The Young Lion

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The next day, Aldridge found a random doctor in the hospital, paid for an inpatient ward, and walked in with Melanie, who was sleeping on his shoulder at dawn, and put her on the bed and covered her with a quilt. He walked out of the hospital and lit a cigarette in the street outside against the wall.

Not long after, Melanie ran out of the hospital, saw Aldridge smoking outside, slowed down her hurried steps, walked in front of him and said softly, I'm going to buy breakfast.

No, let me do it, you don't understand the language.

Speaking of which, Aldrich was about to go to a nearby restaurant, but he saw Puskas' wife Elizabeth coming from a distance, holding the handbag tightly in her hand, and was very nervous.

From her demeanor, Aldrich knew that she was on guard against thieves or robbers on the street. The law and order in Budapest is notoriously chaotic. After all, there are mixed dragons and snakes here, and it is the largest black market trading center in Europe. here.

She was visibly relieved when Aldridge came up to her.

Elizabeth, there's money in the purse, right?

Aldrich asked without hesitation.

Elizabeth nodded frankly.

You collect the money, I will cover all of Ferencz's medical expenses.

Aldrich said firmly.

There is no cure for the disease that Puskas suffers from, but he must be taken care of around the clock, and taking medicine can only delay the development of the disease.

Elizabeth shook her head firmly.

Aldridge looked sad, and said in a deep voice: Elizabeth, don't refuse, really, your health is not good, if you treat me as your child, don't refuse me, why don't you just let me watch Are you suffering?

Elizabeth, who was suffering from diabetes, said in a distressed voice: Aldrich, you are a good boy, but we cannot accept your help.

Remember? Ferencz said I was a stubborn person, just let me be stubborn once.

Elizabeth looked at Aldridge, who had not slept all night and his eyes were bloodshot, and sighed heavily, not insisting any more.

She went into the hospital to visit Puskas, and Aldrich took Melanie to a nearby restaurant for breakfast.

Sitting in an ordinary restaurant, Melanie said curiously: Puskas was a superstar before.

Aldridge knew her subtext, and said calmly: In those days, playing football could make you famous all over the world, but it couldn't make you rich. The money they made was not much different from that of miners.

Melanie suddenly realized, and then said: If you tell the Real Madrid Club about this...

Aldridge, who was in a terrible mood, suddenly said in disgust: Don't mention Real Madrid!

Realizing his gaffe, Aldrich closed his eyes and said lightly, I'm sorry, I'm in a bad mood, and it's not against you.

Aldridge hated Millwall club because he saw football hooligans beat up rival fans in the street, that was in the chaotic 1980s, and against Real Madrid, put aside the relationship with Puskas. , he doesn't have any emotional inclinations, and he doesn't like it.

But precisely because of Puskas, Aldridge is full of disgust towards Real Madrid at this moment.

Because he clearly remembered,

In the original history, ten years later, when Puskas, who was destitute due to medical treatment, wanted to sell the honor medal he had won, the Real Madrid Club was informed of the matter, and immediately came to express condolences and held an event for Puskas. Yi Sai.

The star-studded galactic battleship sailed into Budapest, where Real Madrid's superstars earned enough popularity and word-of-mouth, and then left gracefully.

Under the guise of Puskas, the ticket revenue of the Yisai was close to 100,000 US dollars, but not even a tenth of it went to the Puskas family!

The following year, Puskas died.

There is no doubt that Real Madrid came to show off, otherwise, why did Puskas leave without confirming the most needed medical expenses?

Spend tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in transfer fees every year to build Galaxy Battleships, but are stingy with the poor medical expenses for the club's top-ranked great exploits.

Real Madrid seems to have forgotten who made them so noble!

Before the 1950s, even though Real Madrid was born in a golden nest, they were born with noble blood, but their record did not make them so outstanding and noble. That is, in the 1950s, they won five consecutive European Champions Cups. , so that they can stand tall like giants in Europe, and during the most glorious period of five consecutive championships, Puskas was an important contributor to the last two consecutive championships, and after Puskas joined Real Madrid, Brought Real Madrid five consecutive league titles, the league's top scorer for four consecutive years, and is still the fourth shooter in Real Madrid's history. Raul is trying to catch up. Ronaldo has not yet grown up. Only Puskas is ahead Three: Di Stefano, Santillana, Sanchez.

