Chapter 316
After the team owner, general manager and Van Gaal stated their opinions respectively, and then asked about the prediction of Jiang Xiaolin's recovery from injury, Horatio and Alfred were both optimistic.
As a team doctor, Horatio is very clear about Jiang Xiaolin's physique. He believes that Jiang Xiaolin's physical recovery ability is quite strong, and the possibility of returning to peak condition after surgery is not low, and it is not as slim as the outside world says.
Alfred, a human behaviorist who specializes in studying Jiang Xiaolin, is even more optimistic.
According to Alfred, Jiang Xiaolin is the most perfect gene of human beings returning to their ancestors. In the harsh natural environment of primitive society, human self-repair ability is very critical.
In the primitive environment where there are no doctors or drugs, people with poor self-repair ability after injury will die soon.
Judging from the various physical attributes and skill improvement speeds that Jiang Xiaolin has shown before, Jiang Xiaolin's physical growth and immunity are both world-class.
Alfred even suspects that Jiang Xiaolin is the person with the best physical fitness in the world.
In this case, Alfred was even more optimistic about Jiang Xiaolin's recovery after surgery than Horatio, and firmly supported the club to renew the contract with Jiang Xiaolin and take a gamble.
As Van Gaal said, the cost of Alkmaar's gamble was not high.
But if the gamble was successful, Alkmaar would make a lot of money.
It was under the persuasion of Van Gaal, team doctor Horatio, Alfred and others that the team owner and general manager changed their minds. Everyone agreed to take this opportunity to support Jiang Xiaolin, win the favor of Jiang Xiaolin and Chinese fans, and successfully renew the contract with Jiang Xiaolin at a lower price, in order to gamble on Jiang Xiaolin's physical recovery ability.
So there was a scene that shocked and moved the media and fans all over the world.
No matter what the purpose behind it was, what everyone saw was that the five major league giants that had fought hard for Jiang Xiaolin and were determined to win him disappeared one after another, and only Alkmaar expressed its determination and sincerity to seek talents and renew the contract with Jiang Xiaolin, winning the favor and favor of all Chinese fans.
That night, Jiang Xiaolin underwent surgery, and the top surgical experts from the country consulted on Jiang Xiaolin.
The surgery was very successful. According to the hospital's statement to the media and fans at the press conference, Jiang Xiaolin's chance of returning to his peak state was much higher than everyone had expected.
The outside world was suddenly jubilant, and countless people prayed that Jiang Xiaolin could return to his peak state.
In the evening, after the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, Jiang Xiaolin woke up from the surgery, and the leaders of the National Olympic Team and the Chinese Sports Delegation came to see Jiang Xiaolin.
However, given that Jiang Xiaolin had just had surgery, everyone just looked through the door and did not enter the ward to talk too much with Jiang Xiaolin.
In the next few days, the whole country was in celebration of the Chinese delegation's winning the first place in the gold medal list.
Among them, the gold medal of the Chinese men's football national Olympic team was undoubtedly the most exciting for fans and spectators across the country.
This was the first world championship in the history of Chinese football, which deeply changed the status and image of football in the minds of ordinary people.
Of course, Jiang Xiaolin, the main contributor to the Olympic team's championship, was also the subject of media publicity, and Jiang Xiaolin's injury attracted much attention.
It was during this period that Argentine defender Garay, who committed a malicious foul on Jiang Xiaolin, was severely punished by FIFA and banned from any football-related activities or competitions for one year, not even friendly matches.
Garay could only train at home and wait for the ban to be lifted after one year before returning. No one can tell how much Garay can maintain after one year without competitions and professional training. Perhaps he will fall from grace and ruin his career.
But ordinary fans don't understand this. They just feel that the punishment is too light, so they have launched a large-scale condemnation of FIFA in the media and on the Internet.
However, the decision that has been made cannot be changed. FIFA did not respond, and the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Football Committee did not continue to appeal.
They know how serious this punishment is.
In addition, Jiang Xiaolin has recovered well, and everyone's mentality is much calmer, so they are not too ruthless against Garay.
On August 30, after several days of communication and negotiation, agent Baker signed a contract extension with Alkmaar on behalf of Jiang Xiaolin.
