I Want to Be the King of Football

The northwestern suburb of Valencia, Spain, the small town of Paterna.

Valencia's sports city is located in this beautiful rural town, adjacent to the surrounding wealthy villas.

Three low training buildings, seven standard football fields, several small football fields and fragmented fields, Valencia from the first team to the youth echelon, all gathered in this sports city for training.

At this moment, Valencia coach Benitez is sitting in the office of the first team training building, watching the game video on TV intently, all about a player No. 36.

Sporting Lisbon's Sudong!

Benitez looked very attentive, as if he was immersed in the game screen, and even his right-hand men came to the office and sat down beside him, he did not notice.

Anyone who knows him knows that this is the real Benitez.

He is always like this, not obsessed, but constantly thinking and deducing all kinds of possibilities.

It wasn't until the video was played that Benitez sighed unsatisfactorily and noticed the arrival of his assistants.

coming.

Benitez glanced at his assistants and motioned them to look at a player report submitted by a club scout in front of him. He leaned back and reached out to rub his astringent eyes.

Su Dong, 18 years old, currently ranks first in the Portuguese Super League scorer list, and is also tied for first in the assists list.

As soon as Benitez's voice fell, the chief assistant coach Paco Yesterdam was a little surprised, Only eighteen years old?

Well. Benitez replied with certainty.

It's not easy. Yesterdam praised.

The Portuguese Super League has not been very good in recent years. The European rankings are relatively low, so that their champion teams cannot directly enter the Champions League group stage, but are forced to play the external qualifiers.

To be honest, this is no longer a second-tier league in Europe, or even close to third-tier.

Of course, it seems that this year, the Portuguese Super League team is very competitive in the UEFA Cup. The defending champions Sporting Lisbon, Porto and Boavista who failed to play in the Champions League group stage have all entered the UEFA Cup round of 16.

Obviously, the Portuguese Super League team also knows in their hearts that if they don’t earn more points in the European competition, they may lose their qualification for the third round of the Champions League qualifiers, and the situation will be even worse.

And Su Dong is a player from the defending champion Lisbon Sports.

This kid has been getting a lot of attention recently, said scout Eduardo Marcia.

Benitez looked at the chief scout, Did you know him?

Marcia nodded, I've watched the videos a few times, and I feel pretty good and very characteristic. He is 1.95 meters tall, and his physical confrontation is also good, but the main reason is that he is very fast and has superb skills under his feet, which makes his The characteristics are very comprehensive, a bit like the Swedish center Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Ajax.

Ibrahimovic is one of the recognized talent rookies in European football and can be compared with him, which is also an affirmation of Sudong's ability and potential.

Some say he looks like Batistuta, some say he looks like Kluivert, and now you say he looks like Ibrahimovic...

As he spoke, a smile appeared on the corner of Benitez's mouth.

He didn't like laughing very much, but he really thought it was funny.

These guys don't have his speed and explosiveness. Benitez made a judgment.

Marcia thought for a while and nodded.

Whether it's Batistuta or Kluivert, including rookie Ibrahimovic, these people are not speed players, but Sudong's speed and explosiveness are very fast.

This is very interesting.

...

Valencia's La Liga title last season was somewhat lucky.

His own strength is not very strong, nor does he perform very well,

It was more because of problems with rivals such as Real Madrid, Deportivo and Barcelona, ​​which led to the Bat Legion winning the championship.

Even behind the champions, Valencia's own problems are clearly exposed, that is, offense.

As the La Liga champion, Valencia scored only 47 goals, tied for seventh in La Liga. This is definitely a bad performance. If the team's defense was not strong, this championship would not have been won at all.

Therefore, Benitez's focus this season is on strengthening the team's offense. He has tried centers such as Carew, Mista, Sanchez, and Salva. He also beat Basel 6-2 in the Champions League. He scored eleven goals in three rounds and ten goals in four rounds of the league.

But soon, Valencia's offense once again fell into a quagmire.

There is no problem with the defense, there is no problem with the organization of the midfield, and there is a slight problem with the flank in the frontcourt, but the most serious problem is the center.

Although Carew, Mista, Sanchez and Salva are all superior in strength and have more prominent advantages, their shortcomings are equally obvious.

The center that Benitez wants is the kind of center who can contain the back line, can respond to the two flanks, can retreat to respond to the midfield, and at the same time can insert the attack in the back row. .

But these characteristics are actually contradictory.

For example, dropping back to meet the midfielder and plug in the attack, which requires speed.

But fast players are often difficult to suppress the opponent's defense, because they are thin and not good at power confrontation.

