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Chapter 69 After Losing
Amid the boos at Ashton Road, Wang Lie passed the ball forward to striker Ryan Graham.

Then he quickly moved forward.

Graham received the ball near the sideline, and there was no Clayton Athletic player next to him, so he dribbled forward on his own.

At the same time, he also looked up and observed Wang Lie's running position in the middle.

Wang Lie was advancing down the middle, with Clayton Athletic's central defender Dusan Ratkovic by his side.

This central defender, who joined Clayton Athletic last summer for a record transfer fee of 85 million euros for a central defender, is considered to have a great chance of becoming the new "world's No. 1 central defender" in the future.

He is 1.87 meters tall and weighs 82 kilograms. He is also very flexible and fast. He is good at frontal defense and has strong one-on-one defense ability.

Under his close defense, it was indeed not easy for Wang Lie to get a chance to shoot.

Graham's eyes fell on the front of the penalty area, where there was a gap.

Wang Lie was also heading in that direction, but Graham also knew that if Wang Lie really received the ball at that place, he would probably have no chance to shoot.

But what if he suddenly stops and retreats?
Isn't there space for shooting now?

This series of thoughts flashed through Graham's mind in a flash, and he decided to pass the ball!
At the same time, Clayton Athletic's left back Lucas Baraski also rushed up to prevent him from crossing.

Graham passed the ball in an inverted triangle!
As expected, Wang Lie suddenly stopped and retreated on his way to the front, preparing to receive the inverted triangle pass!
But the angle of Graham's pass was greater than Wang Lie expected...

He passed the ball directly behind Wang Lie!
Wang Lie turned around and stretched his legs to reach the ball, but still failed to touch it...

He could only sit on the ground and watch the football rush past.

Joshua Parker, who was following behind Wang Lie, had never expected that the ball would slip through from the front point.

In such a hurry, he didn't even have time to adjust his steps, so he was forced to kick the ball!

Then he kicked the ball into the stands behind the goal...

"Hold!"

Sonny Dean, who was nervously watching the attack from the sidelines, turned around, knelt on the ground, cursed, and punched the ground in front of the bench...

※※※

Fuck!
Dean pounded his fist on the steering wheel of his car.

The car then honked sharply.

He had driven back to his home, but he was reluctant to get out of the car.

Sitting in the car, he couldn't help but think of the ball that Graham passed to Wang Lie too long at the last moment of the game.

Although several hours had passed since the end of the game, the anger, regret and disappointment he felt at that time still came back to his mind.

It made him feel as if he were there again.

It was the last minute of the game. If Wang Lie could score, it could be said that it was a tie in the last seconds. Tyne could at least take a point away from Ashton Road and not lose 2:3...

He even couldn't help thinking that if he had passed the ball himself, he would definitely not pass it too far. He guaranteed that he would send it to Wang's feet!
But why wasn't he on the court at that time, but was just an incompetent spectator on the sidelines?
Because his physical fitness and game condition were not enough for him to play the entire game against such a strong opponent as Clayton Athletic...

Over the past week, fitness coach Falletti has been conducting targeted training with him.

At first he didn't take it seriously.

But now he only has regrets, regretting why he only started targeted training this week.

Oh shit……

※※※

It was almost nine o'clock in the evening when I returned to Northumberland Football City from Manchester and then drove back to my home.

But Wang Lie still received a video call from his wife Tang Xingmei.

Wang Lie knew why his wife called him via video at almost four o'clock in the morning in the country.

Because he lost the game.

She knew her goal and the consequences of losing the game.

She wanted to comfort herself.

And I have to reassure her.

So he answered the video call immediately, without even having time to change his clothes. He just put on his down jacket, sat on the rattan lounge chair in the backyard, and video-called his wife.

"…I'm fine, really. I'm not lying to you."

Facing the front camera of his mobile phone, Wang Lie grinned at his wife.

"Nonsense! We lost the game, yet you can still laugh and say 'nothing'!" Tang Xingmei didn't buy it.

"It's true." Wang Lie put away his smile and said in a serious tone, "If you had video-called me right after the game, I would definitely not have laughed. I was really upset when we lost the game just now. Especially when Graham passed the ball to me at the end..."

Tang Xingmei said, "Well, I watched the live broadcast. The live broadcast gave you a close-up, and you were cursing with your head down... What were you cursing about?"

