long live football

On May 2006, 5, Gazzetta dello Sport published several clips of monitored phone calls by Turin prosecutors to Juventus general manager Moggi, exposing the fact that Moggi had manipulated the game through the designated referee, and Italian football sparked controversy. In the strong earthquake, Carraro, the president of the Italian Football Association, resigned, and the Juventus club board resigned collectively. The old woman was criticized by everyone in Italian football and even world football.

This is the prelude to the "Phonegate Incident" that will have a profound impression on Italian football in the future.Other Serie A teams took the opportunity to laugh and clamored to relegate Juventus and deprive them of the league championship for nearly two seasons, but their gloating did not last long. The follow-up investigation involved AC Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio, Udinese, Siena, Messina and even Serie B teams in this match-fixing scandal.

So far, almost no Italian team can prove that they are absolutely innocent, but Juventus is undoubtedly the one that has been exposed the most and will suffer the most severe punishment in the future.In the one-sided criticism and the continuous investigation and evidence collection by the procuratorate, Juventus is likely to be deprived of the league championship, relegated, deducted points for next season, or punished for several crimes in the future.

Juventus is the king of Italy, with countless superstars. Once the "Callgate incident" came out, what the fans were most worried about was that their favorite star had become fat in the eyes of other European tycoons——Zlatan Ibrahimo Vecchi, Vieira, Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro...even the team coach Capello may leave at any time because of this huge scandal.

Juventini's worries are not wrong. Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Chelsea, Manchester City...all the teams with rich financial resources in other leagues are eyeing them, waiting for the Italian football supermarket to open.

Even Karl is planning to increase the number of calls with club chairman Orr from once a week to two to three times a week.He had taken a fancy to several Serie A players before, but due to financial constraints and the reluctance of many Italian stars to leave their hometown to play, he failed to buy them.

But if they try again this summer, Carl thought, the difficulty should be greatly reduced.

……

On May 5, the national teams that entered the World Cup finals announced their respective 5-man rosters. In Spain and Germany, Portillo and Koch were honored to be selected.

Almost at the same time that Spanish coach Aragones announced his World Cup roster, Spanish national team captain Raul Gonzalez accepted an interview with "Marca" and expressed his welcome to Portillo, which was widely accepted by the outside world. It can be seen as a wooing of Portillo by the "centralized forces" within the Spanish national team-Spain has never been a united country, including football, the "centralized forces" headed by the Madrid team and Barcelona. China's "separatist forces" often stage extremely exciting infighting.

In order to maintain the balance of the locker room and prevent the team from making jokes about infighting in the World Cup, Aragones was extremely careful when selecting players. He recruited players from Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Atletico Madrid, Valencia The players are 4, 3, 4, and 4, achieving a delicate balance between the Madrid group and the local group-although Barcelona only has 3 players, which seems a bit small, but the central team recruited from Arsenal Field player Cesc Fabregas was born in the La Masia youth academy, and he can also be regarded as a member of the Catalan gang.

In this situation where the east wind and the west wind compete with each other, but no one can overwhelm the other, every new member is the target of the national team's efforts, such as Portillo.

But Aragones is not worried that Portillo will turn to Real Madrid to help suppress players from other forces, because the dirty things between the opponent and Real Madrid are known to the whole world.Aragones took a fancy to Portillo precisely because he felt that the opponent would not favor anyone, and he has the aura of the top scorer in the Bundesliga, which is also a good supplement to the strength of the national team.

In Germany, Koch's complex situation was not much better than that of Polti.

In the national team coach Klinsmann's squad, he abandoned the "Lion King" Kahn and switched to Jens Lehmann, who is currently playing for Arsenal, as the No. 1 goalkeeper.Lehmann is not only the same age as Kahn, but also inferior to Kahn in terms of domestic status and fame. The list has caused great controversy in Germany since it was announced.

As for Koch, the German media generally believe that Klinsmann wants to train him to succeed Kahn and Lehmann, because the latter two were born in 69 and are 37 years old this year, but Koch is like the sun rising. Not even the golden age of a career.

Bayern's main goalkeeper, the "Lion King" Kahn, was quite dissatisfied with the various arrangements of the national team coach. When a reporter from the "Munich Daily" interviewed him, he heard Kahn say: "The career of a goalkeeper can be played until the age of 40. I'm only 37, in my prime, and I don't feel that my status has declined, and I don't need to be replaced by anyone at all. But I fully respect Mr. Klinsmann's choice."

Lehman did not comment on this public statement, and neither did Koch.

The German national team coach Klinsmann also refused to be interviewed by reporters and responded with silence, which made the whole thing look quite delicate.

……

There used to be a phenomenon in German football called the "Kaiserslautern Myth".

