Chapter 543: Dwarfism
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
China Central Television was very efficient. The exclusive interview with Dai Li was broadcast that night.
Chief Editor Zhao’s superiors and the deputy director of the channel were naturally very happy. When other media groups saw that China Central Television began to report on Dai Li, they all started to get in on the action. Within a short time, an endless stream of reporters came to Dai Li’s home. The original unit where Dai Li had worked, the Sports Bureau of Hanbei Province, also received a large number of reporters.
The Olympics had just ended. The people had already seen the stories of the champions. It wasn’t the athletes that were being talked about now, it was the coaches. It felt fresh for the people.
What’s more, Dai Li was still a coach for the American team. In the eyes of most people, one was definitely more capable if they taught Americans than if they taught Chinese people.
Soon, someone noticed the period in which Dai Li was transferred to the Tai Chi Application Committee.
One headline read: “The United States let the best coach train their best athletes, and we let the best coach handle applications for cultural heritage.”
More provocative headlines followed immediately: “The best coach of the Olympics was forced to go to the United States. Whose fault was it?”
Since the media had always liked to use seditious headlines to attract people’s attention, Dai Li’s resignation was also dug up, as were the National Table Tennis Champions.h.i.+p strike and Zhizhong Gu’s mysterious demotion. Linking these things to Dai Li was easy.
The turmoil of public opinion caused some people anxiety. After all, they had transferred Dai Li to the Tai Chi Application Committee because he was a.s.sociated with Zhizhong Gu. They never would’ve expected that that unremarkable physical fitness coach would become the head coach of the American track and field team and get them their best results ever. Turning against their own people by forcing them out was a terrible sin; there would be no way to be cleansed of it.
Zhizhong Gu had long been idling at home. At this time, he had also noticed the reports about Dai Li, especially the reports from We media.
Zhizhong Gu let out a long sigh.
“What’s wrong?” His wife asked.
“We media, the way they are talking about Dai Li. I’m afraid that there will be no chance for him to return to the country to coach,” Zhizhong Gu said.
“That’s true.” His wife stopped what she was doing. “Dai Li was forced to leave. Now that he is famous, the more famous he is, the less likely those people will dare to let him back. Dai Li is now living well in the United States, he may not want to come back. Besides, isn’t being the head coach of the American track and field team better than returning to China to coach? There aren’t that many high-level athletes in this country!”
Zhizhong Gu sighed again. “I just feel that it is such a waste. Dai Li is a rare talent, but unfortunately, this country can’t use him!”
“There needs to be someone who wants to use him.” His wife snorted and said, “Just like you. You played for the national team for most of your life, and in the end, didn’t you end up like this? I think it was good for Dai Li to go abroad to develop his career. At the very least, he is able to showcase his talents. He didn’t waste his time!”
…
Argentina, Buenos Aires.
The River Plate Football Club was a giant in the Argentine League. Founded in 1901, this football club had a history of more than 100 years and was regarded as a model for Argentine football.
In the manager’s office of the River Plate team, a middle-aged man with a thick beard on his lips was pleading with the general manager of the River Plate team, Aguero.
“Mr. Aguero, please give Halls another chance! I beg you!” The middle-aged man said pa.s.sionately, tears even appeared in his eyes.
However, Aguero shook his head. “Mr. Frast, I can’t do anything. I admit that our River Plate team was very optimistic about Halls, hoping to recruit him into our River Plate team. However, I am afraid he cannot become a professional football player due to his current situation.”
“Mr. Aguero, Halls’ disease could be cured,” Frast pleaded.
“Indeed, it is possible, but how likely is it? As far as I know, Halls’ Wagner’s line has closed. In this case, it is difficult for him to grow any taller. If it were true that the disease was really so easy to cure, I think Halls’ old team, Newells Old Boys, would not have given up on him right? So, Mr. Frast, I am very sorry.”
Aguero looked helpless. “Mr. Frast,” he continued. “I hope you understand that football clubs are not charities. Our ultimate goal is to make a profit so that we can answer to our shareholders. We can’t waste too many resources on a child whose future is uncertain.”
Frast walked out of Aguero’s office disappointed. For him, the River Plate team was his last option. If the River Plate team refused, then he really had no chance.
At this time, Aguero’s secretary came from afar and saw Frast standing in the door of the manager’s office.
“Mr. Frast, you should leave quickly. Our manager has to welcome guests from Europe.” The secretary said this in a way that implied that she was saying goodbye.
“Guests from Europe? Did someone from the European clubs come?” asked Frast.
“Yes. He is very interested in our attacking midfielders and side midfielders. Maybe this time we can reach a deal,” the secretary said.
“I see, then I won’t be a bother,” Frast nodded. In his mind, he was planning something else.
For South American professional football players, the dream was to play in the five major leagues in Europe. The standard of the European League was much higher, and they could earn more money.
South American football clubs didn’t have enough money to keep the athletes. They would rather sell the athletes to European teams when they are worth more and get a large transfer fee. Many South American clubs’ source of income came from training athletes and then selling them to European football clubs.
The River Plate team was Argentina’s top football club and it brought together Argentina’s top players. Naturally, it would attract the focus of the European clubs. There would always be people coming from Europe to investigate the River Plate players every year and the River Plate team would showcase their players. They hoped to sell them at a good price.
…
“Mr. Claude, welcome!” Aguero extended his hand to the person on the other side.
This guest from Europe was the chief fitness coach of the Harman team, Toby Claude.
The contract between Harman and Dingtian was over. He chose to take a break for a while and temporarily return to his family. After all, Harman was a 70-year-old man. He always insisted on training on the front line, but his physical state could not keep up with what he wanted to do in his heart. If he were not really pa.s.sionate about football, perhaps he would not have continued to coach at this age.
