The Midfield Master

On April 8, 2014, there were still 4 days before the final of the Portuguese League Cup. Benfica and Maritimo, who were fighting for a place in the Champions League, went hand in hand in the Portuguese Super League. Winning in the finals, I am nervously preparing for this final.

Porto City, in the office of the chairman of the Porto Club, Da Costa is leaning on a chair, closing his eyes and thinking.

Opposite him is a 40-year-old middle-aged man with short haircut who is sitting quietly on a chair, looking at Costa.

After a long time, the Portuguese old man with all white hair just opened his eyes. He looked at the middle-aged man in front of him and said slowly:

"Paul, in the final four days later, you can get in touch with those two kids and see what their wishes are."

Sitting opposite Costa is Porto's head coach, Paulo Fonseca.

The man who played for Maritimo when he was young frowned slightly: "Mr. Costa, we don't necessarily want these two Chinese players?"

There was some hesitation in his tone.

"Paul, you have watched the games of those two kids. You should know how great their potential is. If you can recruit them, it will be a huge asset to the club." Costa's wise eyes flashed a glimmer of light.

"But Mr. Costa, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham all seem to be interested in these two players. Roman Abramovich is planning to buy out Xia Ze's contract. I'm afraid we can't compete." Fonseca After hesitating for a moment, he finally revealed the embarrassment.

Da Costa's brightly shining eyes slowly dimmed, and he lowered his head and sighed softly.

Why doesn't he know that the two Chinese players, Xia Ze and Zhang Wei, are already the favorites in the eyes of many wealthy families? It's just that he doesn't want to give up such a potential player.

In London, England, two men in their 50s were sitting on a sofa, drinking red wine and talking. Although the atmosphere seemed relaxed, judging from the tone and content of their chat, there seemed to be some sparks.

"Boss, everything is fine with the team now. I don't need these two players." A handsome middle-aged man with graying hair said firmly.

"Jose, I understand what you mean, but these two players are of great help to us in developing the Chinese market."

Another, slightly younger, middle-aged man said,

Looking at his face, he is the owner of Chelsea: Abramovich. The one who talked with him was naturally the current Chelsea coach-Jose Mourinho.

"Boss, I only know that our team is now at the top of the Premier League, and we can win the championship by winning 3 more games. I don't need other factors to help the team increase its popularity." Mourinho shook his head and spoke extremely fast. Say.

"Ferguson did this before, that's why Manchester United has such a high reputation in Asia." Abu curled his lips helplessly.

"I'm Mourinho!"

"Okay, maybe I was wrong." Seeing that he couldn't convince Mourinho, Abramovich sat on the sofa dejectedly: "But I suggest you go and watch the games of those two boys, they are really good. "

"I'll take care of it."

Mourinho said a little coldly, then got up and left.

Abramovich looked at Mourinho's leaving figure and gave a wry smile helplessly. A madman deserves to be a madman, even treating his boss so disrespectfully.

After Mourinho left Abramovich's office, he made a phone call: "When is the next Maritimo game?"

"This Saturday, the Portuguese League Cup final, against Benfica, at the Porto Dragon Stadium." The phone answered very simply.

"Book me a ticket to Porto for Saturday."

"OK."

North London, inside Arsenal's training ground.

"Arcena, there will be a Portuguese League Cup final on Saturday, Xia Ze and Zhang Wei will be playing, you should go and have a look."

A middle-aged man with a bald head said to the old man in a trench coat next to him that he was Arsenal's assistant coach Steve Bould.

"Steve, it's hard to find time now that we're competing with Tottenham and Manchester United for the Champions League place."

The old man beside him frowned and said. It was Arsenal's head coach, Professor Arsene Wenger.

"But this game is a good opportunity to test the ability of the Xia Ze competition. Our game will be held on the weekend, so it won't have too much impact." Boulder advised.

"Uh... well, let's go and have a look." Wenger thought for a moment, but couldn't resist the temptation of the talented player, and agreed to Boulder's request.

Manchester, England, Carrington training base, Moyes is frowning, watching the team's training.

In the league two days ago, they were tied by Stoke City, and the league ranking dropped to fifth place. The Champions League seats were also at stake, which put him under great pressure.

"David, don't you want to watch this game? The final of the Portuguese League Cup." Toninho Cruz, who had been following Xia Ze's performance, came over again and asked.

