Zhang Sheng never expected that such a thing as match-fixing or tacit ball would appear in front of him in a grand manner. As a football person, Zhang Sheng instinctively hates these things.

The "someone" and "others" Zhang Sheng in Chen Lin's words knew very well who it was.

As a reporter of Jiangcheng Metropolis Daily in the Longteng Club, Chen Lin is a person who is on the edge of the circle, and any conversation she has with the Longteng team, the people behind her can easily dissociate themselves.

Zhang Sheng can also understand the painstaking efforts of these people.

October 6 is the home match against Syria in the round of 12, the new world's top coach takes office, and the staggering salary package, all of this can be said to be a big gamble. It is also destined that the performance of the Chinese team will be carefully observed by everyone with a magnifying glass.

If the match on September 28 is the Chinese Super League or the FA Cup, there is no need to think about it, it will definitely be postponed, but the AFC Champions League match is not something that the Chinese Football Association can decide, this is something that has been set by the AFC at the beginning of the year.

If you want the Chinese Football Association to postpone, you also have to ask the football associations of other Asian countries if they agree, especially those countries that are in a group with the Chinese team, they can't wait for all the Chinese national team players to be injured in this game.

And this is exactly what the Chinese Football Association wants to avoid as much as possible.

The top five teams in the league in the last round injured a total of 10 players, including four in the national team squad, and the leaders of the Football Association have liver pain when they think about it.

As if reincarnated, in the final round of A-A in 2003, the embarrassing situation of losing into the Chinese Super League was directed at the Football Association at that time.

In order to avoid the absurd scene of Chongqing losing and relegation-if Chongqing succeeds in relegation, it will become a joke in the world, which has too much impact on the performance of Nan Yong and Yang Yimin.

Nan Yong, vice chairman of the Football Association, approached Shen Si, who had participated in the World Cup qualifiers with him, hoping that as a core player of Shanghai International, he would lose to the opponent Tianjin TEDA in the last round, so that the latter would beat Chongqing to relegate.

Shen Si, who "received the task", was flattered and agreed to come down to do the work of key players for Nam Yong.

On the car that went to the arena before the game, Shen Si was still assigning "work" to his two good brothers, Qi Hong and Jiang Jin. In Shen Si's view, Nantou asked him to do such an important thing because the leaders looked up to him and recognized his ability. "During that time, Shen Si often joked that he was 'a number one', and the leader asked him to do 'big things'. "This is the inside story of a person familiar with the matter.

In the end, Shanghai International lost 1-2 at home to Tianjin TEDA, Tianjin was successfully relegated, and the loophole of the Football Association's "loss and relegation" was blocked, as if the world was peaceful.

In order to maintain the absurd rules of the game that only by losing can they be relegated, they actually have to rely on match-fixing to achieve it, which is similar to the situation of hoping that Longteng and Guangzhou Evergrande will retain their strength and make way for the top 12.

But what is the end result?

Nan Yong, Yang Yimin and Xie Yalong above them in the Football Association, Shen Si, Qi Hong, and Jiang Jin who cooperated with them to play match-fixing were all imprisoned.

This fully shows that "organization" is not necessarily reliable!

Perhaps the nature of this AFC Champions League match is much better than that game - tacit understanding is not uncommon in ancient and modern China and abroad - it is unavoidable, and at the same time, it is not against the law.

Zhang Sheng can agree to everything else - you transfer a large number of my players, I agree, you let my coach help you with youth training planning for free, I cooperate, your lazy government makes the schedule unreasonable, I put up with it - but this kind of thing, Zhang Sheng really doesn't want to accept it.

"What happens if you don't agree?" all kinds of thoughts flashed through his mind, and Zhang Sheng asked rhetorically.

Zhang Sheng's answer made Chen Lin's stone on his back when he went uphill throw away, "I don't know, I'll help ask." Chen Lin smiled with relief, as if asking herself, "What can it be?"

"What's the matter?" Yu Jie next to him also subconsciously felt that this phone call was not simple.

Zhang Sheng casually turned off the screen of his mobile phone: "It's nothing." It's just that some people hope that our game with Evergrande will be stable and avoid players getting injured. ”

"Huh?" Yu Jie was stunned for a moment, and quickly reacted, as a player from that era, he instantly understood, "Evergrande also has a notice?"

