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Chapter 3 When He Steps onto the Court
Redstone Stadium, the home ground of Premier League giants Sofia United, is a world-famous football stadium. Its iconic red exterior wall stands like a red mountain in the southwest corner of Manchester.

In the 132 years since the stadium was built, countless legends have been born and countless legends have been performed on this stage. If you were to select the 100 most famous scenes in the history of world football, the Red Stone Stadium would definitely be on the list many times.

This stadium has been a magical place for a long time. The home team players playing here seem to be able to gain some kind of mysterious power, while the opponent players will be afraid and unable to perform normally - this is normal. Facing the momentum created by 70,000 home fans, players with slightly weaker psychological qualities may be weak in the knees...

Some people always underestimate the difficulty of playing away games, because they are only separated by satellite broadcast signals and thousands of kilometers of time and space, and they don’t have a very clear perception of what is happening in the stadium. Television broadcasts eliminate a lot of on-site noise, which is very different from your actual experience on the spot.

Anyone who has experienced the deafening boos at the scene would find it difficult to suppress their pounding heart. Imagine playing in such an environment. Professional players really need very strong stress-resistance, otherwise no matter how good their skills and tactics are, they cannot be brought into play.

However, the above legends are all in the past.

At least on the afternoon of January 2037, 1, the Red Rock Stadium did not show the momentum of the "home court of hell".

The broadcast camera swept across the stands. Most of the SofaSoccer fans wearing red jerseys did not sing and shout as they did before. Instead, they all looked at the field in silence.

The game was very close, but they had a feeling of being unable to do anything and could only stare blankly at the field.

There was something really wrong with today's game.

"... Before the game, who could have imagined that Sofia United would have such a hard time playing against Dreyfuss from the Championship at their home ground?" Connor Cowley, a famous English football commentator, sighed as he watched the scene.

At the same time, in the FA Cup live broadcast room of the Chinese domestic video website Pilipili, commentator Zhao Zhou was angrily criticizing Sofia United head coach Sven Heldon: "...What kind of tactics is this? What kind of personnel arrangement is this? There is a real striker but he is not using him. Instead, he is letting an attacking midfielder play as a pseudo center forward... Heldon must have lost his mind!"

"Pili Pili" is a well-known video website in China, but live football broadcasting is not the platform's main business. They hope to expand the business of the website, so they spent a lot of money to acquire the domestic broadcasting rights of this season's FA Cup. When they bought the broadcasting rights, they did not know that the conflict between Wang Lie and Sofa United head coach Heldon would be so intense in the future.

Today was the first time that Sofia United played in the FA Cup this season, but Wang Lie didn't even start. I don't know if the leader of the Pili Pili website who is responsible for this business has warmly greeted the eighteen generations of Heldon's family...

In order to make full use of the existing resources, they did not invite well-known professional football commentators in China to comment on the game, but chose a popular UP host from the football section of their website to guest commentate. After all, it may not be possible to invite those well-known professional commentators if the money is low. If you let the UP host in the football section of your own website to guest commentate, not only may you not have to spend money, but the other party will also be particularly grateful to the website for giving you such an opportunity...

Therefore, Zhao Zhou, a big UP host in the football section of Pilipilili with 600,000 fans and whose online name is "Zhou Zhou Football", became the special commentator for the FA Cup live broadcast on the Pilipilili website.

Zhao Zhou was quite happy when he was first selected as the commentator, because he could finally commentate on Wang Lie's games legitimately and openly.

Then he was hit in the face by reality...

Before the start of this game, after he got the starting list of Sofia United, he couldn't help but curse in his room for ten minutes. He still felt that he couldn't vent his anger, so he posted a lot of dynamic messages, which made Helden angry.

Originally, on Pili Pili, a platform with a large number of young people, the commentary style was quite open. Now Zhao Zhou completely let himself go - if it were a regular football live broadcast platform or a regular football commentator, the audience would not hear such emotionally charged comments as "Herden's brain is full of water".

They would only say that "the arrangement of the Sofia United coach may be questionable"...

How could such bland criticism possibly satisfy Wang Lie's fans in China?

You have to know that in the past six months or so, in the eyes of Wang Lie's fans, Swedish Sofia head coach Sven Heldon is simply an unforgivable idiot.

So it is more satisfying to listen to Zhao Zhou's commentary on Pilipi - now many Wang Lie fans watch Sofia United's games basically just to curse Heldon.

