Chapter 40

Beveren, East Flanders, Belgium, Fretier Stadium, where the 33rd round of the Ligue 1 is being played, Beveren vs Genk

For Genk, this game is crucial because it matters whether the team can win the championship one round earlier. Earlier in this game, Anderlecht tasted their fourth defeat of the season. Losing to Bill Short 1:2, Genk still led by two points even though he missed one round.

Since Genk's goal difference has an advantage, that is to say, as long as Genk draws with their opponents in this game, they can win the league championship in the 00-01 season! In this way, they can give up the last round of the game and concentrate on preparing for the Europa League final.

But if they can't beat their opponents, they will have to face the unfavorable situation of a double final in one week. All Genk players and fans don't want to face such a scene, and even most of the Belgian media don't approve of such a game arrange.

Because Belgium has not reached the Europa League final for many years, the last time Anderlecht won the Europa Cup in the 1982-1983 season.

They even called for the Football Association to reschedule the final round of the match if Genk fails to win the championship ahead of schedule, so that Genk can fully prepare for the UEFA Cup. It is said that the senior management of the Football Association is considering the feasibility of this plan.

For most people, if Genk can win the championship early, it will be the best result, but Anderlecht players and fans obviously don't think so. They are watching the game nervously at this time, praying With Genk's defeat, they left hope of reversal.

The Beveren players on the field obviously didn't want to release water. Although the team was not under the pressure of performance, they still tried their best in the spirit of sportsmanship with threat of offense.

However, the skills of the Genk players are obviously better, gradually taking the initiative on the field. In the 23rd minute, Genk launched a quick counterattack. Christian Chivu in the backfield lobbed a high ball into the midfield. Carl Beth couldn't catch the ball under the interference of the defensive players, so he took advantage of the situation to push forward, and then struggled to get rid of Defense, after catching up with the ball, another pass was passed to Gareth Barry in the front field.

After receiving the ball, Barry quickly passed the ball to the right line of defense. Nagi caught up with the ball near the baseline.

Jason Aldridge, who was inserted in the back row, had some problems with his timing and failed to reach the best point, so he was quick to use his wits and kicked the ball with perfect skill. The ball rolled straight to the far point of the goal, and the Beveren goalkeeper was hit. One was caught off guard and could only watch the ball hit the net.

1:0, Genk took the lead! The league championship trophy seems to be getting closer and closer to them.

The first half of the game ended with Genk leading by one goal, and the players in the dressing room were talking and laughing, not as depressed as they were in the last game against Liverpool. Aldridge even suggested that we celebrate with champagne first.

Nagi stopped immediately after hearing the words. Although he didn't know why, he had a feeling somewhere that opening champagne in advance to celebrate was not a good omen. Captain Aaron Abigail also stood up and said: "Everyone, we have successfully touched the corner of the league trophy, but football is round, everything is variable, and there are still 45 minutes of challenges waiting for us."

"We are not qualified to be unrestrained yet. When this game is over, you can celebrate however you want, but now is not the time." Abigail is usually very majestic in the team, so everyone listened to him and cheered up to greet him. The second half of the game.

After the change of sides, Beveren was still very tenacious, but the Genk players were united and unanimously decided to win the game, so they still had the advantage.

Time passed bit by bit, Anderlecht players and fans watched the TV, and their hearts gradually sank. This feeling of putting hope on the opponent, and the opponent slowly took it away , is really uncomfortable.

In the 78th minute, Barry passed the ball to Aldridge on the left. After Aldridge took the ball into the penalty area, he made a few fake moves and failed to shake the defender, so he crossed to Beth, who was also on the edge of the penalty area.

Beth didn't stop the ball, and directly tiptoed the ball to the middle. Nagi took off with his back to the goal, raised his right foot, and directly attacked the goal with an upside-down scissor kick.

"Bass passed the ball to the center and hit the goal! The goal went in, goooooooooooooal! It was so beautiful. In the 78th minute, Mina used a wonderful upside-down scissor kick to seal the victory for Genk."

