Fox in the Penalty Area

1st

Lin Zhiyuan walked to his seat with the breakfast tray. He passed by the dining table where Wang Guangwei, Zhang Qinghuan, Xia Xiaoyu, and Chen Xingyi were sitting, and then he was stunned for a moment.

Wang Guangwei thought he had something to do with them, so he asked, "What's wrong?"

Lin Zhiyuan shook his head and said: "No... I was originally wondering why there were only four of you, but just now I remembered that Hu Lai didn't come back."

The four people looked at him, and one of them, Chen Xingyi, laughed: "What's the matter, Xiao Linzi? Aren't you used to it when Hu Lai doesn't say something to you when we meet?"

"Bah!" Lin Zhiyuan spat, then waved his hand and walked towards his table with his breakfast.

When the four people at the table saw him leaving, they looked away and continued eating their breakfast.

"Don't talk about Lin Zhiyuan, I'm not used to it. There is no noisy person in my ears..." Zhang Qinghuan said with emotion.

Prior to this, Hu Lai had not missed national team games.

But generally in this case, Hu Lai is not the only one to miss the national team game, but most of the overseas players are absent together.

For example, the previous top 40 games.

After qualifying for the top 12 in advance, many overseas players were not recruited into the team by Jorge Dillon.

Zhang Qinghuan never returned to the national team to participate in competitions, and did not even participate in the "China Cup" after the top 40 games.

Because he had already been selected for the Olympic team as an over-age player at that time, he trained and played warm-up matches with the Olympic team at that time.

At that time, he and Hu Lai were both in the Olympic team as over-age players. When they returned to the national team again, it was already the start of the top 12 games in September last year.

It is indeed rare that Hu Lai did not come back alone this time.

"I read on the Internet that the Japanese media were quite happy to know that Brother Hu would not participate in this game. They feel that the Japanese team's qualification for the World Cup is stable." Xia Xiaoyu shared the news he saw online with his companions.

Everyone asked: "Is it stable?"

"Yeah." Xia Xiaoyu nodded, "They think the Chinese team without Brother Hu is nothing to be afraid of. Because everyone has players who have studied abroad. Except for Brother Hu, they think there is no difference between us and their players studying abroad. Besides, Japan The team has more overseas players than us..."

"Fuck, I'm looked down upon." Chen Xingyi clicked his tongue.

"Isn't it normal to be looked down upon by Japan?" Zhang Qinghuan shrugged and curled his lips. "We were looked down upon by others in the past. That is to say, the situation has gotten better in the past two years. Why is it better? Isn't it because Hu Lai got up?"

Wang Guangwei nodded: "That's true.

Excluding the 'fake national team' in the East Asian Cup, the first time we played against the Japanese team was actually the Asian Cup at the beginning of the year before last. Hu Lai scored two of their goals that time, and then they met again in the top 12, and Hu Lai also scored. Coupled with Hu Lai's sudden power in Europe, it brought quite a shock to the Japanese. It’s normal for them to have such thoughts. In their minds, maybe the reason why the Chinese team can participate in the World Cup, or even participate in the World Cup two rounds in advance, is all due to Hu Lai..."

"That's right. It is indeed Hu Lai's credit." Zhang Qinghuan said. "How many goals did our team score in the World Cup? How many did Hu Lai score? How many goals did our team score in the Asian Cup? How many did Hu Lai score? And more importantly, Hu Lai's ability to seize opportunities. I think this is the most fatal . With him here, it means that we can always break the deadlock in the game. Sometimes whoever can score first will have an advantage."

"But apart from Hu Lai, we have also made progress." Chen Xingyi was not very convinced. "Last season Luo Kai, Xiaoyu, I, and I both reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League, and I even reached the semifinals. The best performance of their Japanese players in the Champions League was only the semifinals..."

"Yes, we have indeed made progress." Zhang Qinghuan nodded, "But our progress is because our original foundation was too poor. From ten to sixty, the improvement is very large, but the Japanese team is already seventy."

Chen Xingyi seemed to want to say something else. Zhang Qinghuan said to him: "Actually, there is nothing to say about this issue. The Japanese media believes that the Chinese team without Hu Lai is not strong and they can win easily. Of course it makes sense. But football games are not When it comes to playing cards, as long as you have a big king and a small king, you will be awesome...it still depends on the performance on the court. If they think they can beat us, then let them try."

