Legendary Road

This is the first time for Yan Jing to take the ICET[Note 1] train to a place other than Dortmund.

There was not much traffic on the train, so he temporarily bought an ordinary carriage ticket to Frankfurt for 13 euros at the ticket gate of the station, and set off on the road excitedly without bringing much.

In winter, even ordinary cars have heating and air-conditioning. Yan Jing got on the car and came to the last car to find that he was the only one, and there was no one else, which was satisfactory.

Yan Jing found his seat and sat down, and within a few minutes he couldn't sit still—he didn't bring anything except the necessary certification documents, notebooks, pens and wallets when he went out this time, and he hasn't bought a mobile phone yet.

Yan Jing began to study the interior facilities of the car boredly, and suddenly found that the armrest of the seat was equipped with audio equipment, and a few lines of small words beside it indicated that there were classical, jazz, pop, rock and children's music channels for selection.

Since the car was empty, he was not afraid of disturbing others. Yan Jing turned on the device casually, and a beautiful piano solo sounded in the car, which was the German composer Schumann's Fantasia in C major.

But Yan Jing was a little too relaxed, and because he slept too late studying tactics last night and got up early today, the music that could have calmed him down became a lullaby.

Yan Jing rested his elbows on the armrest, propped his head up and down his eyelids and began to fight, and fell asleep after a while.

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A voice came to his ears in a trance, Yan Jing, who was half asleep and half awake, struggled to open his sleepy eyes, his brain was still in a standby state, and he stared blankly at a man with his back turned to him, fiddling with the seat in front of him.

Who is this guy?

The man opposite seemed to be adjusting the angle of the seat, and when he was done, he turned around and saw Yan Jing's dark eyes staring at him with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry for waking you up, I didn't feel comfortable sitting up just now."

The man spoke fluent and idiomatic English. Yan Jing had studied English at the University of Dortmund, but he could understand most of them, and he responded subconsciously.

"It's all right, sir."

Yan Jing raised his hand and rubbed his temples, the consciousness of traveling far away finally returned, and he began to look up at the man sitting opposite him.

The man looked no older than himself. He had thick brown hair that looked quite soft, and the ends of the hair naturally turned up in a curly arc. A healthy tan from the beach at Bella.

With deep eyes and a narrow and high nose, the whole person exudes a strong Iberian style from the inside out.

Yan Jing was bored and bored by himself, guessing that the other party should be able to understand the English he spoke at least, so he decided to chat with the man opposite.

"Sir, are you Spanish?"

The man opposite was stunned, as if he didn't expect to be accosted by the oriental man in front of him, but he replied immediately out of politeness: "No, I'm Portuguese."

"Traveling to Frankfurt?"

The man shrugged: "Have you ever seen such a tourist rushing out empty-handed?"

Yan Jing looked at the grape man again and felt more and more familiar, but he was not sure, so he tentatively said: "Is that for a football lecture?"

The man was all surprised and said: "How do you know?"

"Because my purpose of going to Frankfurt is the same as yours."

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The flight attendant's sweet voice rang through the loudspeaker in the car, reminding passengers that the train was about to arrive in Frankfurt.

The top speed of ICE trains can reach 230 kilometers per hour, and it takes about two hours to drive from Dortmund to Frankfurt.

Yan Jing walked out of the car door side by side with the man, and he could already feel the strong Christmas atmosphere in the lobby.

There is a row of Christmas trees in front of the fiery red billboard of Ferrero Chocolate heading to the exit. In front of the tree, a cone-shaped transparent glass container nearly one person tall is surrounded by golden colored stripes. Inside the container, there are three-tiered shelves with various packages. Fine Ferrero chocolates.

"Andrei, I've heard of you." Yan Jing has confirmed the identity of the man in front of him. He became Robson's assistant at the age of 17, and then worked with Mourinho. Later, he became the youngest player in the history of the Europa League. Champion Coach - André Villas-Boas.

