Fox in the Penalty Area

Morikawa Junpei and his manager Mitsui Takato stood in front of a small English-style building.

"Is it here, Mr. Mitsui?" Junpei Morikawa asked looking at the house in front of him.

Mitsui Xiaozhi took out his mobile phone, turned to the address he had recorded in advance, checked the house number, then nodded and said, "Yes, it is here. This is the house that Hu Lai rented in Leeds."

Then he looked up and looked: "Although there are far fewer rooms than your big villa in China, it is definitely more than enough for the two of you..."

After Hu Lai knew that Junpei Morikawa would transfer to Leeds City, he directly stated in the group that Junpei Morikawa would not look for a house or stay in a hotel when he came to Leeds, and just go directly to the house he rented in Leeds.

The two of them live together, so they can take care of each other.

Of course, it is mainly to facilitate him to integrate Morikawa Junpei into the team and life in the UK.

Morikawa Junping did not refuse Hu Lai's kindness.

So he and his agent, Mr. Mitsui, appeared in front of this house now.

"Open the door, Junpei."

Takato Mitsui reminded Junpei Morikawa who was standing still.

The latter put the suitcase aside and found the key from the backpack.

Even this key was specially handed over to Morikawa Junpei by Hu Lai's manager Yong Jun to fly to Jincheng.

For Morikawa Junpei, this is not just a key to him, it represents Hu Lai's trust and expectation in him, and he naturally has to treat it seriously.

So he bowed slightly and took the key from Yong Jun with both hands.

Open the door and go in, the air in the room that has been closed for almost a month is a bit turbid, and people can't help but want to hold their breath.

It wasn't until they opened all the windows on the first floor to let in fresh air that the uncomfortable feeling went away.

They didn't go to the second floor, but stood on the first floor and looked at the place where Junpei Morikawa would spend for an unknown amount of time.

Very ordinary furnishings, very ordinary layout.

It's not the kind of mansions of various styles that are often owned by Premier League stars in the news.

One thing can be proved - the backyard of this house does not even have a swimming pool...just a small garden.

After Hu Lai rented it out, he did not make any renovations to the house.

For Junpei Morikawa who lived in the big villa in Jincheng, it can be described as "shabby".

But Junpei Morikawa didn't care about that either.

On the contrary, Mitsui Xiaozhi was a little surprised: "Hu Lai's life is really ordinary..."

"Hulaisang doesn't have high requirements for life." Junpei Morikawa said, "He is a very pure person who just wants to play football well."

Mitsui Xiaozhi said with a smile: "Looking at the size of the backyard, there is no way to build a football field."

Their eyes looked out through the window onto the small garden lawn.

"Hulaisang said that the training intensity in the Premier League is very high. Even if there is a football field, we will not have the energy to play again after the team training."

Mitsui Takato turned around and looked at other places, and then he found a wine cabinet with many bottles of wine in it. This discovery made his eyes brighten: "I didn't expect Hu Lai to be a wine lover...uh."

When he got closer, he realized in embarrassment that the wine in the wine cabinet was indeed wine, but it was different from what he thought.

These "wine" are actually the "best of the game" trophy won by Hu Lai.

When Takato Mitsui was looking at these "trophies", Junpei Morikawa also came up: "This is all won by Hu Laisang in the Premier League. He told us that when he has saved enough, he will send it back to China and send it to China." He kept it at home."

"Hu Lai... What a scary person!" Mitsui Takato said with emotion. "I remember when you participated in the East Asian Cup for the first time. At that time, among the three teams of China, Japan and South Korea, Hu Lai was still just a nobody. As a result... now the identity of the number one player in Asia has been changed from Park Chuntai to him."

"Mr. Mitsui, someone who can think of building a football field in the backyard of the house and playing football after training should be so powerful." Junpei Morikawa said seriously.

Mitsui Takato laughed: "That's right. If you love football to such an extent, success is inevitable. You are also very lucky, Junpei. You can meet him in your career by chance."

Morikawa Junpei smiled slightly.

Mitsui Takato said again: "Don't worry, Junpei, although you did not participate in this Asian Cup. As long as you can play at your normal level in Leeds City, I think Supervisor Motegi will definitely recall you to the national team. This transfer It is very critical to your career, you don’t have to think about anything, just play like you did in Flash. With Hu Lai by your side, I believe you will adapt to everything here very quickly.”

"Well, I will try my best, Mr. Mitsui."

After receiving the answer, Mitsui Takato turned his attention to the alcoholic again, and said half-jokingly: "Let's just add a wine cabinet here, and then set a goal - strive to fill the cabinet with the 'best' champagne! "

He was joking, but he didn't expect Morikawa Junpei to nod: "Okay."

This surprised Mitsui Takato, and glanced at Morikawa Junpei.

Junpei Morikawa didn't speak, just looked at the "best player" in the cabinet in a daze.

※※※

The Japanese team without Junpei Morikawa did not encounter any resistance in the first game of the Asian Cup. The powerful defending champion defeated Thailand, the second-ranked team in the group, with a score of 3:0.

The head coach of this team, Hiroto Motegi, does have the confidence not to recruit Junpei Morikawa.

In fact, the Japanese media were only in the first two games after the World Cup. They were surprised and surprised that Junpei Morikawa was not selected for the national team. Then the heat of this topic quickly went down.

As for the fact that Junpei Morikawa didn't even participate in the Asian Cup...it can't even be considered news in Japanese football.

Japanese football has too many talents. Now the midfielders of the Japanese national team all come from the main players of the five major European leagues. A genius among his peers like Sugiyama Tatsuya can only play as a substitute in this national team at present.