In the past, because of Wang Lie, Sofia United was the home team of most Chinese fans. Although Sofia United is a well-known Premier League giant, its influence in China is comparable to other European giants and is not particularly outstanding.

Wang Lie joined the team ten years ago, which led to a surge in the number of SofaSoccer fans in China and completely widened the gap with other European giants.

During this period, the hearts of countless Chinese fans were tied to Sofia, crying and laughing for it.

In fact, both sides were still in this "honeymoon period" last season.

Until last summer, Swede Sven Heldon became the head coach of Sofia United.

Dissatisfied with the new head coach's suppression of "Chinese football hero" Wang Lie, many Chinese fans are angry with the new head coach and also directed their anger at the Sofia United team.

In the past, many Chinese fans were happy for Sofia's victory and cried for Sofia's defeat. Now, they are distorted by Sofia's victory and overjoyed by Sofia's defeat.

Whenever a team loses a game, the Internet in China becomes as lively as Chinese New Year. Many professional or non-professional football bloggers and Wang Lie fans write articles and make videos to analyze Helden's stupid moves and responsibilities in the loss, and finally curse that Helden is not worthy of being the head coach of Sofia United... Of course, the fight between Wang Lie's extreme fans and Chi Zhen's extreme fans is also one of the regular programs, as it is the fan circle culture.

Today's game is the FA Cup. Some of Wang Lie's fans still had illusions before the game, thinking that Wang Lie would hardly get a chance to start in the league and Europa League group stage, but he would always be able to start in a domestic cup competition like the FA Cup, right?
As a result, two hours before the game, when the starting lineup was announced, everyone saw that Wang Lie was not among them...

Some people choose not to watch this game which kicks off at prime time in the evening in China - eating skewers, drinking and playing games, what else can you do on a weekend night? Why do you have to put up with this old man's wrath?

Others chose to curse Helden while watching the game - many of these people were fans of Sofo United before Wang Lie came to Sofo United. They did not support Helden, but they still supported Sofo United.

No matter who they are, no one expected that Sofia United would have such a hard time playing against a Championship team at their home ground.

In the first half, they were even suppressed by Drettin...

Although Drating is currently ranked third in the Championship, it is a strong team in the Championship.

But SofaSport is a Premier League giant, currently ranked fourth in the Premier League.

Isn't it embarrassing to say that the fourth place in the Premier League is suppressed by the third place in the Championship?

Logically speaking, this situation should not occur given the huge gap in strength between the two teams.

But who knew that Helden actually arranged a formation that was incomprehensible. It was called 442, but there was a false nine. It was called 433, but the false nine Bastin Alatorre was completely unable to play the role of a nine-center forward when facing the tough defense of the Drettin defenders...

We can also see many times in the game that Alatorre plays awkwardly in this position. This is normal, he is not a center forward. Just because he is 1.87 meters tall and looks like a center forward, he cannot be asked to play as a center forward.

It's not that Helden has no striker available, so he was forced to let Alatorre take the position.

Even though he was unwilling to include Wang Lie in the starting lineup because his conflict with Wang Lie was becoming more and more public and intensified, there was still the striker Ronan Wright in the roster for this game.

So even those Chinese fans who wanted to see Holden make a fool of himself actually didn't understand why Holden didn't let Wright start.

He has conflicts with Wang Lie, but he can't have conflicts with Wright, right? There was no news before that the two of them had a bad relationship...

But no matter what the reason is, the game of Sofia United has become such a mess. Many Wang Lie fans are now looking forward to Sofia United being eliminated by the English Championship team and making a big upset, so that they can mock and scold Heldon as much as they want.

This is also the only way they can fight back when their heroes are treated unfairly.

※※※

Alatorre just received a pass from his teammate and tried to protect the ball.

As a result, a foot suddenly stretched out from behind him and poked the football away right under his nose!
At the same time, when the opponent stretched out his foot to grab the ball, he also hit Alatorre's butt hard, causing him to stagger and fall to the ground.

The fallen Alatorre raised his arms amid the boos of the home fans and shouted to the referee: "He fouled!!"

The referee only gave him a heartless back view and turned to run forward...

Obviously, the referee did not think that the Drettin player's attempt to steal the ball was a foul.

Alatorre angrily punched the turf before getting up from the ground cursing.

His punch was not only to express his dissatisfaction with the referee, but also to express his dissatisfaction with the current situation of his own game.

As a Swiss international, 31-year-old Bastin Alatorre joined Sofia United as a free agent two seasons ago and currently serves as a rotation midfielder in Sven Helden's team.

