Ender's Football

The victory of the World Cup has turned Germany into a sea of ​​joy this month-literally, no matter which city you go to or which neighborhood you are in, as long as you walk on this land, you can always see Celebrating the World Cup win.

Returning heroes from Brazil attended a celebration in Berlin, and "Manuel" and "Bastian" were often mentioned by parents when their babies were named this month.

Ender watched the celebration on TV, it was very lively, and the fans were also very enthusiastic.However, every time he sees the gleaming golden Hercules Cup, there will always be a picture of a white football rushing into the net like a cannonball, rippling a white wave in front of his eyes.

——That goal still fascinates him to this day.

After August, as time went by, the heat of the World Cup finals gradually began to cool down, and the German domestic football league is about to start a new season.

Bayern Munich is the big player who has contributed the most international players. Of course, Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Leverkusen and other traditional powerhouses also have international players who have just returned from Brazil.The international players have been on vacation and restorative training throughout August. Now, they need to forget the glory when they won the Hercules Cup and start preparing for the following games.

In September, the Bundesliga started first, and then the second, third and regional leagues under the first division also started one after another.

Ander's current Uwensburg U13 belongs to the state of Baden-Württemberg, and is participating in the D-Jugend league.This level of league is played in each state, and the most famous football club in Baden is Stuttgart.The youth training of this red and white team has always been at the top level in the country, and it has trained many stars*, the most famous of which is the "Golden Bomber" Klinsmann, and the talented boy Hildebrand who was once placed on high hopes .

Unfortunately, Uwensburg U13's opponent in the first game was Stuttgart U13.

On the training ground, Coach Tierner is assigning tasks to the boys one by one.

"Nathan, why didn't you try to pass the ball forward in the game just now? There were actually a few good chances - if you pass the ball forward to Ender, he is likely to bring the ball into the penalty area and finish Shot!"

"Grande, our strong little boy, did a great job today! But I think you can try to practice your dribbling more, don't you think?"

"Ender, good boy," when talking about Ender, Coach Tierner slowed down his tone, and his words became as simple as possible, "I like your aggressiveness, but you need to practice your left hand more. Feet!"

After several months of study and practice in daily life, Ender can already understand some simple sentences and vocabulary.He pointed to his left foot with a questioning expression, and coach Tierner nodded with a smile, indicating that what he heard was correct.

This is the end of today's training session. The boys cheered and ran to the locker room covered in sweat.

The little curly Nathan ran ahead, while Ender and Grande were dragged at the end of the large group.

"We have a game the day after tomorrow," Grande said. "I wish I could start."

Grande is tall, and his arms are thicker than Ender's. He is the type that is often seen in school TV dramas and will engage in school bullying with small groups.But this boy is actually more introverted, not particularly cheerful.

On the first day Ender came here, Grande took the initiative to act as an interpreter between Ender and Curly. At that time, Ender thought that he wanted to make friends, but then gradually discovered that Grande might I just want to use them to practice English... The idea of ​​making friends is purely sentimental.

Of course, they're friends now.So this "self-indulgent sentimentality" can be regarded as a good result.

Ander smiled at Grande, and did not respond to his starting topic, but asked him: "Have you played against Stuttgart U13 before? Are they very strong?"

"Well... that's hard to say," Grande explained, "our youth team is different from the adult team...the lineup will not be fixed every year, and the youth team will not With that much of a financial gap, some players who play well are likely to be promoted quickly to higher ranks, so the meaning of 'strong' is kind of fluid..."

Ender understood that after Grande explained such a long paragraph, he was actually answering "I don't know" in disguise.

"So, can I bring my family to the game the day after tomorrow?" he asked another question.

If Grande thought a little more, he could see Ender's ambition here.He himself was just praying for Coach Tierner to let him start, but Ender asked very affirmatively, as if he would definitely start the day after tomorrow, and wanted his family to watch the game live.

But Grande didn't think much about this, he said: "Of course! Our youth team games don't need tickets, just enter the field directly-the coach actually welcomes parents to watch the game, and can also serve as a cheerleader , you can also ask your father and mother to take more pictures of you!"

