The China Hong Kong Team was drawn into this group? The Asian Football Confederation really knew how to drive a wedge!

From July 25th to 26th, Manchester United Hong Kong will go.

On July 25, Manchester United flew to Hong Kong.

The whole team held an open training session in the city, attracting more than 20,000 fans to watch, and the scene was spectacular.

Zhang Kuang, as the host, was blocked by fans for nearly half an hour after training before getting out.

That night, Manchester United played a friendly match with Hong Kong Kitchee Team.

It was said to be a friendly match, but it was actually a massacre. Manchester United played most of the main lineup and scored four goals in the first half.

Zhang Kuang played for 45 minutes, scored two goals and had an assist, and then was replaced to rest.

However, he noticed something different after seeing Pogba come on the court. After Pogba came on the court, he first worked hard with the players in the midfield and backfield to complete the defensive tasks, and then showed his talents on offense.

Zhang Kuang was a little surprised, and he glanced at Park Ji-sung.

"Old Park, why has this kid changed?"

Park Ji-sung: "Zhang Kuang, after you talked to him, he changed. He pesters several of our midfielders every day to ask how to improve midfield defense and midfield coordination.

I have to say that this kid is quite talented, and he knows a lot of things at once. Carrick praised him endlessly, and Giggs said that if he works hard, he will replace him."

Zhang Kuang nodded clearly. "Yes, this kid has finally made some progress."

After the game, Zhang Kuang high-fived Pogba who was coming off the field.

"Paul, not bad, there are improvements. Keep up the progress."

Pogba:"Well, Zhang, I will continue."

"..."

On July 26, Manchester United played another match with South China Team.

Zhang Kuang still only played half the game and scored two more goals.

He stopped playing in these two games. In the two games combined, Manchester United scored a total of nine goals, and Zhang Kuang contributed four goals and one assist.

But the real highlight is the game on July 27, Manchester United vs. China Hong Kong Team.

This game was hyped up by the media as a 'Zhang Kuang civil war'. Many people were joking, would he play half time in Hong Kong Team and then play half time in Manchester United team?

After all, one side is the club he plays for, and the other side is the national team he leads. The palms and backs of his hands are full of flesh.

Of course, what the fans wanted to see did not happen in the end. Zhang Kuang represents Hong Kong Team.

The process of the game is indeed exciting.

Both sides come and go, and the rhythm of attack and defense is very fast.

On Manchester United's side, Rooney, Hernández, and Berbatov took turns attacking Hong Kong Team's defense line, while Hong Kong Team's side was entirely supported by Zhang Kuang.

The final score was Manchester United defeating Hong Kong Team 5 to 2.

Zhang Kuang scored two goals, once with a header and once with a goal, but he could not withstand the overall strength of Manchester United.

Rooney scored two, Hernández scored one, Berbatov scored one, and Ashley Young who came on as a substitute also added one.

After the game, teammates Zhang Kuang and Manchester United shook hands and hugged.

After the game, the Manchester United team flew back to Manchester on July 28.

Zhang Kuang stayed at Hong Kong, because the next day he had to fly to Malaysia with Hong Kong Team to participate in the second round of the competition.

July 28, Malaysia Kuala Lumpur.

The away game was more difficult than expected.

Malaysia fans filled the stadium to capacity, the red Malaysia flag covered the sky, and the sound of drums and horns never stopped.

Malaysia Team, who played at home, fought very hard. After the start, three consecutive fouls were directed at Zhang Kuang.

In the 12th minute, he was almost hit on the back of the head by the opponent's defender's elbow during a top fight. Zhang Kuang almost reacted and fought back, but he still fell to the ground, and the audience booed loudly.

Zhang Kuang covered the back of his head and got up. The referee only called a common foul.

He glanced at the referee, said nothing, picked up the ball and put it back on the ground.

In the 22nd minute, his response came.

He caught the ball at the edge of the penalty area, used his body to hold the defensive player, turned around and volleyed, the ball hit the dead center, the goalkeeper couldn't save it, and the ball went in.

