Chapter 214 Boss Qin Lin
"Brother Lin, what prompted you to choose to return to your hometown and play for your hometown team at the age of 38?"
In the media hall of the Provincial Sports Center in Jincheng, the welcome ceremony held by Anton Shining Star Club for three new players is ongoing.
It was now the question-and-answer session. The reporters who raised their hands and were called by name almost all directed their questions to Qin Lin, the most prolific of the three new players.
This is evident from the fact that all media microphones are piled in front of Qin Lin. In front of Hu Lai and another new aid Xu Wentao, they seemed deserted...
Faced with this question, Qin Lin coughed, cleared his throat, and replied: "You just mentioned 'hometown', that's why. I am from Andong and also from Jincheng. I am from the echelon of Xingcheng Club I started my football career, but I never played a game for Anton’s professional football team. This has always been my regret. In fact, at the end of last year, Manager Dong of Flash Star found me and hoped that I could come back and use my experience to lead the young people of Flash Star to grow... I also want to thank the South China Tigers Club. After they learned about my wishes, they took the initiative to end my relationship with me. The remaining six months of my contract with the club allow me to return to the place where my football dream started as a free person..."
When Qin Lin was answering this question, Hu Lai was on his right side, turning his head and looking at him for a long time, feeling a little dazed.
Because the person in front of him always makes him think of the national football team in another time and space. Even though the two people are completely different from their names, place of origin, and age, and their career achievements are also different, Hu Lai still feels that the two people are too similar, and their destinies are too similar.
In that time and space, Zheng Zhi, a Liaoning player born in 1980, was considered to be the only player who could make a difference in the darkest era of Chinese football. He was the mainstay of the Chinese national team in the lean years and the only face of Chinese football. Although many people who don’t care much about Chinese football and don’t watch football games may think this shameless statement is nonsense – does Chinese football still have a face? But it is what it is.
In today's time and space, Qin Lin, who was born in Jincheng City, Andong Province in 1983, is also the only face of Chinese football in the dark era.
After coming to this time and space, Hu Lai had learned about the situation of Chinese football in this time and space, and knew that although many details were different, the overall situation was no different from the time and space before he came - very Oops, they were all terrible, and they all had a dark time.
The difference is that the darkness of that time and space seems to have no end in sight, and this time and space, with the vigorous development of campus football and a series of practical reforms in other aspects, there is at least some hope.
In Chinese professional football, Qin Lin is recognized by everyone as the most professional player. He trains hard, lives a self-disciplined life, is clean and self-reliant, and has almost no scandals. Carlos Lemen, the foreign head coach who coached the South China Tigers, once commented on Qin Lin, saying that he was not like a Chinese player, but more like a European player.
In the original Chinese football world, this was simply the highest praise for a professional player.
In fact, Qin Lin did go to Europe to play football, and many of his training and living habits are related to his experience studying abroad.
Five years of playing for a European club fully demonstrates that his strength is recognized by European football. At the same time, his experience playing in Europe also makes him one step ahead of other domestic players. He even won the Asian Footballer of the Year, the second Asian Footballer of the Year in the history of Chinese football.
But such an outstanding player failed to realize the greatest wish of Chinese fans.
After playing for the national team for the first time in 2003, he began the long journey of leading the Chinese team to the World Cup.
He participated in four World Cup qualifiers in the 2006 World Cup, 2010 World Cup, 2014 World Cup, and 2018 World Cup, but he never led the Chinese team to successfully reach the World Cup finals. During this process, he grew from an ordinary soldier of the national team to the captain of the national team, but he still failed to achieve his goal of "breaking out of Asia and going global."
After the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, he also participated in the 2019 Asian Cup as the captain of the national team, which was also the last time he played in a national team jersey. The Chinese team finally finished fourth, and he was able to complete the handover and take off his jersey. After losing in the third and fourth place finals of the Asian Cup, he choked up in an interview after the game and announced his retirement from the national team. Apologize to Chinese fans.
Why apologize?
Not because of losing a third or fourth place final. It's because since joining the national team in 2003 and retiring from the national team in 2019, during his 16-year national team career, he has not brought even a formal championship to Chinese football. As an Asian footballer who once had high hopes and was capable, this result is really bitter.
