Oriental Daily is a Chinese newspaper in Hong Kong. It was founded by the brothers Ma Xiru and Ma Xizhen. It is a business owner of Oriental Newspaper Group. It claims to be the first in Hong Kong sales for 35 consecutive years and is one of the most influential newspapers and media in Hong Kong.

It is such an influential media. The department in the editorial department responsible for sports-related news is quite leisurely because there is not much sports news to report in Hong Kong. In recent times, the hottest one is Hong Kong football that has entered the Asian Cup finals "relying on luck". This news has been repeatedly reported, and the frequency of reporting makes the editorial department feel boring.

Fortunately, some time ago, there were still big news related to this, that is, Manchester City Club, the young Chinese head coach Wan Sheng may take over the Hong Kong team to compete in the Asian Cup.

This news is considered hyped by the industry and is unrealistic.

Manchester City Club head coach, the world's top and youngest head coach, Wan Sheng, is that such an influential figure in world football? How could he be associated with Hong Kong football? This is a bit too much!

But the news is always circulating in Hong Kong football, so various media in Hong Kong still reported on it.

The same is true for Oriental Daily, but everyone in the editorial department believes that this is just hyped by peers in the industry and cannot become a fact. After doing some reports such as "sayed", sports journalists won't pay much attention to it.

Fang Yongsheng is a reporter in charge of the sports sector of Oriental Daily. He is only 27 years old and is a very young reporter in the industry.

In the past, he was always very motivated to go around for interviews, but in June, before the Asian Cup, he could only look forward to following the newly formed Hong Kong team to Southeast Asia for some preparation-related interviews, and he had nothing to do in the days before that.

Recently, his job is to check some sports news abroad and mainland China, and find out what can be used as reporting materials.

This job is very leisurely, and it is actually equivalent to looking at the web page without any trouble. Record the main content. He still has time to chat with his colleagues when he is working, and talk about some gossip about the extra-length and short-lived people. His working hours are really boring.

At this moment, a figure broke in and called his name directly.

Fang Yongsheng was a little confused and immediately realized that it was his superior female editor Wang Na. After Wang Na called his name, he immediately ordered loudly, "Fang Yongsheng! Go to the Hong Kong Airport! Take the photography team, immediately, immediately!"

"What's wrong?"

Many people in the editorial office came over, and Wang Na then explained, "Wan Sheng is Wan Sheng, he is coming to Hong Kong!"

"Wansheng?"

Just when many people were puzzled, Fang Yongsheng was the first to react, "Is the head coach of Manchester City in England, at the age of 30, and is known as the youngest and most successful Chinese coach Wan Sheng?"

"Of course. Who else will be there? Not fast! If you don't get an interview late, be careful of your salary being deducted!" Wang Na looked at Fang Yongsheng and kept standing still, shouting in anger.

Fang Yongsheng hurriedly sorted out his things, surprised by the news, and muttered in a low voice, "Menopausal women are really not easy to mess with."

In Hong Kong, I don’t know how many media editorial departments have similar scenes.

This time Wan Sheng came to Hong Kong was not a secret. He did not wear sunglasses or hats to cover up his cover at Dalian Airport. So he was recognized as soon as he arrived at the airport. Then all the nearby media reporters rushed over to interview, and Wan Sheng was calm that he was going to Hong Kong.

What to do in Hong Kong?

No matter what he does, report the news quickly!

Soon all the Hong Kong media learned the news. They were about to go to Hong Kong International Airport to "welcome" Wan Sheng. What they wanted to know was, what exactly did Wan Sheng come to Hong Kong for?

Is it for his Tagorevan Group, or as previously reported, will he take over the Hong Kong team in the Asian Cup?

No matter what the reason is, just go to the interview!

So when Wan Sheng got off the plane, he was surrounded by a large group of reporters in the pick-up hall.

Wan Sheng was not surprised. In fact, he was prepared for this when he came to Hong Kong. This time he came here on purpose and did not hide his whereabouts. After boarding the plane to Hong Kong, he had already entered the "work mode". He wanted to take charge of the Hong Kong team, so there was no need to sneak in, so Wan Sheng also accepted an interview at the airport.

He emphasized three points, "I came to Hong Kong because of the invitation from the Hong Kong Football Association."

"If you want to take over the Hong Kong team, a special press conference will be held."

"This time I came to Hong Kong, it is also related to Tagorevan Group's investment in Hong Kong."

After these three points, there is no need to say much more. Wan Sheng emphasized that he came to Hong Kong for work, which is related to the Tagore Wan Group and the Hong Kong Football Association.

Let the media speculate on whether they will take over the Hong Kong team.

