Chapter 36 European Cup

Chapter 36 European Cup

After the UEFA Champions League ends, another highlight will come immediately, which is the 2012 European Cup. This European Cup is the third time in history that two countries have co-hosted it. The previous ones were in 2000. The Netherlands and Belgium, Switzerland and Austria in 2008, this time it is the turn of Ukraine and Poland.

There are three parties applying for the right to host this European Cup, namely Poland-Ukraine United, Croatia-Hungary United, and Italy.

In the final vote of the UEFA Executive Committee, the Polish-Ukrainian bidders won a total of eight votes and finally won the right to host.

In this European Cup, Poland and Ukraine will each have four cities to host the competition. The four cities in Poland are Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw, and the four cities in Ukraine are Kharkiv. , Donetsk, Kiev and Lviv.

As the hosts of this European Cup, Poland and Ukraine have never hosted major events in the past, although both countries have a long football tradition and have achieved good results in major events.

The Polish team won third place in the World Cup twice in 1974 and 1982. Before Ukraine became independent, it sent a large number of outstanding players and coaches to the Soviet team. The former Soviet team won the first European Championship in 1960. After independence, Ukraine has not participated in the European Cup main stage competition, but in the 2006 World Cup, they reached the quarter-finals.

The European Cup is a grand event held every four years in European football. Every European player is eager to participate in it. The sixteen teams have basically announced their respective 23-man rosters, except for the defending champion Belgium.

It's not that Wilmots continued to hesitate, but that his 23-man roster was reported to the Belgian Football Association, but was suppressed by Football Association Chairman Cole Smaike.

There is only one reason, and that is Deegan!

After being expelled from the Belgian national team by Wilmots, for more than a year, the former king of the European Red Devils was almost forgotten by the national team.

Although the fans are still calling for Deegan to return to the national team, both the Football Association and Wilmots himself have pretended to be deaf and remained silent, which also greatly disappointed the fans.

Now that the decisive battle of the European Cup is about to begin, with only the last day left before the final declaration time stipulated by UEFA, Belgian fans finally cannot sit still. They cannot accept a European Cup without Deegan.

If the national team performs well in the European Cup qualifiers, perhaps their voice will not receive much support, but the problem is that Wilmots' national team's performance in the qualifiers is really eye-catching.

Unlike the last European qualifiers for the World Cup in South Africa, Belgium had a devastating winning streak and then easily qualified. This time, Belgium's qualifying process was full of twists and turns. The group only finished second and had to compete with the 2004 European Cup. Champions Greece play in a two-leg playoff.

In the first round of the competition between the two teams, the Greek team relied on its home advantage and a small victory of 1:0 to seize the priority to qualify. After that game, riots almost broke out in Belgium.

They can't accept this result. They can't accept that as the defending champion of the European Cup, the new World Cup champion will miss the main match of the European Cup.

Football has now replaced everything else and has become Belgium's most dazzling business card, representing the country's image. The current Belgian national team has actually corrupted the Belgian country's business card into what it is now, let alone the fans. , even those citizens who don't watch football very much can't stand it.

Protests, petitions, such voices never stopped for a moment, but it was a pity that Wilmots turned a deaf ear. In the second play-off game with the Greek team, he still did not call Deegan into the team.

But this time, he was lucky. Relying on Lukaku's two goals, Belgium finally eliminated Greece and entered the European Cup.

After the victory, Wilmots said proudly at the press conference: "Did you see it? Facts have proved that my team can still win even without Deegan. Lukaku is in my team." It seems that he is a hundred times better than Deegan!"

Before Wilmots' self-promotion was over, an angry Belgian reporter threw his shoe at him. He also became the second person in the world, besides US President George W. Bush, to enjoy such high treatment, and his net worth doubled in a short period of time. .

What made Wilmots even more depressed was that the best player in the game, Lukaku, who he said was a hundred times better than Deegan, said in an interview after the game: "We are all now. We are praying that the captain can come back. Without the captain, we are nothing, and we cannot even shoulder the great title of the European Red Devils!"

"It's so funny to compare me with the captain. The captain and I are not at the same level at all. He is my idol and my leader. In the national team, I have become accustomed to him talking to me during the game. 'Hey! Mr. Lukaku, don't worry, there are a bunch of grass chickens on the opposite side, we can crush them all to death with just a little bit of strength', I hope to hear such a voice again, because every time I hear it, It makes me feel at ease. In fact, we have long been accustomed to the captain leading us to victory!"