"Beautiful Chinese." Wang Lie joked.

"Huh?" Tang Xingmei was indeed surprised to hear her husband say that. "You're still in the mood to make jokes. Are you really okay?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Wang Lie was speechless. "I really have nothing."

"Why? You lost this game and your ranking dropped from ninth to tenth. You are still fourteen points away from your goal... Oh, is it because Sofia didn't win this round of the league?"

In the just-concluded 2th round of the Premier League, although Tyne lost 3: to Clayton Athletic away from home, Sofia United also did not win in another match that took place later.

They were tied 1:1 by Xiu Si Luo at home...

After Heldon's team suffered a humiliating defeat to the Scots, they were unable to appease the fans with a victory at home.

So in the last ten minutes of the game, boos were heard for the first time at Redstone Stadium against Sven Helden.

Some fans even sang the "King's Song" at the last moment - "FIGHTING! FIGHTING! CHINA WANG!"

I don't know if they really miss Wang Lie, or if they are using Wang Lie to disgust Helden...

Maybe it's both.

"No, it has nothing to do with Sofo League." Wang Lie shook his head. "I don't care about Sofo League's games... Remember what I told you before, the temperament of Tyne's 'mercenary'?"

"I know. I can't play against the wind, I'm easily defeated, I tend to lie down and play badly, and I don't care about failure..." Tang Xingmei knows them all.

"'Don't care about failure.'" Wang Lie interrupted her and emphasized the last thing she mentioned. "When I was still in Sofia, I really experienced how the players of Tyne didn't care about failure... Before the game was over, they seemed to have found a reason to excuse themselves. But this time... This time is different."

"How is it different?" Seeing that her husband seemed eager to talk, Tang Xingmei took on the role of a qualified listener.

"I was a little late returning to the locker room because I had to take a urine test after the game. When I walked into the locker room, I almost thought I was in the wrong place - it was as quiet as a morgue..."

"Ah? Is it that exaggerated?" Tang Xingmei widened her eyes.

"I'm telling you, honey, it's not an exaggeration. It was that quiet. No one was talking, everyone was just doing their own thing. I even felt a little uncomfortable when I walked in... Although no one was talking, I could feel the oppressive and uncomfortable atmosphere. I could feel that everyone was very dissatisfied with this failure..."

At this moment, a shrill car horn came from a distance, interrupting Wang Lie's words.

Seeing her husband suddenly stop talking and frown, Tang Xingmei asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing... I don't know who honked the horn so late at night. It's a lack of public morality..." Wang Lie cursed and continued to say to his wife:
"Later on the way back to Newcastle, Goetz secretly told me that he hadn't seen such a locker room after losing a game for several seasons... Obviously I was not the only one who felt that way, Goetz also felt it. So I think if a team is indifferent to failure, then there is naturally no hope. But if they can still be painful and angry because of losing the game, then there is still hope."

Tang Xingmei nodded: "You're right, husband. I feel that this team is different from what you first told me."

"Yes, they are not as mercenary as before. If they can keep doing this, even if we lose a game today, we can win it again later. It is because of this confidence that I am not as angry and disappointed as before."

After listening to Wang Lie's story, Tang Xingmei breathed a sigh of relief.

She could confirm that her husband was not devastated by the defeat in that game.

She expressed her previous concerns in a relaxed tone: "You once said that you would lead them to victory. I am worried that after losing this game, your teammates will doubt whether you can still keep your word, which will affect their confidence in you..."

Then she saw Wang Lie in the video showing a surprised expression.

"what happened?"

Wang Lie had a complicated expression: "Uh... I really didn't expect to go there..."

Tang Xingmei didn't expect that she was really worried about him, so she asked anxiously: "Ah? What should I do? Will it be a bit troublesome?"

Wang Lie shook his head: "It's no problem. Maybe some people will be shaken by the defeat in this game, but as long as we can win next time, there will be no problem. The key is to win."

※※※

"I understand that you feel pain, disappointment, and even anger after losing a game. But haven't you been like this for too long?"

Dad stood at the bedroom door, knocking on the open door and spoke to his son Vitini.

Lying on the bed with his head covered with a blanket, Vitini answered his father in a muffled voice: "Dad, you don't understand. I'm not angry. I'm worried. Worried!"

