Chapter 04: Chapter 4: A Visit from the Saints

Chapter 4: A Visit from the SaintsTime flies, and the short summer camp time is gone in a blink of an eye. Hull City, who tried their best to leave a good impression on Chinese customers, provided 100% cooperation and generous teaching, which benefited the entire Chinese summer camp team a lot.

From technical tactics to training habits, the Chinese team has witnessed the advancement of British football youth training. At the same time, they have also realized the gap between themselves and Hull City U17. Except for Qin Hu, no one has any intention of staying.

On the last day, all the training of the summer camp ended in the morning and the organizers held a simple farewell ceremony in a restaurant in Hull City.

As for another friendly match, both sides tacitly agreed not to mention it again. The huge gap in strength was made more obvious through these seven days of training. Li Xiang didn't want to undermine the morale of his players, but Qin Hu might not have the opportunity to perform again, which made Li Xiang a little anxious.

Hearn had not shown up since the morning, and the one who received them throughout the whole process was Hearn's assistant coach. You have to know that they will embark on the journey back to China in the evening, so Qin Hu will really have no chance at all.

"Excuse me, may I ask why Mr. Hearn didn't come today?"

The farewell ceremony was still going on, and Qin Hu and Li Xiang found the person in charge of the ceremony together.

"There is an U17 friendly match today and Mr. Hearn went to meet with the opposing coach."

The other party had no intention of hiding anything and directly explained Hearn's movements. Then he suddenly thought of something and slapped his head.

"Oh my God, I forgot to tell you that Mr. Hearn invited you to watch the game on the sidelines this afternoon. The two teams in the game are Hull City and Southampton. Both teams are Championship clubs."

After saying this, the assistant coach, whose snack was a little too big, turned around and clapped his hands towards the Hull City players who were feasting on their food.

"Don't eat too much, boys! We have a game this afternoon."

"Coach!"

"Coach, why did you just say that..."

"Shit, I'm too full."

Thus, this farewell ceremony ended with a grand opening and a sloppy ending.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Li Xiang led a group of Chinese players to the largest pitch in the training ground, where the Hull City team, dressed in orange uniforms, were ready to go. Opposite them was a group of players in red autumn clothes, and the old coach Hearn was communicating with a man who was about thirty years old.

After seeing Li Xiang and his group coming, Hearn brought the man towards them.

"Coach Li, this is Mr. Jason, the head coach of Southampton U17. He is a young and promising coach."

"Welcome to the UK. I am very interested in Chinese culture and hope to have the opportunity to cooperate with you in the future."

"Uh, okay."

Jason seemed quite enthusiastic. He took the initiative to extend his hand to Li Xiang and express his goodwill. Apparently, he also learned from Hearn that the Chinese team that came to participate in the summer camp provided quite generous funding.

Looking at the other party's smiling face with big white teeth, Li Xiang also smiled and nodded. After coming to the UK, he has adapted to the enthusiasm of these British clubs for capital, which is actually not much different from that in China, but the ultimate goals of both parties are somewhat different.

After a discussion among the three, Li Xiang understood the arrangements for this friendly match.

It turned out that Southampton's youth training director heard about the cooperation between Hull City and the Chinese summer camp and wanted to show their strength in front of the sponsors. In addition, the two clubs had a good relationship between the top management, so this friendly match was arranged on the spur of the moment.

Li Xiang naturally had no objection. Being able to watch the youth training matches of the two Championship clubs would definitely be helpful to him and his players. This would be better than playing another game against Hull City and being completely defeated.

"By the way, Coach Li, I also want to borrow a player from you, Qin Hu."

"no problem!"

In addition, at the end of the conversation, Li Xiang also heard the words he wanted to hear most. Qin Hu's name was finally mentioned by Hearn.

At this moment, Qin Hu was recalling the interface of his header card progress entry (99%) at the end of the morning training.

He realized that he had overlooked one point, that is, they were leaving Hull City Youth Training Camp tonight, and he would not be able to train with Li Xiang at night. As a result, he still had not mastered the first talent card.

"Huzi, come here quickly!"

