Chapter 303 Chelsea's Opposition and Assistance

Immediately after the game, Xinhua News Agency reporter Peng Xiaoyu interviewed Portugal Olympic coach Vincenzo Venjada.

Because he lost the crucial game, Wen Jieda had a sullen face and was not in a good mood.

"Hello, regarding the loss of this game, what do you think went wrong? Was it the tactics of the game?"

Peng Xiaoyu passed the microphone to Wen Jiada's mouth, who took a big gulp of water and then said: "I admit that there are some problems with the tactics. If I knew in advance that we would play against China, I would bring a faster full-back."

"Sir, the problem you mentioned doesn't seem to fall into the category of tactics?"

"Oh, there is no doubt that the tactics I configured are definitely better than the Chinese team, but the players were not in good shape today, otherwise I think we should have won the game"

Peng Xiaoyu raised his eyebrows: "But you lost in the end"

As a reporter for Xinhua News Agency, Peng Xiaoyu is definitely on China's side.

Just now, Peng Xiaoyu finished the interview with the Chinese Olympic team. He asked some very simple questions, but when it came to Venjada, Peng Xiaoyu had to demonstrate his professionalism.

Let’s kill Venjada first!

"nonono!"

Wen Jiada shook his head slightly: "We just looked like we lost, but in fact we were the winner in the end. Because you know, the Chinese team had too many objective advantages. In terms of players and skills and tactics, we were the stronger side."

???

Peng Xiaoyu tactically retreated, and the Portuguese player seemed a little difficult to deal with.

But it doesn't matter.

“But you did lose to China, that’s a fact”

“That’s not true.”

Wen Jiada took the microphone from Peng Xiaoyu and said: "We lost to Jiang, but not to China. This is different."

……

On the other side, Jiang Yuan treated everyone to dinner at Churrasqueiro, a local barbecue restaurant in Rio. It wasn’t particularly high-end, but it was said to taste pretty good.

In fact, there is another reason why the celebration banquet was chosen here, that is, Churrasqueiro is close to the Olympic Village, so safety is guaranteed.

"Xiaoyuan!"

Li Yi walked straight towards Jiang Yuan and gave the latter a big hug. Judging from Li Yi's appearance, he should have walked here from the Olympic Village.

"Shall we go in together?"

Li Yi pointed inside the restaurant. Because the whole place was reserved today, there was no one else there.

"I invited two fans. I will wait outside for a while, otherwise they may not be able to find the way."

While talking to Li Yi, Jiang Yuan contacted the two fans through WeChat.

"fan?"

Li Yi's eyes lit up: "Is it from the club or the national team?"

"I definitely won't invite the club's fans to the national team's celebration party."

Jiang Yuan laughed: "They were the ones who came to watch the game this afternoon. Do you remember them? They were the two who rushed down from the stands at the end of overtime. I invited them to dinner."

"Oh! What you said reminds me of this. I remember you knelt back down, right? Haha!"

Jiang Yuan scratched his head: "The actions of those two guys almost scared me to death"

Two fans rushed to the bench and knelt down to Jiang Yuan. To be honest, Jiang Yuan was a little moved. He was very tired after the game, but after those two guys did that, Jiang Yuan suddenly felt it was worth it.

Perhaps this is the difference between club competitions and national team competitions. Club competitions can bring honor to Jiang Yuan, but if you want to talk about a sense of accomplishment and belonging, only national team competitions can achieve it.

It feels so damn good to have the whole country watching you dribbling the ball on the court!
"Then I'll go in first."

Li Yi opened the glass door and walked in, and was immediately greeted by a waiter.

Outside the door, two fans also arrived as expected.

The time Jiang Yuan agreed with was 8:30 in the evening, but it was only 8 o'clock now. They came half an hour early, which showed how much these two fans valued this gathering.

The Uber door opened and a familiar face appeared in Jiang Yuan's sight. Jiang Yuan immediately greeted him: "Welcome!"

"Oh my God!"

