An international player addicted to gambling

The hotter Ivan Tony is, the more headaches England manager Gareth Southgate has.

On 16 March, in Brentford's 2-0 win away at Southampton in the seventh round of Premier League play-offs, 27-year-old England striker Ivan Tony scored a blast to continue the visitors' strong form of just one defeat in 13 rounds since last November.

Ivan Tony is currently one of the hottest goalscorers in the Premier League.

As a rookie team with only two years of promotion, Brentford, who have crossed the "rookie wall", rely on Ivan Tony's husband to control the way - when the once unattainable European ticket is just around the corner, the highly effective England striker also tops the top scorer list with 16 goals, behind the equally prolific Haaland and Harry Kane.

However, Ivan Tony had a fatal wound – he was charged with 232 gambling violations last November and 30 more a month later...

Ivan Tony may face a suspension.

Inspirational life and "devil" trading

At present, given that the national team match day is ahead, watching the lively British media naturally associates Ivan Tony's name with Southgate.

In response, Brentford manager Frank said: "I think Ivan has done enough and he has caught Southgate's attention in a very positive way. If you compare the number of goals scored by homegrown players in the Premier League, he is the second-ranked presence outside Harry Kane. ”

If judged at a competitive level, the fiery Ivan Tony is certainly an important addition to the English striker, and in addition to being third in the top scorers table with 16 goals, his expected number of goals, winning fouls, winning aerial confrontations and one-on-one successes can all rank in the top 10 in the Premier League.

Even in direct conversations with the Big 6, he showed a strong psychological quality, contributing a number of key goals.

This is enough to explain why Southgate once recruited him before the World Cup in Qatar as Harry Kane's main replacement.

Carragher once said bluntly: "I know there are many good players in the Premier League, and I will not give too much evaluation. But, I saw what Ivan Toni did on the pitch, he's an all-around player and I think he's one of the best attackers in the Premier League. ”

However, the statistical excellence, the support of the head coach or the approval of commentators cannot offset the PR crisis on Ivan Tony - half a god, the other half a gambling club.

Regardless of the final verdict, the 262 gambling violations in four years alone now disclosed by the media have already made the Brentford striker a target.

These gambling-related accusations could keep him out of the World Cup in Qatar and keep Southgate in a dilemma until he chose to ignore it.

Just as Vardy was once put on a "anklet" by the police for a street fight, Ivan Tony, who also came from the lower leagues, could not eliminate the ruffle of "concrete origin".

Fearlessness, paranoia, and freedom are their passports to turn against the wind, and are chips for staging inspirational plots, but at certain moments, the other side of the coin will always devour their rationality and give rise to a deal with the "devil".

Not long ago, Ivan Tony's admission to the FA was part of the accusations in the British tabloids, and the speculative penalties and bans seemed to be counting down.

Ivan Tony can't understand why this information that should be kept secret always suddenly appears in the newspapers - perhaps at these times, he will envy the "hypocrites" who have made mistakes but are still protected by the top giants.

Cool "revenge"

Without the impact of gambling allegations, Ivan Tony's football career would be a perfect inspirational script.

Never thinking about becoming a professional, he was completely changed by Leicester City's "eviction order" at the age of 14, and since then, he has only thought of one thing when he moved to Northampton - even if it is League Two, he can no longer be eliminated by the team.

However, the world of professional football is far more brutal than imagined, and Ivan Tony's connection with Newcastle United in 2015 was just a fleeting bubble of beauty.

In his three years at Newcastle, he was loaned out five times, playing in League One in the corner, and no team wanted to spend more than a year with him.

"If you feel neglected, go to a place that values you. That's what I did. Looking at it now, it was probably the best thing to do, and I was finally able to play in a team, score goals and continue to expand my career. ”

In August 2018, Tony broke with Newcastle United, and he started with Peterborough United in League One as a starting point.

After that, it was his hand-in-hand with Brentford three years ago, the team, coach and fans who trusted him, and the rejuvenated Ivan Tony remembered himself in the Premier League with his goal performance in three consecutive seasons.

To this day, Ivan Tony still focuses on the best days of his life in the days when he played for the Junior Academy club at the age of 9 - without thinking about goals, salary, career planning, he just happily played with his friends until dark.

"Now that I think about it, I can remember the cold, the wind, the rain and the mud, and it was so beautiful."

It's a pity that the mud of the gambling ball dragged him mercilessly at a critical moment... Even if he doesn't bet on his matches.

(Supine Push-ups/Chen Dingrui)

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