Chapter 8: Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo and the Chinese Sun
"Erling, did Ibrahimovic score?"
In Norway, the elder Haaland heard his son's excited voice and thought it was his favorite star Ibrahimovic who scored the goal.
After walking into the living room, little Haaland curled up in the sofa, staring at the TV excitedly.
On the screen is the lonely back of Ibrahimovic walking off the court.
The score showed the Netherlands leading 4-0.
"It's okay, Ibrahimovic will score."
Haaland Jr. has been foolishly explaining that he doesn't want his father to think of him as a 'messy' person, and that he has known from his father many times that Levi is from Manchester United.
And the old Haaland doesn't like Manchester United.
"What are you holding?"
The elder Haaland saw at a glance that he was holding a football in his arms, and Haaland Jr. quickly hid the football to one side, watching his father wander.
"You can't just like one star, and you can't be hostile to him because he's the star of the opposing team."
Old Haaland saw through his son's careful thinking and smiled with relief.
"Levi is really an admirable player, a terrifying goalscorer."
'If you like him, you have to learn from him, never give up running on the pitch and take every opportunity to score.'
Haaland Jr. nodded.
"Of course, in terms of private life, don't learn from him, family and responsibilities are also quite important."
Haaland Sr. then added.
Sixty-first minute of the second half.
"Ibrahimovic and Tim Dekle got tangled, smashed the ball and twisted to get rid of De Keler's block and hit the goal!"
Eevee, who was tall and long, swung his slender and solid thighs violently, and thrust on the soccer ball with a taut pop.
There was a hysterical shout with the commentary.
"The ball is in!"
The ball cut a fuzzy line through the air, fell to the front of the goal with a faint arc, and bounced on the ground before burrowing into the bottom right corner of the goal.
Ibrahimovic finally found a chance that didn't stand out of chance, getting rid of it from outside the box and slotting out a stunning long-range shot.
Dutch goalkeeper Michel Worm has been defused by the backline since he came on the pitch.
The first time he was put to the test, he scored a goal from Ibrahimovic.
The excited Serie A striker ran to the sidelines and made a demonstration gesture to the Dutch fans who were smiling arrogantly.
Sweden's overall strength is significantly behind that of the Netherlands.
But Ibrahimovic proved with this goal that Sweden lost and Ibrahimovic did not.
Levi, who was on the field, looked at this long-range shot with excellent angle and strength, and after glancing at Van Persie, he secretly compared his thumbs.
Seventieth minute of the game.
The Dutch team went on a counter-attacking frenzy again when Bolaruz passed the ball to Ibrahim Afelai, who had just been substituted for Sneijder, who burst in with the ball and distributed it to Kuyt.
Kuyt sent in a long diagonal ball and Van Persie in the box ran forward the moment the ball was passed and carried the defender in front of goal to shoot.
Rewrite the score to 5-1.
Soon after, Babbel replaced Levy.
"Great, my boy."
When Levi and Babbel high-fived him, Van Marwijk pounced on him, and after hugging Levi, the excited old Dutchman kissed him the cheek.
With two shots and one pass, he easily dominated the attack of another game.
Although none of the opponents he has encountered so far are top teams, Levi has not suffered a single defeat in the Dutch team.
Damn, why didn't you send him to me sooner.
But on second thought, if the Netherlands had discovered Levi earlier, Van Basten might not have left class, and naturally it would not have been his turn.
Van Marwijk looked at Levi in front of him, and he was already imagining that he would be on the stage of the Coach of the Year award after winning the championship.
Thinking of this, the old man's eyes were full of joy.
After the game, when the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, Levi walked to Sweden's bench.
Shortly after Levi was replaced, Ibrahimovic was also replaced by the Swedish manager.
From afar, Levi saw the Swedes sitting in a chair with displeasure written on their faces, and several Swedish players greeted Levi.
Although they returned home with a big defeat in this game, relying on De Jong's absence, the overall game was played cleanly, and there were no conflicts, and the Swedish generals were also convinced.
'I came to Zlatan to exchange shirts, he is one of my favourite strikers.
Levi spoke to Swedish striker Larsson, but the voice happened to be heard by Ibrahimovic not far away.
Swedish Shenfeng's eyes glanced to the side, deliberately pretending to arrange his clothes and not see Levi's appearance, but the pricked up ears revealed his state of mind.
"Hey, Zlartan."
Levi approached Ievee in a very kind tone.
'Your long-range shot is so beautiful, it's hard for me to believe that a player can score such a tricky goal.'
Eevee turned his head and glanced at Levi, and the hostility in his eyes instantly dissipated a lot.