This term contains a story: In 1997, Otto Rehagel, now known as "Otto the Great", took over the second division team Kaiserslautern. Returning to the Bundesliga, in the second year, this newly promoted polo team was pushed to the Bundesliga champion by him.Because this experience was too dreamy and exciting, people named it "Kaiserslautern Myth", which means an unrepeatable legend.

And now, this myth that people thought was impossible to stage a second time is about to reappear...

Yes, they imagined their team winning the Bundesliga, holding a salad plate at the Allianz Arena and engraving their name on it - but that mostly only happened in dreams.

Most fans of 1860 Munich still feel a little unreal. They stop their work and life this week, turn on the computer or go out of the house to buy a newspaper, check the latest Bundesliga standings on it, and use these channels to touch reality. Prove that you are not living in illusion.

The last league game of Munich 1860 had to go to Dortmund to play at the Iduna Park Stadium. Dortmund distributed about 3000 tickets to the visiting team, and each ticket was fired at a price ranging from 300 to 500 euros at the beginning of the game. .

The cheapest ticket price at Iduna Park Stadium can be bought for less than 10 euros, and the most expensive one bought by fans of Munich 1860 may cost dozens of times the original price, but even so, the ticket is still Demand exceeds supply.

Maybe many people can't understand "Isn't it the same to sit in front of the TV and watch the game, why do you have to go to the scene?"

But in the minds of many Munich 1860 fans, the most wonderful moment they think is to witness the team winning the cup with their own eyes. The feeling will be like witnessing history-this desire has been flowing in their blood for decades. , Euros or Marks cannot be blocked.

The preparations for Munich 1860 attracted the attention of half the city of Munich.Or the whole building.After all, their next-door team Bayern has not completely lost hope of winning the championship, and they may still be reversed in the final round... if the Lions make a mistake.

People feel that the Lions will use all their energy to prepare for the last league game. Maybe Karl Oston will also conduct a closed training camp, locking all players in the club and keeping them isolated from outside objects. The game doesn't want anything.

But it was at this time that Karl gave the team two days off.

Not only the media and fans, but also the whole club was full of surprises. The players thought they heard it wrong, until Karl repeated it to them again: "Yes, it's a holiday, two days after tomorrow. You can sleep in and spend time with your family. Party, do whatever you want, as long as you don't bother me with the team."

The players left with sleepwalking looks on their faces.

Assistant coach Garrard walked up to Carl: "I still don't understand why you give them a holiday at this time. Isn't it the most critical time for the three days before the game?"

"In the past half month, their nerves have been too tense." Carl looked at the players' leaving backs and said: "If they don't relax properly, I am worried that they will make a slight mistake in the game. You will be overwhelmed by your own pressure and worrying about what you will lose - you know how terrible Dortmund's home court is."

Garrard nodded knowingly.

During the two-day holiday, there is no way to take a long-distance trip. If you only spend it by eating and drinking, the players feel that it is too sinful.After discussing several times with several small groups, they decided to have a dinner, play a friendly match in the stadium in the community where Koch lives, and then watch the national team training together.

At the national team training base, they were caught by various media.

The reporter of "Süddeutsche Zeitung" asked Karl Oston why he gave the players a holiday at this time. Ozil shrugged and said: "We will never understand the boss's mind."

"Then besides not going to the training ground these two days, has Auston assigned you any other tasks?" The Bild reporter asked, "For example, watching game videos at home, studying opponents, etc.?"

Sven Bender shook his head: "If there is, we should just stay at home and watch the video instead of going to the stadium to watch the national team training."

Ogo interjected, "And we just went shopping and had lunch together this morning."

"How about Chinese food at night?" Koch suggested: "Or a buffet?"

Sven whispered: "I want to eat curry..."

Lars patted his head: "You will have diarrhea after eating, why don't you have a long memory? I vote for Chinese food."

"buffet."

Ozil raised his hand: "Anyone want to eat barbecue? I just bought a grill."

The self-discussion of the players ignoring the external environment made the media feel funny and uncomfortable. The reporter of "Kicker" asked the last question: "What do you think about the last league game with Dortmund? Are you sure?"

The young players suddenly became serious: "We will never embarrass the boss!" They vowed.

Several reporters looked at me and I looked at you, and suddenly understood what Carl Oston did: to give the team physical rest, psychological and spiritual satisfaction, when the players knew that they were being ruled by the head coach Those who love and care, how can they not work hard when it comes to competitions?

……

The Iduna Park stadium is so shocking, not only because of the fans, the yellow all over the area, but also because the sound of Dortmund fans singing the team song in the stands can be regarded as a sonic weapon , Even when the players walked into the aisle and were about to reach the door of the locker room, they could still hear clearly.

People can't help but wonder whether the sound insulation facilities of the stadium are in place.

