Chapter 782 Walking Alone
"Faruk Namozov officially announced his retirement from the national team in an interview after the game. Although he expressed during this World Cup qualifier that this will be his last World Cup qualifier... But when this When the moment really comes, it still makes people very reluctant to let go...
"Namozov said this decision calmly in front of the camera. He did not explain too much or say anything else. He only said that he would focus on the club's events..."
Hu Lai, who was at the airport, saw the news playing on the airport TV, so he stopped and watched.
What appears on the screen is Uzbekistan captain Faruk Namozov standing in front of the background board for an interview after yesterday's game.
He could understand the standard Uzbek spoken by the news announcer, and he could also understand the headline text on the news, so he naturally knew what the news was about.
A national football hero is saying goodbye as he turns and walks behind the curtain of history. When the curtain fell again, he was no longer visible.
After accepting the interview, Namozov on the TV screen nodded to the reporter and thanked the reporter, turned around and walked out of the camera's range.
Hu Lai also looked away, turned around with his suitcase and continued walking towards his boarding gate.
He had to fly back to the UK from Tashkent, while his national team-mates had flown out of Tashkent earlier than him.
He was alone at the airport waiting for his flight to announce boarding.
Not only did he have to wait, he had to make two transfers by himself, taking three flights on two airlines, a fifteen-hour journey, before he could reach London.
Then he met his agent Yong Jun there and took more than three hours of driving back to his apartment in Leeds.
This is his own journey, and it is the price he must pay for being the "only hope of the whole village" to play abroad.
Those days when I returned from the UK to participate in competitions were basically spent like this.
Hu Lai, who was so famous on the court, walked alone through the airport in a foreign country, dragging his suitcase and carrying a backpack.
Walking through the busy or deserted airport duty-free shops, sometimes following the flow of people and sometimes going against the flow of people, occasionally stopping to read the news like today, most of the time I hurried to the lounge or the boarding gate.
Because his time is so tight, he has no personal time for shopping.
The national team competition has come to an end for the time being, but the journey to the World Cup is not yet over. But the league will also reignite the war, and Hu Lai must rush back non-stop to truly pay him a salary and allow him to contribute to a professional football club that makes football his profession, so that he can be worthy of the salary he is given.
Before becoming a professional player, when he was just an ordinary fan, Hu Lai imagined what a professional player should be like. All he imagined was that he passed the opponent's players on the pitch, hit the football into the goal with huge cheers, and then ran to celebrate, with the passionate shouts of the commentator that could not be heard in his ears...his image It will appear in posters, star cards, advertising paintings, television broadcasts and sports news.
No matter where he went, people would recognize him, come to him for autographs, take photos with him, and shout his name loudly.
These are all a child's imagination about professional players.
At that time, Hu Lai would never have imagined that he would become a real professional player. In fact, there were still many very trivial and even non-football-related things that he needed to worry about.
However, now that he has fully understood how difficult it is to become a professional player, he does not lament that "nothing is easy", but remains as before, he is lucky enough to be able to become a professional player. The players are happy and proud.
It is certainly true that nothing is easy.
But if you do something you like, no matter how painful it is, it will be sweet in your heart.
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The distance between Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and London, England, is closer than the distance between the capital of China and London, but Hulay spent more time on the journey than flying back to London from the farther away Chinese capital.
This is because there are no direct flights from Tashkent to London.
Therefore, although Hulay could use [Stamina Potion] to eliminate the fatigue after playing the last game, he still looked very tired after returning to Leeds United.
After the game against London Bridge on October 5th, he returned to Leeds City on October 15th. In ten days, he rushed from Leeds to London, flew from London to the Chinese capital, and then flew from the capital to Tashkent. Finally, from Tashkent he passed through Istanbul, the capital of Turkey, and Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, and returned to London. Finally, he arrived at Leeds.
The total flight mileage is almost enough to circle the earth.
Nearly forty-eight hours were spent in the sky and in the airport.
Not to mention the pain of jet lag.
So Hulay was naturally not selected for Leeds City's home game against Woldhampton.
This is the first time since he played in Leeds City that he was not included in the game squad - after he came back from the top 12 games, Clark just didn't let him start, but he still included him in the game squad. list.
Tony Clark considered that he was the player in the Leeds City team who had the longest flight time, the longest flight distance, and the longest playing time during the national team match days, so he simply gave him a day off and let him rest at home.
Leeds City, without Hulay, eventually lost 1:2 at home to Woldhampton.
Woldhampton were ranked 11th before this league round, with Leeds City second. It seems that the rankings of the two teams are very different, but in actual performance, there is no difference of nine places between the two teams.
This isn't the first time Leeds have lost to a team significantly lower than them.
So far this season, Leeds City has only lost three games. The first defeat was at home to their strong defending champion Stan Park Rangers. The second defeat was a 0:1 away defeat to Boscombe, which was ranked ninth at the time, in the sixth round of the league. The third defeat was a 1:2 loss to Woldhampton, which was ranked eleventh, in the ninth round of the league. .
