long live football

Ronaldo threw a stack of newspapers in front of Karl.

"Shopping with Mourinho, eating with Beckham, and that underwear model named Elizabeth, every day is different from the people you appear in the newspaper. Are you a social butterfly?"

Carl was busy operating the game controller, and only had time to glance at him: "Don't worry, there will be news about us living together and going for a morning run together tomorrow."

Ronaldo glared at him.

"And the word courtesan is too vulgar, 'socialite' is a little more refined."

Ronaldo flicked his fingers: "Who swears that he will go to various stadiums to watch games and inspect players? And who has stayed in the house these days and refused to go out, eating mine, drinking mine, living in mine, and Playing my game—" He finally poked his finger at the TV screen: "The score is actually higher than mine!"

"...The point is the last sentence?"

The idea was exposed, Ronaldo threw a package to Carl with a stern face: "Your things just arrived, it seems to be an international express."

Carl turned off the game and opened the package with great interest.

"Who's going to send your package to my house?"

"I asked Hassler to forward it, something I've been looking forward to for a long time." Carl finally opened the package, took out a CD from it, and said with a smile, "Do you want to watch it together?"

Ronaldo looked at the disc suspiciously: "What is this?"

"I asked the manufacturer to burn an advertisement, and a Chinese product collectively endorsed by the team players."

Ronaldo originally wanted to say that he wasn't interested, but seeing Carl's smile was very suspicious. He felt that there must be something weird in it, so after thinking about it, they sat down together again.

Carl picked up his laptop from the sofa and stuffed the CD into it.

When the golden voice commercial is broadcast in China, it is usually only five seconds long, but the manufacturer sent Carl this time an extended version after editing: first a virtual grassland background appeared on the screen, and then the camera shot from each person wearing the print The main players of Munich 1860 with jerseys with five large characters of "Golden Throat and Throat" were swept across their faces, and finally fixed on the group photo.

In every frame of the picture, the young players of the Lions team have their mouths wide open, their teeth are white, their eyes are bright, and everyone holds a box of golden voices in their right hands, trying their best to smile at the camera with a deep and loud smile The male voice recited the background voice sonorously: "Protect your throat, I use a golden voice! Guangxi golden voice!"

The extended version of the ad is only 20 seconds long, but the shock it brings cannot be slowed down for more than ten minutes.

Ronaldo swallowed mouthful after mouthful of saliva, unable to speak.

Carl buried his head in the sofa, trembling for a long time with his image completely lost, stretched out his right hand tremblingly, moved the mouse and started sending emails.

He copied the ad onto his computer and loaded it into this mass mailing.

Ronaldo looked at him in horror: "You're going to send it to every one of your players?!"

"I promised to send them the finished ad when it came out, and you can't just keep your word." Carl waited for the video to upload: "Judging by the effect an ad should achieve, it will definitely succeed in the end. Don't you think it Is it particularly impressive? I bet if you know Chinese, you won’t be able to forget this product and advertisement after a few months.”

"How did your players accept this endorsement?"

"Everyone loves the euro." Carl looked at Ronaldo with sincere eyes: "And believe me, if someone offers you 1000 million euros to shoot an advertisement, even if the effect is ten times worse than this, you will definitely agree."

"..." Ronaldo looked at the other party in silence and clicked "Send" with the mouse. In his eyes, the image of Carl Oston took a big step towards the evil side.

After sending the email, Carl turned off his phone and went to sleep contentedly.

The next day, Carl's inbox was full, as expected.

He got tons of "!!!!!!!!!" and "YOOOOOOOOOO!"

……

Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Denmark were originally on Karl's winter break schedule, but when he stayed in London one day after another, he silently canceled the second half of January. All flight bookings.

The transfer window opened after the New Year, and the Munich 1860 club started contacting and making offers with various clubs based on the list provided by Karl.

The team now has a sharp striker, but the distribution of strength between the defense and the frontcourt is somewhat uneven. Because of this, most of the players Karl has taken a fancy to this time are center and defenders.

