long live football

Carl coughed violently.

The seasoning that was accidentally thrown into the pot gave off a strong spicy smell. Carl coughed and turned off the fire, then went to the living room to watch the group of boring guests chatting and laughing on TV until the show was over.

Pulling at the neckline and unbuttoning the top button, Karl sighed helplessly.

He really didn't expect - it's just a tie, but it can involve so many things?

It all started with last month's Berlin Gay Parade.

There are often various parades in Berlin, the capital of Germany. One of the most famous ones is the annual gay parade, also known as "Berlin Christopher Street Parade Day", which commemorates the "Stone Wall Incident" that took place on Christopher Street in New York. "——In 1969, the New York police violently harassed the gay bar "Stone Wall", which triggered the first large-scale gay parade in history. This was the "Stone Wall Incident".

Because there is a gay mayor, the gay parade in Berlin is getting bigger and bigger every year. In recent years, the number of participants has been more than 50 people every time. There are also many politicians, such as the Green Party Parliament Faction leaders, US ambassador to Germany, British ambassador to Germany, etc.

When preparing for the parade last month, the mayor of Berlin and several relatively large groups in Germany sent invitation letters to Karl - sent directly to his club office, hoping that he can participate in the parade organized by his own group Events—the reason for sending invitations is probably because the gay public service advertisement shot by Karl and Beckham is too influential, and now many gay rights organizations in Germany have regarded him as a "spokesperson".

Karl was not prepared to reveal his sexual orientation to the world before he found a lover who was like him, not to mention that he was busy preparing for the new season at that time, so he rejected these invitations one by one.

Other invitations can be handled by the secretary. The invitation from the mayor of Berlin was declined by Karl himself. Although Klaus Wovireit had some regrets, he also forgave Karl's choice. He just hoped that he could do more things in the future. Ease the deep-rooted "homophobia" in European football.

"In the cultural, artistic, political and even ordinary people, homosexuality is no longer a problem. Actors, models, singers, politicians and even priests all dare to disclose their sexuality, but few people in the football circle do so. Do, the homophobia in football is exactly the same as it was ten years ago, 20 years ago, or even half a century ago." Vovilet said: "I once had an email exchange with a gay player in Berlin-sorry I can't tell you who he is, I swear to God I won't reveal his name to anyone - I encouraged him to come out and try to make him a world famous gay star in the same way I made it , but he rejected me in fear, and told me that if the fans and the media knew the truth about his homosexuality, his life would be greatly threatened, and he had to bid farewell to football to protect himself.”

"His words made me very puzzled. I used to be only interested in the game and knew very little about football off the field. Because of this friend, I did a special investigation. The results of the investigation even made me They were all surprised. Elton John and Littman, who are not even players, but the chairman who has made a huge contribution to the club, have both suffered tremendous pressure, been hostile and insulted by the fans..."

Elton John is a British rock star who composed music for "The Lion King" and Princess Diana. He is a diehard fan, former club and permanent honorary chairman of the English football team Watford, but Watford The fans didn't like him at all, and even discriminated against him very much. They even made up a song for him, "Please be careful, don't sit on Elton John's ××."

And Littman, the chairman of the Sao Paulo club, married his boyfriend Ella Bib who has been in love for many years at the end of last year, becoming the No. 1 gay marriage in German football.This news was quite a sensation last year. It was on the sports news of almost any country on the planet, and it also caused great repercussions among the fans. From last year to now, there are endless voices in the Sao Paulo club to let Litman step down.

"A player is indeed incomparable with a politician. Football is a team sport, and team sports are the most alienating, and a gay is the most glaring alien among a group of heterosexuals. From the point of view of an industry insider , if you meet a gay player, my advice to him is - don't come out. After all, as you said, the development of football is at least 20 years behind the normal world." Karl echoed: "But I am very happy Willing to help you, after all, society is moving forward, maybe one day in the future, even in football circles, sexuality will no longer be considered an issue?"

Wovilet hesitated for a long time, hinting and asked: "So you also..."

"What?" Carl asked.There was an imperceptible smile in his tone.

"It's nothing." Wovilet just listened to the voice, and understood what the other party didn't say: "If there is such a day..." He said with a bit of melancholy: "Maybe I am already old enough to chase after you." It's not you."

The two agreed to end the topic here.

Then the day before the Berlin Pride Pride, Karl wore a rainbow tie in support of the event.

……

The six-color rainbow pattern composed of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet has the meaning of "gay pride" in Western culture.

