long live football

"At the 70th minute of the game, although Arsenal had an efficient ball possession rate, the rhythm on the field was still controlled by Manchester United. The current score is still 1:1."

"Arsenal attacking again! Ashley Cole passes to Vieira...Vieira cuts in...a cross!"

"Giggs header clear! He gave the ball to team-mate Neville."

"Gary Neville's scalpel-precision long pass! Scholes takes the ball and breaks from the left..."

"From the cooperation of Manchester United players on the field, we can see that they did not use a fixed player as the main offensive player, but every player may pose a threat to Arsenal's goal. I think this is exactly One of the reasons why Arsenal's defense feels a headache is that the Gunners' defense is not particularly strong, and now they can't devote too much energy to watching every Manchester United player..."

"Wenger has just used up Arsenal's last substitution, but the situation on the field has not changed at all."

"Ronaldo dribbled the ball inside! He passed the ball to Giggs on the left side of the penalty area... Giggs quickly followed up in the penalty area, and faced Arsenal goalkeeper Lehmann easily pushed the ball into the net..."

"The referee blows his whistle, the game is over!"

"2:1! Manchester United defeated Arsenal and successfully advanced to the 03-04 FA Cup final!"

"Professor Wenger was interviewed by reporters in the mixed zone. His expression was a bit unwilling. Arsenal's desire to double-kill Manchester United in the League Cup this season did not succeed. Although Arsenal are far ahead of Manchester United by 7 points in the league standings, but in the In this FA Cup semi-final, it is true that the Red Devils have a slight advantage over the Gunners."

"Although Manchester United have only won the last [-] of this Champions League, they have won consecutive victories in domestic cup competitions. The FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium next month will be played between Manchester United and the Championship. There is obviously a big gap between the strength of Miheer and the Red Devils, and Manchester United is likely to win the FA Cup again after five years."

The voice of Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray suddenly became cheerful: "A quick news! The official website of the Manchester United club has just updated a message that Sir Alex Ferguson and Ruud van Nistelrooy have both passed away. After recovering from injury, fans will be able to see them at Manchester United's next official game!"

The cameraman sharply pointed the lens at the mixed area immediately - the players and coaches of both Manchester United and Arsenal were crowded there by the reporters for interviews. There were many people around Carl Oston, but Oston obviously His taller and taller figure, as well as his attire, still make him stand out from the group of media holding microphones and cameras.

"Ferguson is back, there is no doubt that Walter Smith and Karl Oston will be back as assistant coaches, I don't know what other fans think, anyway, I will probably miss wearing a designer suit from time to time and standing on the side of the court The figure who directs the game."

At the post-match press conference of the FA Cup semi-final, when a reporter from The Sun asked Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger about his impression of Manchester United's acting assistant coach Karl Oston, Wenger only said one sentence, that is, " The afterlife is terrifying."

This sentence also became the headline of the sports section of the "Sun" the next day.

……

After the game against Arsenal, Walter Smith offered to invite all members of the team to dinner, saying it was to celebrate.

Manchester United's first team responded collectively. Because there were too many people and they were worried about harassment by fans, they booked the dinner time in that restaurant.During the banquet, Smith took out the bottle of champagne that the FA rewarded him, saying that such a rare glory was created collectively by the entire team, so the champagne should be shared with everyone.

The most excited after hearing this sentence are the team's defenders and substitute players-in addition to awarding an award for the best coach every month, the FA will also award an award for the best player. You can get a trophy and champagne.But because of the particularity of the football game, the offensive players get far more attention than the defenders, so players like Scholes and Giggs in Manchester United have also won the player of the month several times, the substitutes and the defenders Almost a season has passed and it is difficult to get one, and they have never tasted what this "best of the month" champagne is like.

"We want champagne!"

"Pour wine pour wine!"

"Boss, this small bottle of wine is definitely not enough for dozens of people to drink, let them order some red wine!"

"That's right, we promise not to get drunk! Just half a bottle per person will do!"

Smith gave the players a funny look, and when he saw the look of expectation on almost everyone's face, he reluctantly nodded in agreement.

There was a burst of enthusiastic cheers in the restaurant. Fortunately, Manchester United booked the venue today, otherwise the paparazzi reporters would have something to write about in tomorrow's news, and the performance of the Manchester United stars would probably be described as "collective alcoholism" with embellishments.

In fact, it’s no wonder these players miss the taste of wine so much, but Ferguson’s command is too strict. Players are strictly prohibited from going to bars when the schedule is intensive. If it is secretly photographed by a reporter and published in the newspaper, that player may even be sent to the reserve team immediately to "calm down".

Although there is a large bottle full of champagne, if it is divided among thirty or so people, there is only enough for each person to have a small glass at most.In fact, although this wine is worth thousands of euros, it is certainly not particularly rare for football stars who have an annual salary of millions of pounds and have already eaten all kinds of delicacies. However, the real value of wine is not in the taste, but in what it represents: the best Good coach.

