Chapter 39

*(This is a long chapter to focus more on the upcoming match)

This game greatly affected the evaluation of Nagi by the clubs of the five major leagues. Before Nagi was in the league, most clubs thought that the level of the league was too low to explain the problem.

Even if Nagi leads the team all the way on the Europa League stage, they feel that apart from Schalke 04, Genk had not encountered any strong teams, so they can't prove anything.

Until Nagi met Liverpool, this Liverpool team was currently in second place in the league, definitely at the level of the Champions League, but Nagi scored four goals in a row and they swallowed the bitter fruit of defeat.

In this game, Nagi's delicate foot skills and excellent ball intelligence were all performed to the fullest, which forced the giants to re-evaluate his ability.

In England, Manchester United, Arsenal and some other teams were starting a long wrangling with the Football Association over the issue of labor certification.

Manchester United legendary coach Ferguson said in an interview: "We want to seek some special terms so that the English team can introduce some outstanding young players from non-EU. They should not be rejected by the Premier League."

In Germany, traditional teams including Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen, Schalke 04, etc. have formally submitted offers to Genk and want to introduce Nagi this summer.

Among them, Bayern Munich was even richer and richer, proposing a transfer fee of 15 million euros, far exceeding the 8 million euros offered by Paris Saint-Germain last year.

Beckenbauer, who is known as the emperor of football, said in an interview: "I have watched Nagi's game. He is a player with outstanding talent. If there is no accident, he will become a football superstar. If he can To develop in the Bundesliga, this will be the beginning of a legend."

In Italy, Juventus was negotiating with Real Madrid. If there is no accident, French star Zidane will leave the team this summer. Therefore, they have a lot of money and want to do a big job during the summer transfer window.

The list before Juventus president Vittorio Chiusano includes Czech iron man Pavel Nedved, rising Italian star Gianluigi Buffon and Lazio forward Marcelo Sala Si, and Bijia's Jan Koller, Nagi and others.

Chiusano asked Khalil Brenda, the technical director beside him, "How is Nagi? He is a relatively popular star recently, right?"

Brenda curled her lips: "This is all media hype. I guess Genk spent a lot of money on the media to package Nagi as a new star and sell it for a good price."

"A third-rate player from Serie A can't adapt to the high level of Serie A. I think he can be ignored." Brenda didn't even watch Nagi's game. But had thrown all aside.

When Chiusano heard what he said, he thought it made sense, so he crossed out Jan Koller andNagi from the list.

For AC Milan, team manager Stewart Kund is discussing with head coach Fatih Trim on behalf of chairman Silvio Berlusconi: "Mr. Trim, do we need to introduce Nagi? Well, seventeen-year-old Genk prodigy."

Trim waved his hand: "We don't need a baby, Mr. Kunde, Serie A is not a league that children can play, don't be ridiculous." This coach, like Brenda of Juventus, had never watched a game of Nagi.

For Inter Milan, the situation is completely different. Team president Massimo Moratti was discussing summer signings with head coach Hector Cooper and technical director Horacio Bohm.

"Ronaldo has been injured for more than a year, and the club has not even been able to enter the Champions League this season. The results are really poor." Moratti said sadly.

"And according to the team doctor's report, Ronaldo's appearance next season is not guaranteed. He is likely to be injured again and be reimbursed for the entire season. We must find someone who can replace him."

Bohm said: "I think Nagi is a good choice. The most important thing is that he is very young and not easily injured."

Cooper added: "I found from the video sent by the scouts that Nagi is a player with excellent skills. The only question now is whether he can adapt to the high level of competition in Serie A."

"However, I don't think this is a big problem, because Nagi is still very young after all, and we have every chance to train him to become the core of the future team."

Moratti nodded and said, "Then we will formally contact Genk and try to buy Nagi over!"

Paris Saint-Germain, France, team president Lawrence Pompey called technical director Desmond Beverly: "Give up Nagi, we can't take him, even at the price offered by Lyon and Marseille , are higher than ours."

"The club's finances are no longer able to pay a price higher than 8 million. We wanted to raise the price last season to catch a leak, but we didn't expect the cunning Belgian to not sell it. It's really a pity."

"Turn the focus on the introduction of Ronaldinho. He is also of good quality and low price. There are not many teams paying attention to him. Try to win within 5 million Beverly said: "Okay sir, I have basically agreed with Gremio that next season Ronaldinho will wear the shirt of Paris. "

In Barcelona, ​​Spain, Carlos Rexach, who has always been optimistic about Messi, can't help but wonder in his heart. It is really a tangled thing whether to continue to stick to the invisible Messi, or to directly buy Nagi for training.

Juan Gasparte, who was just elected chairman, was an assistant to former chairman Nunez, and he successfully defeated Joan Laporta in the competition.

