八字万年历

Chapter 218: Europa League Pre-Match Conference

Jason sat with maximum composure imprinted on his face, but internally he was a bit unnerved by the number of the cameras that were pointed at him, and that was despite the number being low due to safety regulations.

However, neither his face nor his actions flinched despite his surprise.

It would take a lot more than this to faze him

He sat quietly and watched as Sergio Conceicao said to begin the press conference.

Due to them being in Germany, most of the reporters around were German and the few who weren’t were from either English-speaking countries, or some other country, thus there were hardly any Portuguese-speaking reporters here and because of this, there were some translators around.

Jason watched as the first reporter who had been allowed to speak asked a question in German and then his words were translated to Portuguese for Sergio Conceicao by a translator.

Of course, since Jason was well versed in German, he didn’t need the translator to understand the question being asked, but since the question wasn’t directed to him, he stayed silent and listened.

“Die Europa League ist endlich wieder aufgenommen und beginnt mit einem Spiel zwischen Porto und den Rangers. Was können wir erwarten? Was können wir von diesem Spiel erwarten?” the reporter asked in German.

In English, his words meant “The Europa League has finally resumed and it will be starting with a match between Porto and Rangers. What should we expect from this match?”

“Bem… estamos felizes que a Liga Europa possa ser retomada, apesar dos desafios que enfrentamos. Eu e os jogadores estamos gratos pela oportunidade de continuar a nossa campanha na Liga Europa e vamos procurar recompensar os nossos adeptos com uma vitória como uma demonstrao de gratidão pelo seu apoio interminável,” Sergio Conceicao replied in Portuguese and his words were translated to the reporters.

“Well… we are happy that the Europa League can resume despite the challenges that we have faced. I and the players are grateful for the chance to continue our Europa League campaign and we will be looking to reward our fans with a win as a show of gratitude for their unending support,” a translator translated his words from Portuguese to English for the English speaking reporters while another of the translators translated his words to German for the sake of the German reporters.

“What are your plans for the Europa League from here? Normally it goes without saying that a team with your pedigree should be aiming to go all the way, but with the presence of giants like Sevilla, Manchester United, and Inter Milan who are more likely favorites for winning the Europa League, do you think your team stands a chance against those teams, or are you just willing to go as far as possible?” a forty-something looking woman asked in English and her words were translated to Sergio Conceicao who’s English was a bit shaky.

After listening to the translation of her question, he did not hesitate for a minute and immediately opened his mouth to speak, Portuguese words pouring out with every movement of his mouth,

“Para ser honesto, acho sua pergunta um pouco ofensiva porque, como você disse, somos uma equipe com um pedigree alto, e qualquer equipe como a nossa estaria sempre procurando vencer. Sempre foi o objetivo para nós aqui no Porto… vencer, independentemente dos desafios que vamos enfrentar. Não entramos em nenhum jogo mentalmente derrotados e estamos sempre em busca de vencer. O mesmo está aqui, vamos procurar levantar o título da Liga Europa, o mesmo que as equipas que referiu.”

“Somos dragões que não se acovardam na clandestinidade porque os nossos adversários são apenas ligeiramentemaior… isso é tudo o que estou disposto a dizer,” Sergio Conceicao said in his mother tongue and the translators quickly got to work.

“To be honest, I find your question a bit offensive because as you’ve said, we are a team with a high pedigree, and any team like ours would always be looking to win. It has always been the goal for us here at Porto… to win, irrespective of the challenges we are to face. We do not go into any match mentally defeated and we are always striving to win. The same stands here, we will be looking to lift the Europa League title, the same as those teams you’ve mentioned,”

“We are dragons who do not cower in hiding because our opponents are just slightly bigger… that’s all I’m willing to say,” the translators quickly converted Sergio Conceicao’s speech to English for the English reporters while the other translators were doing the same in their respective languages.

The press conference continued and more questions were thrown at the manager for a while, but soon questions began to head the way of the four players that had accompanied the manager to the press conference.

Pepe was asked about how he planned to lead the team on the pitch so that they could make good on the manager’s words and he responded appropriately.

Telles was asked how he felt being pronounced the player of the season and how he hoped to perform in the coming match to which he responded that being pronounced the best player of the season was a surreal moment for him and that he hoped he could perform at a similar level in the Europa League, not just in today’s game, but in the coming games as well.

A second question was directed to Telles about rumors regarding his transfer to Manchester United to which Telles replied by saying that he was flattered by the offer and would deal with the decision later, but for the moment he was still a member of the Porto team, and would strive to fulfill his duties. For himself and for the fans.

The translators were also doing their jobs by constantly translating sentences left and right.

Soon a question was directed to Tiquinho Soares as well. He was asked about his current scoring form and how he planned to carry it into the Europa League games to which he responded that scoring goals was something that was done and not explained, but as long as the ball came to his feet, he would always do his best to find the back of the net.

Soares was also asked about the rumors regarding his transfer to Tianjin Teda.

The reporter wanted to know the plausibility of the rumors, whether it was a deal Soares would be willing to make if it was true, and why Soares would be making his decision.

Soares however brushed off this question with a vague answer that was slightly dismissive of the rumors as anything could happen these days.

Finally, a question was thrown Jason’s way from a German reporter.

“Herr Jason, Sie haben nach Ihrem Debüt gegen Bayer Leverkusen in der Europa League in dieser Saison für Porto mehr als beeindruckt und haben in zwei Spielen in der Europa League zwei Tore und 1 Vorlage erzielt. Planen Sie, Ihren mutigen Spielstil im Spiel gegen die Rangers fortzusetzen, oder werden Sie einen vorsichtigeren Spielstil annehmen, um dem Team zu helfen, den Ballbesitz zu behalten und mehr mit dem Ball zu tun?” the reporter asked in German.

‘Mr. Jason, you have been more than impressive for Porto this season after your debut against Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League and have a record of two goals and 1 assist in two games in the Europa League. Do you plan to continue your bold style of play in the match against Rangers, or will you adopt a more cautious style of play to help the team retain possession and do more with the ball?’ the meaning of the reporter’s words easily appeared in Jason’s head since he already understood the language and his mouth opened just as the translator began translating.

“Vorsichtiger Spielstil…? Was ist das?” he asked the young female German reporter with a tilt of his head as if he was utterly confused.

For a split second, the room went silent as everyone’s eyes fell on Jason in shock and surprise as he had just responded to a question asked in German by speaking German.

Only the voice of the translator who translated Jason’s words to English could be heard,

“Cautious style of play…? What’s that?” Jason’s words meant in English.