As the Riyadh Crescent side completely shrunk and started using the Iron Barrel Formation tactics, the Longteng team, which originally wanted to let go, also became "gentle".
In the last ten minutes of the game, the scene was very dull. The referee Irmatov gave three minutes of stoppage time, but in fact only two and a half minutes of stoppage time was given, and he blew the whistle to end the game.
These two long whistles also meant that the Longteng team once again won the AFC Champions League, the highest competitive honor for Asian clubs, after a year.
"The game is over. The Longteng team defeated the Saudi giant Riyadh Crescent with a huge score of 3:1 in the away game, 5:0 at home, and 8:1 in the two rounds, and won the 2017 AFC Champions League championship. Congratulations to them!", although
Before the game, it was predicted that Team Longteng would win the championship with a high probability, and this was confirmed early during the game. When the real championship was won, He Wei couldn't help but get excited.
"This is the second AFC Champions League title for the Long Teng team. For a club that has only been officially established as a professional team for seven years, and has worked its way up from the amateur league, Chinese Second Division, and Chinese First Division, this is simply a miracle.
It is also in the past few years that this club has contributed the most outstanding young players, helping Chinese football win the World Youth Championship, and won the third place in the World Youth Championship for two consecutive years. It is this club that has contributed the most.
The national team helped the Chinese team reach the World Cup finals again." Xu Yang counted the Longteng team's contribution to Chinese football in detail.
He Wei finally concluded: "The train runs fast, all because of the headband. An industry needs an excellent leader. Since the establishment of Longteng Club, the improvement of the overall level of Chinese football is visible to the naked eye."
“In the past few years, in addition to the rapid improvement in the performance of national teams at all levels, Chinese Super League clubs have also taken turns to win the AFC Champions League. In 2013, it was Guangzhou Evergrande, in 2015, it was Longteng, and in 2016, it was Guangzhou Evergrande. Today,
The Longteng team won the championship again. In addition, Shanghai SIPG has also reached the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League. It has become the norm for other Chinese Super League teams to qualify in the group stage."
"Although part of the reason is that the Chinese Super League clubs have invested heavily and have strong foreign players, the outstanding players transferred from the Longteng team are also the main factor in their improvement."
"We sincerely hope that more clubs like Longteng will appear in China to further improve the overall strength of Chinese football."
"Finally, we once again congratulate the Longteng team for winning the AFC Champions League again, and Nie Jiang breaking the record and becoming the top scorer in the AFC Champions League." He Wei expressed his blessings.
Xu Yang finally added: "Also, we also wish Nie Jiang to win the Asian Footballer of the Year, and wish Zhang Sheng to win the Best Coach in Asia."
Commentators from all walks of life were sending blessings to the Longteng team, and the Jiangcheng Sports Center was a sea of joy.
The players and coaching staff of Riyadh Crescent have quietly returned to the locker room to digest the 0:5 defeat. The players, coaches and staff of the Dragon Team hugged each other and celebrated throughout the field.
On the rostrum, Zhang Zhijun accepted everyone's celebrations with satisfaction. Senior officials from Hubei Province and Jiangcheng who attended the game clearly proposed to give more support to Longteng Club and Longteng Group to help the development of the football industry.
The focus of the celebration on the field was Nie Jiang and Zhang Sheng, who had all put on the red championship jerseys that had been prepared long ago.
First, Nie Jiang was carried on the shoulders of several teammates and walked around the field to accept the cheers of the fans. Then, Zhang Sheng was also carried on the shoulders of the players after they unanimously promised that they would not abandon him to heaven.
Next, all the Longteng players went to the die-hard fans' stands to interact with the fans.
Nie Jiang, who was running at the front, was having some fun. As he was approaching the sidelines, he made a diving and sliding action. Many teammates behind him followed suit and slid close to the ground to celebrate.
A loud "OK" erupted from the stands, mixed with the screams of "so handsome" from many female fans. After getting up from the ground, the players lined up hand in hand and kept shouting "How cool!"
He shouted "Hoar" and raised his hands to greet the fans, and the fans in the stands also shouted in response.
Suddenly, the roar from Jiangcheng Sports Center could be heard several miles away.
Then the awards ceremony began. Lu Zhihui, as captain, took the stage to accept this season's AFC Champions League Fair Play Award from the AFC, and also received a bonus of US$20,000.
