Chapter 81 Light of Asia?
Carson Ward, the director of the Hackney Knights' medical team, found the team's head coach Paul Neves and handed over Rolle Pope's latest injury report.
Neves frowned when he took it and looked at it: "It takes a month to resume training?"
Ward pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose: "If you want to return to the court, It will take at least forty-five days."
"Damn it!" Neves couldn't help but cursed. After the curse, he apologized to Ward: "I'm sorry, Carlson. Not against you..."
"I know it's hard for anyone who encounters something like this..." Ward nodded to express his understanding.
What makes Neves so glum is, of course, because as the team's main midfielder and captain, the absence of Raul Pope has too great an impact.
When Neves was coaching La Liga team Real Sebastian, Raul Pope was his favorite.
So after Neves got the opportunity to coach the Hackney Knights, he immediately brought Pope to this wealthy team in North London.
Pope did not disappoint his mentor. Since joining the team, he quickly became the main force, and then became the core of the midfield of this Premier League giant.
Someone has calculated that since Pope joined the team, the Hackney Knights' winning rate has been as high as 67% in the games in which he has played. However, in the 25 games that he has missed, the Hackney Knights' winning rate has dropped. To fifty-one percent.
Although he has not yet won the league championship, Raoul Pope is an important contributor to the team's continuous qualification for the Champions League in the highly competitive Premier League.
According to Ward's estimation, if Pope really has to wait forty-five days to return to the game, there will only be three rounds left in the league by then...
It can be said that , Pope will miss the most critical sprint stage of the championship due to injury.
No wonder Neves is so angry.
Hackney Knights have performed well under his leadership this season and currently rank first with 21 wins, three draws and four losses with 66 points.
Clayton Athletic, which has nineteen wins, four draws and five losses, is five points ahead.
This point difference seems not small, but considering that there are still ten rounds left in the league, and my team still lacks the core midfielder and captain, the prospects are not good no matter how you look at it.
The five-point difference is only two games.
As long as our side loses two games and Clayton Athletic wins two more games, the two teams' rankings in the standings will be reversed.
For example, the next away game against Tyne is a "tough battle" in Neves' eyes.
Just half a season ago, Paul Neves would never have thought so.
How could Tyne, a "mercenary", possibly cause trouble for his team?
In the fifteenth round of the league, Hackney Knights defeated Tyne 4:0 at home.
The "mercenaries" were beaten until they were unable to fight back.
It was that game that ultimately led to Tyne's original head coach Les Hugill being fired by the club and replaced by current head coach Sam McNeil.
It has only been less than half a season and the Hackney Knights head coach Neves, who has an insufficient lineup, has to regard Tyne as a difficult opponent...
< br>Who said that Tyne has been the most eye-catching team in the Premier League in the past two months?
Starting from the 22nd round of the league on January 31st, Tyne played a total of seven league games, losing only one, and the remaining six... won all!
Looking at the entire Premier League, no team can do this except Tyne.
In such a hot state, even the Hackney Knights, who are first in the league, will be afraid of three points.
Unfortunately, the team had just finished playing the national team match when they met Tyne in the league.
If there is a choice, Neves certainly hopes not to arrange the game between himself and Tyne in the first round after the national team match day...
The last national team match day is on On the 31st, the league is Sunday, April 5th.
There was only a four-day difference. During these four days, the Hackney Knights players who were scattered all over the world had to fly back from all over the world to overcome jet lag, adjust their status, and have to communicate with the team. Practice together...and then rush to the away game to face opponents who are waiting for work.
Just looking at this itinerary can make people scratch their heads.
The director of the medical team, Carlson Ward, can completely understand the current depression of head coach Neves.
So he tried to comfort Neves:
"The situation may not be as bad as you think, Paul. There are also international players in the Tyne team who have participated in the national team games. Especially their Core, King. He is the one who has flown the farthest and traveled the longest. Considering his age of thirty-eight, I think the national team game may have a greater impact on him than anyone else..."
Neves was not simply convinced: "But Wang has scored goals in two consecutive games for the Chinese team, and his performance is very good..."
"That's his performance in the national team, what does it have to do with him returning to the club? And he only went through one journey to the national team, and it was two journeys back to the club. I think even if Tyne The head coach will arrange for Wang to start in our game on the weekend, and his physical fitness is not enough to support him to play the whole game."
Neves looked at this well-known American sports medicine doctor, and finally said. Still chose to believe him: "I hope this is true..."
"Of course, Paul. You have to believe in science. A player who is 38 years old and can still perform at the top level in a top league like the Premier League , it is not the case in history. However, there are really not many players over the age of 38 who can continue to perform at the top level. The ups and downs of the players themselves, combined with their age, will make this probability extremely low. Poor."
Ward gave Neves reassurance with a smile.
Neves looked at the physical test reports of the players after they returned and made a decision in his heart.
※※※
As soon as Jiang Dongxun got home, he couldn't wait to call his father: "Dad, do you know? Our leader has entrusted me with an important task today! He asked me to play against Tai in the next game Play as a forward in the game!"