The two fans looked at each other, feeling that it was all a little unreal.

Dinner with the national Olympic men's football team, which also included Premier League superstars.

Looking at the two guys in front of him who were in a daze, Jiang Yuan couldn't help but laugh: "It's so hot outside, are you sure you don't want to go in?"

"Oh, come in, come in!"

Led by Jiang Yuan, the two fans walked into the restaurant. However, before entering, Jiang Yuan had one more thing to confirm: "You...shouldn't have told others where this is?"

"of course not"

"No no!"

The two of them waved their hands and shook their heads.

Tell others? What a joke, good things should be eaten secretly.

Originally, they were the only two fans invited to eat with more than 20 national team players. They could brag about this for at least 20 years. But when a group of fans rushed in, wouldn't their value be reduced?

Only a fool would reveal the location!

"Thank you very much!"

Jiang Yuan looked left and right to confirm that there were no other cars approaching, and finally opened the door for the two of them personally: "Welcome!"

……

The celebration banquet began. Jiang Yuan learned the names of two fans during the conversation, Zhang Xianbin and Shen Qunguo. They were both employees of Penguin and had taken annual leave specifically to watch the game.

"Took annual leave? Damn, our lineup is fully booked!"

Jiang Yuan ate the barbecue with big mouthfuls. Brazilians prefer spicy food, so the table in the barbecue restaurant was covered with hot sauce and chili powder. However, these were prepared for the coaching staff and two fans, because it was not convenient for the athletes to eat chili peppers due to the competition.

"No no"

Zhang Xianbin waved his hands repeatedly: "I was originally planning to watch it on TV. At that time, we thought it would be great if the National Olympic Team could win a game, but you guys beat Mexico directly in the first round."

“So you made this decision on the spur of the moment.”

Jiang Yuan's eyes lit up. It is said that the team's performance has a great impact on the fans' mentality. Now it seems that the impact is even greater than Jiang Yuan imagined.

"Brother Yuan!"

Shen Qunguo held a bottle of beer and said to Jiang Yuan: "I went to the UK to watch your game before."

"Well, which one?"

"The first round against Tottenham!"

"Forehead……"

Jiang Yuan touched his head and said, "We seem to have lost that game. Tottenham is really strong, with Kane, Son Heung-min, and Walker. Damn, Walker really gives me a headache!"

Speaking of Kyle Walker, Jiang Yuan's mood immediately became bad. Among all the full-backs in the entire Premier League, Walker was the one that made Jiang Yuan most uncomfortable.

"Hey, didn't Chelsea say they wanted to buy Walker before? Why is there no movement now?"

Li Yi looked at Jiang Yuan. Although he was a coach in a domestic club, he was quite familiar with the affairs of the five major leagues.

Previously, a reporter reported that Chelsea would spend nearly 5000 million euros to buy Walker, then it was said to be 4500 million euros, and then 4000 million euros.

Finally, the news disappeared.

"Because we want to buy Pogba"

Anyway, the transfer window has ended, so Jiang Yuan can now say whatever he wants: "I originally wanted to buy Walker, but then I heard there was a chance to get Pogba, so I gave up on Walker."

"Actually, it's better for you to buy Walker."

Li Shubin on the opposite side gave his comments and helped Jiang Yuan and Zhang Xianbin get 2 bottles of guarana.

"I actually want Walker more, but the transfer cannot be just for me. The coach chose Pogba, so it's Pogba."

Snapped!
Jiang Yuan opens a can of guarana. He tasted the drink on the first day he arrived in Rio at the suggestion of Su Bingtian and became addicted.

To be honest, it’s a shame not to sell this thing in China!
"Pogba, I've seen the game in Italy before"

Zhang Xianbin carefully applied seasoning to the grilled meat on his plate: "Pogba is so versatile and creative. Chelsea will definitely become stronger if they buy Pogba."

"No, why do I feel like you've watched every game?"

Jiang Yuan was really shocked. Zhang Xianbin went to England, Brazil, and now Italy. Is this how he can play?
"I am responsible for overseas affairs, and basically I travel back and forth between China and abroad."

