Chapter 165: Winning the Championship + Transfers After scoring the goal,
Lin Quan was immediately substituted by Bosque. The veteran coach had already seen the murderous looks of the Brazilian players. With a three-goal lead, if he left the key players on the field, they could be victims of retaliatory fouls that could injure them. Just like Harvey before, when Lin Quan left the field, he also received applause from the Spanish fans. But soon, boos were heard in the stadium. The Brazilian fans hated him with all their being.
If it weren't for his three consecutive goals, Brazil could have won their third consecutive title. Lin Quan ignored the boos from his opponents and approached Torres on the sidelines, giving him a fist bump. "Boss, have some water!" The Chelsea youngster, Azpilicueta, had a good eye and handed him a bottle of energy drink. "Thanks!" Lin Quan thanked, accepting the bottle. Morata, on the side, felt a little uncomfortable and withdrew the drink he had in his hand, looking at Azpilicueta enviously. "This guy is faster than me!"
Unfortunately, Azpilicueta was busy flattering Lin Quan and didn't notice Morata's expression. "You're amazing, boss! A hat-trick in the final! I couldn't do that in my whole life!" Morata didn't hold back: "You, a defender, can't score in ten games! And you expect to get a hat-trick? Why don't you fly to the sky?"
Avelar, on the side, disagreed: "Ramos almost got a hat-trick in the World Cup qualifiers before. What about being a defender? Defenders can also score goals." "Oh yes, I'm sorry, brother Álvaro, I got carried away. My mistake." Avelar and Ramos were veterans at Real Madrid. Morata, being a rookie, didn't dare to argue with the two seniors, so he easily gave up. Lin Quan noticed that Morata seemed a bit disgruntled, probably because he hadn't had the chance to play, which made him feel frustrated and disheartened. But he couldn't do much about it. Spain's current tactics didn't really need a traditional striker.
Unless Morata changed his style of play, moving to the sides or to the attacking midfielder position, otherwise, he could only be Torres' substitute. And Torres himself didn't have many chances to play, so Morata's chances were even slimmer. But Morata's frustration quickly disappeared. Five minutes later, the main referee blew the final whistle. With goals from Lin Quan and Martínez, Spain defeated host Brazil 4-1 and won the Confederations Cup title.
Spain's substitute players on the bench and the coaching staff rushed onto the field to celebrate with the players. Another championship trophy! Since they won the World Cup in 2010, in three years, Spain had won the World Cup, the European Championship, and the Confederations Cup, three of the major international tournaments. At the national team level, they had achieved a true Grand Slam! With this, the Legion of Toreros had truly established their own dynasty.
If winning the World Cup once wasn't enough, then next year, in the World Cup final to be held on this same field, as long as they lifted the World Cup again. Then no one could question the empire they had built! Lin Quan and his teammates didn't think much about that, they simply enjoyed the joy of winning the championship. This was the first international cup he had won in his career, and it had extraordinary significance for him.
... After the match, the staff on the field quickly set up the award stage. The committee members and the guests who would attend the awards ceremony came out onto the field. The cameras at the venue captured the figure of FIFA president Blatter. First, the Golden Boot award of this tournament was presented. This award had no surprises. Lin Quan, with 10 goals, took it home. Of course, out of those 5 goals, 5 were scored in the match against Tahiti.
Speaking of scoring efficiency, Torres took less time to score 6 goals than Lin Quan, so it seems he's the efficiency king! Although he didn't have many chances as a starter, Torres felt quite satisfied to take home the Silver Boot and the championship. The Bronze Boot went to Brazil's main player, Neymar. But unlike Lin Quan's relaxed expression, Neymar, who has always been optimistic, couldn't smile at this moment. Brazil lost the championship at home, and in his direct confrontation with Lin Quan, he lost miserably.
Just thinking that he didn't score a single goal in the final, he couldn't find reasons to smile. "Is this really a Silver Boot? Why does it look brighter than my Golden Boot?" Lin Quan saw Torres approaching and, curious, touched the Silver Boot he held in his hand, then compared it with his Golden Boot, and the more he looked, the more he felt that the color of his Golden Boot was dull. "Haha, mine is pure silver, yours must be gold-plated, maybe it lacks a bit of gold, that's why the color is a bit dull!" "Really? I thought it was pure gold!"
