Chapter 410 Am I cruel?
Barcelona's first warm-up match opponent is the Danish team East Jutland.
In the first half, Rijkaard played with a semi-main lineup. Except for Ronaldinho who participated in the Confederations Cup, almost all other players returned to the team, including Messi who participated in the World Youth Championship.
The goalkeeper is Valdes, the defense line is Van Bronckhorst, Edmilson, Puyol and Belletti, the midfield is new signing Van Bommel in the back, Deco and Xavi in the middle, the front trident, Iniesta replaced Ronaldinho, Sudong and Giuly occupied the middle and right respectively.
Due to being out of action for a long time, the players were not in the best physical condition, which led to their poor performance after the start of the game.
Van Bommel played the most active role, frequently joining in the attack and showing his ability in both offense and defense.
In fact, the Dutch midfielder is not just a defensive midfielder, many people position him in the position of Xavi.
Barcelona broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute. Iniesta made a wonderful pass and assisted Su Dong to score.
Just seven minutes later, Van Bommel dribbled the ball and passed it directly in front of the goal, where Su Dong easily pushed the ball into the goal.
After the second half, Rijkaard replaced nine players in one go.
Perhaps influenced by Van Bommel's outstanding performance in the first half, Marcos Senna was quite active after coming on in the second half. Not only did he make a huge contribution on the defensive end, but in the 71st minute, he suddenly made a cold shot from behind. After the shot was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper, he made a follow-up shot and scored, expanding the score for Barcelona.
Larsson also scored a goal later.
In the end, Barcelona won the first warm-up match 4-0.
…
The first game was a win, but after Barcelona started pre-season training, unfavorable news came again.
First of all, Esquillo, another free transfer player this season, is out for at least a month due to a right leg injury.
This is undoubtedly quite disadvantageous for a player who has just joined the team.
The 28-year-old Spanish native player can play as a striker and on both wingers. He is very fast and made his debut in Osasuna. During his time at Athletic Bilbao, his attendance rate was very high. Barcelona introduced him as a substitute player.
But what was unexpected was that he, who had been fully present in almost every season for the Basque Lions, would be injured as soon as he arrived at Barcelona.
This is actually a mentality.
From a psychological perspective, after players join a top club, the competitive pressure they face will increase, they will work harder in games and training, and the probability of injury will also be greater.
In addition to Esquiro, Motta is also an unlucky guy.
This midfielder, who was highly expected by Barcelona, missed most of the games last season. Before he even started this season, he had to undergo surgery to remove a tumor on his left big toe. He is expected to be absent for about a month. It is still unknown whether he can make it to the new season.
…………
…………
Two days later, Barcelona faced Halvorsen in Denmark in their second warm-up match.
Su Dong did not play in this game, but Barcelona still won 4-0.
After playing two warm-up matches, Barcelona left the Danish training base and set off for Asia.
This is the second consecutive year that Barcelona has come to Asia, and this time the first stop is Yokohama, Japan.
As the first Asian player to win the FIFA World Footballer of the Year and the European Ballon d'Or, Su Dong was warmly welcomed by Japanese fans. From the airport to the hotel, from the training ground to the game, Su Dong has always been the focus of attention of Japanese fans and media.
Rijkaard is still trying different lineup configurations for the team and working out a mature and stable style of play, so the lineup in the warm-up match against Yokohama F. Marinos is still changing.
Due to contractual reasons, Su Dong started and played for an hour, and scored twice in the first half.
Xavi then scored and the first half ended with a score of 3-0.
After the second half, Barcelona controlled the game but failed to score any more goals. Instead, Yokohama F. Marinos equalized in the 77th minute. In the end, Barcelona defeated Yokohama F. Marinos of Japan 3-1 and won three consecutive victories in the warm-up matches.
Although he only played for 60 minutes, Su Dong's performance was still praised by the Japanese media.
Japan's Asahi Shimbun commented on Su Dong, saying that he is the most popular Chinese in Japan, and has attracted the attention of countless fans.
"When he was going through customs at the airport, many staff members even rushed to stamp his passport. He is the most ideal lover in the minds of countless Japanese women, and he is also the most popular superstar among Japanese fans."
The Asahi Shimbun revealed that in recent times, Real Madrid and Manchester United have also come to Japan one after another, but the reactions they have caused are different. For example, the most famous player of Real Madrid is Beckham.
"People like Beckham because he is good-looking. Fans chase him like they chase Hollywood stars."
"But Su Dong is different. When he landed in Japan, the first reaction of all of us was that the best player in the world finally came to our country!"
"All the fans who really love football like Su Dong more, because he is the real superstar who speaks through football."
"At the same time, he is also the first Asian to win both the FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d'Or!"