"What are you worried about? Are you worried that you won't qualify for the Champions League next season?"

Hearing his father say this, Vitini lifted the quilt, turned over and sat up on the bed, looking at his father: "Of course I am worried about this. But compared to this, I am more worried that the king will be disappointed in us!"

"Disappointed?" Dad didn't expect Vitini to be at this angle.

"Everyone knows that our victory over the Scouse team was actually due to Wang alone. Without his hat trick, we would have lost long ago! In the match against Brighton White Mountain, it was Wang who helped us open the game with his goals. If it weren't for his two goals, which allowed us to lead the opponent in the first half, we don't know how the game would have turned out..."

Vitini said.

"In this game between Clayton Athletic and us, anyone with a discerning eye could see that they didn't defend against Wang, but instead restricted our entire team! Because compared to defending against Wang, it's obviously easier to restrict us!"

His father nodded in agreement: "That's right... When I watched the live game, the commentator kept saying this, saying that Cochea chose the right approach."

"Yes! This is the truth, Dad! The fact is that everyone in the world knows that Tyne is weak except for the King! Everyone knows that we are the King's weakness! Clayton Athletic has already told everyone how to restrict the King. We lost this game, but what about the next game? What about the game after that? I don't believe that our next opponent will not study this game!"

The father's expression became serious, and his son told him a terrible reality.

"Wang said he would lead us to victory, and he did it in the first four games. He proved that he was not lying. But we did not prove that we were worthy of him! He clearly said 'we are strong'...but we let him down, we betrayed his trust!"

Vitini even started to cry at the end.

It can be seen that he was not feeling painful or angry about the failure, but... afraid!
He was afraid of losing Wang Lie's trust and disappointing Wang Lie.

Seeing this, the father had to comfort him, "Calm down, Vitini, calm down! This is just a game. Besides, considering the gap in overall strength between you and Clayton Athletic, isn't it normal to lose to them? I believe Wang should understand. And I watched the live broadcast of the game. You were still trying to tie the score until the end of the game... Wang should have seen your performance. He should know that you are different from before. If you are still worried, then in the next training and game, show your best condition and help the team win the game. I think the most correct thing to do is to use practical actions and victory to prove that you have not let Wang down."

When Vitini heard his father say this while sitting on the bed, his eyes gradually brightened.

After hearing the last part, he simply jumped off the bed and paced back and forth in his room. He looked as if he couldn't wait to start training and the next round of competition, to prove to Wang Lie that they - at least he himself - would not let down the trust and hope of his idol!
"You're right, Dad! You're right! I'll go to training tomorrow! Even though the boss gave us a day off, I'll go to training tomorrow afternoon!"

※※※

"Honey, don't think about the game that's over. No matter what, the past is the past. Give yourself a good day off tomorrow, and we'll take the kids to the beach..."

In the bedroom of a villa in the luxury area of ​​Northumberland, Anna Katic gently hugged her husband from behind.

She had just put her three lovely children to sleep one by one.

When she returned to the bedroom, she saw her husband still sitting on the sofa in silence.

He was like this before she went to take care of the child. When she came back from taking care of the child, her husband didn't even change his sitting position...

She could feel her husband's frustration and unhappiness after losing the game.

So she wanted to use the family to divert her husband's attention and help him get over his failure.

This trick has worked for her many times before.

For a husband who values ​​family, she and her children are the best "healing medicine"

This used to happen often when my husband was playing for Madrid FC.

Madrid FC is one of the most successful top clubs in the world football today. Players who can play there are either loyal players trained by their own youth training or the best players in the world.

Playing in an environment of high attention and exposure, if you make a mistake in a game, you may be scolded to death after the game.

Every game and every season is filled with fierce competition and criticism from others. The pressure is so great that it is hard for ordinary people to imagine.

Whenever her husband felt overwhelmed, he would spend time with her and her children, without looking at his phone or paying attention to anything related to football.

After he completely released the pressure, he returned to the court as if he was fully recharged.

So why did her husband leave Madrid FC at the age of 33 and go to Tyne, a team acquired by oil capital, to retire?
Of course, the pressure accumulated from playing in the highest level team for many years made him tired. He once complained to himself that if he continued to play in Madrid FC, he might hate football.