"This is the 40th goal scored by Mina this season. He has scored 40 goals in 33 rounds of the league, 6 goals ahead of the second-placed Jan Koller. He has almost locked the Golden Boot of the League this season. Let us Congratulations again to Nagi Mina."

"At the same time, Mina also broke the record of goals scored in a single season in the history of the League, and the record for the youngest player in the League's Golden Boot. I believe this record will remain for a long time."

"It is worth mentioning that Mina also contributed 12 assists this season ranked fifth in the assist list, that is to say, more than two-thirds of Genk's goals were all It is related to Mina, Genk can win the league trophy this season, Mina has contributed a lot."

Nagi's brave performance also won the respect of the fans of the home team. When Nagi was celebrating the goal, many Beveren fans spontaneously stood up and applauded this young but hot player.

If he can bring back a UEFA Cup for Ligue 1, it will be the glory of all Belgian fans, so at this moment they hope very much that Nagi can also maintain this aggressive state on the stage of the Europa League final .

This goal also completely shattered Anderlecht's dream of defending the title. Many fans burst into tears at home. Jan Koller stared blankly at the high-spirited teenager on TV, thinking of his rhetoric last year.

"I will definitely not lose next time", it turns out that it is not just the next time, every time he does not think about it and will not lose. "Even taking away my last glory in Bijia, you are really a greedy person." Jan Koller said to himself.

However, this also inspired his fighting spirit. No matter where Nagi goes in the future, it will always be in the top five leagues. I can't fall too far behind him. This 28-year-old "veteran" seems to have a second spring.

When the final whistle sounded, Beveren's players took the initiative to shake hands with Genk players to congratulate, because Genk did not celebrate in the away game, but Aldridge's wish to put champagne in the locker room came true. After scoring a goal, the team staff went to a nearby supermarket to buy a few bottles.

Naturally, Nagi was the one to be taken care of. He failed to grab a bottle, but was taken away by other team members, and they even stared at him and sprayed it, making him dumbfounded.

Everyone fought for a while, took a shower and rushed back to Genk overnight.

In the last round against Bruges, Aimee Antonis almost rotated the entire main lineup, allowing substitutes and second-tier players to play to recharge their batteries for the Europa League final.

The opponent is still competing with Standard Liege for a seat in the Europa League next season, so they will go all out with their main force. The gap between the two teams is very obvious. Genk simply lost a 0:3.

The Luminus Arena was packed with fans of the home team, but they were not dissatisfied with Genk's performance. The people who came to the scene today are mainly to witness the team lift the league trophy, so they are very tolerant of this group of substitute players. When they create threats, they will stand up and cheer, and they will applaud to express encouragement when they make mistakes.

After the end of the game, the workers invited by the Genk executives quickly set up a simple podium in the middle of the stadium, and the trophy was sent to the scene earlier.

The shape of the trophy of the Belgian First Division is very unique. The base is a boxy structure. The name of the champion club and the season time are engraved on the front. The top of the base is an irregular platform shape with some decorations. On the platform stands a A cow with a half hollow football on its head.

Before awarding the league trophy, Nagi was awarded the League Golden Boot. When Nagi came on stage, all the fans cheered. Everyone shouted Nagu's name and applauded fiercely.

Frederick O'Connor, president of the Belgian Football Association, handed the trophy to Nagi. When the two embraced, he whispered in Nagi's ear: "Maybe you are about to travel to a bigger stage, but don't forget you Always one of the legends of the Belgian league, best of luck to you."

Nagi nodded and expressed his thanks with a smile.

The main event was of course the award presentation of the champion team. Nagi deliberately walked at the end. He had already won enough honors. At this time, let the other players take the stage first and enjoy the cheers of the fans.

A gold-plated medal was hung on Nagi's neck by Nat Beyer, vice president of the Belgian Football Association, while O'Connor handed the league trophy to captain Aaron Abigail, who took the trophy , looked around at his teammates on both sides, then raised the trophy high above his head and shouted: "Champion of Genk!"

Accompanied by the loud cheers in the stands, the team members gathered together and touched the championship trophy one after another. Then Abigail handed the trophy to the teammates next to him and asked them to pass it on.