1:0.

Zhang Kuang, who scored the goal, did not celebrate, but just ran back expressionlessly.

The home fans of Malaysia Team were quiet for a moment, and then the boos started again.

In the 38th minute, Zhang Kuang scored the second goal.

This time it was a personal performance in a counterattack. He started dribbling the ball from the midfield, passed two defensive players in a row, then entered the penalty area and scored with a low shot.

2:0.

The boos in the stands turned into sighs.

In the 54th minute of the second half, Zhang Kuang assisted Li Weilian to score, and the score became 3:0.

In the 67th minute, Zhang Kuang assisted Cris Kang to complete the fourth goal. He assisted Zhang Kuang with a header from a corner kick. Everyone thought Zhang Kuang would score the goal, but in the end, he gave the ball to Cris Kang. Cris fired a shot with such power that the goalkeeper threw the ball away but still let it go.

4:0.

Previously, Zhang Kuang was replaced and there was no need to stay on the field anymore. Malaysia could not make a comeback again.

Malaysia Team scored a penalty kick before the end of the game, and the score was finally fixed at 4-1.

With a total score of 9 to 1 in the two rounds, China Hong Kong Team advanced to the top 20.

In the player tunnel after the game, Troussier showed a rare smile, "We made it to the top 20 and completed the first small goal. Next is the goal of the top ten. Keep up the good work, everyone!"

Zhang Kuang walked behind, holding the jersey he had just exchanged. He didn't even know who the player was, but he wouldn't throw it away. That would be rude to others.

Troussier: "Zhang Kuang, go clean it quickly and follow me to the post-match press conference."

Zhang Kuang nodded and followed him.

At the release meeting, the head coach of Malaysia first congratulated Hong Kong Team for his promotion, and then said bitterly that there are many Chinese people in the world, so they can naturalize excellent Chinese players. Malaysia has no way to naturalize and transfer top stars like Zhang Kuang, so he can only serve as a stepping stone for Hong Kong Team's promotion...

Zhang Kuang was quite speechless by such words, but after thinking about it, it seemed right. There are many of us, and we can always produce a few better talents.

After Malaysia's press conference was over, Troussier took Zhang Kuang on stage.

After taking the stage, Troussier talked about his thoughts on the game, the formation with Hong Kong Team, some problems in the game, and his recognition of the opponent.

The reporter asked Troussier how much fighting power this team would have if Zhang Kuang were eliminated? Can it still easily win against Malaysia?

Troussier refused to answer such a hypothetical question. He believed that it was meaningless to answer such a question that did not happen.

The reporter asked Zhang Kuang: "Zhang Kuang, if Hong Kong Team eliminates your factor, how much combat power will Hong Kong Team still have?"

Zhang Kuang smiled, "I don't need to make assumptions about this. In these two rounds, I got off the field early. Do you need me to say what the scene will be like after I get off the field?"

You still think of Hong Kong Team as the fourth-rate team of Asia. In fact, the current Hong Kong Team is the first-rate team of Asia. It's just that the change time is too short, and you haven't reacted yet, let alone accepted it."

Reporter: "Zhang Kuang, just now the head coach of Malaysia said that Hong Kong Team became strong by relying on the naturalization and transfer of Chinese people from all over the world. He said that if Malaysia also had such talents who were naturalized and transferred, it might be different. What do you think about this?"

Zhang Kuang: "What he said makes sense, and we must admit certain facts. Indeed, some of the current Hong Kong Team players were naturalized or transferred, including me.

However, this is not to say that this is the reason why there are more Chinese people in the world. In terms of the number of ethnic groups in the world, then India has no fewer ethnic groups than China in the world. So has India Team become stronger?

In addition to India, there are actually many ethnic groups of the United Kingdom in the world. In fact, United Kingdom's performance has been very average in recent years.

Sometimes it's not just about the number of people, but also about opportunities and long-termism. For example, a lot of football talents of that age group have emerged, and then the strength of the national team has greatly increased. This is an opportunity.

