Chapter 337: a.s.sociation of Hearts

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In the evening, Dai Li waited in the training room of Dingtian Club until the arrival of Yunan Xiao.

"I want to do some strenuous exercises today," Yunan Xiao said.

"No problem." Dai Li nodded and pointed at one piece of training equipment, "Just use this one!"

Several minutes later, Dai Li found something was wrong with Yunan Xiao.

When Yunan Xiao stopped to have a break, Dai Li sat together with her, and asked, "What"s wrong with you? Is there something annoying you?"

"You have noticed my mood change, right?" Yunan Xiao asked.

"Yes. You are not doing exercises, but instead, venting your bad mood," Dai Li said.

Yunan Xiao hesitated for several seconds, then said, "I am worrying we might lose in the next game."

The "next game" mentioned by Yunan Xiao was the second round of the final game of the AFC Champions.h.i.+p League. "You don"t need to worry. We have 2 away goals in hand, so we have the upper hand," Dai Li said.

"But no one can guarantee we could win the next game." Yunan Xiao"s eyes were filled with depression. She sighed and said, "This champion of the AFC Champions.h.i.+p League is really very important for the whole club."

"I know. If we win, we will be the first club to win as champion of the AFC Champions.h.i.+p League in China, which is unprecedented," Dai Li said.

"It"s more than that, for it is also related to Dingtian Group," Yunan Xiao said.

"You mean the economic returns, right? From the news, I know Dingtian Group has invested almost 1 billion Yuan in these years in the club. I thought you are just planning to maximize your influence, so that the sales of your real estates could be promoted," Dai Li said.

"If the investment in the new stadium is counted, the actual expenditure has exceeded 1 billion Yuan." Yunan Xiao paused a bit and continued to say, "Soccer is an expensive industry. It is impossible for our group to make investments in projects without economic returns. Therefore, according to the plan, we are going to have our team go public at an appropriate time. Being champion of the AFC Champions.h.i.+p League will also create a good opportunity for the club to go public."

"Go public? Could a soccer club also be a listed company?" Dai Li asked in surprise.

"Of course. If we could make it fast, and lodge the application next year. Then, the club will go public in the New Over The Counter Market in the year after next year. After going public, we could not only get more financing, the a.s.sets of the club will also grow tenfold, or even more. If we could succeed in turning the club into a listed company, the club will be the good a.s.set of the group, and my efforts in these years could pay off," Yunan Xiao said with longing.

Dai Li made a calculation in his heart. Now, the market value of Dingtian Club was over 1 billion Yuan. If the club went public, the a.s.sets would be increased tenfold, or even more, making the market value of Dingtian Club over 10 billion Yuan at that time.

After his calculation, Dai Li was surprised by the result. If Dingtian Club managed to go public, as the largest shareholder, Dingtian Group would at least obtain direct revenue of 4 to 5 billion Yuan, and the indirect revenue in future would even be immeasurable.

"I didn"t expect the soccer industry could be so profitable." Dai Li sighed slightly.

"That"s for sure. Otherwise, we would not make such a heavy investment in soccer." Yunan Xiao continued to say, "Of course, the precondition of all of these things is becoming the champion of the AFC Champions.h.i.+p League. We have to achieve pretty good accomplishments first, otherwise, our application will be rejected by China Securities Regulatory Commission. The listing of the club will also be postponed."

"Don"t put too much pressure on yourself." Dai Li continued to say, "I think you are too nervous now. Try to relax. You should know we only have 1 game left, and the result of the game is out of your control. At this time, what you could only do is to trust us. Trust the coach and the players."

Yunan Xiao didn"t say anything, then Dai Li continued to speak: "I still remember when I partic.i.p.ated in the official match for the first time as a coach. That was a branch match of the National Weightlifting Champions.h.i.+p. I was totally lost in the playing area and didn"t know what I should do. At last, an athlete came to console me and told me to relax…"

Dai Li started to tell his experience of partic.i.p.ating in the matches. He hoped Yunan Xiao could get some relaxation as she listened. When he started to tell his experience in the Asian Games, he suddenly felt something leaning on his shoulder.

Dai Li turned around and found Yunan Xiao leaning on his shoulder with squinted eyes. She had fallen asleep unknowingly as she was listening to Dai Li"s stories.

She is really tired. Dai Li stared at Yunan Xiao, and found that she only put on light make-up. However, the delicate fragrance emitting from her beautiful hair kept drifting into Dai Li"s nose.

At this moment, Dai Li got a feeling of obsession, suddenly. He even wanted to kiss the cheek of Yunan Xiao. However, he didn"t move a bit, for he was afraid he would wake Yunan Xiao up.

Just let her sleep quietly. She has put too much pressure on herself. It"s time for her to have a good rest.

...

After opening her eyes, Yunan Xiao felt that her neck was sore. However, this leaning gave her a sense of security. She wanted to keep this leaning movement and sleep a little longer.

In the next second, she suddenly realized she was leaning on the shoulder of Dai Li.

How could I sleep by leaning on his shoulder? Yunan Xiao"s face was flushed because of shyness. However, she didn"t get up immediately, but kept leaning on Dai Li and peeped up at him.

At this moment, Dai Li was also looking at her. When they made eye contact, they started to be embarra.s.sed at the same time. Dai Li got an inexplicable diffident feeling in his heart. On the contrary, Yunan Xiao was more open-minded. She left Dai Li"s shoulder, dressed her hair a bit, and then asked, "How long did I sleep?"

