Chapter 12 The American Gold Rush

On the passenger plane flying to the United States, the two brothers Kaka and Digan sat side by side. Their positions were separated from other teammates by two rows. The distance between the two rows was like a diaphragm in the team.

"Rod! You were too impulsive that day!" Kaka couldn't tell whether it was a complaint or something, and she just said it in such a flat tone, as if she was talking about a very ordinary thing.

Digan closed his eyes and smiled, and said, "Hey! Ricardo! I should say this kind of thing! At least no one saw me when I did it."

When Kaka heard this, she was suddenly depressed: "Stinky boy! Who am I for!?"

Digan smiled and said, "What? Do you want me to say thank you?"

For his younger brother, Kaka is completely helpless, just like Digan simplified his name to "Kaka" because he couldn't pronounce "Ricardo" when he was a child. Compromise is learned from an early age.

When he arrived in Italy, Kaka realized that "Kaka" in Italian actually means to poop. A handsome guy, the prince of the stadium, actually bears such a disgusting name, which really caught the attention of a group of people.

"Who cares about your thank you!" Kaka paused, and then said, "Rod! This US tour is very important to you, so do a good job!"

Of course, Degan is very clear that the warm-up before the start of the season is a critical moment for the head coach to inspect the team's status. Whether he can win a position for himself in the new season depends on this period of time.

Digan has absolute confidence in his own strength, but for this kind of thing, confidence alone is definitely not enough. Sometimes the football field also pays attention to interpersonal relationships.

Especially for a head coach, he can see clearly who is his disciple and who is his supporter within the team. When the time comes to arrange playing time, he will inevitably have to take care of his own people.

In the AC Milan team, Maldini, Costacurta, and Ambrosini are all Milan's own people, old courtiers, Pirlo, Gattuso, Seedorf, and the newly joined Jankulovski , and Kaka, these are Ancelotti's direct troops, who were single-handedly promoted after he took office, and Nesta, Dida, Cafu, Shevchenko, these are all powerful factions , must be arranged.

It is not easy for a prickly head like Degan to occupy a place in Ancelotti's heart. What's more, Degan once contradicted Ancelotti because of tactical issues. Chelotti will send Deegan endless shoes in the new season.

Will Deagan be worried?

Of course not, he is not such a character who is concerned about gains and losses. If Milan cannot provide him with a platform to succeed, then it is very simple, just leave.

With Digan's strength, it is definitely not difficult to find a new job, but even if he really wants to leave here one day, Digan will not wear the hat of a loser. Even if he wants to leave, he will Also conquer here first.

"Don't worry, Ricardo! I am very confident in my own strength."

Kaka was stunned for a moment, he really wanted to tell Digan how complicated AC Milan is, it is definitely not what Galliani claimed, it is a harmonious big family, factional struggles are everywhere in AC Milan, just because The elders were too powerful to suppress the small factions in the team.

Degan has never been to the United States in his previous life, so it is difficult to understand why so many people are flocking to such a noisy country. Fortunately, Degan does not have to work hard here. The whole team got off the plane. Except for some reporters, there was no one to meet them. Machine fans.

In the United States, football is not a popular sport. Americans whose self-esteem has almost reached the point of arrogance choose to ignore all the sports they are not good at.

The really popular sports in the United States are ice hockey, rugby, baseball, basketball, and football is just a niche sport.

But that's fine too, the game was played quietly, the Yankees made money, and then they went back home. In fact, Degan didn't like this kind of money-grabbing behavior at all.

A team's pre-season preparations are very important, and it even affects the direction of the entire season. Like Juventus, after losing to Atlanta in the league title competition last season, they were bored in Turin all summer. The training base retreats to practice innate skills, but the two Milan teams are busy making money everywhere. AC Milan came to the United States, and Inter Milan went to Qatar even more strangely. Qataris riding camels really know what football is. East?

However, it is not bad to be able to compete with the three super teams of Barcelona, Chelsea, and Lyon. After Barcelona introduced Deco, Giuly and other powerful players last season, they immediately rejuvenated. The dream team Set sail again.

After Chelsea got the character coach Mourinho, they also won the Premier League championship in one fell swoop, breaking the monopoly of Arsenal and Manchester United on the championship.

As for Lyon, although Ligue 1 is slightly inferior in terms of strength and competitiveness compared to the other four major leagues in Europe, Lyon is the real overlord of Ligue 1.

Although Degan also played against Juventus and Milan last season, he still couldn't help being excited when he played against super teams like Barcelona and Chelsea.

The venue of the game is arranged in Los Angeles, and the four teams will have a single round-robin. The opponent of AC Milan's first game is the overlord of La Liga last season, Barcelona.

In today's Barcelona, Ronaldinho is a well-deserved king. After transferring to Barcelona for 28 million euros in the summer of 2003, the Brazilian quickly conquered the city with his magical football skills. Relying on his unparalleled performance in the season, he led Barcelona to win the league championship again.

However, Degan is more concerned about Messi, who is just emerging now. If Degan faced some setbacks at the beginning of his career, Messi's football career is simply an inspirational drama with ups and downs.

At the age of five, Messi began to play for Grandoli Club, the coach is his father. At the age of seven the little guy was acclaimed at Newell's Old Boys.

However, Messi was diagnosed with developmental hormone deficiency at the age of eleven, which would hinder the growth of his bones. The family's economic conditions could not bear the cost of treatment for Messi. Because his talent was favored by Barcelona's Rexach, Taking him to Camp Nou in 2000, Messi relocated his family to Europe.

Until later, Rexach still regarded this event as the most proud gamble in his life: "This is the most proud gamble in my life. When I saw him, he was a head shorter than his peers, but he was The best of the bunch, so I told myself, that's him, yes."

