Chapter Twenty-Five: A Dully Start
Johnny D'Hooge Cafe is not very far from where Yu Liang lives.
Passing by a path in front of the training ground, crossing an intersection, and walking forward for about a hundred meters, Yu Liang saw this café.
Walking into the café, Yu Liang looked around and found a lonely girl, sitting at a table against the window.
"Hello, excuse me?"
"I'm Lele, are you Yu Liang?"
Looking at the girl in front of him with two pigtails, thick black-framed glasses, and a yellowed shirt, Yu Liang frowned.
"Can this be associated with a beautiful lady?"
After disdainful of Van Ake's aesthetics in his heart, Yu Liang smiled, and then sat opposite Lele.
"Hello, I'm Yu Liang, I'm ......"
"It's 8:05 a.m., and we agreed to meet at 4 o'clock, but I'm sorry, I'm two hours late, so I'll apologize first, but I called you, but you didn't reply until 10 minutes ago. Then I've been waiting for you here for two hours, and you should have something to say! ”
"Uh...... I'm sorry, me! ”
Yu Liang didn't expect this girl named Lele to be so direct.
"That's it! Polite words aside, at least I think you should treat me to a meal now, don't you? ”
"Yes! No problem, you can order whatever you want! ”
Yu Liang didn't expect this Lele to be so direct, she immediately called a waiter and ordered a steak, a salad and a glass of juice for herself.
"Then we should talk about salaries next!"
After Lele solved the food on the plate with a speed that Yu Liang couldn't imagine, he went straight to the topic.
"Ah, yes, yes."
Yu Liang, who was still shocked by Lele's eating speed, couldn't keep up with Lele's rhythm.
"Through Mr. Van Acker, I understand that you wish to learn English and Dutch. But I can also offer German and Spanish education, I don't know if you have such an idea. I don't think you're a good footballer and you can't just play in Belgium and England! In the future, you may go to Germany or even Spain. ”
"Ahh You're right, but at the moment I just want to get back to England and Manchester as soon as possible. ”
Yu Liang looked at Lele and completely abandoned the idea that he had just met her. This is not a local girl at all, but more like a quick-thinking salesman.
"Okay! Lessons are taught on an hourly basis, fifteen euros per hour. Classes are held twice a week for two hours, and you have to pay me sixty euros per week. ”
"Uh, can you get cheaper!"
"Mr. Yu Liang, this is the lowest price! If you're not satisfied, I think you'll have to find someone else! ”
Seeing that Lele did not give in at all, Yu Liang could only accept it.
"Very good, Yu Liang, since we have agreed on the salary, I want to know that we can discuss the arrangement of the teaching time together."
Yu Liang looked at Lele and nodded helplessly, he didn't know why this Chinese girl always acted so clearly.
"Matches are usually played on weekends, so if you have time during the week, let's schedule Wednesday and Thursday."
“OK! No problem, Wednesday, Thursday, six p.m. Write your address and contact details here. ”
After writing down his address and contact information, Yu Liang finally got the problem of learning English and Dutch.
After two days in Antwerp, the days were flattening.
In addition to the training arranged by the team, Yu Liang's extra time is still spent in training and in the strength room.
On August 6, Antwerp welcomed their sixth warm-up match of the summer, Racing Santander from La Liga.
After losing players such as Benayoun and Guerreiro in the transfer market, Racing Santander's strength has been greatly reduced.
Cheered on by more than 3,000 fans, Real Antwerp FC took the lead in the 38th minute of the game. Racing Santander, which had an unfavorable run-in, played many wonderful combinations, but in the end they were not able to convert into goals!
In the 56th minute, Argentine striker Luciano scored with a header to extend the score for Antwerp.
In the 72nd minute, striker Darko Lukovic from Sweden scored his first goal in Antwerp to give his team a 3-0 lead.
And Racing Santander, before the end, saved a little face with the goal of Brazilian rookie Filipe Melo.
3-1, against La Liga teams, Antwerp got a comfortable victory.
This match was a great motivation for the fans and also showed Antwerp's determination to qualify.
Although Van Ake's technical and tactical level in this game was not very good, it proved his strict coaching style from another side.
Yu Liang and Dong Wang, as well as Mihem and Horfat, the four did not get a single minute of play.
With the exception of the injured Soleimani and Di Gregorio, the four of them did not play.