Zhang Xianbin explained: "I am a Shenzhen Airlines Platinum Card user"

"Well, do you have the opportunity to watch football games in many places?"

"This guy watches the five major leagues every day at his own expense"

Shen Qunguo, who was sitting on Zhang Xianbin’s left hand, joked.

"Have you ever watched the Portuguese Super League? My games during my time at Porto"

Jiang Yuan suddenly asked, but Zhang Xianbin said no.

"You were just becoming famous at that time, and we didn't have any business in Portugal. By the time I was ready to go there, you had already transferred."

Zhang Xianbin felt quite regretful about this. He had seen Jiang Yuan play in the Premier League, the U23 Asian Cup, and the Olympics, but he had never watched him play in the Portuguese Super League.

As Jiang Yuan’s first professional league, the Portuguese Super League is quite memorable.

"It's a pity. There weren't many Chinese people watching my game at that time. If you had come to the scene, I would have noticed you."

Jiang Yuan said, looking carefully at the charcoal grilled meat in the middle: "Is this thing cooked? It should be cooked, right?"

“I think we’ll have to wait.”

Wu Lei dispelled Jiang Yuan's idea of ​​eating it directly: "Let it roast for a while, it will be safer, after all, we still have a game to play."

Speaking of competition, the atmosphere in the restaurant suddenly became tense.

Zhang Yuning held his head in his hands: "The match between Brazil and Colombia will start tomorrow afternoon. Who do you think will win?"

"Does this need to be said?"

Liao Lisheng rolled his eyes at Zhang Yuning and said: "If Colombia can beat Brazil, I will tear my head off and let you kick it like a ball."

"Damn, we're playing against Brazil in the semi-finals, I'm really impressed"

Wu Lei was also in a very bad mood. None of the semi-final teams were easy to deal with, and China just happened to be the most difficult one to deal with.

The Brazilian Olympic team led by Neymar is enough to make you tremble just by listening to it.

"Cough cough!"

Li Yi coughed twice, and everyone immediately reacted and stopped talking about this topic.

There are fans here, so it would not be a good idea to talk about our opponents in the semi-finals now.

Li Shubin understood and immediately changed the subject to Jiang Yuan: "Xiao Jiang, this celebration banquet should have been to celebrate your contribution, but you ended up treating me instead."

"What's the big deal? Just eat as much as you want!"

Jiang Yuan waved his hand and said indifferently.

One of the more difficult things about national team competitions is that if you want to hold a celebration banquet, it needs approval from the superiors, and funding will only be allocated after the leaders approve it, and this funding is generally not too much.

In that case, it would be better for Jiang Yuan to just treat everyone. The consumption level here in Brazil is average anyway, and the whole place can be booked for tens of thousands of riyals, so there is no need to make things too complicated.

Tens of thousands of riyals is not too much for Jiang Yuan, let alone half of the National Olympic Team players present, and they can definitely afford it.

To be honest, most people come to the Olympics with no intention of making money.

The base salary is 6000 RMB, and the total bonus for the team for entering the knockout stage is 10 RMB. Most of the players in the National Olympic Team have spent more than 6000 RMB so far.

"Come on, let's go"

Li Yi raised his glass, but the glass was filled with guarana instead of wine, and the same went for the others.

"Good luck in the semifinals!"

……

CCTV1: At 8:16 pm on August 2, Beijing time, the first round of the Rio Olympic men's football knockout match kicked off. After 120 minutes of fighting, the Chinese Olympic team defeated the Portuguese Olympic team 4:3 and became the second team to advance to the semi-finals after Japan. Among them, our star Jiang Yuan scored 4 goals in this game, making him the athlete with the most goals in the Olympic men's football event so far.

CCTV reporters reported that after the Chinese Olympic men's football team defeated Portugal, the search volume for #Olympic men's football-related terms in major browsers in my country exceeded that of table tennis, swimming, and Bolt, ranking first.

