long live football

On May 2004, 5, Manchester United, who defeated rival Aston Villa 15:2 away, ended the entire 0-03 season of the Premier League. It is already perfect. After all, Ferguson was absent for nearly half of this season. Without an absolute leader, the Red Devils can still reverse Chelsea in the standings. What else can the fans complain about? Woolen cloth?

And on May 5, the returning Ferguson gave Manchester United fans another big gift-the FA Cup champion!

Although the FA Cup championship is not as important as the top league and the Champions League, it is still a national championship trophy after all!As the oldest football event in world football, the FA Cup still has a supreme status in the hearts of many English fans.

Moreover, the winning of the FA Cup also fully proves that Ferguson is still young. The media hyped and speculated that "Manchester United needs a new head" has all disappeared, and just in the FA Cup The day after the final, a headline was announced on Manchester United's official website: Manchester United had renewed Ferguson's contract for four years.

Manchester United has not officially announced how much Ferguson's current annual salary is, but according to the "Sun" gossip, Ferguson's current annual salary is 400 million pounds. If the team can win the Champions League after the end of the season If there is no place in the competition, or if you win a national championship, there will be another £100 million reward.And because Ferguson has been involved in the management of the club, if Manchester United makes a profit at the end of the season, he can still get dividends.

"The Sun" also estimated the salary of Manchester United's coaching staff based on the financial list released by Manchester United every season. Among them, the physical coach, team doctor, and assistant coach should get the highest salary, with a weekly salary of about 2 pounds. , Other coaches range from 0.5W-1.5W per week.As for the new member of the team's coaching staff, the temporary assistant Carl who joined midway, the newspaper estimates that the annual salary is about 40-50 pounds.

But this data is seriously inconsistent with the facts.The regular employees of the coaching staff can probably get this much salary, or even more, but Carl, his current weekly salary is about one-third of Mr. Walter Smith... Carl has the heart to break the news for the "Sun", But then I gave up.The outside world guesses how much face you earn, why do you have to expose it, right?

It's just this season, no matter how sensational Beckham's transfer was in the summer of 03, and no matter how many people's hearts were affected by Ferguson's heart surgery during the season, and no matter how much people paid for Manchester United's coaches at the end of the season So much interest... none of it could take away from a team destined to go down in the history books.

That team is Arsenal.

In the 2003-04 season, Wenger led his proud disciples Henry, Vieira and others all the way through, and scored 38 goals in 26 rounds of the Premier League with 12 wins, 0 draws and 90 losses. England since Preston in 1889, the first unbeaten record to win the league championship team.

Although Arsenal did not achieve much in the Champions League this season, their brilliant results in the league have attracted them from all over the world. Countless people have become fans of Arsenal since then, and countless people hate Wenger and Arsenal. Itchy.

Ferguson is one.Although no one knows when Ferguson began to fear Wenger, but after such a season, Ferguson's hatred for Wenger will definitely reach an unprecedented peak.

And another team that started to rise in the Premier League team, the owner of the Blues Chelsea, the Russian rich Roman Abramovich has fired the team coach Ranieri and started waving endless pounds. Crazy buying people all over the world.

In the midst of the excitement, the 2004 European Cup arrived.

……

The European Cup, the full name of the Europa Continental Football Championship, is held every four years. It is recognized by the world football as the highest level of national football competitions other than the World Cup.

The European Cup in 04 was hosted by Portugal. The one-month football ceremony not only brought together coaches, players and media from 16 European football powers, but also attracted media and fans from all over the world, as well as club owners, coaches and players from various leagues. scouts, even big-name stars and football agents.

Karl also joined the fun and came to Porto, but the reason he came to Portugal was not to observe which player and buy the opponent, that was the job of the club coach and scout, and he came to the European Cup purely to appreciate football.

What's more, in order to thank Karl for his help in the club, Cristiano Ronaldo also gave him a ticket for the opening ceremony of the European Cup - a private box.This is the treatment that only the Portuguese and Greek players who participated in the opening match can get some tickets for their relatives and friends.

Unlike the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games, which often last several hours, the opening ceremonies of the World Cup and the European Cup are usually very short, ranging from ten minutes to twenty minutes, half an hour is considered super long, this is because the opening ceremony The game started immediately after the opening ceremony. If the opening time lasted too long, it would easily affect the energy of the players and cause dissatisfaction among the fans.Especially those fans from other continents who are out of time difference with Europe, they stay up late to watch the European Cup not just for music and singing.

The Greek national team, coached by the shrewd German coach Rehhagel, was unanimously regarded by various media as "starless" in this European Cup, because compared with France, England, the Netherlands, and Portugal, which have Zinedine Zidane , Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Figo and other superstar national teams, the Greek national team does not even have a big-name star, and their main players are even selected from the domestic league, only a few people He has mentioned the ball in the five major leagues, but he is not well-known.

