Fox in the Penalty Area

Chapter 1747 Facts

"...The Japanese team eliminated Australia 3:2 in the Asian play-offs of the World Cup qualifiers and qualified for the final play-offs with Canada. Sugiyama Tatsuya, who scored one goal and assisted one goal in the game, was elected Best of the match.

"Tatsuya Sugiyama, who plays for Vesseldorf, is not only the core of the team in the club, but also indispensable in the Japanese national team. In this play-off match against Australia, he fully played his role as the mainstay. We It is no exaggeration to say that Japanese football has officially entered the era of Tatsuya Sugiyama...

"...Tatsuya Sugiyama, who returns to the club, will also face the test of the Champions League. If Vesseldorf wants to qualify from the group, Tatsuya Sugiyama's performance is crucial. At the same time, this is also his first time with Hu Lai in the club. Confrontation..."

When Zhou Zijing passed by Morikawa Junpei, he caught a glimpse of his mobile phone screen. Seeing the picture of Tatsuya Sugiyama on it, he couldn't help but joked: "Hey, what a man of the hour."

Zhou Zijing naturally knew that Sugiyama Tatsuya defeated Australia and helped the Japanese team reach the final round of the World Cup play-offs.

However, the Chinese team directly qualified for the World Cup finals, so Zhou Zijing had a sense of superiority when he said this, with a sarcastic tone - he did not have a good impression of the Japanese.

Morikawa Junpei is an exception, mainly because Zhou Zijing basically treats Morikawa Junpei, who speaks fluent Chinese, as a Chinese.

Junpei Morikawa explained: "It is the media's report on Sugiyama-kun."

When Zhou Zijing heard this, he joked again: "Report on the hero? Then we should report on you too, you are also a great hero on the Japanese team!"

"No need, I don't need..." Morikawa Junpei shook his head.

Zhou Zijing laughed loudly - of course he knew that Morikawa Junpei didn't care about media reports, and the media rarely interviewed him because there was nothing worth digging about about him.

Whether in club or national team, he rarely attends pre- and post-match press conferences.

Hu Lai also has a love story with Li Qingqing, and in Morikawa Junpei, you can't find anything that has nothing to do with football.

He is a true pure football player.

Not "football star", but "football player".

"What are you talking about? About the world preliminaries?" Zhou Zijing asked after laughing.

"Not all, there are also Champions League ones."

"Champions League?" Zhou Zijing was stunned for a moment, then thought about it, "Oh, Vesseldorf will play the Pirates in the middle of next week..."

"Exactly."

"Let me think about it... It seems that Vesseldorf hasn't won yet? Isn't that one foot on the edge of the cliff?" Zhou Zijing looked at Morikawa Junpei to confirm.

Morikawa Junpei nodded:

"If we continue to lose, it will be really difficult to qualify from the group."

"Does Morikawa-san think Vesseldorf can win?"

Morikawa Junpei shook his head: "I don't know."

Zhou Zijing was a little surprised: "What else don't you know about this? Isn't this a score question? Can Vesseldorf really win? That is the home field of the Pirates..."

"Sugiyama-kun will definitely try his best in this game."

"That won't change anything..." Zhou Zijing shrugged and curled his lips. "The two of them are not on the same level at all."

Morikawa Junpei was silent because he knew Zhou Zijing was right.

No matter how much Tatsuya Sugiyama attaches great importance to and looks forward to this game, it cannot change the fact.

When he silently agreed with Zhou Zijing, he saw the latter pointing his thumb at him and saying: "The only one who can defeat Hu Lai is me, Zhou Zijing!"

Morikawa Junpei opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Zhou Zijing:

"Morikawa, have you forgotten our common goal!"

Morikawa Junpei's mouth that he just opened closed again.

※※※

Sugiyama Tatsuya was having breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and his teammates around him were chatting while eating.

Today’s topic is last night’s La Liga match.

In the eighth round of La Liga that ended last night, Madrid Pirates defeated Sebastian 2-0 away from home.

Hu Lai, who had just finished playing for the national team and returned to the club, started in this game, played for 70 minutes and scored twice.

No fatigue at all.

This is not good news for Vesseldorf.

"Hu is in really good shape... He has scored seventy-six goals. If I remember correctly, he only scored seventy-six goals last year, right?"

"Yeah, he should definitely be able to break Montiel's record this year..."