"The construction of the stadium is very good, the quality is completely fine, and half of the stands will not collapse after kicking the ball." As if they could read their minds, the stadium staff who led the Munich 1860 coaches and players to the locker room joked: "Aren't you The first away team to look at the stadium with strange eyes, but the fans are so enthusiastic, they will give this courtesy to any visiting team - oh, yes. You are lucky, you two weeks ago When your city brother Bayern Munich is a guest, that’s called the devil’s home game!”

The words of the staff made the coaches and players lose their minds for a while...

1860 Munich and Bayern Munich are brothers in the same city?No, not that close. Two teams born in the same city are destined to become rivals, competing for fans, stadiums, sponsorships, etc. There are no two teams in the same city in the world who can really be like brothers .

But, your sworn enemy?The feud between the Lions and Bayern is actually not as deep as the Mariana Trench. Karl and Bayern coach Magath can chat a few words when they meet, and there are several players from the two teams who have personal relationships.

Or it is more appropriate to call "cousins ​​who love and kill each other", but I don't know if Bayern agrees with this point of view.

Before going to Dortmund, Karl had already done enough preparation work, so now he just explained the tactics to the players again, and after a short training session, he let them go out to warm up.

As soon as the locker rooms were opened, the sound of mountains roaring and tsunami came in, and the shaking of Munich 1860 made eardrums hurt up and down.

Dortmund fans, how are your vocal cords? ——Almost everyone has this question in their minds.

……

Making fun of the Munich 1860 coach's attire when there is nothing to talk about has become a new hobby of Bavarian radio commentator Gayner, and it has also become his current commentary feature.

When fans turn on the TV, as long as they hear words related to "Karl Oston" and "clothing", who is the commentator today, the answer is almost inseparable.

While the Dortmund and 1860 players were waiting for the kick-off, Gaynor moved the microphone closer to his mouth: "Osmartton was wearing an outfit that was worth half a year's salary of mine - small plaid Shirt in light gray base, vest in dark heather gray, trousers of the same color, I guess it was a three-piece suit, but since the weather is starting to heat up, the jacket should be in the locker room or on the coach bench. Crimson tie, dark Rose red square handkerchief... Well, here is a close-up, thank you. The tie is made of silk, this material is very eye-catching in summer... Another close-up, aimed at the wrist... Ha, golden amber cufflinks!" Gaynor suddenly screamed He groaned, as if he had discovered something surprising.

The fans in front of the TV followed the sound and found a pair of crystal clear round amber cufflinks inlaid with a very French style.

Some fans began to suspect that a clothing manufacturer (perhaps the brand Oston was wearing) gave Gaynor money, otherwise why would he keep staring at the other party's clothes?

"Since the last five league games, Oston has dressed the most formally in this game. Is he wearing such an expensive outfit, is he going to attend the celebration banquet without changing his clothes after winning the championship? ——If Munich 1860 can really play Win Dortmund."

"Or." Gaynor mused, "Is he using his clothes to show his confidence in winning the championship? Carl Alston, ha, let me think about it: a man who never speaks wildly to the media that he will win, A man who doesn't like to provoke his opponent, but he does want to win, so he chooses a more low-key, hidden behavior to show his ambition...I like it."

If it weren't for knowing that Gaynor is nearly 50 years old and has been married for more than 20 years and has many children, I am afraid that many fans would directly doubt his sexual orientation because of this sentence.

Gaynor yelled again.

Some fans covered their ears and muttered: "We've had enough of hearing you brag about Oston's dressing taste every week! It's like your wife has never bought you good clothes to wear... Either change it to ridicule, or Just stop making a fuss, you spoiler of beauty!"

But what surprised Gaynor this time was: "Angela Merkel appeared in the stadium and sat in the VIP box!"

The camera hastily scanned the VIP boxes of the stadium. In the Dortmund chairman's box, Merkel was sitting with the Dortmund chairman, the Munich 1860 chairman, the mayor of Dortmund, and the governor of Westphalia, having a good conversation.

Angela Merkel, the first female Chancellor in German history, has not been in office for more than a year since she took office in November last year.

It is not surprising that the German Chancellor came to the scene to watch the game. Former Chancellor Schroeder liked to use the power of fans to win votes.Merkel has also watched two Bundesliga games and two friendly matches with the German national team since she came to power. Although her performance has been ridiculed by the German media as a "show", it is undoubtedly the right choice-Merkel was elected as the prime minister At that time, the approval rating was not much ahead of her opponents, and this year was the World Cup year, if she didn't know how to please the fans at all, she would be stupid.

Dortmund's home game against Munich 1860, before the game, there was no media publicity that the German chancellor would come to watch the game, but now Merkel suddenly appeared in the stadium box... Many questions came to people's minds, of course The biggest of these is: Is Merkel supporting Dortmund or Munich 1860?