Chapter 143 Football Philosopher
3-4 away from home, 4-4 on aggregate, Sporting Lisbon eliminated Besiktas with away goals!
This piece of news quickly exploded throughout the European football world after the game.
This was a rare comeback. After falling behind 0-4, they managed to score three goals in a row and achieved the final reversal. This must be said to be very shocking, especially for the protagonist who created this stunning comeback.
Su Dong made one pass, one shot and one plan. All three goals of Sporting Lisbon were inseparable from him, which made him the brightest player in the game. Even players like Quaresma and Ronaldo were overshadowed by him.
While the whole of Europe, and even China, were boiling with excitement over this stunning reversal and shocked by Su Dong's brilliant performance, the Sporting Lisbon team was on the long journey back to Lisbon.
By the time they returned to Lisbon, it was already the evening of the second day of the game.
After returning to Alcocheti, the team was disbanded on the spot. Except for head coach Boloni and several core coaching staff members, all other coaching staff and staff went off work.
Boloni and others also have to meet with the technical team to discuss the gains and losses of this away game.
…
"I'm back!"
Personal trainer Nuno Cruz dragged his exhausted body, pushed open the door, changed his shoes, put the key on the cabinet in the entrance hall, and shouted weakly.
"You're back!" His wife poked her head out of the kitchen and smiled at him.
The children were doing their homework in the living room. When they heard their father's voice, they all ran over quickly and hugged him on the left and right, showing great intimacy. This made Nuno Cruz, who was exhausted both physically and mentally, couldn't help but smile with happiness and satisfaction.
"Did you behave yourself these few days when I was away from home?"
"Be good!" the two children shouted in unison.
"It's him. He often plays with my toys secretly."
"You broke my robot."
"You broke it yourself..."
"It's you..."
When Nuno Cruz saw that the two babies started fighting again, he was not angry at all. Instead, he felt very happy. He touched the children's heads affectionately, motioned for them to do their homework quickly, and went upstairs to take a shower and change clothes.
After taking a nice hot bath and changing into home pajamas, when he went downstairs, his wife and children were already waiting for him in the restaurant, eating. On the table were paella and other home-cooked dishes, which were Nuno Cruz and the children's favorite dishes.
"Honestly, the food in Türkiye is not tasty. I really miss the taste of home," Nuno Cruz said with a wry smile.
Not only him, no one in the entire Sporting Lisbon team could get used to the food.
"The hotel we stayed in was slightly better than the one in Greece because we had more time to prepare this time, but it was still not good enough. The club had a limited budget and the hotel's soundproofing was so poor that I couldn't sleep well that night."
At the end, Nuno Cruz couldn't help but shake his head.
"This away game against Besiktas was really dangerous!"
After listening to this silently, his wife smiled and took over the conversation, "Today, the whole of Lisbon is bustling. People are celebrating everywhere early in the morning. The newspapers and TV are all about this game. Even the fans of Sporting Lisbon in the vegetable market are buying discounts to celebrate the team's reversal and promotion. They say that last night's game was too dangerous."
"Who says it's not true?" Nuno Cruz sighed softly, "Luckily we have Su Dong."
When talking about Sudong, Nuno Cruz's eyes showed a hint of pride.
After a year of getting along, he was really satisfied with Su Dong. He even felt that Su Dong would become his proudest work.
Seeing her husband's expression, the wife remembered something and hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke.
"Professor Manuel Sergio came to see me."
Nuno Cruz was stunned, with a complicated expression.
Professor Manuel Sergio is the Dean of the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Lisbon. As early as the 1970s, he was already an authority in sports science in Portugal and has published many papers and research results in authoritative newspapers and magazines.
The most famous and most far-reaching influence on Portuguese football is that he proposed the concept and theory of human dynamics, which triggered a revolution in Portuguese football. He advocated that football should be studied as a science, and an interdisciplinary subject involving multiple disciplines such as physical and psychological.
Professor Sergio's two most proud disciples are Carlos Queiroz, who is the right-hand man of Manchester United head coach Ferguson, coached the Portuguese youth team and created the golden generation. He is an academician who graduated from the Lisbon Sports Higher School, which later became the School of Human Dynamics of the University of Lisbon.
After graduation, Queiroz stayed at the school to teach and began to engage in youth training. Among the students who listened to his lectures was one named Jose Mourinho.
