Chapitre 236: Chapter 236: All-Star Lineup, Maradona Team vs. Ronaldo Team! [Transitional Chapter]
Chapter 236: All-Star Lineup, Maradona Team vs. Ronaldo Team! [Transitional Chapter]
"Do you guys want to participate in the charity match at Camp Nou?"
Casillas shook his head, "I'll pass. I need to recover from my injury. The World Cup is about to start, and I can't afford to get injured again!"
Casillas suffered a serious injury last year, causing him to miss many matches for both the national team and the club. He also lost his starting position at Real Madrid to Diego Lopez.
Lin Quan expressed understanding and then looked at Ramos.
Ramos waved his hand repeatedly, "Not going, not going. I'm a studious person. I need to study hard during this time!"
Lin Quan glanced at Ramos, whose body was covered in tattoos, and he was about to turn 27 soon. Yet here he was pretending to be a good student.
It felt so off!
"Don't doubt me! Look, I even brought my books!"
Seeing Lin Quan's disbelief, Ramos quickly took out his geography and ecology textbooks that he carried with him.
Curiously, Lin Quan took them and flipped through them, finding them filled with crooked notes. He began to believe Ramos's words.
"What's this for? I remember these seem to be high school textbooks?"
Lin Quan received compulsory education in Spain, so he recognized the two books in Ramos's hands.
Ramos scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Casillas, mercilessly, exposed Ramos's secret, "He's going to take the high school exams in February. If he doesn't pass this time, he'll have to take them again next year!"
Ramos, high school exams?
Aren't these supposed to be taken before turning 16?
Could it be true that someone has dragged it out until they're 27?
Can't be true, can it?
Lin Quan was stunned by Casillas's words. Thinking that Ramos was almost 27 and still hadn't received his high school diploma, he couldn't help but find it amusing.
Casillas smiled and asked Lin Quan, "Lin, do you think Ramos will pass this time?"
Lin Quan glanced at Ramos. Besides playing and training, Ramos was also studying earnestly. It was clear that he was putting effort into it.
So he replied, emphasizing the words "27 years old," "Definitely not, otherwise, he wouldn't have dragged it out until he's 27!"
He deliberately emphasized the words "27 years old."
"Haha, I think so too!"
The two laughed heartily.
Ramos raised his fist the size of a sandbag and punched each of them, saying, "Don't underestimate me. I'll definitely pass this time!"
"Alright, alright, you'll definitely pass. Then when the time comes, go to the temple to burn incense for the God of Literature, or get another tattoo on your body saying 'pass the exam every time.' That should do the trick!"
Lin Quan joked.
Originally just a joke, but Ramos seemed to take it seriously. He insisted that Lin Quan take him to burn incense for the God of Literature and, under Lin Quan's persuasion, planned to tattoo eight words on his arm — "Lucky Carpio, pass the exam every time!"
He seemed to be really afraid of failing, resorting to desperate measures.
Whether it worked or not, it's better to try first.
More and more people gathered in the rest area. Lin Quan saw former Manchester United and Real Madrid star David Beckham among them, as well as the red-nosed Sir Alex Ferguson.
Although the two entered the banquet hall one after the other, there was no interaction between them, as if the grievances between master and apprentice had not been completely resolved.
"Hello, Lin, didn't expect to see you here!"
After seeing Lin Quan, Beckham came over to greet him.
Although the two had never competed on the same stage, they were aware of each other's names.
When Lin Quan was young, many people of his age considered handsome Beckham as their idol.
"Mr. Beckham, you are my childhood idol. I've tried to imitate your 'banana kick' many times, but I just can't get it right."
Beckham smiled, "If you have time someday, we can practice together. But your chip shot is already very powerful. Those game-winning shots you made left a deep impression on me."
Lin Quan then praised Beckham's precise and elegant 45-degree long passes.
Beckham, in turn, praised Lin Quan's imaginative and incredible 45-degree ground passes.
The two engaged in a round of mutual compliments, and their relationship became much closer.
Before leaving, Beckham specially asked for Lin Quan's phone number, saying that he would come to find Lin Quan for a practice session when he returned to England.
Lin Quan naturally agreed and even invited Beckham to come to the Etihad Stadium to watch a game.
Beckham, although he has left Manchester United, is still a former Manchester United player.
So it's not suitable for him to go to Manchester City's home stadium openly to watch the game. However, he expressed that he would go to watch Lin Quan's match live when Manchester United plays against Manchester City in the 28th round of the league.
Just as Beckham left, Ferguson and Mourinho arrived at the rest area.
Both Ferguson and Mourinho have coached Ronaldo before, and both are considered Ronaldo's mentors.
It's not strange for them to attend Ronaldo's gathering, but what's strange is that these two actually came together.
Haven't their relationship always been bad?
Seeing Lin Quan and Ramos, Mourinho's expression didn't look good.
After leaving Real Madrid, Ramos once made things difficult for Mourinho, so he has no good feelings towards Ramos.
As for Lin Quan, Mourinho didn't dislike him originally. He even admired him a lot and once wanted to bring him to Chelsea.
