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Chapter 44 If you want to see a thousand miles away, reach a higher level
During training, Wang Lie carefully followed the tactics designed by the coaching staff and did not express any dissatisfaction in public or private.

Only then did everyone believe that Wang Lie was truly cooperating with all his strength.

Then someone else lamented:

The king is really old!
After more than half a season of torture at Sofia United, he may have realized this, so his temper is not as bad as before.

He was in a very difficult situation at the time in Sofia. Given his temper and personality, it was impossible for him to give in.

But after coming to Tyne, no one here opposed him. Everyone respected and understood him, so he put aside his inner pride, became easier to talk to, and became gentler...

Wang Lie admitting that he is old is a good thing for everyone, but for him, a man who has been strong all his life, it is more like an unacceptable tragedy.

It makes people sigh...

These are all groundless speculations.

In fact, they just underestimated Wang Lie's obsession with victory. When his body functions have not yet recovered, isn't it normal for him to temporarily sacrifice his personal interests for victory?

The key is to win.

Only winners have the right to breathe and speak.

And the next match against the Scouse people is indeed very crucial.

If you lose, basically everything is over.

Why do you say that?
Given Tyne's strength, it doesn't seem strange even if they lose to the Scots at home - they were completely defeated by the Scots 0:3 away from home in the first half of the season. Both the result and the process of the game were very much in line with public expectations.

But if they want to participate in the Champions League next season, losing to the Scouse people cannot be accepted, at least Wang Lie cannot accept it.

What impact will losing this game have?

But it's not just as simple as the gap with the top four in the league being widened. After all, Sofia United could also lose...

The biggest impact is that it will make the "silent majority" in the team silent again.

It will make those "fence-sitters" become indecisive again.

If the goal is just to participate in the Europa League or the UEFA League, then this problem will not arise. With Tyne's current points ranking, if they work hard in the remaining 15 league games, it is really possible to qualify for the Europa League and the UEFA League.

But the Champions League qualification is different, it is very difficult to get.

If a team can only beat weak teams and surrenders when facing strong teams, assuming it will lose, then no one will believe that such a team can win the top four in the league.

And the Scouse are the first strong team they have encountered, and the result of this game will become a kind of weather vane.

Losing to the Scouse team is like telling everyone else on the team that we can't do it, even with Wang Lie. It's better to stop dreaming about participating in the Champions League!

On the other hand, if we can beat the Scouse this time, it will give the team confidence and set an example.

When they meet a strong team again in the future, they can think about how they defeated the Scouse people and gain confidence in defeating strong enemies. Because the facts have proved that they are fully capable of competing with strong teams without surrendering before the battle.

The “first time” of anything is always the most important.

For example, if Wang Lie had not scored two goals in his first game at Tyne, he would definitely not have been treated this way, either by public opinion outside the team or in the team’s locker room.

His past achievements and fame may make others treat him with more courtesy, but if he performs poorly in his first game, this preferential treatment will end.

Some people will still trust him, but more people will look at him with suspicion, and the pressure will increase as time goes by.

No one wants to carry this kind of pressure for a long time, so if you can get off to a good start in the first game, on the one hand it can greatly reduce the pressure on you, and on the other hand it can quickly open up the situation and make the rest of the road much easier.

※※※

Sam McNeill cast his eyes towards assistant coach Valo, who gave him an affirmative look: "Except for those on the injury list, everyone else is here."

McNeill looked back at the players on the training ground, who were waiting for the training to begin.

"Everyone, please be quiet for a moment. I have something to announce!" McNeill raised his arms.

The players who were originally chatting looked at him curiously.

McNeill called out his name again: "Wang! Come here for a moment."

Everyone's eyes turned to Wang Lie again.

In full view of everyone, Wang Lie walked out of the crowd, approached McNeill, and looked at him with a puzzled look.

He also didn't know why Sam called him out alone.

He has been very cooperative in training recently...

The captain's armband was given to me a long time ago...

What else could it be?
McNeill said to him: "Actually, I thought about whether to do this. After all, not everyone accepts it... But after careful consideration, I decided to do it. Because I think this can express the team and the club's feelings for you..."

As he said this, the players standing opposite him suddenly became agitated.

Some people cheered, some whistled, and some clapped and laughed.

And their eyes were already cast behind Wang Lie and McNeill.

Apparently they saw something there.

Wang Lie also looked back curiously.

Then the club's general manager Will Foster walked in from the side of the training ground pushing a stainless steel food cart.

On the dining table was a golden...Golden Globe?!
Wang Lie’s eyes widened.