As the champion of the Asian Cup last season, the Japanese team has one and only one purpose in participating in the Asian Cup this time, and that is to defend the title.

They have successfully defended their title once in history, and that time was in the 2004 Asian Cup in China. In the final, the Japanese team defeated the host Chinese team with a controversial goal.

Now all they have to do is defend their title undisputedly.

And based on this, hit the unprecedented three consecutive Asian Cups-before that, no national team could do it.

In the 71-year history of the Asian Cup, a total of four national teams have successfully defended their titles.

South Korea won the Asian Cup in 1956 and 1960.

Next came Iran, who won back-to-back Asian Cups from 1968 to 1972.

Saudi Arabia scored twice in 1984 and 1988.

The youngest team to win two consecutive championships is the Japanese team, which won the championship twice in 2000 and 2004.

But no team has been able to win the Asian Cup three times in a row.

The Japanese team is now first of all to become the first team in the history of the Asian Cup to successfully defend the title twice.

Judging from this first game alone, they are indeed champions.

So Morikawa Junpei is not in the Japanese national team, it is not a problem at all.

※※※

In the first match of the Asian Cup, they lost 0:2 to Iraq, which put tremendous pressure on the Chinese team.

Fortunately, in the second group match four days later, the Chinese team defeated Palestine, the weakest team in the group, 4:1.

Hu Lai scored twice in this game, and he finally vented all his depression of not scoring a goal in the last game.

Of the remaining two goals, one was scored by Wang Guangwei with a header from a corner kick, and the other was scored by Luo Kai with a long shot.

This victory allowed the Chinese team to avoid the embarrassing result of being eliminated early.

Although he won the ball, the criticism in the public opinion after the game is still endless.

Because the Chinese team lost the ball.

In the face of the weakest Palestine in this group, they even conceded the ball. This performance naturally cannot satisfy the Chinese fans who have high hopes for the national team.

In their view, defeating Palestine is not worth mentioning at all. Because if the Chinese team can't even win Palestine, it can be disbanded.

What makes them dissatisfied is that in the face of such a weak Palestine, the Chinese team's defense can lose the ball.

So when facing more powerful opponents, with such a defensive performance, how can we ensure that our goal will not be sieved?

At that time, if the offense cannot penetrate the opponent's defense as it did against Iraq, but our own goal allows the opponent to score, how can we play this game?

Compared with the picturesque frontcourt, the level of China's midfield and backcourt is a bit... hard to describe.

This is also a problem that has existed since the last twelve rounds, and even Shi Wuyin has not solved this problem.

After the World Cup, more than one Chinese fan regretted and yearned online: If the Chinese team's defense can be better, with our offensive firepower, will we be able to achieve a historic victory in the World Cup? Even... Will he be able to qualify for the knockout round of the World Cup?

Now it seems that the problem of defense has not been resolved-the Chinese team has not conceded a goal in all the games so far, whether it is a major competition such as the World Cup or the Asian Cup, or a friendly match.

The last time they had zero opponents in an official game dates back to the second round of the play-offs that will be recorded in history on November 19, 2025.

The Chinese team defeated Paraguay 2-0 at home, reaching the World Cup finals for the first time in history.

Lin Zhiyuan saved the opponent's penalty during the game, and the Chinese team's defense line seemed to be open, and the Paraguayans failed to score a goal in 90 minutes.

Since then, the Chinese team's defense has never had such a bright moment.

Conceded goals in every game, at least one goal conceded, up to four goals conceded.

Now even playing against a big team like Palestine, they can concede the ball, which really makes Chinese fans feel a little bit uneasy.

The problem starts with the midfield defense. In the midfield barrier, after Gao Ruimin was injured, the Chinese team could only rely on Jiang Wanqing, a veteran who is about to turn 34 years old.

Although Jiang Wanqing was very tenacious in the World Cup, his ability and physical condition have indeed declined too much compared to his peak years.

It is precisely because of the inability to intercept in the midfield that there are frequent situations where the opponent's offense directly faces the back line. In this way, the pressure on the back line will be very high.

As for the position of defensive midfielder, whether it is the new generation or the Mesozoic generation, at present, it is not very reassuring.

How short Chinese football is in this position may be seen from one thing:

This time Junpei Morikawa did not participate in the Asian Cup, which did not cause any waves in Japan, but in China, some fans lamented: It would be great if Junpei Morikawa had not represented the Japanese national team in the competition, and Chinese football could consider naturalization he.

After all, Japanese football has a lot of talents in the midfield, and they look down on Junpei Morikawa, but Chinese football looks down on them! Junpei Morikawa made great contributions to Shining Star's successful relegation last season. He was also selected to the best foreign aid team of the Chinese Super League after the game.

Now they have gone one step further and have gone to Leeds.

Suddenly became a player with the Premier League level.

Isn't such an excellent defensive midfielder exactly what Chinese football needs?

This post has even received support from many people on the Internet, which shows how desperate Chinese fans are for the strength of Chinese football in the defensive midfielder position. Of course, most of the fans who came to like and express their support are fans of Anton Shining Star. Everyone has a good impression of this Japanese player who is diligent on the field and low-key and humble off the field. It was no longer as conflicting as when I first heard that the Shining Star Club was going to introduce a "little Japanese".

It's a pity that Junpei Morikawa has already represented the Japanese team. According to the regulations of FIFA, it is absolutely impossible to transfer to China and play on behalf of the Chinese team.

Moreover, the Chinese Football Association's attitude towards naturalized players also makes this matter doomed to be nothing but YY fans on the Internet, and then drooling while watching Japanese football.

It is simply "drought to death from drought, flood to death from flood"...