Seven nights.
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In the game against The Hague, Qin Xiong only played for less than 70 minutes.
He was substituted off the field.
After he scored the team's fourth goal.
Van Der Vaart was also substituted off the field.
When the two men came off the field, the Ajax fans all stood up and applauded. The applause was thunderous and lasted for a long time.
Ajax's performance in the three league games after the winter break was better and better.
The fans could not see the efforts of the players outside of the game.
But they could feel that when the players recovered on the field and played freely, the fans could imagine how much sweat the players had put in outside of the game for victory.
The Ajax team did not have any players in the nightclub recently, which was a signal in itself.
In this regard, they were still rational and restrained.
Nightclubs were a part of life, but it was not completely equivalent to degeneration and indulgence.
The Hague from the Royal City of the Netherlands also defended the whole game, but they were completely unable to stop Ajax from scoring.
With a 0: 4 defeat result, they returned with resentment.
The reason why Comain replaced Qin Xiong and Van Der Vaart early was for the sake of the future game schedule.
In the next two games, Ajax would encounter the same opponents.
The Dutch national derby!
It would be played consecutively in the Dutch Cup and the Eredivisie.
Even if they achieved a big victory in the league and received praise from the outside world, the Ajax players were still not satisfied. They would still set higher goals for themselves. They showed no signs of stopping on the road of pursuit.
The atmosphere of healthy competition in the team was getting stronger and stronger. The talented geniuses competed with each other openly, and the simple and unpretentious players quietly chased after them.
As for entertainment, they now seemed to be in a race against time. No one would propose to have a drink to relax or go to a nightclub to vent their pressure.
With the mental energy, they either stayed in the gym or improved themselves through other sports.
Qin Xiong began to visit van Basten again to receive technical guidance.
After the winter break, the game schedule was tight. Ajax played one game every four days on average.
On the fourth day after the victory over The Hague, Ajax's entire team boarded the bus and arrived at Eindhoven.
Qin Xiong liked Eindhoven because he had left a wonderful memory here, which was the starting point for him to gain a foothold in Ajax.
The quarterfinals of the Dutch Cup would be held at the Philips Stadium.
PSV Eindhoven's manager, Guus Hiddink, was under great pressure this season.
As the defending champion, PSV Eindhoven was left far behind by Ajax's pace of restoration in the league.
At the same time, the result of PSV Eindhoven's elimination in the Champions League group stage also caused Hiddink to be attacked. The situation of PSV Eindhoven's group was definitely weaker than that of Ajax's group. They were in the same group as Monaco, AEK Athens, and Deportivo La Coruña. On Ajax's side, AC Milan alone was enough to lock in a qualifying spot.
And the result?
PSV Eindhoven could only move to the UEFA Europa League with a third-place record.
The Dutch Cup was a stage to train the players, and PSV Eindhoven, as one of the top clubs in the Netherlands, wouldn't go all out. Even if they made it to the Top 8, if they didn't encounter Jax, Hiddink would still focus on training the players.
Comain had the same idea.
Just the name of the Dutch national derby made the two managers unable to really not care about the outcome.
But the two teams could not bring out their full main force for an earth-shattering battle!
Because after the Dutch Cup's quarterfinals, PSV Eindhoven would go to Ajax's home ground. In the league, the two teams would have a real fight.
Comain did not transfer any more players from the reserve team. He selected the players from the First Team and left for Eindhoven.
Hiddink, who had a tacit understanding with Comain, hid the main force in the Dutch Cup.
Robben, Romedar, and Kežman were on the sidelines.
Qin Xiong, Van Der Vaart, Snede, and Ibrahimovic were on standby.
On Ajax's side, among the defensive players, Grygera and Maxwell were resting. Comain obviously stepped up the training of Heitinga and Eskud's defensive combination after the winter break. Comain also needed them to grow quickly, mature, and face greater challenges.
That's right. Ajax's preparation, training, and competition tasks after the winter break, in addition to the pursuit of victory, the most important task was to improve the team's weaknesses in preparation for the Champions League knockout stage against Arsenal!
The lineups of the two strong representative teams of the Netherlands were about the same in this game.
Ajax's offensive system with Sottars, Sikora, Sonke, and Pienaar as the main force was considerable.
