Chapter 313 Su Dong Whirlwind [Kneeling for guaranteed monthly ticket]
Because of the typhoon, Barcelona's flight arrived at Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan, two hours late.
But what’s interesting is that the day after the team arrived, a typhoon passed through, and Tokyo bid farewell to days of wind and rain.
The Japanese media spoke highly of Barcelona's arrival, believing that Barcelona brought good weather to Tokyo.
The fans also showed great enthusiasm for the arrival of Barcelona, especially Su Dong.
Japanese fans are almost crazy about this Chinese star who just set the record for the highest transfer fee in world football. Whether it is training or competition, he attracts countless fans.
It is worth mentioning that Barcelona is not the only La Liga team to come to Asia.
When Barcelona arrived in Tokyo, Japan, Real Madrid was also in Tokyo, and the two teams' warm-up matches were held at the same time.
Barcelona's opponent is Kashima Antlers, and Real Madrid's opponent is Tokyo Verdy.
It is worth mentioning that the defending La Liga champion Valencia is also in Tokyo, Japan. They have just played a warm-up match with the Japanese team Niigata Albirex. As a result, Ranieri's team lost 2-5 to the Japanese team.
After the game, Su Dong received many calls from his former teammates in Valencia. David Silva even revealed the situation in the Valencia locker room on the phone, and believed that many teammates missed Su Dong very much.
"Can you imagine that we, with all our main players on the field, were scored five goals by a Japanese team?" David Silva was very depressed.
The taste of Sudong is also mixed.
On the one hand, he felt that he was right to leave Valencia, but on the other hand, he also felt somewhat sorry for his old club.
Ranieri is not an incompetent head coach, he is no stranger to Valencia, but judging from the 2-5 defeat to the Japanese team, Valencia's biggest problem lies not with the opponent but with itself.
For example, Ranieri spent a lot of money to recruit a number of Italian players as soon as he took office, which is very questionable.
…
The overwhelming popularity outside the venue continued inside the venue.
The first warm-up match against Kashima Antlers attracted a total of 55,000 fans to the stadium.
This number exceeds that of Real Madrid, which is full of superstars. Their match against Tokyo Verdy, which was played at the same time, had an attendance of only 51,000. In terms of domestic ratings in Spain, Barcelona also surpassed Real Madrid.
The Barcelona game had a viewership of 200,000, while Real Madrid's game had only 130,000.
During the game, Barcelona also gave their all and held back.
Just four minutes into the game, Su Dong received an assist from Ronaldinho and scored the first goal for Barcelona.
After that, Giuly scored two goals in a row.
In the 30th minute, with an assist from Giuly, Su Dong scored a header and scored his second goal.
In the 41st minute, Su Dong and Ronaldinho had a very beautiful cooperation in front of the penalty area.
The Brazilian player made a lob pass with the outside of his foot. Su Dong turned his back to the direction of attack and headed the ball back to the Brazilian's forward line. Ronaldinho followed up, stopped the ball with his chest and shot directly.
This aerial relay was very imaginative, but unfortunately, Ronaldinho's final shot failed to score.
But it was precisely this cooperation that left the defensive players of Kashima Antlers completely helpless, fully demonstrating the cooperation awareness and tacit understanding between Su Dong and Ronaldinho, and the two began to play on the same channel.
After leading 4-0, both sides entered the second half.
Rijkaard replaced five players at once, but Su Dong and Ronaldinho remained on the field.
This is because when Barcelona signed the contract with the Japanese organizers, it was clearly stipulated that the two most influential stars in the team must play the full game in both warm-up matches.
But everyone could see that both players were clearly holding back in the second half.
It wasn't until the 75th minute that Messi came on as a substitute.
…
Messi was not originally on the Barcelona Asian tour roster, but during the trip to Korea, young left winger Arau Riera was injured and forced to return to Barcelona. Messi was added to the roster and went to Tokyo, Japan to join the team with technical director Begiristain. He also came on as a substitute in this game.
Just four minutes after Messi came on as a substitute, Su Dong received a pass from his teammate in the penalty area, turned around, dribbled the ball into the penalty area, and with a series of feints, he got past the opponent's defender and chose to knock the ball back when he could have kicked the ball.
Messi quickly followed up and shot the ball, which hit the opponent's goalkeeper's arms.
The Argentine was so depressed that he held his head, obviously regretting his missed opportunity.
Su Dong walked over cheerfully and patted his head comfortingly, "It's okay, I'll send you another one later."
Messi squatted on the grass, looked up and looked at Su Dong with gratitude.
In his sight, under the lights of the stadium, Su Dong seemed like a god descending from the sky!
"Remember, the more critical the moment, the more you need to stay calm!" Su Dong reminded.
Macy took a deep breath and nodded.
…
The players of Kashima Antlers also quickly realized the problem.
It was obvious that Su Dong was making passes to Messi on purpose.