"No, I don't have the time right now. Saturday's game is extremely critical for us. Since the kid said that the transfer will only be considered after the end of the season, let's talk about it after the end of the season." Moyes frowned. , without any thought of going to watch the game.

Seeing this, Toninho could only leave wisely.

North London, Tottenham's training base, Villas-Boas on the phone from the training ground:

"Is the ticket to Porto booked? I'm going to go there after the league ends on Saturday. There should be enough time. We're playing at noon."

...

While the coaches and scouts of the Premier League giants are paying attention to this Portuguese League Cup final, the Portuguese domestic media has already been arguing about this final.

Among the media, the lineups that support Maritimo and Benfica are basically the same. The TV stations are also building momentum for this game. Portugal's first championship this season will be decided in 4 days.

European betting companies have opened for this game one after another. Although the odds are all optimistic about one of the traditional top three, Benfica, which is stronger, but as the game approaches, the odds of Maritimo winning continue to decrease, faintly showing that wearing something.

The Portuguese League Cup is not considered the top cup in Portugal, but it has had a considerable impact in Europe. And China, which is thousands of miles away, has caused huge waves.

Xia Ze and Zhang Wei, two Chinese players, will have the opportunity to play as the main players in this final. This is an opportunity that all Chinese players who have studied abroad have never had before.

On the evening of April 8, Beijing time, Guangzhou.

"Welcome everyone to watch the World of Sports on April 8th. I am Jiahua. Before the start of the game show, I would like to announce a piece of good news for the audience in front of the TV:

"Our sports channel has signed a broadcast agreement with Portugal for the final of the Portuguese League Cup, and will broadcast the final of the Portuguese League Cup at 3:45 a.m. Beijing time this Saturday night.

"At that time, the two young players Xia Ze and Zhang Wei who have gone out of our Guangzhou R\u0026F Youth Team will represent Maritimo and face the final opponent Benfica. Please lock in Guangdong Sports Channel at that time, and we will send you Live broadcast in Cantonese."

Wu Jiahua, host of Guangdong Sports Channel, appeared in front of the TV cameras with a smile and conveyed the shocking news to the audience.

Broadcast the Portuguese League Cup final! This cup, which is inconspicuous among many European football competitions, appeared in front of TVs in mainland China for the first time because of the appearance of two Chinese players. This is undoubtedly a breakthrough step.

And shortly after Guangdong Sports Channel announced the broadcast of the Portuguese League Cup final, Sina Sports also released the news of the live video of the game through its official Weibo, which left fans all over the country dumbfounded and cheered.

Which Chinese fan would not be excited to have the opportunity to see Xia Ze and Zhang Wei, two Chinese players, start in the cup matches of the top European leagues and work hard for the team to win the championship?

Xia Ze and Zhang Wei, who are far away in Portugal, did not expect that their playing experience in the Portuguese Super League would have such a big impact in China.

Although the coaches of the major clubs in England are ready to go to Porto to watch the final; the media fans and gaming companies are also fighting for this game, and they are very busy.

Even China, which is thousands of miles away, caused a sensation a few days before the start of the game.

However, the teams and even the coaches of the two sides of the match are extremely low-key. In the post-match interviews of the last round of the league, they hardly talked about any content about this game. Even if the reporter asked questions, they avoided answering them.

The more low-key and cautious the coaches of both sides are, the more you can see the weight of this game in the hearts of the two clubs.

In Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, at Benfica's training base, coach Jesús frowned as he watched the team's game.

"Minael, who do you think should be used to mark Xia Ze of Maritimo? Louison? Rubin? Or Felipe?" Jesús frowned and asked a little old man with all white hair beside him.

"Xia Ze is indeed the opponent's core player, but if our team spends all its energy on marking him, it may be a bit wasted." The little old man named Miner said.

"No, look at the kid's previous record. In the first game he helped Maritimo draw against Sporting Lisbon and then he led the team to win against Porto at the Dragon Stadium. He is definitely not an ordinary player. We want To win this final, you have to take him seriously," Jesús said rigorously.

"Perhaps we should study his game video again, there should be a better way." Miner saw that the head coach was so cautious, and he didn't dare to take it lightly, so he put forward his own suggestion.

"Okay, let the other coaches get ready, let's hold a meeting later to see how to deal with this Chinese boy."

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