You know, with his ability at that time, it would have been no problem for him to continue playing for Madrid FC. Even if he couldn't secure a position as a starter, being a major rotation player would have been more than enough. In fact, both the team's head coach and the club's general manager advised him to consider staying.

But the husband resolutely retired at the peak of his career, bid farewell to the club, and came to Tyne's "mercenary" as the "world's No. 1 central defender" to earn the last big contract of his career and plan for the future of himself and his family.

To be honest, Newcastle is not a good place to retire at all. Both the weather and food are far inferior to Madrid.

So they haven’t sold their house in Madrid yet, because they plan to move back there after they retire.

The only reason why I chose Tyne is that the money Tyne gave me was too much...

The annual salary after tax is 9 million pounds, which is about 11 million euros.

This number is not available from any other team - unless he does not stay in Europe.

It's really a very favorable condition.

You have to know that during all his years at Madrid FC, his highest salary was only 10 million euros per year after tax.

He went from FC Madrid to a mid-to-lower-level Premier League team like Tayne and was able to get a higher annual salary than before. If he hadn't met a rich man like Tayne, he wouldn't even dare to think about it.

So even if the weather is bad and the food is a little unpalatable, it is not a big disadvantage in front of the annual salary of 9 million pounds after tax, and it can be completely accepted and overcome.

The then 33-year-old husband signed a four-year contract with Tyne, with a ruthless determination to get the best out of a sheep.

He seems determined to retire when his contract expires.

By then he will be thirty-seven years old, which is the right age to retire.

Feeling the warmth and softness of his wife's embrace from behind, Matej Katic gently held her hand.

He knew that this was his strongest support.

No matter what difficulties or pressures he faces, he can find peace as long as his family is around him.

But today he might disappoint his wife.

"I'm sorry, Anna. I can't stay with you tomorrow. I have to go to training."

He said.

Anna Katic was surprised: "Didn't you tell me when you came back that your head coach gave the team a day off?"

"Yes, but only those who participated in today's game will have one day off. Those who did not participate in the game still have to go to the base for training tomorrow afternoon."

"But you participated in this game and played the whole game..."

“But we lost.”

“Losing is not your responsibility…” The wife leaned over, put her head close, gently touched her husband’s face, and whispered in his ear.

The husband was unmoved:
"But I also have responsibilities. Besides, I bet that Wang will go to training tomorrow afternoon... I don't want to be looked down upon by that guy."

※※※

Sonny Dean was woken up by the alarm clock he set at eight o'clock in the morning.

Then he got out of bed and went straight into the bathroom, took a shower, and came out naked, searching for new clothes.

Just as he put on his clothes, he heard a muffled sound like a drum outside.

He walked to the sidelines, opened the window screen, and saw a figure playing football in the backyard of the neighbor next door.

The dull sound was made when he hit the ball.

Dean checked the time on his phone: eight-eighteen.

It seems that he always came out to practice with his children at 8:30 before, mainly to take care of the children's time.

Because the child was not around, he came out earlier.

Wang Lie, who was alone, kicked the football towards the small movable goal in the distance. After kicking all the footballs under his feet, he ran over and kicked them one by one into the small goal on the other side.

He kicked and ran back and forth like this, as if he was playing two roles in tennis.

Dean looked at it for a while, then turned and walked away from the window.

Then he went downstairs to find a football and went to the backyard which was separated from the next door by a wall.

After a brief warm-up, he started to dribble the ball.

There was a constant banging sound over there.

After about twenty bounces, Dean bounced the football very high.

Then, while the football was still in the air, he took a step back, supported his body with his right foot, and pulled his left foot back, getting into position.

When the football fell, he also swung his left foot.

Bang!
He kicked the football high towards the wall, which flew over and landed in the backyard next door.

The continuous muffled sound suddenly stopped.

Dean cleared his throat and then called out, "Oh, excuse me. Can you give me the ball back?"

Not long after, with a dull thud, the football was kicked back.

"Thanks!"

Dean ran to retrieve the football and started warming up again.

When he was done he dribbled the ball again.

After bouncing it over a dozen or twenty times, he kicked the football over again.

"Oh, sorry, can you... Never mind, I'll pick it up myself, I won't bother you, just help me open the door!"

After shouting at the top of his lungs, Dean turned and ran towards the front door.

