By the time Benitez realized that Deisler might be experiencing a relapse of depression, it was already a little too late.
After Saturday's match, Deisler, already sensing something was wrong, went home and immediately called his agent, Newbauer. When Newbauer arrived at Deisler's place and saw his condition, he knew things were going to get bad. So the two of them discussed it and went to a local clinic in Liverpool on Sunday for a check-up.
Even without the examination, Deisler was well aware of his condition. He had been tormented by depression for a long time, and he knew better than anyone what it was like when it flared up. He went for the examination simply to give his burning passion for football a sliver of hope to continue.
But the harsh reality shattered the last glimmer of hope in Deisler's heart.
The day after Benitez and Morse finished their discussion, Newbauer received Deisler's medical report at the hospital, which clearly stated: moderate depression.
Looking at the medical report Neubauer handed him, Deisler's lingering hope quickly faded, and he left Neubauer, who was standing in the living room seemingly wanting to say something, behind as he locked himself in his bedroom.
This kind of thing couldn't be kept secret any longer, and after hesitating for a while, Newbauer still told Morse the news.
After receiving Neubauer's call, Morse spent the entire afternoon figuring out how to cut his losses with Deisler. But to his surprise, that very evening he received a call from Deisler himself; the unfortunate German prodigy had chosen to retire.
On the morning of September 5, Liverpool held a press conference at Anfield. Sebastian Deisler himself did not attend. Club owner Morse announced on the spot that Sebastian Deisler had been diagnosed with moderate depression and had officially ended his professional career.
This news quickly ignited the English football world and spread around the world via the internet, with people expressing their regret for Deisler.
Li Shiguang saw the news online in his office that afternoon. Morse's gloomy face at the press conference gave him a secret thrill, but at the same time, he felt a pang of sadness at Deisler's retirement. It seemed that even though Deisler's career had encountered his own, he ultimately couldn't escape the fate of retiring due to depression...
The news of Deisler's retirement only sparked brief discussions in the chaotic English football world before everyone's attention quickly returned to the league matches that were set to resume this weekend.
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Thorpe Arch Training Base.
"Bang!"
Li Shiguang slammed a stack of medical reports onto his desk, his anger almost overflowing: "Damn it! These idiot coaches on the national team, it's just a friendly match, do they really need to make the players go to such lengths?!"
This was the first time Lina had ever seen her boss so angry. She didn't dare to breathe and could only silently pick up the inspection reports that Li Shiguang had thrown everywhere.
It's no wonder Li Shiguang was so angry. During the international break a few days ago, as many as six of the Leeds United players who were called up for the squad were injured. Mascherano and Kompany, whose injuries were relatively minor, will probably need to rest for about a week. Podolski, Bale, and Toure, whose injuries were slightly more serious, will need at least half a month to return to training, and it is still unknown whether they will be able to play.
What Li Shiguang wanted to curse the most was the Chinese Football Association. For a friendly match against South Korea, they had to recall Sun Jihai from afar. After he returned, they didn't even check the players' physical condition before sending Sun Jihai onto the field. As a result, they lost the match, and Sun Jihai was seriously injured by a tackle from a South Korean.
The thick stack of medical reports that Li Shiguang had just been holding belonged to Sun Jihai. After seeing that the reports stated that he needed to rest for at least four months, Li Shiguang finally couldn't contain his anger and threw the stack of reports away!
Li Shiguang paced back and forth in his office, muttering in his native dialect, "That damned Chinese Football Association! How can you treat your own players like this? You don't care about their medical bills, do you?!"
Indeed, in this era, all club owners and head coaches deeply resent the international match day rule. If a player is injured in such a friendly match, the club has to bear the final losses, which is very unfair.
It wasn't until 2012 that FIFA's Executive Committee issued a document called the "Club Protection Scheme," which stipulated that if a club player is injured while representing the national team during a specific training session and the injury lasts for more than 28 days, FIFA will "compensate" for the player's salary during the injury period.
After this plan was implemented, the club gradually became less resistant to the concept of international match days.
But despite the criticism, the match two days later won't wait for Li Shiguang. Moreover, after this round of matches, they will immediately set off for the Netherlands to play the Champions League group stage match against PSV Eindhoven.
Faced with an exhausted and injury-plagued squad, Li Shiguang had no choice but to field a completely reserve strikerless formation away from home, attempting to pass the ball into Portsmouth's goal. However, things didn't go as planned, and Leeds United ultimately suffered a narrow defeat away to Portsmouth, marking their first loss of the new season.
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