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Chapter 66 A Game That Goes Down in History

On the day he sent his wife and children to the airport, Wang Lie did not return home after finishing training, but lived directly in Northumberland Football City.

It wasn't because he didn't want to go back to that empty, deserted mansion.

Although he had just experienced a month of lively times, it would be difficult for him to adapt at first when he suddenly returned to the big villa where there were no children laughing and rushing to welcome him, and no wife smiling in the kitchen and telling him that dinner would be ready soon.

But as a Chinese professional player, he must learn to adapt to this loneliness and solitude.

Everything is much better now.

In the past, he was the only Chinese player in the entire five major European leagues. Every time he went back to the national team to play, and every time he went back to the club after the game, he had to travel thousands or tens of thousands of kilometers alone.

Isn’t that a kind of loneliness?

Of course, the situation has changed now.

More and more Chinese players are active in European football.

In the past, as long as you could play football in Europe, you had a great chance of being selected for the national team.

It’s not necessarily the case now. If you don’t perform well enough and just play for a European team, that’s not enough to be selected for the national team.

Isn’t the best example Wang Lie himself?
Because he was kept on the bench by Helden for half a season at Sofia United, he was not even called up to the national team for the World Cup qualifiers... This would have been unimaginable fifteen years ago!

The only reason why Wang Lie stayed in Northumberland Football City today was because tomorrow was the 25th round of the league at home against Brighton & Hove Albion.

The day before an away game, the team will arrive in the away city in advance and stay in the hotel.

There is no need to be so troublesome for home games. You can just stay in the Football City built by the club at a huge expense. The accommodation conditions here are comparable to those of a five-star luxury hotel.

Moreover, whether it is training facilities, physical therapy recovery equipment, or catering, they are much more professional and convenient than hotels. You will not be disturbed by other guests, media, and fans when staying in a hotel.

All Tyne players who were included in the squad for tomorrow's match are staying overnight in the Sports City.

After dinner today, everyone gathered at the entertainment center, but not to watch the table tennis battle between Wang Lie and Dean.

Watch the game instead.

Watch the second "Red Derby" of this season.

Do professional players watch other teams' games like ordinary fans do?

of course.

Although they will not watch every game, they will watch the important and crucial games as long as conditions permit.

The match between Scots and Southampton United, two of England's most successful football teams, is "the important game, the crucial game".

And this game is somewhat related to the players of Tyne.

After the last round of the league, Scots lost to Tyne, and Sofia United won against Leicester City, so Sofia United rose to third place with 46 points, while Scots, who were originally third, ranked fourth with 45 points.

As long as this game can be decided, no matter who wins or loses, at least it will let the Tyne players know how far they are from qualifying for the Champions League...

Yes, although Wang Lie did not directly say that the "bigger stage" was the Champions League, it was obvious that the Tyne locker room was more interested in the topic of the Champions League since defeating the Scots.

If there was a hot topic list in the Tyne dressing room, then this week, #UEFA Champions League# would definitely be high on the list and the popularity would continue to rise.

So even though there was no organization, after dinner everyone still came to the entertainment center in the training base in groups of three or four to watch the live broadcast of the "Double Red Meeting" on the projection screen.

"Who do you think is good?"

Before the live broadcast of the game began, everyone chatted while waiting.

Guessing the score and the outcome of the game is the main topic of conversation.

“I hope Sofolium wins!”

"why?"

"Because the Scouse people have fewer points..."

"It's just one point less!"

"One point less is still a point! I tell you, in the end it is very likely that this one point will determine our fate!"

After the last round of the league, Tyne's league ranking suddenly rose by two places thanks to the three points accumulated from the 3:2 home win over Scots, and the fact that the two top teams, Sydham and Witton Hill, did not win.

Now ranked tenth with thirty points.

They are five points away from qualifying for the seventh-placed UEFA Champions League.

Six points away from sixth place in the league and qualification for the Europa League.

Fifteen points away from fourth place in the league and qualification for the Champions League.

After three hard-working league games, they only narrowed the gap from sixteen points to fifteen points.

That sounds discouraging.

But now no Tyne player will jump out to pour cold water on everyone or sing a different tune.

On the contrary, just like the conversation just now, they began to seriously calculate the distance between themselves and the Champions League next season.

Whether it's to narrow the gap by one point or to make the opponent lose one point... In short, we have to be very meticulous and haggle over every detail.