Oh no, it just looks like the Golden Globes.

After the general manager pushed the food cart closer, Wang Lie could see clearly that it was a cake in the shape of the Golden Globe Award trophy!
"Happy Birthday, King!"

McNeill also turned around and spoke to Wang Lie beside him.

Today is February 2037, , Tuesday, his thirty-eighth birthday.

Wang Lie laughed and shook his head, saying, "I have never encountered such a thing in Sofulian..."

McNeill said: "So I'm not sure if this is a good thing to do. But I want to express the team's gratitude to you in this way."

At this time, General Manager Will Foster had also walked up to them and said, "This is also the club's thanks to you and a little compensation. After all, when you joined the team, we didn't even organize a fan welcome ceremony for you..."

Wang Lie waved his hand: "This is my own request."

This was not to show off, but Wang Lie really felt that it was meaningless and would only delay things to hold a grand welcoming ceremony during the season.

At that time, he hadn't played football properly for a long time and had been training with the youth team, so he had a more urgent need to be able to train normally rather than showing off in front of others.

Although it was his initiative to request not to hold a welcome ceremony, Wang Lie was still a little touched to see that the club was still thinking about it and specially organized such a small ceremony for him on his birthday.

As he himself said, if he was a mercenary, he would only be hired for "love" and "respect".

Looking at that Ballon d'Or-shaped birthday cake now, it's clear he's loved and respected at Tyne.

You have to know that he never enjoyed the treatment of being given a cake by the club during training on his birthday, even at the peak of his career.

In fact, when he was young, Wang Lie might not care about such things.

But after experiencing the ups and downs of life in the first half of the season, this small gesture that didn't cost much money but required a lot of thought won his favor.

When he chose to join Tyne, he had no feelings for the team. It was just because McNeill trusted him and he needed a platform to carry his ambitions.

In his situation at that time, he actually no longer expected to be loved. He just regarded Tyne as a tool to complete his revenge.

However, from the second day he arrived here, Goetz gave up the captain's armband to him, and then to the "surprise" that the club prepared specially for him today...his feelings for Tyne are gradually building up.

Wang Lie stood in front of the cake, and the photographer from Tyne's official website who came with General Manager Foster recorded the scene with a camera. Soon after simple photo editing, they would post the photos and videos to the official account.

Although Tyne has a lot of money, the club's image has always been bad because of its lack of results.

Now that Wang Lie has joined the club, it has attracted a lot of attention. Of course, they have to make good use of Wang Lie's influence.

Photos and videos of Wang Lie are released during daily training, which not only satisfies Wang Lie’s fans but also takes the opportunity to expand Tyne’s influence.

After taking the photos, the cake will be taken away and Wang Lie will not be allowed to eat it.

After all, professional players still have to control their diet.

The main purpose of this ceremony was not to allow Wang Lie to have a bite of cream cake, but to express the club's importance to Wang Lie.

※※※After celebrating this birthday, everyone should do what they should do and continue training.

This is just a small episode.

However, Wang Lie’s fans are very concerned about such “little episodes”.

After Tyne's official account released videos and photos of the team celebrating his birthday, it immediately attracted the attention of Wang Lie's fans.

The number of likes, comments, and reposts all rose rapidly.

"Wow! Tyne has a heart!"

"I remember that Wang never received such treatment when he was in Sofu League, right?"

"Yes, Sofulian only posts a tweet on Wang's birthday, and it doesn't happen every year. It feels like their media department posts it when they remember to, and forgets it if they don't..."

"It's hard to imagine that this is how Superstar King is treated in Sofu League!"

"There is no harm without comparison! Look at Tain, and then look at Sofolian. It turns out that Sofolian has always only paid lip service to respecting the king!"

"To be honest, the previous king didn't really care about this - you see he never complained. Of course, just because he doesn't need it doesn't mean Sofolian can stop doing it. In this regard, Tyne is still the one who knows how to handle things... I really like this 'upstart' team more and more!"

"Thank you Tain for loving the king so much! Thank you, love comes from Palestine!"

……

In addition to the official congratulations from Tyne, Wang Lie’s own official account also posted pictures and texts commemorating his birthday on multiple platforms.

This was certainly not sent by him personally, but by his public relations team.

But the content must have been reviewed by him, or he must have written it himself, and the photos should have been used with his approval.

For this birthday tweet, Wang Lie chose a photo of himself celebrating after scoring his second goal in his debut for Tyne.

He had used a photo of this scene before - after the game, he sent a tweet celebrating his comeback and scoring a goal.