"During the national team competition, Hu actually didn't play much, so it's normal to have such a performance... Did you know? In order to let Hu rest, the Chinese team came to Europe to play warm-up matches..."

"Since it is for Hu to rest, why not just not recruit him into the national team?"

"Ha, don't you know how popular Hu is in China? If Dillon dares not to recruit Hu, he will definitely be torn to pieces by Chinese fans..."

"Come on, it's not like he has never done this before... I remember that on the national team match day in September, Hu didn't seem to return to China..."

Everyone was having a lively discussion, but Sugiyama Tatsuya had no intention of participating in it, even though his German proficiency ensured that he could express his opinions fluently.

He just listened quietly.

Until someone sat on the dining chair opposite him with coffee.

"If there is anyone on our team who is most qualified to express an opinion related to Hu, then I think there is no one except you. Why are you so silent, Sugiyama?"

The visitor said to Sugiyama Tatsuya.

"You are also qualified to express your opinion, Nico." Sugiyama Tatsuya said, "You played against him in the Olympics."

"I've only played against him once, and it was just a tasteless group match at the Olympics. I can feel that he has some reservations..." Nico Straui shrugged, and then laughed, "I hope He also held back in this game, ha!”

Sugiyama Tatsuya didn't laugh because he was very conflicted inside.

Like Nico Strauy, he hopes from the team's perspective that Hulay will not take this game too seriously.

This will greatly increase the team's chances of winning.

But deep down in his heart, he felt that if Hu Lai really had reservations, it meant that in the eyes of the other party, he was not an opponent who could interest him at all...

This made Tatsuya Sugiyama a little disappointed.

Is the contest that I have been looking forward to for so long going to end hastily?

Seeing him like this, Strauy asked: "What?"

Sugiyama Tatsuya shook his head: "I don't know, Nico. I don't know whether I should hope that he will reserve or go all out. In the former, we may win, but it means that he looks down on us, and in the latter, at least he thinks that we It’s an opponent worth fighting.”

"Well..." Strauy also took this issue seriously.

He frowned and thought for a while before giving his choice:

"Then don't look down on us. I don't want him to have another 'turn of the century' on us... Ha!"

Hearing Strauyi's teasing, Sugiyama Tatsuya smiled politely.

It was really a polite smile, but in fact he couldn't smile at all.

If he were an ordinary player, he wouldn't mind joking around with Strauy right now.

But he is not.

He should have become the representative figure of Asian football after Park Soon-tae...

Think about it, when I was sixteen years old, I had already attracted the attention of all Asia. Where was Hu Lai at that time?

He has never heard of this name...

Later, after meeting for the first time in the East Asian Cup, Hu Lai quickly became Sugiyama Tatsuya's strong rival at a rocket-like speed. Thinking about it, Sugiyama Tatsuya considered Hu Lai, a fledgling boy, as his strong rival. Pay attention to him.

I didn't look down on this opponent, I wasn't proud and underestimated the enemy, and I didn't relax my demands on myself, but why... was I still left behind by him little by little?

The media and fans are all talking about who is stronger between Hulay, Meli and Kabangka.

It seems that I am no longer qualified to be his opponent.

This seems to be the case, and we even have to "pray" Hu Lai to show his kindness...

He and I are indeed no longer on the same level.

He can score ninety-five goals in a season, he can score 23 goals in a single season in the Champions League, and he helped the Pirates win the first "Triple Crown" in the history of Spanish football...

No matter which one of these achievements they are, they cannot be achieved by themselves.

Can……

Sugiyama Tatsuya just felt that there was an idea in his heart that he couldn't let go of, and he couldn't understand it.

It seemed as if there was always a voice saying to him in his ear:

Give up, admit defeat, you are indeed not as good as him...

Sugiyama Tatsuya admitted that the voice was right, but he just felt uncomfortable.

Especially in the World Cup qualifiers, when the two sides met for the first time, they lost to him at their home court. The second time they met, Hu Lai was not recalled to the national team at all.

What he faced was a Chinese team without Hu Lai.

Even so, he still didn’t win!

It seems to prove the fact that he is indeed not worthy of being Hu Lai's opponent...

Sugiyama Tatsuya realized that the reason why he was so uncomfortable was not because he was inferior to Hu Lai.

But because it's true.

It is a fact that he is not as good as Hu Lai.

Irrefutable facts, facts recognized by everyone.

This fact was like a sharp knife that stabbed into his heart and turned again.