Wang Lie did not participate in the discussion. Given his current position, anything he said might kill the topic.

So most of the time he has to restrain his desire to express himself.

He just watched silently among the crowd.

Then, just before the game started, he noticed that Sonny Dean had sneaked in and sat at the back without saying a word while everyone was discussing enthusiastically.

Wang Lie still didn't say anything, but just retracted his gaze and looked at the projection screen.

It just happened to show the scene of players from both teams gathering in the tunnel.

His national team teammate, Chi Zhen, was among them.

※※※

Chi Zhen stood in the player tunnel of the Liverpool Stadium, and the singing of the home fans floated in from outside.

This was the moment before the game when he was waiting to play, but he was distracted.

He thought about the national team head coach He who came to see him a few days ago.

On the surface, Coach He came to understand his situation.

But Coach He has always been paying attention to him, and he is in a high-profile, top team like the Scots. Is there anything else he needs to know in person?

Chi Zhen knew that this was because he lost the game.

He tried his best to show Coach He that he had recovered from the failure.

After all, it had been three days since the game, and it was time for him to get over it.

But in fact, until now he still thinks of the game a week ago from time to time.

I remembered the look Brother Wang gave him before he scored the goal.

Even though so many days have passed and even though Brother Wang is not around, sometimes, when he thinks of Brother Wang's eyes, he still feels a chill on his back.

He knew that Brother Wang could always do things that ordinary people couldn't do, so he was so popular and loved.

But the 38-year-old Wang Ge was able to use a hat trick to help the team complete a major reversal... This was really beyond Chi Zhen's self-awareness.

At least Chi Zhen believed that it would be impossible for him to achieve this at the age of 38.

At the age of 38, he scored a hat trick against a top team in the Premier League?
Maybe he was watching the live broadcast of the game at home at that time...

He actually didn't understand why, given his good form and the team's great start, with a two-goal lead in less than 30 minutes, the game ended up being just Brother Wang's personal show.

He had been trying to figure out the answer to this question for a week, but had failed.

Even Coach He was unable to resolve his doubts.

He simply comforted Chi Zhen and said some encouraging words.

Chi Zhen didn't ask what Coach He and Brother Wang talked about.

He didn't dare to ask, and was too embarrassed to ask.

And without asking, he could guess some clues.

Based on Wang Ge’s performance in that game, unless there are any unexpected events - such as injuries or something - Coach He will definitely recall Wang Ge to the national team.

If it happened in the past, we would have recalled it.

Brother Wang was also in the national team before, but he could only play as a substitute or as a supporting player.

This is Coach He’s tactical requirement.

Coach He has been doing this for almost a year.

Many disputes in the national team started when Coach He put Wang Ge on the bench.

To be honest, when Coach He did this at the beginning, Chi Zhen did not support it. He was even a little afraid of returning to the national team to play games - because he had a headache when he thought about facing Brother Wang who was "pushed" to the bench by him, and when he thought about Brother Wang's fans scolding him online again.

Later... later, with more experience and good performance in the national team, he gained more confidence and gradually stopped caring about it. But there may be another important reason, that is, with Heldon coaching Sofia, Wang Ge could not play in Sofia, and his performance in the national team was not satisfactory, so Wang Ge's extreme fans were not so confident...

But the situation is different now.

With his performance of five goals and one assist in the last three games, Wang Ge will definitely not accept the arrangement of being a substitute if he returns to the national team - not to mention that there are still several games to come, Wang Ge will definitely not stop here.

And because he lost both the game result and his personal performance in the direct dialogue with Brother Wang...naturally, his tactical position in the national team is not as solid as before - this time Coach He did not guarantee his tactical position in the national team.

Coach He said that even though he has returned to China, he will still pay attention to this game. Even if the game kicks off late at night in China, he will watch the live broadcast.

He told himself this specifically so that he could cheer himself up and give a better performance in this game, right?

In fact, Coach He didn't need to tell him that he would have performed better in this game, at least better than when he played against Brother Wang!
And it's not just him, the whole team will be like this.

Before this game, Sofia had been mocking them for a week.

From club officials to veterans and ordinary fans, everyone was laughing at the Scouse team for not being able to beat Tyne's "mercenaries".

In particular, Sofia United surpassed them in the league standings thanks to the defeat of the Scouse team.

