Fox in the Penalty Area

"Brother Hu, Brother Huan, and Brother Xiaoyu, what do you think of the highest goal and the lowest goal set by Mai?"

After the meeting, before it was time to go to bed, acquaintances gathered in Hu Lai's room to discuss the important topics in the meeting.

As soon as Ou Yangjin asked, the others turned their attention to the three "big guys".

Hu Lai said nothing and looked at Zhang Qinghuan, who patted Xia Xiaoyu and said, "Xiaoyu, please tell me."

Xia Xiaoyu was not polite and told everyone his own understanding of this: "Although Director Mai mentioned two goals, you can actually ignore the 'minimum goal', which is just to make up the numbers. Director Mai hopes We are thinking about the 'highest goal', which is to win medals."

Ou Yangjin raised his hand.

Xia Xiaoyu clicked on him: "Say it."

After receiving permission, Ou Yangjin asked, "Then why didn't Director Mai directly mention this goal?"

"Maybe it's to make us feel more accepting psychologically. He may be worried that we will be intimidated by the goal of winning a medal. So he set a minimum goal. In this way, even if we don't win a medal, as long as we can qualify in the group, it will be the same The mission has been completed. Everyone will not be burdened with a heavy burden."

Ou Yangjin nodded thoughtfully. Seeing that he didn't ask any more questions, Xia Xiaoyu continued:

"Actually, winning a medal is not an incredible goal. From the fact that Coach Mai recruited Brother Hu and Brother Huan to join us as over-age players, we can already guess what Coach Mai is thinking. He is definitely not training for the Olympics, but It is to strive for good results. Otherwise, why would he recruit over-age players? Or why recruit over-age players like Hu Ge and Huan Ge? Aren’t there many over-age players in China who want to participate in the Olympics? "

In fact, not everyone agrees with the decision of this Olympic team to recruit Hu Lai and Zhang Qinghuan as over-age players.

Although the vast majority of fans applauded this, there were still a very small number of people who did not agree with this approach.

Some people criticize Mai Zhaocheng for his selfishness. The Chinese Football Association is so happy with success that it does not hesitate to torment foreign players like Hu Lai and Zhang Qinghuan.

Their criticism is not entirely unfounded. After all, Hu Lai and Zhang Qinghuan have just finished playing for a season. The intensity of a season of European football is much greater than that of a Chinese domestic league.

After Hu Lai and Zhang Qinghuan finished playing for a season, they had to come to the Olympic team for training before participating in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

It will be mid-August after the Olympics, and they will miss their respective teams' pre-season training.

Coupled with accumulated fatigue, it will inevitably affect your performance next season.

So these people question if Mai Zhaocheng must find overage players, why not find them from China?

Players who go to Europe to study abroad may not care about participating in the Olympics, but domestic players still regard being able to participate in the Olympics as an honor.

There is also a small group of people who are targeting Hu Lai and Zhang Qinghuan, believing that they should refuse recruitment to the Olympic team and not waste their energy in the Olympics.

If there is some truth in what the previous group of people said, then this small group of people are just talking nonsense.

Let’s not talk about whether Hu Lai and Zhang Qinghuan, as professional players, have a sense of honor that allows them to refuse such a call. Let's just say that as Chinese players, if they really reject the call-up to the Olympic team on the grounds that they "want to rest", they will probably be drowned in the saliva of domestic fans and media.

And when the time comes, those people who hope they refuse will not only not speak for them, but may even join the crowd and scold them even more...

Now that Mai Zhaocheng is under pressure and insists on recruiting Hu Lai and Zhang Qinghuan to the Olympic team, it is impossible to "focus on participation."

"Since the goal is to win a medal, the training intensity will definitely not be low, and it will definitely be very hard for more than a month. But if I really have a chance to win a medal, I think it is quite worth it." Xia Xiaoyu finally said, and he was also comforting Everyone, lest they complain and complain.

If they can really win a medal at the Olympics, even a bronze medal in third place, they will have created history and will go down in the annals of Chinese football forever.

Who can remain indifferent to such temptation?

The only question is do we really have a chance to get the cards?

Looking at Hu Lai and Zhang Qinghuan, the "juniors" in the room are much more confident.

And not only Hu Lai and Zhang Qinghuan, Xia Xiaoyu and Zhou Zijing, who were already on the Olympic team, are by no means ordinary people.

Xia Xiaoyu only started to gradually enter the team lineup when Alvara played Tramed in the Champions League quarter-finals.

By the end of the season, he had basically established himself in the first team.

Because he only played more games after half a season, and he is not the kind of player who is responsible for making the final pass, his data is not very good.

Despite this, he still provided two assists in the league.