In the end, Gaspart made the final decision: "We Barcelona can't abandon the tradition of youth training. Now that we have the cornerstone of the team, we don't want to think about training other players.

"We can buy him back when Nagi really makes his mark in the five major leagues."

In Madrid, Spain, Real Madrid Chairman Florentino said at the team's high-level meeting: "Nagi is very good. He still has a high potential for commercial value that can be tapped, but it does not match our current strategy."

"The most important thing for us in the summer is to introduce Zidane from Juventus. This is a goal that must be completed. He is an important puzzle of the Galacticos plan."

Some high-level executives proposed what to do if the sworn enemy Barcelona introduced Nagi? Florentino replied with a smile: "If that's the case, we just poach him just like Nagi."

"Barcelona is definitely not a warm club. It is full of intrigue and intrigue. No superstar can stay in Barcelona for a long time."

"Ronaldo was like this, Figo was like this, Rivaldo was like this, and so will the stars in the future." Florentino said firmly

Genk, who returned from Liverpool, ushered in the 32nd round of the league non-stop. The opponent is St. Turden, a city team from the Belgian province of Limburg.

Nagi, who has experienced the excitement of the big game, continued his excitement in this game. In the opening 5 minutes, Carl Beth took the ball to the front field and passed it diagonally to Jason Aldridge on the left. Aldridge at the front of the penalty area lost his balance under the pressure of the defensive player, but passed the ball with his right foot into the penalty area before falling to the ground.

Nagi, who was ambushing in the penalty area, suddenly started to move towards the ball, and the defenders beside him quickly stepped forward to defend. If the ball does not fly high, there is definitely no way to compete for the top. If you stop the ball at your feet and then deal with it, it will delay time and get into a double-team situation.

Thoughts in Nagi's mind were spinning rapidly, and he made a decision in an instant. He raised his left foot, swept back against the falling ball, exerted strength on his leg, and shot a shot like a scorpion wagging its tail.

The ball was fast and urgent, and flew to the lower left corner of the goal. Although the goalkeeper of St. Turden tried his best to save it, he could only look at the ball and sigh. 1:0, Genk made a perfect start.

In the 34th minute, after midfielder Gareth Barry steals the ball, he plays a super long pass through the ball. Relying on his own speed, Nagi comes from behind and succeeds in anti-offside, throwing off the defense in the penalty area The player caught up with the ball.

Facing the attacking goalkeeper, Nagi pushed calmly, and the ball passed between the goalkeeper's legs and entered the goal of Saint-Truden.

After scoring twice again, he ran while pointing at Barry, signaling him to come and celebrate the goal with him. 50% of the credit for the goal was Barry's precise passing, and the other 50% was due to Nagi's unparalleled speed advantage.

The first half ended with Genk taking the lead. Just when everyone thought Genk would win easily, the situation took a turn for the worse in the second half.

In the 51st minute, Nagi was brutally fouled while holding the ball and fell to the ground. The referee on duty gave the opponent a yellow card. Although Nagi was fine, the head coach Aimee Antonis was also in a cold sweat.

You know, the Europa League semi-final match against Liverpool is the top priority. Although Genk had an advantage in the first round, it is hard to imagine what the situation would be like without Nagi.

So Antonis decisively replaced Nagi with a substitute central defender to strengthen the team's defense.

The Genk players on the field were a little slack because of the score lead. In addition, after Nagi left the field, there were fewer people to restrain St. Turden's defense. In the 69th and 81st minutes, St. Turden scored two goals to tie the game. The score was equalized.

In the end, Genk's 3 points became 1 point, but their rival Anderlecht withstood the pressure in this round and defeated Brussels. Therefore, Genk's leading position in the standings has changed from 4 points reduced to 2 points.

In the locker room after the game, the head coach Antonis was furious: "With your mentality and level, why are you talking about beating Liverpool? Can you forget the scene of being behind by a big score?"

He rarely left everyone in the room, explained the mistakes made in the game to the players one by one, and did not leave until late at night, and then asked everyone to go to the training camp for training early the next morning to prepare for the game against Liverpool.

After the players left, assistant coach Quick Martin said, "Mr. Antonis, are you being too strict with them and putting extra pressure on the players."

Antonis shook his head, sighed and said, "I don't want to do this either, but since we have seen the dawn of victory, why don't we try our best? In fact, many of our players are a bit inferior in skills, but as long as we can play With 12 points of spirit, we can still compete with strong teams."

Three days later, the Luminus Arena ushered in the challenge of the Red Army Liverpool. There was a red area in a sea of ​​blue, which was the area where the fans of the visiting team were. Although there were not many of them, they cheered for the team with high voices Cheer up.