Lukaku's remarks won a burst of applause from Belgian fans. At the same time, many players in the Belgian national team stood up and expressed the hope that Deegan can return.

This caused Wilmots, who was overjoyed to lead the team to the European Cup, to be poured cold water on his head. He even wanted to block all the players who called for Deegan to come back. It was a pity that these players Covering his entire team, if he really dares to do that, I'm afraid he will immediately receive a dismissal notice from the Belgian Football Association.

It was difficult to qualify in the qualifiers. In the subsequent warm-up matches, the performance of the Belgian national team was also unsatisfactory. Although there were games such as a 1:1 draw with the powerful enemy Italy, there were also humiliating losses such as a 0:3 loss to Serbia. .

Faced with the increasingly poor performances of the national team, Belgian fans could no longer sit still. In the past, Belgian fans were satisfied with being able to reach international competitions, but after Deegan came, their appetites were also Damn it, the championship, what they want is the championship, but relying on the current national team, a national team without Deegan, it is obviously too difficult to achieve this goal.

Let alone the championship, without Deegan, it would be good for Belgium to appear in the group stage of the European Cup.

This is obviously not the result they have been looking forward to and hoping to see for four years. What they want is to defend the championship, and they don't want to be the Greece they were four years ago.

In order to allow Deegan to participate in the European Cup, the entire Belgium took action. Not only ordinary people, but even members of Congress talked about this matter during meetings, which put the Belgian Football Association under great pressure.

In the end, even King Albert II of Belgium took the initiative to accept an interview: "I am a fan of Rod, and our personal relationship is very good. He is a perfect young man. I have always hoped that Belgian sports can have such an outstanding player like him." I am happy that when he left the national team, it made me very sad. He is a champion, and a champion should get the treatment that a champion deserves. I hope some people can think about it carefully. The European Cup without Deegan is not perfect. This is not only a harm to Belgian fans, but also a harm to fans all over the world!"

This king, who was originally disgusted by the Belgian people because of some whimsical ideas, actually gained widespread support from the people because of this incident. He was originally planning to abdicate in 2013, but in the end he was retained by all the people, which is somewhat unexpected.

Immediately afterwards, Crown Prince Philip of Belgium also stood up and expressed his support for Deegan: "Wilmots didn't understand anything at all. He just made a random decision simply to maintain the authority of his head coach. He may have forgotten , Deegan is also thinking about the future of Belgian football. I hope they can sit down and have a good talk. Otherwise, it will only be Belgian football that will be hurt in the end. This is a result that no one wants to see!"

Good guy! The two most distinguished people in Belgium have spoken, which made the Belgian Football Association feel a lot of pressure. It originally decided to support Wilmots, but it was because Deegan's domestic prestige had exceeded that of the Football Association. The officials of the Football Association hoped that Suppress Deegan so that this unruly stadium fanatic can be obeyed.

But later, as Deegan became more and more marginalized in Barcelona and had fewer opportunities to compete, Wilmots seized the most perfect reason and completely blocked Deegan's return. Although the national team's performance in the European Cup qualifiers was not ideal, Wilmots repeatedly stated that everything was under control, so the Football Association gradually began to favor Wilmots' side.

But looking at the current situation, it is obvious that the Football Association cannot withstand such great pressure. The Minister of Sports has asked about this matter several times. If he cannot give a satisfactory explanation to the people, I am afraid it will trigger a nationwide riot. A big riot. If that happens, Belgium will really be embarrassed around the world.

At the same time, Deegan's friends in the football circle also expressed their support for Deegan. Modric, the core of the Croatian team, said: "Rod is the greatest star on the planet. I simply can't imagine not being there." What will his European Cup look like! This is supposed to be a football event, but without Rod, this event will become dull and imperfect!"

Deegan's best friend Montolivo also accepted a reporter's interview afterwards: "I hope Rod can take this opportunity to take a good rest, because without him Belgium will have no threat and one less competitor. , for us, it is always a good thing, but I still want to send my greetings to Mr. Wilmots's family, he is simply a bastard, and his behavior towards a great player is very bad!"

Prandelli, the head coach of the Italian national team, also said: "Rod is the best player I have ever seen. Although my players will be unhappy when I say this, it is the fact. Mr. Wilmots said he It is simply ridiculous to say that he is a cancer in Belgian football. I have worked with Rod for four years. I know very well what kind of person he is. He never causes trouble and will not do anything behind his back. Small gestures, he is very kind to everyone, except for his enemies of course. When he was in Florence, every player was willing to follow him. He is a natural leader. Even if Rod did say something, I don't think it was Without offending the authority of Mr. Wilmots, the head coach, he is just for the good of Belgian football. I look forward to Rod being able to appear in the European Cup. If Belgium can meet Italy in the final, for me, then It will be a very unique experience."

