The strongest blade in football

Chapter 7 What Doesn't Change Is Love
On the way home it began to drizzle.

Wang Nuo rode alone on the deserted road. Before six o'clock, there were not many people in sight.

The youth training base of Standard Liege is in the south of Liege, surrounded by lush forests.

Going north along the main road, you can see some residential areas scattered on both sides.

In fact, this is already a suburb, but the urban-rural divide in Belgium is not obvious.

Even in the city of Liege, there are no skyscrapers, and the buildings in Liege are generally below five floors.
Most of them are continuous houses, neatly arranged on both sides of the street, with similar styles, white or red walls, black or gray roofs, simple and clean.

Before he knew it, the rain was getting heavier. Wang Nuo had to put on a rain poncho and put the team's U19 player report book that he had begged for before he left in his arms to avoid being wet by the rain.

He needs to get to know his teammates as soon as possible. Only by understanding the characteristics of each teammate can he play together better, instead of being unable to call others by their names like today.

Wang Nuo lives on the north side of the Maas River, only two blocks away from the first team's home court, Dufrasen.

It was the old house of my grandmother's family. My grandmother passed away a few years ago, and Wang Nuo's mother moved to Ghent, so Wang Nuo lived alone in the family.

After a day of training, it means that Wang Nuo will be alone again before ten o'clock tomorrow.

He didn't want to stay alone in the house on a rainy day and get moldy, but...where could he go?
Wang Nuo rode westward along the Maas River, riding aimlessly, while pedaling, while thinking about the three questions raised by Weitant.

These three questions are easy to answer.

The first question is whether people run faster or football passes faster. Of course, football passes faster than people.

The second question is whether you can hear the shouts around you when passing people. Of course you can't hear them. It is impossible to hear any sounds when you are highly concentrated.

As for whether you prefer scoring goals or winning games, of course you like both. If you want to score goals and win games at the same time, that is the best!

Wang Nuo is not an idiot. He knows that the purpose of the coach's question is to warn himself, so that he can focus on the team and reduce individual efforts with the ball.

Then, in the next match, just pass more balls according to the coach's intention. Anyway, you still have to decide the specific scale.

Wang Nuo believes in his football awareness and philosophy, and after thinking about how to play at that time, he has a simple plan.

Putting the question aside, Wang Nuo continued to ride aimlessly along the Maas River.

The Maas River divides Liege into two, or Liege exists attached to this river. Wang Nuo didn't know how long he rode along the river until he felt hungry.

Seeing a restaurant called laMaisonBatta on the street by the river bank, Wang Nuo remembered that he had been here with his parents.

The milk sausage here was very delicious in memory, so the hungry Wang Nuo parked the car aside and walked in.

It was cloudy and rainy, and there were hardly any people in the restaurant. The owner of the restaurant was standing on the short ladder repairing the broken windows. When he noticed the arrival of the guests, he quickly put down his work and greeted him.

"Bad weather," he complained first, and then noticed Wang Nuo's jersey, "Young man, there is no game today, what are you?"

Wang Nuo took off his poncho and put the team report book on the table, "Just finished training, I'm a U19 player."

After the boss heard it, his eyes lit up.

"That's such a coincidence, my son just came back, Zoe, you should know each other, Zoe Yorker, you should be teammates!"

"Zoe!" Wang Nuo exclaimed when he heard the name, and immediately remembered who the owner of the name was.

"Who is calling me?"

Maybe because he heard the sound from outside, a young man came out from the kitchen of the restaurant, wearing an apron, and was surprised to see Wang Nuo on the seat.

"Oh, this is incredible," Wang Nuo looked at Zooey, and finally believed the truth, "I was just wandering aimlessly on a bicycle, and I could..."

"Needless to say, this order, uncle treats you for free, don't look at the menu, come and try our shop's signature milk sausage, served with truffles and figs, plus some salad and buns, it will definitely satisfy you, Zuo Yi, come and accompany him, and leave the kitchen to me."

Zoe's father seemed in good spirits and poured two glasses of Liefmans Cuvèe-Brut for them before leaving.

Zooey took off her apron and sat down next to Wang Nuo.

The two met in the afternoon. After a brief greeting, there was a moment of silence before Zooey said, "You are the second club teammate to come to my restaurant for dinner."

"Really?" Wang Nuo was worried and had nothing to say, so he asked along the lines, "Who is the first one?"

"Marouane Fellaini, that was last Christmas, I just entered the U19s, he didn't know me at all. But when he left, I got his autograph."

Zoe pointed to a wall at the end of the restaurant, "It's just hanging on that wall, it's a signed jersey."

"That would be fantastic, I admire Fellaini and the club should keep him, although Everton did pay a lot of money."

Wang Nuo has watched many standard Liege games and was very impressed with Fellaini.

