Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 212

When the referee blew the final whistle, the stadium of light was raging with wind and snow. Standing at one end of the field, the goal at the other end could hardly be seen.

When Anton came down from the sidelines, he almost became a snowman. The Sunderland coaching staff came up to help him dust off the snow, only to find that the snow that fell on his head had already melted and wet his end Curly black hair, curled more strongly in front of the forehead, was all pressed tightly against his forehead.

Anton tidied up a little, and hurried forward to shake hands with Jesús.

Jesús was not much better than Anton. He was wrapped in a thick down jacket, and he could barely speak when shaking hands with Anton.In fact, the two couldn't hear what the other was saying—except for the noise of the fans leaving the stadium in the Stadium of Light, there was only the sound of the wind whistling in their ears.

Assistant coach Russell honestly "confiscated" Anton's glasses from the Benfica fan.But because Anton had asked in advance, Russell had to thank the fan, although his tone was very cold: "Thank you, for helping our head coach 'take care' of his glasses."

The fan kept wiping his glasses with a cloth during the game, trying to keep his lenses clean.But he didn't expect that the other party would thank him for it.The fan went "hmm" for a long time, then suddenly asked Russell: "May I ask Anton for an autograph?"

Russell slipped, staggered, and asked, "Why? Don't you always disbelieve Anton's words? Why do you want his autograph now?"

The Benfica fan scratched his head: "Actually, there's nothing to believe or not... After all, we are opponents. We can't just cry and say Anton, we believe you, right?"

Russell: ...

"Then I won't ask for your autograph for you. If you have the ability, you can do it yourself!" The duplicity Russell snorted, found Anton with his glasses in his hands, and said something to Anton. Anton lowered his head, put on his glasses, and turned around. He looked at the Benfica fan, nodded with a smile, took a signature pen, asked the man to come over, and signed on the Benfica jersey he was wearing under his jacket: "To the Stadium of Light——Anton."

The Benfica fan was so overjoyed that he carefully pulled the front of his jersey and rushed out to find his friends.

Jesús watched the whole process from the sidelines, and couldn't help being a little jealous: fans of his own team asked the opponent's head coach for an autograph... He didn't seem to have signed it a few times.It is true that people have the same fate.

Anton has come to invite Jesús to the mixed interview area.

This is the focus of this round of the Europa League knockout round, and it was able to proceed after a lot of twists and turns. At this time, it was snowing heavily outside, and the mixed interview area was crowded with people from all walks of life.

As soon as Anton arrived, a reporter from the English media anxiously asked loudly: "Mr. Coach, what do you think of the result of today's home game? With two goals in hand...it seems not safe!"

The reporters from the Portuguese media nearby looked sideways.

Anton replied: "Of course it's not safe! Benfica is a very good team. The weather conditions on the field today obviously restricted their performance. It is conceivable that they will show even better performances when they return to the Stadium of Light in Lisbon." Good form... but today's weather also limited our performance, in this case our team scored two goals, I am very satisfied and proud."

The Portuguese media quickly jumped in and asked: "Anton, Anton... I heard that you 'lend' your glasses to a Benfica fan for this game. Why, do you want to invite Portuguese fans to speak for you? "

Anton looked at the person who was asking the question, and recognized that the other party did not have any malicious intentions, but his English expression was relatively blunt. Someone offered to help take care of it, and I was naturally happy to agree."

When these Portuguese media go back to interview that fan, they will get the same answer.

At this time, the staff of the Stadium of Light squeezed over and whispered a few words in Anton's ear.Anton frowned, nodded, and quickly made a "pause" gesture to the media, saying: "Everyone, please forgive me, there are some emergencies now, I have to contact Mr. Jesus as soon as possible. Sorry , I hope to continue the interview with you next time..."

Before he finished speaking, he squeezed out of the crowd, and really went to the next door to find Jesús.

Jesús could have justified the defeat with too many reasons: the delay, the away game, the weather... although the delay was of their own making.In the face of the media, Jesús talked endlessly, talking about what changes they will make at home at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon.

At this moment, Anton rushed over, startling Jesús: Is this person here to inquire about information?

Unexpectedly, Anton said to Jesus: "Mr. Coach, there are some emergencies in this area, I need to discuss with you immediately!"

"Newcastle Airport has been announced to be closed. Trains on the North East Coast Railway line are mostly delayed, and motorways have speed limits and may close soon. We have to discuss how to accommodate your football team and fans."

Benfica originally planned to rush to Newcastle Airport as soon as the game ended and take a chartered flight back to Lisbon.It seems that not only the plane cannot take off on time, but they may not be able to get to Newcastle smoothly.

What's more terrible is that there are [-] fans from Portugal.Most of them plan to take a bus or train to London and fly home from there.Now with this snow, they're totally stuck in Sunderland.

Jesús was worried about the delay of his team's schedule, but when Anton mentioned the Benfica fans, Jesús frowned: Could it be that the fans also belong to him?

Anton urged Jesús to quickly contact the heads of several Benfica fan organizations.Jesús had to call the assistant coach in a hurry, found several representatives of the fans and asked them to come to the locker room.

At this time, the reporters in the mixed interview area also discovered that they couldn't go back by themselves under the current weather conditions.Immediately, a shrewd reporter turned on the live broadcast mode and turned to report the snow conditions in the Northeast for the audience:

"We are now at the Stadium of Light. There was a ball game just held here, and the road was blocked by heavy snow after the game. About [-] fans from England and Portugal were trapped here..."

At this time, the coaching staff and fan representatives of the two clubs gathered to discuss.

Both teams are easy to arrange: the Hilton Hotel is near the Stadium of Light. After they got the news from the Sunderland club, they have made all preparations and are ready to welcome the players of the two teams to rest at any time.Sunderland's team doctor has also arrived there, ready to give the players routine post-match care.

But it is the fans who are more difficult to arrange: it is not only the 3 Benfica fans who are in trouble, but also more than [-] Sunderland fans, who have not yet returned.

The exits of several parking lots at the Stadium of Light have been blocked by heavy snow. The Sunderland Municipality has dispatched snow plows to keep clearing the snow on the road, but they can't bear to sweep and sweep, and the progress of clearing the road is very slow.Some fans who had gone to the parking lot to drive away were also forced to come back. The Stadium of Light opened all the gates, allowing these returning fans to enter the waiting area of ​​the stadium again.

"What should I do?" Jesus didn't have any experience in dealing with such extreme weather. After the players' arrangements were implemented, he spread his hands and said that he had no choice.

Anton also found this troublesome, so he asked the leader of the Benfica fans organization: "Among you, how many are older fans, younger fans, and weaker ones?"

The team leader made a phone call and found out that there were about 300 people.In other words: Others can stay in the Stadium of Light temporarily, but these people should make arrangements first and rest nearby.

At this time, Dennis, the owner of the Black Cat Bar, spoke up. He is also one of the conveners of the Sunderland Fans Association.

"Anton, when Sunderland built the 'City of Football', they counted the number of 'Fan Homes' near the stadium that could receive them. It's hard to say too many, but they can still accommodate 500 people."

What Dennis said was that Sunderland welcomed a large number of Messi fans after Messi's "airborne", so the municipal government started a project to create a "football city".In addition to improving the level of various municipal services, Sunderland fans and citizens are also invited to take out their idle houses and rooms to entertain fans from afar. This will not only improve the reception capacity of the city of Sunderland, but also improve the citizens The income level can also allow fans from afar to experience the life of local fans and understand the local culture.

These idle houses and rooms are called "fan houses".

At this time Dennis brought it up, and Anton asked again: "Then, the 'Fans Home' which is a little further away and can only be reached by car, how much reception capacity does it have?"

Dennis looked at the leader of the Benfica fans, patted his chest proudly, and said, "It's okay to put you all in."

"This is the end!" Anton saw that there was a solution, and said immediately, "Dennis, please contact the 'Fans Home' within walking distance immediately, and ask them to prepare for the reception. Our fans will send A small team, sending old, young and infirm Benfica fans to rest in these homes."

"The rest of the people, including Sunderland fans, need to wait at the Stadium of Light! When the snow stops and the road resumes traffic, we will arrange for the Sunderland fans to go home, and the rest of the Benfica fans to go a little farther." The fans' home 'stay."

Dennis held up his mobile phone to show Anton: "No problem, Anton, you see that this hashtag has appeared on social media now-'#Everything for the Stadium of Light#', our 'Fans Home' has long been prepared, they We are welcoming our Portuguese friends."

"It's all for the Stadium of Light?" Benfica coach Jesús was stunned for a moment before reacting: the stadiums of the two clubs are both called the "Stadium of Light". Benfica fans expressed infinite kindness.

The heavy snow fell underground for three hours, and finally stopped when the time entered February 2th.In the middle of the night, the Stadium of Light was covered with thick snow, making it difficult for all means of transportation.