Chapter 598: Light of Asia
The players of Su Dong and Bayern would never have thought that they would be treated like gods in Southeast Asia.
Because of the time difference, Bayern arrived in Singapore in the local morning, which was an early flight.
And everyone knows that Singapore is a world-famous city that never sleeps. People here go to bed late and get up late. Getting them to get up early is harder than killing them.
But what was surprising was that in order to welcome Bayern's arrival, enthusiastic Singaporean fans got up early and rushed to the airport to welcome their heroes. More than 3,000 fans gathered at the scene.
This is a staggering number for Singapore, which has a total population of less than five million.
This group of enthusiastic fans have no way to go to Europe to watch Bayern's games, let alone go to the Allianz Arena to watch the games, which makes them full of enthusiasm and anticipation for Bayern's warm-up match in Singapore.
Especially Su Dong, almost all the fans in Singapore were shouting his name, vying to catch a glimpse of him.
Just the airport?
No, when the team left the airport on a bus and arrived at the hotel that had been booked in advance, everyone was surprised to find that there were even more fans gathered in the hotel, and their enthusiasm blocked the hotel entrance and exit.
This surprised everyone at Bayern.
Isn't it said that Singaporean fans prefer the Premier League? And they are not very familiar with the Bundesliga? Why does it seem that this is not the case at all?
What surprised Bayern even more was that in the afternoon, at Bayern's first press conference after arriving in Asia, more than 150 media reporters flocked to the conference, including those from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and other Asian countries and regions.
This made the atmosphere at the scene extremely hot.
The organizers were obviously shocked by such a grand occasion. They said that when the Singapore national team plays, there are usually only a dozen or twenty reporters covering the games.
Unexpectedly, after Bayern arrived in Singapore, it attracted so many media, it was simply unbelievable.
According to local media reports in Singapore, Bayern's arrival has caused a wave in Singapore and even in the entire Southeast Asia region. Especially when major sponsors such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola all cooperated with Bayern's Asian tour and moved in to build momentum for Bayern, a whirlwind formed in the entire Southeast Asia.
In Singapore alone, the media predicts that Bayern's arrival will boost local retail revenue by over 100 million US dollars. Many businesses have been promoting the franchise crazily since May, when Bayern won the Champions League and confirmed the launch of its Asian tour.
Not only Singapore, but also countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. have been affected by Bayern's wave. Although the Bundesliga overlords did not visit these countries, they were also affected.
Su Dong is undoubtedly the most popular player in Bayern.
As the pride of Asia, Su Dong's performance in European football has been sought after by the whole of Asia. This time in Singapore, many fans came to chase Su Dong, and some even came from other countries and regions.
It is said that there were fans coming all the way from Australia just to watch a match between Su Dong and Dong.
Not only fans, Su Dong is also popular among major sponsors in Southeast Asia.
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Although the enthusiasm of Singaporean fans was touching, Bayern did not hold back at all on the football field.
The day after arriving in Singapore, Bayern defeated the Singapore national team 5-0 at the National Stadium.
Su Dong started the first half and scored a hat trick for Bayern with his head and feet. He also allowed the fans in Singapore and all the fans who came from afar to see his strength with their own eyes.
This won him a round of applause after the game.
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After finishing the game in Singapore, Bayern headed north without stopping and flew directly to Tokyo, Japan.
This is the first time that Su Dong has come to Tokyo as a Bayern player. The last time he came was when he played for Barcelona.
Although he has changed his jersey, this does not detract from Su Dong's super high popularity and influence in Japan, especially after his outstanding performance last season. Almost the whole world believes that Su Dong is the strongest contender for this year's double Footballer of the Year award, because no one in the European Cup has the possibility of challenging Su Dong.
Because of this, Japan, which has always admired the strong, admired Su Dong even more. In addition, Su Dong also had many sponsors in Japan, so he caused a sensation across the country before he even arrived in Japan.
Bayern's warm-up match at the Yokohama Stadium was packed with people. In front of more than 70,000 fans, Bayern defeated Kashima Antlers 3-0. This J-League leader had no power to fight back against Bayern Munich.
Su Dong scored twice and performed exceptionally well, allowing all the fans in the stadium to see with their own eyes the huge gap between them and the world's top teams. At the same time, Su Dong once again proved his strength to the Japanese fans.
This battle further enhanced the reputation of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in Japan.
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After the warm-up match in Japan, Bayern moved to Seoul, South Korea.
Continuing the momentum in Singapore and Japan, Su Dong and Bayern once again caused a sensation in South Korea.
