In the room on the twentieth floor of the hotel, Donn and Allen were looking at each other. There was no one else in this standard room except the two of them, and they could talk about some very intimate topics. Actually, Allen. Adams looking for Tony. Don is definitely not talking about old things, but about business—there is almost no possibility of talking about personal matters between them.

"What you're saying is true?" Don's tone was full of doubt.

"You know I'm never joking, Tony." Alan shook his head, his expression was serious, it really didn't look like he was joking.

Hearing him say this, Don frowned.

He had never heard of such a thing, but it was really in front of him.

Allen told Donn that due to the recent domestic football environment in China, the Chinese Football Association hopes to use this game to re-establish its image. Just now, Don almost wrote out when he heard this: "They still have an image? So he listened to Allen's words as a joke, in fact, everything about the Chinese Football Association is basically a joke, there are nonsensical styles, there are deep black humor, and of course, there are cold jokes.

It's just that the next thing Allen said made Don stop laughing: "...... They hope we can draw with the Olympic team in this game. ”

These words suddenly made Don frown.

Scheduled results?

Technically, though, it's not that difficult. "It's a big rotation, I'm all on the second-tier team, and the Chinese Olympic team can always barely force a draw, right? I also train by the way......"

"No, Tony. If you're all on the second tier team, our commercial game plan is going to take a big hit. Amity wants us to do as much as we can. ”

"Huh?" Donn stood up from the couch. "Send the main force to draw with the Chinese Olympic team? Are you insulting the quality of our team? ”

Alan waved him to sit down, "That's why I'm going to talk to you about it." I understand your temper, but I want you to be able to cooperate once, which is important for us to open up the Chinese market. You know, in China, no matter who you work with, you can't get around the official ......."

Don sat down again, tilting his head to look at Allen across from him. Adams: "Your understanding of China has really improved a lot compared to what it used to be...... I understand you. ”

Seeing that Donn didn't get angry, Allen continued: "You can be a little more skillful and make the game play good and you can score a lot of goals. And then...... In the second half you can start making substitutions, replacing the main players, trying out new line-ups, scouting new players, didn't you bring a couple of youth teams? You can take this opportunity to observe their abilities...... You're the manager, you're more professional than me, you should know how to do it. And then...... In fact, it didn't have any bad impact on our image, after all, it was actually the second-tier team who was forced to draw......"

Don interrupted him: "Does the Chinese Olympic team know about this?" ”

Allen shook his head: "They won't know, the requirements of the Chinese Football Association for them are to work hard and carry forward the ......"

"Carry forward the style, play the style, study hard, sum up the experience......" Don helped him out, and he would memorize this set of rhetoric.

Speaking of this, he suddenly thought of a dusty memory that had been far away from the present for ten years.

In the early days of the professionalization of Chinese football, in addition to the emerging professional leagues that awakened the enthusiasm of Chinese fans for football, there was another important testimony of that era...... It can even be said to be a landmark of the times.

That is the football business competition that is popular all over China.

From Sampdoria's visit to China in 1994 until 1997, Maradona led Boca Juniors to China for the "Great Wall Heroes". Chinese football has experienced a dreamlike era, and "Gongti is undefeated" is the famous slogan of that era. Sampdoria, AC Milan, Arsenal, Penarol and Gremio all lost to Chinese teams at the Workers' Stadium, and the victory against foreign teams during this period greatly boosted the confidence and enthusiasm of Chinese fans, which directly detonated the hot A-League in 1994 and 1995.

Many people are immersed in the joy of defeating world-class teams, and even believe that the level of Chinese football has reached such a height. But when Gremio lost to China Guoan in 1996, due to the controversial decisions in Guoan's favor in the game, the competitive Scolari lashed out angrily at a press conference, which completely shattered the beautiful hopes of Chinese fans for commercial games: "I finally understand why so many strong teams lose here." If you can only watch the referee win, then I believe you will never have a chance to reach the World Cup final, never! ”

Immediately afterwards, in order to prove that Scolari was definitely not venting indiscriminately because of the loss, the England national team with the full main squad in China defeated the Chinese national team by three goals at the Workers' Stadium, which completely made Chinese fans see the essence of commercial games clearly.

In the final analysis, the world's strongest teams come to China for money, and who will really compete with a team from a backward country in football? What's more, players who play on the court also have to worry that they may be injured due to the opponent's fierce actions, and their strength will naturally be greatly reduced.

As for whether the Football Association did any transactions with the teams that came to China in private, I don't know if Tang En, a small citizen like Don. But now, he's the first.

Under the banner of the Olympics, Don was not surprised at all that such a thing happened. After all, some time ago, the national Olympic team and the national team had scandals one after another, and the image of Chinese football plummeted. When the Olympic Games are about to begin, if they can draw with the world's strongest teams, it will be a good stimulus for the fans, and it can also accumulate some confidence for the national Olympic team that is about to compete for the country.

In that regard, it is completely understandable that the Football Association would want the game to be a draw. After all, these people have never regarded football as football, and the laws of the football world are naturally just a fart in their eyes. In their minds, the football game should be subject to their arrangement, whether it is the result or the process, whether it is the overall environment or the players, coaches, referees and other individuals...... and obey them.

Seeing that Don En was suddenly silent, Alan didn't continue, he was waiting for Don to answer.

Don withdrew from his memory, and he looked up to see Allen sitting across from him.

"Okay, Alan. I'm going to give them this face. Don winked at Alan and smiled.

Alan lowered his shoulders and finally had a smile on his face.

Nottingham Forest only spent five days in China, but there was a lot of work waiting for them, and the time was very tight. The itinerary arranged by Ed Company and Allen for the Forest team is very intensive, so that an ordinary person will unconsciously think that these people can do the trick when they see it?