The first one is the Argentine player Javier Alejandro Mascherano. In 2004, Mascherano, who was just 20 years old, was selected for the Argentine national team and won the Olympic champion in Athens and the Copa America. , and now he is still playing for the Sao Paulo team Corinthians in Brazil, but he has been followed by many European teams.

The No.2 player is Daniel Agger, a central defender. He was the best rookie in Denmark last year and the year before.

The No.3 player, Karl took a fancy to Mats Hummels, the rival of Bayern in the same city. This is a defensive star who has attracted much attention in German football. He grew up and was trained in the Bayern youth team, and now plays in the Bayern second team. main force.

Three players, two are far away from the mainstream league but are destined to come to Europe one day to find gold, and the other is trained by Bayern's youth training but is currently playing for the second team. Karl believes that if the club is willing and willing to work hard, they can definitely dig one or two. indivual.

But in the end Chairman Orr called him and said: "Sorry, Carl, we can't bring any of the three of them."

Before Daniel Agger made contact with Brondby Club in Munich 1860, he had already signed a transfer agreement with Liverpool in private. This agreement will be announced soon: Agger will join Liverpool with a transfer fee of 500 million pounds. The price created the highest value for a player sold by a Danish team and the highest value for a defender introduced by Liverpool.

In terms of fame, attractiveness to players and financial resources, the current Munich 1860 is of course inferior to the Premier League giants Liverpool.

And Mascherano, his agent said that although the Argentine defender is destined to come to Europe, he wants to go to the Premier League or La Liga, which has a greater influence in the league, rather than the Bundesliga.

As for Mats Hummels, his situation is more complicated, not simply a matter of money.Hummels came to Bayern Munich with his father and his current agent, Hermann Hummels. Hummels joined the youth team and Hermann Hummels served as the The youth training coordinator of the club and the chief scout of the U23 youth team for more than 10 years. The father and son must have deep feelings for Bayern Munich. It is not easy to persuade them to join the rivals in the same city.

When many teams operate a transfer, they will first secretly contact the players, confirm their wishes, and then negotiate the price with the club. But for Hummels, Munich 1860 knows that it is difficult to convince him first, so they directly Choose to make an offer to Bayern Munich.

Surprisingly, Bayern did not reject 1860 Munich outright. They first expressed the club's importance to Hummels, and then offered Hummels plus 1000 million euros in exchange for Portillo.

After the reply was sent to the board of directors of Munich 1860, the entire senior management was shocked: they originally thought that they wanted to scoop up the future star of Bayern, and Bayern would definitely refuse it without even thinking about it, but instead of refusing, they tried to discuss it in a negotiating tone. Make this deal a reality!

Although Hummels is not yet the main force of the first team, almost everyone agrees that his future must be, imagine Manchester United and Manchester City opening their doors to each other to do business, or players playing in Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, Rome and Lazio It was bought and sold between... To be able to take Hummels away from Bayern, if this matter is done, what an exciting thing for the board of directors and fans!

And tens of millions of euros... The hearts of shareholders are trembling.

With Portillo's current performance in the Bundesliga, it is a proper rhythm to win the striker's golden boot. Is the league's top scorer only worth 1000 million euros?If Bayern has the heart, they will definitely pay a higher price.

If 1860 München got the money, the financial situation would immediately turn from healthy to profitable, and the various shareholders would also receive a large dividend at the end of the season.Many shareholders were moved.

After intense discussions, the tentative plan of the board of directors is: while sending general manager Nesser to wrestle with Bayern manager Hoeness to see if he can turn 1000 million euros into 2000 million or more, while testing the team's head coach Karl Auston's thoughts.

Chairman Orr acted as the contact person, but when he tentatively conveyed the deal to Karl, the head coach of the Lions replied without thinking: "Don't say 1000 million plus Hummels, Even if it's 2000 million plus Hummels, I won't sell Portillo!"

"But shareholders are very bullish on the deal..."

"If they want to sell my players without my consent." Carl's tone became cold: "Okay, let's fire me first!"

It stands to reason that the head coach of the Bundesliga cannot intervene in the club's player sales, but fortunately Orr respects Karl's opinion very much and has had many private agreements with him, so when Karl expressed his firm attitude, Orr hesitated.