Smile.
The two immediately exchanged jerseys, and Levi gave a few words of praise before leaving, which made Ibrahimovic feel well.
And the media on the sidelines also took the opportunity to film this moment.
Don't think it's going to be big news in sports again.
"I think he's the one. Well, very creative players. β
At the post-match press conference, Ibrahimovic pursed his lips and said to the camera.
"It's fun to play against or work with players like that."
On the evening of November 19, Maradona, who was announced to coach Argentina some time ago, led the team to play a friendly match with the Scottish team in Edinburgh, which was Marado's first appearance after being included in the main Argentine team.
Because of the "gentleman's agreement" between the Argentine Football Federation and FC Barcelona (that is, Messi will not be recruited in the 2008 national team friendly match), Messi missed this milestone game.
However, despite this, Messi is still the focus of media attention: because the 2008 Ballon d'Or is about to be announced, Messi is also a hot candidate.
In an interview with the French newspaper Les Teams, he said: "I vote for Cristiano Ronaldo, he won the two most important titles last season: the Premier League and the Champions League, and he deserves the Ballon d'Or. β
The day before the interview with the "Team Newspaper" was released, the Spanish "Daily Sport" had taken the lead in disclosing it:
The 2008 Ballon d'Or will go to Cristiano Ronaldo, while Messi and Torres will be second and third.
"We see that Levi, who used to come from La Masia, is now leading the La Liga scorers' charts, how do you describe this incredibly efficient young player?"
When the reporter of "Team Daily" asked Messi, Messi lowered his head and thought about it, and at this juncture the reporter asked again:
"Some say he plays like Cruyff, others say he occasionally makes some pleasing moves, much like Ronaldo. Both of these are top stars that you know very well, which one do you think is more accurate? β
"I don't know."
Messi smiled shyly at the camera.
"Cruyff is a great elder with a brilliant career at both Ajax and BarΓ§a; And Ronaldinho is the best player in the world. When you stand with the best, everything seems so simple. And when we no longer have him, we have to try to get back on our feet. β
'As for Levi, he's been doing quite well and maybe one day he'll be able to compare to these players and I think he's playing his own football right now.'
The reporter then threw out the next question.
'After the Ballon d'Or is there an award for the best young player in the near future, who do you think will win the award, whether it will be your team-mate Bojan or Sergio Busquets, who has done well this summer, or?
Messi gave a hard look on his face before laughing.
"If I could, I would like to vote for Aguero, he deserves two awards."
On November 20, Levi did not return to Barcelona immediately after playing for the national team.
Instead, he flew to the Moroccan city of Fez and was invited to a friendly match.
This is the 6th edition of the "Anti-Hunger" Charity Contest organized by the United Nations Development Programme.
Launched in 2003, the "Against Hunger" Charity Contest was led by UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors and invited planets from all over the world to participate.
Held in the northern Moroccan city of Fez, the first time the event was held outside of Europe, raising funds for UNDP's anti-hunger programmes around the world.
The two teams were led by superstars Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo, and the two teams were known as 'Ronaldo's Friends' and 'Zidane's Friends' respectively.
From 2008 to 2015, Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane have confirmed that they will participate in eight charity tournaments together.
But interestingly, Levi is neither a friend of Ronaldo nor a friend of Zidane.
The reason for the invitation is said to be that Zidane watched Levi's victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu and admired his performance on the field, so it was decided to invite him to join Zidane's team.
In Fez, Levi met the former Real Madrid superstar.
"Mr. Zinedin, it's a pleasure to meet you."
'I'm also glad to meet you, I watched your game live at the Bernabeu and you scored two really good goals, especially the barbed shot from Pepe, Cannavaro and Casillas.
Zidane, who has thick eyebrows and a bald head, has a bright smile, and the corners of his eyes show folds.
'Ronny was unhappy with that, he thought it was cheating for me to call on a young player who was active and he was the top scorer in La Liga at the moment. Zidane whispered in Levy's ear.
"And you also broke his record."
"That's what I want, you have to beat them up for me."
Soon after, Ronaldo, who made his debut more than 270 days after serious injury surgery, appeared in front of Levi, at this time Ronaldo's body management was already a little out of control, and there was a bloated belly standing under his belly.
And Levi, who saw him, immediately left Zidane behind and talked to the cheerful Brazilian superstar with a little fan mentality.
"Maybe you and my team are more suitable for you, and I also invited one of yours. Well, fellow countrymen. β
Sun Jihai, who moved from Manchester City to Sheffield United this summer.
Just got off work, and there are three chapters of 10,000 words, which are uploaded one after another
(End of chapter)