Pirated Ronaldo

Chapter 501 Came to Birmingham

At 2005:12 on the evening of December 16, 19, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, the draw ceremony for this season's UEFA Champions League knockout round was held as scheduled.

Among the draws for the UEFA Champions League every season, there are two rounds of draws that attract the most attention. One of them is of course the grouping of the group stage. The 32 teams are divided into eight groups. Which group, let that group become the death group, is the biggest suspense in the first round of draws, but in that round of draws, the eight teams with the best performances in the Champions League in previous seasons will no longer meet. The suspense is also concentrated.

Another round of the draw that attracted the most attention was different. Enemies, old grievances, league conflicts, strong dialogues, and many stories interspersed in it, that is, the grouping of the top 16 knockout rounds.

In other words, the UEFA Champions League draw is tricky, this is an open secret!
As the most important event of the year in European football, if the UEFA Champions League is not exciting enough, then all European clubs will suffer in the end. Performance, rather than implementing the so-called fair principle, therefore, it was pre-arranged to group some teams with strong dialogues, new and old hatreds, and let them fight against each other, so as to detonate the greatest enthusiasm of the fans and let the Champions League match Popularity is a task of UEFA.

Attention!It is their task for UEFA to make the Champions League more popular by controlling the grouping, not the private behavior of individual people. This is very important!
Under this purpose, the grouping of the UEFA Champions League can of course guarantee a wonderful and suspenseful effect!Because, it has been carefully measured and arranged. It is necessary to make the game as eye-catching as possible, and at the same time not let some teams suffer too much, but also to ensure the interests of the major leagues. This is a technical task. To put it bluntly, On the basis of ensuring balance, let the game look better.

For example, this season, the most eye-catching thing is probably the Premier League, which has the most teams in the Champions League. They must not be able to easily draw a good lottery!
The reason is obvious, if the four Premier League teams draw all the way to the underdogs and advance easily, when the Champions League semi-finals are released, everyone suddenly realizes that they are actually four Premier League teams, then it will be fun!Although that will create a miracle and make this season's Champions League a classic, it will turn the Champions League into a civil war in the Premier League. Fans in other leagues will be disappointed and even refuse to enter the stadium to watch the game!

This year's Premier League teams are destined to be blocked by strong teams at every step. They have to contribute and make sacrifices to make the Champions League more prosperous.

As for the reason?In a word, who made you strong?Since you are the strongest, you must make the greatest sacrifice...

Since there was Manchester United's league game at noon the next day, both Ferguson and Queiroz were absent from this grand "show". Club chairman Joel Glazer and captain Roy Keane attended the draw ceremony on behalf of Manchester United.

The result of the draw made the two Manchester United bigwigs dumbfounded: Manchester United vs. Real Madrid!
Mars hit the Earth!No need to guess, this is the sequelae of Ronaldo's own goal, because Manchester United "despicably" used the rules to kill a La Liga team, so that this year's La Liga only the La Liga duo reached the top 16, so the rest La Liga teams are obliged to prevent Manchester United from advancing. Another La Liga team, Barcelona, ​​won the first place in the group and cannot meet Manchester United. The rest is Real Madrid. If they don’t go to hell, who will go to hell?

Manchester United VS Real Madrid, two super teams meet in advance, one must be eliminated, this is fate.

In addition to Manchester United's disaster, the other three Premier League teams failed to get cheap, and were arranged as victims one after another, each becoming the "excellent actor" of this draw.

Chelsea VS Barcelona!This group has similarities with Manchester United. Mourinho's Chelsea are not welcome. They encountered the most powerful team in European football. It can be said that the final was staged ahead of schedule!
Liverpool VS Benfica, this is another fun game, Benfica was promoted because of Manchester United, this time they met Manchester United's rivals in the Premier League, no matter who wins, it's very interesting, Benfica wins is to help Manchester United beat their rivals, If you lose, it is "started by the Premier League and destroyed by the Premier League", which is quite philosophical.

Arsenal VS Glasgow Rangers, this is an English civil war, Glasgow Rangers is the overlord of Scottish football, their strength should not be underestimated, let the two teams die!
In the 2005-06 season, the round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League was extremely hot!

The first to bear the brunt is the La Liga duo, blocking the two strongest teams in the Premier League. Although this is the misfortune of the Premier League, but!It is the misfortune of La Liga!There are only two teams in La Liga reaching the top 16. This time, both teams have encountered the most troublesome opponents. If it is not done well, La Liga will be completely wiped out. The team did not reach the top 8, so the Spanish fans really want to rebel!

Perhaps for balance, three teams have reached the top 16 of Serie A, and UEFA has also arranged for them as strong opponents as possible.

AC Milan VS Bayern Munich, Inter Milan VS Ajax, Juventus VS Lille, among the three teams, except for Juventus, which is a bit luckier, the Milan duo have encountered deadly and powerful enemies, and each is a game fight to the death.

