Fox in the Penalty Area

Chapter 1717 The Golden Age of Chinese Football

Hulay opened the scoring for Madrid Pirates in the game and opened the door to the team's victory.

Not long after the second half started, Kamara cut in from the wing and shot into the far corner, and the football flew into the goal again.

In the end, with the goals scored by the two of them in the game, the Madrid Pirates defeated the Lyon Lions 2:0 away from home, making a good start for the new season of the Champions League.

The defending champion, who struggled slightly in the league, got off to a smooth start in the Champions League.

In another game that ended at the same time, Chen Xingyi's Athletic Amsterdam faced the weakest team in the group, Borg Borg, at home and easily won.

Although Chen Xingyi did not score in the game like Hu Lai, he contributed two assists and helped the team defeat Borg Athletic 3:1.

On this Champions League night, the two Chinese players who appeared in the Champions League performed well. This is really good news for Chinese fans.

With the World Cup next year, the performance of Chinese overseas players naturally affects the hearts of all Chinese fans.

Everyone hopes that these international players studying abroad in Europe can not only ensure their health and avoid injuries, but also maintain good condition.

In this way, next summer's World Cup in Spain and Portugal will be more worth looking forward to.

If we talk about the World Cup three years ago, the entire Chinese football team, from officials to coaches, players, fans, and media, were still confused.

So this time everyone already has some very clear expectations.

They are not satisfied with just participating in a World Cup.

They hope to be able to show all the results of the changes in Chinese football over the years in this World Cup.

At the same time, they also want to see where the current strength of Chinese football is in the world football world after these years of reforms and sending so many players abroad.

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On the first Champions League night, most of the teams that were supposed to win did so.

Except Stan Park Rangers.

In the first round of the group stage, this Premier League giant lost 1:2 away to the fourth team in the group, the Phantoms of Belgrade.

It can be regarded as an upset.

Although the outcome of a game cannot yet be concluded that Stan Park Rangers will not be able to qualify from the group stage, at least they have lost the lead in the battle with Blue and White Munich for first place in the group.

The next night the remaining four group matches of the Champions League also started in full swing.

This night also saw two Chinese players appear on the Champions League stage.

Luo Kai's Tramed played against FC Woschi, and he started.

This starting means that Luo Kai has established a firm foothold in Tramed.

This really makes Luo Kai's fans sigh.

It took him three and a half years from the time Tramed announced his introduction in 2022 to finally gaining a foothold now.

It can be said that he has the most tortuous path among all Chinese players studying abroad.

There was a time when some people doubted whether he could still persist in Tramed. It might be easier to find another way out and go to a non-rich club.

But Luo Kai gritted his teeth and persisted.

It finally paid off.

Through his outstanding performance last season, especially in the second half of the season, he successfully conquered head coach Kevin Locke and further enhanced his status in the head coach's heart.

The Premier League has started five rounds. In these five rounds of the Premier League, Luo Kai started four games. The only game he did not start was the round before the Champions League group stage. Luo Kai sat on the bench. , was not substituted until the last fourteen minutes.

Why is he suddenly a substitute?

Of course it’s because we have to prepare for this Champions League group stage!

This further proves Luo Kai's importance in Tramed today.

The left and right wings of him and Ricardo Barilla are gradually taking shape.

In the past five rounds of the Premier League, Luo Kai has scored one goal and provided one assist. This performance is much better than his performance at the same time last season.

This data proves that he has continued his form from last season and is worthy of the head coach's trust.

It's just that in this Champions League game, he neither scored nor assisted, and his statistics are not very impressive. It seems that Tramed won against FC Woschi and has little to do with him.

But experts and fans who know football can see that Luo Kai has been integrated into Tramed's system. Even if he does not score goals and assists, his contribution to the team is not small.

This is probably more important than him scoring goals in the game.

Because scoring a goal in the game may be due to luck in the game, no one can guarantee that if you score a goal in this game, you will score in the next game-except Hu Lai.

But if you can integrate into the team's system, then it doesn't matter if you don't score in one or two games, because the players are already an integral part of the team's tactical system. Such a position is obviously more stable than one obtained by scoring goals.

