Japan provided the highest level of security for the arrival of the United States Team.
They believed the United States Team would be attacked.
Inside the minivan, Chen Yu tried to crack a window for some fresh air. The moment he opened a small gap, a head popped out from an armored police vehicle driving parallel to them, waving for Chen Yu to close it.
Chen Yu sighed and closed the window. He glanced at the police helicopter escorting them from above. ’What’s the deal?’ he thought. ’Are they expecting a sniper to try and pick me off from the sky?’
In Chen Yu’s opinion, even if someone were to attack, they wouldn’t do it now. They would at least wait for a public event.
"Chen," Contiguglia, who was sitting beside him, spoke up. "Personally, I have no objections, of course. You’re a doctor. It would be unconscionable for you to encounter a patient and not treat them."
Chen Yu turned to look at the others in the van.
Earlier at the airport, Wolle had asked him to provide treatment. Chen Yu hadn’t agreed on the spot, only saying he would consider it and get back to him. Now, on the way to the hotel after the press conference, Chen Yu had brought up the matter to hear their thoughts.
"But?" Chen Yu looked at him. ’There has to be a ’but’ coming,’ he thought.
Contiguglia shook his head. "There is no ’but.’ As long as you’re willing to provide the treatment, I have no objections."
The Germany Team was in Group E, while the United States was in Group G. Even if both advanced from the group stage to the knockout rounds, Group E’s winner would play against a team from Group B, so they wouldn’t run into the United States Team.
They could only potentially meet if the United States Team made it to the quarterfinals or semifinals.
And even in his wildest dreams, Contiguglia couldn’t imagine the United States Team making it to the quarterfinals.
After all, their best result in history was merely advancing from the group stage in ’94, and that was with the home-field advantage of being the host nation.
"What about you, Bruce?" Chen Yu asked, turning to Alina.
Alina smiled, then shook his head. "I don’t have any objections either. Just like Robert said, you’re a doctor. It would be unethical to stop you from treating a patient."
After saying that, he hesitated for a moment before lowering his voice and adding cautiously, "Of course, it would be great if you could avoid treating any players from Italy, Croatia, or Ecuador."
The moment the words left his mouth, he started fidgeting with his fingers and quickly tried to explain himself. "That’s just a little thought of mine. You don’t have to consider it."
As a head coach, he knew better than anyone that injuries were part of the game.
And if he set those factors aside and considered it purely from a football perspective, Alina didn’t want to see injuries on the field either. Winning a match because the opponent’s key player was injured felt like a hollow victory. Fans would inevitably say later, ’If so-and-so had been on the field, do you think you still would have won?’
Being the head coach of the United States Team was actually quite a happy position, he felt. There was no pressure to get results. Everyone knew the team was weak, so losing was perfectly normal.
Therefore, there was no need to do something that went against his conscience just for the sake of results.
Chen Yu nodded. "Alright then. In that case, I’ll accept his request."
Missing a World Cup that only comes once every four years is a tremendous regret for any player.
Especially for someone who had already traveled with the team only to get injured. If they couldn’t play and the team lost, the pressure they’d face from the media and fans afterward would be unimaginable.
Besides, even setting all that aside, he could also make some money. What’s not to like?
The rest of the journey to the hotel was uneventful.
It wasn’t far from the training grounds, but it wasn’t the same hotel they had scouted out beforehand.
That hotel had too much foot traffic, so the Japanese authorities had switched them to a smaller one out of security concerns.
It was only three stories tall. Afraid that something might happen to the United States Team, they had booked the entire hotel.
It was surrounded by police, inside and out. They had even set up a police cordon at the intersection, prohibiting any fans or unauthorized personnel from approaching.
The key thing was, there weren’t any fans anyway.
On the way there, Chen Yu had seen plenty of World Cup promotional posters and signs, but once they were actually in the city, he found the local fans to be relatively calm. Life was going on as usual, without the fanatical atmosphere he expected for a World Cup.
Of course, the biggest reason was probably that the United States Team was terrible and drew very little attention.
After all, they didn’t have a single household name on the roster.
That said, the United States Team actually had quite a few players playing in Europe, especially in Germany.
For example, Donovan had played for Bayer Leverkusen.
The captain, Claudio Reyna, had also played for Bayer Leverkusen. As for current players, there was Frank Hahuke, who was still playing for Leverkusen. According to him, his good looks made him the most popular player among the female fans there.
Besides them, there were also many playing in the Premier League, for clubs like Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, and Crystal Palace.
Of course, none of them were regular starters, so they couldn’t be considered stars.
But that was fine. It meant peace and quiet.
Since they had the whole hotel, rooms were plentiful. Chen Yu took a suite. When he arrived, Lexi was unpacking.
Seeing Chen Yu enter, she immediately asked about going out.
"We can," Chen Yu nodded. He had already spoken to Contiguglia about it on the way back.
If it weren’t for what happened last year, he wouldn’t have placed any restrictions on the players at all.
Normally, at a major sporting event like this, the players, full of energy, would definitely be out and about, exploring the host city.
You could tell just by looking at how many prophylactics the organizers handed out each time.
Besides, the organizers actually encouraged players to go out, interact with fans, and shop, as it all stimulated the economy and generated revenue.
But for the United States Team, this year was truly a special case.
Chen Yu had heard from Contiguglia that even an American intelligence agency had contacted them and would be dispatching agents to oversee their security operations in Japan.
