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Chapter 174 Who else but me can take on the responsibility?

"What the big brothers said is very right. We should definitely do better than the last World Cup. But why can it be only slightly better? One step further than the round of 16 is indeed the quarterfinals, but I think this can only be regarded as a step-by-step progress, rather than truly making history."

Young Wang Lie stood up to speak. What he said didn't sound very polite, but he was not afraid at all, even though everyone's eyes were on him.

"I also know that every step we take is creating history for Chinese football... I just wonder why we don't just do it in one go?"

Cai Bokang, the team leader, asked him, "How do you achieve it in one step?"

Wang Lie said: "That means winning the championship, winning the World Cup championship right at our doorstep!"

When these words were spoken, Cai Bokang was stunned, and so were the others. The conference room fell into an eerie silence.

But the silence was soon broken by laughter.

"Pfft! Xiao Wang, you are so brave to say that!"

"Hahaha! You're awesome, kid!"

"Fuck, Wang Lie, you're awesome!"

……

Cai Bokang smiled at Wang Lie and said, "It's indeed achieved in one step... But Xiao Wang, you have to consider the reality. Our advantage as the host country is not so great that we can win the championship directly. We are not South Korea."

He raised his hand to signal Wang Lie to sit down, and then said to all his teammates:
"I think reaching the quarterfinals is the most realistic goal. We should work hard towards this goal and strive to achieve the best results in the World Cup next year on home soil, and write our names in the history of Chinese football!"

When he said this, he cast another glance at Wang Lie and found that the boy seemed quite unconvinced and did not make any positive response to his impassioned speech.

※※※

"Fuck, why is our goal for next year's World Cup to be the champion?"

Shen Dongsheng's exclamation awakened Cai Bokang from his past memories.

He suddenly felt a little regretful that he was eavesdropping on the conversation over the phone at this moment.

I really want to be there and see the expression on Wang Lie's face with my own eyes...

"…We haven't discussed this issue internally yet, and now he has launched the satellite…Aren't we in a passive position now? Should we call him over and ask him some questions?"

Shen Dongsheng looked at head coach He Zhenyong.

Before He Zhenyong, who looked serious, could speak, Cai Bokang turned around and walked towards the door:

"I'll go call him. He definitely won't be able to hear me if I call him from here."

"Hey, do you know where they are?" Shen Dongsheng asked.

"There are only a few meeting rooms, just look for them one by one!"

Before he could finish his words, he ran out the door.

The call on the phone he left in the house was still going on, and Wang Lie's voice continued to come from the speaker of the phone.

"...In the public's perception, this goal is exaggerated. After all, winning the World Cup is the goal of traditional football powers. But I want to say: 'Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers of different species?'..."

※※※

"…But I want to say: 'Are kings, princes, generals and ministers of different races?' Since we are qualified to participate in the World Cup, we are qualified to compete for the championship. No one stipulates that only the favorites can win the championship, right? Otherwise, where does the concept of 'underdog' come from?
"So the key to the problem is not whether we can win the championship or whether we are qualified to compete for the championship, but whether we want to. Think about it yourself, do you want to win the championship? Don't consider whether you can win it, just ask whether you want to win it. Is there anyone who doesn't want this championship?"

If you don’t consider whether you can win it or not, of course you want to be the champion! Is there anyone who doesn’t want it?

Liu Jinxuan asked back in his heart.

He looked at Wang Lie, his face showing an eager expression, and he was about to stand up and respond.

But this time Wang Lie did not call his name, but raised his hands: "You don't have to answer me, just answer yourselves. Anyway, I want to, I have always wanted to. Ever since the host World Cup fifteen years ago, I have wanted to win the championship."

Wang Lie pointed at himself.

"I know some people think it's hard to win. Of course it's hard. Why do something that's not hard? It's easy to climb the sixth floor in a residential area, but it's hard to climb Mount Everest. So why doesn't anyone say his goal is to climb the sixth floor, but they all say to climb the highest peak in the world? The harder the task, the more we should do it. But the harder the task, the harder it is to do. It requires us to put in more effort, or even risk everything.