"Brother Huan is right, who doesn't know how to talk? After all, football still has to be played with feet." Xia Xiaoyu agreed.

"That's right. We can't let that kid Hu Lai think that we can't have fun without him." Wang Guangwei also agreed. "We can't rely on him alone in next year's World Cup, right?"

※※※

At the pre-match press conference, Luo Kai participated as a player representative.

Then he was asked a question about Hu Lai by a reporter: "Without Hu Lai, will the team encounter some difficulties when facing the Japanese team?"

Luo Kai stared at the reporter who asked the question for about two or three seconds without saying anything.

This made the reporter feel nervous and the scene was a little embarrassing for a while.

Fortunately, Luo Kai finally spoke: "We are a collective, a team."

After saying this, he did not continue to answer questions, but sat in his seat with a serious expression.

Anyone could see his displeasure.

To be honest, this question is really impolite.

It's the same as questioning the ability of the international players except Hu Lai.

But this is just a continuation of the dissatisfaction of media reporters over Dillon not recruiting Hu Lai to return to the team. It is not directed at the players, but at the head coach Dillon.

If it were another player with high emotional intelligence, he might just say some nice words to deal with the problem.

But the person who came to attend the pre-match press conference today was Luo Kai.

So after he said such strong words, he put on a face and acted uncooperative.

※※※

"Yu, I always feel that your media is really not professional enough in some aspects."

As soon as he finished the press conference and returned to his room, Dillon complained to his translator Yu Jintao.

"They would ask such stupid questions."

Yu Jintao explained: "They are just dissatisfied with you for not recruiting Hu Lai, Jorge, and they are not really targeting Luo Kai."

"No. I know they are making excuses. But what I want to say is another thing. Have you noticed their problems? 'Will the team encounter some difficulties when facing the Japanese team'... Listen, listen to the questions they ask... isn’t this nonsense?”

Dillon spread his hands and said in an exaggerated tone.

"The reason why I don't recruit Hu Lai is that I hope that the team will encounter difficulties in the game, and then take a closer look at how they deal with the difficulties... How rare is it that we can meet someone who is trying their best in the game? The Japanese team, this is the best warm-up opponent that you may not be able to find if you specifically look for it."

Dillon was obviously angry at the press conference and wanted to vent his emotions.

"Why do I say your media is so unprofessional? Because they still see the Chinese team from an 'Asian' perspective. It seems that it is important to play against the Japanese team in the top 12. But they completely forgot We have already won the right to qualify for the World Cup two rounds in advance. The remaining two top-12 games with Japan and Iran are meaningless if they are not used for training. They have not yet realized that the Chinese team is preparing for the World Cup finals. It’s already started!”

"They may think that if they want to train their troops, it won't delay you to call Hu Lai back...at worst, they won't let him play..." Yu Jintao said.

"That's different, completely different." Dillon shook his head. "With Hu Lai and without Hu Lai, the psychological implications for the players are completely different. I just want Hu Lai to stay in Madrid, Spain, and I want to keep Hu Lai in Madrid." All the players of the Chinese team know that there is no 'safety catch' this time. Only in this way can they be forced to show their true appearance to the greatest extent. Since it is training, of course, the most extreme situation must be set up. But they can't even do this Can’t you figure it out?”

Yu Jintao smiled awkwardly: "The level of China's media is indeed not high..."

"Just like the issue they were arguing about some time ago related to Chinese football youth training, it seems ridiculous to me. At this time, they are still arguing over the concept of youth training... What's the point in this? What are you talking about? European football is the most advanced place in the world. Just look at how the youth training of European football is done, and then just follow it and learn from it, right?"

"Our national conditions are different..."

"No, Yu. These are all excuses. There is no difference in national conditions. When you haven't even learned to walk, you want to invent a better starting technique than the world 100-meter champion. That's nonsense. There is no such thing in Chinese football. Before you truly achieve success, you should learn the most advanced football concepts in the world. Even if you learn blindly, it is better than just thinking about it yourself."

At this point, Dillon sighed: "If you don't solve this problem, there will be more serious consequences waiting for you in the future. Now I just don't let Hu Lai come back to participate in a game, and your media and fans can't accept it. . Then what happens when players like Hu Lai retire? After they can no longer return to the court to play for your national team, where will you... Chinese football go? Can your media and fans still accept it? ?When the time comes, you have to accept it even if you can’t accept it!”