Chapter 19 A Story Destined for Tragedy

On the afternoon of September 14, 2010, Mourinho attended the pre-match press conference for Real Madrid's first round of the Champions League group stage in the new season, and "generously" released the 18-man starting lineup.

Because Albiol was still recovering from injury and Pepe had just returned from injury, for the sake of insurance, Mourinho also included Garay, who had not yet been used in the league, in the lineup.

This was the only thing that surprised the reporters on the scene.

The other Real Madrid first-team players selected for the Champions League lineup were basically consistent with the speculation of the Spanish media before the game.

Put aside the almost certain starting players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Di Maria, Alonso, Ramos, etc.

What the reporters on the scene wanted to confirm most was whether Li Ang, who had recently received sufficient opportunities in the league, would continue to start.

There was no way. After two league games, Li Ang had indeed become the traffic code in the Spanish football world recently.

In the words of the fans

When you see a player who has a sunny and handsome face like Kaka, but actually does a tough job like Gattuso, can play in Real Madrid at the age of 19, and plays quite well.

It is really hard not to be curious and interested in him.

Even though Real Madrid’s official Twitter account has already released Li Ang’s growth experience and his performance in Real Madrid’s youth teams at all levels.

But fans from all walks of life are still not satisfied.

They are eager to see more different things from Li Ang, the emerging "alternative genius".

So reporters also asked Mourinho all kinds of questions about Li Ang at the pre-match press conference.

Mourinho showed his signature smile, and his answer to these reporters was the same sentence.

"No comment."

This is what Mourinho himself and Li Ang personally meant.

Real Madrid Club naturally gave priority to respecting the opinions of the players in this regard.

Li Ang did not want to deal with the media too early, and Mourinho did not like the media to pay close attention to and disturb the private lives of his players.

On this point, Mourinho and Li Ang once again reached a tacit agreement.

So no matter how the reporters asked indirect questions, Mourinho smiled and rejected questions about Li Ang one after another.

Until a Chinese reporter raised his hand and was qualified to ask questions.

"Mr. Mourinho, what role does Li Ang currently play in the Real Madrid first team? What is your opinion or evaluation of his future development? Do you think Li Ang will have a chance to get a starting position in Real Madrid in the future?"

This reporter with a work badge from a Chinese newspaper asked three questions in one breath.

Mourinho hesitated for a moment, and finally, I don't know if it was for Li Ang's sake, or slowly answered these three questions that were easy to cause public controversy.

"You can actually see the role positioning. Li Ang is still a midfield defender. He needs to take more defensive responsibilities in the backcourt to block the opponent's advancement. My evaluation of his development I think he still has a lot of room for improvement. He is very studious and smart. He always wants to learn more from games and training. As for the last question you asked, maybe you should interview Li Ang in person in the future. He is a confident young man. You may not get the answer you want from me, but you can from him."

Mourinho's answer was fine, and he even made a humorous joke at the end.

But to his and many reporters' surprise, the Chinese reporter who asked the question did not look very happy in the end.

He smiled awkwardly and sat back.

Mourinho felt a little strange, but such a small episode was just a flash.

He quickly forgot about it after finishing the pre-match press conference.

Time went back a few hours.

When the major sports forums in China updated the information of the press conference before the Real Madrid Champions League.

Chinese fans were not uniformly happy about Li Ang's inclusion in Real Madrid's starting lineup and Mourinho's praise for Li Ang.

They quickly split into several camps and launched a fierce "fight" just like when they learned that Li Ang started for Real Madrid's first team some time ago.

And everything can be traced back to the Weibo dynamic that Li Ang posted in February this year.

"Many people are innocent, whether they are victims or scapegoats. They may be people who take the overall situation into consideration. Even if it is disgusting, they still want to patch up this rotten ship and continue to sail. But for me, the saddest thing is that these innocent people have greatly underestimated the greed and shamelessness of those "high-ranking people"! If the real revival of this sport in China requires someone to make a sufficiently tragic sacrifice as a price, then I am willing to pay this price today!"

This seemingly foggy Weibo dynamic did not actually attract much attention at the time.

But the day after Li Ang posted this Weibo, a reporter broke the news that Li Ang resolutely refused to be called up by the national team and was unwilling to come back to play in the East Asian Cup held in Tokyo at that time. The domestic public opinion exploded!

As the only young player in China who received youth training in Real Madrid at that time, Li Ang also joined the Chinese National Youth Team early.

He is not only the captain of the National Youth Team, but also a future star that fans across the country have high hopes for.

Li Ang has become the favorite of domestic fans as expected. I don’t know how many people hope that he can be promoted to the first team of China after he becomes an adult, and help the Chinese team to successfully enter the World Cup finals again.

But all these beautiful hopes were completely shattered on February 1, 2010.

After Li Ang posted that strong and resolute Weibo dynamic, he directly announced that he would permanently withdraw from the Chinese national team at all levels!

There was no reason, no more detailed explanation, and a cold announcement completely cut off the possibility between Li Ang and the Chinese national team.

In those days, domestic sports reporters broke all kinds of news.

Some people said that Li Ang was a big shot, and after being reprimanded by the team leader, he chose to withdraw from the national youth team in a rage.

Some people said that some of the national youth coaches asked for benefits from Li Ang’s teammates and friends, and Li Ang made a big fuss after discovering it.

There is also a rumor that Li Ang was directly asked for "appearance fees" by a certain manager of the Football Association who has the right to choose.

Li Ang scolded the other party on the spot, so he was fired.

Amid all the controversy, no one knew why Li Ang chose such a violent way to announce that he would never play for the Chinese national team again.

At that time, only a small number of fans clearly expressed their understanding of Li Ang.

Most fans could not understand and approve of Li Ang's withdrawal from the national team.

So the title of "traitor" was gradually attached to Li Ang.

Even though Li Ang was loaned to Real Betis later, many Chinese fans still felt "unsatisfied".

They just didn't want to bless Li Ang, who had gradually played out in Real Betis.

Similarly.

Even though more and more Chinese fans have softened their attitude towards him because Li Ang has established a foothold in the Real Madrid first team.

But there are still a group of heartbroken fans who cannot "forgive".

The more popular Li Ang is in Spanish football, the more he can cause public opinion controversy in China. But Li Ang himself did not say it, and the top leaders of the Football Association remained silent.

So a foggy "official withdrawal incident" has become a sad story for countless Chinese fans.

As for Li Ang, who traveled back from more than ten years later, he had hesitated, struggled, joined without hesitation, and now he has completely withdrawn in despair.

The knife did not fall on him, but he could not turn a blind eye to the experiences of his teammates.

So he chose the most rigid way to break up.

This is a story destined to be tragic from the beginning.

Because Li Ang, who has no ties or interests with the domestic football world, does not need to compromise.

And he is destined to have serious conflicts with some idiots sooner or later.

If he does not bow his head, he will naturally end up being excluded and expelled.

But as Li Ang himself said.

If the real revival of domestic football requires someone to sacrifice enough tragically as a price.

Then he is willing to pay this price.

He will not look back.

Nor will he regret it.

The choice of the national team, well, actually I plan to explain it later, but I thought about it again, well, let's just pass it over early.

Friends who want to read the content of the national team can read the previous football article of the foodie.

The foodie has suffered a loss and learned a lesson. I really can’t write the story of the national team in this book. Sorry.