Chapter 285 The legend ends, Spain’s 23-man roster!

Madrid, Las Rozas training base.

When Lin Quan came to report, his teammates from the national team who had been summoned were basically already here.

Outside the training base, there were many Spanish fans who came to cheer for the team.

Because this World Cup is held in South America, many Spanish fans are unable to go to the scene to cheer for the team.

Therefore, they chose to send them blessings in advance before setting off to Spain!

"Lin, come on!"

"Bring back the championship trophy!"

"Don't let those guys in South America have the last laugh, Europe is the orthodoxy of football!"

After seeing Lin Quan, fans shouted about his fame and cheered him up with various words.

If it were in the past, Lin Quan might have satisfied the fans' request for photos and autographs when he was in a good mood.

But after the painful lesson at Manchester Airport, he no longer dared to sign autographs to fans casually.

Sign one and get two, sign two and get four...

He found that he had underestimated his influence and popularity among fans!

After arriving at the training ground and greeting several teammates, Lin Quan quickly went to the locker room to change clothes, and then quickly joined the training.

He glanced around and found that there were a few familiar faces missing from the team, and there were also a few unfamiliar faces.

"Where's the captain?"

Lin Quan poked Xiaofa and asked doubtfully.

Fabregas obviously knew who the captain Lin Quan was talking about, and he asked in surprise:

"Don't you know? The captain announced his retirement yesterday!"

"Well, didn't he agree to accompany us through the World Cup? Why did he retire?"

The captain the two mentioned was not the on-field captain Casillas, but the old captain Puyol.

When participating in the World Cup preliminaries, Puyol once expressed his desire to fight for the World Cup in Brazil with his teammates.

Lin Quan always kept these words in mind, but he didn't expect that he would announce his retirement in advance.

"Alas, the team's 23-man roster is full. The Pudong team did not want to embarrass the coach and voluntarily withdrew from the national team, and he has already retired from the club. Since he has withdrawn from the national team, there is nothing to commemorate. I might as well just announce my retirement."

Lin Quan remembers that in the original history, Puyol announced his retirement at the end of La Liga.

This time, he did not choose to retire immediately after the league ended, but waited for a while before retiring.

Obviously, he has the idea of ​​participating in the World Cup.

Puyol is a player born in April 1978 and is 36 years old this year.

At this age, it is obviously impossible to become the main force of the team, or even to provide much substantial help to the team.

As for Spain's 23-man roster, every spot is extremely valuable.

If he occupies a roster, he is likely to cause problems for Del Bosque's formation.

Therefore, his retirement choice is obviously to sacrifice himself to become a member of the global team.

Lin Quan felt a little sad when he heard the news of Puyol's retirement.

He didn't have much contact with Puyol, but in a limited period of time, the leader of the locker room had a great influence on him.

As the soul of Barcelona, ​​Puyol is born with strong spiritual attributes and leadership qualities.

Even if he is older and unable to help the team on the court, he can still play a very important role in comforting and encouraging his teammates in the locker room.

Thinking of this, Lin Quan had an idea.

He stopped training and went to Del Bosque to offer him advice.

"Invite Puyol to temporarily join the coaching staff and travel with the team?"

Bosque was confused by Lin Quan's wild ideas. He looked at Lin Quan doubtfully and asked:

"Lin, haven't you noticed that there are only 22 people in the 23-man roster? I left a place for Puyol and he refused to come. If you invite him to be an assistant coach, will he agree?"

Del Bosque is not a person who does not miss old friendships. Puyol has worked with him for six years and has always been the defense general he relies on most.

In fact, he also hopes to be able to help Puyol and take him to participate in another World Cup.

But Puyol himself refused, he did not want to be a burden to the team, and Del Bosque could not force the other party to participate.

What's more, Puyol's current competitive strength has indeed dropped a lot, and it is difficult to appear in the game.

Taking him and keeping him on the bench may hurt Puyol's self-esteem.

Just like Manchester United captain Gary Neville, he only played 4 times for Manchester United in his final season and sat on the bench almost all the rest of the time.

Ferguson valued his influence in the locker room and hoped that he could help the team in the locker room.

But Gary Neville doesn't want to be a mascot because he knows that his current strength cannot help Manchester United.

So, he chose to retire.

