Li Ang had a dream. He dreamed that he was struggling in the ocean. It was late at night, and the waves were turbulent. The water was dark and cold. A big wave came and smashed him deep into the bottom of the sea …
He woke up sweating profusely.
He was scared awake.
Li Ang almost rushed out of bed and ran to the window. He pulled open the curtains. The sun was so bright and there were birds chirping. In the square outside the window, a sexy Spanish woman walked by, her blonde hair fluttering …
Phew!
Li Ang let out a long sigh. This damn dream!
Then, he turned his head and looked at the blanket that he had kicked under the bed. He finally found the culprit. When he was sleeping, the blanket covered his head, and he couldn't breathe. Even in his dreams, he felt so sullen. This was really … a pain in the ass!
He looked at the sun, the beautiful women, and the fountain outside the window.
What a good weather!
He took a deep breath. Even the air was filled with the joy of victory.
Then, when he was eating in the hotel restaurant, he saw the assistant manager, Scott Terry, come over with a stack of newspapers.
These newspapers made his mood even better!
*****
It was the morning after the game against Real Zaragoza. They stayed at Real Zaragoza for the night and were still there. After breakfast, the team returned to Gijón.
In the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, Sporting de Gijón defeated Real Zaragoza 3-1 in the away game at La Romareda Stadium. This shocked the Spanish football world.
Compared to the other semi-final where Real Madrid defeated Sevilla 2-0 at the Bernabéu Stadium, Sporting de Gijón's 3-1 victory was definitely a big upset!
Real Zaragoza were not easy to deal with. They had defeated Barcelona in the previous round of the knockout stage and forced a draw with Real Madrid in the away game last week. The Spanish media were amazed by the strength of Victor Fernández's team, especially at their home ground, La Romareda Stadium, which was a headache for many La Liga teams.
And now, the team that they had been praising for several days, a strong team in La Liga, had lost to Sporting Gijon, a Segunda División team, in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey with a score of 1-3 at home!
This was definitely a dark horse!
The newspapers were full of reports and comments about the match.
AS, Spain: Fernandez blushes with shame in front of Chinese.
The article praised Sporting de Gijón for their high fighting spirit in the game, and also praised Li Ang for his tactics and substitutions. Finally, it said that Sporting de Gijón, a Segunda División team, taught everyone a good lesson: the cup competition was indeed a hotbed of unexpected surprises!
Even Marca, which had always been at odds with Li Ang, was shocked that Sporting de Gijón could win against Real Zaragoza. They even expressed special appreciation for Li Ang, believing that he had a good grasp of the game.
Li Ang led Sporting de Gijón to an unexpected victory over Real Zaragoza. Not only the score, but the whole process of the game, this Segunda División team was worthy of praise. So much so that Marca could not ignore such an excellent performance. They had to 'temporarily forget' their criticism of Li Ang and praise Li Ang and Sporting de Gijón.
When Li Ang saw the report, he smiled. He could imagine how reluctant Marca was when they praised him and Sporting de Gijón.
Although they were reluctant, the media had no other choice. Li Ang led the team to win, unless they chose not to report the game and chose to ignore it. But how could that be? This was the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. They had to report it. So, this scene happened. The big Spanish media, which had been sarcastic and critical of Li Ang yesterday, had to pinch their noses and praise him.
Li Ang was in a good mood. This was the kind of pleasure that one felt when one's enemy was clearly unhappy but had to force a smile and flatter.
Sure enough, winning was the way of the king!
Li Ang even went to see if the report in Marca was written by his' old acquaintance 'Phelps. It was not. This made him quite disappointed. If it was the reporter he hated praising him, it would be even more perfect.
*****
Not only Marca, but even Aspa, which praised him, had been sarcastic about Li Ang before. Now, they had to send him a song of praise.
The most interesting was Catalonia's newspaper, Mundo Deportivo. This media, which also participated in criticizing Li Ang, had to join the army of praising Li Ang. Moreover, Mundo Deportivo seemed to say that Sporting de Gijón's counterattack had the shadow of Barcelona's attack. It meant that Li Ang was learning Barcelona's football philosophy, so he could have such an excellent performance.
Li Ang touched his nose. Well, in a sense, his football was indeed the shadow of Barcelona. However, he did not learn from the current Barcelona, but from the tactics of the Barcelona team a few years later when they suddenly accelerated their attack.
La Repubblica held up a crusade against Zaragoza. The article pointed out that because Zaragoza underestimated their opponent, the initiative in the game had always been in the hands of the Chinese coach. The morale of the Sporting de Gijón players was high, and the coach's tactical choice and response were particularly wonderful. Zaragoza did not expect their opponent to be so difficult to deal with!