Especially in the match against K-League leader Suwon Samsung, Su Dong once again performed a hat trick, helping the German overlords beat Suwon Samsung 4-1 away, but in the final stage of the game, Suwon Samsung scored a goal.
This was also the first time Bayern conceded a goal in the summer warm-up match.
After the game, the Korean media praised Suwon Samsung's performance, believing that Suwon Samsung was a strong team as it was the first team to score against Bayern this summer.
As for Su Dong, people all over South Korea have given him extremely high praise, believing that he is worthy of being a world-class superstar.
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After the warm-up match in South Korea, Bayern came to China and arrived in Shanghai.
After returning to his homeland, Su Dong received unprecedented popularity. The enthusiasm of the fans even shocked everyone in Bayern, especially the huge number of fans.
Not only when the team arrived, but even the daily training attracted a large number of fans to come and watch.
Due to the tight schedule, the team did not arrange any free activities, but Su Dong still took leave to visit Wang Qingquan and met his parents who came all the way to see him. In addition, he also took time out to participate in two sponsor events, both of which were domestic companies.
This is also a special courtesy that the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe give to corporate sponsors from their motherland. No other country has this treatment.
In the warm-up match in Shanghai, Bayern defeated their opponents 5-0. Su Dong came on as a substitute in the second half, but still performed well, scoring twice. He also had some flashes of inspiration, trying his best to meet the expectations of fans in his home country.
After the game in Shanghai, Bayern headed north to the capital.
With the Olympics about to begin, Bayern's warm-up match is the best warm-up and has also attracted attention from all over the world.
The opponents were a team of stars from national teams, and the game was clearly entertaining in nature, so both sides played in a relaxed manner and gave each other enough face.
In the end, Bayern defeated the Stars United 6-2.
But unlike in Shanghai, Su Dong declined all interviews in the capital.
This is because he knows what the media reporters want to ask most, but he doesn't want to cause trouble.
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After playing two warm-up matches in the country, Bayern arrived at the last stop of their Asian tour, India.
The Indian organizers organized a grand welcome ceremony for Bayern at the airport. The grand scene and the enthusiastic fans made people wonder if football is really unpopular in India. You know, in the past so many years, the whole world believed that cricket is the most popular sport in India, and football has little influence. But after Bayern arrived in India, it seemed that this was not the case at all.
If the welcoming ceremony can be faked, then the media meeting held after the team checked into the hotel and the media reporters present cannot be faked.
There were more than one hundred newspaper reporters, more than thirty photographers, and more than twenty TV reporters, and these were just local Indians. There were also those who came from outside India. The atmosphere on the scene was very lively.
Bayern was still a little skeptical about this, but on the day of the warm-up match, more than 100,000 fans came to the scene, creating a record for the highest number of fans in a single game in Bayern's history.
The opponent in this warm-up match was Bagan, the oldest Indian club in Asia, but the fans at the scene were obviously there for Bayern Munich, which made Su Dong and others finally believe that they are still very famous in India.
At the end of the game, Bayern defeated Bagan 8-0.
The opponent's strength was obviously weaker than that of the clubs in East Asia, and they were no match for Bayern. If Bayern had not started to hold back and play more leisurely in the second half, the game could have easily resulted in double-digit goals.
Eight goals were scored and the Indian fans at the scene were delighted.
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Bayern's Asian tour started in Singapore and ended in India. They played in five countries and played six warm-up matches, winning all six.
More importantly, this year's Asian tour brought Bayern a huge income of 15 million euros. This is only the direct income, which does not include the influence that Bayern has enhanced in the Asian region with the help of the Asian tour, and the resulting commercial cooperation income.
German authoritative organization Deloitte spoke highly of Bayern's Asian tour, believing that it was a very successful promotion that expanded the influence of the Bundesliga in Asia.
Deloitte conducted a survey and found that during Bayern's Asian tour, Su Dong was the most popular and even the only player.
This was also true during Barcelona's Asia tour.
German authoritative organizations believe that it is precisely because of the existence of the Soviet Union that Bayern's Asian tour has achieved unprecedented success.
"As the world's most commercially valuable football player, Su Dong has once again refreshed his commercial value, while also showing his amazing influence in Asia!"
Deloitte believes that if Bayern wants to open up the Asian market, Sudong is the most important key.
"As long as we make good use of the role of the Soviet Union and East China, developing the Asian market will be twice as effective with half the effort!"
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Not only has it been successful on a commercial level, it has also not fallen behind on a competitive level.
The team won all the warm-up matches in Asia, which was a remarkable achievement, but the long journey also took a huge toll on the players.
After returning to Munich, Heynckes immediately gave the players a holiday to adjust and prepare for the upcoming German Super Cup.
(End of this chapter)
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