Boas seemed a little puzzled by this: "Outside of Portugal, I shouldn't be well-known enough to be recognizable?"

"I've read some newspapers in the Portuguese media before, and they have introduced you, Sir Robson's 17-year-old assistant and Marshal Mourinho's little follower, isn't that right?" Yan Jing said with a smile Explains, "When I saw it I was like, 'God, he's not even 20, so fucking young!'"

"Oh, you're exaggerating." Boas didn't mind the swear words that came out of Yan Jing's mouth, and laughed loudly, "You also look very fucking young."

It was extremely warm in the train station, where the central air-conditioning produced warm air. He walked out of the gate of the station one by one, but felt the chill of winter.

Fine flakes of snow danced in the sky in Frankfurt, and the wide streets that came into view were already covered in white.

Yan Jing shook his body: "But I'm only leading U13, a team full of little devils, it can't compare with you."

Compared with Yan Jing, Boas from Porto, which has a warm and comfortable winter climate, reacted much more.The black windbreaker he was wearing didn't look thick, and the cold wind poured straight into the coat from the gap between the collars, prompting him to say a word beginning with "S".

"Damn it, why is winter in Germany so cold?" Boas complained a few words, then asked, "Yan, you know where the DFB training sessions are held, right? I've never been to Frankfurt before."

"That's really unfortunate, I haven't been here." Yan Jing took out a note from his bag, "But I wrote down the address before I came, so it should be fine to ask others."

Boas took out his mobile phone and checked the time. It was [-]:[-] in the morning, and the lecture time was set at [-]:[-] in the afternoon, which meant that they might have nothing to do for a while.

"It's still early, let's take a stroll in Frankfurt as a tourist?" Yan Jing was somewhat interested in the famous Goethe's former residence.

"Oh no, I think we should find a heated restaurant or coffee shop now." Boas immediately objected, "Otherwise I'll have to turn into an ice sculpture later."

"OK, let's do it like this." Yan Jing nodded thoughtfully, "Then let's go quickly."

Yan Jing and Boas moved forward along the banks of the Main River.

There are very few people who come to the river for a walk in the cold winter. Looking around, there are small groups of swans playing on the water beside the cruise ships moored on the river bank.An iron bridge across the Main River connects the suburbs and the city center. A row of white-winged waterbirds rest here on the protruding light stand not far away. They leisurely look at the solemn Frankfurt Cathedral across the river under the gray sky. .

The eyes of the two were quickly attracted by a restaurant with a unique decoration not far ahead.

After approaching, Yan Jing saw that the name of this restaurant was Adolf Wagner, which was named after the most famous tax scientist in Germany.

Pushing open the glass door, the warm air-conditioned air in the restaurant immediately let the two people who were freezing outside breathe a sigh of relief, rubbing their cold hands, feeling unprecedentedly refreshed.

Looking around, the whole restaurant is not big, but the decoration mainly in warm colors looks particularly warm and harmonious in winter.

Yan Jing and Boas chose a seat by the window to sit down, and after a while, a waiter wearing a German characteristic felt hat came up to ask about the menu.

"Gentlemen, what do I need?"

Yan Jing took the menu and glanced at the German text on it, and while handing the menu back to the waiter, he replied: "One serving of short ribs with cabbage, one serving of handmade cheese and a glass of 'Apple [Note 2]' ,Thanks."

There are also corresponding English slogans on the menu, but it may be that it is not very authentic. Boas doesn't understand what some dishes are, so he simply speaks to the waiter in English.

"Just like him."

The waiter nodded, wrote down the dishes ordered by the two, took away the menu and left, while Yan Jing talked about football with Boas.

"This year's Champions League, I think your Porto is very hopeful to achieve a good result."

Boas naturally has expectations for the club he works for, but he is quite rational because he is good at collecting and sorting out data. It seems that he is not very confident: "The premise is to cross the hurdle of Manchester United in the quarter-finals."

