Chapter 408: Unexpected Encounter with Asuka Saito, the Future King of Camp Nou?
After the match against Japan, the Spanish players were given a day off.
In 2015, Japan was known for its wide variety of electronic products, especially those related to gaming. Additionally, the yen was weak at that time. Therefore, many players took advantage of this day off to go on a shopping spree.
Lin Quan originally wanted to stay quietly in the hotel and listen to music, but he couldn't resist Morata and others' persistent persuasion. He finally agreed to go with them to Akihabara.
Akihabara is a famous electronics district in Japan, filled with various well-known shops selling all kinds of electronic products. Morata and the others had clearly done their homework. Upon arriving, they went straight to their destinations without wasting any time.
These guys showed their straightforward shopping style: buy without haggling, straight out with their credit cards, and purchasing everything they liked. Players often play games to relax after matches, and the best players need the best equipment, a realization Morata came to after repeatedly losing to Lin Quan in PES.
Seeing the expensive gaming equipment Morata bought, Lin Quan couldn't help but smirk. A bad player is still bad, no matter the excuses. Also, Morata liked to use himself in PES, while Lin Quan often used Messi, Ronaldo, or sometimes himself. The skill gap between the players was evident. If Morata were less narcissistic and used players of the same caliber as Lin Quan, he wouldn't lose so badly.
They were playing the latest version, PES 2015, released by the game developers last November. In this game, Lin Quan, having just led his team to win the World Cup, was rated the same as Messi and Ronaldo, with all three scoring 95 points. As for Morata, Lin Quan remembered his rating was around 82, which was already inflated due to Spain's excellent performance. Otherwise, with his current skills and age, it would be hard for him to score over 80.
Affected by Morata and the others, Lin Quan also bought some items, some for himself and some as gifts for his siblings and friends.
After buying what they needed, they were satisfied and ready to leave.
"Hey, there's some event going on over there," someone said. "There are a lot of people. Shall we go and have a look?"
Curiosity about crowds is common to everyone, including Spain's international players. They moved closer to see what was happening and found some young, beautiful girls dressed in maid costumes, hosting an event.
"What's this?" one of them asked.
"It looks like some maid cafe event."
"Nearby cafes hire young, pretty girls to dress as maids and attract customers."
"Oh, I see. But how do you know so much about this?" Everyone was curious and stared at Isco. This guy, usually so quiet and reserved, turned out to be a closet otaku.
"Ahem, I learned about it from watching Japanese anime," Isco explained, blushing. These days, being a closet otaku who likes anime seems to be something hard to admit.
"Maid cafe, huh? Haha, guys, I suddenly feel thirsty. You must be thirsty too. Let's go, my treat!" Morata said, rushing toward the prettiest maid.
Morata's sudden approach obviously scared the girl, who started speaking to him in Japanese. However, Morata didn't understand a word, leaving him utterly confused.
"Hey, Isco, do you understand what this lady is saying?" Morata asked.
Isco shook his head. Japanese? Of course not. Watching anime doesn't mean you can speak Japanese. At best, he might know a few words like "ganbatte," "yamete," or "subarashii."
The girl quickly realized Morata and the others didn't understand her. She then repeated her words in English, which they could understand.
The maid told them that if they wanted to enter the cafe, they needed to queue up.
"Queue up? Can't we skip the line?" Morata complained and tried negotiating in English. Unfortunately, his English was poor, with a heavy accent, while the maid's English was also heavily accented, making communication difficult.
Lin Quan facepalmed. This is ridiculous...
Eventually, the commotion they caused attracted the attention of the store manager. Recognizing them as Spain's international players, the manager warmly invited them in, even sending several maids to serve them.
One girl, about sixteen or seventeen, caught Lin Quan's attention. She seemed familiar, but he couldn't place her.
The girl noticed Lin Quan's gaze and smiled at him. Lin Quan still couldn't remember who she was and didn't intend to strike up a conversation. He simply smiled back and focused on enjoying his coffee.
"Boss, bring the most expensive coffee. Morata is treating, so we might as well enjoy it!"
This coffee session cost over 5000 euros, equivalent to 700,000 yen. The price was indeed exorbitant. However, Morata said it was worth it and expressed a desire to return in the future.
Lin Quan, however, was puzzled. While maid cafes in Akihabara were known to be expensive, they weren't usually this costly. Indeed, these maids were probably part of a Japanese girl group or celebrities.
...
Before leaving, Lin Quan and Iniesta attended an event hosted by their sponsor that evening. At this event, Lin Quan saw the same girl he had noticed earlier in the maid cafe. This time, he finally remembered who she was—Asuka Saito, a member of Nogizaka46.
The reason he didn't recognize her immediately was that Lin Quan's previous life had very little exposure to Japanese girl groups. Asuka Saito was just a name he had heard and seen in photos. His impression of her was not as strong as that of the more flamboyant Kanna Hashimoto.
"Hello, senior. I'm Asuka Saito. Pleased to meet you!"