On the evening of their arrival in Ningbo, the team attended a welcome dinner hosted by the Municipal Axe Reception and then returned to the hotel to rest.

The next morning, the team went to Ningbo Fubang Stadium for training to adapt to the venue. The training session is open to the public, but you will need to buy a ticket to enter the venue. Ticket prices range from 50 to 300 yuan, and scalpers may inflate the ticket price even higher. Because Beckham is here, as well as Ruud van Nistelrooy and Van der Vaart, Georges. Wood, Frank. Ribery ...... and many other stars, their attraction to fans is a tool for businessmen to make money.

After the morning training, the whole team will change clothes at noon and attend a luncheon hosted by one of the sponsors of the event in China. At the luncheon, Donn and Allen will sign a three-year image endorsement contract with each other on behalf of the entire Nottingham Forest team. For the next three years, the image of the entire Nottingham Forest team will allow the company to promote itself commercially in China.

After a light afternoon workout, some people can go back to the hotel to rest, while others are busy. Beckham is going to attend a campaign for one of the brands he endorses. Tang was asked by Chinese state television to record a show about his life at Premier League champions Nottingham Forest. George. Wood and Tony. Tang En and the two will attend the signing ceremony of the intention to inaugurate the Armani store located in Yihe Avenue Commercial Street, Haishu District, Ningbo, because both of them are the image spokespersons of Armani, and today is just a signing agreement, and the store will really be completed and meet consumers in April next year.

The players were not allowed to attend any events that night, they had one night to choose from as they pleased. I believe that most people will choose to go out shopping together. But even so, they can't be much easier, because there will be many media outlets along the way, and the news of how they consume and shop will appear on TV, newspapers, online and other media platforms the next day.

Donne, on the other hand, is going to attend a celebrity party with Evan and Allen, two club executives. This kind of activity is what Donn is not good at, but he can't refuse.

On the morning of the third day, there was no training, and all the players had to change their clothes and visit the Ningbo branch of the University of Nottingham in the Ningbo Higher Education Park. In the school's stadium, the players play a small game with local university students. For example, Beckham teaches free kick footwork, and selects five people to play a simple five-five match with college students...... After a light lunch at noon, the team returned to Fubon Stadium in the afternoon to continue training with the public. Fans who have bought a ticket for the previous day's training can enter directly with the ticket, and if they have lost it or did not buy it, they will have to buy a new ticket.

After the training, the players had to rush to the Ningbo Enmei Welfare Institute to interact with the orphans there, give gifts and dedicate their love.

In the evening, after a brief dinner in the car, the team had to rush to the TV station to record a show with the lucky fans who were selected, which lasted about three and a half to four hours. By the time these people returned to the hotel exhausted, it was already late at night.

On the morning of the fourth day, training continued at Fubon Stadium, but this training was not open to the public. Because Don will be arranging detailed tactics for the evening game in this training session. As is customary, such trainers will never be made public. Therefore, Amity did not sell this training class as well.

After lunch in the afternoon, the players took a lunch break in the hotel to prepare for the evening game. And Tony. Don had to attend a press conference. This is the announcement of the partnership between Nottingham Forest and Greentown, a local professional football club in Zhejiang Province.

In fact, to put it bluntly, Greentown has become the satellite club of the Forest team in China.

This is a major event involving football in Zhejiang Province, and Don En must be present.

After a brief dinner in the evening, the team will drive to Fubon Stadium for the highlight of the trip to China – a warm-up match against the Chinese Olympic team, which has been training for months at the Fubon Stadium in Ningbo.

As Nottingham Forest won the Champions Cup for two consecutive years, they won the league this year and achieved a double. For a while, the limelight was incomparable, and the popularity in China also soared rapidly, coupled with the fact that the other side of this game was the Chinese Olympic team, which was highly watched and expected by the Chinese people, and the ball market was hot. Originally, Fubon Stadium could accommodate 30,000 people, and the organizers added a circle of stands to the runway. 35,000 of the 40,000 tickets were sold, which should be considered an excellent result in today's commercial football fever that is getting lower and lower.

A few years ago, when Amity operated Real Madrid's second visit to China, they lost their wives and soldiers, and this time they finally earned it back at Nottingham Forest.

Early in the morning of the fifth day, Nottingham Forest will pack up and fly directly from Ningbo Lishe International Airport to Tokyo. At the beginning, they spent four days and four nights in a crazy circle of money.

※※※ Just like the schedule you can see above, these few days have been a tough test for the players - no, Beckham has this experience, so he can cope with it - the others are much more miserable, tired like a dog.

In front of people, under the spotlight, under the lens of the camera, and under the all-round attention of the media, they smiled at various occasions, tirelessly signed autographs from fans, and met their requests for group photos. Be careful to maintain your image in the eyes of the public.

When giving love in the welfare home, everyone was very serious, and no one was perfunctory because they were too tired. This is what makes Donn the proudest. Beckham, in particular, is simply the best example for the rest of his team-mates, no matter how many people around him pester, no matter what the fans ask, he always smiles and tries to be satisfied, and he has never seen him show the slightest impatience when he is being noticed because of fatigue.

In the welfare home, he is also the most famous and is popular with the most children. In front of children who are mentally abnormal and disabled, he treats them as if they were his own children.

George. Wood was a little clumsy, but he worked hard.

It was only on the way to the TV station that these players had time to eat. But many people don't have the appetite to eat at all, and after getting on the bus, they wave to the children, fans and reporters who are seeing them off outside the window, and when the car finally drives out of people's sight, these dedicated "actors" lean on the back of their seats one by one and fall asleep.

Years later, what is the only thing that will remain in the minds of these stars when they recall their trip to China in the summer of 2008?

Tired, right?

It's so tiring......

(To be continued)