The Champions League round of 16 came to an end temporarily after the group draw. In order to avoid the cold winter in the Nordic region, the Champions League will be suspended from mid-December and will not resume until late February next year. Therefore, despite the exciting , that is also a matter of the future. All the heads and brains who attended the lottery ceremony, after making a declaration to the reporters, patted their buttocks and left, and returned to China to prepare for their respective leagues. Also, the grand festival of Christmas in Europe is coming soon Come on, everyone has a lot of things to deal with.

In other words, UEFA is still in the era when the Swede Renate Johansen is in power. The UEFA president who was born in a neutral league is relatively fair.

In all leagues, Renate Johansen can grasp the greatest balance and take care of the interests of all leagues as much as possible. For example, this time, La Liga and Premier League are dead, so Serie A, Bundesliga, and Ligue [-] cannot be easy. There are also sacrifices to be made. The Bundesliga Bayern Munich will have a touch with the Serie A team, as well as Lyon, the leader of the Ligue [-], and the Eredivisie PSV Eindhoven, which is not weak, and so on.

All of this, when Frenchman Michel Platini takes office as UEFA President, will break all the balance, and various unspoken rules will be introduced, and the Premier League and Serie A will become the biggest victims. .

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On Friday, Manchester United has set off to Birmingham, England's second largest city, and they will play against Aston Villa, one of the Birmingham duo, at noon the next day.

Birmingham, a city in central England, once carried an important historical mission during the British Industrial Revolution. Due to the abundant coal and iron resources in the adjacent central mountainous area, it is the main industrial manufacturing center in the UK and one of the largest metal processing areas in the world. , many people here are engaged in jobs related to the metalworking industry.

Birmingham is a diversified industrial metropolis. There are many immigrants from the Caribbean, South Asia and Ireland in the city, which makes Birmingham an important foreign population settlement in the UK. There are many special nicknames here, such as "Jamaica outside Jamaica". Patrick's Day parade, "the place where the Indians invented balati curry", etc., which show the diversity of the city.

As the most important football club in Birmingham, Aston Villa has created brilliance in history. In 1981, Villa won the top league championship for the seventh time in history, and defeated 1:0 in the final of the Champions League in the second year. Bayern Munich won the Champions League for the first time.

So far, at the gate of Villa Park Stadium, the home of Villa, there is still a monument erected, which records the names of every first-team hero that year.

However, the honor of more than 20 years ago can no longer bring too much glory to this team. The current Villa team is only a mid-range team in the Premier League. Last season, Villa ranked 10th in the league. 12th in the Premier League, two places higher, Birmingham is England's "second city" but falls far behind when it comes to football.

This season, Villa's performance is even more unstable, currently ranking 14th in the league. Fortunately, the Birmingham team in the same city is even worse, and has fallen to 18th, deep in the relegation zone.

Manchester United's opponent in the second league game of the season was Villa. At that time, the teenager Rooney became the terminator of the game. He scored two goals for Manchester United and gave assists to teammate Paul Scholes. In that game, Manchester United It easily beat the opponent 4:0, and the first goal was a breakthrough by Ronaldo, which gave striker Luis Saha an assist.

In that game, the young Ronando was not the protagonist. He only played for 30 minutes and was replaced. Although there was an assist, the highlight was only in the battle with Villa midfielder Peter Whittingham win.

This time, the Manchester United team that came to Birmingham has lost Rooney and Paul Scholes, and Ronando has become a key member of the team.

When the bus of Manchester United players entered the urban area of ​​Villa, a large number of Villa fans in the imagination gathered, and the scene of "welcoming" Manchester United did not appear. In people's impression, Aston Villa fans are relatively strong , They waited at the exit of the highway to give the visiting team players a disarm, which is a specialty of Villa fans and has been enjoying it for many years.

However, today's Villa fans are not excited, the number of fans gathered at the exit of the highway is not large, and there is no momentum.

Rio Ferdinand shouted happily: "Oh! Look! The Villa people have become soft-legged shrimps today!"

Ryan Giggs laughed: "We beat us 4-0 in August, and the media thought they were useless in this game! Hey!...David O'Reilly didn't even dare to say a hard word this time , Where is the enthusiasm of their fans? Maybe, monster, you can ask that young winger of Villa, Abang Lahor, how does he feel?"

The other players laughed when they heard what Ryan Giggs said.

In other words, when Manchester United played against Villa in August, everyone still remembers that scene, because that time Villa coach David O'Leary lost a big embarrassment.

At that time, David O'Reilly had just introduced Liverpool striker and Czech Milan Baros at a high price of 650 million pounds. This was considered to be the most important signing in the history of the Villa team, because Baros Not only did he do well with Liverpool, but he played even better with the national team. He was the winner of the Golden Boot at Euro 2004 and scored 5 goals. The only game he failed to score was against the Czech Republic in the semi-final Greece, the honor of the European Cup Golden Boot, immediately made Baros star-studded.

David O'Reilly bought Baros at a high price, and he will sell some players to make up for the loss. The young player Gabriel Abanglaho, who was produced by the team's youth academy, was favored by David O'Reilly. bingo.