Carl and the board were at opposite ends of the balance in Orr's mind, causing him to swing left and right.As a businessman, he began to analyze the pros and cons of selling and not selling.

Carl could hear hesitation from Orr's breath, so he said: "I hope you can carefully consider this deal, Mr. Chairman. Portillo is the core of the team and is very important in my tactics." Yihuan, without him, I can't guarantee you anything, including the top ten in the league required by the club before the season. I have to reconsider whether I can complete it according to the reduction of the team's strength. And the team With Portillo in the team, goals are guaranteed and we might even have a title at the end of the season."

Auston is threatening himself?Orr just heard this, and before he felt uncomfortable, he was shocked by Carl's next words.

"Championship? A championship?!" Orr asked uncertainly, "Did you just say that we might win a championship at the end of the season?"

"Yes. We have reached the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal and we are ranked No.4 in the league. The difference between No.3 Hamburg and Hamburg is only a goal difference. Of course we may win a championship trophy, and even if we don't, The probability of entering the UEFA Cup and European Champions Cup next season is also very high." Carl emphasized: "You know more about the prize money of the Champions League and the European Union than I do, and European competitions bring not only money, but also honor. At such a critical moment, do you really want to sell the core of the team?"

It was only at this time that Orr realized that he was indeed confused by the two items of "ten million transfer money" and "digging future stars from Bayern"-let alone whether the team can win at the end of the season To win the championship, the temptation to play in European competitions next season is big enough.A chairman who can bring profits to the club is of course paid for by the shareholders, but if he wants the seat to be supported by fans for a long time, honor comes first!He must have taken the wrong medicine before to listen to the nagging of those shareholders and want to sell the team's main force!

As soon as his sanity came back, Orr immediately thought far-reaching—people who can expand the business and run for the chairman of the club are not stupid. Orr thought, who among the shareholders shouted yesterday that he wanted to sell Portillo? the loudest?It seems to be the guy named Madden, he has a very good relationship with Wildmoser.

'It is the shareholders who sell Portillo and get the benefits together, but I am the one who is scolded by the fans. Thinking of this, the hesitation in Orr's heart was immediately abandoned: "Of course I will respect your opinion, Carl, the future of the team is bright, and I will not destroy my future just because of a little profit."

"I knew you would make a wise decision." Carl complimented.

The next day, 1860 Munich replied to Bayern manager Hoeness: "Portillo is not for sale."

……

During the winter transfer period, several other main players of 1860 Munich also received offers, but Karl can't even buy in the locker room now. How can there be any reason to sell?So he rejected all these transactions and told the board of directors: "For the stability of the team lineup, I am not going to sell any of the main players during the winter break."

Shareholders criticized his approach. At the first regular meeting after the winter break, they criticized Karl's ignorance and economic acumen, either explicitly or implicitly.

Karl only replied to them: "If the board of directors agrees that I will use all the money from selling players to buy people, then these transactions can be renegotiated."

Shareholders fell silent.

What's the point of actively running these deals if they don't get a penny of the benefits?Shareholders are all businessmen, and businessmen put their interests first. As for the strength and future of the team, let the chairman and manager worry about it.

The transfer is then pressed and will not be mentioned again.

At the end of January, the Bundesliga resumed.

Compared with opponents who have more or less added fresh blood, the lineup of Munich 1860 is undoubtedly much more stable-Carl traded two or three non-main players until the transfer window closed, and the team's main lineup is the same as last season. than almost no change.Stability means that the players can get back to their best form without too much running-in. The biggest benefit this brings to the team is that after the restart of the season, 1860 Munich achieved very good results by taking advantage of it.

1月28日，联赛第18轮，慕尼黑1860主场对阵柏林赫塔，3:1获胜。

2月4日，联赛第19轮，客场挑战勒沃库森。0:0平。

On February 2th, in the 9th round of the league, they played away against Nuremberg again and won 20:0.

Three games, two wins and one draw, Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen, who are currently ranked first and second in the league standings, have also achieved the same results after the restart of the season, while the Lions' direct opponent Hamburg has two games in three games. With one loss and one win, 1860 Munich directly opened up its opponent by 4 points and firmly occupied the No.3 position in the standings.

