Chapter 065 Secretary Xiao watches the ball

Chūn's glorious Wucheng, Wucheng Jiangnan Football Stadium is thunderous.

Wucheng Jiangnan Football Stadium, the largest professional football stadium in China with a total capacity of 82,588 people, was full of seats in today's home game!

The so-called professional football field, simply put, is a stadium dedicated to football without a track and field track.

Today's Wucheng Jiangnan Football Stadium hosts a Chinese Super League team from Dongchuan, which was originally just an ordinary football game, but because of two things, the media paid special attention.

The first is that Argentine league MVP Norrich transferred to the Chinese Super League giants Wucheng Jiangnan Football Team for a sky-high price of 8 million US dollars, and today is his debut.

The second is Xiao Chen, secretary of the Jiangdong Provincial Party Committee, who is known as one of the founders of Wucheng Jiangnan, who has made it clear a few days ago that he will come to Wucheng to watch the game today.

If Norrich's appearance was only moved by the ball and the sports media, then Secretary Xiao Chen's statement suddenly caused a sensation in the political news media, and the major media flocked to Wucheng and began to prepare for all-round coverage.

Tianxin Group, the owner of the Wucheng Jiangnan football team, and related advertising sponsors have also spared no effort to publicize it, and in the past few days, Wucheng Taihu Tesco Mall has also immediately launched a special lucky draw, and the prize is the ticket for this football game.

Wucheng Jiangnan Club Huā spent tens of millions of dollars to introduce Norrich, the MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the Argentine League, which not only made the domestic media flock to it, but even made several major news agencies in the world that had rarely paid attention to the Chinese Super League before also began to tilt towards Asia. A few days ago, the Associated Press wrote that the recent large-scale recruitment of Chinese Super League teams demonstrates the growing influence of Asian football, and more world-class players may land in the Asian League in the future.

Norrich's annual salary reached a record $7 million. Combined with the $10 million transfer fee, his three-and-a-half-year contract with Wucheng Jiangnan is worth a total of $34.5 million, or more than 240 million yuan. Previously, Wu Cheng Jiangnan also spent $4.5 million to buy Argentine striker Kepler, who scored 14 goals in 16 Champions League games while playing for Partizan Belgrade.

"Obviously, as far as I know, Wucheng Jiangnan has a lot of financial strength, and I am also impressed by Wucheng Jiangnan's sincerity, in addition to helping the team achieve good results, I hope I can also help improve the image of Chinese football in the world," Norrich said.

Although Asian teams do not yet have the historical heritage of European clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid, the head coach of Wucheng Jiangnan said that Asian teams will catch up soon.

He said: "A year ago, Huaxia was plagued by match-fixing, and the ball rarely went to the scene to watch the game, and Wucheng Jiangnan even planned to withdraw from the Chinese Super League for this reason. Nowadays, the Super League has made some improvements, which is a good thing to get the ball back on the pitch. ”

The foreign aid and wonderful games have gradually increased the number of balls in the Chinese Super League. In Wucheng, Wucheng Jiangnan, as the "promoted horse", is still unbeaten after more than half of the league, which also allows them to have at least 60,000 goals live at each of their home stadiums.

The home attendance of Beijing Guoan and Guanzhongren also reached 40,000 and 38,000 respectively. The head coach of Wucheng Jiangnan said that the heavy investment is only the first step in the development and growth of the Chinese Super League.

"In China, football is not yet the number one sport," he said, "and in order to improve football (influence), we need to attract more high-level players." In Wucheng Gangnam, these players will help the team win the championship more easily. Next season, they will also help Wucheng Jiangnan make a difference in the AFC Champions League, so that Wucheng Jiangnan can bring in better players over and over again. In football, you need to have dreams, and achieving them is a long march, but buying high-level players from overseas can be the first step in a long journey. ”

Many overseas high-level players are now gradually adapting to life in China. "You can't play in the Champions League, it doesn't matter. The AFC Champions League is also very competitive and I am hungry for a new challenge. ”

At the same time as Wucheng brought in reinforcements, other Chinese Super League teams also showed their big spending in the second transfer period. North Zhu Shide used $3.8 million to bring in Argentine striker Adriano; Lingnan Yuexiu bought Serbian foreign aid Jevtic for $2 million; Former Scottish player Derek turned down an offer from an English team to join Guanzhong; Guoan have also signed two Senegalese players from the Portuguese Super League.

