Golden Greenery

? Brother Zha, are you still used to coming to China? "Zhuoyang hugged assistant coach Siriaco Sforza again.

Although they haven't seen each other for more than three years, Zhuoyang and 38-year-old Sforza are indeed old acquaintances. When he was still playing in the third division Madiburg, the first world-class star Zhuo Yang encountered in professional football was Sforza, the captain of Kaiserslautern. That was in the German Football Association Cup quarter-finals, and it was also the first strong enemy the Six Musketeers encountered. Later, after Zhuo Yang led Madiburg to the Bundesliga, he had dealings with Sforza and Kaiserslautern.

Sforza is a magical person. Not only has he played for Kaizer for ten years and experienced and participated in the "Red Devils Myth", but he has also traveled to first-tier wealthy teams such as Bayern and Inter Milan in his career, and has achieved good results in all of them.

What is even more legendary is that in the three seasons from 2002 to 05, Sforza was appointed at critical moments in the league. As a player and interim head coach, he led the aging and dilapidated Kaiserslautern to safety.

After the end of the 2004-05 season, interim coach Sforza, who once again led Kaiserslautern to avoid relegation in a crisis, bid farewell to his playing career at the age of 35 and chose to retire and become a full-time head coach. Three years of experience as a firefighting coach made him feel good about himself, and the injuries and illnesses accumulated from long years of fighting also forced him to make such a decision.

But at that time, Kaiserslautern Club, which was in chaos, did not give much recognition to Sforza, who had been the savior three times, and did not value his coaching ability. The top management was only willing to give him a job as a youth team assistant coach or echelon coach. The head coach’s employment contract. Sforza, angry at being neglected, turned around and left Keizer, returned to his hometown of Switzerland, and became the head coach of Swiss Liga FC Lucerne.

One season later, Sforza led FC Lucerne to successfully return to the Swiss Super League. And this year, Kaiserslautern finally failed to escape the bad luck of "not doing enough". In 2005, they finished third from the bottom and were demoted to the Bundesliga 2. Moreover, in that season, Kaiserslautern's two coaches, Genk and Wolfgang, were dismissed midway due to the 'Curse of Zhuoyang'. Without Sforza's magical redemption, Kaiserslautern is still wasting time in the Bundesliga this year.

Sforza's excellent coaching performance was also chosen by the Swiss giant Grasshopper Zurich. He was the new coach in Zurich and led this famous team to win the Swiss Super League championship that season.

However, due to unsatisfactory results in the league and Champions League in the coming year, and most importantly due to serious differences in coaching and management ideas with the Zurich senior management, Sforza resigned as the head coach of Grasshopper Zurich at the beginning of this year and took over as the head coach of the Swiss U21 national team. However, because he failed to turn the tide in the European Youth Championship, Sforza failed to let the Swiss U21 enter the Beijing Olympic football competition. This summer, he resigned again and left.

In fact, after receiving the news about the Chinese national team's coaching selection, Sforza had some ideas, and like Rijkaard, he was keenly aware of the key role Zhuo Yang would play in it. But just when he was about to leave for Milan to talk to Zhuoyang in detail, Sforza hesitated.

Although I had a little friendship with Zhuo Yang back then,

But after all, there has been no contact for more than three years. Zhuo Yang is no longer what he used to be. Does he still remember that bit of the past? Moreover, although Sforza is very confident in his coaching ability, his resume is a bit thin and he is a little unable to show off. Can Zhuoyang take a liking to him?

Hesitating again and again, when Sforza came to Milan amid hesitation, he saw Zhuo Yang's exclusive interview in the newspaper stating his support for Rijkaard. With a long sigh, Sforza stayed in Milan. After two days of thinking alone, he still went to visit Zhuo Yang.

Zhuoyang was very happy to see Sforza. He was very impressed by this magical brother, not only because Sforza was the first world-class star he met in his career, but he also recognized his coaching ability. If Sforza can arrive before Rijkaard, Zhuo Yang will definitely be willing to support him to become the national team coach.

When Sforza politely asked Zhuo Yang to introduce him to Rijkaard's coaching staff, Zhuo Yang was even more helpful. No matter how much I admire Rijkaard, it is still unknown whether he can fit in with the national team. Zhuo Yang needs to have a 'spare tire' in his hand. Moreover, it’s a bit unpleasant to say ‘mixed with sand’, but having someone on the coaching staff who I introduced can be considered a precautionary measure.

Rijkaard was indeed very smart, and he readily agreed to join Sforza. After a detailed discussion between the two, Sforza officially became a member of the coaching staff. He will be responsible for collecting and analyzing information and assisting Jieshuai in tactical planning. He will also be responsible for physical reserves.

"I like my new job very much and I also like China." Sforza said to Zhuo Yang.

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"Brother Kidnapper, you are in good spirits." Zhuo Yang and Attilio Lombardo greeted each other again.

Rijkaard is indeed very smart. After accepting Sforza, he took the initiative to ask Zhuoyang to help him find an assistant coach who can train the defense. Rijkaard has been coaching for many years, so how can he not have a few defensive coaching candidates on hand? This is clearly a move to get closer to Zhuoyang, and it also shows Zhuoyang that he will not build a small circle of private kingdoms among the coaching staff.

It is better to obey orders than to be respectful! Zhuoyang agreed, but he had no connections in this area, so he asked Roberto Baggio, an official in the Coaching Affairs Department of the Italian Football Association, for advice. So Brother Baggio recommended Lombardo to him.

When it comes to the popularity of the entire coaching staff in China, apart from head coach Frank Rijkaard, Lombardo is also the main one, because he was Sampdoria's main right midfielder at the peak of the 'Little World Cup', and his iconic With his bald head and unique running posture, Lombardo has won many fans among the older generation of Chinese fans.

The 43-year-old Lombardo used to be known as "Kaizi Meteor" in football, or "Kaizi" for short. During his career, he played for Sampdoria, Juventus, Lazio and other Serie A giants. He also spent two years in the Premier League with Crystal Palace, one of which went to League One with Crystal Palace, where he became teammates with General Fan Zhiyi and Sun Jihai.

Brother Kidnapper had coaching experience when he was playing for Crystal Palace. There was "civil strife" in the Crystal Palace club management. When the team was in trouble internally and externally, Lombardo, who was still a player, stepped in and reluctantly agreed to serve as the team's player-coach. However, the team's results did not improve. At the end of the season, Crystal Palace was relegated and Lombardo also stepped down from his position as part-time coach.

In 2002, after 3 games, he immediately became Sampdoria U1 and was fired due to poor results. In the following years, Lombardo coached many low-level teams, ranging from a year to a few months, with no encouraging results. He also understood that he was not a head coach. So Brother Kidnapper became an assistant coach with peace of mind.

Before being recommended by Baggio, Lombardo had just left the Serie B Legnano coaching staff and was preparing to accept the invitation of his old friend and teammate Fausto Salsano to join Italy U1. Going to China would be a more interesting experience. , Rijkaard is also more attractive than Salsano, and Baggio has more face.

In the same Italian football world, Lombardo had dealt with Zhuo Yang several times before. He had a good personal relationship with Maldini and the others. He had chatted with Zhuo Yang at several gatherings, and Zhuo Yang had long called him Brother Kidnapper.

Attilio Lombardo will be responsible for the defensive training of the midfield and backcourt as well as the development of defensive awareness of the back line in the coaching staff.

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