Chapter 632
Real Madrid's China Tour: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lin Feng's First Meeting
It's nothing new for top European clubs to come to Asia for training camps and to make money along the way.
In order to cater to the Chinese market, the Italians even moved the Italian Super Cup to China once, and it received a very good response.
In recent years, with the booming development of China's economy and the increasingly better performance of the national team, China's football market is expanding rapidly.
Serie A isn't the only league eyeing this pie; La Liga, Bundesliga, the Premier League, and even Ligue 1 all want a piece of the pie.
The reason why the players of the 1985 national youth team were able to go abroad so smoothly is not only because of their own strength, but also because they are closely related to the huge market of China with a population of 1.3 billion.
On July 29, after a long journey, the Real Madrid team arrived at their first stop – Guangzhou!
When the Galacticos landed at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, they were warmly welcomed by Chinese fans.
Real Madrid already had a large number of fans in China, and Lin Feng's arrival has attracted a large number of new fans.
In addition, Real Madrid had just completed their Champions League title defense and signed Cristiano Ronaldo, creating a sensational transfer that shook the football world.
At this moment, Real Madrid can be described as having strength, good looks, and popularity all in one, making them the focus of attention wherever they go!
"Cristiano Ronaldo is so handsome!"
"Cristiano Ronaldo, I love you!"
"Raul, I'm a fan of yours, please sign my autograph!"
Since Lin Feng was not on the flight, the fans who came to pick him up focused their attention on stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Raul.
Cristiano Ronaldo seemed quite surprised, not expecting to be so popular in China.
He felt that he was Lin Feng's mortal enemy, and the two had been locked in a fierce battle in the Champions League for two years.
Chinese fans had no reason to like him, but things turned out to be completely different from what he had imagined.
Chinese fans seem to have completely disregarded the grudges of the past two years, and their enthusiasm for him doesn't seem feigned at all, but rather comes from the bottom of their hearts.
This made Ronaldo very happy. He waved to the fans frequently and even took photos with them in a very affectionate manner.
Putting aside everything else, Hakiro is incredibly doting on his fans. If you ask him for a photo, he'll definitely agree, as long as the conditions allow.
……
"Hey guys, welcome to China!"
Lin Feng did not go to the airport to pick up the team, but stayed at the hotel to wait for them.
It's a good thing he didn't go. If he had, the airport would have been even more crowded, and no one would have been able to leave in just a few hours.
"Haha, boss, I've missed you so much!"
"Brother Lin, this is your home turf, you have to treat us to a good meal!"
"Lin, it's a good thing you didn't go to the airport. You have no idea how many people there are at the airport. In your words, it's like a sea of people and a mountain of people."
As soon as Lin Feng appeared, his teammates surrounded him, greeting him all at once.
Cristiano Ronaldo saw this scene from afar and felt a little envious, envious of the relationship between Lin Feng and his teammates!
He also had a group of such lovely teammates, but he abandoned them and came to Real Madrid alone, to someone else's territory.
"Of course, of course! Today it's my treat, you'll all have a good meal and drinks!"
Since the team disbanded, Lin Feng hasn't seen his Real Madrid teammates for almost two months.
Now that his teammates have arrived on his turf, he, as the host, naturally has to do his best to be a good host.
After speaking, he glanced at his teammates who were filing in.
Many familiar faces were missing from the crowd. In addition to the Dutch contingent that was purged, Cannavaro, Gago, and others also left Real Madrid this summer.
When Cannavaro's contract expired, Real Madrid did not renew it, so he chose to return to Juventus.
Due to frequent injuries, coupled with Real Madrid's significant signings, Gago's midfield is no longer short of players.
So they loaned him to Serie A to continue assessing his form.
If Gago's injury situation improves and his performance in Serie A is impressive enough, there is a possibility that he could be recalled by Real Madrid in the future.
However, this possibility is unlikely, as Real Madrid's midfield is already very strong in the new season.
Lin Feng, Modric, Mascherano, Xabi Alonso, and Diarra – this lineup is one of the best in the entire football world.
Even Barcelona cannot be said to have a clear advantage over them unless Messi is taken into account.
Under these circumstances, Gago truly had no room to survive.
If it weren't for the aura of being the "Redondo II," Gago would have been sold by Real Madrid long ago.
