Ender's Football

(1)

Ender didn't know what happened in the office. He was still immersed in the joy of growing taller, and he wanted to tell everyone he knew about his height.

Little curly Nathan was so annoyed that he looked up at the sky, unlovable and indifferent to Ender's excitement.

Grande escaped because he was too tall - he had grown to 1.7 meters [-], and Ender had to look up at him when facing Grande, which made the boy feel uncomfortable when discussing with Grande. Height issues are of no interest.

"Seriously, Ender, why are you so happy?" Nathan said. "Come on, even if you grow taller, you're still the shortest of us."

His words were straightforward and merciless.

Ender poked a bunch of his curly hair, not angry at all, and said with a smile: "Nathan, you are about the same height as me, so stop attacking each other, we should team up to deal with Grande! No matter how tall he is, he will kick you." If he is no longer in the midfield, the coaching staff may put him on the back line."

Although on the football field, there is no saying that height corresponds to what position, there is still an unwritten convention about height in the process of training and competition.

For example, defenders and goalkeepers are mostly tall, because goalkeepers need to catch high and low blocks in front of the goal. If they are tall enough, it will help them pick up high-altitude balls; the same is true for defenders, who have good jumping ability or are slightly taller. Defenders generally have good headers and anti-aircraft abilities, and many teams will value this.Of course, there are exceptions—

"Ram is only 1.7 meters, but he is the best full-back in the world. *" Grande said.

Philipp Lahm is the double captain of the German national team and Bayern Munich. He is only 1.7 meters tall and even got the nickname "Squirrel" because he looks too small on the field, but he shines in the position of full-back , Leading both Bayern and the German team to the strongest championships in their respective fields.

Nathan agreed with Grande's statement, nodded wildly, and the little curly hair dangled in the air. He added: "Messi is only 1.7 meters, but he can still dominate the game of football! *"

Ender looked at the two of them with a puzzled look on his face: "...Didn't I say that small people can't play football?"

He is just happy that he has grown taller.

"But you're pretty much glad you're finally getting rid of the 'little guy,'" Nathan reminded him. "We're about the same height, bro."

Ender explained: "Because Mr. Tierner told me that I can only play in the game when I grow to 1.6 meters five."

"There is still such a rule?" Nathan was incredulous.

Grande also came over, quite surprised: "Is this what Mr. Tierner requested? But I haven't heard of it before."

Except for his family members, Ender didn't tell anyone about this request before. Boys want to save face, and they don't want people of the same age to know that the reason why he didn't start the game is because he is short.

Now that he's grown to baseline, he can finally speak.

The three heads chatted together for a long time, and the assistant coach who was watching their warm-up from the side of the training ground came over and patted the three little heads one by one, telling the boys to stop chatting and concentrate on doing warm-up activities.

"Okay, okay!" the assistant said with a smile, "Nathan, Grande, Ender, you three, hurry up and do warm-up exercises! If you are still not well when Mr. Tierner comes out later, be careful to be punished by him Run around."

The three of them quickly closed their mouths, and suddenly the small place was as quiet as a chicken, except for the sound of everyone panting while warming up.

Ender put away the smile on his face, and began to do warm-up activities in a proper manner.

Since today is the weekend, the training time arranged by the team is a little longer than the working day, so after finishing the warm-up activities and daily training, they ushered in another training session of group confrontation.

Ender was assigned to the red vest team, with Grande in the same group as Nathan Curly's yellow team, and the two groups of boys began to confront each other from the sound of the whistle, and Ender faced the usual The defender combination that often starts in the game, he is not as strong and tall as the opponent, but he is more flexible than the opponent. Once he finds the opportunity, Ander will immediately jump in. In the middle of the game, he will cruise outside the penalty area, waiting for the opportunity to find the opponent's defender who breaks through Chances of blocking.

His playing posture is very freehand, with a special taste.