Next, Nie Jiang came on stage twice in a row and accepted the trophies for the AFC Champions League's top scorer and AFC Champions League's best player. He also received 20,000 US dollars. The difference was that the fair play award was shared by the entire team. This
The bonus is exclusive to Nie Jiang, and the cost of the meal he promised before has finally been met.
When it was the turn of the Riyadh Crescent players to take the stage to receive the silver medal, the Longteng fans of the home team did not hesitate to applaud. The Crescent fans who had been suppressed for the whole game had their voices heard.
When the Dragons stepped onto the podium and captain Lu Zhihui lifted the AFC Champions League trophy - the World Cup championship trophy is called the Hercules Cup, the European Cup championship trophy is called the Delaunay Cup, and the European Champions League championship trophy is called the Saint-Bride Cup.
Even the Chinese Super League championship trophy has a name like Vulcan Cup, but the AFC Champions League trophy doesn't even have a meaningful name. The AFC is really low--the cheers reached a complete climax, and golden confetti was flying all over the sky.
Then, like a golden rain, it enveloped the players, coaches and award-giving guests of the Longteng team. The song "We Are the Champions" was also very suitable for the occasion.
Amidst the singing and cheering, Qu Wenming, Nie Jiang, Liming and other lively players even took the champagne they had prepared and sprayed it on the crowd. Everyone was smiling.
Players, coaches, staff, and guests took photos holding the championship trophy in countless permutations and combinations, and all used their cameras to capture the best moments.
At this point, the 2017 AFC Champions League season has slowly come to an end. In the farewell voice of the commentator, "Goodbye, my friends, viewers," the Longteng team has successfully reached a milestone this season.
In order to let the players relax, on the bus back to the club, Zhang Sheng announced the news of a two-day holiday, which also ushered in bursts of cheers from the players. The excitement after the war needs a buffering process.
, the players need it, and Zhang Sheng also needs it.
"Come, come to daddy and bring the ball. You can bring it."
The Longteng Club has a large field open to the outside world. The fields are separated into large and small pieces by high barbed wire fences to prevent the football from flying too high or flying too far and making it difficult to pick it up.
Zhang Sheng specially packed a piece today because when he went home on the day of the final, his son asked his father to play with him and specifically stated that he wanted to play football with him.
Zhang Sheng, who often went out and could not play with his son, felt guilty and agreed. Early the next morning, Zhang Sheng, Ye Ting and his wife took their son shopping, eating McDonald's, playing in the children's playground, and finally came to the open court area of the Longteng team.
The 4-year-old son was already able to dribble the ball stumblingly. After hearing his father's request and encouragement, he mustered up the courage to successfully dribble the ball for ten to twenty meters. He came to Zhang Sheng's side in a straight line without making any mistakes, and then
She jumped towards him happily.
Zhang Sheng was also happy and lifted his son up.
It seems that my son really has a talent for playing football.
Just when the father and son were being kind and filial, his wife Ye Ting came over: "Dad and mother just called me and asked us to take Zhang Huaijin over for dinner in the evening."
"How about we go to my grandparents' house in the evening?" Zhang Sheng asked his son in his arms.
Zhang Huaijin, whose face was still flushed because of the exercise, shouted excitedly: "Go, go. I want my grandparents."
I was still promising, but as soon as I got in the car, my 4-year-old child was already tired after playing for a day and fell asleep in the child safety seat in the back seat.
"I heard Dad's voice and he was very happy." Ye Ting said softly, "After you go over, try not to quarrel with Dad."
Since the last argument over salary limits, Zhang Sheng and his father Zhang Zhijun have had a certain gap. The two sides stand on different positions and have different opinions.
Ye Ting understands this very well, because unlike the past when she would go back to her parents' house when she had time, her family has not been back for a while.
Zhang Sheng, who was silent for a while, nodded: "I'll try my best."
When he arrived at his father's house, Zhang Sheng found that his brother Zhang Chen had arrived and was chatting with his father.
"The food is almost ready. Let's eat first and have some drinks today?" Zhang Zhijun was obviously in a good mood.
Zhang Chen also advised: "I haven't been here for a long time. It's rare. Let's drink some. I just bought some good vintage red wine from a friend."
"Okay, I'll drink some wine today to honor my father." It was rare that everyone was happy, and Zhang Sheng, who didn't usually drink much, didn't let him down.
At the dinner table, everyone had a tacit understanding and did not talk about the previous salary limit. They talked more about the AFC Champions League finals that had just passed.
The whole family is enjoying themselves happily.
After drinking and eating, the nanny helped clean up. Zhang Zhijun, Zhang Sheng and Zhang Chen and his son entered Zhang Zhijun's study in tacit understanding.
