The day after the Ironman World Championships, Dai Li saw the final results of the competition on the news.
"The Brown brothers only finished second or third." Dai Li looked at the picture on the news, and Thiel helped Hansen walk across the finish line together, feeling suddenly moved in his heart.
"Brother gave up the championship for his younger brother. I hope that after this game, the gap between their brothers will be eliminated." Dai Li closed the web page and stood up. Next, he was going to greet a former The guest from Spain is Fernando, the sports director of the La Liga football giant and FC Barcelona.
"Coach Li, we meet again." Fernando spoke pure American English. People who don't know may think that he is a native American.
When Li Dai visited the Barcelona Club before, he had met Fernando. At that time, it was Fernando who promised that Barcelona could give Halls a chance if Halls could grow taller. This is exactly why Fernando is here now.
A few minutes later, Fernando met Howles. At this time, Howles has grown taller than a year ago.
"Compared to last year when you came to Barcelona, this kid has indeed grown a lot taller." Fernando nodded with satisfaction.
"Mr. Fernando, let's let the data speak for itself." Li Dai stretched out his hand and pointed to the height measuring ruler on the wall.
Howles walked over immediately.
"Wait a minute!" Dai Li stopped Howles, and then said: "Take off your shoes."
Howles nodded, followed Dai Li's instructions, took off his shoes, and then occupied the wall.
A staff member immediately came forward to measure Howles' height.
"168 centimeters!" The surveyor reported the measured number and stepped aside to let Fernando confirm the result with his own eyes.
"The bare foot measurement is 168 centimeters, and if you put on shoes, it will be at least 170 centimeters. With this height, although you cannot be a high center forward who can header the ball and grab points, it is enough to be a penetrating and breakthrough winger." Fernando He nodded with satisfaction. In his opinion, Halls' height had reached the minimum standard for becoming a professional football player.
With a height of 168 centimeters, he is naturally short on the football field, but there are also many players in football who are less than 170 centimeters tall, including many well-known "wing killers". Although they are not tall, they have flexible feet, delicate skills, and fast speed, which can easily pose a threat to the opponent's goal.
The technical characteristics that Halls currently displays are obviously in line with the image of a "side killer".
Dai Li next to him continued: "If Halls continues to train with me, he should be able to continue to grow taller. Maybe he can grow to 175 centimeters, but that will take time, maybe one or two years." . But during this period, he may not get professional football training. I am not a professional football coach, and I cannot provide professional football training here. I think football training should still be left to football clubs like you. Only By leaving him in your hands, his football talent will not be wasted."
"Coach Li, you are really well-intentioned." Fernando bowed in compliment, and then said: "I am very satisfied with Halls' current state. I believe that he will have a good future after joining Barcelona. .”
…
Argentina has not been having an easy time recently. The Argentine peso has devalued significantly by 10% in just a few days, and it is about to trigger a new economic crisis.
But the people of Argentina have long been accustomed to this. Since the middle of the last century, the struggle between Peronism and anti-Peronism has caused this country to fall from a developed country to a developing country. Subsequently, the crisis caused by neoliberalism has led to the withdrawal of foreign investment, the collapse of exports, and the bankruptcy of a large number of enterprises. It is constantly consuming the vitality of this country. The astronomical huge debt defaults have made Argentinians feel like they have too many lice, and the whole country is full of broken windows effect.
No matter how bad the economy is, it can't stop Argentines' passion for football. Whenever Argentina's domestic football league starts on the weekend, people still gather to watch football matches.
In a dilapidated tavern, more than 20 people gathered in front of an old-fashioned picture tube TV that had been working for more than ten years. They drank the cheapest beer and stared at the screen that had developed color aberrations.
Old Forster is one of them. As a football coach, he naturally loves football very much. Although raising four children will put a lot of financial pressure on him, he will still come to the school on weekend afternoons. In this tavern, drink two bottles of beer and enjoy this moment of happiness.
The ringtone of the cell phone rang, and Foraster's face suddenly showed an unhappy expression. He was disturbed while watching the game, which indeed made him feel a little bad.
But Forrest still picked up the phone. After a few seconds, his expression changed drastically, and then he screamed crazily.
Everyone in the tavern was looking at Forster. It was not unusual for him to scream like this. Whenever a goal was scored, the tavern would always boil, but now there was no goal. With the ball, Forster's scream became even more unusual.
"Hey, man, what's wrong with you?" asked a man next to him.
"Barcelona has decided to give my son Halls a contract!" Forrest shouted excitedly.
People nearby gathered around him immediately.
"What did you say? Barcelona? That Barcelona in Spain?"
"Is it Barcelona, a giant club in La Liga? Is your son there?"
"What's your son's name? Is he a player?"
All kinds of problems hit me instantly.