Before the start of the opening game, many people also predicted that Portugal would defeat Greece, because from the establishment of the European Cup in 1960 to the present, in the previous 11 opening games, the host team remained unbeaten with 7 wins and 4 draws. With Figo, Costa, Ronaldo and other big-name stars for the first time, many players selected from Porto in the team have just won the European Champions Cup. It seems that there is no reason to lose the game against Greece.

But reality often gives people a head-on blow-in the opening game, Greece defeated the host Portugal 2:1, breaking the first big upset of this European Cup.

The Greek team also broke two European Cup history records by the way: the first defeat of the host team in the opening game, and the fastest goal in the European Cup opening game contributed by Greek striker Karagones in the 7th minute of the game.

As soon as the game ended, media from various countries in the Fire Dragon Stadium were busy interviewing Greek players and coaches, and writing short press releases to send an overview of the game to the world.It is conceivable that the Greek team, which was not optimistic before the game, will definitely win more people's attention in the future games after this battle.

Carl originally expected to wait for Portugal to win, and he would go to the field to congratulate Ronaldo after the game, but now, a frustrated person obviously does not have much mood to force a smile on others, what Ronaldo himself wants now may be just Be quiet by yourself for a while.

So Karl just sent a text message to Ronaldo, congratulating him on finally scoring his first national team goal - Ronaldinho was replaced after halftime, and the goal he scored in the second half The ball was not only his first national team goal, but also Portugal's only goal in the opener.

After leaving the Fire Dragon Stadium, Carl found a quiet cafe in the city to sit, and then sent the address to Ruud Van Nistelrooy.The Dutch team is in Group D, and their first group match against Germany is also at the Fire Dragon Stadium, so Van Nistelrooy will stay in Porto these days, just now Van Nistelrooy was with his teammates at the opening ceremony, And Karl made an appointment with him to find a place to drink coffee and chat after the game.

Five minutes later, Fanny replied to the text message: Sorry buddy, Mr. Advocaat won't let anyone go. I can only be locked up in a hotel these days, and I can't go to the cafe.

Advocaat is the head coach of the Dutch team. During the European Cup, the coach's order was of course the biggest. Karl replied: "It's okay, the cafe is very good. I'll sit down for a while before leaving. See you after the European Cup is over."

Not long after, there were two unread text messages displayed on the phone screen, one was Ruud Ruud's "no problem" and the other was "Thank you:-D" from Ronaldo.

This kid adjusted his mentality quite quickly, Carl thought.

……

For a small cafe with a modest size, it's really good.The music is very suitable for Karl's appetite, it can soothe people's emotions, there are not many customers, the atmosphere is quiet, not to mention, the coffee is also delicious.

Although Carl is a tourist in the city, he doesn't want to rush through many streets just to see it. It is also a pleasant enjoyment to stay in a place like this to relax and relax in a wonderful atmosphere.

Many games will start at the same time in stadiums in different cities. Karl is looking at the game schedule of this European Cup while making choices in his heart. If he chooses to go to Lisbon to watch the France-England game tomorrow, it will definitely be too late Then go to Guimaraes to watch the Italy-Denmark match, and the Spain-Greece match, the Vineyard-Russia match...

The sudden voice of conversation behind him pulled Carl's thoughts out of the game schedule directory, and he frowned, feeling that one of the voices was somewhat familiar.

Pretending to look back inadvertently, then turned his head back before the other party noticed him. Because of the height of the sofa in the cafe, Karl could only glimpse half of his face, but it had short brown-red hair and shallow forehead lines. , and green eyes, half of the face with a straight nose is enough for Carl to recognize the other party——Since buying Chelsea, he has attracted the attention of the British media, and the Russian rich man Roman Abramo who has been in the newspaper every three days Vitch.

Why is the Chelsea boss in Porto?If you want to observe stars who have performed well in the World Cup and buy them out, this kind of thing can be done by club scouts, head coaches or managers, and there is no need for Abramovich to dispatch himself.As soon as the rich man arrived in London, he paid off the debt of 7500 million pounds for Chelsea. It was as easy as taking a pound out of his pocket, and it would not be short of the salary of the club staff.

Unless, the other party came to Portugal for something more important...

Just when Karl was thinking wildly, the man sitting opposite Abu and behind Karl spoke in English with a little Latin accent: "I will definitely think about this matter again, Mr. Abramovich. But If you want to get a positive answer from me, you'd better listen to my request first."

