Chapter 923: Eastern Europe· Golden Ball Journey
The 1-0 win over Inter Milan allowed Manchester City to win two consecutive games, and also secured a strong position in the qualifying competition in Group A, because Villarreal, who defeated Inter Milan in the first round, lost to Dortmund away in the second round.
Klopp's team played with the toughness of the Hornets in their home court and defended their home court with a 2-0 victory.
After two rounds of group matches, the results surprised everyone. Inter Milan was at the bottom of the table after two consecutive defeats.
The Italian media was wailing.
As early as last season's Champions League, everyone felt Inter Milan's decline. Maicon was defeated by Gareth Bale. Although it was due to tactics and environment, it has actually become a symbol.
Especially in recent years, with the rise of Juventus and the revival of AC Milan, Inter Milan has gradually passed its peak and started to decline, and the owner Moratti actually does not have much funds to continue investing.
So it has evolved into what it is now, and the head coach was even replaced after only a few games this season.
Ranieri's nickname is the Tinker. His ability is unquestionable, but I'm afraid he is not a good director of Inter Milan's script this season.
As for Manchester City, needless to say, it won praise again, especially Su Dong who scored the only goal.
Even Ranieri said in the post-match press conference, "Sudon stole the victory we were determined to win."
The implication seems to be that if Su Dong had not scored, Inter Milan might really have scored.
But anyway, it's all over.
…
After playing against Inter Milan, Manchester City returned to the Premier League and ushered in the seventh round of the game.
Still on the road, heading north to challenge the violent Ben.
Blackburn and Manchester City have a deep feud, but this time Guardiola did not arrange players such as Su Dong to start, but made a large rotation. After all, they had just fought hard with Inter Milan in the Champions League and had a long journey to Italy, which consumed a lot of energy.
More importantly, after the seventh round, the players will return home to play for the national team.
Courtois continued to start in place of Joe Hart.
What is different from the previous script is that Manchester City's performance this time is very stable.
The two sides shook hands and agreed to a 0-0 draw in the first half.
Blackburn, currently deep in the relegation zone, showed great tenacity at home, trying to draw with Manchester City.
Manchester City still adopted the passing and controlling style of play that they are best at, slowly wasting time with the opponent, and waited to see when the opponent's physical strength was exhausted, and then it would become a situation where they could take whatever they wanted.
As expected, in the second half, before the 60th minute, Blackburn could not keep up with Manchester City's pace.
First, Douglas Costa scored his first Premier League goal after joining Manchester City, opening the scoring for Manchester City.
Three minutes later, Hazard assisted Aguero to score. Immediately afterwards, David Silva and Hazard completed a wonderful two-pass cooperation on the left side of the penalty area. Hazard calmly pushed the ball into the goal, scoring another goal for Manchester City, 3-0.
Finally, in the 87th minute, with a corner kick opportunity, David Silva accurately sent the ball into the penalty area, and Javi Martinez scored with a header. This was also his first Premier League goal for Manchester City.
Four to zero, Manchester City completed a massacre away from home.
Interestingly, Courtois's Premier League clean sheet record continues.
Because Manchester City played very smoothly in the second half, Su Dong sat on the bench for 90 minutes without getting a chance to play, so much so that Guardiola made a joke about Su Dong in the post-match press conference.
"I had to treat him to a meal when I got back to Manchester because I had cost him a lot of money."
The implication is that Su Dong entered the bench and did not actually play.
Su Dong responded in an interview with the media after the game, saying that Guardiola owed him a lot, some of which he had even forgotten.
"I know that in the Manchester City dressing room, he always keeps his word and keeps his promise, but frankly speaking, his credit value is declining with me. I estimate that it won't be long before he will be included in my list of dishonest people."
The exchange of fire between the two men from a distance actually showed the deep friendship between them.
Guardiola is the head coach, and he is the head coach that Su Dong strongly supports. Su Dong is the core player that Guardiola relies on the most. The two have fought side by side for more than a year and have forged a deep friendship.
At least, many of Su Dong's technical and tactical ideas are deeply influenced by Guardiola.
From Benítez to Heynckes, and now to Guardiola, in between there are also famous coaches like Cruyff, Van Gaal, Ferguson, Wenger, Ancelotti, and even Mourinho, Su Dong has had a lot of contact and conversations with them.
In this way, he is perfecting his tactical thinking and football philosophy step by step.
Especially after becoming the captain of Manchester City, he has been involved in a lot of things other than football, including team administration and locker room management. These have made him more and more important, and he is no longer just a football player.
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In recent years, as Su Dong's status in world football has become higher and higher and his performance in European football has become better and better, more and more brands have been tied to him, including not only international brands but also well-known domestic brands.