Many boys at this age like to show off, and Ender is no exception. Although he has reduced the frequency of his fancy moves, he still occasionally shows off his beautiful passing skills and good dribbling skills.

While he was running on the training ground, a middle-aged man came outside the training ground surrounded by barbed wire.

This man was Jack. He was standing on the edge of the field, observing the young players on the field with great interest. Ender was undoubtedly very eye-catching—he was a Chinese, and that was all he needed.

Jack watched silently for a while, then left the venue before Tierner caught sight of him.

The training match ended with Ender's 6:5.Grande passed him two assists today, adding bricks to Ander's goal. It is this score that occasionally makes people wonder whether the defensive levels of the two sides are evenly matched.

After returning to the locker room, Ender quickly took care of himself, tidied up his appearance, bid farewell to his teammates, and was ready to go home.

But what he didn't expect was that before he walked out of the block where the club's training base was located, someone stopped him, and the person who came was Jack who had just met in Coach Tierner's office.

"...Uncle?" Seeing him stopping him, Ander instantly raised his vigilance.

Jack really seemed to be kidnapping a child: "Hello, Ender, my name is Jack," he said, and prepared other props for kidnapping a child, "Can you try this? Milk-flavored lollipops, I Childhood favorite! Or do you want chocolate...?"

Ender didn't understand what he was trying to do by coming over suddenly and giving him snacks all of a sudden. His thinking was very simple, he was courteous for nothing, rape or steal, so he politely rejected the other party's offer immediately.

Jack did not show the frustration of being rejected, and still introduced himself to Ender with a smile: "I am the grandson of Chairman Schwartz, Jack."

Ender nodded. When he was in the office just now, he could tell that the middle-aged bearded man knew Schwartz, but he didn't know the specific relationship between them. Now that he knew they were grandparents, it was not surprising at all. .

But what Jack said next made Ender's eyes widen.

— "I think... maybe I can be your agent. You should have a professional agent."

(2)

Ender stared at the man in front of him. He hadn't turned his head around and didn't understand what the other party meant by "agent". , bought two large sodas, and asked him to sit down on the open-air table in front of the coffee shop.

Ender: ...

Ender: "You're pretty quick."

He sincerely sighed, not being eccentric, nor did he have any sense of irony, but simply expressed a very sincere... admiration for Jack's actions.

Sitting on the chair, the man who took a big sip of soda grinned: "Thank you."

So Ender had no choice but to sit down, grabbed the glass of soda the man gave him, and took a deep breath as if venting his anger. The bubbles generated by the carbon dioxide exploded in his mouth, and a refreshing taste came out of his throat. , a large amount of sugar started from the tip of the tongue to the center of the brain, and Ender couldn't help but picked up the cup and took another big gulp.

Jack thought it was funny and asked him: "Don't your family let you drink soda on weekdays, kid?"

Ender glanced at him, thinking the question was strange, and he said, "I'm an athlete. Have you ever seen an athlete drink high-sugar soda all day long?"

"Athletes don't mean they need to drink all the time," Jack said. "And Ender, have you seen those boys from South America? I think so, after all, your U13 Nathan is—at the age of 20 In the past, these geniuses from South America didn’t drink soda, even if they were having a good time at nightclubs, dating// having sex, engaging in extreme sports, even joining gangs, taking drugs//products... Their physical fitness and talents are enough for them to enjoy themselves I wasted my youth, and many stars who are not self-disciplined can join the giants and play in the eyes of everyone..."

Ender shrugged: "What you said is a special case, and what you said will make me doubt your professionalism as an agent."

Jack smiled: "So I admire you, Ender, you think self-discipline is a good thing, which is very good, this is what all our professional agents most hope our players can do."

His articulation focuses on the word "occupation" to emphasize his identity.

"Then what do you want to say?" Ender didn't want to talk too much about self-discipline to Jack, and was a little annoyed that he didn't get to the point for a long time, so he frowned slightly.

