Chapter 362 Hong Kong Football Association
Wang Yuanchao had previously invested heavily in Hong Kong's football clubs and established a complete echelon school, which immediately attracted the attention of Shi Jian, the president of the Hong Kong Football Association, who was a John.

At that time, the Football Association had only a dozen employees, including one secretary, one deputy secretary, two assistant secretaries, one coach and one accountant, two female employees in charge of daily clerical work, and three handymen.

It's just that simple.

So Shi Jian couldn't wait to invite Wang Yuanchao, the financial sponsor, to serve as vice president of the Football Association.

According to the original history, at this time, Mr. Huo should have taken over the Football Association and become the first Chinese president.

Because he was close to the mainland, he was suppressed by the authorities and could only devote more energy to sports and other areas that were not valued by the authorities.

He is very good at sports. Wang Yuanchao once played tennis with him. Wang Yuanchao relied entirely on physical strength and was crushed by others in terms of skills. Well, let's not talk about it.

Wang Yuanchao admired and respected this elder very much.

When Shi Jian came to see him, he also communicated his opinions with the Huo family first.

Because Mr. Huo is the same age as his father, only one year younger, and Mr. Huo's eldest son is the same age as his second brother, Wang Yuanchao is very familiar with them and calls them Uncle Huo and Big Brother Huo.

Uncle Huo:
"You are willing to help us Chinese get rid of the label of the sick man of East Asia and focus on football. What's wrong with that?
I support you very much!"

Yes, Wang Yuanchao and Uncle Huo revealed their family backgrounds. It’s nothing special. They are just family and fellow travelers.

Uncle Huo also highly recognizes this young and promising nephew.

Wang Yuanchao said:

"Originally, I heard that Uncle Huo was also interested in supporting football."

Uncle Huo smiled and said:
“There are so many more sports that I support.

But to be honest, it's better for you to support football, which is a sport that can invest so much real money."

Wang Yuanchao said shyly but confidently:
"Because I must make Chinese football enter the World Cup! We are no worse than the West in what they can do!"

This can be regarded as a small obsession of Wang Yuanchao. Otherwise, among so many charitable investments, why would he choose to invest in supporting football?

As long as he does this well, we are all Chinese, so it will be just a small repair of the regret.

Uncle Huo restrained his smile and said seriously:

"I have also carefully observed your football plan. You are not eager for quick success, but rather proceed step by step. You have actually taken ten years to wait for the harvest. This is not like someone your age at all. Even if it were me, I am afraid I would not be as meticulous as you."

Wang Yuanchao nodded seriously and said:

"We have to admit that our foundation is not as good as others. We also have to admit that our physique is different from that of foreigners. We must face up to our own shortcomings, find our advantages, persevere, and use our strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses."

Last year, in June 69, the second riot against the John National Football Team broke out in Hong Kong. On June 6 last year, the John Football Association United Team visited Hong Kong to play against the Hong Kong United Team. The John Team's visit this time exuded an ominous atmosphere from the beginning.

The day before the match, the visiting team held a press conference at Kai Tak Airport after arriving in Hong Kong. The next day, many Chinese newspapers expressed dissatisfaction with the attitude of the team's manager and international player Jamie Armfield, believing that his "arrogant attitude gave people a bad impression". The Hong Kong Times directly accused him of "not cooperating with reporters at the reception, 'not answering nine out of ten questions', and his gentlemanly superiority was overwhelming and beyond words, which made experts very disgusted."

On the night of the game, the number of spectators reached 25000, and the visiting team won 6-0.

After the game, riots broke out.

Fans started setting fires in the stands late in the game.

The police sent armed riot police to the stadium to prevent fans from rushing into the stadium.

The visiting team eventually returned to the locker room under police escort.

A large number of fans then gathered outside the stadium and threw flower pots, stones and other debris at passing cars.

During the riot, a total of 5 cars were damaged, including the car of Chung Yat Kit, who was then Assistant Colonial Secretary and Vice-President of the Football Association. The police finally dispersed the rioters with batons. The rioters who were driven to Leighton Road burned newspapers, furniture and other sundries on the road, and damaged public facilities on the road such as garbage bins. One foreigner was injured in the incident and another was arrested.

The Love newspaper accused the foreigners of being biased because the referee of this match was the Hong Kong-based British referee, Paul Poli, who was biased towards his "home team" and his enforcement of the law was always biased because he could not control the game. The visiting team played in a rough style to begin with, and the unfairness of the referee added fuel to the fire. The dispatch of the police further stimulated the dissatisfaction of the fans.

The oil-oriented newspapers gave both teams a scathing review, acknowledging the conflicts between the Chinese and foreigners and the bias of the referee, but the Hong Kong team's own strength also needed to be improved, otherwise why would it have ended up with an empty score?
In short, Hong Kong people were very unwilling to accept the result, and many knowledgeable people in the football world joined Wang Yuanchao's football career, aiming to gather strength for ten years and avenge the previous defeat.

Uncle Huo said:

"I heard you hired a lot of coaches from South America?"

These days, South American football is not as strong as European football. In this World Cup in Mexico, there are 8 teams from Europe, only 3 teams from South America, 1 team from Africa, 1 team from Central and North America, 1 team from Asia and Oceania, 1 host, and 1 defending champion, for a total of 16 teams.