So the fans of Sofia even started a topic activity online: "Say 'Thank you Scouts'!"

Every time this topic is spread and discussed on the Internet, the scars of the Scouse people are being torn open and displayed to the whole world.

In fact, when they just lost to Tyne, the entire Scouse team might not have been so unhappy, but after a whole week of humiliation by Sofia United, the Scouse players are now full of anger.

And their match with Tyne was over, no matter how angry they were, they couldn't do anything to Tyne. But it didn't matter, they could vent all their anger on this opponent.

Just now in the locker room, Scouse head coach Josep Gil did not actually make any passionate pre-war mobilization. He just read to his players some messages and comments from Sofa fans, celebrities and Manchester media that he had intercepted from the Internet.

The effect is surprisingly good.

Especially after reading the messages from fans and netizens, the Scouse players were so angry that they were gasping for breath and their eyes were red because of the fans' almost unscrupulous memes.

I wish I could go out and kill Sofu Lian right now.

Chi Zhen's feelings might be deeper, because he would combine the attacks from the Soflian fans with his own frustration of losing to Brother Wang, as well as the attacks and ridicules from Brother Wang's extreme fans...

At this moment, he was like a room with closed doors and windows and filled with flammable gas.

Just one spark away.

The referee walked out of the locker room with two assistant referees, crossed the passage and came to the front of the line.

"Gentlemen, are you ready? It's time to go on stage."

※※※

It was quiet in the entertainment centre of Northumberland Soccer City…

To say it was quiet is actually not right.

Because the cheers, noise and exclamations of the commentators at the game all echoed in the entertainment center through the sound equipment.

So the room was not quiet at all, it was even a bit noisy.

The Tyne players who were just watching the game in front of the projection screen were all silent.

Commentator Connor Cowley's voice was filled with disbelief and shock, as well as a bit of gloating:
"Chi!! Chi!! This is his second goal in this game!! Although the game was almost over, Chi was still trying his best to find a chance to score! He did it! His double goal helped the team lead Sofo United by eight goals with less than five minutes left in the game!"

In the picture, Chi Zhen did not celebrate, but dived into the Sofo United goal, picked up the football, turned around and ran towards the center circle!
He seemed to think the score was not scary enough!
Fortunately, his teammates hugged him tightly and dragged him into the celebration as if forcing him. He didn't really run to the center circle and put the ball down...

The upper left corner of the game broadcast screen displays the real-time score and time of the game.

Scots 8:0 Sofia United

2nd 41:27
The forty-one minutes of the second half equals eighty-six minutes of the entire game.

Connor Cowley was still exclaiming: "Ladies and gentlemen! Who could have thought that the second 'Red Derby' of this season would be played like this? This is a match that represents the highest level of football in this country! But in front of the Scouse people, Sofia United is like an amateur team... No! I'm afraid that even if an amateur team faces the Scouse people, they won't lose more miserably than Sofia United!
"8:0 is not only Scouse's biggest win over Sofia, but also Sofia's biggest defeat in the English Premier League, and even Sofia's biggest defeat since its founding in 1902! Even if their predecessor is included, it is the most tragic defeat! This game will be recorded forever in the history of both clubs and English football!
"Unbelievable, incredible... From the very beginning of this game, the Scouse team unilaterally stepped on the accelerator to the bottom! In the three minutes from the 3st minute to the 0th minute, they scored two goals in a row, and scored another goal before the end of the first half, taking a : lead... In the second half, Sofol United seemed to have completely surrendered. They watched the football fly into their own goal again and again, and they did nothing!
"I don't even know how to comment on this game. Both the Scouse team and Sofia United's performance was abnormal. This is not a normal game that can be used as a reference..."

What else he said, the Tyne players in front of the projection no longer cared.

They finally recovered from their initial shock and numbness.

Someone murmured, "Is this really the same Scouse we defeated last week?"

Someone answered him: "Yes, even the starting lineup has not changed..."

"We actually beat them? It's unbelievable!"

They turned to look at Wang Lie.

Some people think Wang Lie is the one who defeated the Scouse people. It is better to say that Wang Lie defeated the Scouse people than to say that Tyne defeated the Scouse people.

Some people saw Wang Lie and thought of what Wang Lie had said many times:
"You are strong."

Some people looked at Wang Lie out of curiosity about how he, a former legendary star of the Sof League, would react to such a humiliating defeat...