Puyol's choice is almost the same as Gary Neville's choice!

If Puyol is invited back as a coach at this time, will the other party agree?

"I think so. The old captain has always wanted to participate in this World Cup with us. Now it seems that he is not able to play as a player, but participating in the World Cup as a coach and part of the team is also It can be regarded as fulfilling one of his wishes!"

"And the senior captain has rich experience in competitions. He can not only provide substantial help during defensive training, but also provide valuable game experience to us young players, which is also beneficial to the team!"

Bosque held his chin and looked at Lin Quan for a long time, thinking to himself that your playing style is so sophisticated that it is completely unlike a genius who is an 18-year-old player. Do you still need others to provide you with experience?

Make up your excuses and make them look more like they are, I don't even want to expose you!

"Well, the team does lack a defender coach. If you can convince Carles, then I will give him this position!"

Bosque couldn't resist Lin Quan's insistence, so he pinched his nose and believed the reason the other party had made up.

After getting Bosque's consent, Lin Quan left happily.

Looking at Lin Quan's back and then at the assistant beside him, Bosque asked hesitantly:

"Tony, do you think we are too doting on this kid?"

"Pampering? Who is it? Lin?"

"Um!"

"Haha, I don't think it counts!"

Tony couldn't help but roll his eyes. He wanted to tell Del Bosque that when the outside world commented on Spain, there was an interesting saying.

The general idea is that with Spain's lineup and configuration, let alone Bosque, even a dog on the coaching bench can win.

Before Lin Quan joined, although Spain was strong, it had serious problems on the offensive end.

But his joining made up for Spain's shortcomings and gave Spain its own nuclear warhead.

For this kind of player, let alone favoring and pampering him, it is not too much to hold him carefully in your hands.

Let's not talk about the distance, let's talk about Spain's neighbor Portugal. What is Ronaldo's status in the Portuguese team?

What is Lin Quan's status in the Spanish team?

As for his current treatment in the team, Tony feels that it has nothing to do with the word 'pampering' that Del Bosque mentioned.

In Tony's opinion, Bosque is not doting on Lin Quan enough!

Otherwise, a vice-captain or something, high or low, would have to be given!

Xavi and others will soon retire from the national team, and the Spanish national team needs to establish the core of the next generation as soon as possible.

And the only one who can take on this responsibility is Lin Quan.

Therefore, even if he is not given the position of captain of the national team now, the vice-captainship must be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

But looking at Bosque's arrangements, there seemed to be no such plan in the short term, which made Tony feel that he seemed to be suppressing Lin Quan intentionally and not giving him the treatment he deserved.

As for the reason for doing this, he probably didn't want to be promoted too quickly and affect Lin Quan's mentality.

After all, many young players who become famous at a young age are always prone to self-aggrandizement and then destroy themselves after becoming famous.

…

After agreeing with Del Bosque, Lin Quan immediately called Puyol.

"Lin, what's the matter?"

Puyol was surprised that Lin Quan suddenly called.

"Captain, come back, we need you!"

Lin Quan didn't do any ink and went straight to the point and extended an invitation to Puyol.

Since the national team's 23-man roster is not yet full, Puyol still has the possibility of seizing the last chance to board the ship.

On the other end of the phone, after hearing Lin Quan's words, Puyol smiled bitterly and said:

"I am old and can no longer contribute to the team. Bringing me with me will only make me a burden to the team. That is too disgraceful for an old guy like me."

Puyol's words were very sad. After hearing Puyol's words, the words 'Heroes grow late' came to Lin Quan's mind.

Sure enough, Del Bosque guessed right. A direct invitation would not work. If we really wanted to bring him along but not let him play, Puyol would probably be even more injured.

Out of consideration for maintaining Puyol's self-esteem, Lin Quan did not directly extend the invitation, but made a roundabout way:

"Captain, what are you going to do after you retire?"

Lin Quan's jumping topic made Puyol silent for a while. He actually had no idea what to do.

When he decided to leave Barcelona, ​​he was preparing to go to the lower leagues to find gold.

Although his current level cannot continue to play in the five major leagues, it should still be no problem to play in leagues such as the Middle East or the North American Major League.

Relying on his reputation as world champion captain, he can get a big contract in these low-level leagues and play out the last few years. He can not only make money but also continue to enjoy the life of playing football.