However, he used a photo taken from a different angle. He stood in front of the Tyne fans who were celebrating wildly, waving fists and shouting, with his hands on his hips and his back to the camera, showing his last name and number.

This time he used frontal photos taken by photographers behind the billboard.

His upper body almost took up the entire photo. In the camera, he tilted his head slightly with a calm expression on his face, but the corners of his mouth seemed to be raised, as if he was smiling.

But he didn't actually laugh at that time.

I don’t know if it’s the angle at which this photo was taken - it’s obvious that the photographer was sitting behind the billboard and shooting the photo upwards.

The caption of this photo was also written by Wang Lie himself, and he wrote two versions, one in English and the other in Chinese.

The English translation means: "Thirty-eight is not the end, but the beginning!"

The Chinese version is a bit more interesting. I can’t say that the meaning is exactly the same as the English version, but it can be said that it is completely unrelated:

"If you want to see a thousand miles away, go to the next level!"

The English version was posted on the Internet, while the Chinese version was posted on Weibo in China.

After the English version was released, it certainly attracted everyone's attention, but it was just normal attention. Wang Lie's fans left messages to bless and congratulate their idol, and also praised the spirit expressed by Wang Lie...

Of course, Wang Lie’s haters were also making sarcastic comments. Some even took a photo of him standing in front of a Golden Globe cake and spread rumors that Wang Lie wanted the Golden Globe so much that he went crazy, so he simply ordered a cake for himself to show that he had won another Golden Globe…

The Chinese version attracted many media and fans to do reading comprehension.

"Brother Wang, what do you mean? Are you going to climb up to the roof of the stands and have a look?"

"The key point is 'reach a higher level'! Everyone thought Wang Lie had already gone down the mountain, but he is still full of ambition and wants to continue climbing up the mountain!"

"Why do I feel like Wang is secretly mocking Sofia United? Wang is saying that if he wants to satisfy his ambition (to reach the top), he has to go to a bigger platform, a better team (to move up to the next level)... So Wang is saying that Tyne is better than Sofia United, one level higher than Sofia United!"

"So that's how it is! Chinese is profound and extensive! Brother Wang is so good at scolding!"

"Today is Wang Lie's 38th birthday. He posted a microblog that sparked interest and debate. People have different opinions on what the poem 'If you want to see a thousand miles away, you must climb a higher floor' means... So what do you think, my friends? Please leave your opinions in the comment section..."

※※※

Chi Zhen had just put down his phone when he was attracted by the new message alert and picked it up again.

It was his good friend Su Ju.

He sent me a picture, and from the small picture, it was a screenshot of Wang Lie’s English social media.

You don’t even have to click in to take a closer look.

Why is he so sure?

Because before he put down his phone, he had just logged out of Wang Lie's social media account page, and the interface was very familiar.

“???” He was too lazy to type, so he just sent three question marks to ask his friend what the picture meant.

"Did you click it to see it?" Su Ju replied.

Chi Zhen sighed - if you have something to say, just say it directly, why do you have to keep us in suspense!

Even though I was complaining in my mind, I still clicked on the picture.

It was Wang Lie’s tweet celebrating his 38th birthday.

But what is slightly different from what I saw is that under the tweet, there is a record of my likes.

When he finished looking at the big picture, Su Ju's new message came over: "You will be competing with Brother Wang this weekend. You are giving Brother Wang a like at this time. Aren't you afraid that someone will lead the discussion? They think that your like is a provocation to Brother Wang..."

Chi Zhen replied: "So you see, I didn't even like the post on Weibo..."

"You are trying to cover your ears and steal the bell!" Su Ju said, "You are trying to escape! It is shameful to escape!"

Chi Zhen: “But it’s useful.”

Su Ju: "Haha. Do you think that if you don't speak on Weibo, they will stop making trouble? You are just deceiving yourself. What's the use? Have your fans and Wang Ge's fans made peace? It's your competition next. Everyone is watching your every move. I tell you, you lost because you can't express yourself. In fact, some things would not cause public opinion to ferment to that extent. Just because you didn't speak, people started to think wildly..."

Chi Zhen replied: "Players should still speak with football."

Su Ju rolled his eyes and said, "I feel like you're even older than Brother Wang... I tell you, times have changed. Besides, there's no conflict between speaking with your mouth and speaking with your feet. As for the matter between you and Brother Wang, from the Asian Cup two years ago to now, the brainless fans on both sides are still making trouble, and you don't say a word."

