Chapter 519: The European Cup is about to start, Spain’s 23-man squad is announced
The moment the whistle sounded, Real Madrid players either knelt on the ground or collapsed on the grass, with feelings of frustration and regret filling them.
It was just a little bit short, just that little bit short! In fact, at the end of the game, Real Madrid had already shown their momentum. If they could equalize the score before the end of the game and drag the game into overtime, they would have a real chance of winning the game.
However, there are no ifs in this world!
C Ronaldo stood in Manchester City's penalty area with his hands on his hips, his head down and staring at the grass under his feet, motionless.
That lonely back figure was very similar to that of Roberto Baggio who missed the penalty kick that year, which made Ronaldo fans and many neutral fans feel distressed.
"C Ronaldo really tried his best. The responsibility for losing this game is not his!"
"Yes, he has already scored two goals. If he hadn't stepped up, Real Madrid would have lost long ago!"
Ronaldo's performance in this game was excellent. Even some fans who are usually picky about him can't close their eyes and blindly criticize him for his poor performance at this time.
It’s not that Ronaldo didn’t work hard or that he wasn’t strong enough, it’s just that his opponents were too strong.
Is it human to score four goals in the Champions League final? And it happened more than once. In last year's match against Barcelona, Lin Quan scored four goals in the final. He scored eight goals in two consecutive finals! This is not a human, but a monster! Ronaldo lost to such a monster, and no one thought he was bad.
On the contrary, after this battle, the voices questioning Ronaldo's superstar status have decreased a lot.
After all, after being inspected by Lin Quan, the super-giant quality inspector, Ronaldo does have super-giant strength.
However, Ronaldo, who has always cared about his reputation and external evaluation, was not happy at all at this time.
His heart was filled with resentment and regret after the failure, and he was unable to accept the result of losing the championship.
I have experienced this feeling once when I was at Manchester United.
That time he lost to Messi, and this time, he lost to Lin Quan.
Is it true that I, Cristiano Ronaldo, am not as good as these two? ...
After the game with Barcelona last year, Lin Quan exchanged jerseys with Messi and made an appointment to play again next year.
It’s a pity that Barcelona was eliminated by Atletico Madrid early, stopped in the quarterfinals and missed the final.
Although I didn't meet Messi, meeting Ronaldo was also a good experience.
This year, Lin Quan originally planned to greet Ronaldo after the game as a gentleman's agreement.
However, things did not go as planned, as Marcelo's kick knocked him out of the field.
Although he did not suffer any serious injuries, Guardiola still had him sent to the hospital immediately after the game.
Keeping him on the bench to watch the entire game is already the limit for Guardiola.
He was worried that if he delayed any further, it would be detrimental to Lin Quan's recovery from his injuries.
So Lin Quan could only lie on the hospital bed and watch his teammates holding the trophy together on TV.
The team was missing its biggest contributor to the championship, and it had already stood on the podium for three consecutive times.
Except for some young players who have joined the team not long ago, other Manchester City players do not seem to be so excited.
After three consecutive league titles and three consecutive Champions League titles, Manchester City has undoubtedly established its own dynasty.
Many successful players began to have different ideas.
They have already got the honor, it's time to think more about other things.
This summer, it will probably be a big problem for Guardiola to retain these heroes who contributed to his championship.
…
After resting for a day in Milan, the entire Manchester City team, including Lin Quan, returned to Manchester on a chartered flight the next day.
Arriving in Manchester with them was the Big Ear Cup they had just won! Although the fans were not notified in advance to come to the airport to pick them up, the enthusiastic fans still surrounded the airport.
From the moment they got off the plane, Manchester City players were completely surrounded by enthusiastic fans.
Countless fans shouted the names of the players and coaches, and followed the team bus as it marched toward the center of the city, like a marching army.
At this moment, the sky in Manchester is blue and the earth is blue.
As usual, Manchester City held a float parade and a grand championship celebration.
