i don't want to be king

Chapter 340 A Very Special Ordinary Game

Li Liang has known the three words "Koreaphobia" since he was in elementary school-whenever the national team encounters South Korea in a game, they will be defeated in all likelihood.

Before graduating from university, in the East Asian semi-finals in 2010, the national team coached by Gao Bohong defeated South Korea 3:0, ending the "exaggerated" record of 32 years of international A-level competitions.

However, in major official competitions such as the World Preliminaries and the Asian Cup, this embarrassing record continues.

After the triumphant return from Lille, the Latubi base began to go all out, nervously preparing for the first match of Group E of the UEFA Champions League group stage in London in the middle of the week.

Li Liang is very clear about the significance of the away game against Tottenham for Monaco, which is the first group match of this season's Champions League, an ordinary game.

It's just that Tottenham are recognized as the strongest in the group and the biggest favorite to qualify, so the difficulty of this game for Monaco can be imagined.

If anything, it's Monaco's first game since returning to the Champions League after a year and a half.

However, this game is very special for Li Liang, because there is a person in the Tottenham team, and I don't want to lose to him no matter what——

Because of the name Sun Xingmin, he has long been known.

The South Korean striker known as "the best player in Asia" was born in 1992, two years younger than Li Liang.

In 2007, 15-year-old Sun Xingmin entered the youth training camp of Seoul FC Club in South Korea.

In the second year, with the help of the cooperation project between South Korea and the German Football Association, Sun Xingmin went to Germany to receive football training and joined Hamburg Football Club, and then began to receive training in Hamburg's youth training system.

On July 2010, 7, Sun Xingmin signed his first professional contract with Hamburg Football Club.

In the following three seasons in Hamburg, the young Korean scored 3 goals and 73 assists in 20 games, and began to make his mark in German football.

2013年6月14日，孙兴慜以创汉堡俱乐部转会纪录的1000万欧元身价正式转会勒沃库森，双方签约5年。

In the two seasons of Leverkusen, he has made steady progress. He has played 87 official games on behalf of the club, and has scored 29 goals and 11 assists.

其中在2014至15赛季，孙兴慜代表勒沃库森参加了8场欧冠比赛取得3粒进球，1次助攻。

His outstanding performance in the Bundesliga has attracted the attention of many giants. On August 2015, 8, Sun Xingmin transferred to the Premier League Tottenham Hotspur Club with a worth of 28 million euros, breaking the record for the transfer value of Asian players held by former Japanese star Hidetoka Nakata in one fell swoop.

Last season, Sun Xingmin played 28 times on behalf of Tottenham in the league, scored 4 goals and assisted 1 time, played 4 times in the FA Cup, scored 1 goal and assisted 1 time, played 1 time in the League Cup, played 7 times in the Europa League, played Scored 3 goals and assisted 3 times.

With his stable offensive performance, he successfully occupied the starting position.

In addition to these eye-catching data about Sun Xingmin, there are also several news articles on domestic websites that have also attracted Li Liang's attention.

Before the match with the Chinese team, Sun Xingmin said in an interview with the media: "I heard that their preparation and training time is very long, but we only need three days to run in and we will definitely win."

Of course Li Liang hoped that Zhou Zhi and the others could defeat their opponents in Seoul, but the ending made him as frustrated as all the fans.

After the game, Li Liang saw the translated post-match comments of Korean netizens on the Internet. The most liked are the following:

"I couldn't be happy about the victory, and the last two goals lost were too embarrassing. A game that gave the third-rate Chinese team in Asian football dreams and hopes, alas..."

"Why did the South Korean team win, but we felt as humiliated as losing the game..."

"South Korea's underestimation of the enemy and lack of physical fitness will lead to 2 goals, while the Chinese team is completely playing in the 60s!"

"The Chinese team should slowly build the Great Wall of football. To become a football powerhouse, there is still a long way to go."

……

Li Liang saw Sun Xingmin's post-match interview report on Tencent Sports again, and this time the South Korean striker's speech was even harsher.

Sun Xingmin said: "If the opponent defends with all their strength, it is difficult to launch an offense and create an offensive space. This requires the players to handle the ball calmly. Although there were some mistakes, I was quite satisfied when the score became 3-0. .

Although people say that the Chinese team has improved, I don't see where the Chinese team is strong. I want to show the strength of Korean football in front of Chinese fans. "

In addition, he was quite dissatisfied with the rough footwork of the Chinese players: "During the competition, the opponent often kicked fiercely, and used Shaolin legs against me, which is indeed a bit unprofessional."

After watching Li Liang, he was furious at the time, but after calming down, he was helpless.

"Food is the original sin", what else can you say after losing? !
He knows very well that Sun Xingmin has been famous for a long time, and has become the main force of Tottenham.

I have just played a game in Monaco, and it is still unknown whether I can get a chance to play in the away game against Tottenham.

——Because he was eager to get the opportunity to challenge Sun Xingmin, Li Liang worked extremely hard in training. He knew that only by showing his best state can he impress the coach.

On the second day after the end of the game against Lille, Caldeira internally disclosed the starting lineup for London in the tactical class. This time Monaco formed a 4231 formation.

Subasic recovered from injury and returned to the main goalkeeper position. Since Mendy is still recovering from his injury, the defense line will continue to use the same combination as the Lille game, and Fabinho and Bakayoko will still serve as double midfielders.

Moutinho, a veteran on the offensive line, served as the forward midfielder in the middle, Dilar was on the right side and Silva was on the left, and Falcao finally returned to the starting center position.

Li Liang and Germain, Traore, who scored the goal against Lille, and De Sanctis entered the substitute list together.

……

L'Equipe reporter Pierre Ghazi learned of the team's roster immediately. He contacted Mou Zhaoge and the others and asked them to watch the game together in London.

In the afternoon, Ghazi and a filming team came to Latubi. They made an appointment in advance to conduct interviews, and another purpose was to film an interview program for UEFA's Champions League promotion column.

Li Liang, who just took a shower after training, was called back to the training ground by the club's press officer, and he was interviewed by name.

To Li Liang's surprise, in addition to being asked a few usual questions, Ghazi suddenly asked in front of the camera: "Li, in the midweek match in London, your opponent also has an outstanding Asian player - from South Korea. Son, is there anything you want to say to him?"

(End of this chapter)