"It's a game of chess for the whole country. Zhang Sheng made a joke, which was a tacit acquiescence.

"What do you think?" Yu Jie didn't have the heart to joke.

"Our club has issued eight rules for the national team of international players. "Zhang Sheng has completely figured it out, with the current strength of the Chinese team, Lippi's coaching level, if you still need to save your strength by letting the team play tacit ball, in order to score points at home in Syria, the games after the top 12 will not be played," Evergrande also has eight rules for international players. ”

Yu Jie knew that Zhang Sheng would not pay attention to these things, but he was still not at ease: "I'll contact my friends over there in Guangzhou, they may be waiting for my call." ”

Sure enough, when Yu Jie's phone called, the other party was not a little surprised.

Yu Jie coached Dongguan Nancheng at the beginning, and later the team went bankrupt and was acquired by Guangzhou Evergrande, like Liao Lisheng, Fang Jingqi, who was about to play as a substitute goalkeeper in the AFC Champions League, was a player from Dongguan Nancheng before, and the person Yu Jie contacted this time was also the coach of Dongguan Nancheng - he was also acquired by Guangzhou Evergrande - they are still very familiar.

After listening to Yu Jie's explanation, the other party said with a smile: "Just today, I was looking for me." Ha ha. Our two clubs really have a good heart. The boss told me: 'We Evergrande are the head coach in charge, and the head coach is fully responsible for the club's games. At the same time, the players of the national team will definitely abide by the eight rules of the national team, and we will do our best to support the national team's competition. '”

"Haha, then I get it. Yu Jie also made up his mind, they are all smart people, and they all know how to do things.

Clubs in China have always been like this, if the General Administration of Sports speaks, everyone still has some scruples, if it is just some things of the Football Association, those that are in line with their own interests will be listened to, and those that do not meet will find a passable excuse to pass.

The semi-finals of the AFC Champions League, whether it is the Longteng team or Guangzhou Evergrande, are all good opportunities to play the brand, and at the same time let the sponsors behind them show their faces, involving hundreds of millions of interests.

The undercurrent before the game was surging as if it did not exist, the Football Association never mentioned this matter again, and the two clubs did not disclose it to any outsiders, and everything was calm.

The next news about Guangzhou Evergrande immediately detonated the media.

Some media broke the news that for the AFC Champions League at the home Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou Evergrande offered a winning bonus of 20 million yuan for a single game, and there was also a bonus of 6 million for each goal win. Although this news was soon denied by Evergrande, even the news was withdrawn from the media?

In the information age, even if you take it off the shelves with lightning speed, the news of Evergrande's sky-high bonus still spread quickly and was reported by foreign media.

The British "Sun", which has always liked to make big news, reported this news, which listed Evergrande's bonuses in recent years, and after the high salaries of various stars in the Chinese Super League, he made a condescending conclusion that he didn't know where to go: "Even if there is a top salary similar to that of the Premier League, compared to the Premier League, Chinese fans would rather choose the Premier League for the Chinese Super League with the same level as the English League One (the third tier of the English league)." ”

In fact, Evergrande's bonus policy this season is more low-key than before.

In the Chinese Super League, Evergrande in 2011 was 513 (win 500, draw 100, lose penalty 300), 12 and 13 seasons are 303 (win 300, draw, lose penalty 300), 14 season down to 101 (win 100, draw no matter, lose penalty 100), 15 season because of the appearance of the Longteng team, and it has returned to 303, this season has been 303.

In the AFC Champions League, Evergrande started with 6306 (win 600, draw 300, lose without penalty, advance to 600), and after winning the AFC Champions League, it was changed to 31031 (win 300, draw 100, lose without penalty, advance to 300, goal difference of 100 each), but since this year, Evergrande has increased the bonus amount, and the promotion bonus has increased from 300 to 1000.

Such a bonus amount is actually similar to that of most Chinese Super League teams, and some new tycoons, such as promoted Ma Huaxia Happiness, are higher than Evergrande's winning bonus.

The only exception is probably the Dragons.

As a team that is not bad for money in the league, the Pride of the Longteng team is more reflected in youth training and various software and hardware equipment, as well as helping players to do business development.

