Fox in the Penalty Area

Just one day after the end of the China Cup, the Anton Provincial Sports Center was bustling again, and nearly 40,000 people poured into the stands that could accommodate 60,000 people this afternoon.

Among them are students from primary and secondary schools in Jincheng, as well as people from all walks of life.

These people looked at the stadium below the stands, and the green field was covered by squares one after another.

The colorful sports uniforms make these phalanxes look like fields of flowers.

Flags with different characters and patterns were erected in the flower fields, and each flag represented a school that came to participate in the National High School Football Championship.

The flag bearers hold the flagpole and stand proudly at the front of the team.

Behind the flag bearer, boys and girls in different school sports uniforms were looking up at the rostrum intently.

The two male and female players who were there to represent all participating athletes are taking the oath:

"...On behalf of all athletes, we solemnly swear...Strictly abide by the rules of the game! Resolutely obey the referee! Respect the opponent! Respect the audience! Respect football! Work hard, fight tenaciously, and work together in the game! Play style! Play level! No pride in victory, no discouragement in defeat... Actively participate in this high school football championship with full enthusiasm..."

"The swearer: Qin Qi!"

"Sworn person: Feng Yuqing!"

Amid thunderous applause and cheers, the two on the rostrum bowed and stepped down.

The Chinese team won the influence of the first China Cup champion, and it is still fermenting in China. The first to be blessed by this influence is the 13th National High School Football Championship that opened immediately.

The wonderful performance of the Chinese national team in the China Cup has greatly encouraged people's enthusiasm for participating in football.

In particular, it has inspired those football teenagers and girls who are about to set foot on the national competition field.

With the help of the China Cup, Jincheng publicized this national competition in a big way, 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 chase 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, there are indeed many people who are willing to pay attention to the National High School Football Championship that will open immediately. The nearly 40,000 spectators who came to the opening ceremony today are the embodiment of this influence.

The China Cup is over, but the development of Chinese football will not stop.

Campus football, which seems to have nothing to do with professional football, is actually the fertile ground for the reform and development of Chinese football in the past ten years.

Without a thriving campus football, there would not be so many people devoted to football, because campus football solves their worries.

At the very least, those who are worried about being sent to a professional football school and have no choice but to retire with injuries will greatly reduce the situation. Ordinary full-time high schools train a middle school student first and players second.

Moreover, the greatest significance of campus football is not actually to transport talents for professional football, but to expand the base and increase the population interested in football.

When the foundation is large enough, some things happen naturally.

The photos taken by Hu Lai and Li Qingqing for the national competition were printed on a huge poster, which is now hanging on the outer wall of the Provincial Sports Center. As soon as people approach the stadium, they can see the two "golden boys and girls" of Chinese football greet them with smiles, and call on them to actively participate in campus football.

It also provides a possibility for every teenager and 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 caused ripples on the huge poster, as if the person in the painting was about to step down.

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Hu Lai, who returned to the club, did not appear in the squad for the thirty-first round of the league.

Not only him, including Pete Williams, Lasky, Kamara and Junpei Morikawa, these players who participated in the national team game a few days ago, did not make 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 participated in the national team competition, running back and forth, which increased the fatigue level, the competitive state was not at the best, and it seemed a bit powerless to play in the league.

On the other hand, it is because after this round of the league, Leeds City will welcome the Europa League quarter-final opponent at home next Thursday-Serie A team Ferenc.

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 Athletic Manchester this season, it will be difficult for Leeds City to win even if they play with all the main players, and maybe they will pay some heavy price.

So simply admit defeat and give up early.

Athletic Manchester has been in a very stable state this season and has performed well. The key is that the main players have not suffered from serious injuries.

Kabanka performed well in the World Cup, and now he has continued his excellent state in the World Cup to the club. He is an existence that makes all opponents feel horrible without being injured.

Athletic Manchester seems to want to turn all the frustration of missing the league title for two consecutive seasons into motivation and vent it out.

