Chapter 234 The National Team Premiere

The league tied for the first place, entered the semi-finals of the Winners Cup, and the two main players in the team were selected for the England national team. Recently, Leiden Oriental has been full of good events, and people are in a good mood when they are happy. Xiao Ming has been in a very good mood recently.

So when he was having a meal in a Chinese restaurant, when Lao Sun sat in front of him with a bottle of wine, he joked in a good mood: "What? Daniel was admitted to a good university. Do you want to invite me, the teacher to drink?"

Lao Sun seemed to be not joking. He poured Xiao Ming a glass of wine and filled himself with one glass, then raised his neck and drank it all, and then filled himself with another glass.

Seeing Lao Sun's eyes straightened, Xiao Ming couldn't help but feel a little furious when he saw him. After drinking the third cup, he hurriedly stopped him from pouring wine: "Lao Sun, what's wrong with you? You're in a bad mood? It shouldn't be, you have a successful career, your son is strong, your daughter... Catherine is in middle school now, and after Daniel said that his grades were good, Andrew was a little naughty... If I were you, I had to wake up from my dream every day!"

"Don't say, in the past two years, I have woken up from my dreams a few times." Lao Sun shook his head: "In the past, I worked hard to this Chinese restaurant, just thinking that if the children are not good in the future, I will always leave something for them. Daniel has liked playing football since he was a child, so I let him go. I thought that even if he can't play any good, this Chinese restaurant will always make him live without worries in the future, right?"

"Well, I don't understand this idea very much...but I know that it seems that most of the older generation work hard for the lower generation." Xiao Ming nodded: "We Chinese people seem to value their children more, although I have never felt this way."

"When you have children, you may have the same idea as me when you reach my age." Lao Sun laughed, and then suddenly sighed: "Now I am not worried about anything. My son earns much more money than the income of a Chinese restaurant. I don't need to worry about me in the future... But this time he was selected for the England national team, and he seemed quite happy... I feel a little uncomfortable."

"Why?" Xiao Ming asked in surprise. He should be happy that his son was selected for the national team. Why is it not a good feeling...

"Nothing." Lao Sun smiled bitterly: "Thinking that Daniel will become a completely British in the future... How could he say that he is half of Chinese descent, and he will never become a Chinese again?"

"You should be very clear about this." Xiao Ming smiled. He really couldn't understand Lao Sun's thoughts: "Daniel was born in the UK. From the day he was born, he had automatically gained British nationality. You should know this."

"I know, but when Daniel was playing football, I still expected him to join the Chinese national team in the future." Lao Sun said with a wry smile: "No matter what, I still hope that my son can add glory to China."

"Don't think so." Xiao Ming shook his head: "Yes, Daniel can indeed play for the Chinese national team, but in that case he must have Chinese nationality and have never played for the British national team. At the same time, China does not allow dual nationality. When he obtains Chinese nationality, he will automatically lose British nationality."

"What does that matter?" Lao Sun asked in confusion.

"What's the relationship?" Xiao Ming was even more surprised than him: "Playing in the Premier League requires a labor certificate... Non-EU players must participate in the national team's international A-level matches in the past two years to reach more than 75%. In other words, if Daniel becomes a Chinese nationality, he will not be able to play for Leiden East for at least two years - in the past two years, he can only participate in reserve team games to maintain his state, or go to play outside the UK... Would you like Daniel like this?"

"So that's how it is..." Lao Sun said a little disappointed.

"That's right, that's it. If Daniel was not a British nationality, he would never have joined the first team of Leiden East three years ago and was able to play. If Daniel wants to become a Chinese nationality now, then he will lose the opportunity to play in Leiden East - will the Chinese national team still want him? To be honest, with Daniel's current level, playing in the Chinese national team is really a waste of his talent and talent." Xiao Ming gave a footnote to his own words: "And his appearance for the English national team is of great benefit to him and Leiden East. A player cannot change Chinese football, but he can prove in Europe that Chinese can also play football. Isn't this more meaningful than having an ordinary Chinese international?"

