Chapter 529: Chapter 528: Crazy Football
Beginning with various declarations from multiple high-level officials of the Chinese Football Association in private settings, a frenzy swept the nation about the "Chinese team valiantly winning the World Cup"!
The moment that rousing music started, it stirred nationalistic fervor!
It seemed as if it was already a done deal.
Anyone with a bit of professional knowledge who tried to voice that perhaps it wasn’t realistic was immediately drowned out by a tidal wave of rebuke.
All those who were sensible kept silent.
The understanding of the football market had been completely manipulated by some people.
At this point, betting on China’s team advancing was like picking up money, you know!
Patriotism + making money, when these two things coincide, then you realize how terrifying the power of the domestic populace can be!
Buy, buy, buy!
Everyone, go and buy!
Even if you have to sell your pots and pans, buy!
Buy because of Deng Kai!
Buy because of the Champions League winner!
Buy because of the back-to-back decuple champions!
The betting pool... skyrocketed!
It even exceeded Jiang Yunzhu’s earlier predictions.
The situation was shocking to witness.
In front of such big interests, anything became possible.
...
As time went by, the national teams from various countries began their training camps, and even entered the stage of friendly matches.
The countdown to the opening ceremony of the Korea-Japan World Cup was underway.
However, the Chinese team was still waiting for Deng Kai to arrive.
At first, this news was suppressed.
Bets on advancing, making the final four, winning the championship—they had all been placed.
All sorts of cash flow operations and money laundering were well arranged.
After everything was ready.
It was time for the next step... manipulation!
Seal the deal with Deng Kai!
Congratulations on your fortune!
However, when those people began their maneuvers, they realized that their usually effective tricks no longer worked.
They used to contact players through strangers to avoid leaving traces.
But Deng Kai... they couldn’t get in touch with him through their strangers!
Moreover, Deng Kai had been playing in Europe for a long time and wouldn’t interact with strangers lightly; they didn’t even have a chance to corrupt him.
They had to take a risky move and use insiders from the team or coaching staff to contact Deng Kai.
The risk was that doing so would leave evidence behind.
But the problem wasn’t serious.
In a critical moment, sacrificing a limb to survive was acceptable.
Keeping their own people silent was easy, a substantial pacification payment was enough.
That’s how Deng Kai received several calls from his so-called "teammates" and "team leaders".
Their words were all hinting at something to Deng Kai.
But Deng Kai played dumb with full understanding, forcing some of them to make their intentions clear.
"You might be overthinking it; the Chinese team isn’t so strong that we can easily advance. Beating Brazil is even more impossible... Oh, you’re talking about specific scores... Well, who could decide that? As a player, of course, my goal is to win, and I will not let go of any scoring opportunity..."
With just one sentence, Deng Kai shattered the other party’s hopes of controlling the score.
Moreover, upon closely studying Deng Kai’s matches, they found out that his ability to score goals in the second half, the last twenty minutes, the last ten minutes, and the last three minutes increased progressively.
If this man was not controlled, all their plans would be ruined in the end.
Even if you control the whole team, if Deng Kai is not controlled, the score is uncertain.
After all, the opponents are not under your control either, and you have to find ways to guard against the other side changing the score.
It’s too difficult!
This game, with Deng Kai, had expanded the profits too much, but it also made manipulation much more difficult.
A different method had to be thought of.
Soon, under the strong demands of the national team, Deng Kai ended his holiday early and hurried to the national team’s training center.
Not far from the World Cup, the national team arranged two training matches right off the bat without considering the players’ fitness and the potential risk of injuries.
Clearly, these people were very curious about Deng Kai’s abilities and were eager to see if he could change the situation they had set.
In the first match, Deng Kai was placed in the reserve team.
The result was a seven to three victory for Deng Kai, leading the reserve team!
A landslide over the main team!
In the second match, Deng Kai joined the main team.
Thirteen to one!
They went on a rampage!
And it wasn’t just Deng Kai who went on a rampage!
Forwards like Yang Chen and other main team players who played as wingers were also ecstatic!
They were so excited they almost cried.
Is this the joy of playing like Ronaldo?
Receiving the ball always meant a clear path to the goal, it was hard not to score!
No wonder Ronaldo was fed to become the European Golden Shoe!
Put me on, and I can do it too!
Ronaldo: ???
Through these two matches, everyone realized the terrifying potential of Deng Kai.
