Chapter 121: Wealthy Middle Eastern Tycoons!
On the field, after dribbling past two Uruguayan players, Lin Quan seemed to attract the attention of almost the entire Uruguayan team like a magnet.
Several Uruguayan players who were close to him immediately abandoned their defensive assignments and rushed towards Lin Quan.
Seeing the opponent's approach, Lin Quan decisively passed the ball, calmly sending it to the unmarked Iniesta.
The Uruguayan defender next to Iniesta was drawn away by Lin Quan, leaving him unmarked.
After receiving the ball, Iniesta made a forward run. After drawing the attention of two Uruguayan defenders, he passed the ball to Mata on the wing.
After receiving the ball, Mata cut inside, entered the penalty area, and aimed for the goal with a precise shot.
Uruguay's goalkeeper, Muslera, made a fantastic save, deflecting Mata's high-quality shot.
Although Spain's attack didn't result in a goal this time, it put immense pressure on the Uruguayan players.
They dared not press high up the field as aggressively as before.
Meanwhile, with Lin Quan actively dropping back to receive the ball, Spain's midfield felt less pressure when distributing the ball.
With this ebb and flow, the rhythm once again fell into the hands of the Spanish team.
During this period, Lin Quan noticeably had more possession, consciously increasing his time on the ball and the number of touches to attract Uruguayan defenders and relieve pressure on his teammates.
Moreover, as the most threatening player on the Spanish team at that moment, whenever Lin Quan received the ball, Uruguayan players would immediately send two or even three defenders to press him.
Lin Quan played smartly. If the pressing defenders made a mistake, he would dribble past them and create a threat either by passing or taking on the Uruguayan defense himself.
If the opponents didn't give him any openings and there were no mistakes to exploit, he would wait until enough defenders were drawn to him before choosing the most suitable passing option to help his teammates in attack.
In this situation, Lin Quan seemed to become the organizing hub of Spain's front line.
With his distribution and organization, Spain's attacking play became much smoother.
The effectiveness of Uruguay's pressing tactics gradually diminished, and the game no longer felt like a hot potato as before.
Tabarez quickly realized Lin Quan's importance in the attacking third and instructed his players to have a defensive midfielder stick close to Lin Quan, limiting his space and passing options, and preventing him from orchestrating plays so comfortably.
The former Monaco captain, now playing for Bologna in Serie A, Uruguay's defensive midfielder Pereira, readily accepted this task.
Pereira, 30 years old, was known for his physical strength, aggressive defending, and fiery temperament.
Whether at the club or national team level, he was a defensive stalwart.
He was always willing to do the dirty work that others shied away from because it was an opportunity to showcase his own value!
After Pereira came on, he started using various tricks to harass Lin Quan.
With his wealth of experience, Pereira would observe the referee's position in advance when making these moves, trying to avoid the referee's sight as much as possible to avoid being caught in the act.
This made it difficult for the players he fouled to protest to the referee, as the referee would be less likely to pay attention to their complaints.
Lin Quan saw through Pereira's intentions and knew he was dealing with an old-school rough player.
He wasn't the type to turn the other cheek or remain silent.
If you play dirty, do you think I won't?
Seizing an opportunity when receiving the ball, he turned around smoothly, while Pereira was using his knee to push against his backside, completely unaware of his arm's movement.
As Lin Quan turned, he subtly delivered an elbow strike, hitting Pereira's ribs, almost knocking the wind out of him.
While Pereira was writhing in pain, Lin Quan decisively chose to dribble forward, attracting defensive attention before delivering a through pass to assist Mata in scoring, changing the score to 3-1.
Pereira ran to protest to the referee about Lin Quan's elbow strike, believing it was a foul committed before the goal, rendering it invalid.
The referee didn't see Lin Quan's foul and was skeptical of Pereira's protest.
The referee had heard of Lin Quan's reputation. This kid played cleanly, focusing on technique rather than physicality. He had never heard of Lin Quan intentionally injuring another player on the field.
Instead, Pereira was notorious for his antics on the field, and it seemed to the referee that he was more likely to be the one engaging in foul play.
Pereira's protest was in vain, infuriating him.
His gaze towards Lin Quan turned even more menacing.
Lin Quan, having gained an advantage, knew that Pereira might retaliate.
So he didn't engage with Pereira but increased his movement, staying close to the referee and rarely leaving his line of sight.
Pereira, in front of the referee, didn't dare to act rashly. If he committed a foul blatantly, he might receive a straight red card.
But this only fueled his inner rage even more!