"You are right, come on, I'll give you a cup." After thinking for a long time, Lao Sun smiled relievedly, and then raised the cup to Xiao Ming.

Xiao Ming smiled and clinked the glass with him, then finished the wine in the glass with a "luo".

Life is like wine, spicy first and sweet, with endless aftertaste, and it has its own taste.

Before the start of the European Cup qualifiers, Leiden Oriental finished his 30th round of the league. At the White Hart Lane Stadium, Leiden Oriental and Tottenham tied 2-2. Although Tottenham is only ranked tenth now, they are in very good shape recently, especially their French midfielder Genora, who has performed at a very high level this season. Although Leiden Oriental also performed well in this game, he still had to helplessly take away a point from White Hart Lane.

Xiao Ming didn't say anything about this draw. After all, the players have tried their best, but they were tied twice before Tottenham, who showed a very high level. This performance must not be said to be bad.

Although Leiden Oriental and Tottenham have a good relationship in the Premier League, Tottenham have always had a good reputation in this regard. That is, no matter what their relationship is private, they will try their best to fight almost every game. In the memory of Xiao Ming later generations, Manchester United and Arsenal have been entangled in the last round this season. Manchester United's last round opponent is Tottenham. They must defeat Tottenham to win the league championship. The bad relationship between Tottenham and Arsenal is known to everyone. It can even be said that if Arsenal had not replaced Tottenham's position in North London with some unlucky means.

, Maybe they won't be so brilliant later. In the mind of the Chinese, Tottenham can give a handful of water without any trace. Anyway, Tottenham has no chance to participate in European competitions and no danger of relegation, so they have no motivation to play such a game. But what about the end? Tottenham resisted at Old Trafford until the last minute, and Beckham scored a goal that was a masterpiece, which was defeated Tottenham and won the league championship this season. After the game, even Wenger had nothing to say, but he just threw away some points that shouldn't have been lost before reviewing himself.

Xiao Ming was quite speechless if he lost two points from such an opponent.

Xiao Ming did not expect to win all the games in the next game. Such a draw is within the range he has to bear. Until now, the bottom line he can accept is the qualification of the Champions League and the Winners Cup championship - the former is a must, and the latter is a struggle. Of course, if he can go further in the former, he will of course be happier.

Unfortunately, Xiao Ming felt that this FIFA match day was too bad. Recently, Leiden East was in good condition and morale was in full swing. But there was no match for more than a week. What should we do if the players' condition and morale declined? Even if more than a dozen players were infected with the fifa virus, it is still different from whether they could continue to maintain excellent condition and high fighting spirit when the league started again.

Yasquelenin, Hypia, Deselli, Daniel, Karaze, Jinklaze, Neil Lennon, Boban, Marklele, Horan, Glenshare, Jankoler, Phillips, Fanny, Robbie Keane...

Compared with the last FIFA match day, Leiden Oriental has four more international players this time - Phillips and Daniel were selected for the English national team for the first time. Mark Lele and Fanny were also called by the French national team and the Dutch national team because of their outstanding performance at Leiden Oriental. The four international players added this time are of considerable value. Whether it is England, France or the Netherlands, they are one of the traditional strong teams on the European continent. Being able to have four players selected for these three national teams is itself a recognition of Leiden Oriental's outstanding performance this season.

Of course, Xiao Ming didn't care much about this affirmation - if he was selected, he would wait until the end of the season before he was selected! Now he was selected, it was simply a scam.

Even if he is dissatisfied, Xiao Ming has no choice but to do so, but his opponents in the league will not be much better. Manchester United's entire main lineup is national players, and even Andy Cole was selected for the England national team this time. Only York stayed because he had no national team tasks. Arsenal went to the national team to play soy sauce in addition to two full-backs, not to mention Chelsea, although it is a multinational force, almost all players from these countries are national players...