"Football is not a one-man show. It requires the joint efforts of all of us. That's why I'm holding this mobilization meeting today... because I need your help. I hope you can work with me to win the World Cup.

"Nothing is difficult in the world as long as you are willing to climb. As long as each of us can continue to work hard and improve in the next year and make ourselves stronger than we are now, I believe that by next year's World Cup, we really have hope of achieving this goal. As the captain, I will lead by example and charge forward. All of you can monitor my performance to see if I am just pretending to be cool and talking big, and if I am working hard!"

Having said this, Wang Lie raised his voice and waved his arms vigorously.

"Brothers, reaching the quarterfinals in the World Cup is just catching up with the achievements of our predecessors. Winning the World Cup for China is an unprecedented feat! We should build a monument in the history of Chinese football and engrave everyone's name on it!"

Liu Jinxuan looked up at Captain Wang. The man seemed to become brighter and more dazzling than the lights in the conference room.

He could hardly suppress the shaking of his body. He was completely aroused by Captain Wang's words and almost couldn't help but shout out along with Captain Wang.

At this time Wang Lie said:
"I don't need you to express your opinions right now. You can go back and think about it carefully. If you agree with what I said and want to win the championship, then please go all out in the training and competitions in the coming year to improve yourself. Let's meet at the top then."

After saying that, he picked up the phone on the table, hung up the call and turned to leave, with no intention of staying to see everyone's reaction.

He opened the door quickly and saw assistant coach Cai Bokang standing at the door.

※※※

Cai Bokang was right. There were only a few meeting rooms and you could always find one by looking for them one by one.

But he did not use the method he mentioned. Instead, he directly called the hotel front desk using the landline in the elevator and asked which meeting room was rented tonight.

The hotel responded quickly.

There is only one, Conference Room 4 on the third floor.

So he went straight to Conference Room No. 4.

As soon as I reached the door, I heard Wang Lie say:
"We should erect a monument in the history of Chinese football and engrave everyone's name on it!"

He was a little dazed and thought he had traveled through time and space and returned to fifteen years ago.

But he quickly came back to his senses from this feeling of time and space confusion, because what he said at the beginning was somewhat different from what Wang Lie said now.

After coming to his senses, he did not immediately open the door and rush in to take Wang Lie away from the meeting.

Instead, he waited outside, ready to call Wang Lie away after the meeting was over.

Because if Wang Lie was suddenly called away during the meeting, it would inevitably make other players suspect whether the coaching staff was dissatisfied with his previous goal - although he didn't know what Coach He and Team Leader Shen thought of this goal, especially since Coach He had not expressed his opinion.

Cai Bokang simply didn't want to ruin Wang Lie's career.

As a result, he didn't expect that the person waiting for him at the door was Wang Lie who opened the door directly.

"Hey, Coach Cai?"

Wang Lie was very surprised. He didn't expect Cai Bokang to be at the door.

Cai Bokang was also very surprised. He didn't expect that he would be exposed in public like this.

Now that he was exposed, he could only bite the bullet and say, "Uh, they want to talk to you."

Wang Lie smiled and said, "I just happened to be going to look for you guys as well."

After saying that, he and Cai Bokang left together, leaving the 34 team members behind. After the initial shock, they started to discuss enthusiastically without disguising themselves.

"Director Tsai has come to see Captain Wang. Does this represent the opinion of the coaching staff?"

"What do the coaching staff think? Do you disagree with Captain Wang's statement?"

"Isn't that nonsense? Captain Wang's goal is to win the World Cup, but he didn't communicate this to the coaching staff in advance. How will Coach He see it? You're just bragging for us, but if we can't accomplish it in the end, won't we be the ones to take the blame?"