There are no shortage of fast, strong centers, but they are often rough and cannot work with wing players such as Vicente, and some even have poor ability to seize opportunities in front of the goal.

Benitez has heard more than once that he is too demanding of the center. He is not static, but constantly adjusts his tactics to adapt to the characteristics of several centers in the team.

Until he saw Su Dong.

The young marshal of Porto is also very interested in him. You two have very similar tastes. Yesterdam laughed.

Benitez and Mourinho have met. In addition to being opponents, they have also met in some UEFA coaches' exchange activities. After all, they are both new coaches, and the two are vaguely tit for tat.

This is the future center model. Benitez said with great certainty.

That would be troublesome. Marcia rubbed her hands together and smiled wryly.

Benitez was stunned and looked at his right-hand man.

As far as I know, at least half of the four major league teams are watching him now, some can't wait to test, some are waiting for the opportunity, and some are ready to pick up leaks at any time. Frankly speaking, we don't have much advantage, and We didn't have a huge transfer budget this summer.

This summer is Valencia's presidential election year, and the two major candidates are desperately building momentum.

One said to bring in Trezeguet, the other threatened to bring in Ruud van Nistelrooy; one said to bring back Mendieta, and the other declared that he wanted to buy the talented Spanish winger Joaquin...

But no one can give a specific number. In the end, how much transfer budget does the team have this summer?

Since the president of Real Madrid, relying on Figo, defeated Sanz to be elected president, the presidential elections of Spanish clubs have never lacked stars, and the two candidates of Valencia have been inferior by comparison.

Eduardo. Benitez looked at the chief scout, You find a time, go to Lisbon to see for yourself, to understand his situation, it is best to observe a game or two to see if he is as reported and recorded. as in.

Reports are unreliable, and game video highlights may not be reliable, so in many cases, club selection still has to be watched live.

Okay, I'll prepare. Marcia agreed.

And Quaresma. Benitez thought temporarily.

Marcia smiled wryly, what a big problem.

It goes without saying that Sudong is very popular now, and Quaresma is equally popular. It is said that Barcelona is the one who is chasing the most fiercely, and they want to bring this new Figo to Camp Nou.

Although there is a precedent for Simao's failure, who dares to say that Quaresma will not succeed in Barcelona?

…………

…………

Two days later, Alcocheti in Lisbon.

After the team finished training, Su Dong and others still stayed behind to practice on their own.

This has become their daily routine.

Following the team training, everyone is together, it is difficult for Su Dong to have time to train his weaknesses and shortcomings. Only during extra training can he arrange some training items that he needs.

By the time the rehearsal was over, the sunset was approaching.

Everyone dragged their tired bodies back to the locker room, and Su Dong went to take a bath first.

In the middle of the wash, Tonito suddenly rushed in and shouted at Su Dong excitedly: Su, guess who I met just now?

After that, the kid ran out like crazy.

Covered in foam, Su Dong, who was so scared that he covered key parts, looked confused and almost yelled at him. You have met a ghost, so excited?

Guess who I met just now? Tonito's voice came from outside.

Seeing him like that, everyone asked curiously, but this fellow was still pretending to be mysterious and secretive.

It wasn't until Su Dong walked out wrapped in a bath towel that he walked to the head coach's seat and coughed twice, as if something big was about to be announced.

I see Eduardo Marcia!

Everyone was stunned.

Who is this?

Tonito was very embarrassed. After he finished speaking, he did not wait for the long-awaited surprise and discussion, but was silent.

It's embarrassing that everyone doesn't know each other!

Eduardo Marcia, don't you all know each other? Tonito was very depressed, this group of ignorant guys.

Speak directly, who is it? Ronnie laughed directly.

Valencia's chief scout, a capable player under Rafael Benitez.

The crowd understood.

But what does this have to do with you? Pepe wondered.

Valencia, Benitez, Marcia... Tonito found that the minds of these guys were really slow enough, he could only point out these few key words, and finally patted his chest, it was just a matter of time Didn't say, and me.

Where does everyone not know that this kid has a heart for Benitez and is bragging all day. When Benitez coached Tenerife, he almost bought him back. Now that he sees Marcia, he is probably thinking, Benitez After all, Si did not forget him, and thought of him again.

It's a bit like the feeling of a fostered little three who is expecting a man to come over for the night.

You die, they have Aimar. Ronnie pointed at Tonito angrily.

Tonyto didn't care and said with a smile: I can be a substitute for Aimar.

It seems that he not only can, but is very willing, and likes it.