Then until early April, what Xiao Ming had to do was to instruct the players who stayed in the team to maintain good shape through training, and then he only focused on the performance of the international players in the national team.

Of course, the most concerned thing is the English national team. Xiao Ming is not worried that the two national teams of Fanny and Marklele will not be able to get the main position. Although the Dutch national team's forward is a combination of Borgkamp and Cruivett, there are not many substitutes to rest. Fanny's position is a matter of time sooner or later. Marklele can successfully become the main force of the national team when Deschamp withdrew from the national team and Pettit's condition cannot last for a few years. What he is worried about is Phillips and Daniel. Phillips played soybean in the English national team in his previous life. Now the forward partnership between Hiller and Irving in the England national team is unshakable, and others want to

It is difficult to take the lead, not to mention that after Hiller retires from the national team, there will be a striker like Husky who is more suitable for partnering with Irving. Young player Rooney will emerge next. Phillips' age and characteristics make his position in the English national team very embarrassing, and Daniel's situation may be better. After all, he is young and his technical characteristics of being able to play two full-backs at the same time also allow him to get more opportunities to play in the English national team - the position of the full-back of the English national team has always been a weakness, and now he is in a time when he is not in a good position. As long as Daniel can maintain a good condition, it should not be a problem to get a main position in the English national team.

But Xiao Ming was still a little worried. Although Daniel's performance in the league is definitely qualified to be an international player, Xiao Ming knew that his Chinese identity would inevitably suffer more harshness and hardships. Although such hardships are necessary in the process of human growth, Xiao Ming also believes that Daniel's character and will can survive this hardship, but it does not prevent him from worrying about it.

Xiao Ming's feelings for Daniel are quite special - unlike other players, although Xiao Ming basically came to him one by one and trained them according to their characteristics, Xiao Ming knew that even without him, they could reach their respective heights, while Daniel was cultivated by him by himself. Watching him turn from a blank piece of paper into a Premier League star and an English international, this sense of accomplishment cannot be felt by other players.

The sense of accomplishment you develop is incomparable...

On March 27, at Wembley Stadium, in the fourth round of the fifth group of the 2000 European Cup qualifiers, the England national team played against Finland at home.

Before this game, England ranked third in the group with one win, one draw and one loss, with four points. Sweden and Finland both ranked first and second in a row. This round was Sweden vs. Luxembourg, England vs. Finland, and Bulgaria by bye. For England, they had to win in this game, otherwise they might be defeated by two Nordic countries in Sweden and Finland. They had already lost to Sweden and could not lose to Finland again.

This game is also the premiere of the new national team coach Keegan. He can't play, and the English national team can't play. For England, absenting a major event is not only a competitive failure, but also economic losses. It is said that England's absence from the European Cup in 2008 resulted in tens of millions of pounds. I don't know how they calculated it.

After the game started, fans of Leiden Oriental were surprised to find that Phillips and Daniel appeared in the starting lineup of the England national team at the same time!

But if you think about it carefully, it is natural for Phillips and Daniel to start when they were selected for the national team for the first time - Shearer is said to have sprained his ankle before this game. Although he was not seriously injured, Hiller, who is no longer young, obviously could not do any feat with injuries. Other England strikers performed averagely. Phillips, a forward who is in good shape recently, has naturally become Keegan's first choice on the front line. In the left back position, Lesox has recovered from injury and has not been able to guarantee his condition. Philip Neville has played fewer games and his condition is also not guaranteed. In this case, Keegan will naturally choose Daniel, who has been performing stably in recent seasons and has also maintained a high level in the Premier League.

This made thousands of fans of Leiden Oriental who watched the game at Wembley feel extremely happy. Although there are two Leiden Oriental players in the opponent Finland team, at this moment, they still resolutely chose to stand on the side of the England national team.