"I think what you said is a bit exaggerated. If the coaching staff really opposed Captain Wang, why did Coach Cai come? And not Coach He? Wouldn't it be enough to just call a halt? I think Coach Cai asked Captain Wang to come over because he wanted to understand the situation..."

"What's there to know? Didn't they hear it all on the phone? If they agreed with Captain Wang's goal, why did they ask Director Cai to come to him?"

Although Cai Bokang deliberately hid outside the door, he was still seen by everyone - even if some people didn't see him, they would know who the person outside the door was when they heard Wang Lie call him "Coach Cai".

It was obvious that Coach Cai came on behalf of the coaching staff, because the head coach and the team manager heard what Wang Lie said through the live broadcast.

So his arrival naturally aroused suspicion and concern from other international players.

The blood that had been boiling because of Wang Lie’s passionate speech was cooling down quickly.

Some people realized that Wang Lie had just told them a dream.

The dream is beautiful, but it is destined to never come true.

It may even be the opposite of reality.

Fu Xiaofeng spread his hands at Liu Jinxuan, whose mood was visibly depressed: "This is normal. Many things cannot be achieved by just saying a few nice words..."

"But doesn't everyone want to win the championship?" Liu Jinxuan murmured.

"I want to, but can I win the championship just by wanting it?" Fu Xiaofeng shrugged and said in his heart:
I also want to be the leader of the national team. Have I achieved it?

"This is how I understand it, Brother Xiaofeng. Regardless of whether we can succeed in the end, it's always right to work hard towards the World Cup championship. Even if we don't succeed in the end, we should be able to achieve better results than before. And no matter what, it's not a good thing to consider failure before the final result comes out. We should not consider the final result, just do it first, and then it's over..."

Looking at Liu Jinxuan's serious expression, Fu Xiaofeng complained in his heart:
Right, right, that's the feeling, exactly the same as Wang Lie's. Those words sounded flawless and correct. But that was it, meaningless except for sounding correct.

Chu Yu could feel that the originally scorching temperature in the conference room was cooling down, just like a furnace that had stopped burning.

He wanted to say a few words as the vice-captain to boost the team's morale.

But before he did that, Feng Qiyuan had already stood up from his seat.

He was 1.88 meters tall. He raised his arms, which made him very conspicuous in the conference room. At the same time, he shouted loudly:
"Brothers! Brothers! I have something to say to you all! Everyone, be quiet and listen to me!"

After he repeated it twice, the conference room became quiet again and everyone turned their eyes to him.

"I want to say that before today's meeting, I knew what Captain Wang would say. Do you find it strange? Before today's meeting, I knew that Captain Wang's goal was to win the World Cup, because Captain Wang had already told me in advance!"

When Feng Qiyuan said this, many people were stunned.

He continued: "Do you remember the game in which Witton Hill lost to Tyne at home in the Premier League this season? After the game, Captain Wang took the initiative to find me to exchange jerseys. But it was not an ordinary exchange of jerseys, but an agreement.

"Captain Wang told me that he wanted to lead the Chinese team to win the World Cup next year. But he also knew that he couldn't achieve this goal by himself, so he hoped that I could continue to improve myself and work hard to become stronger. Not only me, he hoped that everyone in our national team could do this, because only when all of us are stronger, his dream will have a chance to come true. It's just that he met me first, so he took the opportunity of exchanging jerseys to tell me...

"Captain Wang held the jersey and said to me, if I also want to win the World Cup and am willing to work hard for this goal, to improve myself and become stronger, then I should take his jersey, make him a promise and fight with him. You all saw that I took the jersey. The jersey is now hanging in my house and I can see it every day."

His words caused an uproar in the conference room. No one expected that there was such a story behind the jersey exchange.

"Oh my god! So that's how it is?!"

"Captain Wang had already made the decision at that time?!"

"Fuck! Captain Wang is such a fucking awesome guy..."

"Brilliant!"

Someone asked Feng Qiyuan loudly: "Why didn't you say it before?"