The new signings weren't very familiar with Lin Feng, but after seeing the Real Madrid players lining up to greet him, they also spontaneously lined up.
This made Lin Feng a little nervous. Why did he feel like someone involved in organized crime?
He was still complaining in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face.
On the contrary, Lin Feng treated these new recruits even more kindly than he treated his old teammates.
"Hello, Captain! My name is Modric. Please take care of me from now on!"
Born in 85, Modric is actually older than Lin Feng.
But when he was in front of Lin Feng, he was as obedient as a primary school student, not daring to put on any airs.
Are you kidding me?!
The man in front of me is a three-time Champions League winner, a two-time Ballon d'Or winner, and has been hailed as the best midfielder in football for three consecutive years.
I'm only a little older than him, and I'm inferior to him in every other way, so how dare I put on airs?
Upon hearing Modric address Lin Feng as captain, Alonso glanced at his national team teammate Raul.
He had heard that Raul was a tyrant at Real Madrid, who had absolute authority in the locker room and even the coaches had to defer to him.
It now seems that this rumor is false. After all, as the captain of Real Madrid, if Raul were really a ball hog, he should have gotten angry when he heard Modric call Lin Feng the captain. He would not tolerate anyone challenging his position.
But Raul did not make any move, as if he had tacitly agreed that Lin Feng, the vice-captain, was sharing the captain's power with him.
"I wouldn't dare to offer advice. We'll all be teammates from now on, so naturally we should help each other, improve together, and work together to win more honors for the team!"
Seeing that Modric was a little shy, Lin Feng smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and gave him an encouraging look.
After greeting the new signings, including Modric and Xabi Alonso, the room fell silent.
Everyone's gaze followed Lin Feng's and fell on Cristiano Ronaldo, who was standing at the edge of the corridor.
Everyone was curious about what kind of sparks would fly when these two met for the first time.
However, contrary to everyone's expectations, the anticipated tense situation did not materialize. Lin Feng saw Ronaldo, nodded slightly, and said:
"You're here?"
Cristiano Ronaldo nodded slightly in response:
"Yes, it's here!"
And that was it; the two neither shook hands nor engaged in any further communication.
As if there was some tacit understanding, they both knew each other without saying a word.
……
That evening, Lin Feng specially selected a highly-rated restaurant and treated the whole team to a big meal.
Cantonese cuisine has a relatively light flavor, which is very suitable for foreigners' tastes.
The teammates raved about the restaurant after their meal and inquired about it, hoping to try it again when they returned to Madrid.
Unfortunately, these days there are very few chain Chinese restaurants. Even if there are, most of them are located in China, and very few have expanded overseas.
Moreover, Chinese cuisine really tests the chef's skill level; if the chef is skilled, the restaurant's food will be delicious.
If the chef's skills are not up to par, even if you find the exact same restaurant, the taste and flavor may be completely different.
But they won't have to worry about these things for long!
Although the main purpose of this training camp was to make money, Mourinho still attached great importance to the three warm-up matches during his trip to China.
The reason is simple: the Spanish Super Cup is about to start.
These three warm-up matches during their overseas training camp may be their last warm-up matches before the Super Cup.
Given that their opponent in this year's Super Cup is Barcelona, who have a deep-seated grudge against Real Madrid, neither side is likely to hold back.
Both teams will give their all to defeat their opponent in this Super Cup.
Therefore, Real Madrid must get themselves into top form and strive for a winning start to the new season.
After arriving in China, apart from attending pre-arranged commercial activities, Mourinho declined all interviews and distractions, focusing instead on intensive training behind closed doors.
The team has been disbanded for more than two months. Who knows if the players have maintained their form after returning?
If they don't quickly resume training and get them back into form, forget about beating Barcelona in the Super Cup; they might even suffer an upset in a friendly against a Chinese Super League team.
Although the Chinese Super League is not of a high standard, it is currently in the middle of its season, and the players' competitive condition is obviously much better than that of a team like Real Madrid, which has been out of action for a long time.
If Real Madrid is careless and underestimates their opponent, and is not in good form, they could very well suffer an upset.
On August 5th, witnessed by more than 50,000 fans at Tianhe Stadium, Real Madrid and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Football Club kicked off their first warm-up match.
