After reaching an agreement with FC Porto on the exchange of Pepe's money for Jeffrey's transfer, all that was left was to communicate with the players.
Li Ang did not have time to do that for the time being. He asked his assistant, Banderas, to contact Pepe's agent. He had more important things to do, because the first round of the promotion playoff final against Getafe was coming.
For Li Ang and for Sporting de Gijón, the most important thing now was to get through the promotion playoff and get a place in La Liga!
On June 27th, the UEFA European Championship in Portugal was in full swing.
On this day, the UEFA European Championship 2004 ended with the final round of the UEFA European Championship. The runner-up of the UEFA European Championship 1996, the Czech Republic, defeated the champion of the UEFA European Championship 1992, Denmark, 3-0 at the Estadio Do Dragón in Porto, and became the last team to advance to the semifinals. So far, the top four teams had all been determined: Portugal, the Netherlands, Greece, and the Czech Republic.
For Li Ang, the most direct impact of the UEFA European Championship on the other side of the Iberian Peninsula was that the Czech Republic had entered the top four, because he had previously bet on the Czech Republic to enter the top four. In addition, the Greek team had actually advanced to the semifinals, which surprised many people. Li Ang had previously bet on the Greek team to win the championship, and he had been ridiculed by the local media in Gijón, saying that his vision was not good. Now, the local media in Gijón could take the opportunity to hype up the situation again. It turned out that Manager Li Ang's vision for football was really amazing.
For Li Ang and Sporting de Gijón, the importance and difference of this day was that it was the day of their promotion playoff final against Getafe.
*****
The Estadio Alfonso Pérez was noisy.
Boos, cheers, chants, and noisy singing.
Before the game, the smell of gunpowder was very strong.
First of all, the media dug out the story of Sporting de Gijón's popular midfielder, Juan - Carlos, being an outcast of Getafe.
This young lad, who had been kicked out of Getafe's youth team, was then brought back to Sporting de Gijón from the slums by the manager of Sporting de Gijón, Li Ang, who had a keen eye for talent. Li Ang had brought him back to Sporting de Gijón from the slums and trained him with great care. He had transformed this young lad, who had originally played as a center back, into a defensive midfielder, and his performance had become increasingly outstanding.
This was a very good thing for Li Ang and Sporting de Gijón, but not for Getafe.
On the other hand, the Getafe manager, Escedra, was constantly being questioned by the media about Juan Carlos. This made the Getafe manager extremely annoyed. This was the youth team manager's business and had nothing to do with him.
Escedra angrily said that this matter should be asked to the relevant personnel at the youth team's training ground, and not to him.
Some reporters actually went to ask the Getafe youth team manager, Gonzalo. This gentleman's temper was even worse because he had "lost" Carlos, this "treasure" in his hands. This made his impression in the eyes of the club's senior management very bad. Now, the better Juan Carlos performed at Sporting de Gijón, the worse Gonzalo's days at Getafe would be. Now that these ignorant reporters had actually "touched the pot that did not boil," it would be strange if Gonzalo was not depressed.
Mr. Gonzalo, who was ashamed and angry, insisted that he was not wrong. He said that Juan Carlos's skills were terrible and his shortcomings were obvious. Although Carlos's current performance seemed to be good, this player's future was very limited.
In other words, he was right to expel Carlos, and he was not wrong.
*****
This caused Li Ang to be angry. His player was humiliated, and the manager naturally had to stand up for his calf.
Later, Li Ang criticized Gonzalo in his column in the Voice of Gijón for having no foresight, no ability, and not knowing how to repent for his mistakes.
After Li Ang's words came out, Gonzalo did not come out to refute it. The chairman of Getafe, Torres, stood up to attack Li Ang.
The chairman finally vowed that in the end, only his Getafe could be promoted to La Liga through the promotion play-offs.
Previously, Torres had said that Sporting de Gijón was the weakest team among the four teams in the promotion play-offs. This was a naked contempt for Sporting de Gijón, and it had already caused Li Ang's anger. This time, Li Ang had new and old grudges in his heart.
"For those who speak without thinking, you can only shut them up by smashing their teeth with a big stick!" Li Ang said unceremoniously.
Then, he was criticized by the Madrid media for being disrespectful to the "respected" chairman of a football club.
Li Ang's response was to see him on the field.
*****
At the Estadio Alfonso Perez.
Li Ang cursed on the sidelines, "Damn the referee, this bastard ruined my game!"
