Chapter 017: Ambition
Everyone has had the fantasy of picking the stars and the moon, but the moon in everyone's heart is different.
Falcao cried every time he played football as a child, and he even tried his hand at baseball as his partners laughed at his struggles.
After returning to Colombia from Venezuela, his family turned down offers from some of the top clubs, allowing Falcao Jr. to join a little-known club, Lancelos, a three-hour drive from the capital.
At the age of 13, Falcao signed his first professional contract with a second-division club, becoming the youngest player to play in that division.
After a brief spell with the Bogotá Millionaires, in 2000 Falcao moved to Argentina and joined River Plate for a fee of £300,000. There, because of the fierce attack, it was named "Tiger".
Four years later, Falcao made his senior debut for River Plate, just after secretly completing his journalism degree at the University of Palermo. In 2005, Falcao became River Plate's main striker.
An anterior cruciate ligament injury halted young Falcao for a year, but his form was not affected by the injury, and he scored seven goals in a row in all competitions, and in 2007, he was selected for the Colombian national team for the first time.
In 2009, the 23-year-old Falcao joined Portuguese Super League side Porto for £3 million. Falcao scored 72 goals in 87 games in three seasons of the Portuguese Super League, and finally created a small sky in international football.
For Falcao, this is just the beginning. This is not enough. He wants the moon, in La Liga, in Atletico Madrid... The UEFA Cup, the Champions League, which Atletico Madrid did not participate in this year, is the ultimate dream, and of course, the World Cup.
And Simeone....Simeone, who was born in a football country, has been exposed to all kinds of things related to it since he was a child.
During his formative years, it was also the stage when the football king Maradona gradually reached the peak. So just after turning 14, Simeone joined the Sarsfield Academy for systematic training. Although he was still a developing child, he had already shown some qualities that were different from his age: energetic, athletic, and tireless.......
Three years after joining Sarsfield, Simeone finally got his chance to play for the senior squad. He was just 17 years old at the time, but he was already showing his youthful side, especially in the important position of midfield, Simeone was always calm and focused against opponents who were bigger than him, and Simeone missed just four games in his senior debut, which was enough to prove his ability.
When a person is mature enough, it is the beginning of a long journey. In 1990, at the age of 20, Simeone was no longer satisfied with his current situation, and he was eager to prove himself on a bigger stage, even if it required him to leave his country and family for a while. As a result, the Italian club Pisa became his first stop in Europe, although this club is not too famous, but it can guarantee Simon's playing time, which is a pragmatic choice.
In this way, Simeone basically dominated the main position in his first season at Pisa, and he also scored four goals. But unfortunately, Pisa, which lagged behind in overall strength, was eventually relegated. However, Simeone did not choose to leave, but accompanied Pisa to continue to play in the Italian second division, but unfortunately Pisa still failed to be promoted to the first division after a season, and Sevilla threw an olive branch to him.
From Italy to Spain, Simeone has not only arrived in a new country, but also La Liga, which is more focused on technique and attacking ability. But Simeone quickly settled into the team in the 9293 season, making 33 appearances for Sevilla in La Liga, scoring four goals and, worth mentioning, picking up eight yellow cards and one red card.
And the young Simeone finally fulfilled his dream of becoming teammates with Maradona. But in his second season with Sevilla, Simeone gradually lost his place in the main team. At this time, he chose to move to Atletico Madrid, the most important club of his life, and Simeone's career began a new chapter. Sevilla, on the other hand, sold Simeone for a transfer fee of 2.5 million euros.
Under the open style of Atletico Madrid, Simeone finally unleashed his talent and ability, and his skills and use of the body in the midfield position were also more mature, with excellent confrontation ability and large coverage, and the role of Atletico Madrid's midfield was self-evident, and his leadership temperament began to appear. In his second season at Atletico Madrid, Simeone helped the team make history by winning La Liga and Copa del Rey titles, becoming the new hero of the Calderón Stadium.
Therefore, today, Simeone's moon is naturally the beloved Atletico. He will never allow her to sink any longer, and Simeone himself will complete the transformation of his coaching career at Atletico Madrid!
Ding Yue knew that both of them had great ambitions.
Why not?
……
……
January 8th. Away against Malaga.
It was Falcao's moment to prove himself, Simeone's first fight back at Atletico Madrid, and an important crossroads for Ding Yue himself.
But on the contrary, the opponent encountered is not easy to deal with.
You know, this season Malaga has shocked the whole European football world. They spent 11 million to bring in Tulalang, Joaquin spent 4.2 million and 2.5 million to buy Mathieson, Sergio Sanchez 2.8 million, Bonanot 4.5 million, Iske 6 million, and the core of the midfield Cazorla cost them 21 million!
Coupled with the free transfer of Ruud van Nistelrooy Malaga to spend 58 million euros to form a squad that looks second only to Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in La Liga. It can even be said that it is better than Atletico Madrid.
In fact, before the start of the match, Malaga had a full seven points more points than Atletico!
After the Qatari owner took over, the golden dollar storm in Malaga blew fiercely, and it looked like the Spanish football league that was about to rise Spanish Chelsea.
At the tactical arrangement meeting before the game, Simeone let Ding Yue know football for the first time, and he can also despise his opponent tactically.
"That's right, they're throwing a lot of money. The money made everyone panic. "If the cold-faced person makes a joke, the number of people laughing will be more. The atmosphere in the room suddenly became a little more lively.
"Their strikers Rondon and Baptista are strong, but honestly, Falcao is definitely better than all of them!" Simeone said, glaring at Falcao.
'In midfield, Joaquín and Tulalang are very good, but there is a lack of organisation in the middle, Duda and Maresca are both seriously degraded, Recio is still too young, and it is unknown how Bonanaut will be after returning from injury. This is our chance!"
"Their defenders have serious shortcomings, especially Demichelis, my old acquaintance, I'll say a few things to him later, and Mathieson, these are all old guys who are over 30 years old and declining, we don't need to worry too much!"
Simeone analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of Malaga little by little, and talked about Malaga's head coach Manuel Pellegrini.
Ding Yue knows very well that the ability of Chilean engineers to adjust the middle and lower reaches of the club is undoubted, but a large number of reinforcements in the short term, the team's run-in is very important....In addition, his character is not tough enough is his flaw, when he couldn't suppress Riquelme in the submarine, and the atmosphere in the locker room was not good when he went to Real Madrid.
It's much more difficult to manage this group of big names in Malaga than it was in the Yellow Submarine, and besides, it's Andalusia, which has always been careless!
Danger and opportunity coexist.
Come on! Proof of proof, of redemption! The stakes are on the table, just waiting for the cards to be dealt!