Chi Zhen was silent for a few seconds and then sent a voice message to Su Ju: "What else can I say? It's not like I haven't spoken out before. When the Asian Cup just ended, I said in an interview that the responsibility for being eliminated can't be blamed entirely on Brother Wang. Everyone is responsible. I didn't perform well enough and couldn't relieve Brother Wang's pressure... But how did the media report it? They said I was a yin-yang brother Wang!

"There are many similar situations. I said that I take Wang Ge as my role model and goal, and I will work hard to surpass Wang Ge, but the media said that I want to step on Wang Ge to get to the top. I said that I hope fans can be more rational, and I was talking about fans of both sides, but the media said that I accused Wang Ge's fans of cyberbullying my fans... There was nothing wrong between my fans and Wang Ge's fans, but it was stirred up by these unscrupulous media and marketing accounts, and it became like this now? In this situation, how can I say anything? No matter what I say, someone will stare at me and take it out of context, misinterpreting my original meaning. I might as well not say anything.

"Didn't I advise the fans to calm down? But was it effective? Do you think that as long as they claim to be fans, they are my real fans? Will they really listen to me? Don't they still listen to those few fan leaders? Haha... And I do think that all the problems are because I don't perform well enough and can't carry the team like Brother Wang did before. So as long as I can become stronger and do better, then the online arguments may all disappear. Before I do that, no matter what I say, it will be useless. The arguments will still happen."

Chi Zhen's words were a bit heavy, Su Ju made a dog head to tease his friend and ease the atmosphere: "I understand, you want to replace Brother Wang's position in the national team, you traitor!"

But his teasing didn't work. Chi Zhen continued to send voice messages, his tone as serious as ever: "Am I wrong? Brother Wang is old, and he will retire sooner or later. Someone from the Chinese team has to stand up. I'm not saying that I will definitely be that person, but I will work towards that goal. I will try to be someone like Brother Wang. Before I become that person, actually, anything I say is useless and meaningless. As football players, we still have to speak for ourselves through our performance on the court, right?"

Su Ju's attitude also became more serious. At least he stopped sending emoticons to tease his friends. "That's right. Look at Brother Wang. How badly was he scolded before he went to Tyne? Those people on the Internet said so rude things. If you don't know, you would think his mother died of dystocia when he was born. No one taught them to be polite. As a result, he scored two goals against Herlingham, and his reputation changed immediately... Now Rost and Heldon are tortured all day long... Tsk tsk."

"So, since it all depends on the performance on the court, what's the point of me saying so much off the court? Since it has come to this... I think instead of explaining so much and continuing to cause misunderstandings, it is better to let the performance on the court speak for itself. As long as I perform well enough, there will be fewer and fewer people scolding me."

Su Ju joked: "You are ambitious, you want to make sure that the scolding from the brainless fans can't catch up with you..."

Chi Zhen smiled and sent a voice message: "What kind of ambition do I have? Brother Wang's ambition is much bigger. Have you seen the Weibo post he posted in China?"

"I have. 'If you want to see farther, you must climb higher.'"

"Brother Wang is 38 years old, and he is in the late stage of his career, but he still wants to go further and reach a higher level. Let me tell you, Su Ju, in front of Brother Wang, my thoughts can't be called ambition. At most, I just want to be someone like Brother Wang. Brother Wang is my role model. And what about Brother Wang? There is no role model in front of him. He is walking a path that no one has walked before. That's really amazing."

After listening to the voice message from Chi Zhen, Su Ju asked, "Before, Brother Wang was benched by Helden in Sofia, so Coach He of the national team did not recruit him. But looking at Brother Wang's recent performance, Coach He may still recruit him back for the 12-team finals in March. What will you do with him then? No matter how much you respect him, there are indeed tactical conflicts on the court..."

Chi Zhen was silent for quite a while this time. Even Su Ju thought that his friend was pretending not to notice his problem and then playing dead to get away with it. Just like he said, although escaping is shameful, it is useful... This kid often does this!
Then a five-second voice message came over:

"I'm going to do my best to beat him on Sunday."

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PS, I have an idea, and I have been writing frantically for this idea in the past few days.

That is, during this game, I will update twice a day - don't complain that twice a day is too little, everyone can see the number of words in one chapter of this book.

The double update is actually equivalent to my previous three updates for one chapter of 3,000 words, or even more, at most it might be four or five updates.

So this double update is absolutely full of sincerity.

So I hope everyone can vote more so that our performance on the monthly ticket list will look better. Thank you everyone, and please help me!
(End of this chapter)