The Midfield Master

In a courtyard on the outskirts of Funchal in Madeira, Portugal, a group of children of different ages are playing football. Although the shoes on their feet are worn out, everyone has a happy smile on their faces .

A rather old pickup truck drove towards this courtyard from the road, and slowly stopped in front of the courtyard gate.

The children who were playing football had already noticed this car. As soon as the pickup truck stopped, they rushed out of the courtyard and surrounded it. They had been fighting for the football just now, but they were left in the corner desertedly. .

"Sister Monica..."

"Brother Xia Ze..."

...

The children surrounded the pickup truck with anticipation and excitement on their faces.

The ones who got out of the car were naturally Xia Ze and Monica whom they were calling for. At this moment, they were surrounded by children with smiles on their faces.

After Monica brought Xia Ze to this orphanage in early March, Xia Ze felt very comfortable getting along with these children, and the current situation of these children also reminded him of himself when he was a child. I often visit these children with Monica.

Every time they came to see these children, Xia Ze and his wife would bring some gifts to make them look forward to their arrival.

"Brother Xia Ze, what did you bring us this time?" A child said expectantly.

"Go and see for yourself. It's inside the carriage. Don't grab it. Everyone has a share."

"Wow!"

When the children heard this, there was an uproar, and then swarmed into the pickup truck, took several bags of things from it, and ran to the courtyard excitedly.

"Monica, Xia Ze, you don't need to bring something every time." The fat nanny Annie leaned against the door, watching the two of them and said with a smile.

"Annie, stop being coy like us Chinese." Xia Ze joked as he walked into the courtyard.

For more than a month, he had already gotten to know the people in this orphanage, and Anne was one of the initiators of the construction of this orphanage.

Now she is basically the only one who stays in the orphanage to take care of the children, but her personality is very similar to that of the Chinese. She is not as direct as a foreigner when facing some autonomy, and she always has to be polite.

"Wow! It's sneakers!"

"And the jersey!"

"awesome!"

"..."

After unpacking the bags, the children found the sneakers and jerseys inside. They were very excited and took them out to try them on.

Looking at their excitement, Xia Ze and Monica could not help but smile knowingly.

After these children passed on their new jerseys and shoes, they immediately dragged Xia Ze to play football in the courtyard, having a great time.

Monica and Annie looked at Xia Ze playing with the children like a big kid, and couldn't help smiling at each other.

"They like him very much. They didn't expect him to be so approachable." Annie looked at Xia Ze and said with a smile.

When there were games in Maritimo, she also watched Xia Ze's games with her children. In the games, Xia Ze seemed to be the commander on the field, rigorous, hardworking, and tenacious.

She originally thought that Xia Ze would be an unsmiling person in life, but she didn't expect that in this more than a month of contact, Xia Ze would easily get along with the children and become the head of the children.

"I didn't expect him to like children so much. At that time, they just wanted to meet Xia Ze, so I brought him here."

"It can be seen that he is a good man, you should cherish it." Annie said pointedly.

"Annie, didn't they tell you? He already has a girlfriend..." Monica Beanie teased her like this, and immediately defended herself.

"Monica, he is a girlfriend, but you should also think about yourself, where can you find such a good man?" Annie was still going on and on.

"Well... I won't tell you anymore." Monica couldn't say no to Annie, she turned her head, but glanced at Xia Ze in the field from the corner of her eye.

...

Before the start of the extremely tense Portuguese League Cup final that the media and all walks of life have played up,

As the core player of Maritimo's team in the final, Xia Ze was playing with a group of children in a courtyard outside Funchal, seemingly not paying attention to the final at all.

"Pedro, let them have a holiday at this time, don't you worry that it will affect the team's preparations?" Joao Tenonio walked side by side with the head coach of Maritimo on the streets of Funchal. Hanging out in the tourist attractions that people go to.

"Obviously, our nerves have been too tense these days. Although no one has said it, I already feel that the outside world and this final are putting a lot of pressure on them."

Martins said as he walked: "Give them a day off at this time, let them relax their tense nerves, and it will be more conducive to our preparations."

"How do you say that?" Tenonio was a little puzzled.

"This final, we have been preparing for this month. Now it is the last few days before the final, and we have done everything. The rest is to adjust the mentality of the players and let them play with the best The state to meet this decisive battle."

Martins pondered: "After the end of last week's league, our competition with Benfica for the third place in the league has made the players feel physically and mentally exhausted. I already feel that their nerves are too tight."