Although there are not as many stars as the English national team, the Finnish national team is not to be outdone. Yasquelanin and Hypia from Leiden East have become the backbone of the Finnish national team's defense. In terms of offense, Ajax star "Finnish Ice Sword" Litmanin is the main one, using body to fight against the body and counterattack against the offense.

The England national team's offense is very fierce, but the effect is not very good. Irving and Phillips are obviously not very compatible. Both of them are short forwards and they don't have enough impact. The scene I often see is that Irving frequently pulls out of the penalty area to get the ball and then dribbling the ball into the penalty area. Phillips is submerged in the tall Finnish defender group, silently.

Xiao Ming shook his head repeatedly when he saw it. A forward like Phillips needs a tall forward to help him cover it so that he can play his sensitive role in front of the goal on the court. For example, in Leiden East, Xiao Ming sent Phillips to play his partner either Vanny or Jankoler when he came on the court. Although Vankoler has stronger scoring ability, he did a good job of playing ball and attracting the attention of the opponent's defenders. Not to mention Jankoler, except for the two of them, Xiao Ming has never sent Keane Jr. and Phillips to partner. Although Keane actually played a very standard center, it was just that the type was different.

Seeing this scene, Xiao Ming knew why Phillips could not guarantee his position in the England national team. Even in his two most popular years, he was in the England national team after Husky and Wassell. After Hiller retired, Irving became the well-deserved and number one striker in the England national team. A speed striker like him needs not a scorer partner, but a blue-collar center who can cover and fight against the opponent's defenders and do dirty work. In this case, Phillips will certainly not be popular in the national team - otherwise there would be no situation where Tony immediately became the main player of the Italian national team with the European Golden Boot, but Phillips can only play soy sauce in the national team with the European Golden Boot.

Compared with the somewhat chaotic offense, England's defense has been much more stable - the central defender combination of Adams and Campbell is quite stable - England has always been without a shortage of outstanding central defenders, and Daniel's performance is also eye-catching.

Today, Keegan asked Daniel to be responsible for the opponent's number one star Litmanin. I have to say that this is a very smart way - Daniel and other national team members have not cooperated before, so there is no tacit understanding. The one he showed most in the league is his defense, especially one-on-one man-tapping. Litmanin is the core of the Finnish national team's offensive. If he is stared at him, Finnish offense will basically be no threat.

But facing the long-standing Litmanin, can Daniel complete the tasks given by Keegan?

Xiao Ming has no doubt that Daniel can do this. Litmanin is undoubtedly an excellent star, but after the baptism of the league and has been guarding many stars, Daniel, who has definitely had the ability to complete the task assigned to him by Keegan.

Daniel has a characteristic or advantage that he can always do his job well with peace of mind. For example, when Xiao Ming went to the youth team to select players, when everyone wanted to attract attention through personal performances, he worked diligently to do what he should do. Today's situation is very similar to that time.

He played for the national team for the first time and basically had only experiences of confronting the national team's teammates on the court. Even this kind of experience is not much, and there is absolutely no tacit understanding. So in this case, Keegan separated Daniel from the team and asked him to guard the opponent's best attacker alone. It has to be said that it was a very wise choice.

In this case, he was able to show what Daniel was best at and at the same time covered up his weakness of lack of tacit understanding between him and his teammates. It seems that Keegan had put some thoughts on when he was sure to use Daniel.

Litmanin is a forward and can also play in the midfield, but he is not the kind of striker who is at the forefront, but is a type similar to a second striker. He is hidden behind the center. In addition to being able to score goals, he can also organize the offense and connect the midfield. There are many such forwards in this era. Needless to say, the shadow forward group of Italy is a group of shadow forwards. Borgkamp from the Netherlands, Laudrupp from Denmark are also among the best. Of course, Ajax No. 10 Litmanin, known as the "Finnish Ice Sword", is also indispensable.

