The Godfather of Football

"Don't worry, brother, I will continue to play football for our dreams. I will work hard to become the kind of player you and I should be. I will make you proud of me, just like I am proud of you!"

...

When many people grow up, they easily forget the promises they made when they were young or young. In many cases, they will look back with a self-deprecating look, and then make fun of their past ignorance and boredom to others, as if this can show their current maturity and wisdom.

Sandro never does such a thing, because his past is like an indelible scar for him, not only engraved in his heart, but also engraved in his soul. He will never forget the promise he once made, which is a promise he made to his brother Simon.

Twenty-two-year-old Sandro is from Brazil. He was born in a small village called Richino, more than 300 kilometers away from the capital Brasilia. It is a very poor rural village with old brick houses everywhere. There is only a narrow cement road to connect with the outside world. It looks a bit like an isolated place.

Sandro's father, Vasily, is a bricklayer in Richino, who makes a living by helping people in this village build brick walls.

Like all small towns in Brazil, Richino is poor and backward, but football is very popular here. It is probably related to the fact that Richino has a lot of grass, but it is not artificially planted grass like in Europe. It is a kind of grass that grows naturally from the soil. It is a bit hard, but it is indeed a good place to play football.

Sandro's football talent is not very good, but his brother Simon is very good. Many people in the town say that Simon will definitely be able to join the national team when he grows up, go to Europe to play football, make a lot of money, and let his family live a happy life. Simon has always been working hard for this goal.

Simon's talent even made many professional teams from Brasilia, even the top teams, send people to investigate him, but just when everyone thought that he was about to enter the top club, the doctor detected that there was a problem with his heart and he had to stop playing football, otherwise his life would be in danger.

This was a shocking piece of bad news for the family that had just seen hope. Simon was hit hard.

It was in this situation that Sandro, a younger brother who was not very talented and had never been optimistic about, walked up to his brother and told him very sincerely and firmly, "I will work hard to play football for our dreams!"

How can a person with low talent come out in Brazil, where geniuses are everywhere? This may be something that no one dares to imagine, but whether it is Simon or Sandro, they all believe that no one is born a genius. No matter how good the skills or how outstanding the talents are, they are all obtained through hard training.

So Sandro worked hard to train, and in order to better treat Simon's illness, his family moved to Planaltina in the east of the capital Brasilia. Simon also began to receive treatment and found a job. The family worked hard to make a living, hoping that Sandro could become a professional player.

But many times, things often go against one's wishes. Sandro went from the team in Brasilia to Rio de Janeiro, and then to Curitiba. He went south alone to play football in a football academy, because there were often some professional teams coming to the academy to select talents.

But no one expected that the professional team did come, but all the people in the same batch as Sandro were selected, except for him. That period was almost a period of despair for him. The only thing that could support him to continue waiting was the phone calls with his family every day, because the phone bills were paid by the academy.

Finally, he joined a small team in Astar, where he played football. Then, when he played in the Sao Paulo Cup with Gremio, he was discovered by scouts from Internacional and they invited him to a trial.

But for Sandro, entering a Brazilian professional team was not smooth sailing. When he first arrived at Internacional, he was injured in a training session and recovered for six weeks. During this period, he was almost looked down upon, because every day there were many players of his age from all over Brazil who fought hard for a chance to enter Internacional's youth training camp.

He believed that if he had not been injured and Internacional could not ignore him according to the rules, he might not have been able to stay in Internacional. But six weeks later, he finally recovered from the ridicule with the support and encouragement of his family, and conquered everyone with his almost crazy training and rapid progress.

He was physically strong and had outstanding footwork, which was Internacional's judgment of him. He was also the captain of the Brazilian U20 national team, which attracted the attention of Tottenham Hotspur. The North London team brought him from Brazil to Europe and arranged for him to enter Ajax for cultivation.

Three years passed in a blink of an eye. He was familiar with Dutch football, Europe, Amsterdam, and Ajax. He became a Brazilian international and the main midfielder of Ajax. He was regarded by many as the successor of Gilberto Silva, but more people believed that his offensive ability was stronger than Gilberto Silva.

He looked like a midfield version of Lucio!

In the past three years, he has been like a sponge, absorbing everything from his coach, teammates and the field. He has worked hard to improve his strength and skills. He will never be satisfied with what he has now, even if he has enough ability to bring his parents and brother to Europe to live a comfortable life.

He thanks Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax!

