Chapter 1129 Return to the Europa League
Just one day after the China Cup ended, and the songs of victory seemed to have not dissipated, the Andong Provincial Sports Center became lively again, with nearly 40,000 people filling the stands that could accommodate 60,000 people this afternoon.
Among them were students from various primary and secondary schools in Jincheng, as well as people from all walks of life.
These people looked at the court below the stands. The green field was covered with squares one after another.
The colorful sports uniforms make these squares look like fields of flowers.
Flags with different words and patterns were erected in the flower field. Each flag represents a school participating in the National High School Football Championship.
The flag bearers held the flagpole and stood proudly at the front of the team.
Behind the flag bearer, boys and girls wearing different school sports uniforms were looking up at the rostrum.
There, two male and female players representing all participating athletes were taking the oath:
"... On behalf of all the athletes, we solemnly swear... to strictly abide by the rules of the game! Resolutely obey the referee! Respect the opponent! Respect the audience! Respect the sport of football! Work hard, fight tenaciously, and work together in unity during the game! Show your style in the game! Show your level in the game!" Don’t be arrogant in victory and don’t be discouraged in defeat...actively participate in this high school student football championship with full enthusiasm..."
"Swearer: Qin Qi!"
"Swearer: Feng Yuqing!"
Amid thunderous applause and cheers, the two people on the podium bowed and stepped down.
The Chinese team won the first China Cup championship, and its influence continues to ferment in China. The first person to be blessed by this influence was the 13th National High School Students Football Championship that opened immediately.
The wonderful performance of the Chinese national team in the China Cup has greatly inspired people's enthusiasm to participate in football.
It especially inspires football boys and girls who are about to embark on national competitions.
Taking advantage of the China Cup, Jincheng vigorously promoted this national competition, hoping to attract more attention and attention from the society.
Let the national competition not only be a football event for high school students, but also an event that the whole society pays attention to and participates in.
Teenagers and girls can pursue their youth dreams on the court, while the audience in the stands and in front of the TV can remember their youth through these energetic children.
Because of the success of the China Cup, many people are indeed willing to pay attention to the National High School Football Championship that will open shortly. The nearly 40,000 spectators at today's opening ceremony are a reflection of this influence.
The China Cup has ended, but the development of Chinese football will not stop.
Campus football, which seems to have nothing to do with professional football, is actually fertile ground for the reform and development of Chinese football in the past ten years.
Without the booming campus football, not so many people would devote themselves to the football career, because campus football solves their worries.
At the very least, the situation of those who worry about being sent to a professional football school and eventually retiring without learning anything due to injuries will be greatly reduced. Ordinary full-time high schools train middle school students first, and players second.
Moreover, the greatest significance of campus football is not to provide talents for professional football, but to expand the base and increase the number of people interested in football.
When the foundation is large enough, some things will happen naturally.
The photos taken by Hu Lai and Li Qingqing for the national competition were printed on huge posters, which are now hanging on the outer wall of the Provincial Sports Center. As soon as people approach the stadium, they can see these two "golden girls" of Chinese football greeting them with smiles and calling on them to actively participate in campus football.
It also provides a possibility for every young girl who is interested in this:
Some of them will definitely become the next Hu Lai and Li Qingqing!
There were thunderous cheers in the stadium, and the breeze outside the stadium rippled on the huge poster, as if the person in the painting was about to step down.
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Hulay, who returned to the club, did not appear on the roster for the 30th round of the league.
Not only him, including Pete Williams, Laski, Kamara and Junpei Morikawa, these players who participated in the national team competition a few days ago were not included in the squad.
Although Leeds City's opponent in this round of the league is the powerful Manchester Athletic, Clark also made up his mind to give up this game.
On the one hand, it is naturally because many main players participate in national team competitions and travel back and forth, which increases the level of fatigue. The competitive state is not at its best, and it seems a bit overwhelming to play in the league.
On the other hand, it is because after this round of league play, Leeds City will face their Europa League quarter-final opponent-Serie A team Ferenc at home next Thursday.
Now that it has been decided to set the Europa League championship as the team's goal, there is no need to be distracted by a league.
Anyway, with the state of Manchester Athletic this season, it will be difficult for Leeds City to win even if they play with all their main players, and they may have to pay a heavy price.
So just admit defeat and give up early.
