Chapter 739: What Is Chinese Football?

What was the difference between China in the summer of 2010 and the summer of 2007 in Twain’s memory? In Twain’s view, it was no different. The impact of the economic crisis on China was not as great and obvious as the European, American and Japanese world. From the looks of it, the country was full of vitality and contained countless opportunities. Despite the global economic crisis of the past two years, the country had maintained an eight percent economic growth rate.

Although he was a British citizen, Twain did not forget that he was in fact white on the outside and yellow on the inside salted egg yolk custard steamed bun. Therefore, no matter how many times he went to China, he would always have the warm feeling in his heart.

Despite claiming to be of one-eighth Chinese origin, Shania clearly had less feelings for this country than a thoroughly Englishman like Twain. For her, China was a tourist country with many fun spots and a lot of delicious food. Of course, it was a place to make money too—A Chinese company had already approached her to be a brand ambassador because her profile said she had one-eighth of Chinese ancestry. Putting in this inconsequential detail did not rule out the possibility that Fasal wanted to use it to pull in Shania’s relationship with the Chinese market. Even more so, being an internationally famous model and a slightly famous actress in Hollywood excited the fans in China.

As a result when Twain and Shania married in Brazil last summer, the Chinese media smugly stated that Tony Twain and family had an inexplicable relationship with China—Twain’s good friend and assistant was the Chinese man, Dunn; Twain himself claimed to be extremely fond of the Chinese culture, proficient in Mandarin, and appeared to know China better than a Chinese; there is a Chinese player in Nottingham Forest; he was said that he had acknowledged Dunn’s parents as his godfather and godmother… Now he had a wife of one-eighth Chinese descent.

This summer, Tony Twain, who was closely linked with China, was on holiday in China again.

When he and Shania, as well as Dunn, appeared at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, he was startled by a group of interviewers that blocked outside the terminal.

About twenty reporters from various media outlets gathered outside the pick-up point, a marked difference between the ordinary people around them who came to pick up their relatives and friends. Before Twain’s arrival, they attracted a lot of people’s attention, all of whom were guessing which star was coming to Chengdu today.

They also caught the attention of the airport security, and soon a team of security guards, responsible for maintaining the order, appeared around them. They did not know who was coming but knew that it must be a star. They had seen a lot of such instances as the airport employees.

When Twain led Shania by hand and pushed the luggage cart around accompanied by Dunn to appear at the pick-up point, the group of people pressed the camera shutters in their hands as if they had received the signal. For a time, the flashes went off endlessly and the waiting hall was bright white.

“I thought we were secretive enough…” He glanced at Dunn next to him, because he immediately spied Tang Jing in the crowd when the flashlights momentarily stopped.

“You two are public figures. How can it be kept a secret?” Dunn did not deny that he told Tang Jing the news, but he did not admit it either. He just obliquely expressed that the combination of Twain and Shania was like a firefly in the night sky, so eye-grabbing and striking. No matter where they hid, they would be found …

Shania did not bicker with them. She displayed the true qualities of a star— she immediately put on her best pose with the most appropriate smile on her face and waved to the reporters.

Consequently, Twain could only plaster a smile on his face and waved to greet these people, “Hello everyone.” He said in fluent Mandarin.

Dunn obviously did not have to pretend. He pushed the cart behind the two big stars and turned a blind eye to the Chinese reporters.

Tang Jing moved up closer and reached out to Twain across the temporary human wall lined up by the airport security, wanting to shake hands. “Mr. Twain, Mr. Twain! How long are you going to stay in China? Can you accept an exclusive interview with me before you leave? You and your wife, Miss Jordana…”

Twain turned to look at Dunn, who pretended not to see anything, and glanced at Shania, who smiled at him. So, he extended his hand and shook it with Tang Jing before he said, “I’d love to. You make an appointment, Miss Tang Jing.”

“Let’s make it tonight… Are you going back to Dunn’s hometown?”

Twain nodded, “Okay. You know Dunn’s contact details, so you must know where we are staying. Give Dunn a call early before you come.” He used words to mock the current relationship between Dunn and Tang Jing.

Dunn did not say a word whereas Tang Jing did not mind. Having settled the interview with Twain and Shania, she looked excited, “I have a car. Would you like to take my car?”

Twain shook his head and refused, “Thank you for your kindness, but we also have a car.”

