Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 149

Within the ten minutes of the conversation with Ronaldo, Anton had already arranged all the itineraries in Portugal.

Now that he is visiting Portugal, he naturally wants to take a look at another "Stadium of Light" in Lisbon, Benfica's Luz Stadium. Ronaldo took his national team against Iceland, and this game is also worth watching-I heard that Halldosson has been selected for the Iceland national team.Now that he has gone to Portugal, Anton will naturally go to cheer for his former team members.

After experiencing the baptism of the "curse of October", Portugal's warm sunshine and slightly "hot" weather are all the more precious.

In such a beautiful weather, Anton arrived in Lisbon.In the afternoon, he visited Benfica's Luce Stadium. Like an ordinary tourist and pilgrimage fan, he looked inside and outside the stadium, and visited the team history exhibition room of the stadium.

In the past hundred years, Benfica has been the most glorious football club in Portugal. It has the largest number of fans in Portugal and can be described as the leader of the Portuguese Super League.Eusebio, the most famous player in the history of the club, is known as the "Pelé" of Europe.

Anton saw a statue of Eusebio outside the field, the legend waving his arms and raising his right foot, ready to shoot.He was looking up, when he suddenly heard someone beside him say in English: "'Bright Stadium', well, the name of this stadium is very imposing, it brings people 'bright' stadium."

Anton casually took up the conversation: "No! The name of this stadium doesn't mean that."

Those who spoke earlier were a few middle-aged people from the UK, men and women, like ordinary tourists on vacation in Portugal, two of them were wearing Benfica jerseys-Benfica had won countless fans from all over the world in the last century, and then In addition, the British like to travel to Portugal very much, so the number of registered "Benfica Fan Club" in the UK is almost the largest except for Portugal.

Several British tourists looked at Anton in surprise, and one of them began to feel that Anton looked familiar.

"The stadium in Benfica is named 'Stadium of Light' because the parish where the stadium is located is named 'Luce', which also means 'light' in Portuguese." Anton ignored the other party's gaze , and continued, "It's like your family lives in 'Guangming Road', so your name is 'No. 23 Guangming Road'."

"The only stadium in the world that is really named after 'Bright' is in England. The residents there really regard football as 'Bright', a beacon that can guide them in life..."

At this moment, Anton was recognized, "I've seen you!" one of the elderly British gentlemen suddenly said this.

His words were overshadowed by other people's chatter: "I know the 'Stadium of Light', Sunderland's stadium, right? I'm going there to see Messi, Messi!"

Anton wrinkled his nose.

Sunderland is not considered a strong team at all in the minds of the British. Their only point of concern is the temporary possession of Messi.Messi's arrival has indeed accumulated a lot of popularity for Sunderland and attracted a lot of attention-but as long as Messi leaves, this high fever will immediately recede.

Fans have no desire to understand Sunderland, nor do they have the time to understand the status and significance of football in the daily life of Sunderlanders.They were brought by Messi and will leave with Messi.

The only British gentleman who recognized Anton came to Anton at this time, his coat was open, revealing the Benfica jersey he was wearing underneath.The gentleman asked seriously: "Mr. Coach, what are you thinking at this moment?"

Anton also looked back seriously, looking at Benfica's "Luce Stadium", and said: "I was thinking, how can Sunderland be managed into such a century-old club!"

Only victories, successive victories, year after year of glory, and countless trophies can turn a club into a radiant giant with countless fans.Only in this way can a club and the spirit and culture represented behind it subtly influence its fans.

"It's a good idea." The elderly Benfica fan nodded at Anton, sighed, and said, "Benfica is a century-old store, even though it was crushed by Porto at the beginning of the league... But I still hope it can win the Portuguese Super League championship."

Hearing this, the companion next to him came over excitedly, and said loudly: "It is said that Porto is really amazing this year. They have won consecutive victories at the beginning of the league, and they are all big scores. Their head coach is so handsome..."

"Shh-"

Boo him together. "This is the gate of Benfica, you are talking nonsense here, you are trying to find a fight!"

Sure enough, although this group of people spoke English, some people around them cast disgust or contemptuous glances—the popularity of English in Portugal is still quite high.In addition, one of Benfica and Porto is a century-old giant, and the other is an upstart that began to rise at the end of the last century. In the past two years, they have chased each other in various competitions, and they are almost "mortal enemies".

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about Bo...the club, let's just talk about Boas, he is so handsome..."

Boas, the young coach that Anton met in Lagos, the disciple of the famous coach Robson, and the younger brother of the "madman" Mourinho, has begun to be called "Madman II"—— If you count from agent Mendes, Anton actually has a little connection with this man.

Both of them are clients of Mr. Mendez.

Boas was previously at Inter Milan and was Mourinho's assistant.He started to coach independently last season, and this summer he started coaching the Portuguese Super League giants Porto.Villas-Boas immediately proved his ability and value with a string of victories at the beginning of the season.