Banderas was trying to persuade Li Ang to calm down.
The other assistant manager, Scott Tri, carefully looked not far away. He was worried that Li Ang's cursing would attract the referee's attention.
In the eleventh minute of the game, Sporting de Gijón's captain and midfield core, Miguel Cobas, committed a foul and was directly sent off with a red card by the referee.
Li Ang was furious about the decision. He thought that the referee on duty was obviously biased toward the home team. A yellow card was enough for this foul. Moreover, the game had only been played for about ten minutes. At this time, the referee had sent off the visiting team's captain because of a foul that was not considered bad. Li Ang could not tolerate it.
Although he was angry, Li Ang could not do anything. He could not lead the team to go on strike because of a penalty.
Li Ang was so angry that he gritted his teeth. Given that the victim's first thought was a conspiracy theory, Li Ang could not help but suspect that Getafe was the referee, even though he also knew that it was unlikely. This was the disciplined and more transparent Spanish football, not the messy China football.
In the stands, after Getafe's chairman, Mr. Torres, cheered excitedly, he and the club's general manager looked at each other. They did not work as referees. Getafe was not a big club. They had less experience than Sporting de Gijón. How could they be so well taken care of by the referee?!
Who cares? Since they did not do anything wrong, what was there to be afraid of? They could just relax and enjoy the care and benefits of the referee.
*****
For Sporting de Gijón, the impact of Miguel Cobas being sent off with a red card was extremely bad. It directly affected Sporting de Gijón's game. The tactics that Li Ang had formulated before the game were now empty words.
Li Ang immediately made a substitution. Miguel Pihra was brought off and Sastre came on as a substitute.
He brought off a striker and brought on a defensive midfielder.
Seeing Li Ang make such a substitution, the smarter people guessed that Li Ang was going to defend in the away game when the team had a player sent off early on.
That's right. They were not just defending. They were defending to the death.
Sporting de Gijón's players all participated in the defense. They gathered a lot of players in the midfield and backfield. It could even be said that they blocked the front of their own penalty area tightly.
Sporting de Gijón's offense was to attack with big strides. They only put in two or three players. They mainly used the speed of Juan and Mata to counterattack. If they could pose a threat, it would be fine. If they did not, they would not be counterattacked by Getafe because of the team's large pressure.
Sporting de Gijón had one less player on the field, and it was the opponent's midfield core. This made the Getafe players excited. They saw the hope of winning, or more directly, winning by a large margin. Getafe tried every means to find the weakness of Sporting de Gijón's defense, while Sporting de Gijón tried every means to destroy Getafe's offense.
*****
Sporting de Gijón's united defense was effective. In the first half of the game, the score was 0: 0.
This score obviously did not satisfy Getafe. Therefore, when the second half of the game started, Getafe launched a barrage of attacks on Sporting de Gijón's goal.
Li Ang's heart was suffering every second. Getafe's every attack made him restless. He was worried that they would concede a goal.
Now, for the game, Li Ang would be satisfied if they could not concede a goal and get a draw at the Estadio Alfonso Perez.
It could even be said that Li Ang could accept a small loss with one goal.
The unfair penalty in the away game directly affected the game. This was not expected by anyone. Li Ang gritted his teeth and swore to get back at the home game.
"The game has been going on for 79 minutes. So far, Getafe has shot 21 times in the whole game, but they still haven't scored!" The commentator Dagestino said. "Sporting de Gijón has only shot a pitiful four times. Their whole team is defending! Manager Li Ang's goal is to not concede a goal and get a draw. Now, they are ten minutes away from achieving this goal! "
The camera zoomed in on the technical area on the sidelines. Li Ang stood on the sidelines with his hands in his trouser pockets. He did not say a word, but his expression was serious.
Getafe's manager, Essedra, was anxiously pacing back and forth on the sidelines, shouting into the field from time to time. The opponent had a player sent off early in the first half, and the one sent off was Sporting de Gijón's captain and the core of the midfield. This was the perfect signal for a big victory. However, he did not expect that the game had gone on for 80 minutes, and the team had the absolute initiative. They had bombarded Sporting de Gijón's goal indiscriminately, but they still had not scored a goal.
Essedra was anxious. With such a good opportunity at home, it would be unforgivable if they could not win.
Essedra kept waving his arms on the sidelines. Attack! Attack! Attack!
PS: Second update. Guaranteed minimum 2.
Asking for a monthly ticket.
The debt is slowly being paid. Shame, tears.
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