Not only Deegan's friends, some of Deegan's enemies also jumped out and expressed the hope that Deegan could catch the last train of the European Cup.

"I hate that guy, yes! I hate it very much. To me, that guy is just like a fly, disgusting. However, I still hope he can come to the European Cup. I want to kill him personally on the field! Wilmots? That's a bastard, a tyrant who doesn't know how to respect players. He thinks he can achieve success without that bastard Deegan. What a joke. Without Deegan, he can't do anything. Look at Belgium. His performance in the European Cup qualifiers made even the dogs laugh!"

Golden Mauro jumped out to support Deegan, which was unexpected, but if you think about it carefully, it is not surprising. As an opponent, Golden Mauro certainly hopes to kill Deegan with his own hands, instead of missing out on Deegan because of the imagination of an asshole coach. contest.

Xavi, the core of the Spanish national team, also said: "Although I don't like that indifferent person in Degan, I am very much looking forward to meeting again in the European Cup. Last time, we lost in the final. This time, I hope to win it back, but now it seems that it is very difficult for him to even participate in the competition, but that's okay. We want to thank Mr. Wilmots, who personally killed the most threatening enemy for us! "

Listen to what people are saying!

When some Belgian fans protested in front of Wilmots' home, they said angrily: "Our opponents are cheering, cheering that they don't have to face Rod! The Belgian fans are protesting, and we hope to be able to compete on the stage of the European Cup Go up, see our captain, you are the only one who is happy, yes! I bet! You bastard must be secretly laughing now, because of your selfishness, Belgian football will become the laughing stock of world football! This is what you want Do you want it?"

As one of the parties involved in this matter, Deegan has now gone to England. Accompanied by Zahavi, he visited Tottenham Hotspur, but he suppressed the signing. Deegan's thoughts were very... Simple, although it is not easy, he still hopes to sign with Tottenham Hotspur after playing in the European Cup, which can be regarded as a gift to Tottenham fans.

When a reporter interviewed Deegan about the European Cup, Deegan also made it clear: "Of course I really hope to be included in Belgium's European Cup squad, but I think it will not be easy. I am very grateful to those teammates. The fans, as well as His Majesty the King and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, support me, but the decision-making power does not rest with me."

Deegan's attitude has been very clear. His return is actually very simple. As long as Wilmots and the Belgian Football Association nod, everything will be easy.

This is also the time Deegan calmed down his temper after wasting two years in Barcelona. Otherwise, if he had followed his previous temper, he would have already announced his withdrawal from the national team when he was expelled, and Wilmots would not kneel down. Even if you beg in front of him, he will not go back.

Deegan has already sent a signal to return, but Wilmots is still very tough and has not given the fans a satisfactory answer until now. This makes the fans very angry and they feel that their opinions have been ignored.

As a result, the fans quickly organized, and the office building of the Belgian Football Association was quickly surrounded. The fans held banners supporting Deegan and shouted Deegan's name. They gathered from all directions, and the number was getting larger and larger. Many have caused traffic paralysis on some roads in Brussels.

"Mark! I'm not discussing with you now. Look outside and look at those angry fans. Do you want to trigger a full-scale riot in Belgium because of football? I am under a lot of pressure now!"

The chairman of the Belgian Football Association, Korsmaike, roared loudly. He now regrets very much why he didn't take the initiative and be more active in the contract renewal negotiations with Antienis, but lost his mind and chose Wilmots.

If Antienis was the head coach of the Belgian national team, this nonsense would never have happened.

Wilmots' face became more and more gloomy as he listened to Colesmaike's roar. In fact, his idea of ​​rejecting Deegan was very simple. Once, he was a hero of Belgian football. After Deegan's rise, he was still very He was happy, after all, the national team he had fought against had become the dominant player in world football, but as he took the position of head coach of the Belgian national team, his mind changed.

Because Belgian fans only know Deegan as the leader of the European Red Devils and don't care who the head coach is, this makes Wilmots increasingly dissatisfied. He wants to replace Deegan and become the hero of Belgian football again. This idea became more and more intense after the conflict with Deegan.

"No! I will not let that guy into my national team! Never!"