Top European athletes playing football in China have this kind of impact.
Even not just the top ones, some second-tier players also perform like kings once they join the Jia A League.
And Deng Kai... his through passes are arrows, his shots cannons, his passes rulers, his defense an iron wall, his attack a raging storm... This is a youthful version of Zidane + Ronaldo + Matthaus!
With him on the team, professionals believe China has a real chance of advancing!
And this possibility terrifies some people!
They can’t bear the consequences of China’s team moving on!
It’s not just about the money and dirty deals in the pool.
Once China advances, the pool will dry up, and the huge amount of undisclosed funds swimming beneath it will be exposed!
None of that money is clean.
Not a dime!
...
At night.
A text message was sent to the phones of a few players.
"Without strength, time’s beauty cannot be held; deep in the mire, one follows as the oxen plod."
It seemed innocuous, but it was actually an acrostic poem.
And a particularly unique method was used.
The first word of the first sentence, the second word of the second sentence.
If there was a third sentence, then it would be the third word... However, there were only two sentences, meaning that even if caught in the future, there would be ample room for excuses.
So the actual order was... Break a leg!
Only then could they ensure Deng Kai wouldn’t mess things up!
That night, these players tossed and turned, struggling to sleep.
Some bore a great weight on their conscience, chastised by their sense of right and wrong.
Others wracked their brains for ways to carry out the deed, rehearsing tackles in their mind.
But the next day, when they arrived at the training field, they found Deng Kai training alone.
Milu explained, "Maxa said Deng Kai’s old injury from the Champions League seemed to be flaring up, so he’s undergoing individual rehabilitation training."
Injured?
Not joining in practice?
And not participating in practice matches?
This...
With yesterday’s regal performance, are you sure he’s injured?
Or is it that... Deng Kai is worried about getting injured himself?
Is this worry purely precautionary, or does he know something?
That day, several players were distracted during the game, their touches sending the ball far away, and they kept glancing towards the distant Deng Kai.
This method wasn’t going to work.
So they’d have to resort to brute force.
That night, some "unemployed hooligans" broke into Deng Kai’s solo dorm room, brandishing weapons and violently targeting the bed, especially the legs.
The room was one Maxa had requested for Deng Kai.
The reason being Deng Kai was used to sleeping alone; sharing a room would prevent him from sleeping and affect his performance.
In reality, it was a lack of trust in his teammates, fearing that some might be tempted to do something wrong.
But still, they couldn’t prevent the "accident."
However, under the blankets, there was only a spare comforter.
The dorm was empty!
And the local police, as if they had prior knowledge of the event, nearly arrived on the criminals’ heels and took them away, leaving other departments who came later with nothing to find.
From a temporal perspective, one could argue that the hooligan had been sent by them.
During custody, predictably, the hooligan "committed suicide out of fear of punishment."
Due to various considerations, the incident was not publicized.
The media knew nothing about it.
Even within the team, orders were strict, forbidding any mention of related matters to the outside world.
Later on, higher-ups in the football administration pressed for information on Deng Kai’s whereabouts.
Maxa candidly mentioned that Deng Kai had asked for leave in advance to visit Hathaway, and he had approved it.
Deng Kai would fly directly from England to South Korea on the English national team’s plane to compete.
Only then did some start to understand why Maxa had joined the national football team’s coaching staff initially.
He had come ahead of time to take care of matters for Deng Kai, to provide him with protection!
But Maxa alone wasn’t enough; as a foreigner, he must also have had domestic helpers, right?
Who were they?
Jiang Yunzhu from "Soccer Emperor"?
Was Jiang Yunzhu getting too cocky just because of her slight connections?
Did she want a piece of the action?
These people immediately got in touch with Jiang Yunzhu.
But Jiang Yunzhu showed her rebellious side by refusing to cooperate with them.
Still, Jiang Yunzhu’s true identity remained a secret.
But it didn’t matter.
In this game, who isn’t backed by some power?
Jiang Yunzhu matters not!
Back at the training base, some of the coaches and players expressed dissatisfaction with Deng Kai’s actions, arguing that this way, they were completely unfamiliar with one another and couldn’t play properly!
They suggested Deng Kai remain on the bench as a substitute, claiming it was the team’s collective opinion.
Watching the majority of the team feign ignorance, Maxa and Milu knew very well what this was all about.