This was the first time the Genk people saw the madness of the England fans, and soon they were not to be outdone, and sang the team song in unison, announcing to everyone that this is our home stadium!

In such a lively scene, the players of the two teams came on the stage. The faces of Liverpool players no longer had the decadence and confusion of the last round of defeat, but were full of confidence.

Head coach Gilad Houllier said to them before the game: "The only mistake we made in the last round was that we failed to restrain Mina well, so in this game, as long as we pay enough attention to him, let him do nothing. , and everyone else is nothing to worry about."

"Believe in ourselves, we will definitely pass Genk and get our trophy!"

After the game started, Liverpool's defense against Nagi could be described as frenzied. When he was off the ball, there were always one or two people marking him. Once he received the ball, four or five people stepped forward to double-team.

Of course, this will leave a lot of open space for Genk's other offensive players. If it is a game in the League One, it will be easily converted into goals, but now it is against Liverpool, which is one of the best defenses in the world.

The situation of the game was completely different from the previous game. Genk created several shots in the first half, but unfortunately they were either too straight or just missed the goal frame.

On the other hand, Liverpool gave up their extreme ball possession and used counterattacks and positional positions. Gary McAllister and Michael Owen scored a goal each, easily reversing the total score.

Head coach Antonis of Genk looked at Houllier on the opposite bench with an ugly expression. He understood the tactics of the old fox. This was even equivalent to driving Nagi out of the arena with a few people.

Because Houllier believes that without Nagi, even if Genk has 10 players against Liverpool with 8 or even 7 players, there is no chance of winning.

At the end of the first half,Nagi felt powerless. It was really uncomfortable to be flanked by three or four world-class defenders.

The other players of Genk were also very uncomfortable. They had a faint feeling of what Liverpool's strategy was on the field, but they had no good way, and their strengths were quite different.

"Damn it!" Carl Beth punched the locker room cabinet, and said unwillingly, "Should we just watch the team step by step into the abyss of failure?"

Jason Aldridge and Gareth Barry were also very frustrated. They thought their strength was not bad, but they didn't expect that they were just abusing vegetables in the competition.

The head coach Antonis has no time to come to the locker room. He and the coaching staff are discussing the countermeasures intensely, but after discussing and discussing, they all feel that this is an unsolvable problem.

In the final analysis, the overall strength is still not enough. Relying on good signing luck and Nagi's superb performance, Genk has reached a level that does not belong to his own strength.

Just when the atmosphere in the locker room dropped to freezing point, Nagi stood up and said, "Everyone, I'm sorry, my performance in the first half was terrible, but please continue to trust me and leave the offense to me."

Beth heard the words and said: "Nagi, you don't have to apologize, this is not your problem. Brothers, let's defend well in the second half and never let Liverpool score another goal!"

After everyone listened, they all nodded solemnly. Everyone opened their arms and surrounded the city in a circle. Captain Aaron Abigail said: "Let them see the perseverance of our Genk people."

Aimee Antonis returned to the dressing room a few minutes before the start of the second half. He couldn't find a new tactic to break Houllier's arrangement, so he could only encourage the players.

But when he saw the resolute eyes of all the soldiers, he understood something instantly, and the prepared words only became two words: "Come on."

The two sides returned to the field, and the referee blew the horn to start the second half.

At the beginning of the game, Liverpool's strategy was the same as in the first half, adopting a strict defense posture against Nagi, and then leaving a line of space for other Genk players to lure them to attack, so that there will be opportunities to take advantage of.

However, unlike the first half, Genk's players were not fooled at all. Except for Nagi who was still pressing in the midfield, everyone else gathered in the back field area, forming a defensive formation like an iron bucket, allowing Liverpool's offense to be completely Return in vain.

They didn't seem to be the one behind. They defended calmly and firmly, and they only looked for Nagi to attack. They were stared to death? It doesn't matter, then pass it back to reorganize.

As for Nagi, he kept running on the court, exhausting his physical strength all the time, but he didn't care, he was just waiting for a chance to kill with one blow.

When the time came to 87 minutes, the opportunity finally came!

The 29-year-old Sami Hyypia finally showed a trace of fatigue. When Christian Chivu passed the ball to Nagi's feet, he failed to step forward to block it immediately, allowing Nagi to find it among the two defenders. With a trace of space, he rushed out with the ball.

Nagi, who had already charged up, accelerated again. In a blink of an eye, he got rid of the chasing players and came to Liverpool's backcourt. At this time, defender Jamie Carragher blocked him, trying to use a tackle to pass Ball destruction.

But Nagi made every touch of the ball just right when dribbling, controlling the strength and angle very well. When Carragher stretched his leg, Nagi had already taken the first step and lightly poked it.