Without giving him time to think further, at Li Xiang's call, Qin Hu ran towards the Hull City U17 formation. After Li Xiang quickly explained a few words, he learned that he would participate in the upcoming friendly match.

The two men made eye contact, and both saw excitement in each other's eyes.

"Kick well, you must kick well!" "Understood, Li Tou!"

After saying that, Li Xiang turned around to arrange for other summer camp members to sit in the audience seats, while an interpreter followed Qin Hu to the Hull City team.

"Hi~"

"Hi."

Hull City U17 captain Coulson took the initiative to greet Qin Hu and handed him an orange jersey with the number 99 printed on it, of course there was no name on it.

In the opening match on the first day, Qin Hu left a deep impression on the entire Hull City team, and in the following days of training he also had top performances in set-piece and header training, so no one had any objections to his arrival.

Qin Hu took the training suit and put it on quickly. The negotiations between Hearn and Jason on the sidelines were also over. Both teams went to their selected half to start warming up.

"David, starting center! Qin, substitute..."

"Roger that!"

"understand!"

Hearn did not put Qin Hu in the starting position immediately. Based on Qin Hu's data, Hearn believed that he was more suitable to be a role player. Qin Hu had no objection to this. Being called over alone to become a member of Hull City, he would definitely have the opportunity to play in this game, and that was enough.

When all the lineups were announced, Hull City sent out almost its strongest lineup. Obviously, facing Southampton, a team well-known for its youth training in the UK, they dared not neglect it.

With the referee's whistle, the game officially began and a fierce competition appeared before everyone.

Smooth passing, wonderful offensive cooperation and orderly coordination in defense. Li Xiang, who was sitting on the sidelines, saw so many amazing things in the scene before his eyes. You have to know that this was just a youth training match of a Championship team.

Different from the coach's perspective, Qin Hu on the sidelines saw countless opportunities. With each day of training, his mastery of the Golden Bomber Card became better and better, and his perception of opportunities also became better and better.

Every time he saw Hull City's crosses and set-piece attacks, he could always simulate the route and method of his own goal in his mind, which made him more and more excited. He clearly felt that in a game of this intensity, he could still score.

On the court, as the game gradually unfolded, the strength of the two sides gradually became clear.

The Hull City team, which had once made all the Chinese players lose their fighting spirit, was scored by the Saints players in the 30th minute of the game. It was a counterattack launched by Southampton after Hull City failed to attack from a corner kick.

First, the goalkeeper confiscated David's header that was too straight, and then kicked it away. After receiving the pass from the goalkeeper, the Saints midfielder passed the ball forward, and their own striker ran forward like a galloping horse, took a single shot, and then easily scored.

Faced with such a goal loss, Hearn yelled loudly on the sidelines. He believed that the players were obviously not prepared enough for counterattacks during set-piece attacks, and reminded everyone to cheer up.

However, sometimes things don't go as we expect.

Fifteen minutes later, in the last minute of the first half, Hull City got another indirect free kick opportunity.

When Coulson kicked the ball from the center circle into the penalty area, the team's forward David missed the ball directly. The ball was cleared by Southampton's defender and flew over the head of Coulson who turned around and chased back.

Afterwards, the Saints striker, who had been waiting for an opportunity in the frontcourt, ran after the ball, leaving Coulson far behind.

"Shit!!!"

Seeing this scene, Hearn on the sidelines covered his face. Another excellent one-on-one opportunity was given to the opponent, and losing the ball was inevitable.

"Shu~"

When the ball hit the net again, the score became 0-2. Hearn, unable to bear it any longer, turned and looked at Qin Hu who was eager to try.

"Qin, go warm up, you replace David in the second half!"

"receive!!!"

Today's update is here! Thank you all for your support!!! Southampton is nicknamed the Saints, Hull City is nicknamed the Tigers, the culture of European football has long been deeply rooted in their fans, even the English Championship teams have extremely loyal fans, this is really enviable, and only in such a football environment can batches of outstanding talents be born... (New book is on the way, please collect! Please recommend!!!)

(End of this chapter)