Chapter 18: The match with Borussia Dortmund
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"The coach said that shooting training should be combined with defensive interference. Pen Γ fun Γ Pavilion www. ο½ο½ο½ο½ο½ο½ γ info" Salihovic, who broke the ball from Chu Zhongtian's feet, said with a straight face.
"But I don't have any opponents." Chu Zhongtian spread his hands.
"I'll be your opponent!"
As soon as Salihovich said this, he himself was stunned.
Also very surprised was Chu Zhongtian.
Chu Zhongtian didn't expect Salihovic to say such cooperative words. But he soon realised it was an opportunity to bring himself and Salihovic closer.
For a long time, there has been little communication between himself and Salihovic, or very little. However, they are the two most important players for Hoffenheim on the pitch, and if they cannot form a synergy and cooperate with each other, Hoffenheim's results will inevitably be affected.
It's been more than a month since the league started, and it's really time to solve this problem once and for all.
He didn't give Salihovich a chance to repent, and quickly continued: "Okay! β
Salihovich heard him say this and hesitated.
After he said this, he regretted it, and then he pinned his hopes on Chu Zhongtian not appreciating it, so that he could get out of this predicament.
But who would have thought that Chu Zhongtian would agree so simply, without any twisting.
The ball was kicked to his side, could he not regret it? Salihovic couldn't do such a thing, and doing so made him seem too stingy, but he was a head shorter in front of Chu Zhongtian. Salihovic doesn't want to be underestimated by his rivals.
"Okay, you shoot, I'll defend." Salihovich nodded.
Now that you have a defensive opponent, it is certainly impossible for shooting drills to be carried out in place. Chu Zhongtian needs to get moving, because Salihovic will come to break his ball. He had to try to get away from Salihovic's defence or shoot with Salihovic's close interference.
As a result, his shooting accuracy began to plummet.
When Chu Zhongtian shot the ball into the sky with one kick under Salihovic's interference, Salihovic couldn't help laughing.
This shot is outrageous.
Chu Zhongtian shrugged his shoulders and didn't do anything in response to his sneer.
After a group of eighteen balls of goal training, Salihovic did not continue to stay here for the half, accompanying Chu Zhongtian to practice. It's good to be willing to practice with him.
Chu Zhongtian saw Salihovic turn around and leave, but he didn't stay. He ran to pick it up and got it back, and then he stood there watching Salihovic practice a free-kick on the blackboard.
After watching a group, he shouted loudly: "You are like this, how can you practice without a wall?" β
Salihovich looked back at Chu Zhongtian, who was standing in the distance, and Chu Zhongtian pointed to the movable human wall that was placed aside. So he walked over and pushed two rows of short man walls, placed them in front of him, and started practicing free kicks again.
When he finished playing another set, he found that Chu Zhongtian had already run to him.
He saw that Chu Zhongtian had been rubbing his chin.
"It's too monotonous, isn't it?" He said.
Salihovic glanced at him, and then at the wall in front of him: "Do you have a good idea?" β
"I remember that there were a lot of free kick combinations in ......the game," Chu Zhongtian said, "For example, there is one of them, arrange teammates to go to the middle of the opponent's wall, and then kick the ball towards the position where the teammate is, and then the teammate suddenly withdraws, and the football will drill through that gap......" he said as he walked towards the wall.
Finally stood in the middle of two rows of movable human walls.
"Look, that's it. Kick me here. Chu Zhongtian pointed at himself.
Salihovic understood what he meant, and this kind of free-kick tactic is common.
"Okay, but you'd better hide quickly, I'm going to have a fast ball." Salihovic played with a cautious eye, and just after speaking, before he could finish speaking, he kicked the football on the ground out.
And just when he was just getting up, Chu Zhongtian had already begun to squat down. The speed of the ball was indeed very fast, and it almost flew through the gap in the human wall almost grazing Chu Zhongtian's scalp.
A bang sounded in the back of Chu Zhongtian's head, and he didn't even have time to look back. The ball was fast. Fortunately, he had a hunch, otherwise he might have been hit in the head this time.
