Chapter 76: Bosque's Trust
After showcasing his abilities, Lin Quan felt that his status within the team had somewhat elevated.
Raúl, who always greeted everyone with a smile, showed him special attention.
Not only did Raúl share his years of experience on the field, but he also gave Lin Quan some tips to avoid injuries.
"Lin, you're still young, and your professional career is long ahead of you. So, you must, must take good care of yourself and avoid getting injured," Raúl advised.
Having played football for so many years, Raúl had witnessed numerous rising stars fall due to injuries, such as his former teammate at Real Madrid, Ronaldo.
Before his injury, Ronaldo, also known as the Phenomenon, was feared by all defenders.
However, after suffering a major injury, Ronaldo's threat declined sharply, and his performance deteriorated day by day, never returning to his former glory.
Spain had finally hoped for a forward with such potential, and Raúl, as a senior member of the national team, genuinely did not want Lin Quan to end up like those flash-in-the-pan players in history.
"Don't worry, captain, I'll take care of myself!"
Lin Quan, who had recently suffered an injury in a league match, still vividly remembered the experience.
He had already made up his mind that after this national team match, he would quickly accumulate points to exchange for a talent related to immunity from injuries.
Even if he couldn't completely become injury-free, reducing the risk of injury and minimizing its impact would be beneficial.
Raúl nodded approvingly. Young people often didn't listen to advice, but many times, they provided some suggestions from their own experiences as veterans.
However, the recipients often ignored them or even found them annoying without realizing that these suggestions were the result of countless experiences over their professional careers.
Impressed by Lin Quan's outstanding performance in the friendly match, Bosque had high hopes for him.
During the team's tactical drills, Bosque specifically arranged for Lin Quan to play as a free man upfront.
Giving him tremendous freedom, allowing him to decide his playing style in the attacking third.
Initially, this approach caused some discontent among the older players, feeling that Bosque's expectations for the newcomer were too high and too preferential.
The role of a free man upfront demanded extremely high requirements in terms of a player's talent, technique, and match experience.
Apart from those exceptionally talented superstars, ordinary players couldn't play in that position.
Just look at the free men who have dominated European football: Maradona, Platini, Zico, followed by Totti, Kaka, Messi. Aren't they all superstars?
Could a seventeen-year-old youth play as a free man upfront?
No, he couldn't!
I advise Bosque to first understand the philosophy of football and stick to Spain's strengths honestly.
Stop messing around with some fanciful stuff; Spain's lineup is strong enough without resorting to any gimmicks.
Almost everyone doubted Bosque's arrangement, but the results of the training matches surprised everyone.
Lin Quan, playing as a free man upfront, not only showed no signs of discomfort but also played excellently.
His coordination with teammates, link-up play, ball distribution, organizing attacks, and finishing were impeccable.
He seemed born for this position!
This not only met Bosque's expectations but even exceeded them.
At this point, the other players in the Spanish team had nothing to say.
Their gaze towards Lin Quan had completely changed because his abilities surpassed their imagination.
"This guy is a genius!"
Coach Toni excitedly said to his old partner.
Bosque couldn't stop smiling. He thought he had only found a gem, but it turned out he had discovered a gold mine!
"I'm a little worried for Leo!"
Iniesta stood beside Xavi, his eyes filled with shock and concern.
Lin Quan's strength was even stronger than they had imagined. If he returned to Barcelona and competed with Messi...
Could the aging Messi really compete with him?
"We don't need to worry about Leo's starting position for now. Besides, with Lin's return, he might not necessarily take Leo's place. Both of them have high football IQs; they might even complement each other and achieve synergistic effects!"
Xavi began to anticipate, looking forward to Lin Quan's return to Barcelona, where they could wreak havoc together.
With Lin Quan's joining, Barcelona's strength would be further enhanced. Plus, with the young Brazilian winger they were negotiating with.
How strong would Barcelona's strength be next year? Just thinking about it was exciting!
League champions, Champions League winners, Club World Cup champions...
They wanted everything that belonged to them!
...
After a few days of brief training camp, the entire Spanish team flew to Belarus on October 12th, preparing to face their second opponent in the group stage.
The Belarusian fans welcomed the arrival of the world champions with great enthusiasm. Not only did they go to the airport to 'welcome' them, but they even 'escorted' the Spanish team's bus to their hotel.
Even at night, to prevent the Spanish players from feeling too lonely, they held noisy outdoor performances.
The next morning, when Lin Quan woke up, he found that many of his teammates had panda eyes.
"What time did you sleep last night? Why do you have such severe dark circles?"
Seeing Morata's comical panda eyes, Lin Quan couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't mention it, those guys were making noise all night. I didn't fall asleep until midnight."
Morata yawned lazily, glanced at Lin Quan, and was surprised to see that he looked like nothing had happened. Not only did he not have dark circles, but he also looked energetic and lively.
This made him feel a little strange:
"Didn't you hear the noise those guys made outside last night?"
Lin Quan took out his sleep aid earplugs and showed them to Morata:
"I didn't hear anything. I put these on before going to bed."
"Damn, why didn't you remind me? I would have bought a pair too!"
"I thought you knew it yourself, so I didn't say anything!"
Lin Quan said so, but he felt a bit grateful to the old captain Raúl.
He bought the earplugs on Raúl's reminder, as the latter warned him to be prepared for various unexpected situations when playing away games.
It seemed that Morata didn't receive the same reminder, or perhaps he didn't pay attention to it.
The behavior of the home team's fans creating noise outside their hotel was something that many football fans of various teams liked to do.
This could effectively affect the players' competitive state, and it didn't violate any rules.
If you couldn't stand it, you could just change the hotel; no one was stopping you.
Although that's what they said, with so many players in the team and it being so late, going out to find another hotel would consume even more of the players' energy.
Moreover, there was no guarantee that they wouldn't continue to be harassed by the home team's fans after arriving at the new hotel. So, faced with such a situation, apart from reporting to the local police station, there was no other way.
However, after reporting to the police, if the other party didn't take any action, they couldn't do anything either.
From the situation last night, it was evident that the Minsk police didn't care about this matter.
After the team gathered, Bosque saw that many players, especially the younger ones, looked mentally fatigued, so he had to let them go back to rest and continued training with the remaining players himself.
The training content on the match day was very simple, with not much physical activity.
In the morning, they did some recovery aerobic training, mainly consisting of light exercises that wouldn't burden the players' physical fitness.
In the afternoon, they conducted some ball-related training, focusing on simple tactical coordination to ensure their touch during the match.
Although these were simple training contents, there were still a large number of journalists and fans gathered outside the training base.
Seeing the array of cameras and microphones set up by the journalists outside the field, Lin Quan gained a more intuitive understanding of the popularity and attention of the Spanish national team.
Truly deserving of being world champions, even in a group stage match, they received such treatment.
If it were a crucial match against a fellow group opponent, the number of journalists would probably be even greater!
Apart from the fans of Spain and Belarus, other teams in the same group were also paying attention.
In addition, some strong teams aiming for the 2023 Confederations Cup and the 2024 World Cup were also watching the new lineup of the defending champions, Spain.
The whole world knew that Spain's forward line was weak, and they were all worried that Spain might suddenly find a solution to their striking problem.
Especially with the recruitment of so many forwards, everyone feared that they might stumble upon the correct answer!
So, they would always keep an eye on Spain's matches to understand their latest situation.
Under the attention of the public, the focus match of the second round of the European World Cup qualifiers, the defending champions against Belarus, officially kicked off at the Dinamo Stadium in Minsk.
(End of this chapter)