Chapter 60 AEK Athens

　　Over the weekend, Norwich traveled to Birmingham for an away game.

　　Birmingham's situation was similar to Cardiff City's, a mid-to-lower tier team with no relegation pressure and no hope of promotion.

　　However, the attendance rate was not bad.

　　Moreover, to Zhao Gang's surprise, there were many Dragon Country students and descendants in the stands.

　　They wore Norwich number eighteen jerseys, shouting Zhao Gang's name, applauding vigorously, and waving at the soccer field.

　　Judging by this momentum, Birmingham's home stadium was almost turning into Zhao Gang's home stadium.

　　The attendance rate actually exceeded most of Birmingham's previous games.

　　About seven or eight thousand people came specifically to cheer for Zhao Gang in his jersey.

　　And those Dragon Country fans might not necessarily be soccer fans; being able to see their fellow countrymen gallop on the field in a foreign land was a kind of spiritual comfort.

　　Throughout the first half, Birmingham's left side, which was Norwich's right side, became a complete sieve.

　　Xiluo took whatever he wanted, treating Birmingham's left side as his own corridor.

　　Almost every pass from Zhao Gang allowed Xiluo to break through and cut inside, either to shoot or pass.

　　The entire stadium had become Norwich's home ground.

　　The waves of cheers made Birmingham fans look extremely ugly.

　　The overwhelming support made the local fans feel an urge, an urge to fight with Norwich fans.

　　But, thinking about Norwich's recent brilliant record and the fans' unity and high spirits,

　　It was better to endure it for now.

　　It would be better next year.

　　Norwich would be promoted to the Premier League, and they wouldn't meet again!

　　In the first half, Xiluo scored twice, completing the task of the previous game.

　　He even had a wonderful cross that Ospina headed into the stands. Ospina lay on the ground at the time, frustrated for five seconds before getting up and apologizing to his teammates.

　　In the second half, under Farker's hint, Norwich's players restrained themselves a lot, and it was almost difficult to see any decent breakthroughs.

　　They started passing the ball in their own half more often.

　　Because next Wednesday, they would have a Europa League game at home against the Greek team AEK Athens.

　　The players needed to conserve their energy and, more importantly, avoid any injuries due to this game.

　　Birmingham's players had no desire to win, so since Norwich didn't plan to play seriously, they simply did them a favor.

　　The two teams played somewhat passively.

　　Seeing this scene, Norwich's fans didn't boo or object since their team was leading.

　　It was good enough to win!

　　But Birmingham's local fans were not happy.

　　What did this mean?

　　Did they spend money to watch them train?

　　They had no fighting spirit at all, not even thinking about attacking after losing two goals?

　　Did they deserve their support?

　　Refund!

　　Refund the money!!!

　　Birmingham fans got excited and roared in the stands.

　　Under the coach's instructions, the players started to attack.

　　A fan riot would not be good, so attack!

　　Seeing the players perk up, Birmingham's fans jumped up and down rhythmically in the stands, shaking the entire stand with considerable momentum.

　　And with the encouragement of these fans, a surge of passion rose in the players' hearts.

　　Fight!

　　Norwich was very strong now, so defeating them would mean that they also had the strength to reach the Europa League quarter-finals and be promoted to the Premier League, right?

　　Birmingham's players began a frantic counterattack.

　　Farker stood on the sidelines, scratching his head, feeling a little helpless.

　　They couldn't lose easily now.

　　Just as he was hesitating whether to substitute Xiluo and Zhao Gang, Xiluo got excited.

　　Damn it, everyone should just finish this game happily. You don't surrender, and you dare to resist?

　　Then let's fight!!

　　Amidst the Birmingham fans' frenzied cheers, Zhao Gang and Xiluo kept lobbing the ball into the penalty area.

　　Ospina and Mendy tilted their necks, swung their heads, and launched an attack on Birmingham's goal that was even fiercer than in the first half.

　　Mendy scored twice, and Ospina also headed in a goal.

　　Finally, Zhao Gang's long shot made Birmingham's goalkeeper lose his focus, shake his head, and put his hands on his hips.

　　These idiots, it would have been over with two to zero, but they had to shout and had to kick.

　　Now it was good, they were scored on six times!

　　Did you think about me when you weren't embarrassing yourselves?

　　I'm a goalkeeper, and they kept attacking my big goal and small goal. Every three minutes, a burly man appeared in front of me and slammed into my head!

　　You've already succeeded in staying up, why are you still playing like this!

　　Are you out of your minds?

　　Bah!

　　Garbage teammates, garbage fans!

　　Why did you provoke them???

　　Birmingham's players lowered their heads, kicking the grass. Half of the fans in the stands had left, and half were sitting slumped.

　　The remaining ones were all Norwich fans, waving towels, clothes, and flags as they jumped up and down.

　　After this game, the most important and most watched game was of course the Europa League game at home against AEK Athens.

　　But Farker was a little worried.

　　Because he had received many offers for Xiluo.

　　Not only from Premier League teams, but also from Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

　　Originally, Borussia Dortmund wouldn't have noticed Xiluo from the Championship, but Zhao Gang's withdrawal allowed Xiluo to be completely liberated, showing his strong ability to capture forts and seize positions.

　　His scoring efficiency had also improved a lot.

　　Most importantly, he had also developed his passing ability.

　　The current Xiluo had matured too much. It was unexpected that he could still have such a big improvement when his technique and style of play had clearly been finalized.

　　This was of course because he was influenced by Zhao Gang.

　　"Sigh." Farker shook his head. Norwich's management and老板 (lǎobǎn, boss) had always regarded the team as a business. Zhao Gang would definitely allow them to make a lot of money, and if there was a suitable offer, Xiluo would definitely be let go.

　　They seemed to have become accustomed to being a Premier League elevator, not thinking about how to invest to stay in the Premier League.

　　If Zhao Gang and Xiluo left, and they were lucky enough to win the Europa League title, they could step onto the Champions League stage next season. He didn't know if they would create an embarrassing record of not scoring a single goal.

　　Farker only hoped that if that miracle really happened, the boss could spend some money to supplement the depth of his squad. At least, the striker position couldn't just have Ospina, who came up from the youth team, right?

　　Zhao Gang was completely unaware of Farker's worries. After finishing the game, he returned home, fell on the bed, and picked up the app that he hadn't opened for several days.

　　When he opened it, he found that he had received several messages from Olly.

　　"Zhao???"

　　"Surprise/!!"

　　"Why aren't you talking???"

　　"Hey, you made me take off my clothes, and you're ignoring me?? Anger/anger/!"

　　"Hmph, if you don't talk, I'll block you!!"

　　"This is my number."

　　This 23-year-old English girl was bold and mischievous, which Zhao Gang found quite interesting.

　　Olly had followed him.

　　At the same time, many people found him through Olly's following list.

　　Many fans sent greetings and hoped that he could open a column to share some training videos.

　　"Go for it, Zhao! You will definitely win the Europa League!"

　　"You will be a Norwich legend!"

　　"Norwich is honored to have you!"