Jack finally got to his point: "Of course I'm convincing you to choose me as your agent, good boy."

Ender shook his head inwardly.

——He doesn't think he needs an agent at this stage. First of all, these agents don't give him a good impression. Many agents can brag about the hype before signing the contract, but they mess around after signing the contract; secondly, as a For a player, Ander didn't think that the agent would be of much help to the player's development. No matter how well-connected and capable they were, but the clients in their hands were not good enough, could they still play to help the player play football?In the end, Ender felt that he didn't have any work to be done by an agent... Think about it, how old is he?Most of the boys at this age are still in the youth training camp and have not received professional football training at all. Their real career in the future may not necessarily be football. Many of them may apply for university and finally go to another a road...

He opened his mouth to reject the other party.

But Jack seemed to know that he was going to refuse, and before he could speak, he preemptively said: "Don't rush to refuse me, Ender, you should also listen to what I have to say to you first."

Ender shut his mouth, and gestured to him to speak.

Jack nodded with a satisfied smile, and then began to talk freely: "I heard that you just came to Uwensburg U13, then you may not know that in Europe, many young players will have their own agents— —Have you heard of those players who have been transferred to the youth training of many clubs at the age of 12 or 13? If there is no agent, how do they deal with their contracts? Also, you can think about these questions: For example, when a young player When he wants to transfer from the Uwensburg youth training to Arsenal, there is no agent, who will negotiate the transfer with Uwensburg for him, and who will negotiate salary, accommodation, school, life, etc. for him with Arsenal What's the problem?"

"...I think my family can do these things for me." Ender said uncertainly.

Jack shook his head, what he was waiting for was Ender's words, and when he heard the words, he showed that "I knew it" expression.

"Oh, boy," he exclaims exaggeratedly, "you know, all the players who got screwed over by their families think that way."

Ender raised his eyebrows, a little in disbelief.

Jack continued: "I'm just saying that, you may not believe it, let's give an example! It's a player signed by our company not long ago. He is very talented. I'm not exaggerating. If it wasn't for his father Gambling squandered all his salary, you will definitely see him in the list of this year's Golden Boy Awards. This gentleman's previous agent was his father, he trusted his father and handed over all his deposits and contracts to him Come to take care of it, but in the end? His father greedily asked for signing fees and even loyalty bonuses when negotiating with the club, and the money and his salary were used on the gaming table without him knowing anything about it.”

Ender let out a "wow" in his heart.

He had never heard such a story.At their age, when boys talk about the lives of players, they are more concerned about the luxury cars and mansions of those stars, their exaggerated annual salaries and transfer fees, or the sneakers they collect, and those who look very different. Cool sunglasses and clothes.Unless they are fans of a certain star, few people will care about their family. Everyone is used to laughing at the lace of the "Sun" and is accustomed to pornographic news, but they don't care much about whether the star's father and mother are Their agents, let alone think about their incompetence.

"...so, when that player learned about his father," Jack's story continues, "it is conceivable that he fell into a long period of confusion, and his state on the court was also visible to the naked eye. He didn't understand why the person he trusted most messed up his life and career, and he didn't even know how to solve that huge debt-but soon he knew, because He found our company."

"Wow." Ender sighed this time.

Jack smiled reservedly, sat on the chair and bowed, very proud: "Yes, yes, it was we who helped him solve the debt problem, helped him renegotiate and sign a good contract with the club, and we We helped him re-plan his investment plan, found a reliable investment manager, and we even helped him buy insurance to prepare all the guarantees for his future—this job, no need to be amazed, this is the existence of professional brokers meaning."

Ender seemed convinced by him, and asked, "So, this... sir?"

He suddenly remembered that he didn't know the other party's last name, so he hesitated.

"Jack Schwartz," Jack introduced himself again, "please just call me Jack, as all my clients call me so affectionately."