Carragher snatched an empty space. Nagi caught up with the ball and continued to dribble. Another defender, Jerrod Bracus, went up for the first time, but Nagi tapped the ball with his left foot to his right foot. The whole person quickly passed by Bracus' left side. At this time, Bracus either made a foul or let Nagi dribble the ball.

At this time, the head coach Houllier said in his mind that he should not foul easily within 30 meters of the penalty area, because Nagi's free kick was extremely accurate.

In the moment of hesitation,Nagi had already surpassed him and dribbled the ball into the penalty area.

Defender Kelly Schulister near the penalty spot and central defender Stefan Weimann at the front of the penalty area rushed towards Nagi, trying to stop him.

Nagi's left shoulder sank, and he raised his right foot as if to shoot directly, causing Weiman to block with his leg, but his foot passed over the ball, and then tiptoed a little to the right, swaying Weiman past him.

Schlister, who arrived afterward, made a sliding shovel and came directly at the ball at Nagi's feet, but Nagi suddenly stopped and pushing, dodging the sliding shovel, the ball came to his left foot and volleyed directly, and the ball bounced off He got up and flew towards the far corner of the goal.

"Goooooooooooooooooal! Nagi Mina, it's amazing. In the 87th minute, Nagi Mina stood up again to save Genk!"

"Excellent offensive individual performance, Mina dribbled the ball past four players and sent the ball into the goal guarded by Giovanni Choupei!"

"The score on the field came to 1:2, and the total score of the two rounds was tied 5:5, but Genk had four away goals and Liverpool had only two."

"It can be said that the time left for Liverpool is running out!"

After scoring the goal, Nagi raised his head to the sky and roared, as if he wanted to vent the depression of the whole game, he once again surpassed himself!

Beth was the first to arrive, jumping on his back, laughing and shouting, "I knew you never let us down!"

The other Genk players also came to Nagi's side one after another, and everyone hugged together to congratulate this hard-won goal. Contrary to Genk's joy, the Liverpool players looked frustrated. Carragher covered his face because of Westerveld's red card suspension. The goalkeeper who replaced him kicked the ball in the goal angrily. .

On the coach's bench, when Antonis saw Nagi attacking with the ball, his heart also rose, because he knew that this should be the last chance, until Nagi scored the goal one-stop, he jumped up. After a moment, he sprinted along the sidelines with forgetfulness.

Houlier waved his hands helplessly and shook his head. His tactical arrangement was reasonable and effective, but he didn't expect Nagi and the rest of Genk's players to be so tenacious.

Moreover, Nagu's ability to seize opportunities is too strong. A slight flaw can be converted into a goal.

After the referee repeatedly reminded the Genk players, everyone dispersed to welcome the final countdown to victory. Captain Aaron Abigail called everyone to pay full attention and consume the last few minutes.

Liverpool, which had led almost the entire game, was overturned at the last moment. This was a huge blow to the morale of the team. Even if they wanted to reorganize their offense, the head coach Houllier kept shouting and commanding from the sidelines, but in the end Failed to pry open Genk's iron barrel array again.

With the whistle of the referee, the players on Genk's bench and members of the coaching staff couldn't wait to rush into the field and celebrate with the players on the field. They lifted the head coach Antonis tossed him high.

Nagi looked at this scene, smiled and said to Beth next to him: "Looking at their excited looks, I don't know how happy they will be the moment they win the Europa League."

Beth replied: "Yes, let's create history together and win that trophy." Nagi nodded solemnly.

At this time Michael Owen came to them and just heard the conversation, so he said: "Congratulations to you for entering the finals. I believe you can defeat your opponents and win the trophy."

"Mina, exchange jerseys with me, you beat me this time, it may not be the case next time we meet."

The two exchanged clothes, and after a brief hug, Owen left the stadium with all the Liverpool players. The curtain call of a loser is always a bit embarrassing, but they will not be depressed because of it. There are also the FA Cup and the league. Cups are waiting for them to challenge.

Genk's opponent in the final was also determined earlier. It was Alaves in La Liga. They drew with Roma in two rounds and finally eliminated their opponents through a penalty shootout.

After the game, the European media used the term "dark horse" to describe Genk, who entered the final, and looked forward to it being a dark horse. After all, compared with Liverpool, Alaves' overall level is slightly lower.

The media "French Football", the founding media of the Golden Globe Awards, wrote that Nagi is one of the best young players in the past two years. "His progress and strength are obvious to all, especially in this match against Liverpool, where several people scored goals in a row, it is hard not to remind people of Maradona."

"In fact, we are discussing a brand new award, which is similar in nature to the Ballon d'Or, but it is mainly for young players. We want to give more support and encouragement to young players."