This made Li Ang very proud, and also a little emotional. In the world of football, heroes were determined by success or failure. As long as you won, and won beautifully, the people who were scolding and mocking you yesterday would become the people who would flatter you the most in the blink of an eye. Flowers and applause floated like autumn leaves.
Of course, Li Ang also understood that although the media seemed to have forgotten the "conflict" between them, and each of their mouths was as sweet as honey, as long as Sporting de Gijón had a slight mishap in the later part of the game, these media would definitely change their attitude and jump out to criticize and attack. No matter how much they praised him today, when the time came, the intensity of their scolding would be several times more than now, because now many of these media were pinching their noses to praise him. One could imagine how sullen these media reporters were.
Li Ang was happy and refreshed. He swore that he would never give these people a chance to add insult to injury.
Seeing them praising him so unwillingly and sullenly, he felt good.
This could be said to be an additional pleasure after winning the game.
*****
After breakfast, the Sporting de Gijón team took the bus back to Gijón.
Along the way, the bus was filled with joy and laughter. The morale of the team was unprecedentedly high after winning against the "behemoth" of Zaragoza.
After arriving at Gijón, Li Ang announced one thing: Today was a day off! The whole team was on holiday!
The cheers in the bus could almost overturn the roof of the bus. The players were in a good mood. They won a game that could be called a great game, and then had a day off. It was simply wonderful.
Li Ang was not beside himself with joy. He wanted the players to use the day to digest the victory of the game to ease their excitement. With the players' current unstable emotions, they would not be able to concentrate even during training. It was simply a day off to let them have some fun with their families. It was also a kind of self-regulation and overreaction.
"Don't be late for tomorrow's training. Otherwise, I'll send you, Juan, and David Reuben to accompany you." Li Ang finally threatened.
The laughter became louder.
Except for a few hidden "traitors" who were sad, most of the players were laughing. They seemed to have forgotten the unlucky teammates who were punished to the reserve team.
This was the law of the jungle. If Li Ang led the team with bad results, the players might sympathize with the two guys and feel injustice for them. However, now that the coach was so awesome and the team was thriving, who would still remember the two unlucky guys? Everyone would only admire Li Ang more. Following this manager would bring victory and good results. Those two guys, one faked an injury, and the other had a bad attitude in the game. They deserved it!
Li Ang got off the bus directly near his apartment.
*****
Watching the bus drive away, Li Ang could even see the shadows of the guys in the bus being excited. He was also happy.
He took out the day's newspaper from the mailbox in front of his house.
At the top was "The Voice of Gihon."
This media outlet could be said to be Li Ang's absolute "flatterer." It was different from the media outlets who reluctantly praised Li Ang. Their praise for Li Ang was "from the heart."
"This great victory … is because Sporting de Gijón has Li Ang. Since he took over the team, we can completely see the changes. Under the leadership of Li Ang, Sporting de Gijón is walking on the most correct path. He guides everything. The others are also like soldiers who strictly follow the orders of the general. They follow the tactics of the coach … from victory to victory! "
Li Ang was amused. Well, was the praise too much? It shouldn't be.
Li Ang looked at the author of the "Voice of Gihon" article. It was indeed his old friend Mitra. He laughed involuntarily.
Then, as usual, Li Ang found the little boy Barthez's card in the newspaper. It said: "Great! Congratulations, Li! I'm so happy. We won against Zaragoza! Aren't you happy too? You must be!
Yes, I'm very happy too! Li Ang said.
To Li Ang's surprise, he found a piece of paper under Barthez's card.
"Dear Mr. Li Ang, thank you, thank you. I can't express my gratitude in words. These days, this is the happiest time for Nettle. My wife and I are very happy to see his smile. Especially yesterday's game, Nettle was very excited. We told him that Sporting de Gijón could win against Zaragoza. We won such a difficult game. There is definitely hope for his leg to recover. Nettle, who had always rejected his illness, smiled happily. Thank you, thank you, Li! Please continue to win, we all support you! "– Strasso Barthez.
Li Ang understood that this was a letter from Nettle Barthez's parents.
He had read so many newspapers praising him, but at this moment, Li Ang held the card and the letter. There was a warm current in his heart. This was what made him the happiest. It made his heart feel especially full and satisfied.
At the same time, Li Ang also wanted to take some time to meet little Barthez and his family. He had been busy for a while, so he didn't carefully check Barthez's condition. Now, he wanted to take a good look and see if he could provide some help.
PS: Third update. Jibao 2.
It's almost three o 'clock. I'm tired. I'm going to sleep. Good night everyone.
Thank you for your support. Thank you everyone.
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