Chapter 1338 A lucky ritual that combines Chinese and Western elements
When Han Shuyu and Li Qingliang walked into the stands, the Pirates Park stadium was almost full, and all kinds of flags and TIFOs to create the atmosphere of the stadium had been arranged.
Fans from both sides got into a battle formation and faced each other tit for tat.
Madrid Pirates fans occupy the south stand of the Pirates Park stadium. This is the position of the most die-hard Pirates fans.
This grandstand can accommodate 20,000 to 4,000 people, all standing seats, no seats.
To watch a game here, you have to stand for the entire 90 minutes, and it is completely impossible to sit down and rest.
It is extremely demanding on physical fitness.
But no one will complain.
Because this is the territory of the most die-hard pirates.
What these die-hard pirates want is this unique effect.
If watching football here is easy, it doesn't show their loyalty and specialness.
Only when international matches are held will the South Stand be restored to seating. At the same time, the number of people it can accommodate has been reduced from 80,000 to 66,000.
The place where Han Shuyu and Li Qingliang were was naturally not in the South Stand.
That stand is extremely sacred to Madrid Pirates fans, but not just anyone can go there.
If some fans in the South Stand have something to do and cannot go, they will not resell their tickets to others, but would rather leave them empty.
Although Li Qingliang is a Pirates fan, he is obviously not qualified to go to the South Stand to cheer for the team - the South Stand is not for watching games, but for fighting. The fans there must sing and cheer for the team non-stop throughout the game.
Li Qingliang is not that fanatical yet.
The reason why he likes the Pirates is simple - because he is tired of the superiority complexion of the Kings fans in China, and out of a rebellious mentality, he falls in love with the Kings' rivals, the Pirates.
In fact, before he fell in love with this team, he had no idea what the Pirates were like, their history and past.
Those things were only gradually learned later.
Naturally, Han Shuyu, a twenty-five-year-old boy, is not qualified to go to the South Stand.
This is also some of the differences between the Pirates and Kings - during the last Madrid derby, Han Shuyu got tickets to the North Stand of the Crown Stadium, where he watched the game with the most die-hard Kings fans.
Although the North Stand of the Crown Stadium is a die-hard stand, it does not exclude outsiders.
This may be because the Kings of Madrid are a global giant and there will inevitably be "pilgrims" from all over the world, so the North Stand will also be open to the outside world.
The Madrid Pirates' sphere of influence is more in one-third of an acre in Madrid, and their influence has not yet expanded to the entire world, at most to Latin American countries.
Unlike the sworn enemy of the King, countless die-hard fans of the King can be seen in Latin America, North America, Africa, the Middle East, the Far East... and other places.
Madrid Pirates are relatively conservative and stick to their traditions, although some of them may be outdated.
But the Madrid Pirates, who do not want to be a "world giant", are proud of their persistence and tradition.
They think they are the purest Madrid Football Club, unlike the coquettish bitch like the King.
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Hu Lai has changed into training clothes and is ready to go out to warm up with his teammates.
At this moment, captain Ramirez found him, holding a box in his hand: "Wait a minute, Hu. I have something to ask you to do."
As he spoke, he opened the box in his hand, and three coins appeared in front of Hu Lai.
Three golden two-euro coins, clearly showing some age. Because under the light of the dressing room, the coin did not sparkle, but was a little dim. There were some obvious scratches and rust on the surface of the coin.
"This is 'Mary's Lucky Coin'..." After Hu Lai saw the coin, he realized what was in front of him.
These are three coins related to the Madrid Pirates club's local derby tradition.
What started out as an ordinary superstitious behavior by an ordinary fan turned out to be a derby tradition for the club.
In the Madrid Derby of the 1990-1991 season, the Madrid Pirates played against the Madrid Kings at home. Before the game started, a female Pirates fan named Mary Maganto threw three coins worth one match from the south stand into the stadium below. Coin of the seta (former Spanish monetary unit).
At that time, someone around her asked her strangely: "What are you doing?"
The female fan replied: "I thought we could score three goals against the Kings in this game, so I threw three coins."
As a result, the Madrid Pirates really scored three goals for the Kings in that game, and finally defeated their opponents with a score of 3:1 and won the city derby.
This matter was known to the media after the game. After media reports and publicity, everyone knew about it.
And asked Miss Mary to throw a coin into the stadium at the next home derby.
In this way, before the derby, throwing coins into the stadium became the tradition of Madrid Pirates.
This tradition has actually experienced many developments and changes in the process of its formation.
For example, in the beginning it was not only Mary who threw, but also others.
Everyone hoped that the Madrid Pirates could score more goals, so more and more coins were tossed.
But such behavior did not help Madrid Pirates win the derby at home in the following years.
This newly emerging tradition is almost abandoned.