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Xia Xiaoyu's position in Alvara is more stable.

He is no longer just a member of Alvara's system.

He is also the core of Alvara's midfield.

After three seasons of experience in the Portuguese giants, Xia Xiaoyu came step by step from the reserve team, and every step he took was very practical.

Today he is already the core of Alvara and has also attracted the attention of many other European teams.

Originally, he had a chance to leave Alvara this summer. At least two Ligue 1, two Premier League and one La Liga teams were interested in him.

However, in order to better prepare for the World Cup, Xia Xiaoyu finally decided to stay in Alvara.

Although the level of the Portuguese Super League is not as good as the five major leagues, in Alvara, Xia Xiaoyu can be guaranteed to be the main core position. As long as he is not injured, he can get stable game opportunities.

Before the World Cup, what he needs most is a stable environment to play the game. Instead of moving to a higher league team for vanity and starting from scratch.

He is not afraid of challenges, he just feels that it is pointless and a waste of time to face such a challenge before the World Cup.

On the other hand, he helped the team reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League last season, and the club does not want to let go of Xia Xiaoyu easily - they do not want to keep Xia Xiaoyu forever, but plan to sell him at a high price. Since Xia Xiaoyu doesn't want to leave this summer, then they want it.

So in order to prevent Xia Xiaoyu from entering the last year of his contract next summer, Alvara Club also signed a new contract with Xia Xiaoyu this summer. The contract period is four years and his salary has been significantly increased.

However, the two parties have finalized the contract. After the World Cup next year, if any team is interested in Xia Xiaoyu, Alvara Club cannot stop him.

This is the clause specially left by Champion Legend Sports Agency for Xia Xiaoyu to leave Alvara in the future.

The reason why Alvara Club agreed to this clause is because they believe that with Xia Xiaoyu's talent and ability, his worth will definitely increase after a World Cup.

Only by selling Xia Xiaoyu after the World Cup can the benefits be maximized.

Of course, there are risks in doing this - if Xia Xiaoyu performs poorly in the World Cup and the popularity dies down, he may not even be able to sell this year's transfer fee.

It's just that Alvara believes that the probability of such a risk is relatively low.

This is because they have confidence in Xia Xiaoyu and also have confidence in Hu Lai.

I believe that the performance of the Chinese team with Hu Lai in this World Cup will not be too bad.

And this World Cup is held in the Iberian Peninsula where Spain and Portugal are located.

For both Hu Lai and Xia Xiaoyu, it can be regarded as half a home game.

The familiar environment, weather and climate are also more conducive for them to perform well.

In this way, the two parties reached an agreement, and Xia Xiaoyu received more salary and bonuses. At the same time, he also received the club's promise to let him go next year, and he could also have a stable playing environment before the World Cup.

Alvara Club continues to have the core of its team, and there is a high chance that it will sell this core at a high price next year.

Both parties get what they need and everyone is happy.

In this season's Champions League group stage, Alvara was also assigned to a "death group."

Opponents in the same group include Bundesliga giant Ruhr Rheinland, Serie A powerhouse Vesuvius, and Czech domestic giant Energia Prague.

Although Alvara is a seeded team, it is not easy to qualify from this group.

Their away game against Vesuvius in the first round of the group stage is crucial, because it is a direct competitor for qualifying from the group.

In the end, Alvara tied with Vesuvius 1:1 in the away game.

Although Xia Xiaoyu did not score a goal or assist in the game, he did a good job in sorting out the midfield.

It was precisely because of his outstanding performance in the midfield that he helped Alvara draw with Vesuvius in the away game.

This away draw made a good start for the team to break out of the group of death.

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At this point, all Chinese players participating in the Champions League have made their debut.

Although the team results are different, there are wins and draws.

But the performance of every Chinese player is still very good.

As the Japanese media said, although the number of Chinese overseas players is far less than that of Japanese football players, in terms of quality, they have surpassed Japanese players.

And the age groups of these high-quality players overlap so much that there is no doubt that this is the golden generation and golden era of Chinese football.

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PS, the community has finally been unblocked, and the days of wandering outside can end. Go home today, clean up, take some rest, and resume double updates the day after tomorrow!