China Media Group: National Olympic men’s football match ratings record.

1. China National Olympic Team vs. Portugal National Olympic Team, ratings 5.56%
2. China National Olympic Team vs. Germany National Olympic Team, ratings: 5.23%
3. China National Olympic Team vs. Mexico National Olympic Team, ratings: 4.77%
4. China National Olympic Team vs. Fiji National Olympic Team, ratings 2.01%
Xinhua News Agency, August 8 (Reporter Peng Xiaoyu): Portugal coach Vinjada made controversial remarks!
The front page headline of The Times: Chelsea management condemned the unreasonable use of Jiang by the Chinese Olympic team.

Chelsea's fitness coach Rozovic's personal Twitter: There must be something wrong with the diet arrangement of the Chinese Olympic men's football team. With Jiang's endurance level, he should not have cramps in a low-level event like the Olympics.

Chelsea official: The club is establishing communication with the Chinese Olympic Committee.

Rio Olympic Games Men's Football Committee, Semi-final Schedule:

China：Brazil
Japan: Germany
……

On the other side of the country, in England, Chelsea manager Mourinho was interviewed by reporters after defeating Watford 2-1 at Vicarage Road.

"Jose, Ibrahimovic scored twice in this game..."

"I know what you want to say"

Mourinho interrupted the Sky Sports reporter who was speaking: "It is very rare to be able to maintain such a high competitive state at the age of 34. It turns out that Zlatan is a very good athlete and he is very self-disciplined."

"Although you won the game, Watford also had many opportunities. Mazzarri thought that you relied on luck to win away today. What do you think about this?"

"luck?"

Mourinho laughed out loud: "Oh my God, why are there still people talking about luck? If you lose, you lose. There is no need to make excuses. Watford had many chances. Don't we Chelsea have any? Moreover, if you insist, we gave Watford many chances. Kurt and Cesc did not play, and there was also Jiang who was playing in the Olympics. We played a 2:1 game with an incomplete lineup. If we played with the full lineup, would Watford still have a chance?"

Speaking of Jiang Yuan, the Sky Sports reporter suddenly became interested: "Did you watch the Chinese competition in the Olympics?"

"Of course, I will follow every one of my players. As long as Jiang is at Chelsea, I will follow his games."

Mourinho confessed that the Chinese Olympic team has played a total of four games in the Rio Olympics, and he watched three of them.

"Jiang played the entire extra time in the last game against Portugal. Do you think that was appropriate?"

"of course not!"

Mourinho's tone suddenly became heavier: "Jiang undertakes 80% of the offensive tasks in the national team games. In this case, the coach must not let him play for 120 minutes. This is a torture for the athlete! I will never do that. I will never let Jiang play for 120 minutes."

"But you once asked him to play two 3-minute games in three days..."

"This is different!"

Mourinho blushed, "The situations are different, so we need to discuss them separately. Jiang had a calf cramp when playing against the Portuguese Olympic team, and it was the second time in a week. I don't know what was in Jiang's mind. He continued to play even with a cramp!"

"Jose, but I remember last season, Jiang had a thigh muscle discomfort, but you still let him stay on the court..."

"Cough cough!"

Mourinho coughed twice: "It was an emergency. If Jiang had gone off the field, we might have lost the game."

The reporter followed up with the comment: "The same is true for the Chinese Olympic team. If Jiang leaves the field, they will not be a match for Portugal."

"This is different!"

Mourinho's face turned even redder, because he really couldn't find anything to refute this time, so he simply pushed the reporter away: "You don't understand what I'm talking about, you are too amateur. Today's interview ends here, I wish you a happy interview"

Then Mourinho left without looking back.

……

The cramps had a great impact on Jiang Yuan. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the next match against Brazil, Jiang Yuan called Mourinho.

The purpose is very clear. I hope Mourinho can let Sean fly over and give himself a full body fascia release.

For Jiang Yuan's safety, Mourinho asked Brown to contact Sean immediately, and Sean boarded a plane to Rio that night.