It's a pity, hehe. Your little caution won't work for me, Salihovic.
Salihovic was naturally quite surprised, he was purely improvised, but Chu Zhongtian acted as if he knew what he was going to do in advance. He looked at Chu Zhongtian, who stood up from the ground, and was a little stunned.
"Shall we continue?" Chu Zhongtian asked.
"Ah...... Go on! Salihovic changed his position, and Chu Zhongtian also pushed the human wall to adjust his position.
The two of them trained like this.
The current training is much more difficult than the previous practice of Salihovic alone, because he not only has to shoot the football to the four corners of the goal, but also let the football go around the human wall, not only let the football go around the human wall, but also let the football fly through the gap where Chu Zhongtian is located.
Similarly, his shots are not as accurate as before, and he can't always make sure to bypass the human wall from where Chu Zhongtian is, sometimes he will hit the human wall, sometimes he will hit Chu Zhongtian's body, or simply go high above the goal.
In the light of the setting sun, the crashing sound of football echoes over the training ground in Hoffenheim.
β»β»β» Fritz. Abel's LΓΌtner Vocational Preparatory School in Munich has already opened, and he basically can't meet Daniel now, because he has to go to school and Daniel wants to do an internship. But don't think that this way no one will bully him. He was notoriously cowardly and cowardly at school, anyone could tease him, and he would never fight back.
Of course, the boys always talk about football together, and the games that have just ended and the games that are about to start are the focus of their discussions. There are many fans in the school who support the various football teams, and the largest number are fans of Bayern Munich and Munich 1806. Without exception, they don't have a good impression of Abel, they love the house and Wu, and in turn hate Wu and Wu, and Hoffenheim, whom Abel likes, has naturally become the target of their frequent ridicule and attack.
But there are some differences in the attitude of the two groups towards Hoffenheim.
Bayern Munich fans have a contemptuous and dismissive attitude towards Hoffenheim, believing that no matter how much a promoted horse is tossed, it is just a promoted horse, and it will not threaten their favorite Bayern Munich at all.
The fans of Munich 1860 had a gritted hatred for Hoffenheim. They have the same affection for Hoffenheim as most of the fans of the other down-and-out old teams β why is it that the team we support has such a long history, has loyal fans like ours, but has no money to play in the lower leagues. And Hoffenheim, a nouveau riche team, can play in the top league because of a very rich owner? Why?
"Coward Abel, your little hillbilly team is going to play Dortmund, and I bet your team won't be able to escape this time!" At school, a group of Munich 1860 fans are having fun with Abel.
Previously, before Hoffenheim played Stuttgart at home, they also vowed that this "hillbilly team" would definitely be beaten to the ground by Stuttgart.
Hoffenheim would have almost beaten Stuttgart to the ground, if it weren't for their Lehmann's bravery...... The gap between before and after this game made many of those who had previously mocked Abel very frustrated, and now it was Dortmund's turn, and they pinned their hopes on Dortmund again. In fact, they have always been like this, and ever since Hoffenheim behaved well, they have always been expecting someone to stand up and stop this money monster, like a hero.
"You support that hillbilly team so much, but it's a pity that the owner doesn't look down on you and won't give you a single euro, coward Abel!"
"I heard that you were working part-time to earn money during the summer vacation, and you were going to watch the game? You might as well call that old immortal from Hope and ask him to sponsor you to the game. Lo and behold, there is a freak in Munich who does not like Bayern Munich or Munich 1860, but prefers a team in the small countryside of Baden! β
Abel did not argue with them, for arguing would lead to something worse than verbal assault. He felt that he just had to shrink his head and let them scold, anyway, he wouldn't lose a single hair.
He slipped away against the wall, and behind him was a group of people laughing.
They were all waiting to see Hoffenheim's jokes.
Only Abel doesn't see it that way. He saw the last Hoffenheim match against Stuttgart live, and if you just look at the scene, Hoffenheim should have won. Stuttgart was a fluke. It is precisely because of this understanding of Hoffenheim that Abel feels that Dortmund may not be able to beat Hoffenheim either.