A domestic cup competition like the FA Cup was supposed to be an opportunity for him to showcase himself and try to change his position in the team.

He is looking forward to the game.

As a result, the head coach asked him to play as a center forward...

Not to mention the opinions of bystanders, Alatorre himself feels that he has not performed well in this game so far.

But what can he do? He is not playing in the position he is used to or likes, so his characteristics cannot be fully utilized.

It was basically difficult for him to hold the ball in the penalty area. He could only turn his back to the direction of attack in front of the penalty area, and the support he could provide to the two attackers, Stanley Harris and Adel Degert, was extremely limited.

In fact, during the half-time break, head coach Helden had already made adjustments - he let the main right winger Adel Degett, who was originally sitting on the bench, play, hoping to increase the offensive firepower.

However, judging from the first ten minutes of the second half, the adjustments made during the halftime break have not yet produced immediate results.

When Sofo United attacked again, Alatorre tried to withdraw from the penalty area. On the one hand, this would allow him to find a familiar feeling, and on the other hand, he also hoped that he could pull out Dretin's defensive players and create space and opportunities for his teammates.

His teammate passed the ball to him again.

Before receiving the ball this time, Alatorre turned his head to look behind him to confirm the position of the defensive player.

There is indeed a player from Dretin behind him.

So Alatorre didn't rush to take the next step, but raised his foot to step on the football, and at the same time stretched out his arm to block the Drettin player to the outside to prevent him from stealing the ball.

He thought he was safe now, but just as his feet touched the ball, he suddenly felt a gust of wind blowing behind his head!

Then, before he could react, he felt a strong impact coming from the other side... "Be careful! Ah! Alatorre was intercepted!"

Alatorre, who was knocked to the ground, was unable to control the football and the ball was snatched away by a Drettin player.

Amidst huge boos, the referee blew a shrill whistle to suspend the game.

"Foul by a Drettin player!"

The Deretin player who successfully stole the ball from the blind spot of Alatorre heard the whistle, his eyes widened in disbelief, and spread his hands to show innocently that he had not committed a foul.

However, the referee was very observant and was not fooled by his exaggerated "acting skills".

Upon seeing this, the other Drettin players rushed up to surround the referee and plead for mercy for their teammates.

The players of Sofia United also surrounded the team and took the opportunity to challenge and pressure the referee, trying to get him to give another card to the opposing player.

No one noticed that after Alatorre fell to the ground, he covered his right knee with his hand and did not get up...

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After checking on Alatorre, Jason Harman shook his head at head coach Sven Helden, who was standing nearby and staring at him.

He didn't say anything, but the action and the expression on his face said it all.

As a result, Helden, whose expression was already very serious, almost frowned into a ball.

The TV broadcast camera did not have time to capture Helden's expression, but captured the action of the Sofo United team medical director.

Commentator Connor Cowley exclaimed: "It seems that Alatorre can't continue the game, Sofo United must make substitutions!"

At the same time, the TV broadcast quickly cut to the Sofia United bench, and then froze the close-up on one person.

He was wearing a down jacket with the Sofo United logo printed on it, and a Sofo United sports jacket with a yellow vest underneath, staring at the field expressionlessly.

The mottled hair on his temples and the slightly sagging lines on his face indicate that he is not young anymore.

When Zhao Zhou saw this scene, he shouted, "The real center forward is sitting on the bench! Helden, do you dare to replace him? Huh? Do you dare?! Or, would you rather let Sofia be eliminated by a Championship team than give Wang Lie a chance? Then I want to see if you have the courage to be eliminated shamefully at home!"

In the Pili Pili FA Cup live broadcast room, Chinese fans also interacted in the barrage:

"Go Wang Lie! Go Wang Lie!"

"It's better not to replace Lao Wang. I would rather see Sofia be eliminated from the FA Cup!"

"I wonder if losing to a Championship team will get this old man fired?"

"What are you thinking? Even if we lose the FA Cup, we are still fourth in the league, so our position is pretty stable!"

"I think Lao Deng will replace Wang Lie, because if the team loses, Wang Lie can be blamed..."

"Can you pass on the blame for this?!"

"Why not? Didn't the media recently report that the conflict between Wang Lie and Lao Deng caused a tense atmosphere in the locker room? The implication is that Wang Lie is disrupting the morale of the troops..."

"Fuck! Why don't you say that Lao Deng is disrupting the morale of the army!"

