Chapter 450 The changed Junpei Morikawa
"I heard on the Internet that Hu Lai set a record that has never been achieved before..."
"Five goals in nine minutes?"
"Yes!"
"It's really amazing. It has been three days, but there are still many people discussing it enthusiastically on the Internet..."
On the bus, the players of the Japanese Olympic team were still discussing Hu Lai. They were on their way from the hotel where they were staying to the quarter-finals.
Later at 4:30 p.m., they will face their opponents in the quarterfinals, the second-place Uzbekistan Olympic team in Group A.
But what everyone is talking about is the Chinese Olympic team.
"It's a pity that we can't meet the Chinese team in the quarter-finals, unless they can reach the final..."
"What are you regretting, Morikawa? Even if we can meet the Chinese team, you can't defend Hu Lai anymore. You are a defensive midfielder now!" teammates shouted loudly.
This elicited roars of laughter from the others in the car.
Amid laughter, Junpei Morikawa defended: "I just want to express my gratitude to Hu Sang personally, thanking him for giving me the jersey to encourage me..."
"Speaking of this, I still can't understand how Hu Lai went to exchange jerseys for Morikawa..."
"Me too, me too, what exactly does Hu Lai like about Morikawa?"
"Maybe you think Morikawa is easy to bully? Ha!"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Morikawa Junpei blushed and retorted loudly, "Hu Sang is a very gentle person! He just didn't want me to be beaten to the point of collapse, and I did not live up to his expectations!"
As he was speaking, a hand was placed on his head, causing him to shrink his neck subconsciously.
"Morikawa is right, otherwise you wouldn't be on this team." The team's captain Tatsuya Sugiyama rubbed Morikawa Junpei's hair, and then said to the other players: "Okay, okay, don't start. Morikawa’s joke. Don’t discuss what’s going on with the Chinese team. Our opponent in this game is Uzbekistan.”
When he said this, the laughter in the car disappeared and everyone became serious.
The head coach of the Japanese Olympic team, Koichi Sato, who was sitting at the front of the bus, smiled and said to the assistant coach: "Oh my, my, with Sugiyama here, it really makes things easier for me as the head coach..."
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Just as the quarter-final battle between the Japanese team and Uzbekistan was in full swing, all the players of the Chinese team also arrived at the venue where they played against Palestine, the People's Stadium in Jingyang City, the capital of Haining Province - since qualifying from the group, China The team will no longer play games in Dashun.
They also watched the game live on TV in the locker room.
The second half has just begun, and the Japanese team is already leading the Uzbekistan Olympic team 3:0.
Wang Guangwei suddenly pointed at a Japanese Olympic team player on the TV screen and said: "Hey, Hu Lai, isn't this the Japanese player you exchanged jerseys with?"
The Japanese player who appeared on it was Junpei Morikawa.
"It seems like it's really him..." Hu Lai was a little unsure.
"What does it look like? Look at his small stature, who else could he be?" Wang Guangwei was deeply impressed by this man because he knew why Hu Lai went to exchange jerseys with the other party.
Other teammates of the Olympic team also thought about it, and then they were even more surprised: "Isn't his body unable to bear even Hu Lai? Why is he still playing the main role?"
"Because they don't play center back anymore." Gao Ruimin pointed at the TV screen and said, "Didn't you see that his position on the field is... midfielder?"
"I'll go...it's true!"
Everyone turned their attention to Hu Lai again.
"What do you see me doing?"
"Look at how hard you forced me, Hu Lai, to switch from central defender to defensive midfielder!"
Hu Lai frowned: "Is there still such a thing?"
"How is this guy playing in the midfield?" someone asked curiously.
Wang Guangwei quickly checked the information and then said: "Judging from the appearance record of the U23 Asian Cup, he should be the main midfielder of the Japanese Olympic team..."
Everyone turned their attention to Hu Lai again.
Wang Guangwei also looked at Hu Lai and said: "Hu Lai, you seem to have encouraged a strong opponent by giving your jersey..."
Hu Lai spread his hands: "It's none of my business!"
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"Uzbekistan's midfielder Lingenev is in trouble today..."
When the commentator said this, Uzbekistan Olympic team player Eskar Lingenev, who was wearing the No. 10 jersey on the field, was spreading his hands and complaining to the referee.
But his complaint was useless. The referee did not call the Japanese No. 14 player next to him for a foul.
"Junpei Morikawa's marking of Lingenev was very good, making it almost difficult for Lingenev to get the ball in the open space. Junpei Morikawa's physical condition is not excellent, but he has a tenacious fighting spirit and flexible reactions. It is really not easy to play as a central defender. Too good. But after changing to a defensive midfielder, he quickly emerged and has now become the main midfielder of the Japanese Olympic team..."