Guangzhou has always had a strong football market. Although the Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Club's performance has not been outstanding, it has not dampened the fans' enthusiasm for watching the games.
In the Chinese Super League, Yuexiushan Stadium is almost always packed to capacity.
Although the game was moved to the larger Tianhe Stadium this time, it still couldn't dampen the fans' enthusiasm for watching the game.
The more than 53000 tickets available at the venue were snapped up on the first day of sales. Many people came specifically to see the Champions League winners and the stars of Real Madrid, the world's top club.
Given the vast difference in strength between the two sides, many fans were worried before the match that Real Madrid would rest their key players and only field a reserve lineup.
If that's the case, then their tickets weren't really worth it.
After all, most people come for Real Madrid's star players, so what's the point of fielding a bunch of substitutes?
However, when Real Madrid announced their starting lineup for the match, the fans' worries vanished without a trace.
Except for a very few positions where new signings were brought in during the summer transfer window, Real Madrid retained almost all of last season's starting lineup.
This starting lineup is definitely worth the ticket price!
[Finally, we can witness the splendor of the Galactic Warship right here in our own backyard!]
Real Madrid is really generous; they didn't treat us fans who paid for tickets unfairly!
[Damn it! If I'd known Real Madrid wouldn't bench their key players, I should have bought a ticket and gone to see them live!]
Seeing Real Madrid's starting lineup, fans who didn't get tickets are crying foul, feeling like they missed out on a fortune.
Many people secretly resolved that even if they had to buy tickets from scalpers at exorbitant prices, they would still buy a ticket to the next game and experience the thrill of being there in person!
Judging from Real Madrid's starting lineup, it's clear that Mourinho is treating this match like the Super Cup.
But to his surprise, it seemed that it was precisely this attitude towards the game that made the ambitious Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group realize the reality early on and give up the fight.
Are you kidding me?
I'm playing against a peak Real Madrid team with a roster of key players including Lin Feng, Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul, Casillas, Benzema, Modric, and Xabi Alonso.
It's impossible to hit it at all!
If they really let loose, they could lose ten times over!
The result of the first half of the match seemed to confirm Guangzhou Pharmaceutical's guess.
Lin Feng scored a hat-trick in just thirty minutes with headers and kicks, and also provided two assists.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who had just joined the team and hadn't had time to integrate with them, also demonstrated the strength of a top striker, scoring two goals in quick succession with an assist from Lin Feng.
The two players accounted for all five of Real Madrid's goals in the first half, helping Real Madrid to a commanding 5-0 lead over their opponents.
That's too brutal!
I had considered the possibility of a gap between the two teams, but I didn't expect it to be this large!
Although Guangzhou Pharmaceutical is tanking, even if they didn't, the only difference would be that they conceded fewer goals!
While a 0-5 scoreline is certainly harsh, it might not be a bad thing for Chinese football!
[Indeed, this match made us clearly aware of the gap between the Chinese Super League and the world's top leagues. We cannot be complacent just because we have achieved some success. Chinese football still has a long way to go to reach the world's top level!]
To be fair, the fans have a pretty good attitude.
Perhaps it is the improvement in the national football team's performance that has given fans confidence, making them less sensitive and irritable than before, and more calm and tolerant.
Even though Guangzhou Pharmaceutical suffered such a crushing defeat, the fans did not blame them, nor did they ridicule or mock them.
On the contrary, the fans at the stadium kept cheering them on, hoping they could score against Real Madrid.
As most fans know, you can't succeed by working in isolation; you can only make progress by going abroad and exchanging ideas with international best practices.
The improvement in the national football team's performance in recent years has already proven this point.
Now it's the clubs' turn to catch up with the national team.
Seeing the opponent surrender, Mourinho substituted key players like Lin Feng in the second half, sending in a group of substitutes to have some fun.
Guangzhou Pharmaceutical seized the opportunity when Real Madrid's key players were off the field, with midfielder Feng Junyan scoring a goal to salvage some pride.
Ultimately, the score of the match was 8-1. Although Real Madrid fielded their substitutes, even the substitutes were far superior to the main players of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical.
Faced with an absolute gap in hard power, no miracle occurred.
However, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical was already very satisfied with scoring against Real Madrid. (End of Chapter)