"Over half an hour," Dai Li answered.

"I should go home now." Yunan Xiao checked her wrist.w.a.tch, stood up, and left. Soon, she turned around and smiled at Dai Li, "Do you want to leave with me?"

...

The second round of the final game of the AFC Champions.h.i.+p League was held in the home court of Dingtian Club. Although the current score was 2-2, Dingtian had the advantage of 2 away goals, which meant for each goal scored by Dingtian in this game, Al-Ain had to score 2 more goals in order to be the winner.

Harman arranged 2 defending midfielders in this game, which meant that he planned to set up a solid defense line in the midfield to enhance the team"s defense. For Harman, the advantage of 2 away goals should be fully exerted, so his tactic was more steady and conservative in this game.

However, the 2 defending midfielders were not purely defensive. Besides the defense enhancement in the midfield, they should also organize offensive during the counterattack, meaning that they were attacking midfielders in offensive. This was the essence of Harman"s coaching theories: the position change of the players. Harman laid great emphasis on off-the-ball running in his tactics, which meant the players wouldn"t be fixed in one position. In offensive, the backcourt players should partic.i.p.ate in the offensive. While during defensive, the forecourt players shall also take part in the overall defense system.

Al-Ain kept attacking, while Dingtian was trying to counterattack on the basis of their robust defense. The double defending midfielder arrangement had greatly hampered the momentum of Al-Ain. Many offensives of Al-Ain were blocked in the midfield. Even though they managed to push forward to the forecourt, they had already lost their momentum. However, this defensive formation of Dingtian also resulted in the insufficient sharpness of the strikers, so Dingtian also failed to create many offensive opportunities.

The first half of the game ended in the stalemate. Neither of the 2 teams scored a goal, and even the offensives, which could cause threats to the opponent"s goal, were quite rare.

On normal days, this kind of game would be quite boring. However, the fans in the stadium kept cheering for the players in high spirits. Everyone knew that, even if no goal was scored in this game, Dingtian would still be the ultimate winner.

...

Score 1 goal! Just 1 goal is enough! Dai Li stood on the sideline and was watching the game nervously. Dai Li felt a tie was not secure enough. In case Al-Ain scored 1 goal, Dingtian would be in a pa.s.sive situation. On the contrary, if Dingtian scored a goal, Al-Ain had to score 2 more goals, which meant Dingtian got an error rate of 1 goal.

"Don"t be so nervous." Claude patted Dai Li on his shoulder slightly. "You should have confidence in Coach Harman, especially in this crucial moment."

Dai Li looked at Claude, as well as the two a.s.sistant coaches, Dela.s.saux and Georg. He found all of them were quite undisturbed.

"Aren"t you nervous now?" Dai Li asked.

"Everything is under control!" Claude paused a bit and continued to say, "This is not an individual event. Don"t forget, this is soccer, a sport with 11 players. The teamwork is the most important factor. Till now, we have known the performance of Al-Ain, as well as their upper limits in this game. Therefore, even now, with the score still 0-0, and no goal being scored, I am still not nervous."

"Our current tactics are correct, so what we need is just a little bit of good luck. A goal will be scored sooner or later." Claude continued to say, "This is what Coach Harman taught me."

Claude wore an expression of recollection, and continued to say, "I still remember when I had just started to work for Coach Harman, and he had been the coach of the champion of the UEFA Champions League, and was recruited as the head coach of the National Team of Italy. You should know that World Cup, of which Italy was the winner."

Dai Li nodded, and Claude continued his introduction, "I remember during the final game, I was very nervous, just like you are now. No, I should say I was more nervous than you, for we lost a goal in the first ten minutes of the game. At that time, I thought we were doomed to lose the game."

"Then Coach Harman told me that the current tactics were correct, and that what we needed was just a little bit of good luck. A goal would be scored sooner or later." Claude shrugged his shoulders, "As a result, we scored a goal after 10 minutes. I still can"t forget the confident expression of Coach Harman in that game."

Claude"s words were hardly out of his mouth, when a great shout burst out from the stands. Claude turned around and looked at the court. The ball had been pa.s.sed to the right side of the perimeter of Al-Ain"s penalty area.

"Cross! Shoot! Goal!"

Neol had a swift response. Although he was not very tall, his dibbling was quite awesome. He didn"t jump for the header, but managed to squeeze out from between two defensive players of Al-Ain, then he volleyed the ball to the goal of Al-Ain.

The goalkeeper of Al-Ain had the correct judgment upon the direction of the ball, however, the ball was too fast and Neol was too close, so all the attempts at saves made by the goalkeeper were in vain.

A deafening roar burst out in the stadium suddenly. All cameras in the stadium were aiming at Neol, who was das.h.i.+ng about excitedly. Then he made his symbolic celebration gesture.

Dingtian was in the lead with the score of 1-0. Al-Ain had to score 2 goals to win this game. It was less than half an hour before the end of the game. According to the current situation, it was almost impossible for Al-Ain to score 2 goals.

"We are going to win!" Dai Li also cheered excitedly. Then, he couldn"t help looking at the stands, for he wanted to share the joy of winning with Yunan Xiao.

At the same time, Yunan Xiao, who was in the stands, was also looking at Dai Li. When they made eye contact, they gave an understanding smile to each other.