With two days to go before the home game against Borussia Dortmund, the list of players who will start this game is already in Rangnick's mind. He will not change his starting line-up, with the starting eleven who drew against Stuttgart in the last game will continue to start, while Obasi will continue to be on the bench.
From Obasi, Chu Zhongtian can see how much participation in the Olympics can affect a player's integration into the team. Obasi was still a main player last season, but he has not been able to play because he missed Hoffenheim's preparation plan for the whole summer. Ibisevic and Demba. Ba firmly occupied the starting striker position, and Obasi could only come off the bench.
If Chu Zhongtian participated in that Olympic Games, it would be good if the Chinese team made a breakthrough, after all, it was not a waste of work, so it would be nothing to sacrifice the interests of the club. But if the national Olympic team is still controlled by the Football Association, then making a breakthrough is a joke and nonsense. In that case, why do you want to participate in the Olympics? Chinese football has not made a breakthrough, and it has lost a lot of time at the club for no reason. Now I may be sitting on the bench and watching others perform, just like Obasi. At the same time, it is under tremendous pressure to be called "the most expensive bench" by the media and fans.
With a day to go until the match against Borussia Dortmund, Rangnick announced the Hoffenheim squad and starting line-up for this game.
Against an opponent like Borussia Dortmund, he didn't hide it, but showed a temperament that didn't belong to the underdog - my starting line-up is here, come and study me.
The Beijing Olympics ended on August 24, and the broadcast plans of other events on CCTV's sports channel returned to normal, with the station logo changed from the five-ring logo to the original CCTV5. Football events such as the Bundesliga, Serie A, and La Liga have also returned to live broadcast on weekends.
Hoffenheim's match against Borussia Dortmund is the final of the fifth round of league fixtures and is played on Sunday afternoon, with two kick-offs: Wolfsburg at home to Hamburg and Stuttgart at home to Karlsruhe.
In order to broadcast the match between Hoffenheim and Dortmund live, CCTV moved the match between Cagliari and Juventus in Serie A to the Fengyun Football Channel.
Since Chu Zhongtian joined Hoffenheim, this small team that no one knew about in China has suddenly become a big star on Chinese TV screens. Every round of the Bundesliga, CCTV has to broadcast a Hoffenheim game, which is also an agreement between them and the Bundesliga broadcaster - the German side will try to give them priority to provide Hoffenheim match signals, so that Chinese fans can see their stars in the first place.
September 21, the day of the competition. Chu Zhongtian followed his teammates to the Carl Benz Stadium in Mannheim by bus, and the media had gathered on both sides of the entrance lane, ready to interview the players from both sides.
He saw some South Korean journalists in the crowd. He remembered that there was a South Korean player in the Dortmund team - Lee Young-pyo.
It's a coincidence, I seem to have a good relationship with South Korea. When he was in Metz, he had a South Korean teammate, Ahn Jung-hwan. After Ahn Jung-hwan left, he played in the League Cup and met another South Korean player, Lee Young-pyo, at Tottenham. Now he has come to Germany and joined Hoffenheim, but he didn't expect Li Rongpyo to come to Germany as well. However, Li Rongpyo is much higher than him in terms of joining the team - Dortmund is an old Bundesliga powerhouse, and has won the European Champions Cup, which is his role model Matthias. Where Summerer made a name for himself.
It stands to reason that in the comparison of transfer teams, South Korean player Lee Young-pyo is completely better than Chu Zhongtian. But the South Korean media was not excited at all. Because this summer, Li Rongpyo transferred from Tottenham Hotspur to Dortmund for a transfer fee of 500,000 euros, while Chu Zhongtian is 30 million! A Chinese player has become the transfer target of the Bundesliga, which has made the South Korean media, which has always felt good about itself, very depressed.
Park Ji-sung won the Champions League with Manchester United this summer, much to the delight of South Koreans, and national pride was at an all-time high. They generally believe that it should be South Korea that is leading Asian football to challenge the European and American powers, and Japan and China are not in the eye at all. China, in particular, has not won against them in more than 20 years, South Korea, what is worth mentioning?
