Godfather of national football

Chapter 441 Stubborn old man
It was raining lightly in Brisbane, and in the rain, a stubborn old man stood there, his black hair drenched by the rain.

The old man's eyes were like a torch, and he would yell at the training ground from time to time. He is the head coach of Uzbekistan Kasimov.

This old man who looks like a Chinese is an exception in Uzbek football. Everyone knows that Uzbekistan is mostly Caucasian, and the selection of their national team is mainly tall players.

So it's hard to imagine that the short Kasimov can control this Central Asian team for a long time. The reason why Kasimov is so hard is that he looks down on East Asian football at all. Looking at the historical record, Uzbekistan's record against China, Japan and South Korea is actually not inferior.

The reason is of course very simple, that is the body like a European, but now the situation has changed, Uzbekistan is becoming more and more difficult to mix in front of China, Japan, South Korea, especially the Chinese team, which makes Kasimov very unhappy.

"Run, run for me, the rhythm of the Chinese team is much faster than this, especially you, the protection of the lower back must be in place."

When the training session was overdue for an hour, Kasimov finally gave the order to rest, and the players sat down on the wet lawn regardless of their wetness, panting.

Kasimov shook his head. When he played football, the coach was like a devil. In fact, it was the Soviet era, and the training was not so scientific.

Times have changed. Kasimov thinks these players are really bad. Many old people like to recall. Kasimov thinks of the glory of football in the Soviet Union. At that time, it was a strong team no less than any other team.

Kasimov stood in the rain and once again began to tell stories, of course, about Uzbekistan's glorious past. In 2003, Uzbekistan's FIFA ranking was as high as 43, which is quite a good result.

The player looked serious, but he was snickering in his heart. That was the old imperial calendar. Now a landlocked country like Uzbekistan is indeed lagging behind, and "thinking about the past" is useless.

"We won the first game. If we beat the Chinese team, then we can qualify one round ahead of schedule, and we must do so, because it is possible to avoid Australia in Group A."

Ahmedov said lightly: "But the Chinese team is stronger than Australia, and I think South Korea is stronger than Australia."

Kasimov crossed his arms and looked serious, "What is the Chinese team? Think of the former Soviet Union..."

All the players present rolled their eyes in their hearts, thinking: "Again!"

"Yes, the Soviet Union won the fourth place in the World Cup and the runner-up in the European Cup, but what does that have to do with us in Uzbekistan." Ahmedov said excitedly.

Kasimov was stunned, "What's the matter? It doesn't matter, but..."

Kasimov was furious, "Are you challenging me now?"

All the players were quiet. They just felt that the coach was a little unrealistic. The correct approach should be to save energy and fight hard against Saudi Arabia in the third game to get a second place in the group. However, Kasimov seemed to be too persistent. This may be the reason why Uzbekistan changed the head coach later.

"Get up and keep running."

"Ah..." Everyone opened their mouths wide, it's only been a few minutes, practice again?Is it really going to exhaust us?

"Hurry up, don't be lazy, I know it's okay, I practiced like this when I was young."

Everyone complained in their hearts, but there was nothing they could do. The head coach was the boss, and if he said practice, he had to persevere even if his leg was broken.

The player dragged his exhausted body back to the room, took a shower and fell on the bed. Ahmedov shared a room with captain Jeparov.

"Captain, why do you think the old man is out of his mind today?"

"Hehe, it's actually not surprising. My father is also like this. He likes to recall the past life very much. The mantra is to think about the past."

"But that year has passed."

Jeparov chuckled, "I just think about it because of the past. You are still young, and you will understand when you get old."

"Do you think we can beat the Chinese team? That's the top 8 in the World Cup."

"I don't know, but I agree with the head coach on this point. We can only know the gap after a serious competition with the strongest in Asia. What do you think?"

"But..." Ahmedov wanted to say, but he had no words to refute. What he didn't know was that in the eyes of the older generation, football is not about winning or losing, but about dignity.

"And you shouldn't talk back to the old man today, that's too much." As the captain, Jeparov must maintain the dignity of the team. If the head coach doesn't have dignity, the team will fall apart.

"I see. I will apologize to the old man tomorrow."

During the training interval the next day, Ahmedov approached the head coach and said furtively, "Boss, I was wrong."

Kasimov chuckled: "I have amnesia, and I usually don't remember the past."

This is what it means to forgive Ahmedov. The latter smiled, but the head coach bowed to him, "I also want to apologize to you. I overtrained yesterday."

"No need, no need," Ahmedov waved his hands quickly.

Kasimov motioned the other party to listen to himself, "Listen to me, you are one of the best players in the younger generation. I want to tell you that our football in Uzbekistan is definitely not a soy sauce role in Asia. We should have higher goals."

"Like the World Cup?" Ahmedov asked timidly.

"Yes, there is also the Asian Cup. We have won the football championship in the Asian Games, but we have not won the Asian Cup championship. I hope that your generation can make a breakthrough."

Ahmedov gasped. It turns out that the head coach has such a big goal, but such a goal can only be buried in his heart. With Uzbekistan's current strength, it would be a joke to say it out.

It can be seen that the head coach is under pressure. When a person has lofty goals but cannot express them, he must be very aggrieved.

"In any case, I shouldn't be angry at you. That's my fault. My training yesterday was too unscientific, but I can't apologize because... it's a matter of face," Kasimov said with a chuckle, "But I've just met you, so I'll tell you, and you don't need to say anything to anyone else."

Ahmedov nodded, "Boss, I understand."

Kasimov patted Ahmedov, "Let me tell you another secret, this is the last Asian Cup I will lead Uzbekistan."

Kasimov left after speaking, leaving Ahmedov stunned.

(End of this chapter)