Chapter 55: Porto's veterans and newcomers

"I was so scared, Mom thought you killed someone in Portugal!"

Dong Huiqing on the other end of the phone breathed a sigh of relief.

"...Mom, you just need to know that I'm doing well playing football in Portugal. There's nothing to worry about!"

After Jiang Yuan finished speaking, there was silence for a while on the other end of the phone.

"Mom, are you still there? Mom!"

Jiang Yuan thought it was an international calling card.

"Oh, it's okay, it's okay. Mom actually wanted to ask if you encountered any difficulties living in Portugal, and if you are used to the food?"

Dong Huiqing's gentle voice came.

Jiang Yuan was speechless, and a few tears rolled out of his eyes.

My mother doesn’t care about how I’m doing abroad, she just wants to ask me if I’m eating well here.

So Jiang Yuan suppressed his emotions, picked up the phone and said, "Don't worry, Mom, I eat pretty well here, so I don't have to get used to the food. Also, the egg tarts in Portugal are really not as delicious as the ones sold at KFC in China!"

"Just develop your eating habits, and then mom won't bother you!"

"Hey, wait!"

Dong Huiqing was about to hang up the phone when Jiang Yuan quickly stopped her: "Mom, is Dad here?"

"Haha, your dad has been listening. I asked him to say a few words to you, but he just wouldn't. He's already in his 40s or 50s, why is he so shy?"

"Hey, don't tell anyone!"

The sound of Dong Huiqing and Jiang Shengping arguing came from the other end of the phone, and his younger brother Jiang Hao took his mother's phone.

"elder brother!"

Hearing Jiang Hao's familiar voice, Jiang Yuan felt warm in his heart: "Haha, Jiang Hao, it should still be morning over there, why didn't you go to school?"

"Brother, today is New Year's Day, school is closed!"

Jiang Yuan then remembered that he and his teammates had exchanged Christmas gifts a few days ago, and that the Chinese New Year was indeed after Christmas.

"Brother, I'm about to hang up. I want to say one last thing to you!"

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "What? Do you want to cheer me on? Don't worry, I will kick out..."

"Brother, when will you come back?"

"..."

"I……"

Jiang Yuan was speechless, and the call ended abruptly in silence between both parties.

The next morning, Jiang Yuan came to the training ground to gather. It was only 8 o'clock. Some of the first-team teammates were still eating in the cafeteria, and some hadn't arrived at all. The training ground was still being sprinkled with water, and Jiang Yuan didn't know what to do.

"Fuck"

At this moment, someone patted Jiang Yuan on the shoulder from behind, which scared Jiang Yuan and made him speak in his native language.

"Ah, what does the fuck mean?"

The person who came was Casemiro, and he was now confused about what Jiang Yuan said.

"Um...it means hello in Chinese."

Jiang Yuan was a little embarrassed and had to force an explanation.

"Fuck, Jiang!" Casemiro stretched out his right hand towards Jiang Yuan and put another hand on Jiang Yuan's shoulder.

"I told you that you would join the first team, but I didn't expect you to come this season. You are great!"

Casemiro was not stingy with his praise for Jiang Yuan. The fact that he was able to join Porto's first team at the age of less than 17 was enough to prove Jiang Yuan's outstanding performance in the U17 competition.

Jiang Yuan was quite modest. He said to Casemiro: "I can't say I'm joining the first team. I'm just training with the first team!"

Casemiro curled his lips and said: "Since we have practiced together, it must be not far from the game!"

"Thank you!"

The thousands of words in Jiang Yuan's heart finally converged into three words.

"By the way, Ricardo should be here soon. If I were you, I would ask for his autograph first!"

Casemiro suddenly changed the tone and started talking about Porto players.

The Ricardo he mentioned must be the Portuguese international Ricardo Quaresma. Speaking of Quaresma, Jiang Yuan also has his outside of the foot skill card!
Soon, the players gathered on the training ground one after another. It has to be said that the first team is the first team. Jiang Yuan's height of 1 meters and nearly 79 meters can only be considered average here.

Casemiro is okay, he is about 1 meters tall, but goalkeeper Fabiano is almost 85 meters tall, and Jiang Yuan standing next to him is no different from a toy.

After a brief introduction to the new player Jiang Yuan, his arrival did not attract the attention of the first-team players. After all, the players in such teams are more or less famous or becoming famous stars, and it is not uncommon to see geniuses joining the first-team before the age of 17.

The players gathered in a semicircle, and head coach Lopetegui began to arrange today's training content.

"We will first complete the warm-up with Ceci, and then there will be a 2v1+1 confrontation training, which will last about 30 minutes. I will talk about the rest of the arrangements later."

2v1+1 is a very classic offensive and defensive training method, which means letting two offensive players cooperate against a defensive player and a goalkeeper.

This requires testing the two offensive players' ability to make a one-on-one pass, and also the defensive player's ability to defend one against two, which is a good training method.

The players lined up, and Jiang Yuan consciously stood behind Casemiro. He felt a little awkward as he was unfamiliar with the place, but fortunately he had Casemiro, his big brother, to guide him.

The team's warm-up is divided into groups, and older players like Quaresma, Elton, and Ricardo Nunes will need to run a shorter distance.

Casemiro, Jiang Yuan, Ruben Neves and most other players have to run relatively long distances in order to fully loosen their muscle fascia in order to achieve a relatively high level of pre-training.

After completing the warm-up with the assistant coach, Lopetegui took out his notebook and began to arrange the 3v1+1 tactical cooperation. The two attacking players are usually a combination of a forward + a full-back, or a combination of two forwards, in order to simulate the scene of breaking through the bottom of the sideline.

"Divide into three groups, A, B, C. The three goalkeepers will be equally divided. First, the training players in Group A. When I call your name, you will take the yellow vests and line up behind the red cones."

Attack: Neves + Herrera

Defense: Maicon
Attacker: Martinez + Brahimi
Defense: Danilo

……

Neither Jiang Yuan nor Casemiro's names were read.

"Next is Group B"

Lopetegui continued to say that today's training content, including the various groupings, were all planned a week ago, but because of Jiang Yuan's joining, he also made some slight adjustments to the original plan.

Attack: Aboubakar + Adrian Defense: Casemiro
Hearing his name, Casemiro slowly walked behind the cone. During this time, he glanced at Jiang Yuan with a helpless expression.

Jiang Yuan responded with a smile. He didn't really care. It was just a training session anyway. It didn't matter who he was training with!

"Below is the list of Group C. The goalkeeper for this group is Elton"

Attack: Torres + Campania Defense: Reyes
Attack: Quaresma + Defense: Catinbe
"???"

……

(End of this chapter)