In addition to Queiroz, the person who has the greatest influence on Mourinho is Professor Sergio. The latter's football philosophy of comprehensive consideration of physical, technical, tactical and psychological aspects has profoundly influenced Mourinho, so much so that many people now say that Mourinho is actually a psychological master.
Queiroz created the golden generation of Portugal's youth training and made outstanding contributions. Mourinho's coaching of Porto is quite famous. In addition to the two of them, most of the football coaches in Portugal have studied and researched with Professor Sergio.
He is not a professional football player, but he is known as a "football philosopher".
Nuno Cruz's wife teaches at the University of Lisbon, which is why they live near the school.
"What does he want from you?" Nuno Cruz asked.
"Professor Sergio thinks that your training of Su Dong and Ronnie over the past year has been very successful. He hopes that you can consider teaching at the University of Lisbon. The School of Human Dynamics is willing to open a special course for you and provide funding for you to continue your research."
"full time?"
The wife nodded, reached out, and gently held her husband's warm hand. "Nuno, I know you have invested a lot in Su Dong, and he is indeed very good, but you have also seen that being a private coach often follows the team to away games, which is too hard and tiring. Sometimes you have consecutive away games, and the children and I can't see you for several days."
"You've always wanted to teach at a university, go to get off work on time every day, spend time with your children at home on weekends, and live a relaxed and comfortable life. Isn't that good?"
Nuno Cruz rubbed his thumb on the back of his wife's delicate hand. This was indeed what he had hoped for, but that was a year ago. At that time, he could not find a job and his biggest wish was to teach at the University of Lisbon.
If the Human Kinetics Institute had come to him at that time, he would have rushed to join.
But now...
"I know you and the children have worked hard over the past year," Nuno Cruz said gently.
"So you agree?" the wife asked happily.
Nuno Cruz shook his head and said, "Please tell Professor Sergio that I am very grateful for his trust. I can agree to teach at the University of Lisbon, but not full-time. I will only take time out to teach in my spare time, because the job I want most now is to help Su Dong continue to improve."
The wife was very surprised to hear this, as this was quite different from the impression she had of her husband.
In her memory, her husband should be a family-oriented man, and she never thought she would be rejected.
"You know, Su Dong is the first player I trained. He is very special. He is full of oriental mystery and seems to have endless potential. Many times, I think his potential has been tapped, but in fact, not long after, he bursts out with shocking potential again."
"I don't know if he is the legendary genius, but I really feel that through him, I may be able to realize my original ideal. He even gives me a feeling that when I look back in the future, if he does not become the best professional player, it will be my dereliction of duty."
"Can you understand how I feel?"
The wife looked at her husband in a daze, and she began to understand.
This is actually like the feeling of a teacher facing a talented student and trying his best to cultivate him into a talent.
She had heard her husband praise Su Dong more than once, saying that he was diligent and hard-working and always cooperated meticulously, which made her husband feel that he was able to put his knowledge into practice.
As a personal trainer for professional players, he is indeed very tired and hard-working. He often travels long distances, flies thousands of kilometers to play away games, sleeps in hotels with poor soundproofing, and eats foreign food that is not to his taste at all...
But so what?
All of this, can it be more joyful than watching the players I trained grow step by step? More excited? More proud? "I understand, I will convey your meaning to Professor Sergio."
Nuno Cruz nodded with satisfaction.
He knew that he might have missed a very good opportunity, but he was even more eager to apply what he had learned on Su Dong and train him to become the best professional player in the world.
This would be far more meaningful than letting him stay in the university to teach.
Even from a utilitarian point of view, as long as Su Dong plays well and becomes famous, why would Nuno Cruz be afraid that there will not be better opportunities?
Professor Sergio looked down on him at first, but what about now? In the final analysis, it was not because of his talent, but because Su Dong's success made people see the value of his talent.
The more successful Su Dong is, the higher his value will be.
He is very clear about this.
…
Su Dong didn't know that a similar conversation had taken place in Nuno Cruz's house.
He worked hard every day according to the training plan of his personal trainer, and gradually it became a part of his life, a habit, such as doing yoga for an hour every morning and evening.
Nuno Cruz is preparing a summer training plan for him, and this summer, Su Dong plans to return home.
He hasn't been home for two years and he must go home to visit.
Nuno Cruz also said that the training this summer and next season will be more intense than this season.
This also indirectly proves that Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union have indeed been making progress.
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(End of this chapter)
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