Compared with their performance against teams ranked lower than them, Leeds City's performance against strong teams is often remarkable:
They defeated Tramed 2:0 at home, defeated North London Wanderers 4:3 away, and defeated London Bridge 2:1 at home. These are all results between the traditional Premier League BIG6.
After losing to Woldhampton, some Chinese fans gave Leeds City a nickname:
Robbery from the rich and giving to the poor Leeds City.
Don't tell me, it's really a bit appropriate...
Although they lost the game, Leeds City's ranking in the league is still very good.
They still have 18 points, but they have dropped one place to third.
Second place was replaced by Manchester Athletic, who defeated Sydenham 2:0 away from home in this round of the league.
Fortunately, the performances of the teams behind Leeds City were not satisfactory.
Tramed, who has fifteen points, drew 1:1 with Stan Park Rangers at home and failed to take the opportunity to catch up with Leeds City.
Warship Harbor, who had fifteen points with Tramed, even capsized in the gutter and lost to newly promoted Northumbria 0:1 in the away game. You must know that it was the same opponent, and it was also an away game. Leeds City easily defeated it 2:0.
North London Wanderers drew 1:1 with West Herts at home.
Only London Bridge won, and they beat the Highlanders 1:0 at home.
However, even if they win, London Bridge now only has 14 points, four points behind Leeds City with 18 points.
Then consider where Leeds were last season and where they are now after losing three league games.
There was no criticism of the team's performance.
Moreover, Hulay will return in the next round of the league, which also makes Leeds City fans full of expectations for the next round of home game against Widgerstown.
In the "White Rose" bar, members of the fans organization of the same name gathered together to practice the "Song of Hu" composed by their boss David Miller behind closed doors before the business started.
David Miller was very satisfied after hearing this: "I just said that this song is very easy to learn, right? The melody is simple enough and famous enough, and the pronunciation of the lyrics is also very suitable, with very small changes. If you lost in the last round of the league, you lost, anyway. It's also an away game, and Hu is not here yet... We will play at Wiggeston in the next round, and Hu will definitely play when he scores, and we will sing it to him in the stands! , everyone must go back and learn it by heart!”
"Okay..."
"If you insist..."
The companions responded weakly.
Miller didn't care about their attitude, but waved his hands with satisfaction: "Let's do it again!"
He was inspired by this song when Leeds City defeated London Bridge 2:1 at home. He wrote the lyrics after the game. Although John and Levin seemed to have different opinions on the song, David ·Miller still insisted on his opinion and made the decision as the boss.
And so, the song David Miller wrote for Hulay was born.
However, because the next national team match is coming, Hu Lai left Leeds City and returned to China to participate in the World Cup qualifying play-offs, so the song has not yet been officially released.
After Hulay returned, he was not selected for Leeds City's home game squad against Woldhampton. So this song is still unknown. The other members of "White Rose" are very lucky about this. Only David Miller is not satisfied. For this, he even scolded Tony in the bar while drinking. Clark:
"...I know he went to play for the national team, but even if he can't start, can't he be selected into the squad to give him a chance to come on as a substitute? Let me tell you, even if he comes on as a substitute, as long as he can play, he will definitely We can score! Then we will have the opportunity to sing that song proudly and loudly! And we can also win the game and take three points..."
And John's answer was: "Damn it, David. Although I also want the team to win, I am really glad that Hu is not here this time... because I don't want to really sing your song in front of so many people." Damn 'Hu Zhige'..."
The other companions held beer glasses and expressed their approval of John.
The excited David wanted to draw his sword and duel John on the spot...
Fortunately, Levin persuaded him: "Calm down, David. Think about it, in the next round of the league, Hu will definitely be able to play in our game against Widgerston. So we just have to wait for one more round..."
He is right. Leeds City will play Wiggerston at home, and Hulay will return to the starting lineup. Although the team has not officially announced it, fans all know that this is not a secret. How could Leeds City's top scorer not be in the starting lineup when he was not injured or sick?
David felt that what Levin said made sense, and he slapped the table happily: "That's right, we will shock the audience in the next game!"
John glared at Levin and complained in a low voice: "Look at the good things you did!"
Levin knew that he was wrong, so he tried his best to make up for it. He suggested to David: "David, I think... we should sing after Hu scores a goal, instead of singing at any time. This makes sense... After all, you The song is about Hu Gonzhuo..."
David Miller had no objection: "Yes, just sing after Hu scored!"
John spread his hands and muttered: "For the first time, I don't want Hu to score in the game..."
David was very happy and laughed: "John, you are daydreaming!"
The other "White Rose" partners also nodded with grimaces, feeling that John's wishful thinking was impossible to realize.
Because I don’t know when, Leeds City fans seem to be no longer too surprised by Hulay’s goal.
Just like many football fields in this corner of the city, there is an increasing trend among teenagers to imitate Hulay's scoring moves after scoring a goal.
Some things have begun to integrate into this city and become part of people's lives here. (End of chapter)