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Chapter 256 You Didn't Do It
On the television screen, the white-haired Jon Berger and Harry Collins had their arms around each other's shoulders, their eyes shining, their faces wet with tears and smiles.

Seeing this, the Tyne fans in the Miners' Bar were also moved to tears.

Everyone was surrounded by immense happiness.

Even Tang Lin, who had only been a Tyne fan for less than a year, couldn't help but empathize and be moved by what he was going through.

He recalled wondering why they, the Tyne fans, would like a team that wasn't doing so well.

Even though this is their hometown team...

After all, the Chinese team is the home team of all Chinese fans. However, long before he was born, the Chinese team did not have a good reputation among Chinese fans. Many people were ashamed to like Chinese football, and some even made up jokes to mock Chinese football.

Although people online say it's because the performance of Chinese players failed to meet expectations, and that Chinese football has too much ugliness and darkness that has exhausted everyone's enthusiasm and love for the sport.

But Tang Lin has a different idea when researching that period of history. He can’t help but speculate: if the Chinese team had been able to participate in the World Cup in the 1990s and had been a stable top team in Asian football, even if the domestic league was as chaotic as South American football and the management organization was as corrupt as the football associations in South America and Africa, would people not be ashamed to like Chinese football?

Therefore, the fact that Tyne is his hometown team doesn't seem to convince Tang Lin that it's only natural for the Tyne fans around him to have such enthusiasm for Tyne.

Like the Chinese team, Tyne failed to achieve any notable results for a long period of time.

Tang Lin also didn't believe that Tyne's players had never had attitude problems in the past, nor that they had ever disappointed Tyne's fans...

So why do these Tyne fans still support them?
He genuinely believed that Tyne fans were a group of Puritans, and he wanted to torture himself to comprehend the truths of life and the universe...

He got his answer from Mr. Berg after Tyne's 9-0 home win against Sofia United last season.

They are not masochists; it's just that their lives are like this, with more bitterness than joy. They also want to celebrate victory, but they lack the opportunity to do so.

They understand this principle well, which is why they try their best to remain optimistic and fully enjoy the rare moments of joy.

Therefore, while the internet was criticizing and mocking the Tyne fans for putting pressure on the team by making such a big fuss before Tyne's away Champions League match, Tang Lin could completely understand why the Tyne fans did this—they had suffered for so many years, and their pent-up emotions always needed to be released.

Didn't they know the team might not get a good result? We're all football fans, and even if we're not worldly-wise, with the internet and information readily available, how many of us are completely unaware of the workings of modern football?

But so what?

They just want to seize every opportunity to have fun.

Life is tough, so you have to find ways to have fun.

Tang Lin didn't think there was anything to laugh at or criticize about the group of Tyne fans who were trying to find fun for themselves and make their lives less miserable.

Now, Tyne is in Lille, and a victory has helped Tyne fans clear their name of the stigma.

Tang Lin felt that the excitement of the Tyne fans around him was probably not just because Tyne had won their first-ever Champions League victory...

It's also because the fans know that the team has not let them down.

As a new fan, Tang Lin was genuinely happy for the tacit understanding between the team and the fans.

Just then, on television, commentator Connor Cowley excitedly exclaimed, "Tonight is an absolutely historic moment for Newcastle's Tyne FC! The team has made its first appearance in the Champions League, scored its first ever goal in the Champions League, and achieved its first ever victory in the Champions League! It's all so perfect! Look at that touching scene on camera! A Tyne fan father and son are embracing and weeping..."

Tang Lin felt the touching atmosphere in the miners' bar suddenly froze.

He couldn't help but glance at Theo Collins, the bar's owner on duty that day.

Then he realized that it wasn't just him; everyone in the bar who had heard the explanation was looking at the owner who had "lost" his son...

Theo Collins was clearly not expected to see this, and he stared blankly at the television screen.

In the quiet bar, Connor Cowley's voice filled the entire space through the speakers:
"...This white-haired old man is a symbol of Tyne's history, while the young man beside him, his son, represents the future of the Tyne team!"

"Ha!" Robbie Dixie's laughter broke the eerie atmosphere in the room. "Facts aside, the commentator is right! We old men are all Tyne's past..."

He turned to look at Tang Lin:
"And young people are Tyne's future!"

※※※

When the referee blew the final whistle, many of the Lille Atlético players on the field seemed to have been put on pause, all stopping and remaining motionless.