Twain and the others pushed their luggage and walked outside. The reporters followed behind with incessant questions, hoping to get answers from the three people. In fact, these reporters were not here for Twain. Some of the media wanted to interview Shania, while some of the media were more interested in Dunn …

They walked out of the hall, being surrounded in this manner.

“All right, all right, my friends.” Twain thought it was too much trouble to bring along a large group of people, so he stopped and turned around to speak loudly to the reporters, “I’m here for a holiday in China, and I hope I can enjoy a quiet holiday. Thank you for coming specially to welcome me. Please go back now!”

Having said that, they walked straight to the outside car lane to queue up for a taxi, waiting for passengers.

Tang Jing asked in surprise at the back, “This is your car?”

Twain turned to her and smiled, “A taxi is a car too, Miss Tang Jing.”

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“A quiet holiday is extravagant hope for me.” In the car, Twain complained in English about everything that happened at the airport.

Shania sat next to him and held his hand. She smiled and said, “I’m used to it for a long time. I never thought I could go visit somewhere in peace and quiet.”

Dunn sat in the front passenger seat in silence.

Twain saw him like this and remembered the matter he was very concerned about. He then asked, “I say, mate… at what stage have your relationship with Tang Jing developed to?”

“Huh?” Dunn did not hear it clearly.

“Are you and Tang Jing dating?” Twain changed his tack.

“How … How can it be?” Dunn flatly denied.

“Okay. Look, I’m bringing Shania back to see our parents. If they ask about your plans for marriage, what are you going to say?”

“I’m still young…”

“Is twenty-nine years old still young?” In fact, Dunn’s actual age should be forty-one years old, which was Twain’s current age.

Dunn did not speak because he did not know how to answer the question.

“You know… regardless, they’d rather see you settled down and get married so that they can carry your kids early…” Twain muttered, a little lost in his thoughts.

In any case, he was not the biological son of his parents. There was always a difference between close and distant relatives, which was human nature. Although he felt a little uncomfortable, he could only accept the reality. He got the fame, fortune and love he had yearned for, so he had to pay for them in return. Hence, he lost his biological parents.

※※※

In the evening, Tang Jing suggested that she would play host and invited the three people to dinner. Twain thought Tang Jing’s excuse was very interesting. She was not Sichuanese. How would that make her the “host?”

But they still gladly made the appointment—surely they would have to give face to Dunn, wouldn’t they?

After dinner, they returned to the hotel. In the room, Twain and Shania accepted an interview with Tang Jing together. In fact, it was mainly an interview with Twain. After all, Tang Jing was a sports journalist, and not a freelance writer for a fashion magazine.

Tang Jing was concerned about Nottingham Forest’s prospects for next season and wanted to hear about Twain’s plans. So, Twain selectively revealed some details. Following which, they looked back at last season. Twain was generally satisfied with the team’s performance last season. To be able to successfully squeeze Chelsea out and advance to next season’s UEFA Champions League were in line with his expectations.

The next step was to talk about his married life with Shania, which was naturally very loving and happy. On the football field, Twain’s goal was to pursue victory and championship titles whereas in the couple’s life, it was to have a child.

Then Tang Jing took a look at Twain’s physical condition and asked him to talk about his experiences of more than five months of resting at home due to his heart disease. Twain did not think there was much to talk about. An illness was not a good thing, let alone a heart attack. So, he directly stated his attitude to the question—He was not going to answer it.

The atmosphere was considered harmonious enough that Tang Jing momentarily forgot that she was interviewing Tony Twain, who was said to be “the most difficult interviewee by the reporters.” But on the issue of Twain’s health, she finally experienced the man’s unreasonable side again.

She could only move on to the last part—as the manager of Nottingham Forest, the most successful young manager in Europe in recent years, and a public figure who understood the Chinese football world well, what were Tony Twain’s views on Chinese football?

As opposed to his previous succinct answers, Twain seemed to have a lot to say when it came to Chinese football.

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“I heard you’re going to change football back into the national system? I don’t know how to evaluate. If it was to only let the national football team produce results, it was understandable. Just like your country’s table tennis, diving, gymnastics, it is very effective. The whole world knows that China is the strongest in table tennis and the best in diving. Gymnastics is also traditionally China’s dominant event.”

“But I don’t think the significance in football is just about getting the national team to get the top spots in the international competitions. Football is a competition of skills, and also a game, where anyone can get involved and play the game. At the same time, it’s even a lifestyle. I’m a manager of a club. For my club fans, going to the stadium once a week to watch the hometown team play is a lifestyle. This way of life has been passed down from the fathers to the sons and then to the grandchildren. It has been going on for hundreds of years. Do you understand the difference between this and yours now?”