"Oh? That's great news," Dad Jiang Xiuzhe said from the other end of the phone. Come.
"I was worried that my boss would rotate me because I participated in the national team competition. Now it seems that I have a chance to defeat Wang Lie again!" Jiang Dongxun said excitedly.
"Well... it's a good thing to have confidence, Dongxun. But Wang Lie is in a good state now..." Seeing that his son was getting into trouble again, his father quickly advised him.
In the end, his son laughed instead: "That's how it is, Dad! If it's Wang Lie who is still at Soft United this season, I have no interest in competing with him... He is doing so well now that he was defeated by me. The value!”
Dad sighed: “Dongxun, when will you change your problem? How much trouble have you caused because of Zhang Yang’s character?”
Jiang Dongxun didn’t care: "But I am still the absolute main force of the national team, and those old guys can't do anything to me. Is it because I offended my seniors that they won't let me play? No way. Everyone knows who He is the ace of the Korean team, who is the one who can lead the Korean team to win! Dad, let me tell you, this world respects the strong. If I am better than them, there is no need for me to cater to them! If they like me, it is them who should reflect, and it should be them who should change..."
Even across the phone, Jiang Xiuzhe could fully imagine his son's triumphant expression at this moment.
He closed his eyes, not knowing how to persuade his son.
Although he is a father, his son, who grew up in the UK, does not recognize the Korean tradition of "respecting the elder and the younger".
Therefore, in the Korean national team, he also caused troubles.
But after every storm, his son was safe and sound.
Not only has his position in the national team not been shaken, but it has become more stable. At only 25 years old, he is already the top star of Korean football and the absolute main force in the Korean team.
Is it really what my son said?
Times have changed, and the "tradition" that Koreans insist on is meaningless...
※※※
"...Roll Pope will be absent from training and games for at least a month !”
Someone read the latest news out loud, which immediately aroused heated discussion in the locker room.
“This is great news!”
"Maybe we can really win this time?"
"Remove the 'maybe', hahaha!"
While laughing, Elliot Goetz couldn't help but ask Wang Lie He cast his gaze, but saw that the other party had no reaction, and instead laughed along with everyone else, so he didn't say anything, just frowned slightly.
It wasn’t until everyone packed up and walked towards the training ground one after another that he stopped Wang Lie:
“Aren’t you worried that we underestimate the enemy, Wang?”
Wang Lie turned to look at Goetz strangely: "Why do you have this idea, Elliott? Underestimating the enemy? Will we despise the first place in the league?"
"I know this sounds a bit unbelievable... But judging from everyone's reaction just now, it seems that we can really win the first place in the league..." Goetz frowned and said worriedly.
Wang Lie smiled and patted him on the shoulder, comforting him: "Isn't this good? At least it shows that everyone has the confidence to defeat the Cavaliers. This is better than thinking that they will definitely lose, right? In my opinion It seems that it is important to have the confidence and ideas to defeat strong enemies, so that we can have the possibility of defeating them. If we don't even dare to think about it, how can we really hope to win? Moreover...Pop's injury is harmful to us? It’s really good news, and it doesn’t matter if everyone is happy.”
Looking at Wang Lie’s calm look, Goetz couldn’t help but feel excited:
So we can really do it. Beat League One Hackney Knights?
It’s no wonder that Goetz wasn’t firm enough about this. In the fifteenth round of the league, facing the Hackney Knights, he, the Tyne goalkeeper, picked up the ball four times from the goal... Seeing that Goetz stopped talking, Wang Lie thought He was still worried about the team's pride and underestimation of the enemy, so he said to him: "Be more confident, Elliott. Tyne is really strong now. I'm not comforting you. I'm telling the truth. Our players are The Premier League is competitive. As long as we can unite as a whole, even the top teams in the league will have a headache to compete with us, especially at our home court.”
Goetz thought about how everyone spontaneously returned to Northumberland Football City for training after losing to Clayton Athletic...
So he nodded slowly.
This team is really different from before.
So how can it be anything unbelievable to beat the league number one at home?
※※※
“Alas!”
Robbie Dixie suddenly sighed, attracting the side glances of other old guys in the bar.
"You have a good drink, why are you sighing?" Jon Berg asked him.
"I searched online for a long time yesterday, but I couldn't find any past grudges between the king and the knight..." Dixie said with a frown.
"What are you doing here?" Everyone was curious.
Dixie explained: "If there is a grudge between the Kings and the Cavaliers, wouldn't it be possible for us to win tomorrow's game? Just like how we defeated the Scorsese! If I were a Newcastle media reporter, I would He ran to London, arrested everyone in the Cavaliers, and asked them what they thought of Wang's performance, and asked them if they could still perform like Wang when they were thirty-eight years old... In short, they tried every means to anger them, and then let them Say harsh words to Wang, so that Wang can slap them in the face in tomorrow's game!"
Hearing him say this, there was a burst of laughter in the bar: "You have a pretty good idea, Robbie! !”
Robbie Dixie blew his beard and stared: “Don’t you want to win?”
One sentence silenced most of the people in the bar, and the laughter became much quieter.