But in the end, it didn't work out. Lin Quan not only didn't join Chelsea but also went to Manchester City, becoming his direct competitor in the league, and possibly the biggest one.
Compared to Mourinho's serious expression, Ferguson greeted Lin Quan very friendly.
"Lin, are you here for vacation?"
"No, Sir Alex, I also want to vacation, but the Premier League doesn't have a winter break, so I can only come back to attend Ronaldo's gathering and also participate in the charity match at Camp Nou tomorrow."
"Oh? Is it the one organized by Maradona?"
The retired old man seemed to be interested in this kind of match, even though he retired due to declining health and couldn't handle the intensity of coaching anymore.
But Ferguson devoted his whole life to football. If he had nothing to do, he really couldn't stay idle.
So playing this kind of friendly charity match as a coach, to warm up the old man, is also good.
"Yes, are you interested in joining? We still lack a coach!"
When Lin Quan heard that the other party was interested, he immediately took the opportunity to invite Ferguson to be the head coach.
Ferguson smiled and asked, "Why don't you invite your father to coach?"
Lin Quan's stepfather is Guardiola, and this kind of thing is no longer a secret in the football world.
With Guardiola's coaching level and his relationship with Lin Quan, if Lin Quan spoke, Guardiola would basically not refuse. So Ferguson was puzzled why they still didn't have a coach.
"He probably won't be in a good mood recently, so I won't bother him."
Although Lin Quan didn't say it explicitly, Ferguson, being astute, immediately guessed that it was about the Kroos transfer.
Even if this happened to Guardiola, it would probably upset him.
Guardiola was enjoying hotpot and singing, looking forward to the honors of the second half of the season, and suddenly being told that Bayern had sold the team's midfield core.
If he didn't get into a big fight with Bayern on the spot, it's already considered good temperament!
"Since you don't mind the coaching level of this retired old man, I reluctantly accept this invitation, but I have to ask in advance, you won't choose to join Maradona's team and team up with Messi, will you?"
Considering Maradona's age, he probably can't play, so most likely he'll attend as a coach.
And Messi is Maradona's favorite disciple, so he'll definitely join Maradona's team.
One Messi is headache enough, if Lin Quan joins in, then there's no fun anymore.
"Sir Alex, you're too modest. Your coaching level is top-notch in the football world. I've been looking forward to learning from you for a long time!"
Ferguson was flattered by Lin Quan's flattery, laughing and scolding, "You little brat, your mouth is so sweet. Since that's the case, why didn't you come to Manchester United last year?"
Lin Quan was embarrassed, "Sir Alex, you've already retired. What would I do if I went to Manchester United?"
Ferguson sighed, "If you were willing to come to Manchester United, then maybe I wouldn't have retired!"
This statement couldn't be countered. With Ferguson's age, even if he forced himself not to retire, he wouldn't have lasted for many years. Lin Quan wouldn't gamble on something like this.
Fortunately, Ferguson has good emotional intelligence and didn't continue to embarrass Lin Quan on this matter. After exchanging pleasantries, the two left.
After Ferguson and Mourinho left, Ramos and Casillas breathed a sigh of relief.
"If I had known he was coming, I wouldn't have come!"
Ramos looked at Mourinho's departing figure and sighed, feeling somewhat regretful.
Lin Quan had heard that there were serious conflicts in the Real Madrid locker room, and the players were very dissatisfied with Mourinho.
Now it seems that this statement wasn't baseless.
At least from Ramos and Casillas's reactions, they really don't like Mourinho.
But this kind of thing belongs to the internal secrets of the Real Madrid locker room, and Lin Quan didn't inquire much about it.
A group of people were chatting, and Ronaldo's girlfriend Irina, accompanied by another young and beautiful woman, walked gracefully towards them.
Ramos glanced at the other party and couldn't take his eyes off her. He decided to take back what he had just said. It was indeed the right decision to attend this gathering!
Upon seeing Ramos's appearance, Lin Quan and Casillas also looked at him curiously.
Cristiano Ronaldo's girlfriend Irina is already considered a beauty, but compared to the woman beside her, she still falls short by quite a bit.
This made Lin Quan couldn't help but be curious: Who exactly is the person next to Irina?
"Gentlemen, the dance party is about to begin, won't you gentlemen invite the ladies to dance?" Irina said with a smile to the group.
Ramos was the most enthusiastic, immediately putting aside unpleasant things like studying for exams with Mourinho.
He stood up promptly and invited the woman next to Irina, "This beautiful lady, may I have the honor of dancing with you?"
Morata also intended to invite her, but his movement was a step slower than Ramos.
Seeing Ramos stand up, Morata could only sit down disappointedly.
The woman seemed somewhat hesitant, glancing towards Lin Quan's direction behind Ramos, seemingly preferring the person inviting her to be this rising star of the football world.
However, Lin Quan remained seated, smiling as he watched Ramos and Morata vie with each other, showing no intention of joining in.
So she nodded reluctantly and let Ramos lead her onto the dance floor.
"Who is this person?"
Seeing Morata's disappointed expression beside him, Lin Quan asked him.
"Really? You don't even know who she is?" Morata looked at Lin Quan in shock, as if he had just learned something incredible.