It was also at this time that many fans and players suddenly realized that they were so, so close to the UEFA Champions League next season.

……

On the eve of Valentine's Day in 2006, the British company Thornton paid a lot of money to buy the prime advertising time of BBC TV, as well as the full-page advertising pages of "The Sun", "Daily Mail", "Guardian" and other media to promote Their Valentine's Day limited new products, as well as a new spokesperson.

Such a large amount of advertising investment shocked the entire British dessert industry. The spokesperson of Cadbury, Thornton’s biggest competitor, publicly laughed at the promotion meeting: “We are selling candy instead of luxury goods. Is it interesting to make so many gimmicks? Do too much advertising, be careful that you won’t even get your money back in the end.”

But before Valentine's Day came, Cadbury was slapped in the face.

On February 2th, the day before Valentine's Day, Thornton launched "Valentine's Day Limited Chocolate" in hundreds of stores in the UK at the same time, and the top three customers in each store can get a signed poster of Carl Alston , the first 13 customers can get a promotional poster.

Overnight, the limited edition chocolate gift boxes were sold out.

The posters were initially sent out with gift boxes as gifts, and later changed to sales, but they were also sold out within a short period of time.Not only that, even the large promotional posters pasted outside each store were secretly torn down overnight.

The remaining inventory on Thornton's official website has also not escaped the rush to buy.

International orders on eBay suddenly increased, with buyers from Germany, Switzerland and Russia buying chocolates, posters, and white roses and orchids "stolen from the garden of Alston's London residence" at high prices from British sellers. , mint and rosemary" or something.

Cadbury executives swallowed silently, ordering the publicity department to increase investment in advertising.

In the first match of Munich 1860 after Valentine's Day, many guests came from afar in the Allianz Arena.Most of them are female, British, young, and passionate. They hold various English banners, one of which reads: "Carl Alston, marry me!"

"Bild" reporter Harold Bierman called this group "Karl Alston tour group".

Bundesliga fans said that this title could not be more appropriate.

Shortly after Valentine's Day, the British "New Women" magazine held a "World's Sexiest Man" selection, a total of 43000 readers participated, and Alan Cranstone won the final crown, thanks to the accumulation of "Brokeback Mountain". The popularity of "Superman Returns", as well as a series of posters and trailers exposed by "Superman Returns", the most liked female fan comment on Facebook: "Although I know he is a model, but the figure wrapped in Superman's tights is still too tempting People, I can't look away."

Brad Pitt got No.2, followed by Jack Gyllenshire, and then Orlando Bloom, the "Prince of Elf" in "Lord of the Rings".

Among sports celebrities, the highest ranked is Karl, who is fifth.Other British football celebrities have also been selected. Chelsea coach Mourinho ranked seventh, Arsenal striker Henry overwhelmed Beckham to rank eighth, and Beckham ranked ninth. The former "heartbeat" now has this His ranking is inseparable from his current sluggish performance in Real Madrid.

Other shortlisted Arsenal striker Freddie Ljungberg, Newcastle forward Owen, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, and Arsenal defender Ashley Cole and more.

However, just as the American magazine "People" selects the 50 most beautiful people in the world every year, which represent the aesthetics of mainstream North American society, the selection of the British "New Women" also represents the aesthetics of British society. There are many differences between the two, such as "People" Most of the top [-] or [-] on the list are Hollywood stars or models, while there are many sports celebrities and celebrities in the UK.

The only exception is Alan Cranstone, who has top popularity in both Europe and North America.

The author has something to say:

PPS: The stalk of "YOOOOOOO" comes from this video: "YOOOOOOOOO".

In the morning, I read the news from The Guardian that Ferguson was going to retire. At that time, I still didn't believe it. I wondered when the Guardian would learn from the Sun and start selling unreliable news?In the end, the official statement came out in the afternoon, Sir Alexis is really going to retire... Up to now, there are only two thoughts in my mind: "Why did he retire?!!!" and "Who is going to take over..."