The day of Argentine League MVP Norrich's arrival in Kure coincided with a clear sky and a brilliant chūn. It seems that the Dragon King also knows that Norrich's arrival is a major event in Chinese football. On the same day, many balls went to the airport to hold placards to pick up the airport, and the atmosphere was so warm that passing passengers felt that they were about to arrive.

Even CCTV, which has not been waiting to see Huaxia football for many years, and Jingcheng TV, which has praised the Huaxia Football Center, also sent reporters to Wucheng Airport for the "first scene". In Xiao Chen's memory, such a grand occasion has been absent for many years after Milu's national team qualified for the World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

I remember that before the start of this year's league, Xiao Chen heard that Su Ning planned to introduce a group of international level foreign aid, and he had predicted that Wucheng Jiangnan would pry a pool of stagnant water in Chinese football, but after half the way, he found that the reality was more exciting than expected.

This new era is first and foremost reflected in the full recovery of the ball market. In the past few years, going to the scene to watch the Super League has basically become a classic ridicule that despises other people's IQ and taste, and after Wucheng Jiangnan entered the Chinese football rivers and lakes in a high-profile manner, the ball market of the Chinese Super League is approaching the height of the early stage of professionalization. Among them, Wucheng Ball Market is the most popular, which is as hot as the temperature of this southern metropolis and makes you forget that this city is the best illustration of Chinese "elegance".

When the Wucheng Jiangnan Football Stadium, the home stadium of Wucheng Jiangnan in the last round, was filled with 82,588 people for the first time, the media had to admit that Secretary Xiao Chen's decision to insist on building a new world-class stadium was not only domineering, but also prescient.

Some people say that many of the more than 80,000 people are free tickets, but the problem is that in the past few years, you can't give away the tickets of the Chinese Super League. Now, with Norrich's arrival, does Wucheng Jiangnan have any plans to continue to expand their home stadium? What's more, Wucheng Jiangnan's sting effect on the ball market does not only occur in Wucheng, in the first half of the Chinese Super League, Wucheng Jiangnan plays away from home every time, which also drives the local ball to return to the Chinese Super League. It can be seen that it is not that the majority of the ball is far away from football, we are just away from match-fixing. Xiao Chen sat in the stands in the best position, and joked with a smile to Vice Governor Wang Mingna, who was in charge of culture and sports, that it was necessary for the Chinese Football Association to award the Wucheng Jiangnan Club a best organization award after the end of the season.

The recovery of the ball market is due to the introduction of excellent foreign players. Led by Wucheng Jiangnan, 16 Chinese Super League teams have lost a total of more than $30 million in transfer fees in the mid-term transfer window. Not only is it the craziest in the history of Chinese football, but it is also a record in the whole of Asia. The transfer fee is staggering, although it has created inflation in the value of second-rate stars to a certain extent, but considering the status of Chinese football and the premise of continuous negative news over the years, it is basically not too outrageous a transaction. The 30-year-old Kudri has just joined Lazio for 5.5 million euros, and Norrich's $10 million transfer fee seems relatively reasonable if this is used as a reference.

Moreover, the quality of new foreign aid has made many professional football commentators feel that the new era of Chinese football is also reflected in the increasing familiarity with the international transfer market. Not to mention the troubles of Argentine amateur player Mamelo and Russian college student Valodya sweeping the first A; In the past few years, too many players known as European and American foot players have been introduced, but more than ninety percent of them have been proven to be parallel goods, and the performance on the court makes people feel as if they are like European furniture.