During Gay Pride Month, which commemorates Stonewall every year, a Google search for "gay pride" turns up the six-colored rainbow flag, and when you search for "six-colored rainbow flag," it turns up " Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Stonewall, etc.

Anyone who pays a little attention to gay culture knows what the rainbow flag represents.So when Karl appeared in a public place wearing a rainbow tie, almost everyone present was in a commotion: "Mr. Alston, what is the purpose of you appearing at the press conference wearing a rainbow flag tie?"

"Are you going to come out publicly?"

"Is this a planned appearance? Like your BBC PSA?"

"Is the rainbow tie related to tomorrow's Berlin Pride Parade?"

"I have recently received invitations from many teams, and they hope that I can participate in the parade in Berlin tomorrow, but you all know that because of the competition, I will definitely stay in Munich tomorrow, so I came up with this way to express to them. Support.” In front of countless microphones, Carl smiled very calmly and said: “Since I can accept the advertisement of the British BBC, I can also contribute to the public welfare activities in Germany. I hope that this society will become more and more progressive. That's all."

Giving reasons, expressing support, with previous actions as a foreshadowing (gay public service announcement), Carl felt that his behavior was extremely normal, normal as any celebrity who is passionate about public causes would do.

But he still underestimated his influence.

There are 40 floats, more than 20 teams, and a total of more than 50 participants in the Berlin gay team. Although there is no real Karl, he is everywhere.

Not to mention the same rainbow tie that was everywhere on the day of the parade, not to mention the life-size posters plastered on the entire bus, but there are still many men who are similar in height and shape to Carl, who spared no expense to come out dressed exactly like him Parade (even the color of the pattern of the handkerchief and the angle at which it is folded are the same), and there are many virtual portraits of Karl and other men kissing in large numbers - some with Beckham, Mourinho, Ronaldo , and even the German coach Joachim Loew.

These and the "husband and wife portraits" of Putin and Medvedev held by Russian tourists became one of the biggest highlights of the parade.

In the words of one presenter: "Auston has completely become the 'mascot' of the parade, a symbol everyone loves."

"It's also fortunate that Austen didn't go to Berlin that day. If he appeared on the streets of Christopher, then even his underwear would be stuffed with phone numbers."

The largest gay rights organization in Germany stated that they would buy the copyright of the gay advertisement filmed by Carl from BBC Television, and then permanently place it on the website for publicity.

The mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wovereit, was half-joking, half-seriously thanking Karl for the rainbow tie that had boosted sales in Berlin malls, saying: "If football is as enlightened as Austen And if more influential people can stand up, it may gradually improve the bad situation in football that regards homosexuality as a virus."

On the forum, the speech of an anonymous person is particularly interesting: "Being a Bundesliga player and being an openly gay person are hostile and contradictory. For my football dream, I choose to be a player. And hide my sexuality. On and off the court, I am like an actor, cheating people every day... I will deliberately make disgusting dirty jokes with my teammates, lie that I am crazy about a woman, and invite some from time to time Women who are not interested in going to public events with me, these are all to make me rid of people's suspicions... I have to do it, I have to do it, and as far as I know, there are no current players in the Bundesliga in a similar situation to me. There are at least four or five of them, and their living conditions are similar to mine, we dare not go to gay bars, and even date male partners secretly..."

"If Auston can really make things better for people like us, even if it's just fans in the stands insulting people, stop saying 'XXX, you sucking dick!' I feel very satisfied.”

When other netizens asked Anonymous, "Do you fantasize about your teammates every day? Who do you think about when you masturbate?", Anonymous replied: "When you take a shower with your teammates at first, look When I see their nudes, I will still be distracted, but it will be the same after a long time, just like you will not feel it if you watch too much porn. My current teammates, I am not interested in any of them. My ideal type ? Yes, of course there is, and you are about the same... Auston, that's right... I used to be a little bit eager for him at most, but now I am obsessed with him... The reason? Well, since Auston is so keen on gay public welfare , then at least he won’t be disgusted with GAY, if you think about it this way, if you work hard, maybe he can be turned away..."

……

Karl's sexuality has become a hot topic of discussion in European society.

Who made his name appear too frequently with the word "GAY" recently?

Besides, for an outstanding man who is busy with his career all day long, not to mention a confidante, there is not a single female fly within a few kilometers. As time goes by, it is not impossible for others to feel suspicious because they feel weird.