On the other hand, Jon Berg was still laughing: "Who said before that Tyne, the 'mercenary', can't win anything? Why do you now want to win against the league's number one Cavaliers?"
"Damn it! Jon, where are you on?" Dixie was a little annoyed, "Don't you want us to win?"
"Of course I hope, in fact, I feel sorry for the team I'm more confident than you are, and earlier than you. Don't forget the bet we made, Robbie." Berg pointed to the blackboard hanging behind the bar.
The text message above about him and Dixie’s bet on where Tyne would rank after the season is over is still there:
Top ten in the league. Jon YES, Robbie NO. A glass of wine for everyone
"Speaking of which, we are now ninth in the league. Robbie, when are you going to treat us all to a drink?"
Berg's words made everyone in the bar The atmosphere became lively again, and everyone slapped the table and cheered: "A treat! Robbie! A treat! Robbie!"
Dixie raised his hands in the air and defended: "Wait until the end of the season! We won't know the team until the end of the season. Where is it really?”
Berger smiled: “So you hope that by the end of the season, we will not be in the top ten in the league?”
Dixie glared at Berg: "I just said we have to abide by the rules..."
"Rules? What rules?" Berg asked with a smile.
"What rules?"
"Yeah, what are the rules you're going to follow, Robbie?"
"Uh, what are the rules? The rules are... ..." Dixie hesitated, as if he was embarrassed to say it, but in the end he closed his eyes, raised his arms and said loudly: "The rule is to wait until the end of the season, and I will treat everyone to a drink!"
"Oh oh oh oh!!! Thank you Robbie!"
"Long live Robbie!"
"I love you, Robbie!"
rang out from the bar Huge cheers.
Looking at this joyful scene, Harry Collins complained in a low voice: "It's really strange... Our opponent tomorrow is the first in the league, but why is everyone so happy? It's like we have already won... …”
His father, Theo Collins, said: "Because their joy has nothing to do with winning or losing a game tomorrow. No matter what the result is then, this team has regained hope."
Little Collins nodded: "That's good, so I will go to the game tomorrow and you stay to look at the store, dad."
Old Collins frowned: "Why?"
" Anyway, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose tomorrow's game, so it doesn't matter whether you go to watch it or not. But I hope Tyne wins, so I have to go and watch it." Collins said with a smile. reason.
Old Collins opened his mouth, was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Okay, I will help you look at the store for a day..."
"What does 'looking after the shop for me for a day' mean? Dad, this tavern belongs to you!"
"But you are the legal person of this tavern now."
"Tsk..."
"WTF!" A sudden exclamation sounded in the bar, attracting everyone's attention.
Everyone turned their attention to the person who exclaimed.
"What are you freaking out about, Ryan?"
"Robbie! Robbie!" Ryan didn't explain, but just called Dixie's name.
“What for?”
“The grudge you want is here!” Ruian shouted excitedly.
"Huh?" Everyone else, including Robbie Dixie, showed puzzled expressions.
Ruian raised his phone and showed the screen to everyone. Everyone put down their glasses and joined in.
On the screen of Ruian's mobile phone, there was an Instagram screenshot.
The text in the screenshot is not in English, but a strange square character:
?
There is also a laughing and crying expression behind the text.
However, the text is very short, and the most eye-catching thing is the pictures.
Those are two pictures.
The scenes in these two photos are very similar, with Jiang Dongxun celebrating in the foreground, wearing a South Korean team jersey.
The distant view not far behind him is the back of a player wearing a red jersey with his hands on his hips.
Although the back is blurred due to different focal lengths.
But in the blurred back, the big Arabic numeral "9" is still very conspicuous.
Someone didn't understand: "Can anyone explain, what does this mean?"
"What text is that? Chinese characters?"
Ruian said : "This was posted on ins by a Korean reporter. The accompanying picture is a photo from the past two Asian Cups. In both Asian Cups, the Chinese team lost to the South Korean team. The person celebrating was Jiang, and in The person behind him with his head bowed and his arms akimbo is Wang! As for the text, of course it is not a Chinese character, but a Korean character, which means "Light of Asia". However, this reporter added a question mark and that expression with this picture, and it is obvious that it is. You're mocking Wang! Because Wang is also called the 'Light of Asia'..."
"Wow, when did you understand Korean, Ryan?"
"How do I understand? Of course this is explained in this news article!" Ruian said and exited the picture, and a news message with this picture appeared on the screen of his mobile phone.
"So what does this mean? A Korean reporter posted an Instagram mocking Wang? What does this have to do with tomorrow's game?"
Ryan opened another news link for everyone. Picture, pointing at the picture, he said:
“Gang liked this ins.”
Everyone took a look, and sure enough, in this screenshot, the real-name authentication account named “GangDongHoon” stated "Likes".
Everyone finally understood: "So a Korean reporter mocked Wang, and Jiang gave this Korean reporter a like?"
"That's right." Ryan nodded.
Robbie Dixie became excited: "Ah! I love Koreans! I love ginger! I want to drink a glass of ginger!"
He picked up the wine glass and poured the beer inside. Drink it all.
(End of this chapter)