“It seems to me that although China was the original birthplace of football, there is still a long way to go in China based on what I called ‘a lifestyle.’ How many years has it been since professional football was introduced to China? And how many years has Britain been doing it? I believe that professional football is promising in China, because the Chinese people are very smart, know how to do a thing well and will definitely do it well. The key is whether you want to do it well or not. Having done professional football for more than ten years, the thing in China is still like water without a source and a tree without roots. I think it’s an abysmal failure! It’s a shame to the clever Chinese people!”

Twain suddenly got a little worked up as if he were the Chinese man who was ashamed of it.

“Because of the failures in the Olympic Games and World Cup qualifiers, your General Administration of Sport of China has decided to let football revert to its former national system. I do not deny that doing so will help your country develop a team that has a corresponding place in the football world. At that time, playing in the World Cup or the Olympics will lead to results that your fans will feel acceptable. But if I were a regular football fan, I would be sad to live in such an environment. You want to know why?”

“I’d like to hear the details.” Tang Jing was unknowingly captivated by Twain’s loud arrogant talk. She even forgot that this part was just a routine “add-on” and that it would not take up too much space when writing the article. But now, she had a strong idea deep down—to make this part the highest priority for the interview to promote to all readers.

“How many games can a strong national team play, counting all kinds of invitation tournaments and commercial competitions? And how many high-level games does a mature club team play in a year? As an ordinary fan, he will certainly support his country’s team and wave the flag to cheer for his country on the national team game day. It’s all very good. So, how about the other times other than the national team match days? How does he find an outlet for his love and desire for football? Where can he find a target to entrust such an ardent conviction? Foreign teams?”

Twain snorted with a laugh, “AC Milan? Inter Milan? Real Madrid? Barcelona? Juventus? Manchester United? Arsenal? Liverpool? Chelsea? Bayern Munich? Or Nottingham Forest? Or the German national team, the Italian national team, the England team, the Spanish national team, the French national team, the Portuguese national team, the Czech Republic national team, the Brazilian national team, the Argentine national team, the Japanese national team, the Korean national team … Anyway, it will not be the Chinese national team.”

“Of course, they can like the above-mentioned teams, which is not a problem. No one has the right to interfere with other people’s interests and choices. But they are Chinese people and Chinese football fans. The above-mentioned teams will not play every weekend at their doorsteps. They cannot cheer in the stadium for their favorite teams. They can only argue with the opposing fans online. They also can’t get up close and personal with these stars outside the training grounds, ask for autographs, or even buy genuine team memorabilia…To be honest, this kind of love makes me feel very sad.” He shrugged and said, “I think the Chinese people pay particular attention to a sense of belonging, but this kind of love has no sense of belonging. You love those teams, but those teams don’t necessarily love you. Ah, I’m not denigrating the European teams. I just think you’re too far away from them that they basically don’t care about your love. What is the position of the Chinese fans who carry posters to the airport to greet their idolized teams in the eyes of the European clubs?” Twain thought of the gold rush trip to China he did with his team.

What did the Chinese fans who were so enthusiastic to the point that they almost bow down look like to Allan Adams and Evan Doughty? They only represented “the China market”, the exchange rate between the Chinese Yuan, the British pound, and the euro.

What was the case for the Forest players? They were just ordinary supporters who were far away. They were at a different level from the Nottingham fans in the minds of these people. They had a duty to use victory and their own skills to please the Nottingham fans who would go to the City Ground stadium every week to support them, but they would not please those fans who were far away in China, even though they were as enthusiastic as the former.

The Nottingham Forest club received letters from fans all over the world every day. Due to the presence of Assistant Manager Dunn and Sun Jihai, there had been many letters from the Chinese fans. Most of those letters were of several templates, of which the vast majority were postcards and souvenirs. Some of them were just professional “autograph collectors” in the country, and some of them really liked the Forest team. However, in either case, the date of the postmark of the letters and the date on which the letter was received were almost one month apart.

Was the cost of this kind of love a little too high?

“I’ve said so much. Can you understand my meaning, Miss Tang Jing?”

Tang Jing nodded mechanically—in fact, she had not digested Twain’s words.