Abramovich asked: "What is it? Salary? I will give you the first tier of coaching salary in the Premier League, with an annual salary of 500 million euros and bonuses. You will get more than Ferguson."

Karl immediately thought of a piece of news that had been hyped by the English media a week ago: Chelsea coach Ranieri was fired by the club, and the Blues have yet to announce the next coach.

"It's not money, although money is also very important, but compared to the annual salary, my biggest request is..." The pause in the middle may be Mourinho deliberately attracting Abramovich's interest. "I want absolute control of the locker room, not just on the pitch."

"Ah, this. You're the head coach, of course you're the boss in the locker room."

Mourinho also said: "If I agree to coach Chelsea, I will bring some of my old players to the past. The coaching staff will be reorganized by me. You can appoint some people, but I will choose the assistant coach and the goalkeeper coach. It's best not to buy players I don't need, no one can interfere with my arrangements for the game, I am the boss in the locker room, if any player challenges my authority, no matter what punishment I make, The clubs can't argue - as long as Chelsea can do that, I'll give you results."

Carl's brow was sweating over the eavesdropping, and Mourinho's aggressive tone seemed to ignore Abramovich's identity at all, but anyone who pays a little attention to the news of the "Sun" knows that What kind of person is Roman Abramovich? The upheaval in Eastern Europe has created a large number of "stealing" oligarchs in Russia. They hold state-owned assets in their hands through illegal means, and private property expands rapidly. Abramovich is one of them. one.But when Russia's domestic political situation stabilized, Putin came to power and carried out a major purge of many speculators, and countless super rich people went to jail. High-ranking Kremlin officials obstructed it, and nothing happened.

Abramovich's experience and energy can fully prove that he is not only rich, such a person naturally does not have a good character and kindness. Chelsea's previous coach Ranieri is an obedient and honest man, but he is not only a little bit of existence set off by Abramovich He didn't have any feelings, and he couldn't get in the first half of the club's transfer matters, and he was ruthlessly purged by Abramovich just after the end of this season.

What was Mourinho thinking when he spoke in such a strong tone to such a person?

But then Abramovich's reaction was beyond Karl's expectations. The Russian rich man readily promised: "I will agree to all your requests!"

Mourinho smiled: "I can't find any other reason to refuse when I meet such a straightforward boss like you."

Abramovich stood up: "The contract has already been drafted. I will send the club's CEO Kenyon to talk to you about the specific details. You can tell him whatever you want."

Mourinho also stood up: "Today's meeting was very pleasant."

When the two of them passed by Karl's table, Karl put up a hand to cover his left face, and looked at the game schedule with his head down, making a serious study.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the door of the cafe opening and closing. Carl exhaled, shook his neck, and stretched.

But the stretched waist froze in mid-air, because as soon as Karl looked up, he saw Mourinho standing in front of his desk with a half-smile.

"Mr. Mourinho?" Carl said with a smile, "Hehe, what a coincidence."

"I think you enjoyed eavesdropping just now?" Mourinho was not polite, and sat directly opposite Carl.

Carl raised his eyebrows: "Eavesdropping? No, no, no, you guys insisted on chatting behind my back. I listened openly."

"Then you know I'm going to London soon?"

Carl smiled: "I didn't miss a word of everything. Whether it's you or Mr. Abramovich, they speak English very well."

"Okay." Mourinho put his elbows on the table, rested his chin on his fingers, and smiled: "I think this will be a piece of news worth thousands of pounds, at least."

Carl leaned back on the sofa with a relaxed expression: "Are you suggesting that I sell the news to the "Sun"? Indeed, tabloid reporters are going crazy now that they want to dig up news about Chelsea's next coach. I want £1. There will be bids and people will buy."

"Will you sell it?"

"Well, it depends on whether I lack money. Or..." Carl curled his lips: "An annual salary of 500 million euros is really enviable."

Mourinho looked innocent: "It's not my fault to be rich."

"What I don't understand is that the season is over. No matter when your contract with Chelsea is announced, it will not affect the match between Porto and Chelsea. So what's the difference if it's earlier or later?"

"There's a big difference." Mourinho said truthfully: "I have made it clear to Porto that I will not continue to renew my contract with the team next season, but some of my players have not, and they are basically still with the team. The contract for the next few years. If the news gets out that I am going to take them to London together, the club may not let them go with me so easily, and the fans will cause trouble, because by next season, Chelsea and Porto will be Enemy in the Champions League."

Carl shrugged and said, "Actually, I'm not short of money, and I don't like tabloid reporters, so forget it."

"Thank you, I will remember your kindness." Mourinho stretched out his hand to beckon the waiter: "Would you like coffee?"

Carl nodded: "A glass of Espresso."