"Manchester United will be a good test for Mr Mourinho's work and a St. Blair's Cup is the best reward for his hard work over the past two years."

Yan Jing's tone is very confident. From Boas's ears, Yan Jing doesn't seem to care about the Red Devils led by the famous coach Ferguson. Favorite to win.

Boas thought for a moment and expressed his thoughts: "I don't agree with your statement. There are many favorites to win the Champions League this season, such as Real Madrid, which is full of superstars, and Arsenal, which is undefeated in the Premier League so far...Of course. , I am most optimistic about last season's champion AC Milan, not only did they not lose too many personnel this season, but they also introduced a talented teenager Kaka from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

"But there is a saying called 'every fever will kill'." Yan Jing looked very confident, and he asked Boas with a smile, "How about we make a bet? The loser owes the other party something."

"What do you want to bet?" Boas was very interested in this.

Yan Jing said without the slightest hesitation: "I bet this season's Champions League champion will be Porto."

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The lecturer invited by the German Football Association to teach today is Otmar Hitzfeld, a 55-year-old man.

Of course, it is impossible for Yan Jing to be unfamiliar with the old coach who led Dortmund and Bayern Munich to win the Champions League twice. He clearly remembers the Dortmund that was boiling in the summer of 1997. Among them, the fans cheered loudly. name.

Although Hitzfeld later switched to Bayern Munich, Yan Jing still respected the old German coach from the bottom of his heart. He made great contributions to Dortmund's glory in the 96/97 season.

Yan Jing listened carefully to every thought of the famous coach on football like a student who came to the classroom for the first time.

Whether it is about the increasingly innovative techniques and tactics or how to deal with the interpersonal relationship in the locker room, Hitzfeld has his own unique insights, which opened Yan Jing's eyes.

Yan Jing also privately sought advice from Heathfield after the lecture: "Sir, I would like to ask if it were you, how would you choose between beautiful offensive football and ugly winning football?"

The old man was not surprised when he heard this question, he glanced at the unusually young Dongfang in front of him, and replied with a smile.

"If I was coaching a relegation team, then I would definitely choose winning football, even if everyone would accuse me of not knowing the beauty of football; if I was coaching a team like Arsenal, then I would choose beautiful attacking. Football, it wins the hearts of the fans; if I were coaching Real Madrid or Barcelona, ​​then I would have to choose a beautiful and magnificent winning football, otherwise I would be dismissed even if I won the championship. Do you understand, young man people?"

Yan Jing nodded with a half understanding, and ended the lesson that was of great benefit to him.

Boas also found Yan Jing to say goodbye to him after class, and left his mobile phone number to Yan Jing.

After Yan Jing left, Boas came to Frankfurt International Airport to wait for the flight. At this moment, his mobile phone rang. He took out the mobile phone from his pocket and saw Jose Mourini on the luminous screen. A few big characters.

Boas pressed the answer button, and Mourinho's steady and magnetic voice rang in his ears.

"Andrei, are you still in Frankfurt?"

"Yes, Jose. But I'm already at the airport, and I'll be on the plane in about 20 minutes."

"Presumably, you must have learned a lot from Mr. Heathfield's class today? Otherwise, you certainly wouldn't spend this rare vacation on traveling."

Boas couldn't help laughing when he heard Mourinho's words. He suddenly remembered what Yan Jing said to him in the restaurant, so he decided to tell Mourinho about his adventure in Frankfurt today.

"More than that, I also met an Easterner who is younger than me today. He is the U13 coach of Dortmund. We discussed this year's Champions League when we were dining together in the restaurant. Do you know what he said to me?"

Mourinho seems to be attracted by this topic, he said immediately.

"An Oriental younger than you? Oh, tell me what he said that made you care so much."

"Jose, he said that Porto will win the Champions League this season."

The author has something to say: Note 1: ICE, the German high-speed train. The T train route runs from Dortmund to Frankfurt.

Note 2: Eppler, Yizhong is a specialty cider from Hesse.