Since commentating on the first game of the Japanese Olympic team in this U23 Asian Cup, CCTV commentators have introduced the relationship between this player and Hu Lai to Chinese TV viewers. So everyone knows what turned Morikawa Junpei from a central defender who couldn't even play in the game to the main defensive midfielder of the Japanese Olympic team.
Whoever tells the truth, everyone thinks it’s quite magical.
Many people have seen Morikawa Junpei being completely defeated by Hu Lai in the East Asian Cup.
At that time, few people could have imagined that one year later, Junpei Morikawa would complete a magnificent transformation.
I have to say, this Japanese guy is a bit ruthless. The temporary change of position on the field actually took only one year to achieve...
Soon the Uzbekistan Olympic team made substitution adjustments, and the main midfielder Eskar Lingenev, who had poor performance on the field, was replaced early.
Lingenev sat on the bench after the game, covering his face and crying.
He is definitely not satisfied with his performance. At the same time, he also knows that Uzbekistan, which is three goals behind, will most likely be eliminated and miss the Madrid Olympics.
Any capable team and player who comes to participate in the U23 Asian Cup will of course hope to qualify for the Olympics.
Now that dreams are being beaten to pieces in front of oneself, how can one not feel sad?
Junpei Morikawa, who was on the court, naturally noticed Lingenev sitting on the sidelines after the game, covering his face and crying bitterly. He was a little emotional.
Remember when you were replaced early in the East Asian Cup and you felt so embarrassed and embarrassed, right?
He was almost knocked down, if Hu Lai hadn't taken the initiative to walk up to him after the game and handed him the jersey...
He didn't wash the jersey when he got it back. He directly framed it and hung it on the wall of his home.
After deciding to switch from central defender to defensive midfielder, he encountered many difficulties, not just as simple as moving a few meters forward. The requirements of the two positions are different, and the test standards for players' abilities are also different. In addition, years of training as a central defender have given him a thinking mode - he will always observe the game from the perspective of a central defender and consider responses, but This is different from the defensive midfielder, which will make him make a lot of mistakes in the early stages of switching to defensive midfielder.
These mistakes made his decision to switch to a defensive midfielder look like a gamble.
Some people have also advised him that there is no need for him to do this. Even if he cannot become an excellent central defender, it is not bad to be a full-back.
Whenever he encounters difficulties, Morikawa Junpei will shut himself in his small bedroom, sit cross-legged on the floor, and stare at the Hu Lai jersey hanging on the wall.
In the process, confidence gradually took root and sprouted from the bottom of his heart, giving him the courage to continue on.
In this way, he completed the gorgeous transformation from an ordinary central defender to an excellent midfielder in just one year.
He was once again selected for the Japanese Olympic team and became the main force of this team.
All of this came from the person who came to me with the jersey.
Junpei Morikawa feels that he is lucky. It is completely unimaginable what his life would have been like if he had not met Hulesang.
So he decided to go to Lingenev to exchange jerseys after the game, hoping to pass on hope and courage to his opponent.
Because this is what Hulesan attached to that jersey and gave it to him.
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Seeing Lingenev sitting on the sidelines crying after being replaced, and the 0:3 score on the TV screen, the Chinese team players were suddenly speechless, and no one was in the mood to joke anymore.
The same opponent, in the group stage, they could only draw with their opponent.
As a result, in the knockout stage, the Japanese team defeated Uzbekistan 3:0 so easily...
When Shi Wuyuan saw this scene, his heart dropped to the ground - although this was not his deliberate arrangement, it was exactly the result he wanted.
After defeating Qatar 7:1, coupled with the weak strength of their quarter-final opponent Palestine, many Chinese team players seemed to have a blind self-confidence. They felt that qualifying for the Olympics was as easy as grabbing something from a bag. .
Under such circumstances, seeing their opponents who were very uncomfortable for them in the group stage being beaten like this by the Japanese team can really wake up many people from the dream of blind confidence.
So he stood up, walked to the TV, and said to the players on the team: "Let me tell you, the Korean team in the East Asian Cup last year was not the strongest, and the Japanese team was not the strongest, so don't think that you won the Just win the East Asian Cup. Let’s play well in the next game with Palestine. If we stop here, wouldn’t you have wasted Hu Lai’s five goals?”
After these words, everyone turned their attention to Hu Lai again.
Hu Lai has become accustomed to being the focus of everyone's attention frequently today. Under everyone's gaze, he said very seriously: "Please actively respond to the country's call, be diligent and frugal, and waste is shameful." (End of Chapter)< br>