After arriving at the hotel, Assistant Manager Scott Tri found Li Ang.
"Li, I don't think you should …" Scott Tri said.
"I shouldn't have said those arrogant words, right?" Li Ang asked with a smile.
Scott Tri nodded and looked at Li Ang, implying that Li Ang also knew that those words were arrogant.
Li Ang stood up, walked to the window, and pulled open the curtains. Outside the window, the evening lights were on.
"You know what? Jesús. " Li Ang said, "When I saw those words in the newspapers, and saw them talking about how they wanted to beat us by five, six, or seven goals, what was the thing I wanted to do the most?"
"Don't take what the papers say to heart," said Scottley.
Li Ang shook his head and continued, "I just want to throw those newspapers directly at those bastards' faces."
Li Ang took a deep breath. "I don't want to offend anyone. I don't want to make enemies with Sporting de Gijón, let alone a team like Real Madrid. But …" Li Ang paused for a moment. "When people point at my nose and humiliate me in front of my face, I can't pretend to be an ostrich."
"But, but …" Scott Tri stammered. "We are just Sporting de Gijón. We are a small club. They can say whatever they want. Just ignore them. "
"My Sporting de Gijón is not a small club that will be humiliated by others." Li Ang muttered to himself. "You know what, Jesús, I have a dream. My team is fearless. We are not afraid of anyone. We dare to fight against any team. We have a straight back! And an arrogant head! "
Scott Tri wanted to say something.
Li Ang waved his hand and interrupted his assistant. "My team is not strong enough. We can use our last strength on the field and lose to our opponents. But we will never bow!"
*****
"That's right. A powerhouse like Real Madrid is very strong. Maybe they can really beat us. Who knows?" Li Ang chuckled. "However, the match hasn't started yet. I definitely don't have the habit of admitting defeat. No matter how strong they are, it's not a reason or qualification to humiliate us!"
"Jesus." Li Ang looked at Skrtel. "I want to tell the players that even if they are facing Real Madrid, they cannot humiliate us wantonly because we have our dignity and we have our perseverance. This is my Sporting de Gijón!"
"I dream that one day, we will be able to defeat any team we face!" Li Ang's eyes seemed to be shining. "Even though that day is still far away, from now on, we must have a proud and dignified heart, and not allow any humiliation! This is a heart for battle. No opponent can make us surrender! We will not allow anyone to humiliate us! Because the football is under our feet! We'll talk about it after we play! "
Scott Tri looked at the Chinese man in front of him and looked at the excited manager. He was also affected by the man's words, his attitude, and his emotions. He nodded. "I think I understand! I'm sorry, Li. I take back what I said before. I … "
"Jesus, there's no need to apologize. You are my good partner. I want to thank you for your work. It's great." Li Ang shook his head and said with a smile.
Scott Tri did not say anything. He was shocked. He did not expect the young Chinese man to have such a big dream in his heart. He actually had such persistence and pride. He was ashamed of his inferiority, but at the same time, he was very excited because this man was the manager of Sporting de Gijón, the manager of his most beloved team. He was Li Ang's assistant. They were colleagues!
*****
After Li Ang's words were reported by the Madrid media, it caused an uproar.
In particular, the reporter from Marca, Fels, attacked Li Ang fiercely in his column. In his description, the manager of Sporting de Gijón was an arrogant, arrogant, impolite, neurotic, and despicable clown.
"This man actually arrogantly said that his team is ranked above Real Madrid, so he can talk nonsense about such a great club. It's ridiculous. A great club's poor state has become the reason for this man's shameless arrogance. It's really shameful. It's disgusting …"
Other Madrid media outlets also condemned Li Ang in speech and in writing.
At this time, if you could find the newspaper from five months ago, you would find that the Madrid media used almost the same words to attack and crusade against Li Ang five months ago.
The Real Madrid fans were already dissatisfied with Li Ang leading Sporting de Gijón to steal Real Madrid's Copa del Rey title last season, which brought shame to them. Now that such a thing had happened, they disliked the Chinese manager even more.
*****
Li Ang did not respond to the Madrid media's condemnation of him. He also refused any media interviews. It seemed that he did not intend to say another word.
The next morning, Li Ang ran into Hierro in the hotel restaurant. The former Real Madrid captain was a little absent-minded.
"Hey, Fernando." Li Ang stretched out a finger and shook it in front of Hierro's face.
Hierro came back to his senses and saw the manager's smiling face.
"Are you okay?" Li Ang asked.
"I'm fine, Coach," Hierro said.
"Fernando, if you have any bad feelings, I'll allow you to withdraw from this game …" Li Ang said. He knew Hierro's feelings for Real Madrid. This game was very special for Hierro. If Hierro could not accept it emotionally, he could let Hierro rest. This was not only out of concern for Hierro, but also because Li Ang was also worried that if Hierro was emotionally disturbed, his condition would not be good. In that case, he would rather switch to another player.
Hierro smiled. "Returning to Bernabéu again, and as an opponent, does make me feel a little uneasy. But, Coach, you can rest assured that when the game starts, when I step onto the pitch of Bernabéu, I won't have any problems here."
Li Ang looked at Hierro and nodded. "That's good."
*****
Then, Li Ang said goodbye and left. He stopped and said to Hierro, "Fernando, what I said yesterday, was not …"
"Coach, you don't need to explain anything to me. You didn't say anything overboard, "Hierro said. As he said, although Li Ang's words might have made Real Madrid unhappy, they were not insulting. Even if he said that Real Madrid's current ranking was not as good as Sporting de Gijón's, it was still a fact.
Hierro thought for a moment and said, "I'm now a player of Sporting de Gijón."
"Of course!" Li Ang nodded. "You're our captain!"
Li Ang said happily and then said goodbye to Hierro.
After Li Ang left, Hierro sat at the dining table and was in a daze for a while. Then, he shook his head and said with a smile, "Yes, I'm now the captain of Sporting de Gijón."
In this game, the Spanish veteran would temporarily bury his deep love for Real Madrid and Bernabéu. In this game, he was only the captain of Sporting de Gijón.
Author's Note: Third Update, 1244 Missing Chapters
Xiao Qi has begun to pull herself together these days, weakly begging for a monthly vote.
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