Asuka Saito, encouraged by her teammates, blushingly approached Lin Quan to greet him.
"Hello, I'm Lin Quan. Nice to meet you!"
Lin Quan looked at her with interest. Asuka Saito, shy and red-faced, looked quite cute. Such a cute girl would probably cry for a long time if she got punched! For some reason, he thought of a joke from the future, feeling a bit mischievous.
Asuka Saito wasn't very good with words, and their professions didn't have much in common. After chatting for a while, they ran out of topics. Coincidentally, the sponsor noticed them chatting and placed them in the center for a photo. Both of them had to smile awkwardly but politely for the camera.
After the event, they exchanged gifts. Lin Quan gave her a signed jersey, and Asuka Saito gave him an album from her girl group.
...
On June 17th, the entire Japanese team took a flight back to their homeland to prepare for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers.
These kinds of matches were essentially in the bag for Spain. Their opponents in the group weren't strong, with Slovakia being the only potential threat. However, even Slovakia's strength paled in comparison to Spain's.
Spain didn't need to make a big deal out of these matches, but for Del Bosque, the departure of veteran players meant that both Spain's lineup and tactics needed some adjustments. Especially in the midfield, after Xavi and Alonso retired from the national team, Del Bosque couldn't find perfect replacements for them in Spain.
Both players were exceptionally skilled with unique characteristics. Among the younger generation, there were no players reaching their level. This wasn't a sign of Spanish football's decline; world-class midfielders like Iniesta and Xavi are rare. In the entire football world, midfielders of their caliber were few and far between.
When such players retire from the national team, their void can't simply be filled by substitutes. Instead, the team's tactics need to be adjusted based on the new players' technical characteristics.
For this, Del Bosque needed to gather the main team and rotate players he believed could take on key roles in each match to see their chemistry with others. If that didn't work, he would consider bringing back some former midfield backups.
Spain had always faced a shortage of forwards but had an abundance of midfield talent. Players like Cazorla and Mata often couldn't make the national team due to the limited spots. Cazorla, for instance, missed out on last year's World Cup, and he cried during an interview about it. But with so many talented midfielders, some had to be left out.
"Although we achieved two consecutive wins in our Asian friendlies and scored over 20 goals, those were just friendlies against weaker opponents. Do not become arrogant or complacent and carry this attitude into the upcoming matches!"
Before the next match, Del Bosque gathered the players for a serious talk. He had recruited many young players for this training camp. Spain's glorious achievements in recent years made Del Bosque worry that these young players might develop bad habits, becoming arrogant and conceited.
Therefore, a stern warning was necessary. For the next match against Belarus, he planned to continue testing the young players, giving them opportunities to prove themselves.
If they could recognize that the team's honors and glories had nothing to do with them, focus on training diligently, improve their skills, and perform well in matches, they would have a place in the future Spanish national team.
Del Bosque viewed the 2016 European Championship as a warm-up for the 2018 World Cup. Only by defeating various strong teams in Europe could they qualify to compete for the World Cup.
European football was undergoing significant changes. Spain had been dominant for many years, becoming a target for many nations. If Spain couldn't integrate these young players quickly to maintain their peak strength, they would eventually be dethroned by stronger challengers.
This wasn't just Del Bosque's anxiety. There had never been an eternal king in football. Even a powerhouse like Brazil experienced a long downturn after Pele's retirement.
Fortunately, having Lin Quan in the team relieved Del Bosque of many worries. Lin Quan was highly respected among the young players, very disciplined, and trained hard. Under his leadership, the young players trained seriously without any slack.
After all, if a player better than you works harder than you, how could you dare slack off?
...
On June 22nd, in Barcelona, at Camp Nou.
After a few days of training, Spain finally faced an official match. The players were eager to play, while their opponents, the Belarusian team, were trembling in fear.
Facing the World Cup champions, who had scored a staggering 13 goals in two friendlies last week, including a match against Japan, Belarus felt extremely nervous. To them, Japan's strength was respectable, at least able to regularly qualify for the World Cup and occasionally reach the round of 16.
Belarus, on the other hand, had never qualified for the World Cup or even the European Championship. If a team stronger than them got thrashed by Spain, how could they possibly stand a chance?
Ranked fifth in their group, Belarus had little hope of advancing to the European Championship. They arrived at Camp Nou with a mindset of minimizing losses.
The choice of Camp Nou for this match was partly due to its top-tier status as a five-star stadium and partly for political reasons. With strong separatist sentiments in Catalonia, having the national team play at Camp Nou aimed to strengthen Catalan identification with Spain and curb separatism.
Whether this strategy would work was uncertain, but the turnout of over 80,000 fans at Camp Nou showed the local support. Many fans came specifically to see Lin Quan, eager to witness the future king of Camp Nou.
With Laporta successfully elected as the club president, the public eagerly anticipated him fulfilling his promise of bringing Lin Quan back to Camp Nou. Hence, many Barcelona fans attended, hoping to get a preview of their future star.