The two parties agreed that the contract extension would be for three years, with a penalty of 50 million euros, and Jiang Xiaolin's annual salary and bonus were greatly increased.
Of course, because of the risk that Jiang Xiaolin was injured and might not be able to return to his peak form, Jiang Xiaolin's annual salary and bonus were lower than expected before the injury.Although Jiang Xiaolin has lost a lot of money, he still entered the first tier of the club's first-team player salary.
Although Jiang Xiaolin may not be able to return to his peak period, his achievements and huge popularity in China can still provide a lot of confidence.
After the successful renewal, the two sides held a press conference in Beiping to announce the renewal news, and Alkmaar received unanimous praise from the Chinese media and fans.
At the same time, the hospital where Jiang Xiaolin was treated also announced Jiang Xiaolin's condition, claiming that Jiang Xiaolin's body has amazing self-recovery ability, and the possibility of returning to the peak state before the injury is getting higher and higher, and it will not take too long.
This made Alkmaar's boss and general manager very fortunate, and they felt like they had picked up a bargain.
Subsequently, Jiang Xiaolin continued to undergo rehabilitation treatment under the care of the hospital's expert group, and the Eredivisie kicked off the new season of 2008/2009.
In the first round of the game on August 31, Alkmaar, who played at home, lost 1-2 to Breda, which made local fans begin to miss the days when Jiang Xiaolin attacked the city and captured the castle in the second half of last season.
After the first round of matches, the FIFA match day will begin, and the national team matches will begin.
The Chinese team will participate in the top ten matches of the Asian qualifiers for the South Africa World Cup. The Chinese team is grouped with Australia, Japan, Bahrain, and Uzbekistan.
Jiang Xiaolin, who is still undergoing rehabilitation treatment in the hospital, is naturally not on the national team list for this period.
On September 6, 2008, in the first round of the top ten matches, Australia had a bye, Bahrain lost 2-3 to Japan, and the Chinese team without Jiang Xiaolin still defeated the Uzbekistan team, which is ranked higher than the Chinese team in FIFA, 2-0.
The main reason is that there are many players in this national team who have participated in the Olympics, such as Zheng Zhi, Li Weifeng, Hao Junmin and others.
Winning the Olympic Games has given these players too much confidence and competition experience.
In addition, the real-life matches with world powers such as Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Nigeria, Argentina and other world powers at the Olympics have also greatly improved their personal strength.
This is reflected in the national team's games. Even without Jiang Xiaolin, everyone's performance is much better than when Jiang Xiaolin was not on the field.
On September 10, in the second round of the top ten, Japan had a bye, Uzbekistan lost 0-1 to Australia, and the Chinese team, playing at home, performed mediocrely in this game and was tied 1-1 by Bahrain.
After the first two rounds, the Chinese team without Jiang Xiaolin still ranked first in the A group standings with 4 points.
This made the national media and fans very excited.
It seems that the Olympic team's victory in the Olympics has indeed had a good effect on Chinese football.
After the FIFA match day, the league rekindled the war.
On September 13, Alkmaar played away against the Hague.
After 90 minutes, the score on the field was 3-0. Alkmaar, playing away, was defeated by the Hague with three goals and lost face.
After two consecutive defeats, Alkmaar's coaches, players and fans missed Jiang Xiaolin even more.
Fortunately, the news from Beijing is getting more and more exciting.
Just 20 days after the operation, Jiang Xiaolin was able to walk on the ground without crutches.
After the hospital examination, Jiang Xiaolin's calf recovery speed is several times faster than that of ordinary people.
According to the current trend, Jiang Xiaolin's chance of returning to his peak state before the injury is more than half, and it won't take too long.
This makes countless Alkmaar and Chinese fans very excited and full of expectations.
On the evening of September 17, Alkmaar ushered in the team's first European game of the season. In the first round of the third round of the 2008/2009 UEFA Cup qualifiers, Alkmaar played against Dinamo Bucharest from Romania at home.
Alkmaar started directly from the third round of the qualifiers this season. As long as they beat Dinamo Bucharest in two rounds, they will advance to the UEFA Cup group stage.
After 90 minutes, the score was 1-0. Alkmaar won a narrow victory over Dinamo Bucharest at home, which was considered a match made in heaven.