— Kind of like a reinvented Anton.

In other words, Anton is a replica of Boas.

"Mr. Coach, I hope you don't mind. The Portuguese Super League and the Premier League are different, and the intensity of the confrontation is not the same..." The British gentleman who recognized Anton comforted Anton in a low voice.

"Head coach?" The words were heard by others, and several British people screamed at the same time.

"Could you be kidding me! Villas-Boas is young enough, but he is already over 30 anyway, and he still has a beard-this, this looks younger than a player!"

Anton thought, indeed.In Sunderland, Hypia was nearly 10 years older than him. Several veteran players in the team, such as captain Garner, were about the same age as him.

But players and coaches are just two different professions. Who said that coaches must be older than players?

But believe it or not, these Englishmen came up together to shake hands with Anton.One of them praised Boas for being young, promising and handsome, stared at Anton for a long time, and finally said: "I sincerely hope that you can face Boas once..."

Against Porto?

He quickly ran through his mind, the possibility of Sunderland playing against Porto-the two teams are now in the Europa League group stage, and they will meet after they both advance to the knockout round.

Who would have thought that the other party said, "Which of the two of you is more handsome?"

Anton: ...

In the evening of the same day, Anton came to this "bright" stadium again to watch the warm-up match between the Portuguese national team and the Icelandic national team.

Compared with the Portuguese national team, the Icelandic national team is unknown in the international arena. They have not participated in any World Cup and European Cup finals.

But Anton is very clear that European countries have invested a lot in football, and their strength and level are relatively average.Even in mini countries such as Gibraltar and Liechtenstein, there are several players in the team who can play amazing football.

However, the Portuguese national team has long been among the top European teams, and now they are warming up with the Iceland team. The purpose is more to run the lineup and prepare for the upcoming European Cup qualifiers.

Because of the friendly match with the little-known Iceland team, the two sides did not make much publicity before the match, and the Stadium of Light was not full at the beginning of the match.About [-]% of Portugal's fan area was occupied, and the fans happily waved the Portuguese flag and sang and danced behind the goal.

The fan area of ​​the Iceland team was empty, with only a few people sitting.

Anton is sitting in this area - not because he doesn't like the Portuguese team, who told him to only buy this area when buying tickets.

Halldosson is the starting goalkeeper today. When he turned around, he saw Anton behind the door frame.The Icelanders were so happy, and immediately hung themselves on the door frame and did three pull-ups.

But Anton could imagine that as long as Halldosson turned around, he would still have the calm face of Wannian iceberg.

The referee blew the whistle, and Anton began to watch the match between the two teams with great interest.The Portuguese team obviously focused on adjusting the lineup. At the beginning of the game, there were frequent mistakes, and the tacit understanding between the players was a little lacking. However, after more than ten minutes of playing, the fit was significantly improved, and the formation was slightly adjusted to match the characteristics of the players.

If Anton realized something, he took out a small notebook from his pocket and wrote down everything he thought of.

Just as he was seriously recording, a person suddenly came to Anton and sat down.

The man was wearing casual clothes, a dark sweater and a hood.After sitting down beside Anton, he took off the hood on his head.

"Anton, hello!" The visitor held out his hand.

"Andrei, hello!" Anton recognized the person sitting next to him with just one glance.Andre Boas, Porto's young coach.

Boas is only about five years older than Anton. Looking at football, he is the one closest to Anton in age.

Considering that Boas has never been a professional player, the two of them also have a lot in common in coaching experience.

Before this meeting, the two had met once in Lagos.Boas also briefly directed a training match completed by the coach and the youth training together.At that time, Boas did show extraordinary talent.

Unexpectedly, Anton met this one when he came to Portugal by chance.

Sitting next to Anton, Boas squinted at the small notebook in Anton's hand, and said with a smile, "A player who came to inspect?"

Anton shook his head: "I came here to learn from the experience. I have little coaching experience, so let's see how the famous coach directs the game."

Portugal's current coach is Paulo Bento, who has just taken over the coaching of the Portuguese national team from Carlos Queiroz.Queiroz has always been known as the founder of Portugal's "golden generation", but in this year's World Cup, he was banned for six months for insulting anti-doping officials, which angered the Portuguese Football Association, so Bento took office.

When Boas heard what Anton said, he immediately frowned.He has a very good self-cultivation, so he just said lightly at this time: "Anton doesn't watch the Portuguese national team's games less?"

"Bento is no longer comparable to the previous coach Queiroz. Compared with Scolari, I am afraid it is even more difficult to compare. If you watched this game today, I don't know if you will be disappointed."

An Dong thought to himself: Sure enough, he is a well-known young marshal, with a high vision and a much higher spirit than ordinary people.

He has a different opinion.

"I don't know the previous head coaches of your country's national team, but anyone who can coach the national team always has some advantages. I just see what I can learn and write it down." Drawn in Anton's small notebook It is the formation map of the Portuguese national team, with various positions marked and numerous arrows drawn, which is the most commonly used method for analyzing tactics.