This year's 95/96 season, Real Madrid fans should count their fingers. This is their 30th year away from the Champions League!

When that glorious period ended thirty years ago, Puskas was still in the team.

What Real Madrid can show off now is only the glory of that period.

But even so, Puskas is just a pawn for their global commercialization ten years later.

And when they show off their history, they still talk about Puskas.

Aldrich, who has lived for nearly fifty years, has already seen through the vicissitudes of the world. Football is never perfect. It is full of betrayal, indifference, hatred, and it is not uncommon for him to turn his face faster than a book. But he is not a saint. deal with it.

Even though now because of Aldrich's appearance, he will not let history repeat itself, but there is always a fire in his heart, and it took him a long time to calm down the fire. It is useless, unnecessary!

He wants to let Puskas get the best treatment and make his family live more comfortably, which is far more meaningful than endless hatred.

When he returned to the hospital after breakfast, Aldridge saw a thin young man in his twenties outside the ward. He looked like a scholar, and the glasses he wore made him even more dumbfounded.

Nagy!

Aldridge called softly outside the door.

Naji-Sandur turned his head and looked at Aldrich in surprise, then walked up to him, stretched out his hand, and said solemnly: I didn't expect you to really come.

That international letter was sent by Nagy to Aldrich. He is a member of the coaching staff of the Hungarian national team and has worked with Aldrich for half a year. He is also the only friend of Aldrich in Hungary besides Puskas.

Aldridge didn't shake Najib's outstretched hand, but gave him a hug, and said angrily: You make me sad when you say that. In your eyes, I am such a heartless and unjust person?

Najib sighed and said honestly: No, because you are very busy, I think, even if you come, it will be in mid-September.

Aldridge suddenly realized that mid-September is the FIFA match day, and he has more free time.

The two chatted in the hallway about Puskas' illness before the conversation turned to football.

It's hard to get back. The domestic youth training foundation needs to be rebuilt. Hungary has completely disappeared from the football map. The teacher's generation is the last glory.

Najib's tone was very sad.

Hungarian football is in decline, and now it is impossible to build a strong team through the national system as it did half a century ago. Moreover, the world is changing, and football has become more scientific.

Aldridge patted him on the shoulder and said softly: You can't change anything, really, football is a bottom-up game, without a good foundation, there is no good superstructure, come back to London with me, say To be honest, only you understand my football philosophy best, and we can create an unimaginable future together.”

Nagy looks like a nerd, but he seems to have inherited the genes of the Hungarian cafe football culture half a century ago. He is a tactical madman. He can study tactics tirelessly all night with Aldrich, which is a full theoretical research. However, his character is destined to prevent him from commanding an adult team because he is bored. He can speak tactics clearly and logically, but he lacks the most important thing in football: passion.

I'll make a decision next month.

Najib said softly.

Aldrich figured it out after thinking about it for a while.

Najib is holding on to the last ray of hope to stay in Hungary.

The European Cup qualifiers in 1996 came to the final juncture. Hungary had Switzerland, Sweden, Iceland, and Turkey in the same group. Hungary was in a very bad situation. There was only a theoretical hope of promotion. If the next game in Turkey could not win, then the promotion would be announced. European Cup hopes dashed.

Aldrich nodded and said, Okay, I'll wait for your reply next month.

If Najib can come to help him, Aldridge thinks it will be even more powerful. Although Najib does not have the talent to command the adult team, he has the ability to implement football concepts in training and teach young players the patience and foresight Aldridge is ashamed of himself, at least, he himself can't take the trouble to correct the bad habits of the players. In Aldrich's view, what the player shows, he can perform as he can. Bad habits can't be changed, and he can't Time to correct the opponent one-on-one. The head coach of the first team is not a youth training coach. He does not teach players how to play football, but enables players who can play football to play team football.

After spending another day in Budapest, Aldridge paid for Puskas' medical bills, and then began to contact the best hospitals in the UK. He wanted to do his best to give the old man the best medical care possible.

When he returned to London on Wednesday, he went non-stop to the northeastern Lincolnshire town of Chrysops, where Millwall headed to Brundle Park to challenge League Cup rivals Grimsby.