This was not the first time Li Ang had attended the European draw ceremony. He had attended it with his assistant, Banderas, last season. However, he had attended the UEFA Europa League draw ceremony.
Of course, the influence and attention of the UEFA Europa League could not be compared to the UEFA Champions League.
The last time he attended the UEFA Europa League draw ceremony, although some reporters were curious about the appearance of a Chinese coach, that was all. He did not attract much attention that time.
Only the domestic media in China reported it. After all, the appearance of a Chinese coach in the UEFA Europa League was good news for the poor and weak Chinese football.
Li Ang was the first coach in the history of La Liga to win the Treble last season, especially in the league where he defeated Real Madrid and Barcelona to win the La Liga title. This was a great achievement!
Moreover, he was now coaching the Serie A powerhouse, Inter Milan, which was a veteran powerhouse in Europe!
In addition, Inter Milan had made a lot of moves this summer, especially bringing Ronaldo back to Inter Milan from Real Madrid, which attracted the attention of the world.
Of course, Li Ang's bloody purge at Inter Milan also made him famous. There had never been a coach who had just arrived at a team, especially a powerhouse team, who had such a crazy purge and replacement.
Therefore, Li Ang was now a man of the hour!
He was the first Asian coach, the first Asian coach, and the first Chinese coach in the history of the UEFA Champions League!
He was the manager of Inter Milan!
*****
Li Ang, accompanied by Inter Milan president Facchetti, had just arrived at the Grimaldi Convention Center in Monte Carlo, Monaco, when the reporters waiting outside the venue swarmed in and surrounded him.
This was the first time an Asian coach had appeared in the Champions League. It was no wonder that the media paid so much attention.
It was not unusual for Asian players to appear in the Champions League. The Japanese players, Hidetoshi Nakata and Junichi Inamoto, and the Korean player, Park Ji-sung, had all appeared in the Champions League, especially Park Ji-sung. In the past season, he had even followed Eindhoven into the Champions League semi-finals.
However, this was the first time in the history of the Champions League that an Asian manager had appeared on the stage!
In European football, it was basically the world of white managers.
Even black managers were rarely seen. One of the more famous ones was the current manager of Barcelona, Rijkaard.
In fact, in the Western mainstream world, which was dominated by white people, most of the popular sports were headed by white managers. It was not only football, but also basketball, rugby, and volleyball coaches. Black coaches were rare, and there were almost no Asian coaches.
For example, in the field of football, Rijkaard becoming the manager of Barcelona and appearing in the Champions League did not arouse much curiosity. It was mainly because Rijkaard was a famous star player and one of the "Three Musketeers of Milan." His career as an athlete was brilliant. It seemed more acceptable for him to become a manager.
However, Li Ang was a completely new force to be reckoned with!
After three years of coaching, he became the first Asian manager in the history of Spanish football. He led Sporting de Gijón back to La Liga, became the first Asian manager in the history of La Liga, and became the first Asian manager in the history of the UEFA Europa League. Then, what was even more amazing was that he led Sporting de Gijón to win the Triple Crown in the last season of La Liga. This was the first manager in the history of Spanish football to win the Triple Crown. This title was taken away by this Chinese man!
This caused a sensation in the European football world. They had always discriminated against Asians. In the field of coaching, which had always been dominated by Europeans and Americans, Li Ang was like the Monkey King who jumped out of a stone and suddenly caused havoc in the heavens!
Seeing Li Ang surrounded by these famous European media for interviews, the Chinese reporters who came to Monaco to interview felt proud.
Look at the media that surrounded Li Ang: France Football, L 'Equipe, Kicker, Der Spiegel, World Football, Milan Sport, Turin Sport, Corriere dello Sport, Bild … These were the most famous sports media in the European football world.
Usually, it was not easy for these media to interview one person alone, let alone with so many media surrounding Li Ang and jointly interviewing him.
*****
Li Ang met an "unfamiliar acquaintance" in the venue.
This person was the current manager of Sporting de Gijón, Antić. After Li Ang and Sporting de Gijón "broke up," Sporting de Gijón's chairman, Manuel Arango, chose the famous manager Antić to coach after an "audition."
As the defending champion of La Liga, Sporting de Gijón was naturally eligible to participate in the new season's Champions League.
Antić was a famous Spanish manager who had coached several La Liga teams, such as Real Zaragoza, Real Madrid, Oviedo, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Celta. He was one of the only two managers to have coached Real Madrid (19911992) and Barcelona (2003). In the 19951996 season, he led Atletico Madrid to the Double of La Liga and the Copa del Rey.
Sporting de Gijón was the defending champion of La Liga last season. Although they had lost a lot of blood this summer, they still had the foundation and could be considered a strong team in La Liga. Antić was very interested in the challenging job of coaching Sporting de Gijón, and he also met Manuel Arango's requirements. The two sides hit it off in the end.
On this day, the 2005 UEFA Super Cup was played at the Stade Louis II in Monaco. Last season's UEFA European Cup champion, Liverpool, defeated last season's UEFA Europa League champion, Sporting de Gijón, by three to one.
Both sides were tied at one to one in 90 minutes. Sporting de Gijón's Italian striker, Di Natale, scored first. However, the Reds relied on Cisse's two shots and one pass to equalize the score in 90 minutes. Then, they relied on extra time to finally lift the UEFA Super Cup. This was also Liverpool's third UEFA Super Cup in history.
Li Ang did not watch that game. After leaving Sporting de Gijón, he did not watch Sporting de Gijón's games. Watching the team that had left a deep impression on him would only make him sad.
Sporting de Gijón had many players transfer out this summer. Juan Carlos, Juan Mata and Luca Modric followed Li Ang to Inter Milan.
Ivanovic went to Chelsea.
Grosso went to Juventus.
Pepe went to Real Madrid.
The veteran player, Hierro, chose to retire.
Benzema was bought back by Lyon at a high price.
Eight key players left!
However, Venita withstood the pressure and kept Ribéry, Dinatale, and Milito, the three most popular players in the transfer market. She barely managed to preserve a trace of vitality for Sporting Gihon.
The departure of these players brought in a huge transfer income of more than 100 million euros for Sporting de Gijón. Manuel Arango took out 40 million euros for Antić to recruit. If it were an ordinary team, 40 million euros would be a good transfer fund. However, for Sporting de Gijón, who had lost too many key players, even if they brought in many players to supplement their strength, the Spanish football world was not optimistic about Sporting de Gijón after Li Ang's era. They directly excluded this team from the competition for the league title. Obviously, the miracle of Sporting de Gijón created by Li Ang could only happen once! If Li Ang was still the manager of Sporting de Gijón, the Spanish media might still have some expectations for Sporting de Gijón. But now, they were not optimistic about this defending champion team. There would not be another dark horse miracle in the future!
The Sporting de Gijón youth team that Li Ang had built with his own hands could be said to have collapsed …
PS: Second update. It's past two o 'clock in the evening. Sorry for the long wait. Thank you, thank you. Thank you for the reward from my famous cat sauce.
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