Coupled with sponsors at various levels such as the Premier League, the Champions League and Manchester City, Su Dong is involved in more and more interests.
Fortunately, Su Dong had foresight. When negotiating sponsorship with some brands that year, Wang Chuqing personally drafted some special clauses. Over the years, special clauses have appeared in every contract signed by Su Dong, including not allowing these brands to make remarks that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. Otherwise, Su Dong has the right to terminate the contract early and even claim compensation.
In the beginning, many brands were quite controversial, but as some international brands acquiesced and signed, they gradually followed suit.
Su Dong also signed contracts with many very famous domestic brands and companies. Compared with foreign brands, Su Dong clearly told Ma Dawei that the quotes for domestic brands are much lower than those for foreign brands, especially some well-known domestic brands that are aiming to expand overseas markets. This also made Su Dong more well-known.
With more and more brands involved, sponsors are no longer satisfied with traditional endorsements and promotions. They hope to find higher-level cooperation.
The [Sudong Golden Ball Tour] world tour came into being.
This is led by Su Dong's business team, and will be toured around the world in cooperation with some interested sponsors. The first stop is in China, because the plan was originally formulated by Ma Dawei and several heavyweight domestic companies. The destinations currently include several major cities in China and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Japan, South Korea, Singapore and other important cities in Asia are also being actively contacted, so the possibility of the trip being successful is very high.
The core of the tour is Su Dong. In addition to displaying the major awards and championship trophies that Su Dong has won since he became a professional player, there is also his growth story from childhood to adulthood, and his experience of venturing into Europe alone, including every major event and thrilling shining moment in his career.
Among them will be many secrets revealed to the public for the first time, as well as Su Dong’s most valued collections.
The Premier League and Manchester City are both aiming to develop the Asian market. After learning the news, they were very interested. Not only did the official support and cooperation appear, but even the Premier League's official sponsors, live broadcasters and Manchester City's sponsors also got involved.
The first tour was arranged in Shanghai, where Su Dong lived when he returned to China, and the venue was arranged at the Shanghai Stadium, which can accommodate 80,000 people. The second stop was held in the capital, and the venue was the Bird's Nest Stadium, which can accommodate more than 100,000 people.
Due to the investment of organizers, sponsors and resources from all parties over the past period of time, a strong effect has been quickly triggered at home and abroad. According to Su Dong's request, several domestic tours are all free, and Su Dong's official fan clubs in China can apply for admission tickets through the fan club channels on a priority basis.
Although it is provided free of charge, each tour only lasts for three days and the organizers strictly control the number of participants. In addition to fans from the official fan club, other domestic fans are also very enthusiastic to apply, and tickets are hard to come by.
The organizers and major sponsors have also come up with their own unique ideas, combining their own company's products and concepts to provide a variety of experiences and services for all participating fans and media reporters. For example, some companies have specially designed a player tunnel to simulate the feeling of a player walking through the tunnel.
From the realistic scenery all around to the deafening sound waves on the scene, everyone who passes through this passage has an immersive experience, as if they have turned into a player and are about to step onto the court.
Another company used its most advanced 3D projection technology to provide a football feast for all the fans who came to the scene, as if they were standing on the field, watching all the wonderful moments of Su Dong's career so far.
The most important event was on the third day of the tour, when the organizers carefully created a theme event called Golden Ball Tour Carnival Night, inviting the CEO of the Premier League, representatives of live broadcasters in Asia and China, as well as Manchester City CEO Soriano and technical director Begiristain to attend.
Many representatives of sponsors were also invited to the event, and together they prepared a carnival for all the participating 80,000 fans in the stands, pushing the atmosphere to a climax.
When all the lights at the scene were focused on the player tunnel, when Su Dong suddenly appeared in the stadium holding the hand of his fiancée Wang Chuqing and slowly walked out of the player tunnel, all the fans and media reporters at the scene almost went crazy.
They had not received any notice in advance and did not know that Su Dong would suddenly appear.
The atmosphere in the entire stadium became quite hot, even crazy.
Su Dong also met the requirements of all fans on the scene according to the program arranged by the organizer, which made all the fans on the scene very satisfied. Especially when he was giving a speech, thanking all the domestic fans for their support over the years, and bowing to express his gratitude in each stand and area one by one, the atmosphere on the scene became extremely touching.
A fan representative spoke at the scene, hoping that Su Dong could play football for another ten years.
At that time, Su Dong was already 37 years old.
But Su Dong still promised very seriously: "I will definitely continue to play until I can't play anymore!"
(End of this chapter)
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