Perhaps there is no need to guess. Wan Sheng came to Hong Kong to send out a clear signal. All media from Hong Kong have reported on this. Even Ta Kung Pao, who has always been unfamiliar with sports news, has made a confident report. "Wan Sheng is likely to take over the Hong Kong team in the Asian Cup in July!"

At this time, Wansheng had entered the hotel arranged by Hong Kong.

Wansheng rested in the hotel for one night, and the next day, Hong Kong held a welcome banquet for him.

Hong Kong has made very thoughtful arrangements. At the welcome banquet, many big names also came. Among them, they can be divided into three categories, one is the officials of the Hong Kong Football Association. These people are Liang Huide, the chairman of the Hong Kong Football Association, but they are not the main characters, because many stars from the business, politics, and even film and television industry have also come. These are the people who really need to pay attention to.

The welcome banquet of dozens of people surprised Wan Sheng, as if he had been treated as a "politician".

Some of them, Wan Sheng, have also heard of fame, but this is the first time they have met. Under the introduction of Kevin Tagore, Wan Sheng shook hands with them one by one. At the subsequent banquet, he talked about some things related to the Tagore Wan Group.

Hong Kong's political and business circles are very concerned about this.

The scale of Tagorevan Group is not too large, but the funds that can be used are also calculated in the "billion US dollars". Some of the actions of Tagorevan Group before made many people unable to understand. Kevin Tagore, as a group, rarely discloses relevant information.

As the largest shareholder of Tagorevan Group, Wansheng naturally has a lot of say.

He only talked about the goal of taking root in Hong Kong and the country, which clearly shows the general direction of the group's future, and it is equivalent to Hong Kong and the country. It sends a friendly signal.

Afterwards, Wan Sheng said, "The group's exhibitions are managed by EO Kevin Tagore, and he will not interfere too much in the affairs."

Then I won’t talk about the group company anymore.

The most important thing next is to come to Hong Kong to work the most important job - take over the Hong Kong team in China and lead the team to the Asian Cup.

For football, Wansheng has a lot to say.

This is his profession and his purpose. According to his understanding, the current situation of the Hong Kong Football Association is a bit pitiful.

The Hong Kong Football Association was a permanent club that applied to the government for land allocation to build in 1972. It was approved in 1974 and handed over a piece of land to the Hong Kong Football Association for building a club.

After more than five years of construction, the Hong Kong Football Club located on Fo Guang Street was officially opened on September 1, 1979. The unveiling ceremony was hosted by Xia Weilanzhi, the then president of the International Football Association. The new club building is three floors high and covers an area of ​​19 ooo square feet (about 19 ooo square meters). It can hold large-scale meetings, and the club has been used to this day.

After the Ooo years, the Hong Kong Football Association received funding from FIFA's "goal-projet" and carried out a large-scale reconstruction project, and held an unveiling ceremony on January 28 this year.

From the process of the Hong Kong Football Association Headquarters Exhibition, we can see that there must be problems with their finances.

In fact, Hong Kong football has always been poor. They have been deficits since 4 years due to poor financial management, and have led to a series of financial losses. Although the FA has worked hard to save the nation and reduce revenue, including some directors' commitment to donate more than 50,000 yuan, last year's financial report showed that they still had a deficit of more than 10,000 Hong Kong dollars.

Compared with the prosperous economic situation in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Football Association's exhibition situation is very bleak, and this situation also leads to the fact that the officials of the Hong Kong Football Association have no important position at all.

This can be seen at the welcome party.

This banquet was held by the Hong Kong Football Association for Wan Sheng, but their officials were like "subjects". Only the chairman of the Football Association, Liang Huide, could say a few words. The others were just standing next to them and couldn't even get in touch.

Wan Sheng shook his head silently in his heart. Compared with the wealthy English Football Association, Hong Kong football is always far behind.

This is actually very normal, mainly because it is the current situation of Hong Kong football.

The Hong Kong team still had a brilliant past. In 1949, the Hong Kong team lost 2-5 to South Korea in its first international match. Four years later, the Hong Kong team defeated South Korea 4-o and won the first international match.

The Hong Kong team reached the first four Asian Cup final week and won third place at home in 1956.

In 1974, the Hong Kong team faced Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan in the World Cup Group A perimeter, and defeated their opponents 1-o, and finally lost to the host South Korea 1-3 and ranked second and failed to qualify. The members of the Hong Kong team formed the "Friends of Seoul" to meet regularly.

The perimeter match held in Singapore in 1977 was led by Dutch coach Bao Qin, who defeated Indonesia and Thailand 4-1 and 2-1 respectively, and also beat Singapore and Malaysia 2-2 and 1-1 respectively, successfully qualifying for the second round of the game.

In the first lap of the World Cup in 1986, the Hong Kong team defeated Brunei at home 8:00 on February 1985, and the second-generation hero center Mai Jinxun won four goals in his solo goal.