Interestingly, Standard Liege almost eliminated Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers last year, and it was only in overtime that it was defeated by Dirk. After that, Standard Liege happened to meet Everton in the UEFA Cup.

Moyes spent 1500 million pounds (a Belgian league transfer record) to sign Fellaini. As a result, Fellaini did not play and his new club Everton lost.

"He is a promising star, maybe in a few years, that jersey will appreciate in value." Zoe joked, "But I don't want to sell it, I will always keep it."

"We play football well, and one day we will reach that height," said Wang Nuo, always full of confidence and fighting spirit.

He went on to say, "You are also very strong, and you are very flexible on your feet. You almost fooled me twice. If you didn't notice that your supporting leg didn't move the second time, you must have been passed again."

"Of course, what surprised me the most was your post-match summary. It was almost like a coach standing on the sidelines watching."

"Stop boasting, I'll be proud." Zooey laughed.

"What you see is only the surface. I envy you more. You have good explosive power, fast speed, strong ability to hold the ball, and can run tirelessly."

"Your performance today has completely amazed everyone. In private, I heard several teammates talking about your performance today. They all think that you can be the main force."

After complimenting each other, the two quickly entered the state, and they talked about techniques and tactics before they knew it.

They talked about free kick power skills, dribbling and extraordinary experience, formation, positioning, exchanged game experience, shared their own experiences, and at the end, they even made gestures in the open space beside the table.

"I rarely talk to others so much, you surprised me, Wang, your foundation is very solid, believe me, you will become a very good player!" Zoe sat back on the chair and said seriously.

"Yes! As long as we keep working hard, one day we will become the main force and enter the first team. We are all excellent." Wang Nuo patted Zoe on the shoulder.

"You work hard, I have no hope in this life," Zoe smiled, but Wang Nuo noticed that his mood suddenly became a little depressed, "If I have the opportunity to play professional games, I won't I learned how to cook with my father in the kitchen."

"Why?" Wang Nuo couldn't understand the meaning of this sentence, "You are very talented, and you will definitely be able to work hard."

"I will never be able to achieve the amount of exercise required by professional competition intensity, otherwise, my life will be in danger."

Zoe's tone was very flat, as if talking about an insignificant matter, "I have a congenital heart disease, and the coach and teammates know about it."

Zoe's words hit Wang Nuo like a thunderbolt. Wang Nuo was stunned for a long time before recovering. He didn't expect such a thing at all.

"Congenital heart disease, there should be hope to be cured. Belgium's medical level should be able to completely cure it... I heard that it can be cured... Sorry, I shouldn't..."

"I've had surgery, and the surgery was successful, but I still can't do strenuous exercise for a long time, so my career has ended early," Zoe paused, "It should be said that it's over before it even started. "

"what a shame."

"It's nothing, I've been used to it for a long time. Football is my biggest hobby. The coach allows me to stay in U19. I can play for 45 to [-] minutes. I am already very satisfied."

"In two years, I will inherit my father's store, and I can still play football with my friends, watch the game, oh yes, if you can play the first team by then, I will cheer for you every game day .”

Zoe said with a smile, "I can't play professional football, but life must go on. The only constant is my love for football."

Wang Nuo looked at Zooey, originally he wanted to comfort her, but found that Zooey didn't need comfort from others at all.

So he didn't want the atmosphere to develop in a negative direction, so he simply picked up the cup in front of him, "You are right, the love for football remains the same. Cheers, to the football we love."

"Cheers," Zoe also raised the cup in front of her. "It's a pleasure to meet you. You are the first Asian friend I know."

Two teenagers with the same dream drank the fruit beer in their cups in one gulp.

At this time, Zoe's father came out of the kitchen with a plate, "I've been waiting for a long time, boys, milk sausage, figs and salad, the bread is gone, so I fried some pancakes, I wasted a little time, I'm hungry , come and taste my craft."

Looking at the delicious food under the bright lights, the smiling uncle, and the friends he just met, Wang Nuo immediately threw out the boredom and loneliness of the rainy day out of the window.

Pick up the milk sausage with your hands, and you can smell the tempting aroma before you even move your mouth. When you bite down, the meat is fresh and tender, and the unique sweetness of milk lingers in your mouth.

"It's so delicious!" Wang Nuo couldn't help but praised.

"The ones I make taste better," Zoe joked. "Perhaps, in the future, there will be one less mediocre professional player in the football world, but one more world-lauded master in the food world."

　Liefmans Cuvèe-Brut: Lemans cherries, a Belgian fruit wine, are brewed only in July every year. After carefully selecting the freshly harvested cherries, they are mixed with Lemans Cuvèe-Brut’s special brown beer. After 18 months to 3 years of brewing period, the taste is wonderful.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)