"However, we’ll probably have to have a police escort when we go out," Chen Yu added.
They could go out, but they had to be accompanied by police, just like back in South Korea.
Lexi sighed. She understood the special circumstances and didn’t protest, but she sounded a bit down. "I feel like the Japanese people are hostile toward us," she said. "It feels like they don’t want us here."
She went on to describe how when her group arrived at the hotel and checked in, the receptionist, despite her broad smile, had an obvious coldness in her eyes.
Chen Yu said, "You say that as if Americans are popular anywhere."
"Alright, enough of that. Let’s get over this jet lag."
Chen Yu waved his hand dismissively and went to take a shower.
The next morning, Chen Yu woke up reasonably early.
Since they had just arrived, there was no training scheduled for the day.
However, Chen Yu had already agreed to Wolle’s request, so he had to go to the medical center that morning to diagnose Ballack and Reimer.
He planned to go early and come back early, because he wanted to watch a game at noon.
Due to the time difference, Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals would be taking place back in the United States at noon, Japan time. Even though he was away, Chen Yu still cared about his team’s situation.
Then, in the afternoon, he would take Lexi out somewhere.
There was some kind of shrine nearby where large numbers of young men and women went to pray for love every year. Lexi wanted to go and pray for their future marriage.
The appointment was set, and the itinerary had been filed with the security officials. When Chen Yu arrived in the hotel lobby, the car sent by the Germany Team was already parked outside.
The security detail consisted of two officers, a man and a woman, assigned to protect him personally.
They were both quite young. Perhaps because Chen Yu had an Asian face, the female officer, whose uniform shirt was stretched taut, kept studying him with a curious gaze.
Chen Yu paid them no mind and took the car to the training facility’s medical center.
It was quite large, and the facilities were comprehensive.
When he got there, Wolle and the others had already arrived.
Besides Wolle, Chen Yu also met the legendary Bayern "miracle doctor," Muller-Wolffat.
He wasn’t tall but was very stocky. At 60 years old, he still looked quite young, with a thick head of medium-length hair that didn’t have a single white strand.
His handshake was firm and powerful.
Apparently, he had been an athlete in his youth before studying medicine, which was what led him down the path of sports medicine.
"Chen, we finally meet," he said with a broad smile, his English carrying a distinct accent.
Chen Yu exchanged pleasantries, but he was secretly surprised.
Wolle had invited him here, which, in other words, was a vote of no confidence in Wolffat. Because of this, Chen Yu had expected Wolffat to be hostile toward him.
But upon meeting him, he found the man to be quite amicable. He even seemed eager to meet Chen Yu, saying that he had wanted to have a good chat at the airport yesterday but hadn’t come over because the occasion wasn’t right.
From this perspective, he seemed to be a magnanimous and sincere person.
A petty doctor could never go far in their career.
If it were Chen Yu’s case and he couldn’t cure a patient, he would definitely recommend them to another doctor.
After all, the patient was the priority. A doctor’s ultimate goal was to ensure the patient received the best possible treatment.
The person in charge of the medical center was a Japanese surgeon in his fifties. He was the head of surgery at the largest hospital in Miyazaki, temporarily assigned to this post.
His name was Kawajiri Kensaku. Judging by his appearance, he seemed like a rather serious person. However, in front of two world-renowned experts like Chen Yu and Wolffat, he appeared somewhat reserved. He looked like he wanted to ingratiate himself with them, but his personality held him back, forcing him to maintain a stiff expression that looked rather awkward.
After some brief pleasantries, it was Wolle who first suggested they go see the players.
He was genuinely anxious. It was already the 27th, and the Germany Team’s first match against Saudi Arabia was on June 1st. That left only four days, which also had to include recovery training. Even if Saudi Arabia wasn’t a strong opponent and they could afford to rest Ballack for one match, there still wasn’t much time for him to recover.
In a spacious examination room, Chen Yu met Michael Ballack and Marco Reimer.
They had their medical records, but new scans were still needed. The center had the equipment, so they could get them done shortly.
Before that, however, they had to follow procedure, so Chen Yu stepped forward to conduct a physical examination.
Wolffat stood beside him, watching intently. Then he said, "Chen, I’ve read media reports and I’ve also asked Scholl. They all say you’re an expert in physical therapy and massage, and that your massage is unlike anyone else’s. To use their words, it’s as if you can precisely target the injured area, like a specific tendon or a particular muscle."
"And you’re able to apply the perfect amount of pressure. Scholl told me that receiving your massage felt as though countless women’s hands were gently caressing the painful spot inside his body. It was incredibly comforting. So, do you have some kind of special technique?"
Initially, deep down, Wolffat had been a little unconvinced about Wolle bringing in Chen Yu to treat Ballack and Reimer. But he also knew that the list of patients Chen Yu had successfully treated was astounding.
Ronaldo, Batty, Baggio—any one of them was a world-famous, top-tier star.
Not to mention that those players had suffered injuries that would give any doctor a headache. Just look at Desler, the German prodigy who had torn his ACL. The fact that he had recovered to a state where it seemed like the injury had never even happened was enough to win Wolffat’s complete admiration.
That was why, with Chen Yu here now, Wolffat had asked his question in the spirit of professional exchange and learning.
Hearing this, Chen Yu broke into a cold sweat.
’Like countless women’s hands, gently caressing...’ he thought. ’Did Scholl really say that, or did you make it up? Who on earth comes up with a description like that?’

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