The domestic sports media was also collectively high. The headlines were more exaggerated than the previous one. They were full of praise for Xia Ruofei. Xia Ruofei had become the savior of Huaxia's football overnight.
There were also media clips of Xia Ruofei's every touch in the game, especially the three wonderful goals. They did not miss a single slow motion replay from every angle.
The highlights were also very popular on the Internet. Many fans watched it over and over again, feeling that they could not get enough of it.
Huaxia's football was weak, so the Huaxia fans' expectations for good players were far higher than those in developed countries. Previously, Wu Lei, who played in La Liga, had been jokingly called "the hope of the village" by the fans. Now, Xia Ruofei had appeared out of nowhere, and his performance was even more eye-catching than Wu Lei's. How could the fans suppress their excitement?
There were even fans on the Internet who formed a group to leave messages on the official account of the Huaxia Football Association, asking to recruit Xia Ruofei to join the Huaxia national team to compete in the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup starting next year.
In fact, the Huaxia Football Association was also confused. For so many years, many of the Huaxia Football Association's actions had been criticized by people. For example, there were many accusations of layman leadership, bureaucracy, administrative interference, and so on. A large number of officials and referees who fell in the anti-corruption campaign in the football world had directly brought Huaxia's football into its darkest decade.
But this time, the Huaxia Football Association's reaction was actually quite fast.
It was just that they were completely unaware of the situation. Xia Ruofei was not a registered player of the Huaxia Football Association. He was directly registered in Spain. In addition, Xia Ruofei was not a football player at all. The Football Association did not even know how to contact Xia Ruofei.
In the end, they found out that Xia Ruofei was actually a popular figure on Huaxia's Internet. However, he had never had anything to do with football before. He even started a company, which could also be said to be an Internet celebrity company.
After consulting with the technical committee, the Huaxia Football Association really did have the idea of recruiting Xia Ruofei. However, Xia Ruofei had little to do with the professional football circle. Secondly, he did not have an agent or anything. In addition, the Asian qualifiers would not start until the second half of next year. Before that, the national football team did not have any major tournament tasks, so the timing was not particularly urgent.
Therefore, the Huaxia Football Association tried to fax an official letter to the Taoyuan Company, hoping to establish a working relationship with Xia Ruofei. This was also a relatively cautious approach. After all, Xia Ruofei had only played one game. Other than that, there were no other game videos for reference. It would be a little tricky to directly recruit him.
However, there was no response from the Taoyuan Company, and there was nothing the Chinese Football Association could do. In the face of the calls from netizens and fans, they could only resort to what they were best at — pretending not to see anything.
No matter how enthusiastic the netizens' comments were, the Huaxia Football Association did not have any response.
In fact, in addition to the Huaxia sports media, the Spanish media also did a lot of coverage on this originally ordinary La Liga game.
Because the game between RCD Espanyol and Valencia was the earliest game of the La Liga round, the games of Real Madrid, Barcelona, and other strong teams were held the next day, so everyone naturally focused on this exciting matchup.
A goal scoring battle, a weak team defeating a strong team, a super world-class shot, a genius coming out of the football desert … There were too many things to watch in this game.
The Sports Daily used the headline "Famous in a Game!" As the title to report the game on the front page. The report was accompanied by a large picture of Xia Ruofei's back after he made the wonderful half-turn volley in the air. The number 25 on his back was very clear, and other than his main body, the rest of the background was blurred, making his back look taller and more majestic.
In the report, the Sports Daily wrote, "We have seen too many famous players in the football world. We have seen too many geniuses, but I have to say that RCD Espanyol's number 25 must be the brightest star among all the geniuses. This player from Huaxia used only one game to conquer the fans. Each of his three goals is worthy of our careful appreciation. Each of his goals will still be talked about many years later. Each of his goals is enough to be recorded in the history of football!"
Marca also used almost an entire page on the front page to report on the game, or more accurately, on Xia Ruofei's amazing performance.
Marca also quoted an interview after the game.
RCD Espanyol's manager, Ruby, said that Xia Ruofei was the most talented player with the most accurate and stable footwork he had ever seen. His contribution to the team was unquestionable, and he would be an important member of the team.
