Godfather of national football

Chapter 596 Playing football for money

The Luzhniki Stadium is already full. According to visual inspection, half of them are Chinese fans, and most of the rest are Russian fans. There are very few green Nigerian fans. After all, it is not easy to come from Africa, and Nigerians are generally poor.

Liu Jianhong and Li Zibing have already sat down in the commentary booth. They will witness the second match of the Chinese team's group stage, which is also a battle that is likely to qualify ahead of schedule.

"As long as the Chinese team wins Nigeria in this game, we will advance to the knockout round one round earlier," Liu Jianhong said.

"I looked at the predictions at home and abroad. 80% of people are optimistic that the Chinese team will win Nigeria. This Nigeria team is no longer the African Eagles of the year."

Liu Jianhong knows that the history of the African Eagles is too long. It dates back to the 1994 and 1998 World Cups. At that time, Nigeria played very beautiful football and defeated many strong teams.

"For the audience friends in front of the TV, they may not have started watching the football when Nigeria was brilliant in the World Cup, so..."

"A hero doesn't mention his bravery?" Li Zibing said with a smile.

"Let me ask my partner to introduce Nigeria's starting lineup."

Li Zibing has already memorized Nigeria's starters thoroughly, and now he just needs to use them.

"Goalkeeper Ikeme, from Wolves,"

……

"Mikel, from Chelsea, Onazi, from Trabzonspor."

……

"Iheanacho, from Manchester City, Moses, from Chelsea."

After Li Zibing's introduction, it happened that the big screen also showed Nigeria's starting lineup, which was in English, with a 443 formation.

Goalkeeper - Ikeme
Defenders - Balogun, Avazem, Echegil, Madou

Midfielders - Mikel, Onazi, Ndidi
Forwards - Moussa, Iheanacho, Moses

Li Zibing also understands football very well now. She knows that these Nigerian players are all stars, and their average net worth can reach between 1000 million and 2000 million euros, which is actually not weak.

"From the perspective of strength on paper, Nigeria shouldn't have played like that in the first match," said Li Zibing.

"It can only be said that football has never been a mathematical problem where one plus one equals two. For example, England has never been able to solve the problem of Gerrard and Lampard,"

Li Zibing nodded, "The game is about to start, I wish the Chinese team good luck."

*****
Half an hour ago, in the locker room, the head coach Genault Rolle was making the final mobilization. As a Frenchman, he often goes to Africa, because Africa is the backyard of French football. Thinking about the former French football, those big shots are actually African immigrants.

Another point is that the way for French clubs to make money is to find potential players from Africa, bring them to France to receive European training, and then sell them to other leagues after they are trained. Drogba is a typical example.

So Henot Rohr knows the psychology of African players very well. In fact, most of them play football just for money and to escape from poverty in Africa.

"Children, I want to ask you, why are you playing the World Cup?"

"motherland?"

"Nigerian people?"

"honor?"

"dream?"

Everyone gave different answers. Henot Rohr smiled after hearing this, "Don't talk nonsense, I have worked in Africa, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, and Ghana. I know you all play football for money."

As soon as the words came out, everyone was stunned for a moment, and then lowered their heads. Even if it was acquiesced, it's just that it's always a bit shy to say it in public. Who doesn't have any face?

"You don't have to play for me, your country, or the World Cup prize money, but you have to play for yourself."

"What a big stage the World Cup is. Do you know how many scouts are watching from the stands? If you perform better, the big clubs in Europe will wave their checkbooks to poach you."

These words were like giving the players blood, the head coach called Onazi, "How much is your annual salary now?"

"130 million euros, after tax."

Henot Rohr nodded, "Play better, go to the Chinese Super League, and start at 800 million euros."

Onazi was terrified and overjoyed. If this is the case, then when he retires, he can be a local tyrant in the south of France.

Everyone was tempted. In fact, they can’t be blamed for this. After all, there are too few ways to go out of Africa, and long-distance running and football are two of the better ways. Once they go out, who wants to go back?

The head coach feels that the motivation is almost enough, "What I just said is the benefits of defeating the Chinese team, and if you lose to the Chinese team, then..."

As soon as these words came out, the originally excited atmosphere in the locker room was swept away. If they lost, they would lose everything and be scolded when they returned home.

At this time, all the players realized that they were really stupid than pigs before, and they even fought against the head coach and didn't play well. They thought they were embarrassing the head coach, but in fact they were hurting themselves.

Mikel exchanged glances with several players in the team. He only now knows how powerful the head coach is. These words are at the level of an inspirational master.

Moses took the initiative to admit his mistake: "Boss, I was wrong."

"Me too, I'm so stupid."

"Coach, please forgive us, we hope you can coach the Nigerian national team for a long time."

Henot Rolle sneered in his heart. If he knew this, he would not need to instill any football ideals. Fortunately, one of his French colleagues told him this way, otherwise this team would be really difficult to lead.

*****
When the players from both sides lined up and stood in the player tunnel, Li Guo clearly felt the difference between the Nigerian players and seemed to have more fighting spirit.

Li Guo didn’t know what happened in the Nigerian locker room, but he thought it was normal. The World Cup is held every four years. It’s such a big stage. No one wants to be eliminated in the second round. Moreover, Nigeria thinks that the Chinese team still has a chance to win.

When the Chinese players looked sideways, they found that the Nigerian players looked like wolves in their eyes, which was a bit scary.

The Chinese players did not show weakness, and Mu Fei also looked at them viciously. After the opponent was encouraged by the head coach, he felt desperate.

After the first round, the Chinese team was touted by the media. All kinds of compliments were used on the Chinese team, but pride is the most dangerous.

Li Guo has a lot of experience, and there are some things that the head coach can't solve. He can only look at the specific situation of the game. After all, football games are too accidental, and one or two actions can sometimes determine the outcome of a game.

(End of this chapter)