i am beckham

Chapter 393 "David's free kick level is just like that!"

In the last game of the first half of the Premier League, Manchester United was tied 1-1 away by Chelsea.

At the end of the game, Manchester United did not return to Manchester, but flew directly from London to Tokyo. The team will have 3 days to adjust in Tokyo.

They will face Brazil's Vasco da Gama in the Toyota Cup in Tokyo.

As the highest platform for confrontation between European and South American clubs, the Toyota Cup has gained worldwide attention.

Since these two continents represent the top level of international football, the Toyota Cup is regarded as the summit battle of world clubs.

The predecessor of the Toyota Cup was the Intercontinental Cup, which was founded in 1960. At that time, the game adopted a home and away two-round competition system, but it was not officially recognized. In the 20s, there was a fan riot in the Intercontinental Cup. Several European champions decided to boycott the Intercontinental Cup and replace it with runners-up who were willing to participate.

1974年，顶替拜仁参赛的马德里竞技以2:1的总比分击败阿根廷独立，夺得冠军。75和78年洲际杯则根本没有举行。

Nottingham Forest, the European champions in 1980, simply refused to go to the away game, saying that the English stadium was hot, and the hotness of the South American fans even made the English team a little overwhelmed.

Seeing that the competition was about to fail, the organizers had no choice but to change the competition to a third country, and the competition method was simplified to a game to determine the outcome.

At that time, the organizers hoped to place the competition in Los Angeles, but the Americans were not very interested in this unprofitable event, and they simply refused.

Seeing that the United States was unwilling to take over the offer, the island country's Toyota company decisively applied to FIFA to hold the Intercontinental Cup in the island country, and paid 100 million US dollars to buy the naming rights of the Intercontinental Cup for 23 years, so the Toyota Cup was officially born.

The shrewd book businessman found an entry point using football as an advertising carrier at an appropriate time, successfully promoted himself and expanded his influence.At that time, the commercial development of the European Champions Cup was not sufficient. Under the concept of South America and Europe's peak confrontation, sponsors provided relatively generous bonuses, and the best player could also get a Toyota car, making the game quite attractive to both sides.

Of course, after the full commercialization of European football, the lucrative bonuses at that time have lost their temptation.

The prize money for the winner is only about a million dollars. It is really not attractive to distribute this money to everyone in the team.

In the first Toyota Cup, the organizer gave the participating teams an appearance fee of about 6 pounds, which could greatly improve the lives of the players at that time.

Coupled with the intercontinental rivalry between the two participating parties, the Toyota Cup is known as the pinnacle battle of clubs all over the world.

And this year, Beckham has never heard of money being mentioned again, and the prize money provided by the tournament organizing committee is really not worth mentioning.

Others don't care, and Beckham even less.

After tossing here with the team for several days, the winning bonus is not as much as his weekly salary.

As long as he is willing, the cost of taking one day to shoot an advertisement is enough to win the Toyota Cup championship prize for several years.

The prize money of the game is not as gimmick as the Toyota car rewarded by the event organizer to the best player.

Although a car is not very attractive in the eyes of professional players, it cannot stand the reward mechanism: it is distributed to the best players.

Of the more than 20 players played by the two teams, only one person can drive the car away. This is the magic of this car.

Men are extremely competitive creatures, especially professional footballers.

The value of the prize is not important, but the honor.

The team that gets the car must be the best team on the winning side, and that's enough.

Men, what they want is face, what they want is dignity.

So Beckham is also ready to fight. The most wonderful part of this prize is the process of getting it. How to deal with it after getting it is actually not very important.

Compared with ten years ago, the essence of the Toyota Cup is the competition for the strongest clubs.

Beckham still has all the Toyota Cup videotapes at home. In his youthful impression, those teams representing South America were as terrifying as monsters. The skills of those South American players are so good that people feel that they are unbelievably good. Some of the improvisational moves Beckham has not been able to complete so far.

South American teams won the first five championships. In the sixth year, Juventus and Boca Juniors staged a classic confrontation. The two teams "fighted" in the first half and scored 2 goals in the second half. The Italian team ended the monopoly of South Americans in this event through a penalty shootout.

Beckham was only 12 years old that year, but he still clearly remembers his excitement.The night after the game, he tossed and turned in bed, fantasizing that he was the hero who beat the South American team.

The following year, Porto and Uruguay's Penarol fought a thrilling battle in the snow, with an stoppage-time goal from the Portuguese champions killing the game.

In 1988, PSV Eindhoven and Uruguay Nacional entered extra time, and Nacional fought hard to equalize after being scored in extra time.Beckham felt like his heart was about to jump out. He had no idea how the Uruguayan could still play in this situation.

Later, AC Milan in its heyday won two championships in a row, and lost to South American teams twice in a row in the following games.

During this period, Sao Paulo's artistic football and Milan's tragedy were staged alternately, continuing the popularity of the Toyota Cup. AC Milan, who replaced Marseille in 1993, stumbled on Sao Paulo and made a comeback the following year, but Sarsfeld made an upset by relying on counterattack tactics.

Later, Ajax played a match with the brutal Gremio team that was equivalent to League One. European clubs won for three years in a row, which coincided with the commercialization of European football.

Although the European champions have won the Toyota Cup for three years in a row, South America still leads the overall record 10-8.

The English media believes that the probability of the two teams winning is basically 51-49, and some newspapers are even as accurate as [-]% to [-]%.

Ferguson laughed angrily when he saw such a report: "F**k, does this mean that we have actual management rights!"

Under such a comparison of strength, the pressure on Manchester United can be imagined.

The strength of the two teams is basically the same, and the European teams have won three times in a row. If Manchester United loses the game, it will definitely become the laughing stock of the whole of Europe.

Ferguson attaches great importance to this game. After he came to Tokyo from the team, he has not let the players leave the hotel: "Either train, or stay in the hotel, or get out!"

Beckham can clearly feel the pressure and excitement of the old man, which is reflected in the obvious increase in "F**k" on the training ground.

In addition, as a representative of South America, Da Gama Lopez does not feel that his team is inferior to Manchester United.

"Manchester United? I don't know very well."

"Are they an England team? They beat everyone with long balls?"

"My God, this is unbelievable! European football is back to primitive times?"

"How do you evaluate David's free kick? Hehe, to be honest, his free kick level is really average."

"I'm not bragging, the reason why you pursue him is entirely because there are too few players in Europe who can take free kicks!"

"In Brazil, 80% of the players are good at free-kicks. There are a lot of goalkeepers who are better than your David!"

"Which of our free kicks is the best? It's hard to say. You can pay attention to Juninho. This kid plays well."

"You'll believe me when you see his free-kicks. That David is really average, but I think he's a good lad, a nice guy."

(End of this chapter)