"Well, Uncle Jack..." Ender said, "I admit that your story is very moving, and a professional agent also plays a big role, but I don't have a father who is addicted to gambling, and I don't need to negotiate a contract with the club. , I’m only 13 years old, and I’m not even 5 years old enough to sign an adult contract.”

He looked at each other with very sincere eyes, but his demeanor was very calm, and he didn't even look like an ignorant child at all.

Jack suddenly felt that the boy in front of him was very contradictory. Sometimes, he was a 13-year-old kid who would break into the head coach's office and cheer loudly because of his growth, and sometimes he seemed too...precocious, It seems that I have experienced more than my peers.

"No, you need it, Ender." Jack said categorically, for children, he has his way of speaking, but for precocious children, it's another way, "Have you thought about it, you might not go well From Uwensburg U13 to U15, or U17, U19, the second team...Of course, there may be exceptions, but you should know in your heart that most of the children who play with you in the youth academy are not I will be with you to the end, you will suddenly part ways one day, and then scattered all over the country, some people will be buried in the low-level leagues, and will be unknown from then on, and some people may work hard to become the Bundesliga and Bundesliga. The professional players in the league, some of them will even rise to the top and play for Bayern, or those giant teams in the Premier League and La Liga—”

"What we have to do is to give you a choice. If you can't join the Uwensburg second team, then it doesn't matter, we will recommend you a team that suits you, so that you can play and maintain a good state , get ready to join the professional league in the future... We have a lot of contacts across the country, and we will recommend your profile to scouts in various clubs, so that you have the opportunity to try out... If you perform well, the gate of the giants Let us open it for you."

Ender had to admit that Jack's words completely hit his heart.

He had seen cruel stories.

His football school classmates in the motherland, although some of them are very talented, in the end it is very likely that they will only rely on the specialty of football to add a few points in the college entrance examination, and then follow the ideal trajectory of their parents to study, work, and work in a regular manner. Get married and have children; Some talented teenagers in the Lokomotiv Moscow youth training camp have stopped practicing due to family difficulties, and some may never step out of the Russian league in their entire lives; those children on the grass in Ukraine are already at a very young age After the division of the whole country and the fire of shells...

And his life is much better than these, at least he still has the possibility to continue his dream, and his life has not been interfered by outside disturbances.

But Ander still can't relax. What Jack said is right. Although he has successfully entered Uwensburg U13, there are at least thousands of such youth training teams in Germany. They can play well now. It is only the league in the southern region. In the north, there is the famous Werder Bremen youth training team; in the west, there are youth training teams such as Leverkusen, Schalke 04, Bochum, etc.; Those kids who are more talented, those kids who work harder than him... If he can't climb up in the elimination-based youth training, then what is waiting for him is to fall, and then smash it in his hands dream.

Jack saw that he was shaken and stopped talking, handed him a business card, smiled and said, "Okay boy, take this back to your parents, I think I should talk to them more, so You can also rest assured that I can never be some bad person who wants to meet your parents."

Ender took the business card and glanced at it. It said [(FantasySports) Fantasy Sports Company, Jack's agent], his perception of Jack changed from reliable to unreliable in an instant, and he squinted his eyes to look again. The man who had just said something in a majestic manner asked in confusion, "Fantasy? Sports?"

"Oh," Jack sighed, covered his face and said, "Yes, don't laugh, our company is indeed called this, it's the name given by our boss - every time I go out, I don't want to introduce where I work , for a reason."

After he finished speaking, he quietly moved his hand covering his face up, revealing one eye, and looked at Ender: "You can go to Google our company, I'm serious, kid, it's not an April Fool's joke .”

Ender looked down at the business card again, still feeling unreliable, but he didn't ask any more questions, put the business card in his pocket, and said to Jack, "I'll show it to my family. ,I'm leaving."

"Goodbye," Jack said, but he sat back in his chair, ready to order another drink.

Here they bid farewell.