Unexpectedly, not long after the news of Park Ji-sung's championship was hyped, the Chinese media broke the news that Chu Zhongtian transferred to Hoffenheim for a record transfer fee of 30 million Asian players, which suddenly stole the limelight from the South Koreans.
Both Nakata Young-su and Park Ji-sung were trampled under Chu Zhongtian's feet.
The reaction of the Japanese is relatively flat, because Hidetoshi Nakata has retired, but the reaction of the South Korean side is fierce, and many Korean media will weaken Chu Zhongtian's value when reporting on this matter, and focus on Hoffenheim is a promoted polo team, which can only accommodate more than 6,000 spectators at home, even so, the game has never been full...... The sense of superiority has invisibly come out again.
Although they have a sense of superiority, they no longer hype the concept of "Asian Derby", on the one hand, it is naturally because they feel that Korean football and Chinese football are not on the same level, and it is an insult to South Korean football to compare Chinese football and South Korean football.
On the other hand, what made them very depressed was that Li Rongpyo did not enter Dortmund's starting list in this line of games. I don't know when I'll be able to play. Neither of them can talk directly on the pitch, so what else is there to talk about derby? Derby between the main players and the bench substitutes? That's a shame...... Chu Zhongtian's eyes swept over the Korean reporters, and he saw several familiar Chinese reporters. Many of these people had chased themselves from France to Germany.
He waved at them.
Coming to the locker room, the players put down their bags, and they didn't rush to change their clothes and go out to warm up.
The locker room is a very mysterious place, and this mystery does not just mean that the locker room is almost never open to the public. It also means that each player will have some "rituals" in the locker room that belong to them.
Chu Zhongtian has had the privilege of playing in three different countries, and he has also experienced three different locker room cultures. The dressing room in England is the noisiest and when all the different pop and rock music is playing in the dressing room, you have to raise the volume to talk to your team-mates sitting next to you, and it looks like two people are arguing and the whole dressing room is arguing. The dressing rooms in France are a bit more orderly than in England, and they like to do their own thing. The dressing room in Germany was very orderly before the game, but it was different after the game. Winning the ball is everyone carnival together, and losing the ball is inevitably a dispute, and it may even develop to the point of hands-on. By that time, the locker room was simply a miniature version of the Colosseum. The Germans have a fiery temper, as can be seen from the fact that their football hooligans are gradually overtaking the English football hooligans.
Hoffenheim's dressing room was a bit livelier than the average German team before the game, because, as the media criticized, there were a lot of foreign players in the team, but not many real German players, and the Brazilian and African players made the dressing room exotic. Eduardo liked to show off his footwork in the dressing room before a game, but Rangnick forbade him to do so, as the dressing room was full of unknown dangers - he could step on a bottle of mineral water thrown on the ground while juggling the ball, or a sneaker with a spike pointing up. But Eduardo still can't resist showing off his skills when the coaches can't see them.
Demba. The two African players, Ba and Obasi, spend a long time grooming themselves before the game and spray themselves with a strong perfume that is a kind of "chemical weapon" for their opponents and teammates...... Salihovic would chat with his close teammates, and laughter could be heard from among them.
Chu Zhongcai has just arrived at the team, and he doesn't have many friends, only Ibisevic will be by his side.
As for the other German players, they were very serious about preparing for the game, taking off their formal clothes at the beginning, changing into training clothes, sitting in their chairs, waiting for the assistant coach to come in and tell them to go out to warm up.
After about 20 minutes of commotion, assistant coach Zeidler opened the door.
"It's warm-up time, gentlemen!"
He waved his hand.
Eduardo put away the ball, the African twins put the mirror in their purses, the German players got up, and Salihovic and his friends chatted as they walked towards the door.
And Chu Zhongtian fell behind.
Each time he waited for the other players to go out before leaving the dressing room to warm up. When it's time to play, he's the opposite, he's the first to get up and walk to the door, because he's the captain and he's going to lead the team.
(To be continued)