Feng Qiyuan replied: "Captain Wang didn't ask me to tell you. And I think Captain Wang definitely wants to tell everyone about this in person. Only if he tells everyone in person will it make sense."

Then he pointed at himself.

"Brothers, I don't care what you think, and I don't care what the coaching staff thinks of Captain Wang's goal. Anyway, I have decided to fight with Captain Wang! I changed some bad habits in my life, and I have developed a new training plan... I am not just talking.

"In fact, there were times when I wanted to give up. After all, there was no enjoyment at all, and pushing myself too hard was too tiring. But every time I wanted to give up, I would think about Captain Wang's performance in the past half season. A 38-year-old veteran, for the ideal in his heart, can still fight to this extent. What reason do I have to give up? So I will definitely continue to work hard in the new season. If you don't believe me, just wait and see how I perform."

※※※

"Are you serious, Wang Lie?"

National team leader Shen Dongsheng stared at Wang Lie standing in front of him with wide eyes.

"Of course I'm serious. Winning the World Cup has always been my dream." Wang Lie answered very seriously, with no smirk on his face at all.

Some people, when discussing a very serious matter, will use a cynical attitude and jokes to ease the embarrassment between themselves and the audience.

But Wang Lie didn't do that at all.

Because he doesn't find it embarrassing to discuss winning the World Cup with others.

Of course, the three people standing in front of him also had serious expressions and did not feel embarrassed either.

"I know this is your ideal, but now that you're announcing it so formally to the whole team, aren't you worried that it will put too much pressure on everyone?" Shen Dongsheng continued to ask.

"I just want them to feel the pressure. If there is no pressure at all, no one will take this goal seriously."

"Can they take it seriously now? How can you guarantee that everyone thinks the same as you?" Shen Dongsheng didn't seem to intend to let Wang Lie go. Just like a mentor in a graduation defense, he chased Wang Lie and asked him questions.

Wang Lie shook his head: "I can't guarantee it."

Shen Dongsheng, He Zhenyong and Cai Bokang were all very surprised by his answer. Cai Bokang was even more anxious and asked, "Can't guarantee it? Then what's the point of you saying that?"

Wang Lie turned his head to look at Cai Bokang who asked the question and smiled at him: "I think there should be no one who doesn't like the World Cup and the championship, right? If they have any concerns, they are also worried that they can't win. That's very simple, I will lead them to win. I will prove to them that I have the ability to do it."

Head coach He Zhenyong, who had been silent, asked back: "Like what you did at Tyne this season?"

Wang Lie nodded: "Yes, just like that."

He Zhenyong did not ask any more questions, but seemed to be lost in some kind of thought.

But his team leader Shen Dongsheng was a little anxious: "I'm going to say something unpleasant, Wang Lie. Leading the Chinese team to win the World Cup is much more difficult than leading a Premier League relegation team to qualify for the Champions League. I won't even mention the difference in strength between the two teams. There is only one World Cup champion, and 32 teams compete for one championship. There are four Premier League spots, and 20 teams compete for four spots. From a probabilistic point of view, which one is easier?"

Wang Lie said: "But Captain Shen, the Premier League is a league, and the World Cup is a cup competition. The league is more about testing the hard power of the team, while the cup competition is less concerned about the strength of the team and is more likely to result in an upset."

Shen Dongsheng did not continue asking questions, but remained silent.

Seeing that the room had fallen into silence, Wang Lie continued:
"I know it's hard to win the World Cup, and I also know that saying this goal out loud will scare a lot of people. But some things can't be done just because they're difficult, and similarly, some words can't be said just because they're afraid of scaring people.

"Coach He, Team Leader Shen, things have to be done. Anyway, I just want to win the World Cup. In this case, why not make it clear? Of course, I also know that if anyone else said this, it might not be taken seriously. So I said it, and only I can say this, because it is my responsibility."

When Wang Lie said this, Cai Bokang was watching beside him.

He thought back to the past.

It took fifteen years for the young man to finally get everyone to listen to him seriously...

(End of this chapter)