The runner-up in the local Asian Cup in 2004 was the highest achievement of his national team career. Compared with his brilliant club results, his national team career is too bleak and helpless.
Hu Lai stared at Qin Lin, always unconsciously overlapping him with the other face in his memory.
Although the two of them only have the same position on the field and are different in many places, Hu Lai just feels that Qin Lin may be Zheng Zhi’s projection in this time and space...
From a personal emotional point of view, it is difficult for Hu Lai not to regard Qin Lin and Zheng Zhi together. After all, they are both the last big bosses of Chinese football, both veterans of the national football team, and they both tried their best for Chinese football, and in the end they both I can only say goodbye reluctantly.
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As a reporter for the sports section of Andong Provincial TV Station, Chen Jianyu is responsible for covering all news related to Shining Star Club. As a reporter who has been in contact with Shining Star since their establishment, he is now a team reporter for Shining Star.
As a team reporter, he naturally has many privileges, and his information is better than other media reporters.
For example, the news that Flashing Star had taken down Qin Lin was the first one he disclosed on his social media account.
At that time, the Flash Star Club had not yet made an official announcement, so he was able to be exposed in advance through "rumors".
Of course, based on his relationship with the Flash Star Club, this early exposure must have been supported by the Flash Star Club, or some kind of tacit approval.
After all, Flash Star's performance in the Chinese League One this season is not very good, and they really need such news to boost their morale and make everyone temporarily forget about the dire results.
As a reporter accompanying the team, Chen Jianyu was not in a hurry to raise his hand to ask questions. He knew that if he raised his hand, his name would definitely be called. He just wanted to observe more and think about what questions he should ask.
Then his eyes were inevitably attracted to Hu Lai.
Because during this welcome ceremony, Hu Lai, the youngest, least famous, and least powerful among the three new players, actually got distracted...
Is it because reporters are all asking Qin Lin questions, which makes him a little bored?
Although the reporters who only have eyes for Qin Lin are indeed a bit rude, but you still have to do enough on the surface, right? With such naked eyes wandering, everyone can see that your mind is not here.
Thinking of this, he decided to give the youngest player a tactful reminder, so he raised his hand.
Sure enough, as soon as he raised his hand, he was immediately named by the press officer of Flash Star Club.
Chen Jianyu stood up and took the microphone from the staff. He found that Hu Lai still hadn't come to his senses.
So he decided not to remind him tactfully, but to teach him a lesson directly...
"This question is for this player..." He pointed at Hu Lai and said, "Excuse me Hu Lai, as far as I know, as the top scorer and best player in last year's National High School Football Championship, you did not choose to join your hometown. Team Flash Star, why did you choose to transfer to Flash Star after a year and a half after joining the Poseidon Youth Team in the Chinese Super League?”
As soon as this question was asked, many people present turned their attention to Chen Jianyu who asked the question, because everyone felt the... edge of his question.
Even the press officer who was very familiar with Chen Jianyu was a little panicked - this should not be a question that Chen Jianyu, the team reporter who has cooperated with the club for many years, should ask.
For Hu Lai, a nobody, he is not qualified to be targeted in this way by the media.
Qin Lin, who finally didn't have to answer questions, just picked up the mineral water bottle and was about to take a sip of water when he heard the reporter ask Hu Lai such a question. Although he didn't know Hu Lai well, he could also feel it. In response to the reporter's mood, he held the mineral water bottle with the cap unscrewed and did not move. Instead, he turned to look at Hu Lai.
Then he found that Hu Lai's eyes were empty and he had no response to the reporter's questions...
Apparently, he was distracted.
Dai Zetao hid in the last row of the press hall, where a row of cameras was set up. He stood behind the cameras, looking like a cameraman.
He sneaked in specifically to see Hu Lai.
When he saw this scene, he couldn't help but lower his head and cover his forehead.
He knew that Chen Jianyu, as a well-known sports reporter in Andong Province, was also a celebrity. Since he is a celebrity, he naturally has personality and temper. This question does not mean that Chen Jianyu and Hu Lai have any personal grudge - in fact, they did not know each other before.