Wang Lie looked at the football that fell in his backyard, then looked at Dean's backyard.

Not long after, the smartwatch on his wrist vibrated, alerting him that someone was ringing the doorbell.

He clicked on the message notification and connected to the security system's camera, and sure enough, he saw Sonny Dean dressed in sportswear.

Wang Lie directly used his watch to open the small door.

Seeing Dean come in, he closed the door again with his watch.

Dean in the camera looked back at the closed door, hesitated for a moment, but still walked straight to the backyard.

He found the way to the backyard easily, and when he arrived, Wang Lie was doing shooting training.

He first kicked the football towards a net bag that was propped up on the ground, and then ran forward.

The football hit the net bag and bounced up. He had already arrived at the landing point of the football. Without waiting for the football to completely land on the ground, he kicked the ball directly into a small goal of one meter by one and a half meters about ten meters in front of him.

The football flew low along the grass and eventually went into the goal.

Despite the support, the small goal was still hit and tilted backwards, shaking for a while before it stabilized again.

Dean whistled, "Good shot!"

Wang Lie looked back at him: "There's your ball."

He pointed to a solitary football nearby.

Dean walked towards his football and kicked it towards the net bag. When the ball bounced, he tried to shoot it directly towards the small goal.

However, this kind of volley shot is very difficult, and the goal is indeed too small. If it were placed on a real football field, the size of this goal would be roughly equivalent to the four corners of a regular goal.

So the football he shot flew straight through the small goal and stopped only after hitting the wall that separated his house from Wang Lie's house.

"Hold!"

Dean cursed, then ran to find a football and repeated the same action.

The football went wide of the goal again.

Unconvinced, he continued to look for the ball.

It wasn't until his fourth attempt that he shot the ball accurately into the far goal.

Then he opened his arms and ran in the backyard of Wang Lie's house, shouting as he ran:

"GOOOOOOAL!!!"

Wang Lie didn't say a word during the whole process, he just looked at him as if he was a fool.

After he finished celebrating, Wang Lie kicked the football towards the net bag and then shot.

The football hit the net again.

Then he turned his head to look at Dean and kicked a football next to him.

That means: It's your turn.

But Dean kicked the ball back and said, "Let's practice passing the ball next. Come on, pass it back!"

He also made a pinky promise to Wang Lie.

When Wang Lie saw him like this, he curled up the corners of his mouth and actually passed the ball over with his feet.

The dull sound of hitting the ball rang out again, but this time it was much more frequent than before.

※※※

"I figured out a problem when I got home last night..."

Assistant coach Cesar Valo said to head coach Sam McNeill, who was walking alongside him, as they walked from the coaches' office to the first-team practice field.

McNeill asked him, "What's the problem?"

"In the last few minutes of the game yesterday, when we were trailing 1:3, you said it was a crushing defeat in terms of overall strength. We were not on the same level as Clayton Athletic at all."

McNeill nodded. "Yes, I said that. Isn't that true?"

"Of course it's true." Varro also nodded, "It's a fact that cannot be refuted. It's a fact that you have to accept even if you don't want to. I was just wondering why I knew it was a fact, but when you said that, I still felt so bad that I didn't even bother to respond to you."

McNeill turned and looked at him.

As he walked, Varo continued, "I came home from Manchester yesterday and finally figured this question out. Because I knew we were not as strong as Clayton Athletic, but I still wanted to win. Because I had ambitions and delusions that did not match our strength. Because I did not want to accept the fact that it was normal to lose to an opponent stronger than us."

As the two were talking, they had already reached the edge of the first-team training ground, and McNeill turned his gaze towards the training ground.

Then he was surprised to find that there seemed to be more people coming this afternoon than normal.

In addition to the first-team players who did not play in yesterday's game, there were many faces that should not have appeared on the training ground today.

Wang Lie, Vitini, Goetz, Cohen, Katic, Dean, Graham...even the center forward Peter Oliver who had just recovered from injury was among them!
It wasn't just these few that he saw at a glance, there were many others that he didn't look at for a while.

At this time they should be with their families, resting, playing, going shopping... no matter what, they should just enjoy their holiday time.

But now they are all on the training ground.

Almost all members of this first-line team are present!
※※※

PS, I wish you all a happy National Day!

(End of this chapter)