In the future, Messi will be a giant holding a golden ball, but who would have thought that he almost ended his football career because of dwarfism, and it was precisely a man named Rexach who saved Messi and the future of Barcelona.

At that time, Messi's dwarfism was not incurable, but injections of growth hormone cost up to 900 US dollars a month. The old man of the parent team Newell was obviously unwilling to pay for a child with an uncertain future. Riverbed, who once coveted Messi, learned that After his stubborn illness, he also gave up the idea of poaching corners.

Rexach spent a lot of time convincing the Barcelona club and also promised Messi's family that he would not change his nationality. With the help of Rexach, Messi and his family moved to Barcelona. The Barcelona sports director at the time did not hesitate to sign Messi after watching Messi's training and games, and arranged for the club to treat him. From this moment, Messi's road to stardom has finally opened.

The Barcelona club has made great efforts to help Messi grow. Medical experts have shown strong confidence in how the adult Messi can grow again. Since Messi's epiphyseal line has been closed, the injection of growth hormone has no effect, so Club experts specially formulated a series of leg exercises for him to help Messi's leg bones grow.

On November 16, 2003, Messi made his debut on behalf of the Barcelona first team in a friendly match against Porto. A year later, his La Liga debut came. At the age of 17 years and 114 days, he represented Barcelona in the league against Espanyol , becoming the third youngest player in Barcelona's history and the youngest player for the club to play in the league.

On May 1, 2005, Messi scored against Albacete. At the age of 17 years, 10 months and 7 days, he became the youngest person to score a league goal for Barcelona.

The 05/06 season was Messi's first year in Barcelona. He made his debut at Camp Nou in the Champions League against Udinese and received a standing ovation from the fans. However, in March 2006, he played against Chelsea. Pulled a muscle and withdrew from the season early.

In the 06/07 season, Messi became the main force of Barcelona's first team, scoring 14 goals in 26 games. Messi suffered a broken metatarsal against Zaragoza in December and was forced to rest for three months. Messi gradually recovered after his comeback. On March 11, 2007, he scored a hat-trick against Real Madrid and became the first player to score three goals in the match of the century after Zamorano. On April 18, 2007, Messi copied Maradona's five consecutive goals in the World Cup against Getafe in the King's Cup semi-final, and later against the Spaniard, his handball goal It is also regarded as a copy of Maradona's Hand of God.

In the 08/09 season, Messi inherited the No. 10 jersey left by Ronaldinho, which was also his peak year in Barcelona. He scored 38 goals in all competitions, led his team to win the La Liga, King's Cup and Champions League trophies, and became the top scorer in the Champions League with 9 goals.

With the outbreak of this year, Messi reached the top of the world in one fell swoop. At the end of 2009, he was elected as the European Footballer and World Footballer.

In the 09/10 season, Messi played 35 times in La Liga and scored 34 goals, tying Ronaldo's La Liga scoring record in a single season, and helped the team win the La Liga title, and once again became the top player in the UEFA Champions League with 8 goals. top scorer.

In the 10/11 season, in the UEFA Champions League away game against Shakhtar Donetsk, Messi scored the only goal in the game. While helping the team win and advance to the Champions League semi-finals, it also surpassed Ronaldo's 47 goals in a single season record. In the La Liga match against Osasuna, Messi completed his 50th goal of the season, surpassing the brilliant record of 49 goals in a single season of La Liga set by Real Madrid star Puskas in the 1959/1960 season.

In the Champions League final against Manchester United, in the 54th minute, Messi received a pass from Iniesta and scored with his left foot, regaining the lead for Barcelona and finally winning the cup.

After Messi became the king of the ball, it naturally aroused the interest of countless powerhouses in the world. Two clubs once offered Messi a 250 million euro breakout fee, including Barcelona's arch-enemy Real Madrid.

It is not a day or two for Real Madrid to have ideas about Messi. Florentino once publicly stated: "If Barcelona wants to sell Messi, please call me."

Before that, Lafayette also said to Ronaldo, "I sold you today, and I will buy Messi tomorrow". As for another club that once sought to buy Messi, it is very likely to be Chelsea. The sponsor of the Blues is also Adidas. British media revealed that Chelsea also tried to sign the Argentine superstar this summer.

However, Messi, who is loyal to Barcelona, finally completed the contract renewal with Barcelona. After the renewal, his annual salary reached 16 million euros. The new contract expires in 2018, and the liquidated damages were raised to 250 million euros. A number is an out-and-out sky-high price, but this still can't stop the giants from rushing towards Messi.

The future king of the court is still just a fledgling rookie. Today's Barcelona belongs to Ronaldinho. If the Argentine kid wants to be in the top position, he still needs to wait patiently.

After settling in the hotel, some teammates have gone out for fun. If you come to the United States and don't try an American-style affair, wouldn't it be too bad for yourself? Even if you don't think so, I hope to take this opportunity to start the season. Have a good indulgence before.

Of course Digan didn't have that kind of thought. Firstly, his relationship with his teammates was a bit cold. Besides, Digan didn't have much interest in the so-called affair.

This time when she came to the United States, Beren did not come with her. She is now a celebrity in Italy, and her relationship with Degan made her instantly popular, especially after Degan moved to AC Milan, Belen became even more famous. Lusconi's paid TV show is the head of the show.

Lying in the hotel bed, playing with his mobile phone boredly, Kaka also followed Pirlo and the others to the bar next to him, leaving Digan alone.

Suddenly the phone rang, and Digan was startled. He almost missed it and threw the phone out, but after he saw the number displayed on it, he couldn't help but froze again.

Avril!