They were in pain and frustrated because of the home defeat.

This is their home ground, and they are facing a team from the fourth tier of their group.

To break through this group, three points at home are crucial.

But they lost to a team from the fourth tier...

Seeing this, Luo Jin sighed, "It truly lives up to its name as the group of death... It seems that Lille will need to put in a lot more effort and rely on good luck to advance from this group..."

As a Chinese commentator, he naturally hoped that the two teams with Chinese players could advance from this group.

But after the first group stage match, he felt that Tyne had a chance to break out of the "group of death" - in his opinion, the key to advancing from the group stage was actually the matches against Atlético Lille and Milan City.

On the contrary, Luo Jin was not too worried about the match against Ruhr Steel Union.

Because Ruhr United's head coach is Heldon.

Based on Luo Jin's understanding of Wang Lie, he believed that Tyne would perform exceptionally well in their two matches against Ruhr United, with Wang Lie in particularly high form. Defeating this seeded team in their group wouldn't be too difficult for them...

what?
You're saying Ruhr Steel Union is stronger than Tyne?
what!
Before Sofia United lost 0-9 to Tyne United, they were stronger than Tyne United!
Luo Jin wasn't too worried about Wang Lie; he was worried about Fu Xiaofeng.

The home defeat to Tain could be a major blow to Lille's morale, which could affect their performance in the Champions League group stage.

He still hopes that Fu Xiaofeng can also make it to the Champions League knockout stage.

As the most prestigious competition in football today, playing even one more game allows you to accumulate more experience and make greater progress and improvement.

If the Chinese team wants to achieve something in the World Cup next year, Fu Xiaofeng, who is in his prime, needs to play more high-level matches...

Fu Xiaofeng was unaware that thousands of miles away in the Chinese capital, a Chinese commentator was worrying about his prospects in the Champions League.

He actually knew he would lose before the match even ended.

Therefore, his reaction to this result was not as intense as that of his teammates.

He got up from the bench, but felt a little embarrassed to walk straight back to the locker room, so he wandered onto the field somewhat blankly.

Once on the court, his gaze didn't fall on his teammates, but instead landed on the jubilant Tyne players.

They were as happy as if they had won the Champions League – he saw with his own eyes that Tyne's goalkeeper quietly dug up a small patch of turf from inside the goal, next to the post, and stuffed it into his glove!
Yes!

Although he did it discreetly, Fu Xiaofeng was still paying attention to his surroundings, which is why he happened to see it... To be honest, when Fu Xiaofeng first saw it, he was speechless—was it really necessary?

He could understand taking a piece of the grass from the competition field as a souvenir after winning the championship.

But to take away the turf as a souvenir after winning just one game, Fu Xiaofeng is truly a rare sight in his life.

Just as Fu Xiaofeng was shocked by Tyne goalkeeper Elliott Goetz's actions, a dark shadow suddenly appeared in his field of vision, almost blocking half of his view.

He couldn't see the dark figure clearly because it was too close to him; he needed to refocus his eyes first.

When he came to his senses, he saw Wang Lie standing right in front of him.

This discovery surprised Fu Xiaofeng greatly, even more so than seeing the Tyne goalkeeper digging up the turf—could it be that Wang Lie had come to exchange jerseys with him?!

Did his performance in the competition earn Wang Lie's approval?
Fu Xiaofeng reflected on his performance in the match; he had neither scored nor assisted.

However, both of Lille's goals could be attributed to him, as he was the penultimate passer in both.

Especially the first goal, which came from a long pass from his own half to Miranda, who then crossed the ball to assist Perat. Without his accurate long pass from the back, Lille might not have had such a good chance.

Fu Xiaofeng felt that his performance in today's game was normal, not particularly good, but not particularly bad either.

Therefore, based on his understanding of how abnormal Wang Lie was, he felt that Wang Lie shouldn't have come to exchange jerseys with him.

Perhaps it was just a casual chat on camera, meant to convey to the outside world that there were no internal conflicts within the national team...

After all, they are teammates on the national team. If they meet in a club match and don't even exchange a few words, wouldn't that seem too cold?

Who knows what those bored people online will guess then...

Wang Lie may have come to put on a show of "we're both fine, the national team is very united" because of this consideration.

Normal, understandable...

