Hoffenheim, about 120 kilometers away from Frankfurt, is a small village in the Rhine-Neckar County of Sinsheim, Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It has a population of only more than 3,000 and is 6 kilometers away from the center of Sinsheim.
Of course, the counties and cities in Europe are not on the same level as China in terms of area and there is no need to compare them.
Hoffenheim was formed by the merger of the Hoffenheim Gymnastics Association, founded in 1899, and the Hoffenheim Football Club, founded in 1921.
However, because it is located in a remote rural area, Hoffenheim has no money and cannot attract any good players. It has basically been playing in the seventh-level state leagues in Germany and below for a long time.
It was not until 1990 that Dietmar Hopp, who had been a youth team player at Hoffenheim, returned to his parent team and invested money in the club, that Hoffenheim's performance began to improve steadily.
Last season, Hopp hired Ralf Rangnick, a famous coach who had worked for many Bundesliga teams, as the team's head coach and led Hoffenheim to promotion to the Bundesliga.
However, Hoffenheim is not in a good situation in the 2007/2008 Bundesliga this season.
Four rounds of the league have been played so far, and Hoffenheim has not won a single game. Their record is 1 draw, 3 losses, 1 point - 5 goal difference, ranking second from the bottom in the Bundesliga standings, and 17th among the 18 Bundesliga teams, a standard result for a newly promoted team.
In such a situation, even the boss Hope, who personally brought in Lu Wenbin, was in no mood to welcome Lu Wenbin, not to mention the first-team head coach Ralf Rangnick who was under tremendous pressure to achieve results.
Therefore, when Lu Wenbin and his son and Fu Qingqing rushed to Hoffenheim Village under the leadership of the club staff, they only saw Nigel Neus, the team's youth training director.
As for the welcoming ceremony, it didn't exist for a young high school player from China. It was good enough to have two reporters from his own country to interview and record the game.
After the two sides got to know each other with the help of Fu Qingqing's translation, Nigel Neumann first took Lu Wenbin and the other two to visit the Hoffenheim club's home stadium, which can accommodate 5,000 people: the Dietmar Hopp Stadium, as well as the club's training ground, fitness center, rehabilitation center, etc.
Indeed, although the village where Hoffenheim is located is very small and the home stadium can accommodate only a small number of people, its facilities and talent pool are indeed top-notch in European football. All it lacks is excellent players to use them.
This is the power of capital.
After visiting the club, Nigel Noyce took Lu Wenbin and the other two to a small restaurant for dinner, and then arranged for them to stay and rest to adjust to the jet lag.
Because of the existence of Hoffenheim Club, there are several family hotels with good conditions in the village.
Noyce first arranged for Lu Wenbin and the other two to rest in a hotel, and then went back to prepare for the physical examination the next day.
Lu Wenbin still has to pass the physical examination before he can truly join Hoffenheim.
If he fails the physical examination, Lu Wenbin will have to go back home, and Hoffenheim will at most reimburse their travel expenses.
It is really too tiring to fly from Beijing to Frankfurt and then take a bus to Hoffenheim.
After Lu Wenbin and the other two briefly discussed what they had seen and heard in the hotel, they washed up and went to bed to recharge their energy for tomorrow's physical examination.
As for the two reporters from the Chinese sports newspaper, they found their own accommodation.
On the other side, after Neuss settled Lu Wenbin and the other two back to the club, he called the boss Dietmar Hopp to report.
After reporting on his work, Noyce asked Hope, "Boss, this Chinese player named Lu Wenbin, although I don't know how good his skills are, but he looks less than 170cm tall at the age of 17. Isn't he too short?"
Hope smiled and said, "Although he is small, he is physically strong and will not suffer any loss when fighting against defenders. Even when facing those defenders who are 1.8 meters tall, he can still hold his position in the penalty area and fight for headers. However, it would be better if he could grow taller. After the physical examination tomorrow, tell me the results, especially his bone growth period."
Noyce complied.
The next day, September 7, Nigel Noyce went to the hotel to pick up Lu Wenbin and his two companions, and took them to the club's sports medical center to give Lu Wenbin a physical examination.
German football is indeed advanced. There are many items to check and it is quite complicated. Lu Wenbin's physical examination lasted a whole day.
From the basic height, weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, and lung capacity to the deeper bone growth period, muscle-fat ratio, speed, physical fitness, endurance, etc., Lu Wenbin was tormented for a whole day like a little white mouse.
It was not until after four o'clock in the afternoon that all the physical examinations were completed. Lu Wenbin, his father and Fu Qingqing returned to the hotel to rest and wait for the results.
As for the doctors at the medical center, they had to work overtime to analyze Lu Wenbin's physical data and blood samples.
The next day, when Nigel Noyce got Lu Wenbin's physical examination report, he was shocked.
The report shows that Lu Wenbin has a very good and balanced physique. Although it is not perfect, as a 17-year-old young man, he has definitely reached the standard of playing in the German Second Division.
Whether it is speed, endurance, muscle ratio, etc., they are all quite reasonable. It does not affect Lu Wenbin's flexibility or his physical confrontation ability.
It seems that what the boss said was right. Lu Wenbin can really compete with those guards who are taller and heavier than him.
I don’t know how Lu Wenbin, as an amateur high school player, can achieve the physical fitness of a professional player.
Moreover, he did not have any disease that would affect his professional sports career, and his physical examinations passed perfectly.
As for the bone growth cycle, which his boss specifically asked him to pay attention to, Nigel Noyce saw quite ideal results.
The report shows that Lu Wenbin's bone growth cycle still has two to three years, and his current height of 167cm is far from the limit.
According to the data collected by the medical center, Lu Wenbin's final height will reach over 180cm, which will provide him with no problem playing professional football. Height will not be Lu Wenbin's shortcoming.
Only then did Noyce feel relieved.
He then called his boss Dietmar Hopp and reported Lu Wenbin's physical examination results.
In fact, although Hope said that he didn't care, he was a little worried about Lu Wenbin's height. Now he was relieved to hear that Lu Wenbin could grow to more than 180cm.
After all, it is not uncommon for players like Maradona to achieve extraordinary achievements despite being only 1.6 meters tall.
The average football player should be at least 1.7 to 1.8 meters tall, and a height of 1.8 meters is relatively ideal.
Now it seems that as Lu Wenbin's body continues to develop, his strength will continue to increase. Hoffenheim has indeed picked up a great bargain!
"Seven Crowns" was created by Mingqiao and exclusively released. Qidian Reading APP, QQ Reading, Chuangshi Chinese Network, WeChat Reading, and Mobile QQ Bookstore simultaneously update the latest genuine chapters. All people read and support genuine products!