After listening to Anton's words, Boas didn't put any more tricks on the Portuguese coach, but raised the corner of his mouth slightly, and turned his head away from Anton's small notebook.

He asked lightly: "Anton, have you really never been a player before?"

Anton shook his head: "No!"

Boas: "Then how did you get into football coaching?" He looked away from Anton, as if he was quite interested in Anton.

Anton didn't want to talk about his brother Bernard, so he just passed on the words casually: "It was a coincidence. At that time, I was doing research at a Danish university. I watched local clubs play football when I had nothing to do. I thought it was very interesting, so I tried to command. , who would have brought them from the third level to Danchao."

Boas asked: "Which club is it?"

Anton didn't like the other party's attitude of pressing questions very much, but at this time he had to answer: "Linby."

It's neither Copenhagen nor Odense. It's really a small team that can't even rank in the Danish Super League.

Boas immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said, "So that's the case. Then, how long have you been coaching to bring the Linby team to the Danchao?"

"One year." Anton replied casually.He didn't explain much. In fact, the Linby team achieved No.3 in the league in the first season after being promoted to the Super League, following the only two big players in the Danish Super League, Geha and Odense.

"You mean, after one year in the industry, you started to lead the Super League team?" Boas was a little skeptical about this.

"Yes. After that I led the Danish national team for a few days, and then I went to England." Anton's voice was a little apologetic-it seemed that it was too fast.When the ordinary coach was still practicing a little bit, he jumped up like a rocket.

There are too many coincidences and other external factors here, and Anton is unwilling to explain it to Boas, a stranger who has only met twice.But just listening to the results, it is indeed too legendary and unbelievable.

If Boas is a "genius young marshal", Anton looks like a natural.

Boas was really surprised when he heard this, his eyes were fixed on Anton all the time, his amber eyes rolled slightly.

Anton felt a little bit of pride and hostility from this curious appearance.

Who is Boas?He is a direct disciple of England's legendary coach Sir Bobby Robson. He is a talented young man who got his coach C card at the age of 17 and his B card at the age of 18. Aspen is a full-fledged "genius young marshal".

There is another joke about Boas's age: It is said that when Boas left Mourinho in 2008 to "fly solo", a Chinese reporter made a special report on the matter and handed it over to the editor-in-chief for review.The editor-in-chief took a look, hey, Boas, now 31 years old, has been Sir Robson's assistant since 1994--the editor-in-chief counted and calculated that in 1994, Boas was only 17 years old. 17 years old, assistant to Robson, got it wrong?With a flick of a pen, the editor-in-chief immediately changed the age from 31 to 41.

But Boas is indeed only 31 years old, he is so young.

Boas, who is only 32 years old now, has already coached in Porto, one of the three giants of the Portuguese Super League, and has made great strides at the beginning of the season, overwhelming Benfica and Sporting Lisbon. Stance.

But the Premier League is more influential than the Portuguese Super League.Compared with Boas, Anton is more the one standing in the spotlight.And the start of the league even beat the giants, and the unbeaten record in the first eight rounds of the season even surpassed Boas's results.

If there is no Anton, Boas may be the youngest famous coach in the world, and no one can break his record.

But now, others are more willing to mention Anton.

Boas looked at Anton without speaking.

But his eyes actually said a lot.

Anton smiled lightly and didn't respond.

At this moment, the referee blew his whistle, and the first half of the game was over.

The professional sports camera who had been guarding behind the goal of the Iceland team suddenly turned around and shouted at Anton and Villas-Boas: "Two head coaches, let's take a photo together!"

Before Anton agreed, a "standard" smile appeared on Boas's face.He seemed to be very affectionately pulling Anton's shoulder, and they both turned to the photographer.

The photographer was overjoyed, and the telephoto lens in his hand suddenly rattled.

After the photographer finished taking pictures, Boas stretched out his thumbs to the other party, patted Anton on the shoulder, leaned into his ear and said in a low voice:

"—Don't lose the chain in the Europa League group stage, I have been waiting to confront you."

...have been waiting for you for a long time!

...Since they are both like copies of each other, let's compare them.

Saying that, Boas got up and left. Before leaving, he waved to Anton with a smile, as if the two had really congenial in their conversation just now.

Anton continued to take out his small notebook, write and draw on it with a pen, and finished the notes interrupted by Boas.

He had already guessed that Boas would have such a reaction, but it is a bit boring to be able to put on a friendly posture to the outside world-it seems that he is completely used to the Premier League coaches shouting at each other before the game and belittling each other. The "sincerity" of the book is gone.

In this game, Portugal won 3-1, not surprisingly.

Not long after the game, Anton received a message from Ronaldo: "I saw you in the stands! Haha, it's a great honor!"

About an hour later, Ronaldo sent another message asking: "Why are you in the same frame as that guy?"