"You're joking, if it were all gold, it would be worth tens of thousands of euros, do you think the organizers would be so generous?"
Torres, who has won many Golden Boots, had experience, and after evaluating the weight of the Golden Boot Lin Quan was holding in his hand, he knew it was gold-plated.
"If you like my Silver Boot better, how about we swap?"
Torres nudged Lin Quan with his arm and proposed.
Lin Quan looked at him disdainfully. Even from across the Atlantic, he could hear his thoughts.
Neymar felt like an outsider. Although he understood both languages, he couldn't intervene in the conversation.
Finally, after the group photo, the three shook hands and went down the side stairs.
Then, Iker Casillas, the goalkeeper of Spain, who only conceded 3 goals in 5 matches and also stopped a penalty from the Brazilian team, came out on stage, winning with an indisputable advantage the Golden Glove of this Confederations Cup.
After Casillas stepped down from the stage, Lin Quan returned to the field.
But this time, he received the Golden Ball Award.
This Golden Ball Award was not the annual Ballon d'Or, but a special Ballon d'Or for this Confederations Cup.
The two versions had different designs; this Golden Ball looked like a table lamp.
"Congratulations, I hope to see you on stage next year too," Blatter said to Lin Quan with a smile as he handed him the Golden Ball and patted him on the shoulder, encouraging him.
"Thank you, Mr. President, I hope I can receive these two awards from your hands next year too."
Blatter was a little surprised. The Ballon d'Or and the World Golden Boot? That would be quite difficult to achieve!
Did this kid really have so much confidence in himself?
Neymar also received the Silver Ball.
Although Brazil lost, Neymar's excellent performance was still undeniable.
But in the crucial match, Neymar had a somewhat irregular performance.
If he had played a little better and had scored that penalty, the match could have been much tighter.
The Bronze Ball went to Lin Quan's teammate, Iniesta.
Although the goals of this "Little White" in this Confederations Cup were not many, his performance on the field was excellent.
Once again, on the awards stage, two Spaniards and one Brazilian were presented.
But as Iniesta was Neymar's teammate, they talked with him a little and didn't ignore him, which finally relieved Neymar's discomfort.
After the three left the stage, the entire Spanish team went up together to receive their award. They received the Fair Play award of this Confederations Cup.
This was the third time Lin Quan stepped onto the awards stage.
Because he had gone up so many times, even the fans started joking:
"Better that Lin the King stays on stage, instead of going up and down, that's just annoying!"
"Yeah, the organizer really didn't think it through, right?"
"Haha, I guess the organizer never thought that Lin the King would win so many awards, otherwise, they would have reserved a seat for him on stage."
The Spanish players went out onto the field one by one, especially the veterans, those who had won the World Cup in 2010, seemed very calm.
But the young players, passing by the trophy, couldn't resist touching it!
Lin Quan also touched it, but his thought was different from the other young players; he wondered: is this gleaming trophy made of pure gold or is it gold-plated?
According to seniority in the team, captain Casillas and veterans like Xavi should be lifting the trophy.
But Casillas and Xavi called out to Lin Quan:
"Lin, let's lift the trophy together!"
"Okay!"
Lin Quan didn't refuse and, along with the two, lifted the trophy symbolizing the Confederations Cup championship.
On the field, countless colored ribbons fell, and the famous song "We Are the Champions" began to play.
Countless cameras captured this historic moment.
Just as Lin Quan was participating in the Confederations Cup, the European football transfer market was heating up more and more.
The highlight was the rumor about Bale's transfer between Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur.
Real Madrid's first offer to Tottenham was 87 million euros. If it went through, it would be the second most expensive transfer in football, only behind the 96 million euros paid for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Tottenham seemed confident in their position, quickly rejecting Real Madrid's offer and stating that Bale was not for sale.
Upon hearing this, Real Madrid immediately understood: they were unhappy with the price!
So they increased the offer to 93 million euros and presented it to Tottenham again.