Just as Fu Xiaofeng was thinking this, Wang Lie, who was standing in front of him, spoke up, but instead of exchanging pleasantries, he asked directly, "Why were you substituted after 85 minutes? You can't possibly not even play 90 minutes now, can you? You didn't play in the league last weekend..."

Fu Xiaofeng was stunned. He hadn't expected Wang Lie to ask him that, so he didn't answer immediately.

His silence made Wang Lie frown: "You're not really injured, are you?"

Before the match, he asked Fu Xiaofeng if he hadn't played in the last league game because he was injured.

At that moment, Fu Xiaofeng retorted, "Would you believe me if I said I was really injured?"

Wang Lie thought Fu Xiaofeng was just joking, because this person was often unserious, that was just his personality.

However, based on his observations, Wang Lie couldn't help but suspect that Fu Xiaofeng might actually be injured, but was just using his off-key singing to cover it up.

He didn't want to show his vulnerability—based on their past grievances, Wang Lie now understood this perfectly.

Seeing Wang Lie's expression, Fu Xiaofeng knew that the other party must have taken it seriously, so he quickly waved his hands and shook his head: "No, no, no... I'm not injured, I'm not. Brother Wang, don't think too much..."

Wang Lie, however, was not so easily convinced. He pressed on seriously, "Are you really not injured?"

Fu Xiaofeng shook his head vigorously: "No, absolutely not. I didn't play in the last league match because I just came back from the national team match, and our head coach was worried about my stamina, so he told me not to include me in the roster for that game. I agreed..."

While he was explaining, Wang Lie kept staring at his expression and finally confirmed that Fu Xiaofeng was not lying this time.

However, upon learning this, his expression became even more serious:

"Since you rested for one game, why don't you even have enough stamina for 90 minutes?"

He pointed at himself:

"I played for more than 30 minutes in the last league match, and I played the full 90 minutes in this match."

Because Tyne only won by one goal against Lille, McNeil did not substitute Wang Lie out of caution, keeping him on the field to maintain a "strategic deterrent" against Lille.

Fu Xiaofeng laughed again: "Brother Wang, there's not much difference between ninety minutes and eighty-five minutes..."

"It's ninety-eight minutes," Wang Lie corrected him. "Including stoppage time, the match lasted a total of ninety-eight minutes."

Seeing Wang Lie's serious expression, Fu Xiaofeng's heart began to pound uncontrollably; he was starting to feel afraid. He regretted not telling Wang Lie he was injured—he should have said it was a minor injury, not affecting his future, but impacting this match…

At least I won't get scolded.

But now that he'd said it, he could only try to justify himself: "Ninety-eight minutes and eighty-five minutes aren't that different, I'm not so badly deprived of that much time. But our coach decided that with limited time, a simple and direct approach would be more effective, so keeping me on the field wouldn't make much difference. That's why he put me..."

Wang Lie didn't accept his explanation. He started shaking his head before the man finished speaking, and finally couldn't help but interrupt him: "It's all excuses. Why can't you be effective with a simple and brutal style of play? Can't you head the ball, can't you shoot, or can't you shoot from long range?"

These words were very impolite, and Fu Xiaofeng didn't know how to respond.

But he knew the other person was already angry, so the smartest thing to do was not to argue with him, but to remain silent, like a child being scolded by his parents, bowing his head and admitting his mistake, showing a good attitude.

Wang Lie covered his mouth and continued, "To put it bluntly, your head coach felt that you couldn't fulfill his task at such a crucial moment. He didn't think you were the one who could play a crucial role in critical situations! He didn't trust you! That's why he substituted you..."

Hearing such blatant denigration, even though Fu Xiaofeng repeatedly reassured himself, "Let him talk, let him finish cursing," he couldn't help but breathe heavily.

He had to take deep breaths desperately to keep himself calm.

Wang Lie noticed the change in Fu Xiaofeng. His whole body was rising and falling with deep breaths, and his hands were clenched into fists.

But Fu Xiaofeng kept his head down and didn't say a word, like a "scarecrow" made of cotton.

All the punches you threw at him landed on soft cotton.

Seeing Fu Xiaofeng like this, Wang Lie sighed and then said:

"Do you still think you controlled the team's two goals and that your performance wasn't bad?"

Fu Xiaofeng remained silent.

Wang Lie said, "Before the competition, I said I would give it my all. And I did."

Two goals, one to open the scoring and the other to win the game, this performance was truly impeccable.

"I also told you that I hoped you would give it your all. But you didn't."

(End of this chapter)