“The purpose of football for the General Administration of Sport of China and Chinese Football Association is absolutely not to give your country’s fans a way of life in football culture—it does not fall within their concern and consideration. To put it nicely, their aim is in hope that the national team’s performance will improve. To put it bluntly, it is only for the achievements of these leaders currently in office. What kind of position does the Chinese fans hold in their hearts? That’s an interesting question…”

Perhaps it was “the mob of people” that had gathered outside the stadium chanting “The Football Association is a stupid c**t”, “Disband the China national team”, “Xie X Long, f**k your mother”, and such slogans. Or it could be the figures in the statistics of each Chinese Super League match…Anyway, it was an indistinct community with a repulsive image and not living, breathing, flesh and blood “people” with feelings. Therefore, they naturally did not need to care about their feelings, listen to their voices, and what “football” meant to these ordinary people.

“… The focus of their work is only the national team. As long as the national team does well, they will be good officials with achievements. As for the football culture and way of life… What is that? Can it guarantee that they will be promoted and make a fortune? Can it guarantee that they will have a political track record? To have football imperceptibly influence people’s lives, what is needed is not merely the efforts of several leadership teams. How many leaders are willing to let the fruits of their labor be taken advantage of by future generations? I have worked hard for four years and not achieve any political accomplishments just so that the next generation can salvage the political achievements? On what basis! Why should I suffer just to let others profit from it!”

Twain suddenly got up from his chair, and paced around the room in an emotional state, completely forgetting that he was being interviewed now. He just had a lot of things on his mind that he wanted to say, not caring who the audience was, and where he was at.

Once he started talking about Chinese football, Twain began to use Mandarin to communicate with Tang Jing because he might not be able to convey certain context in English. Therefore, Shania could not understand what her Uncle Tony said. When she saw Twain suddenly got agitated and stood up to pace around the room muttering nonstop, she was a little worried and said, “Uncle Tony…”

Tang Jing also did not expect that Twain would have such a fierce reaction. She initially asked the question because she wanted to listen to what Tony Twain, an outsider, thought of Chinese football, which now had a bad reputation. She wanted to let the readers know what a foreigner thought of Chinese football. She did not expect that although Twain did discuss the matter from an outside perspective, his emotional state … did not appear to be that of an outsider.

She also followed suit to stand up, with her heart full of contradictions. Should she exhort Twain to calm down, or hope that he continued to speak and let her hear more hot news items…

“Yes, that’s what they think!” Twain turned around and stood while he waved his fists and said, “You really did encounter some detours and diversions in the process of developing the professional football path, but that doesn’t mean you have to deny everything about professional football and go back to the national professional system. Is your football problem a professional problem? Is it a matter of the star players making too much money and the club throwing away too much money? Which of the European teams and star players make too little money? Which club doesn’t invest money? Are the players of countries with high-level football, fine examples of high moral standing and drink milk that is squeezed from grass? Are all European clubs so squeaky clean and transparent like air? People in the system certainly don’t admit that the institutional problems are the causes of it all, because acknowledging it will be to break their livelihood, smash their rice bowls, and destroy their own interests. So, the push to professionalism, to those professional players with low-quality skills but can still make a lot of money and in fact have no right to speak of, make use of society’s ‘hate the rich’ mentality, shift everyone’s anger of the Chinese Football Association to the professional league. They are saying ‘with the professionalization over the years, the players are making more and more money, but the level of football is getting worse’, so the fault lies with ‘the professionalization of football.’ But if it were not for professionalization, how would you know how incompetent and inflexible the organization that had managed Chinese football for fifty-five years was!!”

“Once many years, many years have passed, maybe your national team will be great in international football, like the Soviet Union before its collapse. But your football level won’t improve for a hundred years… No, there will never be progress. What does football mean to your masses? It is an Olympic event that strives for the nation’s glory but locked away from the world in a high-walled compound. It is definitely not a game for young children to play and have fun together in the school playground. Nor is it something that the fans gather once a week for in the stadium stands and in front of the television. It is not the kind of belief, entertainment, way of life that they will be happy about, cry for it, be proud of it, be angry about, be deeply concerned about. It is not a living life that exists among the people and originates from the people that will continue to germinate, blossom, bear fruit and continuously grow and strengthen uninterrupted for a hundred years and not decline. It is definitely not a culture that is full of vitality and has a reasonable cycle mechanism which can regenerate and radiate far-reaching influence that will make the politicians down to the civilians to…love it!”

“Do you know what that feels like, Miss Tang Jing?” After saying this in one breath, Twain looked back at the reporter, Tang Jing, who was stupefied.