The 19-year-old Abanglaho was forcibly pushed out. David O'Reilly claimed that his young player could also be sold for a "high price" like Ronaldo. For this reason, Ferguson spoke out angrily, saying He will send Ronando as the starter to let everyone see the gap between Ronando and Abanglaho. As a result, Ronando was so lucky to qualify for the second game in a row. Ronaldo played 30 minutes in the game, made an assist, and it was Manchester United's first goal to break the deadlock.

Now, nearly half a season has passed, the gap between Ronaldo and Abanglaho?There is no need to compare, they are not on the same plane at all!
Ronaldo has grown into the absolute main force of Manchester United in just a few months, ranking second in the Premier League scorer list. He is truly dazzling. He has grown to the height of being able to adapt to the Premier League. Since the beginning of the season, he has only had the opportunity to come off the bench in a few games, except for being a starter in Manchester United. O'Reilly is sold, and it is estimated that in the next winter break, there will still be no play.

In fact, not only is Abang Laho not good, but even Baros, which David O'Reilly bought for £650 million, is far worse than Ronan!

Although Baros should be the main striker of the Villa team, he has only scored 4 goals in the league so far. This figure is far from the worth of 650 million pounds. It can be said that David O’Leary’s deal is a loss. big!
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Ronando, who was in Birmingham, welcomed an unexpected visitor. Of course, it was not an absolute accident. Hong Kong tycoon Yang Jiacheng is now an acquaintance and friend of his.

However, when Ronando saw clearly another "middle-aged uncle" with an oriental face who came with Yang Jiacheng, he couldn't help being stunned.

He is above average in stature, with broad shoulders and a face that every Chinese football fan will never forget. This person represents an era of Chinese football. He was No.90 in Chinese football in the 1s and is known as the Asia's No. 2001 central defender. In [-], he played for the English Championship team Crystal Palace and served as the captain of the team. He became the first Asian Footballer of the Year among Chinese football players. This player is now close to retirement and plays for a Chinese Super League team. The team will be officially transferred to the coach soon and will continue to be active in Chinese football.

Fan Zhiyi, nicknamed "General Fan", is 36 years old this year and the former captain of the Chinese national team!

dizzy!Why did this Chinese football player come to England, and even ran to Birmingham with Yang Jiacheng to find Ronando?

Yang Jiacheng smiled as always: "Dear Cristiano, let me introduce you, this is the most famous football player in China, the winner of the Asian Footballer of the Year, and once played for the England team..."

Hearing what Yang Jiacheng said, Ronando was no longer ready to listen slowly, Fan Zhiyi, a celebrity!
Ronando quickly reached out to shake hands with Fan Zhiyi, and said in a slightly awkward but extremely proficient Chinese: "Mr. Yang, you don't need to introduce... This is the former captain of the national team known as General Fan! The best in Asia A centre-back, but also the most versatile player, can play in any position on the pitch, a genius who can play from defender to striker! Haha, am I right?"

When Ronando said this, both Yang Jiacheng and Fan Zhiyi laughed.

Fan Zhiyi vigorously shook hands with Ronando, and said modestly: "Mr. Ronando, you are overrated. Compared with a European superstar like you, my little ability is not worth mentioning! By the way, Mr. Ronando, your Chinese is so good! I was worried about my English accent before, but now it seems that I was completely overwhelmed!"

Ronando was very happy to see a big Chinese football star like Fan Zhiyi with his own eyes. At least, this kind of psychological vanity was greatly satisfied.

Just imagine, in China, not to mention people like Fan Zhiyi, even ordinary Chinese Super League players are extremely awesome. Their status in China will never be much worse than that of Premier League stars in England. After all, football is Human beings put sports first. China is a big country with a population of more than one billion people. It is really rare to become a football star. Regardless of the performance of the Chinese team, that reputation is definitely leveraged!
Yang Jiacheng's explanation for Fan Zhiyi's coming to England is that the domestic league in China is in a suspension period, and Fan Zhiyi and him are good friends. Fan Zhiyi once played for the Hong Kong Pengma Rangers Football Club under Yang Jiacheng's name in 2003. As a player and coach, this time, Fan Zhiyi came to England for vacation. He heard that Yang Jiacheng came to visit Ronando, so he followed to see "the best football player in the world with Chinese blood".

Nonsense!Ronando knew the reason why Yang Jiacheng and Fan Zhiyi came together!
Yang Jiacheng, a rich man in Hong Kong, has always wanted to use football to enter the mainstream social circle in England. He tried every means to acquire an English football club and become the first Chinese owner of the Premier League.

What about Fan Zhiyi?He also has similar thoughts. He once played for Crystal Palace from 1998 to 2001, and he really wants to return to English football in another form. His ideal is to become the first Chinese coach in England.

When meeting for the first time, it was impossible for Fan Zhiyi to have an in-depth discussion with Ronando, and it was even more impossible for Yang Jiacheng to reveal to Ronando which club he was negotiating with for acquisitions. There is a sense of vigilance. Yang Jiacheng will eventually successfully acquire the Birmingham Club as the owner. Ronando can be friends with him, but he must take precautions to prevent the other party from grabbing any tricks. This kind of character is a hero. When it is needed At that time, anything can be done.

(End of this chapter)