Some football powers are strong in football all year round. This is long-termism. In the long run, we still need to look at long-termism.

If Malaysia insists on having 100,000 players receive professional football training every year and participate in high-intensity football matches, then I believe that Malaysia will become a strong Asia team in at most ten years, and will become a strong team in the world in at most twenty years.

Just like Japan Team, they adhere to the long-term principle of cultivating professional football talents, so they are now stable at a level between Asia's first-class teams, the world's third-rate and second-rate teams.

Therefore, we cannot complain about how many naturalized and transferred players other teams have, but we must reflect on whether we have a long-term football talent training strategy."

Bang bang bang!

Surprisingly, Zhang Kuang's answer made the reporters applaud. They all agreed that Zhang Kuang was right.

Reporter: "So, you want to open a football school? You want to develop a long-term training plan for China football talents?"

Zhang Kuang: "A country's football training plan cannot be supported by one person alone. I just implemented a new method in the entire country's training method. This can be regarded as diversified training. If it can produce results, it will at least provide a new way of reference."

Reporter: "What are your expectations for the next top 40? Are there any teams you particularly want to be paired with?"

Zhang Kuang: "I don't have any expectations. If you are a strong team, it doesn't matter who you meet, you will advance anyway. If you are a weak team, it doesn't matter who you meet, you will be eliminated anyway.

Of course, if you are a team that has to go up and down, you definitely hope to encounter a good group and then hope to advance through luck."

Reporter: "Then what kind of team do you think China Hong Kong Team is?"

Zhang Kuang: "Of course they are a strong team. They will advance anyway. It doesn't matter who they meet."

"..."

After the press conference, Zhang Kuang returned to the team hotel and had dinner with his teammates, because he went back to Manchester directly from Kuala Lumpur the next night.

The next morning, he had to wait at Kuala Lumpur for Anta and Meizu to come over and renew his previous endorsement contract. Previously, he only signed with these two brands for one year, with an annual salary of 3 million euros.

But this time the contract renewal is for three years, with an annual fee of 8 million euros. Zhang Kuang feels that this is similar to the price of international brands such as Adidas and Nike, only 400,000 US dollars a year lower. So why not give priority to signing contracts with domestic brands?

You must know that in the year he endorsed them, the two brands quickly rose to the position of international trendy brands, and both brands made a lot of money.

When he thought of Meizu's subsequent tragic situation, he had an idea to set up an online shopping platform to sell the products he endorsed and used daily. This would help Meizu survive the competition with Xiaomi, and maybe he could even buy Meizu by then.

But he was a little hesitant. He didn't really want to engage in business. He was not short of money, and he didn't need a lot of money or resources to replace any cultivation resources. He only needed to play football and lie down and feel comfortable.

If he builds an online shopping platform for his personal brand, he can indeed make a lot of money around the world, but if something goes wrong with a product, the backlash on his personal brand will be huge.

It is foolish to damage your personal brand reputation just for the sake of money.

The most important thing is that he is not a businessman and has little interest in business expansion.

He has to deal with the endless files every day and worry about countless problems in the company. Isn't this hard work for him?

Moreover, engaging in business may seem like making a lot of money, but a lot of property is tied up in fixed assets. Those assets cannot be realized immediately and will depreciate in value.

Unlike him now, all his money is in the stock market and he can withdraw it at will.

Therefore, after many considerations, he pressed this tempting idea.

Only when he met Meizu's boss President Huang and their CEO President Bai the next day, he almost expressed his thoughts. In the end, he suppressed his inappropriate thoughts and was unable to participate in the actual operation of the industry.

Finally, under the witness of the media, Zhang Kuang signed a three-year contract with Meizu and Anta.

When the reporter asked him why he signed a contract with Anta instead of Adidas and Nike, Zhang Kuang replied like this, "Because the money offered by Anta is not less than that offered by Adidas and Nike. At the same price, I give priority to domestic brands. This is my consistent style."

Reporter: "But the brand power of Anta is very different from Adidas and Nike."