“When Nottingham Forest was unfortunately relegated, half the people of Nottingham city cried. When Notts County was once on the brink of bankruptcy, the other half of Nottingham city’s people generously contributed money and did not expect anything in return. They donated pound by pound, hoping to save the team. Because that’s their team, it’s their hometown team! Even if it’s just a nobody team in Football League Third Division North which almost never has the hope to win the Champions League.”

“But in China today, ninety percent of people half surprised and half sneered at you and say, ‘Yo, you still watch Chinese Super League? You still watch Chinese football! You shouldn’t self-abuse in this way, you stupid c**t!'” After he uttered the obscenity, Twain spread his hands and his tone finally eased. “You see, that’s the difference between the two situations. Miss Tang Jing. What’s wrong with Chinese football? It’s okay, because it’s a big problem in itself, a big problem that breeds a large host of mid-sized problems, and the mid-sized problems involved countless of small problems… Ah, it’s wonderful, it’s a family reunion for a group photo.”

Twain laughed and said, “But what’s the solution to the problem? To be honest, I don’t think you can hope to solve it in the current situation of the sports system in China. I sympathize with you, really, I’m not kidding. I do indeed have a lot of sympathy for you all… Also, don’t fantasize about one or two talented players who can help you get to the path of glory. In the future, try not to pay attention to Chen Jian. I know you are trying to introduce him to the Chinese fans and shape him into a new hopeful overseas Chinese player. But I want to warn you, Miss Tang Jing.”

Twain extended his index finger and wagged it in front of Tang Jing. “He’s absolutely not the savior of Chinese football. He’s just an ordinary young man who wants to make a living from football and is a bit silly but has pretty good luck. If my player is ruined by your meaningless delusions, today will be the last time I’ll accept your interview.”

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When Tang Jing was about to leave, it was clear from her appearance that she was still in a daze from Twain’s speech. Apparently the interview impacted her far more than any of Twain’s previous conversations in front of the media. She really needed to get back and digest it. Fortunately, although she was still in a daze, the interview machine in her hands still worked faithfully and completely recorded Twain’s every word.

But one thing was very clear when she left—if this story was published, the impact that it would give rise to could be by no means merely compared to “the most successful young manager—into Tony Twain’s world” interview.

To publish this piece in the papers, she might even have to take some risks…

※※※

Shania did not care about the impact Twain’s words would have on the country’s football community. She wondered about Twain’s vehemence at the last moments.

What would agitate Uncle Tony so much that he could not even help himself?

Twain hugged her, shook his head and smiled to explain, “She asked a question that I could not explain clearly in one or two sentences and the question was easy for people to lose their cool and calm… I’m really sorry to have scared you, Shania. But it’s all right now, at least I don’t have to continue to worry about that problem. Let’s have some fun!” He suddenly grabbed Shania and threw her onto the bed.

Shania’s screams soon turned into gentle moans…

※※※

Tang Jing came out of the elevator, and found Dunn sitting in the couch facing the direction of the elevator in the lobby.

“The interview took longer than expected.” He said as he saw Tang Jing come straight over.

“Sorry, the last question caused the interview plan to spin out of control.” Tang Jing shook her head and said, “He got very worked up and said a lot.”

Dunn was somewhat interested and said, “What was the question?”

“I asked him what he thought of Chinese football. I originally wanted to hear what a foreigner thought of something that we ourselves thought of as rotten… The result came as a surprise to me.” Tang Jing said in a low voice as she frowned and recalled the scene. “He said a lot, some stuff we did not know, some stuff we never thought about and some we knew and thought about but did not dare say…”

“I’ve decided! I’ll take out his answer on its own and published the full text without a single change in his words!”

“I can imagine what Tony said. Aren’t you afraid that publishing it will bring trouble?” Dunn asked.

Tang Jing smiled sweetly and ran her fingers through the hair dangled in front of her. “What could be the trouble? If there’s blame from the top, I’ll shoulder it. At the most, I’ll quit. Losing a job is not a big deal.”

Dunn looked at the determined woman in front of him, opened his mouth, and said nothing in the end.

Tang Jing lifted her wrist to look at the watch. It was already ten o’clock at night.

“Ah, it’s so late! I have to get back.” She waved to Dunn and said, “Goodbye, Dunn!”

“Goodbye.” Dunn stood at the entrance and waved goodbye to Tang Jing.

When Tang Jing got into the taxi and left, he muttered, “I wish you good luck…”