For a lot of players his age, that's very attractive.

However, Puyol has only played for one team in his life, and he does not want to betray his beliefs.

Although playing in lower-level leagues in the last few years can help him earn one to two thousand or even tens of millions of euros more, for Puyol, his faith and loyalty to the Red and Blues cannot be measured by money.

Therefore, after thinking again and again, he finally decided to retire and gave up the idea of ​​going to low-level leagues to find gold.

However, after retirement, you have to find something to do for yourself, right?

For players who retire, most of them will continue to choose to engage in football-related jobs, except that they rarely leave football.

For example, changing careers to become a coach, working as a commentator and commentator on a TV station, signing a contract with the club where you originally played to become the club's administrative and managerial staff, etc.

Puyol decided to retire after taking into account his huge contribution to the team.

Barcelona is planning to invite him to serve as assistant to the sports director so that he can continue to play for Barcelona.

The salary of this job is not much, but the advantage is that he can continue to stay in Barcelona, ​​which may be very attractive to Puyol.

However, this position is susceptible to political influence.

Almost all the previous sports directors are confidants of the club chairman, so as long as the club chairman changes, this position will inevitably be purged.

Barcelona's current sporting director is Zubizarretta, who was promoted by Russell. As Russell's confidant, he cannot be trusted by the newly elected club president, so it will be a matter of time before he is purged.

If Puyol accepts Barcelona's invitation, he will most likely be forced to resign in January next year.

The Barcelona club may not be aware of this, but they still gave him such an embarrassing position. This approach is very confusing. I don't know whether it is intentional or accidental.

Puyol did not hide anything and told Barcelona's invitation.

Lin Quan thought seriously for a while and persuaded:

"Does the captain want to consider changing his career to become a coach? Not only can he continue to engage in football-related work, but one day in the future he may be able to return to Camp Nou as a coach like many legendary stars!"

Lin Quan's words moved Puyol very much. There was a living example in front of him-Guardiola!

Guardiola, who played for Barcelona for more than ten years as a player, returned to Camp Nou as a coach.

His return directly established Barcelona's dream third dynasty, winning two Champions League trophies for Barcelona, ​​and forcibly raising Barcelona, ​​a team with far less foundation and strength than Real Madrid, to the same level as Real Madrid.

Guardiola's successful transformation is a huge inspiration and stimulus to many retired players.

They can't help but want to imitate him!

Puyol is no exception!

"Okay, let me think about it!"

"That's right, captain. Our national team currently lacks an experienced defensive coach. Do you want to consider it?"

As if worried that Puyol would refuse to save face, Lin Quan added:

"Captain, didn't you say you hope to win this World Cup with us? Since you can't win the cup as a player, then just participate as a coach!"

Puyol was stunned for a moment, and suddenly realized that this might be the real purpose of Lin Quan's call.

Is this guy going through all these twists and turns just to say this?

He was a little moved, sniffed, and said without hesitation: "No problem, I can report at any time!"

After Puyol's clear rejection again, Del Bosque quickly recruited another person into the team.

At this point, Spain's 23-man squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil has been released.

Goalkeepers: Casillas (Real Madrid), Reina (Naples), De Gea (Manchester United)

Defenders: Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Alba (Barcelona), Pique (Barcelona), Ramos (Real Madrid), Javi Martinez (Bayern Munich), Albiol (Napoli) , Juanfran (Atletico Madrid)

Midfielder: Busquets (Barcelona), Xavi (Barcelona), Iniesta (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona), Alonso (Real Madrid), Koke (Atletico Madrid), David Schiff Silva (Manchester City), Mata (Manchester United).

Forwards: Lin Quan (Manchester City), Pedro (Barcelona), David Villa (Atletico Madrid), Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid), Torres (Chelsea).

It is worth mentioning that Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa, who was originally a dual national of Brazil and Spain, finally chose to join the Spanish national team.

This move caused huge controversy. Fans of the Brazilian team regarded him as a traitor, believing that he shamelessly betrayed his motherland in order to embrace Spain.

On the other hand, Spanish fans were not as welcoming to his move as historically. After all, they already had Lin Quan.

As a result, Diego Costa became the rat in the bellows, suffering from both sides!