Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
After getting off the plane, Qin Xiong and Freddy went to the Amsterdam Athletic Stadium in the suburbs. They did not have the time or the mood to explore the city. They just wanted to see Ajax's home ground with their own eyes!
When the magnificent modern stadium appeared in front of them, Qin Xiong looked up and could not take his eyes off it. There were also many tourists around, but perhaps because Ajax was a guest in the first two rounds of the new Eredivisie season and did not play there, the surrounding atmosphere was not particularly enthusiastic. Especially yesterday, Ajax defeated the weak team Rosinda in an away game and won two consecutive league games in the new season.
Qin Xiong's eyes seemed to want to take in every detail of the stadium. He looked carefully and seriously, and did not want to miss any details. He stood there for a long time.
Freddy looked at his watch and reminded Qin Xiong that it was time to leave. Qin Xiong's face became solemn and serious. He walked with Freddy in the direction of the city center without looking back.
He said silently in his heart, The next time I come, I want to wear Ajax's battle robe! I want to be the protagonist here!
.....
The most recent and most glorious memory of Ajax was in 1995, when the Ajax team led by Louis Van Gaal reached the top of Europe and wrote the legend that the starting nine players in the final were Ajax's youth players. This record may be difficult to break!
At that time, the mainstream voice in Europe believed that Ajax would start a dynasty and rule the European football world of an era!
Because in the 1995 Ajax generation, except for a few players, such as Rijkaard, most of the other main players were very young, such as Overmars, Edwin van der Sar, Kluivert, and so on.
However, the emergence of the Bosman Act changed the European football world, making the players' right to speak in negotiations with the clubs more and more powerful. In the end, the 1995 Ajax generation fell apart in the following years. The star players transferred to new clubs, either because of the treatment, the competitiveness of the league, or other factors.
However, Ajax did not sink into despair. They maintained a very high level of youth training.
In less than ten years, which was last season, in the 2002-2003 generation, the Ajax youth team, under the leadership of manager Ronald Comain, created a youth storm in the European football world!
Just four months ago, in the match at San Siro, if not for the Dane Tomasson's last-minute kill, the team that would have advanced to the semi-finals of last season's UEFA Champions League would have been the young and fierce Ajax!
The Bosman Act changed the pattern of European football and made the circulation of players more frequent, especially the players who suddenly rose to fame in the second-tier leagues. They would quickly be "locked in" by the clubs in the top leagues.
The new Ajax generation did not succeed. At the end of last season, they suffered a double blow and failed to defend their league title. In the summer, the team's two main players, Chivu and van der Meyde, were brought to Apennine by the Serie A club. Perhaps for Ajax, a club with a Jewish background, this was not a blow. In the process of advancing with the times, Ajax also began to shake the tradition of the past: the goal of youth training!
In the past, Ajax had always insisted that the goal of youth training was not to sell the players at a good price, but to strengthen the team and to win the championship!
However, in the era after the Bosman Act, with the continuous years of selling players to make huge profits, on the one hand, the club was helpless because they could not retain the talent. On the other hand, the attractive price offered by the financiers moved the board of directors. The club also bowed to reality half-heartedly.
The departure of Chivu and van der Meyde brought in 30 million euros for Ajax. At the same time, the club also invited back the meritorious coach, Louis Van Gaal, to be the technical director for the sake of the traditional dignity of the club. However, this decision caused sparks of conflict within the club from the beginning.
When Louis Van Gaal was Ajax's manager, he was the "king" of the club from top to bottom. From the First Team to the Youth Team, from the technical tactics to the players' training, he was in charge of everything. No one had more power than him. However, now that Comain was the manager and the club invited back Louis Van Gaal to be the strategic designer, there was an awkward situation where two tigers could not live on the same mountain.
The departure of the team's two main players in the First Team forced Ajax to make a huge change in the new season's tactical system.
The current captain, Van Der Vaart, the Dutchman who now had the halo of Europe's number one talent, was previously in the forward line. In the new season, his position was removed by Comain, which led to a tactical change in Ajax's new season. From the three games of the new season, the effect was not too ideal.
