667 So Tired

In a room on the twentieth floor of the hotel, Twain and Allan looked at each other. There was no one in the room except them. They could talk in private. Allan Adams did not look for Tony Twain to talk about old times, but to discuss business. There was almost no possibility of them discussing any private matters.

"Are you telling the truth?" Twain was doubtful.

"You know I never kid, Tony." Allan shook his head, serious. He did not look like he was joking.

Twain raised his eyebrows. He had never heard of such a thing, but the truth was in front of him.

Allan told Twain that the Chinese Football Association wanted to re-establish its image with the game, due to the recent football environment in China. When Twain heard, he almost blurted out, "they have an image?" He did not take Allan's words seriously. Everything about the Chinese Football Association was a joke. There was slapstick style, black humor, and, of course, corny jokes.

However, what Allan said next stopped Twain from laughing. "They hope we can tie with the national team in the game."

The remark immediately caused Twain to knit his brows.

Pre-determine the outcome of the match?

It was not difficult, technically. "A large-scale rotation will do. I can deploy every player on the reserve team. Surely the China Olympic team can manage to tie, right? I can also train the team..."

"No, Tony. If you deploy the reserve team, our plan for the commercial games will be met with heavy losses. Aide Group hopes that we can deploy the main force as much as possible."

"Huh?" Twain stood up from the couch. "Deploy the entire main force to draw with the China Olympic team? Are you insulting our team's ability?"

Allan waved for him to sit down. "That's why I wanted to talk to you. I know your character, but I hope you can cooperate this time. This is very important for us to open up the Chinese market. You know, in China, no matter who you work with, you can't bypass the government."

Twain sat down again and looked at Allan. "You know China a lot better than before. I understand you."

Seeing that Twain was not angry, Allan continued, "You can do it with a little flair and make the game thrilling with a lot of goals. And then in the second half, you can start to change players, replace the main players, try a new lineup, and observe the new players. Didn't you bring in a few players from the youth team? You can take the opportunity to observe their abilities. You're more of an expert than I am. You should know what to do. In other words, there are no adverse impact on our image. After all, it is the reserve team that was forced to a draw..."

Twain interrupted him, "Does the China Olympic team know this?"

Allan shook his head. "They won't know. The Chinese Football Association's request to them is to strive hard and play to the best..."

"Play to the best of their abilities, fully display their style, study hard, accumulate experience..." Twain helped him finish. He could recite the entreaties.

He suddenly recalled a long-forgotten memory from at least a decade ago.

In the early days of the professionalization of Chinese football, in addition to the emerging professional leagues that awakened the enthusiasm of Chinese fans for football, there was one thing that was important to that era, a sign of the times even.

It was the commercialization of the football games all over China.

From Sampdoria's visit to China in 1994 until 1997, when Maradona led Boca Juniors to China on a "Heroes' Tour of the Great Wall," Chinese football experienced a dream-like era. "The Undefeated Workers' Stadium" was the famous catchphrase of the era. Sampdoria, AC Milan, Arsenal, Club Atlético Peñarol, and Grêmio all lost to the Chinese team at the Workers' Stadium. The success against the foreign teams greatly boosted the confidence and enthusiasm of the Chinese fans, thus triggering the 1994 and 1995 red-hot Chinese Jia-A League.

Many people were immersed in the joy of beating world-class teams and even believed that the level of Chinese football had reached such a high level. But when Grêmio lost to China's Guoan in 1996, the competitive Scolari made an angry attack at a press conference due to the many controversial penalties which were favorable to Guoan during the game and shattered the Chinese fans' beautiful vision of the commercial games. He said, "I finally understand why so many strong teams lost here. If you rely on the referee to win, then you will never have a chance to reach the World Cup finals, never!"

Immediately following that, in order to prove that Scolari was not just venting due to the loss, the England national team came to China with its entire main lineup and defeated the Chinese national team with a three-goal victory in the Workers' Stadium. It informed the Chinese fans to take a look at the nature of the commercial game.

When all was said and done, the world's top teams visited China to make money. Who would really fight it out for real and compete with a team that was backward? Furthermore, the players on the field were worried that they might be injured by their opponent's intense actions, so their strength was naturally diminished.

As to whether the Chinese Football Association had any private deals with the teams that came to China, a poor citizen like Twain would not know, but now he had firsthand experience.

Twain was not surprised by the kind of things that happened under the guise of the Olympics. After all, there had been scandals erupting from the national Olympic team and the national team some time ago. The image of the Chinese football plummeted. Ff they could tie with the world's strongest team just as the Olympic Games were about to start, it would spur the fans on, and gather some confidence for the upcoming national Olympic team.

It was entirely understandable that the Chinese Football Association wanted the game to be a draw. After all, these people had never regarded football as football. The laws of the football world were nonsensical in their eyes. The football game in their mind should be subjected to their arrangements. Whether it was the outcome or the process, whether it was the environment or the players, coaches and referees... All had to obey them.

Seeing Twain's sudden silence, Allan did not continue. He waited for Twain to answer.

Twain came out of his thoughts. He lifted his eyes to look at Allan.

"Okay, Allan. I'll be sure to extend this courtesy to them." Twain winked at Allan and smiled.

Allan relaxed his shoulders and finally had a smile on his face.