As soon as the three of them sat down, Zhang Zhijun took the initiative to bring up a topic: "Today I went to sit with the provincial leader and he mentioned something to me."
"What's the matter?" Zhang Sheng vaguely felt that it must be related to the salary limit.
"About financial risks." Zhang Zhijun nodded solemnly and said, "In July this year, at the National Financial Conference, some major leaders mentioned the need to strengthen supervision and improve the ability to prevent and resolve financial risks. At that time, our real estate industry was
Focus on areas.”
"The group attaches great importance to this matter, because after this meeting, many smaller companies in the industry faced difficulties in raising financing. Even companies of Wanda's size are still selling off assets in large quantities."
"Later on, the entire infrastructure-related industries were undergoing rectification. My previous focus was on this area. Fortunately, the province and city are very supportive of our group, so we don't have big problems for the time being."
"Today, I reported to the leader about the group's financing issues, and he expressed his support for us. Then the leader chatted with me and praised our company Longteng. Then he talked about the domestic football industry, and also talked about the group in the middle.
, when I was about to leave at the end, the leader said that financial risk management and control is not only related to infrastructure."
"This is a bit interesting."
After Zhang Zhijun described his experience today, the three people in the room fell into a brief silence.
Zhang Chen was the first to speak: "Is this to give us a break? The football industry also needs to rectify financial risks?"
"I thought so at first, but according to what I have learned in the past few years, except for those who launder money, the actual financial risks in the football industry are not big. After all, there is no such thing as a domestic football industry now.
How old." Zhang Zhijun shook his head and rejected Zhang Chen's statement, "I thought that the things that needed to be rectified were related to the salary limit your brother proposed to me some time ago."
Zhang Sheng nodded: "Dad, brother, I think what you said is correct. There is indeed no risk that is big enough to affect the country's finance. However, financial risks include financial risks."
"The country hopes to build a sports industry, and football should be used as a pilot. Now the development of the domestic football industry, especially the development of professional leagues, is clearly deformed. Not only the leadership knows it, each club knows it, even laymen who don't understand football know it.
Everyone knows - players' wages are too high."
"Now the country wants to remind us that our financial risks are extremely high and must be rectified. If my guess is correct, the Football Association should organize financial risk management and control meetings for each club in the near future."
"Moreover, I got news from Professor Xie. The third-party financial review agency commissioned by the Football Association - if I remember correctly, it should be PricewaterhouseCoopers - their national professional football club financial status analysis report is about to come out.
"
"It is said that the results of the investigation are very worrying. Whether it is the total losses of clubs at all levels, the ratio of players and coaches' salaries to annual investment, and the ratio of youth training investment to total investment, they are all far higher or far lower than the warning line."
"This investigation started in mid-July this year, and those who are well-informed should have already obtained the investigation data."
Zhang Sheng said his guess very seriously: "The leader probably asked us to prepare for the meeting first. I guess the Hubei Football Association will send us a notice of participation in the meeting in the next few days."
It should be said that Zhang Sheng’s guess was correct. Historically, on December 7, 2017, the Chinese Football Association not only convened representatives from various domestic professional clubs, but also invited the director of the UEFA Think Tank Center to draft the Financial Fair Play Act.
One of the authors, Sefton Perry and other international experts attended the meeting.
At the meeting, these international experts shared the causes and consequences of the bill, and also introduced the financial status of European clubs before and after the bill was promulgated.
Zhang Jian, executive vice chairman and secretary-general of the Football Association, took out a survey report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The data in it can be said to be shocking. He put forward requirements for domestic clubs on the financial risk management and control of the Football Association. It can be said that this is
The Football Association is proposing a salary limit.
Most fans in later generations have been complaining that the Football Association's salary limit order is one-size-fits-all and does not give each club time to react and make a transition.
In fact, the real situation is that the Football Association’s salary limit order was issued on December 14, 2020, exactly 2 years before this briefing.
From a national policy perspective, the Football Association has given each club two years to rectify itself.
However, have any clubs really implemented it or made changes? Almost none. Clubs like Shanghai SIPG and Shandong Luneng have invested more and more. On the contrary, Guangzhou Evergrande, which has always been a rich man in the fans' impression, has actually implemented the plan. They are reducing investment - selling high-paid players and bringing in young players.
The final result was that the country couldn't bear it anymore and imposed mandatory salary limit rules.
Zhang Sheng once again grasped the right direction.