The British don't have the habit of working overtime, but that's no problem, Jiang Yuan will pay Sean a generous tip.

After finishing, Jiang Yuan was about to hang up the phone, but Mourinho said he had something else to say.

"I'll be back soon. There are only 5 days left. It will be quick."

Jiang Yuan knew what Mourinho wanted to say and gave a specific return time. After advancing to the semi-finals, whether they win or lose, the Chinese team still has two games to play.

The closing ceremony of the Olympics will be held three days after the gold medal game or the bronze medal game, but Jiang Yuan promised that he would not attend the closing ceremony. As soon as the last game is over, he will return to the club for training.

However, this is not what Mourinho wants to talk about.

"River!"

Mourinho called out Jiang Yuan's name. Judging from the tone of his voice, this guy should be trying his best to control his temper: "Well, after Paul joined, our midfield has become more threatening. You know, we just defeated Watford."

"I know Zlatan scored two goals. Don't worry, I'm following the club's games."

"You are paying attention to the club's games, so can you also pay attention to the club?"

what?
Mourinho's words made Jiang Yuan confused for a while: "Jose, I don't understand what you mean, I think you may need to explain in detail"

"I mean, what's wrong with your brain? You played for 40 minutes after having cramps. Why weren't you more motivated at the club?"

Jiang Yuan wanted to explain, but Mourinho didn't give Jiang Yuan a chance to speak and just fired a barrage of criticism.

"How much do you get paid a week in the national team? Tell me, how much is your weekly salary?"

"Um, Jose, our salary is calculated on a monthly basis."

"Then just tell me, how much is your monthly salary?"

Jiang Yuan used his mobile phone calculator to do a simple calculation. The exchange rate between the British pound and the RMB was 9.41:1, so Jiang Yuan's monthly salary was...

"About 600 pounds."

"More than 600 pounds a day? That's too little!"

"It's not a day, it's a month, month"

"..."

Jiang Yuan's words left Mourinho silent.

"Hey, Jose, are you still there? Hey, if you are, then you can talk. Is it stuck?"

"I'm here!"

Mourinho's voice came from the phone: "The club gives you 16 pounds a week, and you can play a maximum of 5 games a week. But you are in the national team, and you get more than 600 pounds a month. And it's been less than 2 weeks, and you have already played 4 games, and 3 of them are full games! You...are crazy!"

"Especially in the last game against Portugal, why did you play for so long? The full 120 minutes?"

“I left the court one minute early.”

Jiang Yuan corrected.

"..."

"hiss--"

Mourinho gasped on the other end of the line: "Can I fly to Brazil right now and beat you up?"

From the previous conversation, Mourinho also roughly understood that it was completely impossible to let Jiang Yuan rest or be a substitute now.

Chelsea has condemned the incident to the Chinese Olympic Committee, but if Jiang Yuan insists on playing, there is really nothing they can do.

"I shouldn't have agreed to let you participate in the Olympics"

Mourinho feels a little regretful now, but things have happened and cannot be changed no matter what.

"Sean will be here tomorrow morning and he will stay with you for the remaining few days. You will then go back to Cobham with him."

"Thanks……"

Jiang Yuan didn't know what to say. Although Mourinho always scolded him, it was undeniable that Mourinho was a very humane coach.

"José, coming to Chelsea was the best decision I ever made"

Jiang Yuan wanted to have a sentimental conversation with Mourinho, but the other party just hung up the phone.

"Forehead……"

Jiang Yuan touched his head, not knowing what to say.

"Brother Yuan, is this the club calling?"

Wu Lei, who had just finished taking a shower, came out of the bathroom with the shower head in his hand.

Seeing Jiang Yuan's shocked look, Wu Lei explained awkwardly: "I wanted to adjust the direction, but I broke the shower head. This thing is of poor quality."

"Um, what should I wash next?"

"It's okay. This water pipe is thick enough. Brother Yuan, why don't you just flush it with the water pipe?"

……

(End of this chapter)