"He is the pride of us Asians!"
It can be said that Su Dong’s coming to Japan was the most sensational event in itself. As for his two goals in the game, it did not attract much attention. Everyone thought it was natural.
…
After playing against Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Barcelona rushed to Macau, China without stopping.
After a short break, the fourth warm-up match came against the Pengcheng team, the champion of the domestic top league.
Su Dong did not start in this game, but sat on the bench.
In the first half, Barcelona launched a fierce offensive, with Iniesta, Larsson and Giuly scoring goals successively.
In the second half, Su Dong came on as a substitute and Barcelona replaced eleven players on the field.
Less than a minute after Su Dong came on the pitch, he received a pass from Deco, dribbled into the left side of the penalty area, and scored a goal for Barcelona.
After that, Barcelona launched a massive offensive.
First, Messi assisted Deco to score a goal, and then in the 57th minute, Su Dong successfully intercepted the ball on the right edge of the penalty area, dribbled into the penalty area, calmly shot and scored, scoring his second goal, 6-0!
Just six minutes later, Su Dong pulled to the right and sent a cross. Messi volleyed with his left foot in the middle of the penalty area and broke through the Pengcheng team's goal, extending the score to seven to zero.
Three minutes later, Su Dong took the ball with his back and passed it to Van Bronckhorst. The Dutch left-back shot and scored, making it eight to zero!
Then the game entered the period of Barcelona's fierce attack again.
In the final stage, Deco made two consecutive assists, first assisting Messi to score, and then assisting Su Dong to score, performing a hat trick, locking the score at 10 to 0! Throughout the game, Barcelona suppressed the team very badly and did not give the opponent any chance to react.
The Pengcheng team didn't even have a single shot on target, only two shots in the entire game, and they didn't even pose a threat.
Anyone can see that this was a complete defeat!
…
Su Dong was not happy despite winning the warm-up match by ten goals.
In an interview with domestic media after the game, Su Dong said that the entire Barcelona team took this game very seriously and tried their best, but Barcelona was still in the preparation stage, their form had not yet adjusted, and their performance was not very good.
The domestic media were all very shocked. How could Barcelona, which was not in very good form, defeat Pengcheng team with only ten goals?
What if you are in good condition?
When Su Dong heard this question from the media reporter, he couldn't help laughing, "Football matches can't be compared like this."
It was also during this interview that Su Dong figured out one thing, which was who the Chinese player Li Dadi was who appeared when he chose the star ability card for protecting the ball.
It was none other than Li Yi, the Great Emperor of the Pengcheng team.
The reason why he was teased was because he had said something before. He felt that his ball protection was like Su Dong's. Netizens used this to tease him, so they gave him the nickname "Emperor Li".
After hearing this, Su Dong burst into laughter and said that he didn't know.
But after the media interview, Li Yi took the initiative to find Su Dong. When taking a photo with Su Dong, he also specially explained that his original words at the time were not that his ball protection was like Su Dong, but what he wanted to say was that there were many things in Su Dong that were worth learning from other professional players, such as his ball protection.
"What I mean is that any one of your skills is enough for other professional players, especially domestic professional players, to benefit from for a lifetime. It's worth learning from!"
Su Dong expressed his understanding. After all, media all over the world like to quote things out of context, so he didn't take it to heart.
…
After the game, Su Dong attended a business event organized by the organizer.
During the event, some media once again provoked Su Dong, asking if it was too cruel to slaughter the domestic team with ten goals.
As a Chinese, representing a European team, is it appropriate to beat a domestic club team with ten goals?
Su Dong was in a good mood at first, but after hearing this question, he suddenly got angry and immediately accused the media reporters of deliberately sensationalizing and creating conflicts.
"If my team was defeated by such an embarrassing score, my first reaction would not be to blame the opponent for not showing mercy, but to reflect on what I did wrong and what I did not do enough, and turn the shame into motivation to move forward."
"Do you think I'm cruel? Then do you know why I came on as a substitute in the second half? If I was there in the first half and Ronaldinho and the others created so many chances, do you think Barcelona would have only scored ten goals?"
"Don't use your own ignorance and shamelessness to threaten others! Many media outlets like you are also the culprits for the current situation of Chinese football!"
After saying this, Su Dong left angrily, ignoring the organizer's attempts to keep him.
After Su Dong left, the reporter who was making trouble was immediately expelled from the event.
That night, Barcelona left Macau and returned to Spain, but the incident spread quickly and domestic public opinion was once again in an uproar.
The champion team of the domestic top league was kicked like this by Barcelona, and the opponent obviously showed a lot of mercy. What else did they want?
The reporter's provocation triggered criticism from his media colleagues and fans, while Su Dong's remarks also received support from fans and netizens.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