However, after two consecutive defeats at the beginning of the league, the victory in this European game still injected a certain amount of positive energy into the team.
On September 20, Alkmaar played against the giants PSV Eindhoven at home.
After two consecutive defeats in the league, everyone thought that Alkmaar would face a three-game losing streak against such a giant team.
Unexpectedly, Alkmaar finally defeated PSV Eindhoven 1-0 in this game, ushering in the team's first victory of the season.
Winning the first European game, as well as the factor of playing at home, may indeed give the team a higher possibility in terms of strength.On September 23, Alkmaar welcomed the first round of the 2008/2009 Dutch Cup. The team's opponent was Heracles, which is also in the Dutch League. Alkmaar played at home.
After 90 minutes, the score on the field was 3-0. Alkmaar defeated the opponent and advanced to the second round.
With the strong momentum of three consecutive victories in the European war, league and cup, on September 27, Alkmaar played away against Willem II and unexpectedly won the opponent with a score of 5-2 away, causing a sensation in the Dutch football world.
The state of the Alkmaar team is recovering.
At this time, Jiang Xiaolin, who was undergoing rehabilitation treatment in Beijing, was not only walking and strolling, but also began to do rehabilitation training with a ball.
On October 2, in the second round of the third round of the UEFA Cup qualifiers, Alkmaar played away against Dinamo Bucharest. Jiang Xiaolin watched the live broadcast on TV.
This game made Jiang Xiaolin very nervous.
Because if the team cannot beat Dinamo Bucharest and enter the group stage, he will not be able to participate in the UEFA Cup this year and will not be able to complete the task of the small triple crown.
Fortunately, Alkmaar stumbled and tied Dinamo Bucharest 0-0 away, and advanced to the UEFA Cup with a total score of 1-0.
The next day, UEFA held the UEFA Cup group stage draw ceremony. Alkmaar was divided into Group D, with Udinese, Tottenham Hotspur, Spartak Moscow, and Dinamo Zagreb.
The UEFA Cup system in the 2008/2009 season was different from the subsequent Europa League system. There were 40 teams in the group stage, divided into 8 groups, 5 teams in each group, and only a single round-robin match was played, not a double round-robin.
The top three teams in the group stage, a total of 24 teams, plus the 8 eliminated third-place teams in the Champions League group stage, a total of 32 teams entered the knockout stage.
Although there are three qualifying places in the group stage, the strength of Group D is not weak, especially Udinese and Tottenham Hotspur, which are from Serie A and the Premier League respectively, and they are quite strong.
Spartak Moscow is also a strong team in Russia. It is not easy for Alkmaar to advance to the knockout stage.
Fortunately, Jiang Xiaolin has recovered well and is getting closer to his return.
On October 5, in the fifth round of the Dutch Eredivisie, Alkmaar actually defeated Sparta Rotterdam 6-0 at home.
Even though Jiang Xiaolin has not returned, Van Gaal's team is getting better.
Next, the league was suspended and entered the FIFA match day.
On October 15, in the third round of the top ten, the Chinese national football team played away against Australia. After all, due to the huge gap in strength, they lost 0-4 to Australia away.
In another match, Japan, playing at home, was tied 1-1 by Uzbekistan, which had lost two games in a row, and Bahrain had a bye.
After the third round, Australia rose to the top of the standings with 6 points, Japan and China ranked second and third with 4 points respectively, and China was suppressed by Japan due to the disadvantage of goal difference.
After the FIFA match day, back to the league, on October 19, in the sixth round of the Dutch League, Alkmaar defeated Graafschap 2-0 away.
After this round of the league, Alkmaar has risen to the third place in the standings, which makes Alkmaar fans who lost two consecutive games in the first two rounds very excited.
Three days later, on October 22, a piece of news that made Alkmaar fans even more excited came: two months after the injury, Jiang Xiaolin was completely recovered from the injury after surgery and rehabilitation treatment by China's top orthopedic experts and was able to be discharged from the hospital.
This news immediately spread all over the world, not only Alkmaar fans, not only China fans, but also many fans from other countries expressed their heartfelt blessings.
No one wants a 17-year-old star of hope to have his career interrupted just after participating in an Olympic Games. This is a loss for the whole world.