So someone called on everyone in the media not to get involved. Since only Mary tosses the coin for the first time, then only Mary should be allowed to toss the coin.
Since you only tossed three coins the first time, you should only throw three coins in the future.
With the idea of giving it a try, when another Madrid derby came, Mary threw three coins into the stadium in front of the south stand in front of tens of thousands of fans.
It is incredible to say that in that game, the Madrid Pirates actually scored three more goals from the Madrid Kings and defeated their opponent 3:0.
After that game, some Madrid Pirates players even ran under the south stand to express their gratitude to female fan Miss Mary.
Since then, the tradition of Marie Magantto tossing three coins into the stadium before home derbies has been fixed.
After every home derby, the media and fans would watch and witness Mary Magantu standing in the south stand and tossing three coins into the field.
Then everyone cheered and applauded to express their gratitude to Mary.
This tradition was named "Mary's Lucky Coin" and continued into the 2008-2009 season. As European integration progressed, the coins being tossed changed from pesetas to euros.
In 2009, Mary Magantto, who was famous for tossing coins before games to bless the team, died suddenly due to a car accident.
Therefore, in the Madrid Derby that year, there was no coin tossing ceremony before the game, and the Madrid Pirates eventually lost at home.
After the game, countless fans called for Ms. Mary’s tradition to be preserved.
But Ms. Mary is gone, who will toss the coin?
For other fans?
There will always be people who are dissatisfied.
In the end, it was decided to let the Madrid Pirates players do it themselves.
Of course, not everyone can do it, they must be players who are popular and recognized by fans.
Most of the time it is the team captain who tosses the coin.
The specific method of the ceremony has also changed somewhat. In the past, it was just thrown away and ignored.
Later, after throwing it out, club staff would pick up the coins, carefully put them away, and save them for the next home derby.
The three weather-beaten coins that Hu Lai sees now have been used since the 2009-2010 season.
Seeing these three coins, Hu Lai knew why the captain was looking for him.
He should be asked to complete the ritual of the pregame coin toss.
Hu Lai did not refuse this arrangement, even though he had the [True Lover's Red String] on him, which was something that could really bring him good luck.
But he would not reject a ceremony that could comfort people because of this.
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When Li Qingliang saw Hu Lai and Ramirez walking towards the south stand together, holding a box in their hands, he was a little surprised: "I didn't expect Hu Lai to toss the coin today!"
Other Madrid Pirates fans noticed this and cheered.
Everyone hopes that this ceremony can add a little good luck to Hu Lai. After all, Hu Lai's good luck is equal to the Madrid Pirates' good luck.
In full view of everyone, Hulay walked under the south stand and took out three two-euro coins from the box.
The previously noisy Pirates Park stadium suddenly became much quieter, and everyone turned their attention to Hu Lai.
The corresponding TV broadcast screen also appeared on the big screen at the scene.
I saw that Hu Lai did not throw the coins directly, but first bowed with his hands together and then threw the coins out.
Han Shuyu turned to look at Li Qingliang: "Did the previous rituals include this step of bowing?"
Li Qingliang was also speechless: "No..."
It was a normal ceremony, but Hu Lai made it look like a Chinese scenic spot...
Han Shuyu laughed: "I think this scene will definitely become the focus of everyone's discussion after the game. Domestic fans will complain about Hu Laihu again, ha!"
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"Hu, what do you mean by that action before tossing the coin?" Captain Ramirez asked Hulay as he walked back to the court to warm up.
He also imitated the gesture of putting his hands together.
"Oh, this is our Chinese tradition, and it has the same meaning as 'Mary's Lucky Coin'. They are both for blessing." Hu Lai said.
In fact, he really didn't think much about it when he did this action. When he was holding the coin in his hand and preparing to toss it, his body made such an action naturally.
It was as if it was engraved in his genes, completely out of his mind.
After he finished, he realized that he was not in front of a pool in a Chinese scenic spot...
This is a bit embarrassing.
Fortunately, he was quick-witted and immediately found an excuse to perfectly explain why he had just done so.
"Since 'Mary's Lucky Coin' is a ritual for praying for good luck, then I naturally thought of this blessing gesture from China. The two blessing rituals of Spain and China are superimposed, and I think... In this game we Your luck should be overwhelming.”
After hearing Hu Lai's explanation, Ramirez nodded: "It makes sense, I hope it's what you said."
Hu Lai touched the red bracelet on his right wrist with his hand and said: "Don't worry, captain. In China, we have an old saying: 'Qin Shi Huang touched the wire - he won.'"
"Qinshihuangtocaelcable——ganaresinsensible?" Ramirez repeated the sentence Hu Lai just said. Although it was in Spanish, he did not quite understand the meaning of this sentence.
"It means I have the advantage, it couldn't be better!"
Ramirez suddenly realized. (End of chapter)