This time, Tottenham's response was not as quick, as the 93 million euros exceeded their expectations.
However, Real Madrid's willingness to pay so much money made people wonder if they could pay even more if necessary.
So Tottenham simply decided not to respond.
They didn't reject Real Madrid's offer nor did they accept it outright.
Tottenham, who had previous experience with Modric's transfer, was very good at dealing with wealthy teams like Real Madrid.
Knowing that Real Madrid couldn't afford to delay, as they could miss the summer preseason, and Real Madrid knew that Tottenham liked to drag things out to get a better price.
So they approached Bale's agent to influence the player's mind.
When Bale heard that Real Madrid was willing to pay so much money for him, he naturally felt excited.
How could Tottenham compete with a giant like Real Madrid?
Moreover, if Real Madrid was willing to pay so much, it meant they trusted him and would use him a lot.
So, Bale expressed a strong interest in joining Real Madrid.
To collaborate with Real Madrid's work, Bale even started refusing to train and did not participate in Tottenham's preseason.
Bale's refusal to train was an open declaration of war on Tottenham. If Tottenham didn't sell him, their relationship with the player would be broken, leading only to a situation where both would lose.
Therefore, Tottenham's president, Levy, met with Real Madrid's president, Florentino, in London to discuss the transfer.
"Florentino, what you're doing isn't very fair!"
"Haha, and aren't you doing the same?"
After these words, the two old foxes smiled at each other, no longer arguing about it.
"I won't say any more nonsense. If you want to take Bale, pay 100 million pounds."
Levy was direct and asked for an astronomical amount.
Florentino smiled: "Do you think Bale is worth more than Ronaldo?"
Levy belittled him: "Haha, where else can you buy such a strong winger suitable for Real Madrid? If you think it's expensive, so do I!"
"Bale is not irreplaceable."
Florentino didn't back down, banging the table with his hand.
"He is just one of our many options!"
Levy's words clearly didn't impress Florentino.
"So, who else are you in contact with?"
Florentino originally didn't plan to reveal this kind of information, but now he had no choice.
"The key player in the Spanish national team's attack, recently named the best player of the Confederations Cup, Lin Quan!"
Levy sneered: "From what I know, Lin Quan seems to have already signed with Bayern Munich!"
"Haha, then I can only say that your information is outdated!"
Florentino responded with a smile.
Levy's expression began to turn somewhat uncomfortable. He couldn't understand if the other was being sincere or just deceiving him.
But if Lin Quan really went to Real Madrid, then Real Madrid definitely wouldn't need Bale.
Real Madrid lacked a right winger, and Lin Quan played exactly in that position in the Bundesliga.
On the other hand, Bale plays as a left winger at Tottenham, so he would need time to adapt if he went to Real Madrid.
Just as Florentino mentioned Lin Quan, the agent on the other end called.
Seeing who was calling, Florentino smiled triumphantly, intentionally placed his phone on the table and activated the speaker so Levy would know who he was talking to.
"Hello, I'm Florentino, president of Real Madrid!"
"President, I'm Guardiola Peré."
Levy's face paled; this was Lin Quan's agent, there was no doubt.
Unexpectedly, the old fox on the other end was telling the truth; he was really playing both sides!
"Haha, Peré, how are you? Has Lin Quan made a decision?"
"Yes, president, Lin Quan has already decided."
"Haha, that's great. After all, Real Madrid is the best club in the world. Only Real Madrid is worthy of having such a talented player like Lin Quan. I'm glad they made the right decision."
Florentino, with a satisfied smile, crossed his legs in front of Levy, feeling like he had taken a weight off his shoulders.
I told you I wanted a high price!
I told you to make a big offer!
And now I have a better option! I don't need your player, so keep him!
Levy was already trembling.
93 million euros!
Vanishing right before his eyes!
He regretted not being as greedy before; he would have gotten that money!
"Cough, um, president, Lin Quan hasn't decided to go to Real Madrid..."
Clang!
Florentino's tea cup crashed to the floor.
"Darn it, where is he supposed to go?"
"To Manchester City!"
(End of chapter)