Having said that, Martins glanced at Tenonio, and then continued:

"The day off today is to let their nerves relax, and then in the remaining three days, slowly tighten the bowstring, store up all the strength, and release it all at once in the finals, so that they can play their full strength. Strength."

After listening to Tenonio, he suddenly realized. He finally understands why he has never been able to become a coach, because his control over things on the football field is much worse.

"It seems that I am really not suitable to be a coach, and it may be very difficult to be a scout." Tenonio laughed at himself.

"Joao, I know what you think, you brought us Xia Ze and Zhang Wei, which is already very remarkable." Martins seemed to see through Tenonio's mind.

Tenonio didn't speak, just walked with his head bowed.

...

"Annie, we're leaving." Monica and Xia Ze walked out of the courtyard after staying in the orphanage for a long time.

"Well, be careful when you go back to the city, and keep an eye on our core midfielder." Annie said with a wink.

Monica just blushed and smiled without answering, while Xia Ze simply didn't see it.

"Brother Xia Ze, let's work hard for the weekend game!"

"Brother Xia Ze, we will all support you!"

"..."

The children stood outside the courtyard, reluctantly seeing off Xia Ze and Monica.

The car was running on the road, setting off waves of dust. The songs of Shakira, the Latin queen, were playing in the carriage, full of enthusiasm.

It was Monica who was driving, and Xia Ze hadn't passed the license plate test yet, so every time he went out, Monica would be the one to pick him up.

"It looks like those kids are liking you more and more, even I don't care." Monica joked.

"Aren't you jealous?"

"It's no wonder you're jealous. I was terrified of being stalked by them before, but now I wish they could stalk you."

"..."

Ever since Wang Peijun lived in Portugal during the winter break and let Monica know about her relationship with Xia Ze, Monica has not kept seducing Xia Ze as before.

The relationship between the two is also developing in the direction of good friends, and their words are becoming more and more easy-going.

"By the way, why is there a holiday today? Aren't you going to prepare for the finals?" Xia Ze came to find out today, and when she said that she went to visit the children in the orphanage, she still felt very strange.

"Hanging your neck will take your breath away..." Xia Ze leaned on the passenger seat and blurted out.

"what?"

"Oh, this is a proverb in our country: You have to catch your breath even if you hang yourself. It means that even if you have important things to do, you must be ready." After Xia Ze finished speaking, he realized that he had spoken a sentence in Cantonese, and he could only explain it with difficulty. with.

"It seems that you still enjoy this day of vacation."

"That's right, it's a good day." Xia Ze gently rested his head on the back of the chair, closed his eyes, his body swayed with the speed of the car, Shakira's singing came to his ears, and he seemed very comfortable.

Amidst Shakira's singing, a mobile phone rang, Xia Ze still closed his eyes tightly, because it was not his mobile phone ringtone.

"Hey, brother, Xia Ze and I are back now, and we should be home in about 10 minutes. Please wait for the car." Monica answered the phone while driving.

It was obviously Monica's bearded brother on the other end of the phone.

There is usually not much traffic on this section of the road, so Monica was relieved to talk on the phone while driving.

When she was about to hang up the phone, a goat suddenly jumped out of the road. Monica was startled, and quickly swung the steering wheel, trying to get around the goat.

Xia Ze, who was still resting with his eyes closed, only felt the car body shaking. When he opened his eyes, he found that the car had lost control and rushed out of the road.

boom! The out-of-control car crashed into a tree.

Xia Ze felt a strong impact coming from the front, and when his eyes went dark, he lost consciousness.

...

In Funchal, inside the Maritimo training base, Martins, who had been walking with Tenonio before, has returned to his office and is watching the video of Benfica with the coach of the team, preparing for the final .

Although they gave the players a day off to relax their tense nerves, as coaches, they couldn't spare any time and were studying the tactical arrangement of this final every day.

Because this is the game that Maritimo has the best chance of winning the championship over the years, the whole club is looking forward to it.

"Dinglinglingling..."

The phone on his desk rang, and Martins frowned, telling assistant coach Carlos Jorge to answer it.

Jorge answered the phone, and after a while, his complexion changed drastically. Taking a breath, he turned his head and said to the other coaches, "Xia Ze had a car accident." Red Devils Manchester United rewards grains 188 Red Devils Manchester United rewards grains 388 Red Devils Manchester United rewards grains 88