"Understood, thank you, Grande." Ender didn't correct his words. His father's death was a scar in his heart, and he didn't want to mention it again and again because of other people's slips of the tongue.

*

After An De got home, he told Li Mei and Stanzel at the dinner table that he was going to play the game. The two parents were very excited and decided to take Helena to watch the game together.

"I have the Uwensburg jersey!" Stanzel is undoubtedly the most excited one in the family, "I bought it several years ago! Uwensburg was still in the Bundesliga at that time! Our striker at that time was the No. 7 leather Puth, he used to be in Dortmund's youth training, but Dortmund didn't give the boy a chance, so he went to Kaiserslautern - you should have heard the name, the team that created the myth * - where Pip Si played well, so we brought him back to the Bundesliga from the Bundesliga... oh..."

As he talked, his voice changed from excitement to nervousness, and the volume became smaller.

Ender was still waiting for him to finish telling the story. Seeing that Stanzel was silent, he blinked, his eyes full of doubts: "And then?"

The old god Helena put down the spoon in her hand on the ground, and sighed: "Whenever Dad shows this look, it's usually screwed up."

Dismantled by his daughter, Stanzel smiled awkwardly: "...Later...It's true that Peeps didn't perform very well," he hesitated and added, "But he still had some problems when he first transferred. Goal, so I have a jersey from his year..."

Helena is very shameless: "But this can't change the fact that you bought a loser's jersey."

"Helena!" Ender interrupted his sister. He called Helena's name with a serious expression, "You can't call an athlete a 'loser' just because he didn't perform well."

Ander has been cautious since he was brought home by Li Mei, and his words are very gentle. Helena has never seen him so serious.

The little girl is still not used to this "brother" who came from afar talking to her like this, and her world has its own set of logic, which cannot be easily persuaded.

"What I'm saying is the truth, it's just that adults don't want to admit it," she pouted, "There's never a No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3 in football matches, there's only the champion, or nothing. "

Ender froze for a moment, he knew that his sister was a young genius, but he didn't expect that she was only 6 years old, but she could tell such a cold and cruel fact clearly and accurately.

It was the first time he looked at this younger sister seriously, as if he had never met her before.

Then, Ender lowered his voice, and said in English as calmly as possible: "Helena, think about it, if you participated in a competition in school and didn't get No. 1, and the teacher told you, all except No. Children other than 1 are 'losers', will you be happy?"

"I've always been No. 1," Helena said, "all the games."

Ender laughed angrily at the little girl's cold big boss, and pulled the corner of his mouth.

However, Helena stood up immediately: "Why are you laughing?" She said it in German, fearing that Ender might not understand, and then repeated it in English, "I am just stating a fact, and you must If you want to correct me, you are unreasonable, and I am not happy."

After she finished speaking, she turned around and left, Li Mei didn't stop her.

After Helena left, Li Mei and Stanzel looked at each other, while Ender rubbed his forehead with a headache.

He knew that he shouldn't mess with her today, but he didn't want Helena to look at the world with the way of thinking of the jungle at a young age, so he couldn't help correcting——

But why is Helena so angry?He felt that his attitude was very gentle, he was not angry, and he didn't speak particularly loudly?

"I didn't mean to," Ender explained to Li Mei and Stanzel, "I just..."

Stanzel patted him on the shoulder: "It's okay, Ender, you did a good job in this matter, and I also hope that you and Helena can communicate more. Brother and sister are like this, it's better to be noisy."

To reassure Ander, he smiled and squeezed his eyes: "When I was young, I used to fight with my brothers at home! It's normal!"

Li Mei also comforted him: "Helena has always been a very thoughtful kid, next time I hook up, let you talk, okay? Now you should prepare for the competition first."

However, it seems that from this family turmoil, Ander fell into a vicious circle of "not going well".

Stanzel put on his own Uwensburg jersey and took Li Mei to watch Ender's first game as scheduled, but their children did not appear on the field.

——On the bench next to the court, Ender sat next to another boy, watching the game on the court with his chin resting, his eyes a little pitiful.