Wang Yuanchao is well aware of the football strategies of Japan and South Korea in different time and space, and also knows their century-long football plan. Based on the similarities of their races, he draws on them for reference. He is still young and has time to wait for the growth of batches of football players and the moment when quantitative change turns into qualitative change.

Therefore, physical fitness, footwork, and teamwork, which combine the core spirit of Japan and South Korea, are his only way.

South American coaches are cheap and affordable. The football market in South America is not as good as that in Europe. Many football players have nowhere to go after retirement. Coming to Hong Kong to make money is also a good way to make a living. Wang Yuanchao nodded and said:

"They have a good foundation in footwork. I think we should excel in technique and coordination, plus sufficient physical strength, and we may be able to compete with European teams."

In fact, the foreign teams in Hong Kong cannot beat the Chinese teams, but the Chinese teams cannot beat the professional teams. The gap is still very obvious. Last year's 6:0 is still on the minds of teachers and students in various clubs and schools.

As a pseudo-Oil faction, Wang Yuanchao could not hate the John people, but could only encourage the Chinese to be self-reliant and make progress.

Uncle Huo approved of this and said with a smile:

“You have thought it through and have a long-term, feasible plan. I can’t wait to support you. Don’t worry.

Even if we take a step back, you are the underground president of Hong Kong!
Maybe I will even seek your protection.”

Wang Yuanchao smiled and said:
“No matter what happens to John, there must be some order in Hong Kong.

Later on, it won’t be necessary.”

Uncle Huo knew what "later" meant. We had all exchanged opinions and knew there must be a "later"!
After fully exchanging views with Uncle Huo, Wang Yuanchao accepted Shi Jian's invitation to serve as vice president of the Hong Kong Football Association. He began to improve the mechanism of the Hong Kong Football League, making his youth training club a powerful supplement to its players, attracting business sponsorship and promotion of the team and its stars through newspapers and radio stations.

With a whole set of playing methods, football has become a shortcut for ordinary citizens to change their destiny.

At the same time, Wang Yuanchao also planned to launch a program for the youth team to study abroad starting from next year, that is, in 71.

That is to say, every year, 22 football teenagers under the age of 16 with a certain level and talent are selected from various schools in Hong Kong. This is about the size of a football team. Under the leadership of a full team including coaches, team leaders, translators, and team doctors, they go to Brazil to play against the second-tier teams of various giants for a three-year training through competition.

It was learned from the original model of Jianlibao, but Wang Yuanchao was more thoroughly prepared.

Because he has recruited many retired Brazilian players to be coaches, he still has a lot of popularity in Brazil.

And the plan will only start in 71, so he has to send people to Brazil to build a training school first. When the children go there, they need to have a place to stay, right?
The training school is located in Santos, São Paulo State, which is home to the largest concentration of Japanese people in Brazil. São Paulo is the most populous place in Brazil and is adjacent to Rio de Janeiro State.

There are many Asians here, and Wang Yuanchao might also like to recruit a few Asians who are good at playing football. After all, they are all from Hong Kong.

With the help of retired players from Brazil and the purchase of the land by American lawyers (Wang Yuanchao is also the owner of Muse Music, and the Joker band was at its peak in Europe and the United States and swept the world), it was not difficult to purchase the land and build a school.

Anyway, the profits and bonuses from being lottery agents should be donated to charity and public welfare, so it’s not a bad idea to give a part of it to football.

After these players finish their studies, they will be added to the teams in the Hong Kong League. It would be even better if they are noticed by teams outside and stay there. Of course, having such a transit point can not only attract some Brazilian teenagers to play football in Hong Kong, but also continue to accept some retired players and coaches to contribute to Hong Kong's football industry.

As for them considering becoming Hong Kong citizens, that’s also possible!

Hong Kong is an open and inclusive city!

When it comes to football, Wang Yuanchao has no prejudice at all!

He believes that no country's naturalization journey starts earlier than his.

However, John Shi Jian had different opinions on Wang Yuanchao's plan to study abroad.

"King, it's not good for you to go far away and give up what's near!"

Foreigners not only speak Chinese, but also idioms!
Wang Yuanchao said:

"The yellow race's body is adapted to the Brazilian style, and the European brutal collision style is not very suitable."

Shi Jian shook his head and said:
"You told me that your goal is the World Cup. Half of the World Cup teams are from Europe. If you can't adapt to the European style, how can you move forward?"

Wang Yuanchao sneered and said:

"But we haven't even made it through the qualifiers yet, let's get into the World Cup first."

Shi Jian wiggled his index finger repeatedly:

"No no no, you shouldn't underestimate yourself. Hong Kong football is also a top-notch team in Asia. It's just that, um, I think you should arrange a study abroad plan in Europe."

The two argued for a long time, and Wang Yuanchao readily followed suit and arranged a preparation plan for the Hong Kong United team to play friendly matches in Europe. They would train for two months every year, and Shi Jian would be responsible for contacting European club teams and even national teams to play 6-10 friendly matches in preparation for the 74 West Ham World Cup.

Yes, Shi Jian is ready to return to John. He will be personally responsible for the games over there. He will also announce his resignation as president of the Hong Kong Football Association after this year's friendly matches, and Wang Yuanchao will take over.

The Mexico World Cup will start at the end of May, and European teams are also willing to use some weak teams as sparring partners to gain some experience.

This is Shi Jian’s plan.

(End of this chapter)