But although there are many programs and reports discussing Karl's sexuality, no one really concluded that he was "gay", not for other reasons, just because Karl's private life is really too clean, like those in the middle ages who put life and chastity The monks who dedicated themselves to God together, even the paparazzi reporters with great powers, would not want to take pictures of him fooling around with others.

So in the discussion about Carl, there is another argument supported by many people, that is, "Carl Oston is actually an asexual".

In a street survey conducted by British Sky TV, 11.7% of the public believed that Carl was heterosexual, 36.8% believed that he was gay, but 51.5% believed that he was asexual.

But no matter whether he is asexual or gay, the society's keen attention to his sexual orientation makes Karl feel a little uncomfortable.

There was also some unease.

If the situation continues, maybe one day, I will be "out of the closet" and "asexual" in the public opinion.

So Karl needs to make a remedy as soon as possible.

The method is: to make conspicuous behaviors less conspicuous, and to make mavericks become popular trends.

At Karl's instigation, his friends acted one after another.

Mourinho wears a rainbow tie, a rainbow scarf appears in the street photos of Beckham and Irving, a mini rainbow flag appears on Ronaldo's sports car, Ruud van Nistelrooy tweets in solidarity with his friends... for charity With so many stars appearing at once, it immediately distracted the media's attention from Karl.

In the distant Premier League, Everton fans responded more quickly than German fans. In the latest round of Everton vs. Southampton, "Toffees" fans enthusiastically waved a rainbow in the stands flag.

A more spectacular scene appeared in the seventh round of the Bundesliga, in the home game of 1860 Munich against Freiburg: when the Lions players played, everyone had a palm-sized rainbow flag sticker on their left arm.

……

The match between 1860 Munich and Freiburg was fantastic.

It's not that Freiburg is strong, but that the Lions players are very smart and aggressive, and the offense is so smooth that people can't bear to look away.

It's just that the focus of the various media is not on the game. They are more interested in the small sticker that appears on the arm of the Lions player.

"It's a shocking scene, such a scene has never been seen in the history of world football - the rainbow flag appeared majestically on the field of Germany's top football league!"

"A game where gay culture is everywhere, even though there are no gays involved."

"Just as people couldn't have imagined 20 years ago that the government would pass gay marriage laws, people can't imagine what's going to happen 20 years from now - if the homophobic atmosphere in sports is removed in the future - If, I mean if, it's a hypothetical - then this game will be a milestone in world football and it will be mentioned all the time."

"Gays will thank Auston, and his players."

……

At the end of September and the beginning of October, the annual Oktoberfest is here.

The annual grand ceremony downplayed all the previous social hot news. People in Oston didn't care much about parades, games, etc. They focused all their attention on the various grand celebrations, wine, beauties, and food at the Oktoberfest.

Munich 1860, as always, held the club's internal dinner, which was attended by media fans.

The popularity of the Lions this year is higher than ever. In addition to the fact that they are winning more and more championships, there is another reason that attracts fans - there are too many bachelors in the team.

The club's public dinner party was originally a great opportunity for the players to bring their wives and children and show off their happy families, but for the players of Munich 1860, most of them came to the dinner party alone, and they were as beautiful as the beauties at the Bayern Munich party next door. The cloudy, brightly lit scene is the exact opposite.

It is not enough to have a handsome, young and rich star, but a large group of them appeared as soon as they appeared. This is so exciting for women!

Therefore, the German media dubbed the Lions team: "Munich White Horse Prince".

The leader of the black and white horse princes in Munich, the brightest jewel in the Bavarian crown, Karl Osten, shamelessly took off his eye-catching coat and put it on his hand when his players were surrounded by countless media fans , and slipped away from the crowd.

Wearing a very ethnic Bavarian felt hat on his head, with the brim of the hat slightly lowered, Karl appeared in the center of Munich in such a swaggering way—thanks to the fact that he seldom wore a hat in front of the public, no one Can recognize him.Perhaps there is also a reason why people on the street are too busy enjoying the festival to pay attention to others.

Tired from walking, Karl stopped at the door of a beer tent set up by a local Munich brewery, thinking about going in for a beer and some grilled chicken and sausages.

Sudden force behind him caused Karl to stagger. Fortunately, he saved himself from falling to the ground with the help of the decorative shelf next to the tent.

Which daredevil didn't look at the road and bumped into it?After standing still, Carl frowned slightly and looked back.

The moment he saw the appearance of the person behind him, a thought flashed through Carl's mind: "This face is too ugly with this hairstyle."