But this year the situation is very different. Needless to say, Wucheng Jiangnan's Kepler and McHiring, even R&F, who is still in the Central League, can sign a genuine Premier League main player like Heywood; From Guoan to Wucheng Jiangnan, although the financial resources are different, the new foreign aid signed this summer can be eye-catching. It must be said that it is Wucheng Jiangnan that has established a very high new standard for foreign aid in Chinese football, and the model of "signing parallel goods and eating rebates" that has plagued Chinese football for many years has slowly lost its living space, because the realistic standard is placed there, not to mention that the ball does not agree, the club owner will not agree, I really can't afford to lose that person!

For a long time, the debate about league-oriented or youth football-based has always accompanied the life of Chinese football. But now, such arguments seem to be losing their meaning. Because of the improvement of the league level and the revival of the thorn football market, it has naturally attracted more young people's attention and enthusiasm for football. Norrich was in the team's training the day before yesterday and there were a lot of balls to watch, which was almost a myth even six months ago, but now, it's happening.

Another major subversion of the Wucheng Jiangnan model to the unspoken rules of Chinese football is to make Chinese players believe that they can make money without relying on match-fixing and gambling, and they can earn money by standing up. In a recent interview, Kepler said that his motivation for his good performance came from the high prize money. In Chinese culture, such straightforwardness seems a bit glaring, but compared with the previous high stakes of many players' abnormal performances, it is really heaven and earth. This change of values, coupled with the standardization of the system, is not necessarily a distant thing for Huaxia Football to clean up the original sins of the past and be a healthy person again.

In the stands of the stadium, the spotlights kept flashing, because of the arrival of Xiao Chen, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, many reporters today are actually not sports reporters, many of them are not very interested in football, they are just very interested in Secretary Xiao Chen's appearance here.

Among these reporters, the slightly older ones, at this time, looking at Secretary Xiao Chen in the stands, and Su Ning, chairman of Tianxin Group and chairman of Wucheng Jiangnan Club who was with him, couldn't help but think of some "wild history rumors" back then.

"There won't be any surprises in this competition, right?" Sitting on the other side of Xiao Chen's hand was Vice Governor Wang Mingna, who couldn't help but ask Secretary Xiao Chen. Although she is neither the host, but also inferior to Li Yang, member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee, who accompanied her, in terms of rank, she occupies the light of the vice governor in charge, and Secretary General Li Yang was originally the secretary general of the provincial government in Xiao Chen's provincial political team that year, and his qualifications are slightly inferior to that of Vice Governor Wang Mingna, so he took the initiative to humbly give up the position on the left hand side of Secretary Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen said with a smile: "As for football, any accident can happen, and it is impossible to absolutely predict the outcome of a fair and just football sport." Otherwise, if you let the Brazilian team and the Argentine team play with us, it is said that there is no need to say the outcome of this victory, but if people have two or three accidents in a row, 9 against 11, or even 8 against 11, then it is not ...... Ah, when I say that, it seems like a bit of a self-defeating prestige? ”

Su Ning said with a smile on the side: "With the secretary of the provincial party committee like Secretary Xiao who supports football, I think the prospects for the development of football in Jiangdong will be more brilliant, maybe one day in the future, Huaxia football will be able to compete fairly with the Brazilian team and the Argentine team." ”

Vice Governor Wang Mingna laughed: "Su Dong is really good at talking, but I believe this, I thought about it two days ago, it seems that there is really nothing that our Secretary Xiao wants to do." ”

Xiao Chen waved his hand: "Stop this topic quickly, I'm not an immortal, what I want to do must be smooth sailing?" What I am most concerned about now is to solve the three things of education, housing, and medical insurance for the people of Jiangdong, but none of these three things is easy, I am confident, but I dare not pack the ticket, I can only say that I can do my best. In addition, the economy must continue to speed up in an all-round way, especially in northern Jiangsu. We can't only have southern Jiangsu, our northern Jiangsu must also develop and become rich, without the prosperity of northern Jiangsu, our Jiangdong has always been a lame walk, limping! ”

When he said this, he waved his hand: "Ah, it's far away, let's still watch the ball...... Su Dong, how are the foreign coaches in Wucheng Jiangnan running in Wucheng? ”

Su Ning pondered for a moment: "It's a little more adaptable than the foreign coaches of other teams, but it's still a little far from our expectations." ”

Xiao Chen sighed, frowned slightly, and didn't know what to think.