As for the Huaxia player, Wu Lei, Ruby was not stingy with his praise. Ruby said that Wu Lei adapted to La Liga faster than he expected. Compared to the previous game, Wu Lei's performance in this game was more relaxed and more confident. This was what the whole team liked to see.
Whether it was the process or the result, it was clear that RCD Espanyol's manager, Ruby, was quite satisfied.
In contrast, Valencia's manager, Marcelino, was a little disappointed. The three points in his hands had turned into one point, and then they could not even maintain a draw. He had to accept the result of losing to the weak RCD Espanyol at home. Any manager would feel very disappointed.
However, Marcelino was still very gentlemanly. He was not stingy with his praise for the two Huaxia players on RCD Espanyol. "There is no doubt that the two opposing Huaxia players dominated the game today! Number 24 is very smart. His positioning in the front field caused a lot of trouble for us. Number 25 Xia's performance today was even more phenomenal. It can be said that he completely used his own individual ability to turn the tables for the team. If you want to ask me where we lost today, I will only say one thing: RCD Espanyol has Xia, and we don't! "
RCD Espanyol's players were also not stingy with their praise for Xia Ruofei. For example, Xia Ruofei's "fan," Mark Roca, said directly in an interview, "Mr. Xia is my idol! The effect of his arrival is immediate. He can improve RCD Espanyol's strength by a lot! "
RCD Espanyol's official center forward, Iglesias, captain Lopez, and the main center back, Naldo, all highly praised Xia Ruofei's performance in front of the reporters. In addition to the fact that Xia Ruofei was a shareholder of the club, it was more that he had completely conquered the hearts of the fans and his teammates with one game.
The players also expressed enough goodwill to Wu Lei, who was also from Huaxia. They all said that because of the language barrier, they did not communicate much with Wu Lei. However, they could feel that Wu Lei was a very good person. Everyone was also getting more and more in sync during training.
Mark Roca also revealed a small piece of information: When everyone saw a Chinese billboard or poster, Wu Lei would teach everyone the Chinese pronunciation on the advertisement. Now, many players on the team had learned a few simple Chinese words.
In short, the atmosphere in RCD Espanyol could be said to be harmonious.
Of course, there were also players who did not welcome Wu Lei's arrival. For example, the products of RCD Espanyol's youth training, Merendo and Puado.
Puado was substituted early on because of his poor performance. Wu Lei, who replaced him, gave a wonderful performance. He was already biased against the Huaxia players, so this made him even more unhappy.
Although Merendo did not say it, in fact, he also had some contempt for Wu Lei. Merendo was a little clingy on the ball on the field. Often, when the football was in his area, the pace of the game would slow down. He also rarely passed the ball to Wu Lei. But his performance in the last game was also very bad, especially after the second half. He was almost invisible.
The poor performance of the two players clearly set off the excellence of Xia Ruofei and Wu Lei.
How could they feel good in their hearts?
It was just that with this kind of dissatisfaction, they naturally would not accept interviews from the media. Even if they were asked questions about Wu Lei and Xia Ruofei, they did not dare to express their dissatisfaction publicly. Otherwise, it would destroy the stability of the locker room. The two players were only young players and did not have much weight. Moreover, Xia Ruofei was a shareholder of the club. Even if they were dissatisfied, they did not dare to say it publicly.
In addition to these post-game interviews, Marca also specifically interviewed the managers of other teams in La Liga and the famous players in the football world, asking them to evaluate Xia Ruofei.
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane said, "After yesterday's game, many people called me and asked me to see Xia's goal. There are also many people like you who want me to evaluate this goal. What I want to say is that there are no two identical leaves in the world. It is the same in the football world. It is precisely because of the infinite possibilities that football has the great charm to attract us! Indeed, Xia's wonderful world-class ball is somewhat similar to my goal, but it is also unique! If I have to make a comparison between the two goals, I even think … Xia's goal is more wonderful! "
After giving Xia Ruofei's half-turn volley that copied "Flying Fairy" a very high evaluation, Zidane further evaluated Xia Ruofei. He said, "A flash in the pan? No, no, no! I don't think so! In fact, I spent more than an hour today watching all the videos of the game from the moment Xia was brought on. From a manager's point of view, Xia's wonderful performance was not only those three goals. Every touch of his was very reasonable. His vision was very wide, and his stamina was stronger than most players. I think he is an extremely good player, capable of playing the role of a B2B midfield commander. He plays a very important and even decisive role on both sides of the team's offense and defense! In the following season, RCD Espanyol's opponents will have a headache. Of course, this includes our Real Madrid team! "
Zidane's evaluation of Xia Ruofei could be said to be quite high, even exceeding many people's expectations. After all, Xia Ruofei had only played one game, and he was even a substitute. Although he had an extremely dazzling performance, many people still had a scrutinizing attitude. In history, there were a few games or even a season where the performance was very outstanding, but it was not uncommon for players to quickly fade into the crowd. Xia Ruofei's performance in only one game, no matter how good it was, after all, it was not that convincing.