"Haha, the club and the head coach are in the same boat. If not Lao Wang, who else should take the blame?"

"The club has decided: the crime of destroying unity and shaking the morale of the troops will be borne by you, Wang Lie!"

"Hey, you ball bully fans, are you still here to complain? Don't you know how your family got the title of 'ball bully'? There is only a wrong name, but no wrong nickname!"

"Eh? Isn't this a fan of Chi Zhen's pretty boy? Why, you came to watch your father Wang Lie's game again? You don't like it but you still pay so much attention to it. Are pretty boys all a bunch of M?"

"Get lost, you pretty boy fans! Don't even bother showing off here! This is your Master Lie's match broadcast room!"

※※※

Sven Helden finally made a quick decision and chose to replace Wang Lie.

Wang Lie was not surprised when he heard the news.

It is true that the head coach has deep conflicts with him, but he just rarely gives him the opportunity to start, rather than completely preventing him from playing.

In the current situation, he believed that if Helden didn't want to lose, he would have to replace him.

Because the team needs me.

The reason why Heldon didn't let himself play before was probably because he underestimated the opponent. He thought that with Sofia's level and status as the fourth in the Premier League, and the fact that they were playing at home, they could easily win even if they withdrew most of the main players and used a rotating lineup.

Since we can win, why should we start?

The situation is now completely out of his control, and I have become his lifeline...

Ah.

Although Wang Lie was extremely disdainful of this hypocritical head coach, he did not show it.

After receiving the order, he did not even delay or show off, but quickly stood up from the "cold bench" that he had been sitting on for a long time, and at the same time took off the down jacket he was wearing.

Then he took off his yellow substitute vest and Sofia sports jacket in turn, revealing the red home jersey underneath.

WANG.L
9
Sofia United's No.9 stepped down the steps, walked out of the bench and appeared in front of head coach Heldon.

Also appeared in front of television audiences around the world.

"Thank God, Helden still remembered to put Wang on the roster..."

"The king is about to take the stage!"

"Helden made the right decision! Now Sofollow United needs to hammer a nail into Dretin's penalty area, and Wang is that nail!"

"Wang was once again entrusted with the task of saving Sofia United! But it's really ironic: Wang used to perform such heroic acts in the league or the Champions League. I never thought that he would need to save Sofia United in the third round of the FA Cup... The speed of Sofia United's decline is really astonishing. It's hard to believe that this is a top club that won seven championships seven years ago..."

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Because Alatorre had already been carried off the field on a stretcher, Wang Lie did not need to hand over to Alatorre on the sidelines. After the fourth official held up a sign showing the numbers of the players being substituted in and out, he could go directly onto the field.

Wang Lie ran onto the field and heard warm applause and cheers coming from the stands.

However, the scale of cheers was much smaller than in previous years - not all Sofia fans still liked Wang Lie.

Especially after this half of the season.

Wang Lie's fans in China may firmly believe that it was Sven Helden who let down their national hero in the fierce conflicts over the past half season.

But the actual situation may be somewhat different from what Wang Lie's loyal fans imagine. In Europe, especially in England, there are more people who support Helden than those who support Wang Lie.

Although Wang Lie is a controversial person due to his personality. After so many years in European football, even when he was at his most successful, he was always surrounded by various "noises". However, in the past six months, the negative news about Wang Lie has been too frequent...

A considerable number of Sofia United fans truly believe that Wang Lie is the source of almost all of the team's current pain. They criticize Wang Lie for taking advantage of his seniority and trying to put himself above the club, accuse him of turning from a team legend into a cancer of the team, and support the way new head coach Helden treats Wang Lie. By the way, these remarks from Europe spread to China and became the "ammunition" used by Chi Zhen's extreme fans to spray each other with Wang Lie's extreme fans.

Among those who were applauding and cheering for Wang Lie at the Red Rock Stadium, some were probably just too embarrassed to boo him out of years of emotional inertia...

But at this moment, Wang Lie didn't care about these things. He didn't even care about the conflict between Helden and him.

Now that he has stepped onto the court, he has only one thought in mind, which is to give his all and win the game.

Even though he knew that if he really lost this game, it would bring great pressure to Helden, it was actually beneficial to his situation.

But he still wanted to win.

Not to win for someone, just because he wants to win.

Just like every time he stepped onto a football field as a teenager.

He always wants to win.

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PS, I have resumed updating once a month. This chapter has 6,000 words, which is still quite substantial!
In addition, during the new book period, please collect and vote for it, thank you!
(End of this chapter)