place in the previous year? I have never thought about this problem at all... After all, we eliminated the third place in the previous year in the province What about the national competition?”
Seeing that the reporter had a strange expression, he thought the other party didn't believe it, so he quickly said: "It's Jiaxiang High School, wasn't it the third place in the last national competition? We all beat them. So you see, we won the last national competition Fourth place is nothing special, right?”
He spread his hands.
Reporter: "Uh..."
The Jiaxiang High School players in the audio-visual room were stunned for a few seconds before collectively going crazy.
"I take back what I just said! This is still an unreliable little brat!"
"Wow! That's too much! You don't whip corpses like this!"
"Damn it! You're just in the top eight and you're so arrogant! You're so arrogant!"
"Just wait and see, boy, the next Anton Cup will let you know who is the boss of Anton High School football!"
"Wu Yue, it's not that I don't want to give you face! I won't let such a brat represent our Anton!"
Wu Yue covered his face and said to himself, "You guys love me so much..."
Feng Yuanchang, who was sitting in the last row of the classroom, saw this scene with a smile on his face.
In the next Anton Cup, as a coach, he doesn’t have to worry about mobilization at all... (End of chapter)