I have long heard that Wuhua County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, is the hometown of Chinese football, where there was a "king of world football" who was on a par with Pele in Brazil and even more powerful than Pele, and led the Chinese men's football team to create a brilliant era.
Today, as a sports enthusiast, "Walking Guangdong", with great respect, I walked into Wuhua, Guangdong, walked into the hometown of the world king, listened to the different growth stories of the king of the ball, and crossed the heyday of Football in China.
Born in Hong Kong in 1905, the name of the ball king is Li Huitang, his ancestral home is Xikeng Township, Wuhua County, he has loved to play with ball since he can walk, and he has been playing tirelessly with a small football all day long. In 1909, Lee Wai Tong followed his mother back to his hometown to live, and when he returned, the other toys were left in Hong Kong, bringing back his beloved football alone.
After returning to his hometown, Li Huitang still "did not leave the ball" every day, and soon, when he reached the age of school, on the first day of school, the students were under the leadership of the teacher and knelt in front of the Confucius icon with books, but Li Huitang insisted on kneeling on his back with his football. Since then, on his way to and from school, people can always see a little boy playing football while walking. Over time, many of the more difficult moves were practiced very well by him, and it was really impossible for other children to grab the ball from his feet and play with it, unless he was willing to share it with others.
Later, Li Huitang returned to Hong Kong to live at the age of 10, no matter where he studied and lived, Li Huitang did not give up his love for football, never stopped practicing football, and his playing skills became more and more skilled.
In 1921, Lee Wai Tong was admitted to Queen's College in Hong Kong and officially began formal football training. In 1922, at the age of 17, Lee Wai Tong was selected for the South China team, the most famous football team in Hong Kong at that time, and played as the main striker. He runs fast, agile, has a secure ball control, and is a great trick to shoot sideways, with a fairly high shooting rate, and is called "ball monster" by fans.
In 1923, Li Huitang represented the Chinese football team in the 6th Far East Games held in Japan, and the Chinese team won the championship by absolute superiority. In that consecutive several matches, Li Huitang performed well, made a prominent contribution to the Chinese team, and his reputation was greatly enhanced.
Since then, his football career and his country's destiny have been inextricably linked, whether it is an athlete or a coach, he can lead the Chinese team to compete in various major competitions, and create brilliant results, shame on the title of "Sick Man of East Asia".
Behind the success is also countless blood and sweat. In addition to Li Huitang's good football talent and strong interest, it is also inseparable from his diligence. The above mentioned that when he was a child, school and school were dribbled with football, which is a big spectacle, and there are actually many stories about him and football, the following excerpts are shared as follows:
It is said that after he brought football back from Hong Kong, but he played every day, all the time, it was not long before he kicked it badly, and the family did not buy it for him, what to do? He saw the two grapefruit trees planted in his yard, hung up the grapefruit, so he secretly picked it off as a football kick to kick, although this "ball" kicked a little heavier, the foot hurt a little, but it could not stop his preference for playing football. When the grapefruits were broken one by one, and there were no more grapefruit on the tree, he shouted for his mother to use some rotten cloth towels to bandage them into balls, and kicked them happily.
Probably because he used different weights and different forms of balls to practice since he was a child, so that his feet were strong, he once kicked together in a game, the ball hit the goalkeeper who came to save the ball, the goalkeeper was shot on the spot and fell to the ground, making many opponents' goalkeepers "talk about discoloration". Another time was even more powerful, shooting the opponent's net directly through a large hole.
Li Huitang's ball skills are not only "fast, fierce", but also a point, that is, "accurate", according to incomplete statistics, he has scored a total of 1860 goals in regular competitions in his life, which is the most goals scored by the record football player, more than 500 more than The Brazilian ball king Pele, you know, this is football, not basketball! I want to say that this is not only the king of the ball, but also a god.
So why is he so accurate? This is actually inseparable from his practice since childhood, the former residence we see now, there is indeed a small hole, it is said that Li Huitang has been used as a shooting place since childhood, and he has trained the accuracy of his shots, and he can almost do which to shoot.
In 1976, a football newspaper in the Federal Republic of Germany held a selection of "the world's top five ball kings", the result of the selection was that Li Huitang was on the list with an absolute advantage, and at the same time, There were Also Beili of Brazil, Stefano of Argentina, Beckenbauer of Germany, and Puskas of Hungary, this news went crazy in the entire football world and firmly established the supremacy of Chinese football in the world.
Although Pele and Li Huitang are both named "World Champions", as mentioned above, Li Huitang's goal record is 500 more than Pele's, and from this point of view, Li Huitang is not too much to suppress the crowd.
Li Huitang's former residence, also known as Lianqing Building, is a typical Hakka walled house, which was built by Li Huitang's father Li Haoru in the eighteenth year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, and has a history of nearly 130 years, of course, after several repairs, it can be displayed more completely.
The area of the former residence is about 3590 square meters, and there are 106 rooms of different sizes. There is a one-story enclosure behind the house, a barn in front of the door, and a standard half-moon shaped pool in front, the whole former residence is spacious and quiet, with the reputation of "Guangdong Little Forbidden City".
Standing in the former residence of the ball king, listening to the story of the ball king, feeling the fresh breath of the ball king, as if seeing the incomparable scenery of the Chinese football team in that year.
Li Huitang, a generation of ball kings, is the myth of Guangdong, but also the myth of China and the myth of the world. It is fervently hoped that China's football industry can realize the "return of the king" as soon as possible under the inspiration of a generation of football kings!
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