But Zidane, a legendary star player who was very successful as a player and had a very high starting point as a manager, naturally had a different perspective from ordinary people. As he said himself, after he carefully analyzed Xia Ruofei's game, he saw a lot of content that ordinary fans and even coaches could not see. That was why he made that judgment.
In addition to Zidane, Marca also interviewed several managers of other La Liga teams and some well-known star players in the La Liga. They were also full of praise for Xia Ruofei, especially those three goals, which were repeatedly mentioned.
Barça's manager, Valverde, even publicly said that a player as good as Xia Ruofei should have a bigger stage, such as the Camp Nou …
Of course, the authenticity of the Barça manager's olive branch to Xia Ruofei was also open to debate.
As RCD Espanyol's nemesis in the same city, Barça naturally did not mind disgusting RCD Espanyol. If they could shake the opponent's morale, that would naturally be better.
Of course, it could not be ruled out that the Barcelona team was really interested in Xia Ruofei. After all, any professional manager would have a feeling of amazement at Xia Ruofei's strength after carefully analyzing that game.
In the face of Barça manager Valverde's open poaching, Ruby was very calm. He said, "I think Mr. Valverde must be dreaming! A RCD Espanyol player joining Barça? He must be telling a cold joke … In addition, Mr. Xia Ruofei is not for sale in the RCD Espanyol team. Now, in the future … Forever! "
Ruby's response could be said to be quite resolute. Of course, this was also a normal attitude as a nemesis in the same city.
However, whether it was Ruby or the other RCD Espanyol players, they intentionally or unintentionally avoided a question during the interview. That was, Xia Ruofei could not play for RCD Espanyol for the whole season. At most, he could come over to support in some key games. From now until the end of the season, it was estimated that he would play at most three or four games. Any more than that would be inappropriate.
After all, Xia Ruofei was mostly in Huaxia. Every time he played for RCD Espanyol, he had to fly a long distance across the Eurasian continent. He was also a shareholder of the club. Who would dare let the boss run back and forth repeatedly?
It was just that Ruby and the others deliberately did not mention this matter, which was a bit interesting.
In the next few rounds of the game, RCD Espanyol's opponents were bound to spend a lot of effort to study Xia Ruofei and devise targeted defensive tactics.
Ruby even intended to include Xia Ruofei in the game's roster as a smokescreen. Anyway, the roster had 23 players. At most, there were 14 players who could really play. It did not matter if there was one less spot.
However, RCD Espanyol's opponents waited until the game was about to start before they found out that Xia Ruofei was not in the starting lineup at all. He did not even come to the stadium. At that time, the expressions on their faces must have been quite interesting.
The key was that many of the tactics that had been arranged before were useless. It was like a boxer who had gathered enough strength to throw a punch, only to find that his opponent had suddenly disappeared. This punch hit the air and could easily hurt himself.
These teams were like this. When the time came to improvise tactics, to what extent could the players implement it? Would there be loopholes in the coordination? These were all very possible.
This was also why Xia Ruofei could still play a role for the team even if he did not play in the game.
Xia Ruofei did not pay attention to the turmoil in the La Liga Championship.
The day after the game, he was already on the Haven private jet and ready to fly back to Huaxia.
Naturally, Xue Jinshan and the other Taoyuan Company employees were on the same plane as him.
In addition, there was one more unlucky employee who needed to take a civil flight back to China because Zhou Leiyun had also decided to return to China. He hoped to get a "free ride."
Xia Ruofei naturally would not refuse, so he could only let Xue Jinshan pick another "unlucky" person to take a civil flight.
On Sunday afternoon, local time, the Haven took off from the Barcelona airport and flew east …
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