After 30 rounds of the league, they topped the list with 74 points, 15 points behind second place Wijston. With eight rounds left in the league, it is almost impossible for any team to compete with them for the league title.

Old opponents like Stan Park Rangers and Tramed are not good, let alone Leeds City.

Leeds City, who did not play the main force, lost a bit miserably against the mighty Manchester Athletic in the away game.

They lost 1:6.

This game was also Clarke's worst defeat in coaching Leeds City.

Kabanka, who also participated in the national team game, did not start the game, but after he came off the bench in the second half, he was like a god descending from the earth. He kicked his head and kicked three goals in a row within ten minutes, completing a hat-trick.

It was also his three goals that finally resulted in a big score of 1:6.

This hat-trick is also the fastest hat-trick so far this season.

With this hat-trick, Kabunka's league goals surpassed Hu Lai's. With 17 goals and 11 assists, people think: Yes, this is a super genius who can be compared with Meli Woolen cloth!

In addition to Kabanka, Athletic Manchester's main striker Marvin Stones also scored twice in the game. This allowed him to score 25 league goals this season, topping the league's top scorer list.

Now Hu Lai has only scored 15 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.

No way, Leeds City and the Chinese team are fighting on multiple fronts this season, which has involved Hu Lai too much energy.

It also affected his attendance in the league.

The league has now been basically abandoned by Clark, specializing in the Europa League.

Otherwise, even if Hu Lai had just played for the national team, Clark would not have taken him out of the squad for the match against Athletic Manchester.

However, including Hu Lai, most people actually don't care much about the fact that he may not win the Premier League Golden Boot this season.

One is that Hu Lai is still young, and there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.

The second is that everyone thinks that it is good to win the Premier League Golden Boot once. How dare you want to win the Premier League Golden Boot consecutively?

The third is that compared with the honors that have already been won, everyone cares more about the honors that Hu Lai has not won. No way, it is human nature to like the new and dislike the old. The Premier League Golden Boot is great, but that's it, now the focus has shifted to... the Europa League.

Looking at Hu Lai's rocket-like momentum in the Europa League scorer list, everyone wants to see if he can win the Europa League Golden Boot this season.

The Champions League Golden Boot is hopeless, but if you can get a Europa League Golden Boot. Nahu Lai also maintained the "tradition" of starting with a Golden Boot every season.

But this Europa League Golden Boot is not so easy to get.

Let's not talk about Nuno Alvarez, who currently ranks first in the scorer list.

Just talk about Hu Lai himself, if he wants to win the Golden Boot, he has to help Leeds City go further in the Europa League.

This is not an easy task.

Every step forward in the Europa League has required more effort than the one before, and...a lot of luck.

In the quarter-finals of the Europa League, Leeds City's opponent is Ferenc, a Serie A team that is extremely good at defense.

In the Europa League group stage, this team only conceded two goals in six games and qualified as the first in the group.

But this is not the best. After all, apart from them, there is another team that only conceded two goals in the group stage, and that is the overlord of the Europa League, the Serbian Voyagers.

After entering the knockout stage, Ferencz showed their amazing defensive ability.

In the 16th final, they drew 0:0 away with the Eredivisie team Rotterdam Elite in the first round, 2:0 in the second round, and finally eliminated their opponents with a total score of 2:0, advancing to the top 16.

In the eighth-finals, they played two 0-0 games with Frankfurt White Hart in the Bundesliga. In the end, they relied on penalty shootouts to decide the winner and reached the quarterfinals of the Europa League.

Four knockout games without conceding a goal, Ferenc is the only team in all 32 participating in the Europa League knockout rounds to do so.

The reason why they can do it is not only that they pay special attention to defensive tactics, but also has something to do with one person.

That is Ferenc's main goalkeeper Mauro Albertazzi.

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PS: Sorry, I made a typo yesterday, it was from yesterday to the 8th, not the 5th...