Although repeated examinations by the hospital and Manchester City's own team doctors confirmed that Lin Quan did not suffer any serious injuries, Guardiola and Manchester City club executives were still not reassured and did not allow him to participate in this series of celebrations.
This also saved him a lot of trouble. Although it was glorious to be in the float parade, it was really tiring.
The first time I did it for fun and excitement, but the second time it became a bit routine and nothing new was happening.
The third time, there was no novelty at all and I had no interest in participating at all.
Manchester City fans finally breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that Lin Quan's injury was not serious.
Although the celebration was a little less satisfying without Lin Quan, the biggest contributor to the championship, they were still very happy.
At this moment, Manchester City fans feel that they are the happiest fans in the UK, even in Europe!
…
"Is it really nothing serious?"
Spain coach Bosque followed closely and arrived in Manchester with the entire Manchester City team.
After confirming Lin Quan's examination results, Bosque finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The situation is not very favorable for Spain in this year's European Cup.
The host French team is in very strong momentum this year, defeating top European teams such as the Netherlands and Germany in various competitions.
In addition, this European Cup is held in France, and as the host country, they enjoy the advantage of playing at home, so the outside world is optimistic that the French team can win the cup in this European Cup.
Although in the FIFA rankings, the Spanish team's points still rank first in the world, surpassing traditional powers such as France and Germany.
But it is undeniable that as the golden generation of 84-86 gradually ages, the strength of the Spanish team is declining rapidly.
If it weren't for Lin Quan in their team, the current world number one would probably have been replaced.
However, after the news of Lin Quan's injury in the Champions League final came out, the outside world began to predict the Spanish team's defeat, thinking that they would definitely fail this time.
It is difficult to conquer a country, but it is even harder to keep it.
This year, Bosque no longer has the high-spirited feeling he had in previous years, and is now in a state of frustration.
The problem of the transition from old to new players in Spain has not been effectively solved. The old players have gradually faded out of the team, but the young players have been unable to take over. Their performance has not met the expectations of Bosque and the fans.
Even though La Liga is one of the best leagues in the world and there are countless local players in La Liga, it is extremely difficult for Bosque to find 23 people who meet his requirements.
As early as 2013, he had begun to tackle the issue of adding fresh blood to the team, but after so many years, the results are still very unsatisfactory.
This made him very worried. If this continued, Spain would lose to France.
After losing to France, they lost to Germany, and then to Italy.
In the end, they might even lose to second-rate teams like England and Portugal.
"Well, the team doctor said there's nothing wrong, and the hospital's test results also show nothing wrong!"
Lin Quan knew the old coach's worries, so he gave him a reassurance:
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"As long as the team needs me, I can play at any time!"
After hearing Lin Quan's words, Bosque finally felt relieved.
"Okay, okay, that's good. Just rest up. Even if you're fine, you should rest more and don't rush into training."
Compared with other players, Lin Quan, who just participated in the Champions League final, had a much shorter rest time.
Bosque was worried that continuous fighting would cause him to become ill from overwork or even aggravate his injury, so he planned to give him a vacation, let him rest first, and then report to the national team after he had rested.
Among the entire Spanish team, only Lin Quan is qualified to enjoy this kind of special treatment for one player.
After Bosque returned, the Spanish national team quickly announced the 23-man roster for the European Cup.
Goalkeepers: Casillas (Porto); De Gea (Manchester United); Rico (Sevilla) Defenders: Ramos (Real Madrid); Pique (Barcelona); Juanfran (Atletico Madrid); Alba (Barcelona), Bartra (Barcelona), Azpilicueta (Chelsea), San Jose (Athletic Bilbao), Bellerin (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Bruno (Villarreal), Busquets (Barcelona), Thiago (Bayern Munich), Iniesta (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City), Pedro (Chelsea), Fabregas (Chelsea), Koke (Atletico Madrid)
Forwards: Lin Quan (Manchester City), Nolito (Celta), Morata (Juventus), Vazquez (Real Madrid) Compared to the World Cup two years ago, Spain's 23-man roster this time can be described as a major change.
