Fox in the Penalty Area

"How is it, Xiao Shi. What do you think after watching these two games?"

Li Zhifei asked Shi Wuyin on the phone.

"I have no opinion, Lao Li."

"How could there be no opinion? Comments?"

"No comment, no opinion."

"Hey, you... I'm not a reporter here to snoop on you!"

Shi Wuzhen laughed: "I know, Lao Li. But I really don't have any opinion. Dong's national team plays the same football as ours back then, even the staffing is the same. What do you think I can say?" ? Didn’t we see less games like this at the time?”

"Is it not good to continue our style of play?"

"Ha, don't try to talk to me, Lao Li. As I said, don't talk about the national team after retiring from the national team. Especially don't judge the current coach, that's not good. When I was the head coach, I also don’t like to see my peers make irresponsible remarks to me.”

Seeing Shi Wuyin's resolute attitude, Li Zhifei had no choice but to stop talking about this issue, and asked instead: "Okay. I understand. How are you living now?"

"Sleep until you wake up naturally every day, don't be too happy!" Shi Wuyin laughed.

Hearing this, Li Zhifei also laughed, and after laughing, he asked again: "What are your plans from now on?"

"In the future? I definitely have to come out to work. But I plan to give myself a vacation first to recharge my batteries."

"Oh, I'm relieved to hear you say that you still have to come out to work... I just want to say, when you decide to go out, remember to call me, and I will give you a partner!"

Shi Wuyin was overjoyed when he heard this: "Oh, Lao Li. You are over 60, and you are not at home holding your grandchildren, so you want to go out and have fun?"

"How do you say that? Can't my old man aim for a thousand miles?"

"All right, all right, that's great. Then it's settled. When I come back, I will definitely find you to form a team." Shi Wuyin agreed without hesitation.

"Okay, I'll wait for your call!"

After hanging up the phone, Shi Wuyin's wife asked him, "Why, brother Li is unwilling to be lonely again?"

"I think...in all likelihood, my sister-in-law is talking about him again.

Shi Wuyin murmured, "This hand-washed bowl... After all, there is no machine to wash it clean..."

The wife laughed when she heard the words, and after she finished laughing, she asked: "You really can bear it, so it's fine if you don't tell the media reporters about these two games. Brother Li, are you still on guard?"

"It's not to guard against Lao Li, it's because I have to remind myself all the time to calm my mind." Shi Wuyin shook his head. At that time, if there is any disturbance, I will not be able to get rid of it. How can I enjoy the comfortable time at home then?"

Shi Wuyin said as he put his arms around his wife.

But his wife looked up at the white hair on his head with heartache: "Unfortunately, after two months of rest, your hair hasn't gone back..."

"You can't go back to black. If you don't want to see gray hair, you can dye your hair. But... I think it's pretty good." Shi Wuji stroked his hair, "In this way, when I look in the mirror every day, I can think of me leading the team to play. The World Cup... Ha! That's your husband's most amazing experience!"

※※※

After the game against Mexico, the national team disbanded on the spot.

Those international players who are going to play in Europe made an appointment to fly from Jingyang to Frankfurt, Germany, and then transfer to their respective destinations in Frankfurt.

In this way, everyone will have a companion during the long ten-hour journey, so as not to be too boring.

Hu Lai used to go back to Europe by himself, passing through those airports and cities alone.

Now he is surrounded by his teammates, and everyone chatting and playing together, the time is no longer difficult.

And when they appeared together in the airport terminal in Frankfurt, they even met a few Chinese fans in this foreign country.

After they discovered this line of international players, they had the cheek to ask for a group photo and autograph.

When everyone fulfilled their wishes and was about to leave, they kept waving and blessing loudly: "Come on!!"

"Oh! What's the matter with suddenly feeling a little stressed..." Chen Xingyi said with emotion as he bid farewell to those enthusiastic fans.

"Normal heart, what pressure can you have? The sky is falling and there is a tall man standing against it..." When Zhang Qinghuan was talking to Chen Xingyi, he even took a special look at Hu Lai.

Hu Lai didn't care about Brother Huan's small eyes, he said to Zhang Qinghuan: "Brother Huan, I will go to Barcelona as a guest, so you have to treat me to dinner!"

"Why should I treat you to dinner?" Zhang Qinghuan asked warily.

"Because I want to help you fight against the rivals in the same city, Catalan United!" Hu Lai spread his hands.

Just when they flew back to China to participate in the national team competition, the results of the UEFA Champions League grouping for the new season were also announced.

As the defending champion of the Premier League, although Leeds City participated in the Champions League for the first time, it was still included in the "seed team".

So they were assigned to a group with Catalan United, the strongest in the second tier...

In addition to Catalan United, in this group there are the traditional strong team Vesuvius from Italy and the league champion Gulf Beacon from Turkey.

Premier League champion, La Liga runner-up, Serie A third and Turkish Super League champion.

This group can be called the "group of death".

At the time of the draw, when he saw the result, Eric Duffy, the general manager of the Leeds City club, looked unhappy. His serious and tense face close-up appeared in the live broadcast.

Any Leeds City fan who sees such a group draw result, I am afraid that the expression on his face will not be much better than that of Duffy.

For the first time in the history of the Leeds City club in the Champions League, they were divided into the death group. The hope of qualifying for the group is very pessimistic.