Zhang Kuang: "But the quality, design and service are not bad, or even better. And I believe that the brand power of Anta will not be worse than Adidas and Nike internationally."

Reporter: "Then why is it Anta and not other domestic brands? Such as Li-Ning, 361 Degrees and so on?"

Zhang Kuang: "They are also a good brand and have international competitiveness, but we didn't reach an agreement with them last year. Moreover, once I sign a contract with a certain brand, I will not change it again, unless there is a big problem with the brand, or they can't afford the endorsement fee of corresponding value."

Reporter: "What do you mean by not being able to pay endorsement fees of corresponding value?"

Zhang Kuang: "This is easy to understand. For example, if I am now known as the number one shooter in the world, then my endorsement fee will definitely be higher than that of the highest-end stars. As for how much higher, there is a corresponding calculation method.

For example, after calculating the fan area, number of people, quality, reputation, etc. covered by the star, there will be a corresponding price, which can be a little higher, but not too much."

Reporter: "I see, so is Meizu the same? Meizu's products only cover the domestic market, right? Can you also spend a lot of money to hire a superstar like Zhang Kuang?"

Zhang Kuang smacked his lips and made a gesture, indicating President Huang to speak.

President Huang: "I think everyone has misunderstood. That is because Meizu was not shipped internationally before, but it does not mean that Meizu is not available now.

This year our new product M9 has been cooperated and sold with local channels in 50 countries and regions. This is the benefit brought by us asking Zhang Kuang to endorse it. After evaluation, our company feels that it is all very worthwhile."

After answering some questions from reporters, he went to the studio to accept a series of advertising shoots, and then had dinner with Meizu and President Ding of Anta in the evening.

The two bosses found that Zhang Kuang was really casual, and everyone had a very happy chat.

After that, the two bosses also decided to give Zhang Kuang more than 10,000 sets of products every year for his lucky draw.

Zhang Kuang Thank you very much. Anta A set of hats, clothes, trousers, shoes and socks from head to toe may not really cost much, but a mobile phone of Meizu costs a lot. How much is ten thousand units?

Even if the cost of an M9 is 1,500 yuan, then 10,000 units is still 15 million, which is higher than his endorsement.

I really didn't expect that President Huang is still a very courageous person. No wonder he was fooled by someone. When someone asked them to come to cooperate with him and learn from him, he generously taught him everything, and then others turned around and squeezed him to death.

This character...

It's okay to be a brother, but not the boss!

Of course, Zhang Kuang didn't advise him. People's personalities cannot be changed by outsiders with just a few words.

So, after Zhang Kuang had dinner with the two bosses that night, they went to the airport together. The two bosses returned to China, and he went to the United Kingdom.

On July 30, he returned to Manchester. After a crazy day in the hotel, he received a call from He Qigang.

He Qigang: "Zhang Kuang, Asian Football Confederation just drew lots. In the top 20 draw, we Hong Kong Team were drawn into Group A. We have a very unexpected opponent."

Zhang Kuang: "An unexpected opponent? You didn't mean China National Team, right?"

He Qigang: "Congratulations, you guessed it correctly."

Zhang Kuang: "Holy shit, Asian Football Confederation is really good at playing! This is such a sleight of hand. This is challenging us internally. No matter who is promoted or not, this is causing us to divide ourselves in the future."

He Qigang: "Yes, it's true that people who are not from my race are all bad."

Zhang Kuang:"Who else is in Group A?"

He Qigang: "China, Jordan, Iraq, China Hong Kong."

Zhang Kuang: "Hey, the internal opposition between the two Middle East, the internal opposition between the two China, ha, good, good, very good, Asian Football Confederation is really playing a good hand."

He Qigang: "What should we do next? If the mainland asks us to release water..."

Zhang Kuang: "Let go? It's impossible to let go. I believe there are no such stupid people in the mainland. We have been playing tricks for thousands of years, and you still can't see it?"

He Qigang: "Well, that's true. They are all a bunch of smart people. Can't you tell? They call for integration every day. It's impossible to create such a contradiction at this time, right?"