Many players were not selected, even a well-known top striker like Diego Costa.
The record number of young players selected for the 23-man squad has caused widespread suspicion that the Spaniards are participating in the competition for the purpose of training. "What is Spain doing? Are they just going to start right away?"
"Saul performed so well, but they didn't recruit him. Instead, they recruited Nolito and Vazquez. What was Bosque thinking?"
"Isco's performance in Real Madrid was not bad. Although he failed in the Champions League final, his cooperation with Lin Quan and others was very good. There was a chemical reaction between the two. Why did Bosque suddenly give up on him?"
"The most difficult person to understand is Diego Costa. The Brazilian came all the way to Spain and accepted your plan, but you gave up on him after just one World Cup. Diego Costa is so miserable!"
"That's right. Apart from his looks, what else is he good at? Among all the forwards in Spain, except Lin Quan, is there anyone better than him? No, not even one. But Bosque just doesn't recruit him. Hey, just for fun!"
"What do you think? Could it be that because Lin Huang was injured, Bosque felt that he was unable to win the championship, so he had to settle for the next best thing and simply used this opportunity to train his troops?"
"666, using the European Cup to train soldiers, too cool!"
"Brother, are you kidding me? This is the European Cup, the most prestigious international tournament in the world besides the World Cup. How can we just give up like that?"
"That's right. And as the defending champion, if Spain can win this European Cup, they will achieve the achievement of three consecutive championships, which is unprecedented in the history of the European Cup!"
"I can't figure it out. I can't figure it out at all. Unless there is something we don't know or haven't thought of, there is no explanation for why Bosque did this!"
The fans discussed for a long time but couldn't come to a conclusion.
In the end, I could only use my imagination and make random guesses.
If we talk about the institutions that are most sensitive and accurate in predicting events, they are obviously the bookmakers.
After seeing the 23-man roster announced by Spain, bookmakers immediately lowered Spain's odds of winning the championship.
The host France team's winning odds surpassed Spain for the first time and topped the list. Spain and Germany had similar odds, ranking second and third respectively.
After the latest odds of the bookmaker were announced, they immediately attracted strong attention from the majority of fans.
French fans were celebrating. After learning that the betting companies were so optimistic about them, they became more confident and clamored to punch Spain and kick Germany, and use a European Cup trophy to prove who is the best in the world!
"The Spaniard has been the world's No. 1 for six years. It's time for a change!"
Faced with the French's clamor, Spanish fans naturally refused to be outdone and began to fight back.
Some of them mocked the French for opening champagne at halftime, saying that their reputation had already been ruined before the game even started.
Some people also mocked the French team for having too many black players and not seeing many white players at a glance, and suggested that the French team should be renamed the African Team.
Due to historical reasons, France has a large number of African immigrants.
Since the last century, a large number of African players have emerged in the French national team.
Even meritorious players of the French team like Zidane are no exception. Other famous stars include Trezeguet, Henry, Makelele and so on.
These people are all very strong, and it is no exaggeration to say that they are the backbone of the French team.
For example, in this French national team, the two midfield players Pogba and Kante are both black players of African descent.
They support the French team's midfield and are extremely important to the French team.
Compared to them, countries with fewer immigrants, such as Germany and Spain, have far fewer black players, but there are still some.
Spain has a large number of players of Latin American descent, and Germany has many players of Turkish descent.
If we talk about it in detail, the eldest brother doesn't talk about the second brother, it's just the case that fifty-eight laughs at one hundred steps!
Although the host French team is the most favored, there are many strong teams in this European Cup.
The Spanish team, the Orange Army, the German tanks, the English lions, as well as the Italian team, the Portuguese team and others should not be underestimated.
Some Balkan countries, such as Serbia and Croatia, also have the potential to be dark horses.
(End of this chapter)