The place where Litmanin is used to moving is just the center of the right side, which is just in front of Daniel.

Perhaps Litmanin is not a world-class superstar, but in terms of Finnish football, he can be regarded as a person who has made great and outstanding contributions to Finnish football. Before him, Finland's first sport was ice hockey. When he became the first and only player in Finnish football history to date to win the European Champions League, his actions have affected a whole generation of young Finnish people. Now football can be compared with ice hockey in Finland, Litmanin has made great contributions.

Litmanin is just 28 years old, which is the golden age of a player. The Finnish national team has not entered the World Cup or European Cup finals in history. For this group of Finnish players, their start in this European Cup qualifier is very good. If they can enter the European Cup finals next year, they will achieve a milestone success in Finnish football history.

With this mentality, the Finnish national team showed a high level. Apart from defense, they did not give up on offense. The Nordic brother Sweden used facts to tell them how to defeat England. While solidifying the defense, they used quick and concise counterattacks to tear open the defense of the British defenders. Although they had strong ability to confront the head, they were not quick to turn around.

In Sweden's victory over England last year, Lyonberg shone brightly. He also used his speed and impact to make Lessox miserable. It was after that game that Arsenal's Wenger fell in love with Lyonberg and brought him to Arsenal - Finland also happened to have a technical feature that is very similar to Lyonberg and has more experience in Litmanin.

So the Finnish national team's offense naturally began to concentrate at Litmanin's feet.

In the tenth minute of the game, Finland's long pass from the backcourt, Litmanin was about to take over the header from his teammate. Daniel suddenly rushed up from behind, defended around the front, and broke the ball with his foot!

There was a thunderous cheer in the stands, and Xiao Ming, who was watching the game in front of the TV, also waved his fists: "Good job!"

Leiden Oriental fans in the bar cheered loudly. The feeling of watching this game is different from watching the league, especially Daniel is a standard Leiden person - this makes them feel better when they see Daniel performing well in the national team than when they see Leiden Oriental win!

The guards often have a lot of pressure on the court, because they cannot make a mistake. There is an old saying that has been said overly, which is actually very reasonable. The forward can become a hero if he succeeds in shooting, and the defender will become a sinner if he makes a defensive mistake. However, Xiao Ming is not worried that Daniel will not be able to withstand the pressure. After several years of contact, Xiao Ming has already known that this Chinese has a big heart. This is why Xiao Ming is so optimistic about Daniel and treats him as the future captain to train him, not only because he is Xiao Ming's most absolute direct line, but also both are Chinese!

Daniel was not too sticky after the ball was intercepted. Although his assist ability is already good, he knew that he could assist in Leiden East because his teammates who were familiar with him made up for him. So he did not want to show off and drive the ball forward to assist him, but immediately distributed the ball to Redknapp in front and stayed in his defensive area.

England still had the upper hand in the offensive in this game. Although the cooperation between the two forwards was not very tacit, the attack seemed a little weak due to the lack of a center with sufficient impact. However, England, which had a new coach in the back-to-back battle, still had the upper hand. After all, a strong team like England was still very powerful after fighting hard.

So for most of the time, Daniel seems very leisurely. His only task is to guard the opponent's number one star, and the opponent's number one star does not have many opportunities to get the ball...

After a fierce attack, England finally scored the goal, but it was not a smooth attack, but Beckham's direct free kick - Irving was tripped by the opponent's defender when he broke through, England got a direct free kick twenty-six meters away from the goal. Beckham took a beautiful powerful downspin ball and broke through Yassklein's ten fingers. England scored the first record!

"Xiao, let's buy Beckham!" After the celebration in the bar, Michael suddenly shouted loudly at Xiao Ming.

"If possible, I'm willing to buy him. I believe he and Glenshare should be able to coexist." Xiao Ming shrugged.

"That's right, I remember that in 1995, Beckham was the back-up here." Sawyer nodded: "But buying Beckham... doesn't seem easy."