Not to mention the most powerful youth training in China, Longteng Club is the best in the Super League in terms of both competition and training conditions, high-level lawn maintenance beauticians, advanced ambulances that will not damage the stadium, turf maintenance lights that can simulate daylight and increase the sunshine time of the lawn......

In addition, unlike many Chinese Super League clubs, the players of the Longteng team have made some achievements in business development.

This year, under the initiative of Longteng Club, with the help of the Football Association, the assistance of the governments of Hubei Province and Jiangcheng City, including the support of Ping An, the top sponsor of the Chinese Super League, the first Chinese Super League Carnival was held in Jiangcheng.

The Longteng team did not waste this opportunity, and Shi Zhiqiang, the director of the marketing department, helped a number of Longteng team players find endorsement contracts, including sportswear, sports companies, and various football mobile games, which is a rare event in recent years for a large number of players to sign commercial endorsement contracts.

Compared to the various soft benefits above, the Dragon Teng team is not high in terms of competition bonuses.

Not to mention that compared with a few local tyrants, the league wins 100, and the bonus of the AFC Champions League 200 is basically at the end of the league.

Diego Costa was the focus of the match before the game. When asked by a reporter about the history of Guangzhou Evergrande's winless vs Longteng team, he said: "That's because there was no me before. ”

Such a straightforward provocation is absolutely rare in the Chinese Super League. But considering he's Diego Costa, there's nothing wrong with that.

When it comes to the villains of world football, no matter which media ranking, Diego Costa will definitely not be able to escape.

"You definitely don't want to be against him", is the message of almost all the opponents who have played against him.

Some of his on-court behaviour is sometimes unbearable even for his own fans.

When he was still playing in La Liga, he wrestled his wrists with "villains" like Ramos and Pepe on the field, and he still didn't fall behind.

Compared to those evil people on the field, his "evil" is a little different.

Most of the players are called evil because they have big moves on the field, and occasionally there are useless actions, such as De Jong who kicked Alonso with flying legs, and Pepe, who is known as the "warrior monk", but Diego Costa's "evil" is sneaky, he has a lot of dirty actions on the field, a lot of trash talk, and more provocative expressions.

His "highlight" Including, when he played for Atletico Madrid, in the Madrid derby, he not only scored the winning goal, but also made everyone in Real Madrid's defense receive a yellow card for fouling him, he had a fierce clash with the Sevilla half team in a game, and then took advantage of the opponent's unstable morale to score two goals in a row, when playing for Chelsea, in the London derby against Arsenal, he first pretended to accidentally throw his right hand in the face of Arsenal defender Koscielny, and then only a few seconds later, he slapped his opponent in the face with his left hand, Koscielny was slapped by Diego Costa's left and right hands almost within 10 seconds, and the former fell to the ground and got upArsenal's other centre-back, Gabriel, stepped forward to confront Diego Costa, and was constantly attacked by the latter's dirty "trash talk", which led to Gabriel's retaliation and was sent off.

Diego Costa's performances on the pitch have been criticized by countless celebrities, but he has never changed his style of play.

The British "Sun" once conducted a questionnaire survey on "Who do you think is the dirtiest player in the Premier League", a total of more than 2,000 people voted, and the results showed that 85% of readers chose Diego Costa, which shows how unpopular he is with the fans.

There is another thing that proves that Diego Costa likes to deliberately provoke opponents on the field, and that is that when he encounters a player who can really do it or is a waste player, he will never go on, but slip away from the heart. For example, Zabalata, Gerrard will never touch players like him, the funniest one is the match with Paris Saint-Germain, rushing over to see that the opponent is Ibrahimovic, turning around and leaving, he also knows that he was born in a violent block, a black belt master, and the ruthless Ibrahimovic is not something he can touch.

The unique style of play in world football has a lot to do with the environment in which he grew up.

Despite being an international footballer, Diego Costa grew up playing wild football on the streets of Brazil, and he himself said: "Ever since I played football, I was never told to respect my opponents. You have to be very cunning to play streetball, you can't control yourself in that kind of environment, everything can make you lose your mind. I remember fighting with my friends in a lot of games, and I fought almost everyone. I insulted everyone, I never respected my opponents, I thought I had to kill them. ”

A player who was commented by his teammates as: "Costa can fight with his mother on the pitch" can play at the heart of many of Europe's top giants, which can also show his strength from the side.