In the 44th minute of the first half, under pressure from Uruguayan players, Pedro's pass was slightly rushed and lacked power.
As a result, the pass turned into a fifty-fifty ball, with players from both sides having a chance to win possession.
Lin Quan immediately went for the ball, and Pereira, on the sidelines, saw this as a golden opportunity!
He pretended to run towards the ball but deliberately slowed down, giving the impression that he couldn't catch up to Lin Quan.
However, just as Lin Quan was about to reach the ball, Pereira seized the opportunity, immediately going to ground for a tackle, seemingly intending to disrupt the play by tackling the ball.
However, from the way he showed his studs, it was clear that he wasn't going for the ball but aiming for the player.
"Dangerous!"
On the sidelines, Bosque and the Spanish coaching staff sweated profusely when they saw Pereira show his studs, fearing the worst.
Lin Quan seemed to not notice Pereira's sliding tackle from the side. He was the first to reach the ball, stepping on it with his right foot, seemingly observing his passing options.
As Pereira returned to the field, seeing Lin Quan stop in his tracks without dodging, he thought to himself:
This is it!
With a thud, a muffled groan echoed across the field as both Lin Quan and Pereira fell to the ground.
Both of them held their legs in pain, rolling on the ground and screaming loudly.
The other player, clutching his ankle, lay motionless on the grass.
The referee, seeing the situation, dared not be careless and immediately stopped the game, rushing to the scene to assess the injuries of both players.
"Bastard!"
"Damn butcher!"
On the sideline, Bosque urged the Spanish team doctor to hurry onto the field while cursing loudly towards the Uruguayan coaching staff.
In his eyes, Pereira's malicious foul was undoubtedly instructed by the Uruguayan coaching staff.
If anything happened to Lin Quan, he would definitely appeal to FIFA, demanding strict punishment for the offender. He wouldn't let these guys off the hook.
The Spanish players were also nervous. Iniesta, Pedro, and others who were closest to the foul rushed over to Lin Quan, offering their concern.
From their perspective, the opponent's foul just now might have caused serious damage to Lin Quan's ankle.
Thinking about Lin Quan's age, the players couldn't help but feel a bit despondent.
He's still so young. Experiencing such a serious injury might have irreversible effects on his future career! Thinking this, their sadness turned into anger, and they immediately wanted to confront Uruguay.
Before they could take action, Lin Quan, who was lying on the ground, suddenly sat up: "I say, guys, are you planning to leave me lying on the ground forever? Aren't you going to give me a hand?"
"Lin, aren't you injured?"
Iniesta was both surprised and delighted, quickly joining Pedro to help Lin Quan up.
After Lin Quan stood up, he moved his ankle slightly. There was a slight redness, but it wasn't serious.
"I'm not injured, but that guy might be!"
The big screen at the venue began replaying the slow-motion footage of Pereira's foul just now:
Just as he was about to tackle Lin Quan, Lin Quan suddenly pulled the ball, causing it to appear exactly where he had been standing before.
Pereira's foot kicked the ball first, knocking down Lin Quan, making it look like he was fouled, but Pereira didn't actually touch Lin Quan.
The main referee didn't care about these details. He thought Pereira's foot was too high, at least a dangerous play, so he gave Pereira a yellow card.
Pereira seemed genuinely injured, sweating profusely, and had no intention of protesting the referee's decision at this point.
Although he didn't kick Lin Quan, when Lin Quan fell, he landed squarely on Pereira's body.
Especially to maintain balance, when Lin Quan landed, he used his elbow to support himself on the ground.
This hit Pereira hard. He felt like his ribs were broken.
Uruguay's team doctor checked and indeed found that his ribs were broken.
It seemed that more than one rib was broken, at least two adjacent ribs were broken.
However, they couldn't blame the other team's players because they were the ones who started it.
Pereira was injured and couldn't continue the game. Uruguay had to make a passive substitution.
Losing their defensive stalwart, their defense looked even weaker against Spain's attacks.
Fortunately, there wasn't much time left in the first half. After persevering for a few more minutes, the main referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half.
They didn't let Spain continue to expand their lead. With a one-goal deficit, they walked towards the locker room with their heads down, looking dejected.
On the other hand, the Spanish team breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Lin Quan wasn't injured.
With a 2-1 lead, they returned to the locker room with smiles on their faces.
After entering the locker room, Bosque carefully inspected Lin Quan from top to bottom.
After confirming that the other party was really not injured, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he announced, "Lin, take a rest in the second half and let Villa, Torres, and the others come on to find their form."