Nagi also won this heavy trophy, feeling a little emotional in his heart. He won the Belgian Cup for Genk last season, and won the league trophy this season, which can be regarded as a full harvest.

When Nagi came to the interview area, a lot of reporters surrounded him, most of them were concerned that he was the youngest Golden Boot winner. "I think this is the credit of the whole team. Everyone passed me a lot of balls, and I was able to achieve this result. This trophy should belong to all the players in Genk."

Nagi's humble attitude also made the reporters a little admired. It is not easy to achieve these honors at such a young age without being surprised. There are also reporters who are concerned about his whereabouts, but Nagi still avoids it by saying that he is fully preparing for the Europa League final.

In fact, even he himself is not sure where he will go. This year Genk has already completed the performance target, so Nagi will definitely leave the team in the summer. The team manager Bill Albert agreed to Nagi, and no one will bid high Just sell it to whomever, but let Nagi make his own choice, and the club will give it the utmost respect.

After receiving the award, everyone came to the bar to celebrate together. Nagi, as always, did not drink alcohol, but also had a good time. Everyone temporarily forgot about the Europa League final a few days later, and the reality of falling apart after the season, and celebrated to their heart's content. Focus on the present.

It wasn't until very late that Nagi returned to the dormitory and turned on the computer. His younger sister sent him some messages on QQ. The first was a picture of the whole family. His mother and older sister were sitting on the sofa. It read: "Congratulations to Nagi for winning the League Golden Boot and Championship."

Nagi smiled and said to himself: "This must be my little sister's attention, this eccentric little girl." In the photo, there was a big cake on the coffee table, and his sister stood in front of the camera holding one of them, posing The gesture of handing out seems to be handing over to Nagi who is far away in Belgium.

His sister left a message: "Brother, we saw that you won the award and were interviewed. Why do you suddenly feel that you have become handsome? In addition, we will celebrate you at home. I hope you will continue to work hard and win the Europa League. I ordered two Banners and cakes, don't let me down."

With a smile on his face, Nagi left a message at the bottom: "Okay, I will never let your things be bought for nothing."

It was approaching early morning in Japan at this time, and the family members who had watched Nagi's entire game were probably still resting, so they did not reply to him.

Another flickering message is from Mio, Nagi's only friend. She used a cute rabbit image. After Nagi opened it, he found that she sent a congratulatory message when the award was presented seems to be someone who pays close attention to the whole process in front of the TV.

Nagi thanked her back, but he didn't expect that the other party was still online and responded to his message in seconds. "Why did you wake up so early, little girl?" Nagi asked.

"I was so excited to see you holding the cup, so I woke up a little early." Mio sent a cute expression with her tongue sticking out. In fact, she didn't sleep much all night because she was worried about missing Nagi's news.

Several times, she was sleepy, and suddenly felt that there was a message, so she woke up suddenly, and checked it, but found that it was just her own illusion. This time, it was the notification sound of the message that woke her up from a light sleep, so she was able to reply in seconds. .

Of course, Nagi didn't know what the little girl was thinking, he just thought that Mio had just woken up, so he chatted with her sentence by sentence. Apart from his family, it was the first time for Nagi to share his joy and vision for the future with others.

Mio talked about her plan. She planned to go abroad to study management after graduating from high school. She was half joking and half serious and said: "Nagi onii-chan, which country will you go to in the future? Should I go with you? It's good to have a caretaker."

Nagi replied: "It hasn't been decided yet, but I also want my sister to study abroad, why don't you two come together."

"Okay, okay, then you have decided to tell me."

The two chatted very speculatively. After talking for an hour, Mio realized: "Nagi onii-chan, the time in Belgium must be very late. You have been tired all day, so you should take a rest." Nagi said : "Well, then you should also catch up on sleep. Fortunately, you don't have to go to school on weekends."

After the two said goodnight to each other, Nagi took a simple wash before falling asleep, while Mio on the other side of the world quickly fell asleep, and she finally had a good night's sleep after letting go of her mind.