PSV Eindhoven used a combination of forwards, Hesselink, John de Jong, and the Brazilian rookie, Bofim, who had been informed that they could leave this season. They were not famous, but they had the power to fight.
The Korean Park Ji-sung, who could not run to death, started as the team's attacking midfielder.
PSV Eindhoven had to attack on their home ground to show their power.
Comain pushed the boat with the current and let the team play defense.
The veteran Galasek and Pienaar coordinated in the midfield.
The first half of the game was not exciting. PSV Eindhoven and Ajax did not go all out. The team's starting lineup could not be compared to the main lineup. In addition, the two teams' creativity declined. It was very rare to be able to play a threatening offense.
Hiddink supervised the game on the sidelines and was quite resentful.
Ajax defeated AZ Alkmaar, which was equivalent to defeating a competitor.
PSV Eindhoven did not win the game against Ajax in the first half of the league. Hiddink looked back now. It was simply not able to suppress the release of a beast!
If they had defeated Jax in that match, Jax wouldn't have been as dominant as it was after the match. Jax would be leading the rankings and no one would be able to catch up.
The competition in the league was like this. The dialogue between direct competitors was not only a battle of six points, it was even more than that.
Hiddink firmly believed that PSV Eindhoven still had a chance.
Fortunately, the second half of the league game between the two teams was not too late. It was not to the point where everything was irreparable and the victory or defeat of the game had become meaningless.
As long as they defeated Ajax in these two games, the Dutch Cup and the league, PSV Eindhoven might have a chance to reverse the situation and defend their title!
The meaning of victory would exceed the actual points.
PSV Eindhoven on the field was also desperate. They wanted to win to suppress Ajax's morale.
But in terms of posture, they suffered a little.
They took the initiative to attack, and Ajax stood on the defense to play defense and counter-attack. In particular, Ajax's two wingers, Sottars and Sikora, were both speed types. PSV Eindhoven's main attack would definitely leave space for Ajax's wingers to sprint. This was a strategic passive that could not be reversed. Because PSV Eindhoven could not shrink back at home, it was like silently showing weakness.
Park Ji-sung could not do anything under the joint blockade of De Rong and Galasek. Although he could not run to death and his technical ability was not bad, he was not top-notch as an organizer in terms of the overall situation and creativity.
John De Rong, Bofim, and Hesselink also had no room to play in the defensive area that Ajax actively shrank. It was difficult for them to fight alone.
In the 60th minute of the second half, PSV Eindhoven began to accelerate their offense. The fullbacks, midfielders, and more forces were invested in the front field.
They did not want to play overtime.
Although they were eliminated from the Champions League, they still had a European mission in February to play in the UEFA Europa League.
Comain watched the game from the sidelines and noticed the change in PSV Eindhoven. He calmly turned around and walked to the substitutes' bench. He came to Qin Xiong and held the baffle on the substitutes' bench with one hand. He asked in a flat but caring tone, "How do you feel physically? Can you recover in three days after playing for half an hour or an hour? "
If it was to be a substitute in this game, Qin Xiong would definitely have no problem.
Comain also did not need to ask Qin Xiong. After all, if Qin Xiong could not even last an hour of the game, what qualifications did he have to sit on the substitutes' bench?
But Comain had to consider that in three days in Amsterdam, they would play another Nationalderby with PSV Eindhoven. That was the highlight!
They had played a game four days ago. After the winter break, continuous games were a great test of physical fitness.
That was why Comain asked with such concern.
If Qin Xiong shook his head, Comain would not force it. They would lose the Dutch Cup. If they lost, they lost. He was more concerned about Qin Xiong's health and physical condition to maintain balance and avoid excessive overdraft.
There were more important game tasks to rely on Qin Xiong.
Qin Xiong thought seriously for a moment. This was a very serious issue. He could not make a decision based on his feelings or hot-bloodedness to play in this game.
He felt that his body had recovered faster recently after the game. His physical condition did not last long. He felt that there should be no problem.
After Comain got Qin Xiong's affirmative answer, he reached out and patted him on the shoulder. He said lightly, "Go and warm up. After warming up, change into the jersey. You'll play as a substitute. If you can't finish the game in 90 minutes, you'll have to hold on for overtime."
Qin Xiong nodded, quickly got up and began to warm up on the sidelines.
Seeing Qin Xiong begin to warm up, Hiddink's facial muscles could not help but tremble slightly.
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