Many people got this champagne and offered it directly in the honor room at home!On behalf of the teacher, he was really willing to let everyone open and drink——When Smith unscrewed the bottle cap, most people thought so, but when they saw Smith poured Carl a full glass of champagne, they all suddenly realized .

It turns out that the heroes Smith really wants to thank are here, and they are all accompanying guests!

All the stars exchanged a clear look, and they all laughed and ate and drank again. Some people treat guests for nothing, and other things have nothing to do with them anyway.

Smith clinked glasses with Carl: "Without you, my life must be very sad now."

Carr shrugged: "If you weren't the head coach, others might not listen to my advice."

Smith felt quite relieved, he raised his glass again and said, "Then we are helping each other?"

Carl said with a smile: "Of course it is to help each other!"

"Sergeante will be back in the next game. I really breathe a sigh of relief." Smith put down his glass after drinking and said, "But I'm really curious, how did you come up with the idea of ​​changing the team's tactics? I haven’t practiced a few times in the confrontation match, so I used it directly in the match! I didn’t expect it to be really effective!”

Carl said: "While watching the Valencia game, I suddenly thought of a saying in a novel a long time ago, which is called 'the epee has no edge, and the big tricks don't work'."Because I couldn’t think of the most appropriate English translation for this sentence, Carl read it in Chinese. He hadn’t spoken Chinese for a long time, and he felt that there was a strong foreign accent in the sentence he said.

This is not good, Karl thought, how can a man forget his roots?What's more, if he has the opportunity in the future, he will definitely go back to China to visit. From now on, he will speak more Chinese every day, and strive to practice his fluent Mandarin again.

This sentence troubled everyone else, including Giggs, Ronaldo and others who sneaked over to listen: "What is that last sentence? A spell?"

"No, it's a sentence in a Chinese martial arts novel. It's about a weapon made of dark iron. In other words, you can use such an edgeless sword to defeat a hundred with one enemy, which is better than many exquisite and fancy weapons. It is the same as winning without a move and having a move. Abandon the vanity, only use the most essential things to attack, and win with courage. people."

After speaking this sentence, Karl saw that everyone in Manchester United was bewildered, with confused expressions one by one.

Carl was a little embarrassed: "Do you understand what I said?"

Smith frowned: "I seem to understand, but I don't understand."

Ferdinand scratched his head: "Why can't I understand a word?"

"Maybe these have more to do with the cultural background. I switched to football tactics to say that there is no striker on the surface, but everyone is a striker."

Smith finally understood: "It's just a Valencia game and a novel that make you want to bring forwardless tactics to Manchester United?"

Carl nodded.

"What are martial arts novels, like Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings Trilogy"?" Ferdinand still didn't quite understand: "How can novels have anything to do with football? I have read "Lord of the Rings" many times, And Harry Potter, but I can't even cast half a spell."

"Yes and no, although they are all fictional novels that are closely related to the cultural background, but..." Carl thought for a while, and said: "Chinese martial arts novels are often combined with Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. These three schools are all handed down. Thousands of years of cultural schools, many of which contain rich philosophical sentences, not only have passed a few years ago, but also can be used in all walks of life. You may not know much about these, but "Sun Tzu's Art of War" is always listened to Did you say that? This book is also thousands of years old."

Giggs immediately shouted: "I know Sun Tzu's Art of War!"

"This is simply...unbelievable." Smith was stunned for a long time before sighing: "Dare to think and dare to do, Carl, the only difference between you and us old men is experience."

Ronaldo, who had been silent by the side, and the crowd suddenly asked Karl, "What's the name of that novel?"

"You are interested in?"

Ronaldo childishly said: "Take a look at the time." He will not admit that he is really interested.

The main reason is that Manchester United have changed tactics in these rounds, which has also brought Ronaldo a lot of growth.He feels that his biggest achievement this time is not only scoring goals, but also being able to start the game, and even his cooperation with his teammates has also improved to a higher level!The new tactics gave other players more opportunities to attack. During the game, everyone shared the cake, and he tried not to ask for it, and he received much less rejection in the locker room.

""The Legend of Condor Heroes" was written by an author named Jin Yong." Carl looked at Ronaldo and said, "I remember that the novel has been translated into English a long time ago, and the TV series should also have English subtitles. I can't find it online. I don't know." I know, there must be some for sale in Chinatown. Want me to look for it for you?"

Ronaldo nodded, shook his head again, and walked away.

Carl gradually forgot about this matter. Without the influence of society or education, it is very difficult to become interested in another completely different cultural system. A group of football stars began to be obsessed with traditional Chinese culture.

Until a few days later, he pushed open the door of the locker room...

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!" Louis Saha screamed strangely, and ran from one end of the locker room to the other, waving his arms non-stop: "Look at my Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms!"

Carl: "..."