I still remember that when he just came to Europe and met Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ye Qiu in Amsterdam, Ye Qiu, who knew his past, said something to him and told him a truth. On the football field, talent cannot determine everything. Hard training and hard study are the most valuable qualities of a top player.

So, since then, he has worked harder and more diligently in training. He desperately learns from other teammates, such as Edgar Davis. Sandro has learned a lot from Davis.

The Eredivisie ended, but Sandro did not take a rest or a vacation like others. He continued to come to De Tokmost every day and insisted on training because he was selected for the Brazilian national team list for the Copa America in July this year. He needed to adjust his condition and then take a vacation so that he could perform well during the national team training.

It would be best if head coach Menezes could give him a starting position, and he also dreamed of participating in the Brazil World Cup.

That was undoubtedly the dream shared by him and his brother Simon!

…………

…………

Bobby Hams stopped outside the training ground.

Although the weather had turned hot, he was still wearing a long-sleeved shirt. He was old and could not afford to be careless.

Sandro was training on the training ground. He was a rookie who was highly regarded by almost all Ajax coaches. He was only 22 years old, but he performed very well in Ajax. He had been a starting player for three seasons and was becoming more and more stable. More importantly, he was comprehensive. He was not just a defender.

Of course, the Brazilian has almost perfect physical fitness, speed, strength, flexibility, coordination, jumping... He has almost the perfect physical fitness of a professional player that is surprising, and in the past three years, he is no longer just a defender, he has made himself more comprehensive.

Ajax's coaching staff has contributed to all this, but the players are the real decisive factor.

I still remember that Ye Qiu once used a very vivid and appropriate sentence to describe the growth and progress trajectory of the players. He compared it to playing mahjong. Players with good talents are equivalent to getting a good hand of cards, while players with poor talents are equivalent to getting a bad hand of cards.

But everyone who has played mahjong knows that good and bad cards are not important at all. The most important thing is whether you can get cards in the process of playing mahjong. If you can get cards, even if you have a bad hand of cards, you can still win. If you can't get cards, even if you get a good hand of cards, I'm afraid you can only lose.

In other words, good and bad cards cannot be the standard for whether you can win the game. It can only be said that if you get good cards, the probability will be relatively higher, but that's all.

If we put the card on the football field, it is equivalent to a player's learning and absorption ability.

Learn from teammates and even opponents, absorb the knowledge of the coaching staff and all aspects, and then use it for yourself to improve your strength.

Looking at all the top players, almost all of them came out this way, no matter how poor their talents are!

There is no doubt that Sandro can get to where he is today, relying on his learning and absorption ability, as well as his hard work on the training ground, so in the past few seasons, he has become the best midfielder in the Eredivisie, and he is also very comprehensive, because the Netherlands has always been rich in all-around midfielders.

From the distant Cocu to the later Van Bommel, and then to Sneijder, the Netherlands has always had its own uniqueness in cultivating all-around midfielders, and Sandro is another all-around midfielder launched by Ajax, thanks to his origin from Brazil.

It is hard to imagine that a Brazilian player would have no skills and no offensive desire, this is impossible.

"Sandro!" Bobby Hams called him when he saw Sandro on the training ground finish his long pass training and stopped training breathlessly.

Seeing that it was Bobby Hames, Sandro immediately laughed, ran quickly to the sidelines, opened his arms and was about to hug.

"Don't mess around, you're sweating all over, don't dirty my shirt, kid!" Bobby Hames quickly reached out to block.

"Bobby, I haven't seen you for a long time!" Sandro respected him from the bottom of his heart.

I still remember when he just came to the Eredivisie, whether it was Ajax or the agent, they told Sandro that if he wanted to gain a foothold in the European professional league, it would be best to be a defensive player who abides by the law. So Sandro's most eye-catching thing at that time was defense. He was called a beast waist. Many people thought he looked like Gilberto Silva and Vieira. That was the impression at that time. Until later, Bobby Hames told him that if he wanted to succeed, he had to go further.

"Do you know why professional football is so fast now?"

"Because the transition between offense and defense is constantly compressed, or even simply melted into one!"

"In other words, in modern football tactics, when a player, especially a midfielder, plays an important role in defense, he is also controlling the team's offense to the maximum extent. Likewise, The truth is, when a player plays an important role in the offense, he also affects the team's defense to the greatest extent!"

"Many people say that Gilberto Silva is not very involved in the offense, but they have never considered that when Gilberto Silva intercepts the ball, he hands it to the left, to the right, and then to the right. Passing to the front or back, these all determine the direction of the attack and whether a team's next attack after stealing the ball can be effective. "

"The players in front are actually just executing the route laid out for them by Gilberto Silva!"