Spain was already leading by two goals, and the opponent had lost their key defender. Bosque felt that this game was basically without suspense.
Moreover, this was just a friendly match, and the opponent committed many fouls. He didn't dare to let Lin Quan continue to stay on the field.
If Lin Quan were really injured, Spain's loss would be too great.
"All right, I'll follow your arrangement!"
Lin Quan readily accepted Bosque's arrangement, so he sat on the bench with Xavi and others to watch the game in the second half.
In the second half, Spain made numerous personnel adjustments. Alonso, David Silva, Martinez, Pique, Villa, Torres, and others came on one after another.
After Alonso and Martinez came on, Spain's defense became extremely strong and was not afraid of the opponent's pressure.
But because they lost Lin Quan, their attacking organization became somewhat less smooth.
Huwawa and Holy Infant were very active in the frontcourt, but they couldn't find a way to score.
On the Uruguay side, several forwards also tried hard, but under the strong defense of Spain's back line, they couldn't find any scoring opportunities.
In the end, both sides ended the second half with a draw, ending the friendly match with a score of 3-1.
After the match, at the invitation of the sponsor, the Spanish players collectively attended an event in Doha.
This event was to promote Qatar's bid for the World Cup. Recently, Middle Eastern tycoons seemed to be obsessed with football.
Not only were they crazily buying teams in Europe, but they were also spending a lot of money, intending to bid for a World Cup tournament at their doorstep.
The richest Qataris were currently bidding for the 2022 World Cup. To increase their chances of success, they were keen to use influential teams in football like the Spanish national team to boost their voice.
The Spanish Football Association actually didn't want to attend such commercial activities because it would increase the players' burden.
But unfortunately, the benefits offered by the other party were too great!
In this friendly match, Spain received more than 8 million euros in sponsorship fees from the sponsor.
Moreover, the round-trip airfare and accommodation were all covered by them.
Not only that, the generous Middle Eastern tycoons also gave each Spanish player a gift.
Lin Quan received a Cartier watch. He didn't know much about watches, but according to his teammates, this thing was worth 100,000 euros.
With such generosity, they couldn't refuse.
Finally, after a series of commercial activities, the team disbanded directly at the airport in Qatar, and the players returned to their respective clubs by plane.
After this match, Spain's next national team game would be the World Cup qualifier against Finland in March.
...
On February 9th, the 21st round of the Bundesliga officially kicked off.
Because the national team match was very close, players like Lin Quan, De Bruyne, and Elia were all placed on the bench by Schaaf for this match.
Their opponent Stuttgart's strength was not particularly strong, currently ranking 12th in the standings. Like Hamburg before, they belonged to the type that had no worries about relegation and no hopes for the championship.
Therefore, it was expected that Werder Bremen, lacking many main players, would have a difficult time in this match.
However, unexpectedly, in the first half, Werder Bremen's substitute midfielder, Ekici, who hadn't had many appearances this season, had a personal breakthrough.
In the first half, he scored two goals himself and assisted his teammate Hunt in scoring one goal.
Before halftime, Werder Bremen almost killed the suspense of the match with a 3-0 score.
Although Stuttgart tried to launch a counterattack in the second half and Traore scored a goal in the attack, as main players like Lin Quan and De Bruyne came on as substitutes in the 65th minute, the situation on the field began to tilt in one direction.
In the 78th minute, Lin Quan assisted Hunt in scoring his second goal, helping him complete a brace, and the score became 4-1.
In the 90th minute, Werder Bremen once again had a good opportunity. When Lin Quan faced an empty goal, he chose to assist his teammate and passed the ball to De Bruyne.
De Bruyne accepted this gift with a smile, scoring a goal and making it the fifth goal for Werder Bremen in this match.
In the end, Werder Bremen won a big victory over Stuttgart with a score of 5-1 away, achieving three consecutive victories in the second half of the season.
It is worth mentioning that Lin Quan, who contributed two assists in this match, surpassed Ribery from Bayern Munich in the assist rankings and came second, second only to his teammate De Bruyne.
De Bruyne currently has 17 assists, two more than Lin Quan.
With 13 rounds left in the league, Lin Quan still has hope of catching up with his teammate.
However, after realizing that his number of assists was approaching the Bundesliga's historical record, De Bruyne also clearly became interested in competing for assists.
Historically, the Bundesliga's assist record was created by De Bruyne himself with 21 assists in a single season at Wolfsburg.
This season, thanks to Werder Bremen's powerful attacking firepower, De Bruyne's assist efficiency has greatly improved.
He is likely to break the Bundesliga record two years early.
(End of this chapter)