Lin Quan found it bewildering. With so many people in the world, he couldn't possibly know everyone.
"Um, do you know who won Miss World last year?"
"Is it her?"
"Bingo, you got it right, it's her, Megan Young!"
Okay, now he finally understood why Ramos and Morata were so excited.
I wonder who started this trend, but the girlfriends of footballers are generally beauties among models and actresses.
Wait, does that include my girlfriend too?
Oh, never mind then!
The dance party began, with the men either finding single ladies or fetching their own partners.
When Lin Quan found Lily Collins, he noticed two familiar faces beside her - Emma Watson and Victoria Beckham.
Having seen Beckham earlier, seeing Mrs. Beckham was normal.
But Emma appearing here was truly unexpected for Lin Quan.
Emma Watson caught the expression on Lin Quan's face, a hint of a smile in her eyes.
"Mr. Lin, may I have the pleasure of dancing with you?"
While others usually expect men to invite women, she took the initiative to invite Lin Quan.
Lily Collins and Victoria both seemed somewhat surprised.
Victoria glanced thoughtfully at Lily Collins beside her, then looked at Lin Quan and Emma Watson, seemingly curious how Lin Quan would handle this situation.
Emma Watson is currently a hotshot in Hollywood.
Her role in the Harry Potter series attracted countless viewers, and her portrayal of Hermione has made her a dream girl for many young men.
Seeing her take the initiative to invite Lin Quan, the men at the scene all looked at Lin Quan with envy, jealousy, and hatred.
Why didn't I have such good luck? Why didn't Miss Watson come to invite me?
However, surprisingly, faced with Emma's invitation, Lin Quan directly refused:
"Sorry, Miss Watson, my dancing skills are terrible, so I'll spare you the embarrassment!"
Emma was stunned. This guy actually refused her invitation?
She personally made a move, and she had never failed before! This was the first time!
Victoria seemed also quite surprised by Lin Quan's decision, couldn't help but glance at Lily Collins beside her a few times.
Looks like I need to interact more with her and strengthen our relationship.
...
"Why did you just refuse Emma's invitation?"
By the edge of the dance floor, Lin Quan and Lily Collins, two clumsy dancers, occasionally stepped on each other's feet due to their lack of synchronization.
"I told you, didn't I? My dancing skills are terrible."
As he spoke, he accidentally stepped on Lily Collins's foot again.
Lily Collins glared at him, that last step was definitely intentional.
However, she was quite pleased with Lin Quan's answer. While Lin Quan wasn't paying attention, she suddenly tiptoed and kissed him on the cheek.
Lin Quan was startled. This little vixen dared to ambush me! Accept my righteous punishment!
He pulled Lily Collins into his arms with force, lowering his head to kiss her.
...
January 22nd, Camp Nou Stadium.
Although it was just a friendly match, there were still quite a few spectators in attendance today.
The ticket revenue from this match will all be donated to charity funds to help those suffering from ALS fight against the disease.
Many players attended this charity match, including not only active players but also many retired veterans.
The starting lineup for Maradona's team is: Messi, Batistuta, Xavi, Ronaldinho, Beletti, Matthaus, Nesta, Samuel, Cannavaro, Saviola, Neuer.
Sitting on the bench are Di Maria, Mascherano, Neymar, Higuain, Iniesta, Aguero, Busquets, Otamendi, Pique, and others.
Maradona didn't spend much time playing in the top five leagues, apart from three years in La Liga, the rest of his career was spent in Serie A, so there are quite a few Serie A old faces in his team.
Some of them are his former teammates, such as Cannavaro, while others are opponents, like Matthaus.
Matthaus is only a year younger than Maradona, but their conditions are like night and day. While the old Maradona's physique has deteriorated to the point where he can barely play, Matthaus still seems to have some fuel left in the tank judging by his warm-up movements on the field.
It's worth mentioning that, before the match, Aguero, who boasted about "resisting" his father-in-law, immediately chickened out upon seeing his old father-in-law, obediently running to Maradona's side to be a substitute.
In terms of goalkeepers, Neuer successfully stood opposite Lin Quan as Maradona's team guarded the goal.
About half of the starting lineup for Maradona's team consists of retired or near-retirement players, evidently, Maradona did not field his strongest lineup.
The situation on Ronaldo's team is similar. The starting lineup is:
Lin Quan, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Pirlo, Gattuso, Zidane, Cafu, Stam, Roberto Carlos, Buffon.
Sitting on the bench are Reus, De Bruyne, David Silva, Thiago Silva, Ronaldinho, Fernandinho, Marcelo, and Morata, among others.
On paper, Ronaldo's team is obviously stronger.
However, they have fewer active players in the starting lineup than Maradona's team, but their strength lies in their bench lineup.
If they were to replace all the veterans with active players, their chances of winning would be quite high.
However, in this kind of friendly match, nobody should really care about winning or losing, right?
The two teams' coaches, Maradona and Ferguson, shook hands friendly before the match. The main referee for this match is Howard Webb, who has just won the FIFA Best Referee award.
With Webb's whistle, the charity match between Maradona's team and Ronaldo's team officially began.
(End of this chapter)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone