Chapter 705: The Wind-Blowing Youth and the Chinese National Team Captain's Armband

【Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport welcomes Manchester United Football Club!】

【Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport welcomes Tang Ye!】

While the plane was still taxiing on the runway, Tang Ye saw the red banners hanging from the jet bridge and the terminal building.

Welcoming the entire club felt appropriate to Tang Ye.

But there was no need to hang his name up separately!

Singling out a name for a welcome was indeed a bit too showy.

However, Tang Ye was not the type who liked being passively showy; he preferred to take the initiative to show off when he wanted to.

As a master ball-controlling midfielder, he needed to keep control of the showing-off in his own hands.

"The aircraft has safely arrived at Shuangliu International Airport; the ground temperature is 34 degrees Celsius. The plane will continue taxiing for a while; please remain seated and do not unbuckle your seatbelts early..."

The chief flight attendant walked over to Tang Ye: "Mr. Tang, on behalf of the China Eastern Airlines crew and the citizens of Chengdu, we welcome you!"

"Oh, thank you!"

Tang Ye unbuckled his seatbelt early and nodded in acknowledgment to the chief flight attendant.

"Um, Mr. Tang, after we reach the jet bridge, could you wait a moment? Our airport would like to take a photo with you, if you're will..."

"Oh, sure, sure, no problem."

Manchester United Official: After comprehensive consideration by both sides regarding the friendly matches, midfielder Tang Ye will represent the Chinese National Team in the second pre-season match.

Having just returned from Dortmund to play one match for Manchester United, Tang Ye immediately turned into Manchester United's opponent.

But there was no helping it.

Because club teammates have a longer integration period, objectively speaking, Beijing Beijing Guoan Club was slightly stronger than the Chinese National Team.

Since Beijing Beijing Guoan, even with watered-down effort, had been pinned to the ground and beaten by Manchester United, the second match absolutely had to put Tang Ye on the opposing side; otherwise, there would be nothing worth watching.

Manchester United's tour of China, rather than being about refining the starting lineup through friendlies, was actually about making money in China.

If you want to make money in China, that's fine; anyway, with Tang Ye on the team, you could just lie down and make money in China.

But being able to lie down doesn't mean you should lie down.

You have to find a way to make the match more entertaining, leave a good impression in the hearts of Chinese fans, and only then will there be opportunities to come back to China to make money again.

Considering capital factors, Manchester United had to do this.

As for whether you ask if Tang Ye is willing.

Actually, for Tang Ye, it was merely the difference between being a bit more tired or a bit more relaxed.

Playing for Manchester United against the Chinese National Team, the intensity would most likely be like playing for 90 minutes.

Playing for the National Team against Manchester United, the intensity would most likely be like a 120-minute Champions League final.

Do you want to play around or play a Champions League final?

That didn't need asking.

A Champions League champion must play in a Champions League final!

"Raphael."

Upon arriving at their hotel, Manchester United players welcomed Varane in the conference room; he was one of the new defenders for the club this season.

"Long time no see!"

Varane grabbed Tang Ye's hand and grinned broadly.

"No need for 'long time no see'; it's not like we haven't played against each other before."

"Haha!"

Varane gave Tang Ye's arm a playful punch, explaining: "The feeling of being opponents and teammates is definitely different."

Compared to being opponents, Varane preferred to be Tang Ye's teammate.

After all, what defensive players fear most is a midfielder like Tang Ye, who occasionally launches a piercing arrow from the backfield.

"Actually, I'd prefer to be your opponent."

Tang Ye's words left Varane momentarily speechless.

"Of course, I'm talking about Russia; if I could be your opponent there, I'd at least be a World Cup runner-up."

"Haha! Fuck!"

"I didn't even react, Tom, haha, I was thinking about how to answer next, and you've left me not knowing what to say!"

"Haha, welcome to Manchester United, Raphael."

Tang Ye and Varane embraced.

WeChat Official Account: How to encounter Manchester United/National Team players during the friendly matches—please check out this guide!

Titan Sports Front Page Headline—They're here! All players from the first National Team training camp have arrived at the hotel, with Li Tie serving as interim head coach.

Titan Sports obtained photos of the National Team's arrival at the hotel through submissions from netizens.

About five minutes after the National Team's bus arrived at the hotel, Tang Ye arrived; in photos taken by fans, Tang Ye was seen shaking hands with Zhang Zhang Yuning, Wei Wei Shihao, and Li Tie respectively.

Come to think of it, the last time Tang Ye played for the National Team was in 2019; a full two and a half years had passed since then.

Just after reporting back to the National Team, his opponent in the next match was his own club, Manchester United, and he himself was very much looking forward to this upcoming game.

This could be seen from the National Team player group photo he posted on Weibo.

With all 23 players on the roster standing together for the group photo, Tang Ye gave a thumbs-up to the camera.

【Asian Cup Qualifiers Round 3, ready! (Muscle) (Muscle) (Muscle)】

"The foreign coach still needs a little time to arrive, so I'll be leading you for this friendly match."

Walking into the conference room, Li Tie explained a few things to Tang Ye, who had just reported in: "Phew, although I might be a bit mediocre, handling a friendly match shouldn't be a problem."

"Haha, Brother Tie, no need to say that."

Tang Ye and Li Tie had known each other for several years, so of course he was willing to support Li Tie's work.

"Mm, then it's fine. Now, about the match tactics."

Li Tie placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder, blew upward to lift his hair, and said, "Since my tenure as interim coach will be relatively short—probably just these two weeks—my idea is... not to arrange new tactics for you. We'll stick with what Lippi used during the Round of 40. If anything doesn't fit, I'll make slight adjustments, such as substitutions."

"Or if you have any ideas, you can say them directly."

Interim head coach of the national team—the title sounded incredibly impressive; this could be said to be the closest Li Tie had ever come to becoming the official national team head coach.

Yet in reality, this position was somewhat awkward; if Li Tie failed to become the true head coach of the national team, he wouldn't be able to obtain the tactical board.

As interim head coach, if Li Tie wanted to adjust the team's tactics, he even had to ask for Tang Ye's advice.

"I haven't played in the Round of 40 either... but it should be similar to the World Cup before. We'll see when the time comes; anyway, it's just a friendly match."

Tang Ye acted relaxed.

Then, suddenly remembering something, he joked, "Brother Tie, actually, I roughly know what tactics Escrivá will arrange after arriving here; I could even execute them in advance."

"Oh?"

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Li Tie blew at his hair, acting surprised.

He knew Tang Ye had followed Escrivá for five years, but he truly hadn't expected Tang Ye to be so familiar with Escrivá.

"Actually, I can arrange it directly."

"This..."

Tang Ye's words left Li Tie stunned.

The person before him was the soul of the Chinese national team, and furthermore, a representative for next year's National People's Congress.

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Li Tie felt somewhat unwilling to accept it.

Because after Lippi left, he had originally thought he could take over immediately, reasoning that Li Tie's salary requirements were low, which could alleviate the economic impact of the pandemic on the Football Association.

He never expected Escrivá to suddenly rush over from Germany, directly disrupting Li Tie's plans.

"Mm... Tang Ye."

Suddenly stopping in his tracks, he turned around to stand face-to-face with Tang Ye: "How about this? My idea is, you can arrange the tactics; that's no problem. But the substitutions and the starting lineup must be arranged by me, okay? Otherwise, my role as coach would be completely useless; I need to make a contribution too."

"Of course. No problem."