The history of these football matches records the glory of the Hong Kong team, but since the 1990s, Hong Kong football has entered a dusk period and is very powerless to revitalize.

In the early 1990s, although the Hong Kong team retreated to the second and third lines of Asia, they still had some excellent works in major competitions. For example, in the 1998 World Cup peripheral competition, they defeated the Southeast Asian powerhouse Thailand three-to-two at home. They also lost to the Asian Tiger South Korea two goals in their home games, both of which were the hard work of the Hong Kong team.

However, in the same event, the striker Wei Junlong, goalkeeper 6 Jiarong, defender Chen Zhiqiang, wing forward Chen Zijiang and others were sentenced to prison for manipulating the ball, which made it even worse for Hong Kong Football Games.

In 1997, Hong Kong's sovereignty was transferred, and the Hong Kong team had to participate in international competitions in the name of "Hong Kong, China". In the late 1990s, the Hong Kong team's performance continued to be poor, and a total of 11 eggs were eliminated in two games in the Asian Games football peripherals.

In the 2020 World Cup, the FA hired Dutch coach Lishayun to hope that the Hong Kong team would achieve good results and frequently invited foreign teams to visit for practice matches. In the end, because the players were unable to adapt to the coaching style and the FA did not have long-term plans, they ended up with bad results.

After that, Hong Kong football almost fell into a slump, and their fame was not as good as the "Hong Kong Star Football Team" of the Hong Kong Film and Television Star Sports Association. As for Hong Kong Football, people would not realize that football team composed of a group of film and television stars. As for the real Hong Kong team, there are very few people who know it.

One reality that Hong Kong football is very clear is that they are almost down to their amateur level.

Wan Sheng is prepared for this.

He actually didn't expect the Hong Kong team to be strong, he just led the team to participate in the Asian Cup. He didn't care whether there were star players in the specific team.

Leading the Hong Kong team can help him increase his experience in international competitions.

This is a brand new experience.

In fact, a large part of him coaching the Hong Kong team is "commercial". He does not coach just to become the head coach of the Hong Kong team. This is also a "football show" contracted with Hong Kong. At the same time, it is also a means for Tagore Wan Group to expand its connections in Hong Kong.

Wansheng is still very clear about these things.

Therefore, it is very important to attend similar banquets. At the banquet, Wan Sheng also found several people who could get the talks. For example, former Chinese professional player Fan Zhiyi, who worked as a football coach for a period of time after retirement, but was not very successful. He came to Hong Kong to be invited by wealthy businessman Yang Jiacheng.

Wan Sheng quickly met Yang Jiacheng because the two had many common topics in English football.

Yang Jiacheng was born in the New Territories Real Estate in Hong Kong in his early years. He went to London to study at the age of 16. After arriving in Hong Kong, he became a stylist. Hong Kong media reported that Yang Jiacheng's life was not satisfactory at that time and was collected by banks and courts.

After Yang Jiacheng learned from his knowledge, he began to get involved in real estate. He began to invest in luxury houses in the Mid-mountain area and became a full-time investment expert. He gradually became well-known. His main industries were in the housing market and gambling market. Later, he transferred to Bai Jiadao Property and made a lot of profits, and he took a stake in the famous Greek mythology casino in Macau for 2014.

Few people are interested in these history.

In fact, Yang Jiacheng has a long interest in English football, and this year, he has made real practical actions - in January this year, Yang Jiacheng offered 120 million pounds to acquire Reading, which is still in the Championship; in March this year, he offered 50,000 pounds for Wigan Athletics; in April this year, Yang Jiacheng offered 10,000 pounds for Xie on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, all three acquisitions ended in failure.

Now, Yang Jiacheng is launching an acquisition of Ying Birmingham Club, but after three "setbacks", he has no certain confidence in the acquisition. Perhaps this is because he is a little uncertain about Ying's investment environment, so he consulted Wansheng in this regard.

Wan Sheng did not give a clear suggestion. He just talked about the two-year exhibition of Manchester City Club. "I have brought two league championships to Manchester City Club. In the past two years, Manchester City has paid off £70,000 in debt and made a lot of profits."

Wansheng means very simple, and the club's exhibition is actually directly linked to the results.

The UK's football investment environment cannot be said to be very good, but it is quite good in Europe. It is a "gold-yuan country". If you want to rely on football to make a profit, you may only be able to invest in large clubs like Manchester United. It is not easy for small clubs to ensure results, so it is not easy to invest in football clubs. It depends on your personal perspective.

If it is just a personal hobby, it doesn’t matter whether you make a profit or not, but if it is for making money, investing in a small club in England, the prospects are actually not that optimistic.
To be continued...