Su Ning said, "He asked me a question before. ”

"Oh, what's the problem?" Xiao Chen was a little curious.

Su Ningzheng said: "He said that since he came to China, he has been thinking, where is the gap between Chinese football and the world, and closely, where is the gap with Japan and South Korea, the two top Asian countries? This question is also for you, Su Dong. I was stopped by him, this topic is too big, I don't know how to say it, where to say it. ”

Xiao Chen nodded solemnly and sighed lightly: "This foreigner, that's a good question......

It seems that all foreign football coaches who come to China inevitably face a difficult question: where is the gap between Chinese football and the world? Or more recently, where is the gap with the two Asian powers, Japan and South Korea?

This problem actually stumped the coach of the Premier League famous Arsenal Arsene Wenger. China has nearly 1/4 of the world's population, but it can't form a capable 11-a-side football team, which has become a dilemma for the French coach, "I really can't imagine such a situation......

Some time ago, the Arsenal team started the second leg of its Asian tour in Lin'an, and head coach Arsene Wenger came to Jiangnan University in the afternoon to interact with college students and football players. The host described Chinese football as "catastrophic", and asked "Professor" Wenger to compare the differences between Chinese and Japanese football. Arsene Wenger has a lot to say about Japanese football. Before taking charge of Arsenal, he coached the Nagoya Whales, and the Frenchman's advanced football philosophy has benefited Japanese football to this day.

Speaking about Japan, Arsene Wenger was blunt: "The Japanese are naturally suited to team sports. What "Professor" is embarrassed about is that his first feeling about Chinese people is that Chinese people should have a spirit of collectivism, as if everyone is working hard for a team no matter what they do; On the contrary, Japanese and Korean football is more inherently competitive, like the competition between companies in the business field, and only by defeating their opponents can they survive.

Arsene Wenger believes that China can only make progress if it strengthens football education on campus. "Actually, there is no secret to competitive sports anywhere in the world, and you have to look at the philosophy of educating your children." Between the ages of 5 and 12 is the golden stage for a person to receive a football technical education, and only by teaching them the most basic football skills during this period can they be guided to develop better in the future.

As a master of youth football education, Arsene Wenger's views are well founded. According to reports, there are 500,000 youth soccer players registered with the Japan Football Association, while only 7,000 athletes of the same age are registered with the Chinese Football Association. At the end of last year, Liu Xupeng, director of the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China, also said at the National Youth Campus Football Work Symposium that there was a lack of talent in youth football in China.

The Chinese tradition of "education is the first priority" may be the reason for this phenomenon, but Wenger said: "As long as you add even a little football philosophy and professional skills to your school education, you can get twice the result with half the effort." "Arsene Wenger showed the way for Chinese football." As long as the basic skills are mastered, the young players of China will be able to compete with Asian powerhouses such as Japan and South Korea when they grow up, and even defeat some European teams. ”

Xiao Chen had read this report, and had thought about it a lot, and when he heard Su Ning mention it, his heart moved, and he turned to Vice Governor Wang Minna beside him and said: "Governor Minna, you see, our education in Jiangdong is undergoing reform, can we consider adding some basic football education courses to the physical education classes of primary and junior high schools...... Ah, I know, many school physical education classes are just going through the motions, this matter I emphasized in the last meeting, this point must be corrected, no matter which school, music, sports, beauty and other courses are arranged but not on, caught once, the principal of the city reported, caught the second time, the principal dismissed, I wonder, these courses are arranged there, is it that the experts who arrange classes are confused! ”

Vice Governor Wang Mingna was slightly depressed and asked: "Secretary Xiao, or, I will arrange this matter after I go back, and some things about education reform may have to hold a conference, preferably at the provincial level, when the time comes...... Do you have time to guide us? ”

Xiao Chen said directly: "No problem, you can arrange the time, and then coordinate with Secretary-General Li and Chen Dang to arrange my time." You'll give me a little more time...... Half a day, no, a day, dedicated to this matter. ”