Wang Lie could actually feel everyone's furtive gazes on him, but there was no special expression on his face. He was neither shocked like some people, nor did he have a gloating smile on his face like some people.

His face was as pale as water.

Given his feelings towards the Sofo Union and his hatred towards the Scouse people, today's result was definitely beyond his expectations.

He didn't expect that the Sofo United led by Helden could set so many shameful records in one game.

But he did not feel happy about it, thinking that this game finally brought bad luck to Helden.

He was just a little more angry at Helden - a top club like Sofia United was brought down to this state by you! How dare you say that you are the most suitable person to lead this team? !
In the 35th round of the league, if you are still not dismissed by then, I will teach you a lesson in person! Mr. Sven Helden...

Thinking of this, Wang Lie stood up, turned around and left the entertainment center without saying hello to anyone. He didn't want to watch any more, even though the game was not over yet.

Everyone in the room noticed Wang Lie leaving, but no one called out to him; they just watched him leave.

Considering Wang Lie’s previous position as a legend of the Sofu League, everyone understood why he just left without saying hello to everyone.

After Wang Lie left, the discussion in the entertainment center became more heated, because some things were difficult to say in front of Wang Lie...

"By the way, if there was no Wang, would we have ended up like Sofulian last week?"

"That's impossible. Without Wang, we might lose, but we will never lose by eight goals!"

"That's right. After all, we don't have any deep hatred with the Scouse people..."

"From this point of view, Sofollow United doesn't seem that good... They lost to Scouse by eight goals, and we beat Scouse by one goal. If we round it up, doesn't that mean we can beat Sofollow United by nine goals?!"

"How can you calculate like that?"

"Hahaha!"

The entertainment center was filled with joy and laughter, and it lived up to its name.

※※※

"What the hell is this?!"

Although he had watched the entire game, when it ended, Cesar Valo couldn't help but exclaim when he saw the score on the screen.

Sam McNeill, who was sitting next to him, was already speechless.

"...The game is over! The game is over! The Scouse team won the game in their home stadium in a way that the whole world could not have imagined! 8:0! This score will surely be mentioned repeatedly for a long time to come... The Scouse team seemed to have vented all their anger for losing to Tyne in the last round on Sofia United. Heldon completely lost control of the team during the game..."

Accompanied by the voice of commentator Connor Cowley, a close-up of the face of Sofia United head coach Sven Heldon appeared on the TV screen.

With a gloomy face, he briefly shook hands with Scouse head coach Josep Gil and left the field.

When the two men shook hands, the unconcealed bright smile on Jill's face formed a sharp contrast with his gloomy face, which was particularly dramatic.

After all, everyone knows how the Sofo Union mocked the Scouse people in the past week.

Nick Waters, a famous player of Sofia United, once directly tweeted to mock the Scots for not being able to beat a relegation "mercenary" team.

As a result, Sofia United has been shamefully defeated by the Scouse people, who couldn't even beat the relegation "mercenaries", with such a big score. Does that mean that Sofia United can't beat the relegation "mercenaries" either?

So there is nothing wrong with Scouse head coach Josep Gil acting so happy.

Before the game was over, Waters' social media accounts had already been flooded with cheering Scouse fans and Wang Lie fans...

"Will Helden be fired?" asked Varo.

McNeill shook his head: "Probably not. It's just a game. No matter how badly we lose, it's just a game."

Varro breathed a sigh of relief: "I don't want him to be fired either. This way, when the 35th round of the league comes, the king will have someone to vent his anger on."

McNeill glanced at him.

Varo said: "I bet that Wang must be so angry that he is about to explode. I hope he can divide some of his anger into our game against Brighton White Mountain tomorrow... If we really want to go to the Champions League next season, then winning this game is crucial for us!"

McNeill quipped: “Is there any game that doesn’t matter?”

"As long as we play against the team ahead of us, it's important!"

After some of the Premier League games ended today, Xiuslow, which was originally ranked seventh, defeated Hurlingham FC and surpassed Brighton Whitehill, which had one game less, and ranked sixth.

So Brighton White Mountain is now ranked seventh with 36 points.

A direct dialogue with them is often a game worth six points - by defeating the opponent, Tyne can make the opponent get three points less while getting three points, which will greatly shorten the points difference between the two teams.

(End of this chapter)