Zeng Xuelin also participated in a football symposium 1 month ago Before his death, he paid attention to Evergrande Security

In the past Spring Festival holiday, just when the fans were reuniting with their families, a very influential football predecessor left us: zeng Xuelin, who was once the head coach of the Chinese national team, and the death of the old coach of football made the coaches and players who had worked with him feel a little sad.

Zeng Xuelin: 519 Nightmare accompanies half a life

"There are two major pains in my life, one is the death of a lover, and the other is the 519 incident..." Four months ago, before the World Cup qualifiers between China and Hong Kong began, zeng Xuelin, who used to be the head coach of the Chinese team, told a visiting media reporter from his hospital bed. At this time, Zeng Lao had suffered from uremia for a long time, and after a long period of hospitalization, his body had obviously recovered, and his thinking was very clear in the communication with reporters, and he even expressed his desire to "go out to the ground more and strive to return to the football field".

However, the laws of nature could not be stopped, and on February 11, Zeng Xuelin died at his home in Shenzhen at the age of 86. According to people close to Zeng Lao, the old man died very peacefully at home: "Zeng always spent the Spring Festival with his family and left with great peace of mind, and from this point of view, it can also be regarded as a kind of comfort." Born in Thailand in December 1929, he returned to his hometown of Meixian, Guangdong at the age of 7, joined the Chinese People's Liberation Army at the age of 20, and then coached the national football team at the age of 55.

Zeng Lao served as the manager of the Chinese men's football team from 1983 to 1985 and led the team to the runner-up of the 1984 Asian Cup, which was the best record in the history of the Chinese team in the Asian Cup. But what made Zeng Xuelin most difficult to let go of was the match with Hong Kong, China: on May 19, 1985, the Chinese team led by Zeng Xuelin lost to Hong Kong 1-2 at home in the final game of the East Asian group stage of the World Cup qualifiers, and failed to achieve the task of qualifying for the World Cup. After the match, angry fans smashed public property outside the workers' stadium, causing social order chaos, and the match became the most famous "519 Incident" in the history of Chinese football.

To this day, several internationals in the national team at that time still clearly remember the huge pressure that Zeng Xuelin endured after losing to Hong Kong at home. Outside the workers' stadium, the fans who refused to leave shouted slogans: "Zeng Xuelin give me out!" and "Down with Zeng Xuelin!". According to zeng Xuelin's son, after '5.19', many fans even mailed some threatening items to his home: "At that time, there were almost two large boxes of hanging ropes and blades sent to our family, and the pressure on the whole family at that time was very great, and my father not only did not watch Chinese football but also did not want to talk about it." ”

Despite the rhetoric, Zeng Lao has always paid attention to Chinese football. Before last year's national team and Hong Kong match, the organizing committee tried to invite Zeng Xuelin to the scene to watch the game, but Zeng Lao, who was not in poor physical condition, politely refused the organizing committee's kindness: "I don't go, it is inconvenient to take a wheelchair, and it also causes trouble for others, so cheer for the Chinese team at home." He couldn't go to the scene, but Zeng Xuelin still followed the national team game, saying that his biggest concern was that "the Chinese team can't score the ball."

According to people close to Zeng Lao, until his death, Zeng Lao still paid attention to the matches of domestic club teams, and he would watch the matches of Evergrande and Guoan when he had time. Just a month ago, on January 6, Zeng Lao also attended the Guangdong Provincial Football Elders Symposium, at which Zeng Lao was very happy, not only smiled and took a group photo with his old friends who had not been seen for a long time, but even posed a "V" gesture to everyone, as if to restore his health, and after coming down, he made an exception to "drink two sips". But no one expected that after just one month, the old man left the world. "Elder Zeng really has feelings for Chinese football, and he still thinks about the football career in the end."

Zeng Lao's farewell ceremony will be held in Shenzhen on February 19, many old football coaches and players will have to "send Zeng Lao on the last journey" on that day, and fans from Beijing, Guangzhou and other places will also organize to go to Shenzhen, and finally take another look at Zeng Lao. (Yaxun)