"Of course, of course my son is a player, and he will soon become a professional player, playing in La Liga and Barcelona!" Forrest replied somewhat incoherently.
"Hey, Forrest, I think you've lost your mind and gone crazy? I remember that your son has dwarfism. He can only grow up to 1.5 meters. There's no way he can become a professional player." Someone said from the sidelines. .
"My son has grown to 170 centimeters!" Forrest said.
"170 centimeters? How is this possible? How can dwarfism grow to 170 centimeters?" The man obviously looked unbelieving.
"Believe it or not, just wait and see. This matter will definitely be reported on the news in the next two days." Forrest said and stood up. He was no longer in the mood to watch the game and decided to return immediately. Come home and share this good news with your family.
…
As expected, the Argentine media reported this incident.
Although Argentina has many football talents, it is definitely a big deal to be able to play in La Liga, not to mention the giant Barcelona. Even if you just enter Barcelona's youth training system, you will be noticed by the entire Argentine sports media.
River Plate, team manager Aguero looked incredulous when he saw the familiar name appearing in the newspaper title.
"How could that Howles be selected by Barcelona? Doesn't he have dwarfism? He can't become a professional player. How could Barcelona select him?"
Aguero couldn't help but read the content of the report carefully word for word.
"The newspaper said that Halls' height is 1.7 meters. How is this possible? He has dwarfism and it is impossible to grow to 1.7 meters." Aguero murmured to himself.
However, there is a picture in the newspaper, which shows Halls wearing Barcelona training clothes and training on the court. From the photo, although he is shorter than other players, he is definitely not a dwarf.
The next second, Aguero suddenly remembered Halls' terrifying football talent.
"What a big loss! If I had known he could grow to 1.7 meters tall, I would have definitely signed him. With his talent, he can get at least 10 million euros in transfer fees from European teams!" Aguero He suddenly showed a regretful expression.
…
Real Madrid Club, in the conference room, the intelligence director held a document and reported to the team's management.
"Yesterday, in a U15 practice match, Barcelona's U15 youth team defeated Valencia's U15 youth team with a score of 7 to 1." The intelligence director said, lifting his eyes.
"7 to 1? Such a big difference? Is this a completely one-sided defeat? As far as I know, Valencia's youth training camp is not weak. Even in practice matches, they will not lose so much to Barcelona. Right? This is a bit too shameless." Someone next to him immediately questioned.
"Indeed, this score is unusual. Young players at the U15 level have mastered defensive skills and some complex tactical coordination. How could there be such a big score difference? Did something unusual happen during the game? Different things?" Another person asked.
"Yes, Barcelona's seven goals are all related to one player. His name is Joules Forrest. He is an Argentinian and has just been selected by Barcelona. In this practice match, Joules Foraster Last scored four goals, two of which were penalty kicks, all of which were caused by himself, and one direct free kick goal. At the same time, he also provided three assists to his teammates." The intelligence official said said.
"Repeat that person's name again." Sports manager Henry suddenly said.
"Howles Forrest." The intelligence officer turned to look at Henry, and then asked: "Mr. Henry, do you know this player?"
"Is it him?" Henry immediately shook his head: "It's impossible. I do know a kid named Halls. He is indeed Argentinian, but he suffers from dwarfism and it is impossible to become a professional player."
"Then they should have the same name," the intelligence officer said.
"Do you have a photo of the Argentinian?" Henry asked next.
"Yes." The intelligence officer pulled out a piece of paper from the folder, handed it to Henry, and said at the same time: "The third one in the first row is Halls Forrest."
Henry took the piece of paper, looked down, and his expression suddenly changed.
"It's him, the Halls I know. How is this possible? He has dwarfism, how can he play football?" Henry screamed, completely losing his temper.
"Mr. Henry, what's going on?" someone asked immediately next to him.
"This Howles came to visit our club a year ago. I noticed him at that time. His talent is very good and he can be said to be a football genius. But he has dwarfism and it is impossible to become a professional player. , so I didn’t try to keep him." Henry said.
"The information I have collected here shows that Halls's height is 1.7 meters. Obviously, his height has reached the standard of a professional player. He can at least become a breakthrough winger." The intelligence officer paused. After a pause, he then said: "Mr. Henry, I think you may have been deceived. He may be at least shorter, or develop slightly later, and it is not dwarfism."
"No, probably not. Coach Li will not lie to me. After all, he is the best coach in Lawrence, and he has no direct relationship with our Real Madrid. He cannot lie about this kind of thing." Henry said this. , the words suddenly stopped, and he remembered that when he met with Dai Li a year ago, Li Dai said at that time that Halls was training to increase his height with Li Dai.
"Is it that Coach Li? He really did it! Oh my God, through physical training, he made a dwarf grow to 1.7 meters!"