Except for Leeds City in this group, the other three teams have the record of winning the European Championships - Catalan United has won the Champions League five times and the Europa League twice; Vesuvio has won the European Cup three times. Federation Cup champion. The Bay Lighthouse has also won the Europa League twice.

Only Leeds in this group have the most lackluster European title honors - zero.

So don't look at them as the first-tier team, in fact, they may be the weakest in this group.

If it weren't for the reform of the Champions League, the Champions League seeded team would be composed of the defending champion, the Europa League champion and the UEFA top-ranked league champion. If it is still divided according to the previous European war points, Leeds City, the Premier League champion, is a proper fourth-tier team.

Perhaps because he knew how difficult the situation of Leeds City in this group was, Zhang Qinghuan did not argue with Hu Lai this time, but simply agreed:

"Okay, look at your unlucky lottery results, I will treat you to dinner as a consolation for your loss to Cathay United..."

Chen Xingyi booed beside him: "Hu Lai, if I were you, I would never eat this cheap food!"

Hu Lai chuckled, "But you're not me."

Then he turned to Zhang Qinghuan and said:

"It's okay, someone will invite you to win or lose anyway, I don't care."

Wang Guangwei still cared about Hu Lai very much. He asked, "Hu Lai, how far can you go in the Champions League this season?"

"I don't know, I can go as far as I can." Hu Lai seemed very free and easy, and didn't seem to be entangled in the grouping situation.

"Has your coach announced the Champions League goals?"

"No. When I came out, I didn't know the result of the lottery. How to announce the goal? The goal must be determined according to the grouping results..." Hu Lai shook his head. "Anyway, I guess it's just a fight, and it will be as good as it can be."

"The problem is not that simple." Wang Guangwei shook his head, "How do you choose between the Champions League and the league? The Champions League will be fought every game, and what about the league at the same time? Do you want to give up?"

Others nodded after hearing the words, saying that Wang Guangwei was right.

For a team like Leeds City that is not a wealthy team, multi-line combat is a big problem, and how to choose is very important.

After all, there have been many similar precedents before. Because of participating in the European war, the team's performance in the league has plummeted.

"Yes, I went to Sarria, met some fans, and heard them talk about what happened back then. Many fans regretted it, saying that they knew it was like this, and it would be better not to win the Europa League at all. Eligibility."

What Zhang Qinghuan was talking about was an old incident - such a incident happened five years ago in Sarria, where he played.

The previous season had just returned to European competition after a lapse of 16 years, and qualified for the Europa League in the new season.

This would have been a great event, the warm scene of fans cheering and celebrating at the end of the season seems to be still yesterday.

As a result, Sarria, who was fighting on two fronts in the new season, failed to continue the miraculous performance of last season.

Did not qualify for the Europa League group stage and dragged down the league.

Losing again and again in the league-before the winter break, they only won one league game, but the head coach changed two times.

Although Sarria did not have any European games to play in the second half of the season, the decline they accumulated in the first half of the season has been irreversible, forming a huge inertia, and finally pushed this team, which was ranked sixth in La Liga last season, to a new level. Into the second division...

After that, Sarria sank in the second division for two years before returning to La Liga.

Although the opportunity to play in Europe is very attractive to all teams. Fans yearn for the honor represented by the European War, and the club chases the huge bonuses brought by the European War.

However, it may not be a good thing for a small team with a poor family background to accidentally qualify for the European war.

Even if you can get the participation bonus for the group stage, it can't make up for the economic loss caused by relegation from the top league.

Not to mention that it is impossible for a small team to compete for the European championship. No matter how good the performance is in the end, it is just a green leaf for the rich and accompany the prince to study.

"But brother Huan, those fans who said that, you didn't ask them, if Saria had another chance to participate in the Europa League, would they not want the team to go?" Hu Lai asked back.

Zhang Qinghuan was taken aback for a moment.

Hu Lai smiled and said: "So, don't worry about what you say, how to analyze rationally. In fact, if there is a chance to participate in the European war, which team would give up? Although they know that it will affect the team's performance in the league. …Should we give up the European competition and not compete for the Champions League qualification? There is no such reason? Of course we may be relegated from the Premier League just because we won the Champions League. But relegation is a matter of the future, and it is not certain now. But the Champions League is the game in front of us. For the sake of the possible outcome in the future, it is too stupid to give up the current game. I don’t know what goals our head coach will set for the Champions League, but I will fight every game anyway. This is my goal. This is my first time in the Champions League!"

Hearing what he said, Wang Guangwei slapped his forehead and said after several people looked at each other in dismay, "That's right, Hu Lai has a chance to participate in the Champions League anyway, we... 嗐! We, a group of people who can't even qualify for the Europa League, are doing nothing here. Heart?"

Chen Xingyi pointed to himself: "Me! I have a chance! Our team is also participating in the Champions League!"

Zhang Qinghuan scolded: "You have a fart! Your club didn't even register you in the Champions League!"

"Then what if our team reaches the knockout round? We can register again in January next year."

Everyone said, "Hehe."

Zhang Qinghuan waved: "It's gone. The road is open to the sky, each side! Goodbye, everyone!"

He went to Barcelona, ​​Xia Xiaoyu went to Lisbon, Chen Xingyi and Luo Kai flew north to Amsterdam, and Wang Guangwei went south to Genoa.

Hu Lai flew west alone, back to Leeds.

Six people bid farewell in the terminal of Frankfurt Airport and went their separate ways.