Manchester United is in very stable form this season and has performed well. The key is that the main players have no serious injuries.
Kabangka performed well in the World Cup, and now he has continued his excellent form in the World Cup to the club. Without injury, he is a presence that scares all opponents.
Manchester United seems to want to turn all the frustration of missing the league championship for two consecutive seasons into motivation and vent it out.
After thirty rounds of the league, they topped the list with 74 points, 15 points behind second-place Wiggerston. With eight rounds left in the league, it is almost difficult for any team to compete with them for the league championship.
Old rivals like Stan Park Rangers and Tramed are not good, let alone Leeds City.
Leeds City, who did not play the main team, faced the powerful Manchester Athletic in the away game and lost miserably.
They lost 1:6.
This game was also Clark's most painful failure in coaching Leeds City.
Kabangka, who also participated in the national team competition, did not start the game, but after he came on as a substitute in the second half, he was like a god coming down from the earth, scoring three goals in a row in ten minutes, completing a hat trick.
It was these three goals of his that ultimately resulted in a big score of 1:6.
This hat trick is still the fastest hat trick so far this season.
With this hat trick, Kabangka's league goals surpassed Hulay's. With 17 goals and 11 assists, his strong performance made people think: Yes, this is a super genius who can be compared with Melli. Woolen cloth!
In addition to Kabangka, Manchester Athletic's main shooter Marvin Stones also scored twice in the game. This brings his number of goals in the league this season to 25, ranking first in the league's scorer list.
Now Hu Lai has only scored fifteen goals in the league, which is far behind Stones. It can be said that it is basically difficult to compete with Stones for the Golden Boot.
There is no way, this season Leeds City and the Chinese team are fighting on multiple fronts, which involves too much of Hu Lai's energy.
It also affected his attendance in the league.
The league has now been basically abandoned by Clark, who specializes in the Europa League.
Otherwise, even if Hulay had just played for the national team, Clark would not have taken him out of the squad for this league match with Manchester United.
However, including Hu Lai, most people actually don't care that he may not win the Premier League Golden Boot this season.
First, Hu Lai is still young and will have plenty of opportunities in the future.
Second, everyone thinks it would be great to win the Premier League Golden Boot once. How dare they think of winning the Premier League Golden Boot consecutively?
The third reason is that compared with the honors that have already been won, everyone cares more about the honors that Hu Lai has not yet received. There is no way, it is human nature to like the new and dislike the old. The Premier League Golden Boot is very powerful, but it is just that. Now people's focus has shifted to... the Europa League.
Looking at Hu Lai's rocket-like rise in the Europa League scorer list, everyone wants to see if he can win the Europa League Golden Boot this season.
There is no hope of winning the Champions League Golden Boot, but if we can get a Europa League Golden Boot. Hu Lai is also maintaining the "tradition" of winning a golden boot every season.
But this Europa League Golden Boot is not that easy to win.
Not to mention Nuno Alvarez, who currently ranks first on the scorer list.
As for Hulay himself, if he wants to win the Golden Boot, he must help Leeds City go further in the Europa League.
This is no easy task.
Every step forward in the Europa League requires more effort than the previous one, and...a good bit of luck.
In the quarter-finals of the Europa League, Leeds City's opponent was Ferenc, a Serie A team that is extremely good at defending.
This team only conceded two goals in six games in the Europa League group stage and qualified first in the group.
But that's not the best thing. After all, besides them, there is another team that only conceded two goals in the group stage, and that is Sevilla Navigators, the dominant team in the Europa League.
After entering the knockout stage, Ferenc showed their amazing defensive ability.
In the quarter-finals, they drew 0:0 away from the Dutch Eredivisie team Rotterdam Elite in the first round and 2:0 in the second round. Finally, they eliminated their opponents with a total score of 2:0 and advanced to the top 16.
In the quarter-finals, they played 0:0 with Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga twice. In the end, the winner was determined by a penalty shootout and they reached the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
Without conceding a goal in four knockout matches, Ferenc is the only team among all thirty-two participating in the Europa League knockout rounds to do so.
The reason why they can do this, in addition to their special emphasis on defensive tactics, is also related to one person.
That is Ferenc's main goalkeeper Mauro Albertazzi.
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PS: Sorry, I made a typo yesterday. It was updated from yesterday to the 8th, not the 5th... (End of this chapter)