Zhou Zijing also became a regular for Leeds City in the second half of the league. He scored a total of four goals and two assists in the Premier League.

Considering that he mainly assisted Polish striker Laski in Leeds City, such a performance is already very good.

Players have different tactical status and different tactical functions. It is difficult to use a simple "number comparison" method to judge who is good and who is not.

Therefore, fewer goals does not mean that Zhou Zijing is not strong.

Moreover, he has played in the Premier League for one season, and his physical confrontation ability has improved significantly.

In the Olympic games, it will definitely help the Olympic team win more ball rights in the frontcourt.

In addition, Hu Lai, who has won the Golden Boot in the Champions League and La Liga, Saria midfielder Zhang Qinghuan, and the national team's main goalkeeper Lin Zhiyuan.

This Olympic team does have the potential to win a medal.

※※※

In the restaurant, Ran Jiachang, the leader of the Olympic team who was having breakfast, noticed that several team members who came to dine were yawning and looked like they were not awake.

So he worriedly said to head coach Mai Zhaocheng: "What you said yesterday still put too much pressure on them. Look at each of them. It's obvious that they didn't sleep well yesterday."

Mai Zhaocheng's expression also became solemn: "It shouldn't be the case, right? I also set a minimum goal for them. The minimum goal is just to protect the bottom line..."

"It doesn't matter whether you set the minimum goal or not, is it possible that this team can't even get out of the group stage?"

"Hey Lao Ran, you can't say that. Football is round and anything can happen. It's possible that we can't even qualify for the group stage..."

"Bah, bah, bah!" Ran Jiachang was afraid that Mai Zhaocheng would get angry.

If this team really fails to appear in the group stage, then the pressure on him and Mai Zhaocheng will be great. They will go down in the history of Chinese football in a shameful way forever...

Just then Ran Jiachang saw Hu Lai and Ou Yangjin walking towards him.

This is an old acquaintance. Ran Jiachang had cooperated with Hu Lai in the Olympic team four years ago. Although Hu Lai later went to the national team, the relationship between the two was still very good. When the team reported yesterday, Ran Jiachang saw Hu Lai and gave him a big hug.

So Ran Jiachang directly waved Hu Lai and Ou Yangjin over.

"Is there something wrong with Team Leader Ran?" Hu Lai asked.

"You last night... uh, no." Ran Jiachang originally wanted to ask Hu Lai if he slept well last night, but then he thought about it, who is Hu Lai? You have participated in the World Cup and played high-level competitions in Europe for so many years. Will you be scared tossing and turning because of the goal of winning an Olympic medal?

So he changed the question: "Do you feel that after the meeting last night, everyone had any thoughts? For example, did they feel nervous?"

Hu Lai shook his head and said, "No, right? I feel like everyone is quite excited."

"Excited?" Ran Jiachang asked in surprise.

"Well, just thinking about the possibility of making history makes everyone so excited that they can't sleep. Just like this one..."

Hu Lai pointed to Ou Yangjin beside him. The two of them were arranged to live in the same room.

"He tossed and turned in bed and didn't fall asleep for a long time..."

Ou Yangjin was a little embarrassed: "Well, I am indeed a little excited, Team Leader Ran... Brother Hu is indeed someone who has seen big scenes, but he is different. He even snores in his sleep..."

"Ou Yangjin, you can't sleep not because you are excited, but because Hu Lai snores, right?" Lin Zhiyuan came up from behind and put his arms around Ou Yangjin's neck and asked.

Ou Yangjin waved her hands repeatedly: "No, no, it really isn't. As soon as I close my eyes, I will think about how I will get on the podium when I receive the award, whether I will walk up or jump on..."

Lin Zhiyuan was speechless: "You are really thinking too far!"

Ran Jiachang and Mai Zhaocheng looked at each other and felt that Ou Yangjin was not lying. He did not sleep well because of excitement, not anything else.

So Ran Jiachang said to Hu Lai and the others: "Okay, then you can go have breakfast."

After watching Hu Lai and the others leave, Mai Zhaocheng withdrew his gaze and looked at Ran Jiachang, who also turned around: "How is it, Lao Ran, are you relieved now?"

"Reassured, but not completely reassured."

Mai Zhaocheng frowned: "What does this mean?"

"Whether there is really no problem depends on their performance in the Olympic Games. But now is indeed a good start." Ran Jiachang laughed after saying, "The psychological quality of these players is not bad."

Mai Zhaocheng said with emotion: "Our football environment has become much better in the past few years than before, and the players' confidence is naturally higher than before. It will always get better and better."

This last sentence touched Ran Jiachang's heart, and he sighed: "Yes, it will always get better and better..."