As for the members of the Harman team, they also needed to make their own living. However, those who were able to be on the Harman team all worked hard. It wouldn’t be difficult for them if they wanted to find a suitable job in football. They would be very popular commodities in the talent market. For example, Toby Claude was a world-cla.s.s physical coach in Europe and was also good at football. Such talents were always wanted by the top European giants.
Now, Claude was recruited by the high-paying Atletico Madrid football club in La Liga. He became their physical fitness coach.
Argentina used to be a Spanish colony. The languages and cultures of the two countries had many similarities, so Spaniards would often go to Argentina to select players.
Before Claude came, he already had someone in mind. However, he wanted to see more of the other athletes on the River Plate team. He might be able to make some unexpected discoveries.
The River Plate team also wanted Claude to examine a few more people. In the eyes of Aguero, no one was unsellable. As long as Atletico Madrid was able to pay the right price, there would be no problem with them buying anyone.
Claude observed the training of the River Plate team. The River Plate team had even arranged a small training game in order to showcase players for Claude.
After the observation, Claude roughly evaluated two athletes whom Atletico Madrid was interested in. He did not make his opinions obvious. He was worried that his excitement would affect the price of the signings by the club. After all, the discussion of the price was the manager’s business. He just needed to write a specific a.s.sessment report, list the athlete’s strengths and weaknesses, and then report it to the club.
Aguero personally sent Claude to the door. He didn’t know if Claude was interested in any players in the River Plate team. Even if he wasn’t interested in any of them, it didn’t matter, as this one transaction would not change the relations.h.i.+p between them. These two groups had cooperated together frequently. There were still many opportunities for cooperation in the future.
At this time, a man suddenly ran over. It was Frast.
“Sir, you sir! I want you to see this!” Frast said as he pulled out his cell phone.
Claude was shocked by this person’s sudden approach. If he were not in the River Plate club, he would be worried that he was about to be robbed. After all, Argentina’s unemployment rate had remained high in recent years, so law and order in the country had worsened. Claude, a pure German, looked different from the indigenous Indian-Europeans in Argentina. This made him an easy target.
“Frast! Why are you here?” Aguero became angry. He was clearly worried that Frast had collided with Claude.
So they know each other, Claude was relieved. He smiled and asked, “What do you want me to see?”
“Sir, are you from Europe? Are you here to pick players? I want to ask you to see this,” Frast handed his mobile phone to Claude.
Claude glanced at it and saw a video of a child playing football. The clarity was average, and the lens was shaking very hard. One could tell that he had used his mobile phone to record it.
“Is he your child?” Claude asked.
Frast nodded. “Yes, he is my son, Halls Frast. He is thirteen years old.”
Claude took another look at the contents of the mobile phone, but not seriously. In his heart, he knew that in Argentina, there were probably many such parents, hoping that their sons could be seen by European teams and then suddenly become huge successes.
Claude had never cared much people who gave recommendations. Claude grew up in Europe, where the football player training system was very mature. Talented players were recruited early on and entered into professional club’s youth training camps. The best of them would be valued by the top giants. They would invest a lot of resources to cultivate these talents, so there weren’t often cases of undiscovered talents.
Although Argentina was not comparable to Europe, it was a famous football country. Although Argentina’s football player training system was not comparable to Europe, there were still many football teams in Argentina, and there were many youth training camps. Naturally, it would not let excellent players remain undiscovered. Young Argentinian football talents would be taken away by clubs such as the River Plate team. After being trained, they would be waiting to be sold at a high price to the giants of Europe. So people who had to personally find him would not be talented players.
Claude looked at the screen of the phone with a playful look, but he was wondering in his mind how to reject the father.
However, in just a dozen seconds, Claude was impressed with the video that was recorded by the mobile phone.
After a while, the video finished. Claude couldn’t help but ask, “Do you have more?”
“Yes! There are many!” Frast was overjoyed. He hurriedly found another video and showed it to Claude.
It continued on. The third, then the fourth video played.
After several videos were shown, Claude was stunned.
“You said your son is only 13 years old this year?” Claude asked.
“Yes, he just turned 13 in June,” Frast replied.
He is able to do this at 13 years old. Genius! A real genius! Maybe this child will become the next generation’s football king! Claude secretly thought.
Although Claude was a physical fitness coach, he had engaged in football training for many years, and he worked with the world-cla.s.s football coach, Harman. He had seen and coached many top athletes, and his many years of work had cultivated a vision that allowed him to see with just one look that this child was a rare talent that could only be found once in few decades.
“Oh, Mr. Aguero, it seems that the River Plate team still has some treasures that they are not willing to show to me! Your youth camp, it gave me quite a surprise,” Claude said with a smile.
“Mr. Claude, you misunderstood. Halls is not a player in our River Plate youth training camp,” Aguero replied.
“Oh? Then which team is he a part of?” Claude asked.
“He is not part of any team. He is currently una.s.sociated,” Aguero replied.
“Una.s.sociated?” Claude was evidently surprised.
Through a few videos from a phone, Claude realized that this Halls Frast was a genius. If a physical fitness coach such as himself could see this, how was it that the Argentinians, with their standard of football, were not able to see it? How could such a talented youth not interest a professional team? He was una.s.sociated?
What’s more, the manager of the River Plate team, Aguero, obviously knew this middle-aged man and knew of the player of Halls Frast, so he must have already seen the incredibly scary talent, yet he did not recruit Halls to the River Plate youth training camp. It was illogical.
“Mr. Aguero, this child is very talented, but he did not enter the youth training camp of a professional team. Is there a problem with this child?” Claude whispered.
“Yes,” Aguero did not conceal anything. He whispered, “Two years ago, this child was diagnosed with a lack of growth hormone. In layman’s terms, he suffers from dwarfism!”