Ajax played three games in the new season, three away games.
The first game was the UEFA Champions League peripheral qualifier, where they challenged Austria's Graz AK as a guest. In the end, Ajax could only be forced into a 1: 1 draw in the away game.
In the new season's league, there were two consecutive away games. Both Vidis and Rosinda were in the middle and lower levels. One of them was even a team with the ability to avoid relegation. Ajax could only barely win with one goal. Compared to the solid tactical system of the previous season, they played smoothly. However, in the new season, they staggered in the changes.
.....
Freddy and Qin Xiong came to the place that they had contacted before coming. It was close to the Amsterdam Arena and the rent was cheap. They did not stay in a hotel or hotel. The cost of accommodation in Amsterdam was too high.
The landlord was a local widowed old man. He seemed to be in a leisurely state. He was drinking and chatting with two other old men in front of the apartment. After seeing Freddy and Qin Xiong's documents, he gave them the room keys and told them to put the rent and deposit on the table in the living room on the first floor. The rules for renting a room were posted next to the refrigerator. They had to read it once before moving in. If they did not want to rent a room, they could just leave.
Freddy and Qin Xiong walked into the three-story apartment. In fact, the three-story building was a stand-alone apartment. There should be guest rooms on the second and third floors.
Next to the refrigerator on the first floor, Freddy and Qin Xiong carefully read the rules for renters posted here by the landlord.
Generally, they were not allowed to hire prostitutes, make noise, hygiene requirements, and a clear plan for the right to use the items in the apartment. For example, the renters were not allowed to use the landlord's washing machine, cooking here, and so on. As for how the renters could solve these problems, the landlord was considerate enough to write a guide on another piece of paper: Where to eat cheap, where to have a laundromat …
Qin Xiong finished reading the rules for renters and frowned. "It seems that it's very inconvenient."
Freddy took out a calculator from his suitcase, tapped it for a while, and then sighed. "But it's still very cheap here. If you go to other places, it's either far away from the stadium, inconvenient, or the rent is more expensive. Stay here first. Maybe you can sign a contract with Ajax. The club will provide you with a better place to live."
Qin Xiong had no room to refute. For this trip, he was penniless. As for how much money Freddy had brought, he did not want to ask because he did not want to rely on others.
Carrying their luggage up to the third floor, Freddy and Qin Xiong were assigned their respective rooms. The rooms were quite clean, but the furnishings were really shabby. A bed, a table, a chair, and a wardrobe were all gone …
Fortunately, Qin Xiong did not ask for much. He put down his luggage and went to borrow some money from Freddy. Then he went downstairs and went out. On the way, he remembered that there was a small shop not far away.
He went to the shop and bought the cheapest alarm clock.
For him, now was also a race against time. He had to get rid of the jet lag in the shortest time possible and adjust his body to its best condition in the shortest time possible!
Because there were only two days left before the trial!
Taking the alarm clock back to his room, Qin Xiong went to the shared bathroom on the third floor to wash up. Then he went back to his room to take off his sportswear. He had eaten before coming here. He lay on the bed directly, picked up the alarm clock and set the time. It was not yet 8 PM, but he planned to sleep. At least, he would sleep until 6 AM the next day. Ten hours of sufficient sleep and at the same time, get rid of the jet lag.
He tried the alarm clock. Everything was fine. Then he set the alarm clock to 6 AM the next day and put the alarm clock beside his pillow. This landlord was really stingy. He did not even give him a bedside table!
After doing all this, Qin Xiong closed his eyes and cleared his mind. He did not think about anything and used his steady and rhythmic breathing to "self-hypnotize" himself to sleep. For someone as energetic as him, in the Rivertown Youth Football Home, the coach, and the doctor would teach him some methods to help him sleep. Over time, he had developed a good habit.
The soundproofing of the room was pretty good. It isolated the noise from the outside world and was silent.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock …
There were 52 hours left before Qin Xiong went to Ajax for the trial …
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