※※※

Nottingham Forest would only stay in China for five days, but there were a lot of things lined up for them, so time was very tight. Aide Group and Allan arranged a very intensive trip for the Forest team. If an ordinary person were to see them, he would think that they had cloned themselves.

On the evening of their arrival in Ningbo, the team attended a welcome dinner reception hosted by the city government and then returned to the hotel to rest.

The next morning, the team went to Ningbo Fubang Stadium for training to adapt to the venue. The training session was open to the public, but tickets were required. The prices ranged from 50 to 300 yuan, and scalpers might have sold them for even higher. Because there was Beckham, van Nistelrooy, van der Vaart, George Wood, Franck Ribéry, and so many other star players. Their appeal to the fans was a tool for businessmen to make money.

After the team got changed after the morning's training ended, the team attended a luncheon hosted by a Chinese sponsor for the event. During the luncheon, Twain and Allan signed a three-year brand endorsement deal on behalf of Nottingham Forest. Over the next three years, this company would be allowed to use the image of the Nottingham Forest team for publicity in China.

After an afternoon of basic training, some people could go back to the hotel to rest, while others were busy. Beckham attended a promotional event for one of the brands he endorsed. Dunn was invited by China's state television to record a program about his life on the English Premier League champion team, Nottingham Forest. Both George Wood and Tony Twain attended the signing ceremony for the construction of the Armani store on Heyi Avenue in Haishu District, Ningbo, because both were Armani brand ambassadors. It was only to sign the agreement, though, as the store wouldn't be completed until the following April.

The players did not have to attend any events that night, and could have a night of free activities. It was believed that most would choose to go out and do some shopping, but even so, they could not relax too much. The media tagged along and reported on how they spent their time and shopping would appear on television, in newspapers, on the Internet, and on other media platforms the next day.

Twain followed the club's top two executives, Evan and Allan, to attend a celebrity gathering. Twain was the worst at that kind of activity, but he was unable to decline.

With no training on the third morning, all the players had to dress up to visit the University of Nottingham's Ningbo campus in Ningbo High Education Park. In the school's stadium, the players played a game with the local college students. Beckham taught a free kick and chose five players to have a simple one on one duel with the college students.

After a simple lunch at noon, the team returned to Fubang Stadiumto continue the open training. Fans who bought tickets for the previous day's training could enter with those tickets, and those who had lost or not bought them would have to purchase tickets.

After training, the players had to rush to Ningbo City Enmei Orphanage to give presents to the kids.

In the evening, after a quick dinner on the bus, the team rushed to the television station and recorded a program with lucky fans who had been selected for about four hours. It was late at night when they headed back to the hotel, exhausted.

They continued training on the fourth morning at Fubang Stadium, but the training was not open to the public. Twain arranged detailed tactics for the evening's game. By convention, such trainings were never public. Therefore, Aide Group did not sell tickets to the training session.

After lunch, the players took a lunch break in the hotel to prepare for the game while Tony Twain attended a press conference. It was for the announcement of the partnership between Nottingham Forest and Zhejiang Greentown F.C., a local professional football club in Zhejiang Province.

Greentown was the Forest team's satellite club in China.

It was a big event involving football in Zhejiang Province, and Twain had to attend.

After a simple dinner in the evening, the team rode to Fubang Stadium, where the grand finale for their China trip was — playing a friendly match with China's National Olympic team, who had been training for months, at Fubang Stadium in Ningbo City.

With Nottingham Forest winning the Champions League for the second year in a row, as well as the Premier League title, they were the Double Winner and was unrivaled. Their popularity in China soared. Coupled with the fact that the game's other team was the high-profile and highly anticipated Chinese Olympic team, the tickets to the game sold like hot cakes. The Fubang Stadium could only accommodate 30,000 spectators, so the organizers erected a special stand on the track. 35,000 out of 40,000 tickets sold, a result that was considered good when commercial football was getting less popular.

Aide Group suffered great losses on Real Madrid's second visit to China a few years ago. This time, they made it back with Nottingham Forest.

Early in the morning of the fifth day, Nottingham Forest packed up and flew from Ningbo Lishe International Airport to Tokyo, Japan. They started their four days and four nights of frenetic money-making in Japan.

※※※

These few days were a tough test for the players — Beckham had had the experience, so he could cope easily — and it was miserable for the others.

In front of people, under the limelight, under the glare of a camera lens, and in front of the media's pervasive attention, they smiled as they faced various occasions and tirelessly signed autographs for the fans, satisfied their requests for a photo. They carefully protected their public image.

When they were doing charity at the orphanage, everyone was very serious, and no one was too tired to shirk their jobs. That was what made Twain the proudest. Beckham, in particular, was the best example to the other teammates. No matter how many people surrounded him and what kind of requests the fans had, he always smiled and tried his best to fulfill them. He never showed the slightest sign of impatience when being observed by others.

In the orphanage, being the most famous, he was also the most popular with the children. He treated the children with mental challenges and physical disabilities like his own children.

George Wood was a little awkward, but he tried hard.

The players only had time to eat on their way to the television station, but many people did not have an appetite. After getting on the bus, they waved to the children, fans, and reporters outside the window. When the bus was finally out of sight, the dedicated "actors" finally leaned back on their seats and slept.

If the star players replayed their trip to China in the summer of 2008 in their minds, what would be the only thing that stayed in their minds?

Tired?

So tired...