You must know that Micham and Holfast are the main players of the team, and King Dong is also an important rotation role for the team although he did not perform well last season. Three players did not get a chance to play in such an unimportant warm-up game, and Van Ack not only did not get a rebuke from the fans, but instead made the fans rejoice.
Because they can proudly boast outside: "We saved our strength, but we still lost La Liga!" ”
However, Van Ack's behavior is not a friendly signal for the Chinese media.
Because of King Dong, Antwerp itself has received a lot of domestic media attention. Coupled with Yu Liang's loan now, Antwerp can be said to carry the expectations of many Chinese fans, and naturally it cannot lack the attention of domestic media.
At present, there are so many Chinese players staying overseas, and the performance of each person in every game affects the hearts of domestic fans.
Therefore, the domestic media in Antwerp especially hope to see Yu Liang and King Dong appear together.
But after 90 minutes of waiting, they ushered in Antwerp's victory against La Liga teams, but did not wait for the appearance of Yu Liang and King Dong.
This makes them, who have been looking forward to it for a long time, somewhat regretful.
"Why didn't Yu Liang and King Dong play? Are they in bad shape? Or is it something else? ”
Journalists surrounded manager Louis van Ake after the game, hoping to get a glimmer of news from his mouth.
At this time, I have to admire the Antwerp club's good job of keeping the news secret, and the conflict between Yu Liang and Mihem did not spread.
'They are in very good shape and they showed the positives in training! The lack of a game has little to do with the form, a lot of people in this team are newcomers, and as the manager of the team, all I have to do is get to know every player. ”
Van Ake's answer barely satisfied them.
However, in the next few warm-up games, Yu Liang and Dong Wang did not appear in the game, which couldn't help but make these reporters from afar a little dissatisfied.
Although he didn't get the opportunity to play in the warm-up game, and his debut in Antwerp was delayed, which was somewhat regrettable, Yu Liang didn't care. Although Van Ake once said that the team would be banned indefinitely, Yu Liang did not believe that Van Ake would actually do so. As long as you are useful to this team, then the debut will always come.
Outside of training on the training ground and in the strength room, every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon, Lele, with two pigtails and thick black-rimmed glasses, would show up at his doorstep on time to tutor him in English and Dutch.
Just after Yu Liang spent day after day like this, the Belgian Second Division League finally kicked off.
In the first round, Antwerp, playing at home, was behind in the first half against Mons, and Luciano scored the equalizer in the second half, which ended in a draw.
In the second round of Antwerp, Van Ake replaced King Dong in the unfavorable start of the game, King Dong ushered in his first appearance in the second division of the new season, and in the 32 minutes he played, King Dong scored a goal to help the team draw 2-2 and retreat.
King Dong's goal made the long-awaited domestic media excited.
Because Yu Liang was not selected for Antwerp's squad for two consecutive rounds, the domestic media who had been looking forward to it for a summer were a little disappointed, but in addition to the disappointment, King Dong was able to score goals, which was indeed a great encouragement to them. If there is no special news, it is estimated that they have all returned home one by one, and there is no need to continue to stay in Antwerp.
However, before the start of the third round back at home, Yu Liang and Dong Wang appeared in Antwerp's daimyo at the same time, which once again made the media look forward to it.
Before the start of the game, the reporters set up guns and guns in the Bosul Stadium, just to record the moment when Yu Liang and Dong Wang appeared together for the first time. After two rounds of matches, Antwerp returned to home and established an early lead in this game.
In such a situation, domestic reporters are even more looking forward to Yu Liang and King Dong appearing together, after all, they are already ahead, even if Yu Liang and King Dong are not strong, it is always okay to mix up appearance time in garbage time! But what disappointed them was that when the whistle blew at the end of the 90-minute game, they still couldn't see Yu Liang's figure, and even King Dong didn't get playing time.
"Lose his mother's ......"
Lu Bing, who had been waiting for 90 minutes, scolded directly in the stands.
The editor-in-chief had already called from home and made it clear that there was no need for him to stay in Antwerp without any more valuable news. Although the newspaper has a great business, it cannot be wasted in this way.
With a sense of disappointment, Lu Bing and his domestic counterparts began to leave the court.
Unlike disappointed domestic journalists, Antwerp's fans celebrated their first win of the new season in the stadium.
3-1, Antwerp comfortably beat visiting Ostend.
However, for Antwerp, which is aiming to qualify, only one win and two draws in three rounds of games to accumulate five points, such a start looks a bit bland.