"In the same way, when Messi loses the ball in the frontcourt, does he make the first counterattack? Does he choose to grab it from the left side of the ball holder, or from the right side of the holder, or just Blocking his forward ball route affects the passing direction of the ball holder, which in turn determines the team's defensive focus, because the defense must change with the opponent's offense! "

"Perhaps it should be said that the players of any team have two parts of ability. One part of the ability determines the lower limit of the player and the team. That is to say, no matter how bad they are, they will never fall below the lower limit. The other part is also the lowest limit. An important part, he determines the upper limit of players and teams, that is, what heights and achievements they can achieve!”

"In modern football tactics, for offensive players, offensive ability is only their lower limit, and defensive awareness is their upper limit; while for defensive players, defensive ability is only their lower limit, but offensive awareness is their upper limit. upper limit.”

"For you, your lower limit is already very clear. Next, you should work hard to increase your upper limit. It will determine whether you play in the Eredivisie or the four major leagues, and whether you only play in the Eredivisie. Can he be a defensive role player or a midfielder with the ability to take charge of his own duties!”

It was these words of Bobby Hames that made Sandro determined to improve his offensive ability while maintaining his defensive ability. In the past two or three years, he has improved his ability. Huge improvement.

However, in today's Eredivisie, Ajax is no longer as brave as it used to be. Coupled with the awkward position of the midfielder, everyone talks about Ajax, and Suarez, Hulk and Lucas Moura and other offensive players, but few people pay attention to Sandro.

But Tottenham Hotspur and Bobby Haarms have been paying attention to the Brazilian midfielder.

"There is good news and there is bad news. Which one are you going to listen to?" Bobby Harms, accompanied by Sandro, walked slowly on the path of Detok Most.

"Good news!" Sandro said with a smile. His face is a bit fierce and his smile is a bit scary, but at his core he is a very enthusiastic and cheerful young man. I heard that his favorite thing is singing.

"The good news is that you are going to report to Tottenham Hotspur soon and they have decided to call you back!"

Sandro was stunned, he couldn't believe it, "Really?" He smiled happily.

"Really!" Bobby Harms nodded, "The club will probably notify your agent soon."

"Great!" Sandro said happily. It's not that he has no feelings for Ajax, but because he has always belonged to Tottenham Hotspur, and everyone in Tottenham Hotspur Members of the coaching staff will be arranged to come to Amsterdam every month to inspect and coach several players on loan. He is also the focus of Tottenham Hotspur.

"But there's bad news!" Bobby Harms said with a smile.

"What bad news?"

The old Dutch man stopped, "Tottenham Hotspur is a big team, a wealthy team, but their performance in the second half of this season was not ideal. Yaya Toure's departure caused problems in the team's midfield. , coupled with the coaching staff’s decision to make major adjustments and reforms to the midfield, so joining Tottenham Hotspur under this situation will be very stressful, and you will also be challenged by outside fans and the media. You have to be the best. Be mentally prepared!”

Sandro has also heard about this. In fact, when he hoped to go to North London, he was already mentally prepared for this. He was not afraid at all because he believed that he could go to North London. Tottenham Hotspur has a place. Even if he is a substitute at the beginning, he will slowly regain his main position.

"The competition in Tottenham Hotspur's midfield will be very fierce, even fierce, because they are also exploring a new set of tactical ideas and will introduce several players, even some big-name stars, plus several players in the original team. As a youth training player, for you, you may not be able to occupy the main position all of a sudden.”

"Yes!" Sandro nodded solemnly, "I understand, thank you, Bobby!"

In the past few years, Bobby Harms has always taken good care of him.

Of course, this Dutch old man takes good care of everyone on the team, is kind to everyone, and is a very popular person in the team, so Sandro, like everyone, is very grateful to him.

"Remember one thing, at any time and under any circumstances, keep patience and keep a learning heart. I believe you can play at your level in Tottenham and win a place!"

Even if Bobby Hams is very optimistic about Sandro now, Tottenham is not Ajax. The North London team is a giant with fierce competition. It gathers the best players in the world. This makes it difficult for anyone who enters Tottenham to say what the future will be like.

But for Sandro, the Premier League is a challenge he has longed for. He hopes that he can create his own name in the Premier League like his predecessor Gilberto Silva.

No, he hopes to do better and better than Gilberto Silva!