"It's very difficult, not just a matter of money." Xiao Ming shrugged: "Stop talking about this, watch the game!"

"England will win!" John raised his cup and shouted.

After leading by one goal, England's play was a little more stable, and the offense did not seem as chaotic as before. They kept handing the ball to Beckham and launched the attack through his long pass. With the focus of the offensive, England's offense seemed more organized, but the lack of impact in the penalty area still did not improve.

Finland also launched several counterattacks, but Litmanin was entangled by Daniel. He barely took the ball several times and could not make a breakthrough in Daniel's tight defense. Daniel's speed was no longer much slower than him, and his physical fitness and reaction were also quite excellent. Litmanin could only choose to pass the ball to his teammates to organize the attack. Without being able to directly participate in the attack, the strength of Finland's offense was reduced by more than half!

England lacks Daniel's defense, which has not had much impact on the overall defense. After all, Gary Neville, Adams and Campbell are all excellent defenders, while Finland lacks Litmanin's attack. Not to mention paralyzing the entire line, it is at least a big impact.

Keegan's trick is the finishing touch, and it is also the most successful point in England's victory in this game - although not many people mentioned it after the game...

At the end of the first half, England led 1-0 at home. Keegan praised the players' performance in the locker room and said tactfully that more efficiency needs to be improved when attacking, and a goal lead is not enough...

Keegan is a good person, which is recognized in the English football circle. He has almost no temper. Whether it is to the media or the players, perhaps this is the biggest factor that he cannot become an excellent head coach - but at this time, his kind attitude has made the atmosphere in the locker room of the England national team better.

He performed well in the first half, but Daniel did not look very proud, while Phillips seemed a little discouraged because his performance in the first half was not very good. The most important thing was that he felt that he was a little out of place with the national team in the offense...

Some players can only play a role in a specific environment. For example, Phillips, Xiao Ming understands his characteristics and knows how to use him so that he can become one of the best-performing English strikers this season, but he is mediocre in his premiere in the national team; while some players can play his role in any environment, such as Daniel, who can gradually become a full-back with both offense and defense in the environment that is most suitable for him, and can also play the defense he is best at in an environment that is not suitable for him.

These two players cannot say which one is better. Often, the former can perform better than the latter after getting an environment that suits him. The key is to look at the person who uses them.

After the second half, Keegan made a substitution, Phillips was replaced, ending his debut in the national team. Keegan replaced him with 20-year-old shooter Emile Husky from Leicester City. This is a typical British center. Obviously, Keegan's substitution was adjusted according to tactical requirements.

Phillips ended up in a depressed mood. In his opinion, if a center like Husky partnered with him to cover him, he could perform well - unfortunately, as the new generation of Golden Boy Irving, who is in the best form in England and the most popular, would not be replaced. He is the only one who can replace him...

Keegan explained to him kindly that he was replaced not because he performed poorly, but because of tactical issues. Phillips nodded in depressedness. To be honest, he was really not accustomed to Keegan's warm style...

Seeing Phillips being replaced, the fans of Leiden Oriental in the bar began to complain. In their opinion, Phillips received too little support and his teammates did not give him enough help... Amid the complaints, Xiao Ming shook his head helplessly. If he was Keegan, he would probably only make such substitution adjustments. After all, in the first half, Irving's performance was better than Phillips, and now the position of the two players in the England national team is the most unshakable, one is Beckham, and the other is Irving. They are representative figures in England. Without any injury or illness and not locking in the victory, the possibility of replacing them is too small...

After Husky came on the court, England's offense began to become more organized - although this black man has never been a high-profit shooter, although he is only twenty years old, he has played more than three seasons in Leicester City and has only scored ten goals in the season with the most goals. However, his role in the tactical system is quite large, and his physical fitness and confrontational ability have become his biggest magic weapon to gain a foothold on the court.
To be continued...