So Chen Jianyu still asked this question just because he couldn't stand Hu Lai's performance just now - at the welcome ceremony specially prepared for them by the club, when Qin Lin, the former captain of the national team and a legend of a generation, was answering questions, he actually It's really too much to wander around in the world.
This big reporter probably wanted to teach Hu Lai a lesson.
Poor Hu Lai, just arrived at the club, but he didn't leave a good first impression on the team's reporters...
Qin Lin really didn't expect that the young player on his right could be distracted during the welcome ceremony, so he put his right hand under the table and poked Hu Lai calmly.
Hu Lai came back to his senses and looked at Chen Jianyu, who was standing in the press box looking directly at him, and instantly understood what had happened.
Then he tried hard to recall what the reporter just said. He didn't hear anything else clearly, but he remembered the last sentence: "Why did you choose to join Flash Star?"
So his answer came out: "Of course it's because of Director Zhao. Director Zhao and I got along in the Poseidon Youth Team, so as soon as Director Zhao called me, I came..."
As he said that, he remembered how Qin Lin answered a similar question just now, so he quickly smiled and said: "I am also very happy to play for my hometown team."
As for Chen Jianyu's real question, he actually didn't answer a word.
In the eyes of the questioner Chen Jianyu, how could this youngest player answer the question so tactfully? He rambled here and there, talking about things left and right, and said some high-sounding nonsense, but the real core issue was not touched upon.
He should have sat down after getting the answer, but Chen Jianyu was a little unwilling to let an eighteen-year-old kid fool him with his question, so he asked again before the press officer could speak: "You just seemed like Lost your mind? ”
He pointedly pointed out Hu Lai's gaffe just now.
Hu Lai scratched his head in front of everyone and said with some embarrassment: "Well... I never thought that I could sit next to Brother Lin, so close to him. I was a little nervous... I didn't dare to think about it before. One day I can be teammates with Brother Lin, you know I grew up watching Brother Lin play..."
As soon as he said this, the scene burst into laughter.
The reporters were all amused by Hu Lai's answer.
Even Chen Jianyu couldn't help laughing and shook his head with a smile - looking at Hu Lai's behavior, it was clearly a little fan's uneasiness around his idol, so it was normal to be distracted...
So he asked again: "How do you feel now that you can be on the same stage with your idol?"
This question wiped away the previous aggression and gave both parties a common ground.
Hu Lai turned his head and glanced at Qin Lin, and Zheng Zhi's figure overlapped with his again.
"I still have an unreal feeling that I am dreaming. I am afraid that Brother Lin will disappear in the blink of an eye..."
"Hahahaha!" There was another burst of laughter at the scene.
Even Qin Lin laughed, then passed his arm over and said to Hu Lai: "You squeeze it, it's hot."
Everyone present laughed non-stop.
Dai Zetao breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw this scene. It was obvious that he was distracted during the welcome ceremony, which would be considered an annoying stain if told, but now that he explained it like this, it suddenly turned into a virtue of humility, humor and cuteness.
He couldn't help but want to give Hu Lai a thumbs up.
At the same time, although they haven't seen each other for a year and a half, the Hu Lai today seems to have not changed much from the boy he saw at the national competition, and they are still so interesting. It seems that the things he encountered in the Poseidon Youth Team did not affect him, which is great...
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The press conference is over, and there will be a fan meeting next.
But before that, the three new players who joined the team returned to the lounge to take a short rest.
At this time, there was no one else in the room except the three of them.
It was only then that Qin Lin smiled and said to Hu Lai: "The excuse at the press conference was a good one and a crisis was perfectly solved."
Hu Lai shook his head seriously: "That's not an excuse, Brother Lin. I really grew up watching you play football."
After saying that, he took out a pen and paper from his backpack and handed it to Qin Lin: "Brother Lin, please sign your name for me!"
Qin Lin was made to laugh and cry by Hu Lai: "This is the first time I have seen a teammate ask me for an autograph..."
He said this, but he still took the pen, wrote his name on the paper, and returned it to Hu Lai. Thirty-year-old Xu Wentao saw this scene from the side and was a little envious that Hu Lai could use such a small trick to increase his favorability in front of Qin Lin: Why didn't I think of using up the joke about growing up watching Brother Lin play football first? Woolen cloth?
(End of chapter)