Even though he had scored twice in the first half, he was not substituted due to the terms of his contract, so he wanted to find something fun to do and wanted to help Messi score some goals.
But the players of Kashima Antlers refused to accept this!
It's like a skilled woman receiving a client. The price is agreed in advance and she says, "I can play with you casually, but if you want your friends to come along, I'm sorry, this service is not included in the cooperation we have agreed on."
Want it? Sure, you have to pay more! So, the players of Kashima Antlers also got angry and began to frequently obstruct Su Dong.
But soon, Su Dong also became serious.
I'm tired of playing, what's wrong with letting my friends come and play for a while? In the 86th minute, Su Dong suddenly went crazy after getting the ball, dribbled past two defenders of the opponent, and near the bottom line of the penalty area, facing the attacking goalkeeper Ozawa Hideaki, he selflessly passed the ball to the right side of the goal.
Facing the huge empty goal, Messi followed up without hesitation and easily shot the ball into the goal, making it five to zero!
Messi, who had enjoyed himself so much, jumped up with excitement.
Just three minutes later, Ronaldinho passed the ball to Su Dong with his heel at the left edge of the penalty area. After receiving the ball, Su Dong turned nimbly to get rid of the defender and passed the ball to Messi again.
The young Argentine player dribbled past the opponent's defender and shot with his right foot, scoring his second goal!
Six to zero! This time, Messi, overwhelmed with excitement, jumped onto Su Dong, shouting and dancing with excitement.
The players of Kashima Antlers were depressed.
Damn it, not only don’t you want to pay extra, but you also force it on me so brutally!
That’s too much!
…
In the end, Barcelona defeated Kashima Antlers 6-0 in the second warm-up match of the Asian tour.
Su Dong, Giuly and Messi all scored twice.
After the game, Sudong and Giuly received high praise from the media, and Messi, who scored twice, also attracted public attention, especially many Spanish media, who were full of praise for the 17-year-old Argentine youngster.
Only Messi himself knew that both of his goals came from Su Dong's selfless gifts.
…
Three days later, Barcelona played the third game of their Asian tour in Shizuoka, Japan, against Iwata Jubilo.
The entire game was under Barcelona's control, including ball possession and rhythm, and it was basically difficult for Jubilo Iwata to threaten Barcelona.
Although the La Liga giants played in a relaxed manner, they still frequently created threats. The two teams were simply not on the same level.
In the 29th and 35th minutes, Su Dong scored two goals for Barcelona with Ronaldinho's assist and a corner kick opportunity respectively. In the second half, Ronaldinho assisted Luis Garcia to score.
Barcelona defeated Iwata Jubilo 3-0.
Won three consecutive victories in the Asian tour!
…
The attendance of two consecutive warm-up matches in Japan exceeded 50,000. Coupled with the extensive media publicity, Barcelona caused a crazy "typhoon" in Japan and gained huge popularity.
In addition to generous appearance fees, Barcelona also gained a lot from sponsors, but it was Su Dong who made the most money.
Su Dong's agent Mendes also came to Tokyo, Japan with the team and personally participated in a series of commercial cooperation negotiations.
As early as when Su Dong decided to participate in Barcelona's Asian tour, Japanese sponsors had already begun to contact Mendes through various channels. During Su Dong's stay in Japan, in addition to participating in activities arranged by the club, he also participated in two personal sponsor activities and signed a total of three personal sponsorships.
These three sponsorships from Japanese companies and brands will increase Sudong's annual income by more than 10 million Euros. At the same time, the two sides will also further tap into Sudong's popularity in Japan through cooperation.
Not only did he make a fortune, but Su Dong also received rave reviews from the media and fans.
Japan's authoritative newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun stated that Su Dong's strength and performance made Japanese players and fans admire him.
"He used his artistic footwork and absolute strength to inflict an overwhelming defeat on Jubiro Iwata."
The Spanish media also generally gave positive reviews to Barcelona's three warm-up matches in Asia.
Mundo Deportivo believes that Sudon and Ronaldinho have found a tacit understanding and cooperation, and he will solve the problem of Barcelona's lack of offensive power last season.
Even Real Madrid's mouthpiece AS said that the magical Su Dong made people completely forget about Kluivert, and Barcelona has gained a superstar striker for the next decade!
Many European media reported on Barcelona, especially the whirlwind that Su Dong created in Asia.
If they were worried or even skeptical about Barcelona signing Su Dong for 80 million euros before, then everyone was shocked and regretful when they saw that Barcelona, with Su Dong's influence in Asia, eclipsed the superstar-studded Real Madrid.
Especially the commercial giant Manchester United.
When the Guardian interviewed Manchester United CEO David Gill, he took the initiative to reveal that Manchester United was too hesitant in recruiting players this summer and missed a very good opportunity. This will not only cause the club to face problems at the competitive level, but it is also likely to be overtaken by the two teams from La Liga at the commercial level.
"We could have made up for the loss caused by Beckham's transfer, but now... it's too late."
(End of this chapter)
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