The Chinese 2001 U22 Olympic Team, which is training in Croatia, participated in the match against 12 teams in the Croatian First League, and as of May Day, it has cancelled six games, with a record of 1 draw and 5 defeats, which is not even as good as when it played the first round of competition in the second half of last year. When the news reached China, many people began to doubt the necessity of the National Olympic Team's training, and various negative statements continued. The reporter has been following the National Olympic Team for some time, and in the face of doubts, the reporter just sighed: If even the Croatian A team can continue to defeat, Chinese football will not fall to this point, why should I form a team to train in Europe? In the process of interviewing with the team, the reporter did not pay attention to only the "result", especially this time during May Day, he followed the National Olympic Team to the south to participate in a friendly match against the NK Zagora team, which was more profound. To some extent, if there is a popular club like Zagora at the grassroots level in China, Chinese football will enter the World Cup early! Moreover, I have always believed that a model like the Zagora club should have been the direction of Chinese football.
Professional teams at the village level
Because to participate in the fifth Croatian match against the Dugplje team, it takes almost 4 and a half to 5 hours by bus from Zagreb to the team's location, and the Olympic team departed from its Zagreb station a day earlier to go to the small town of Solin near Dugplje to rest for one night, and then another night after the next day's match. Then, on the way back to Zagreb, head to a place called Unesic for a friendly match against a local club team called "NK Zagora". The match was linked by the team itself in order to give players who did not play against Dugopolij or who played less time off the bench also have the opportunity to practice.
From Solin's hotel, take the bus for about 1 hour and 10 minutes to arrive in Unesic. Along the way, the bus is bumpy on various mountain roads, saying that the mountains are not like it, after all, it is not so towering, and it may be more appropriate to call it hilly. Looking out the window, there were shrubs or weeds everywhere, and occasionally I saw houses, almost all of which were made of stone. What is even more incredible is that from the hotel where I stayed to the final arrival at the destination, in more than an hour's drive, the reporter saw two cars passing by in the bus, and in addition, not even a pedestrian.
So, the reporter wondered: Is this a place to go to a football match? It wasn't until he saw a family photo of the NK Zagora team at a small bend and a sign with the name of the place in Unesic that the reporter thought he should have arrived at the place.
When the bus finally stopped at the side of the stadium and the reporter stepped off the bus, the scene in front of him really made the reporter feel incredible. Paic, the club's president, and several staff members waited early at the club's premises for the arrival of the Olympic team. Along the way, it seems that this part of the stadium is considered flat. But it is on this flat land that there is a formal standard football field, and there are several bungalows, which are said to be the club's offices and players' locker rooms. Next to the club, there is a three-story primary school built by the local government.
It is understood that Unesic is actually just the equivalent of a village in the country. According to the administrative division of Croatia, Croatia is divided into Zagreb region and 20 counties, which are similar to the "provinces" in the country. According to the size of the area and the size of the population, it is divided into "city", "town", and "autonomous region (Municipality)", but these three administrative divisions are at the same level. There are 127 municipalities and 429 autonomous regions in 21 counties and districts in Croatia. The county of Šibenik-Knin, to which the Unitesic Autonomous Region belongs, has 2 cities, 3 towns and 15 autonomous districts, and is almost half an hour away by car from Šibenik, the county capital of this county.
The total area of the Autonomous Okrug of Unesic is about 188 square kilometers and the total population is more than 1,500 people. With such a sparse population, it's no wonder that reporters rarely meet locals along the way. Zagora Football Club is the only club in the autonomous region. What's even more incredible is that this club was founded in 1948 and has a history of 75 years, which is longer than any other club in the country! Although the club's first team participated in the Croatian fourth division this season, it was mainly because the Croatian Football Association began to make a major adjustment to the Croatian domestic league from June 2022, transforming the original first division A into a super league, and some of the original first division teams plus some of the original second division teams were adjusted to the first division; By analogy, the third division became the fourth division. Prior to this season, Zagora played in the third division of Croatia for a long time. Although this season is a tournament in the southern group of the fourth division, it is currently far ahead in points and a return to the third division is in sight.
It is such a small place of only 1,500 people, and the ability to raise a professional team in the third (fourth) division of the league certainly makes the reporter sigh. The Olympic team that followed here to participate in the warm-up match only stayed here for less than four hours, but it gave reporters a deeper understanding and understanding of why Croatian football was able to win the runner-up in the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the third place in the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
"Sparrows" with all the organs
Although it is only a small football club similar to the domestic village, according to the club's president, Paich, in addition to his own chairman, the club also has a vice president, sports director, technical director and other professionals in the field of pure football, and the daily work of the club is carried out by local residents who look like retirees. With the exception of external staff such as sports directors, technical directors, head coaches, coaches, etc., who have basic salaries, most of the staff of these clubs are volunteers and receive only nominal remuneration. Because these staff members see the club as their "home", they don't care about compensation. Moreover, these staff members live in the surrounding area, come to the club during the day to work and maintain the daily operation of the club, and return to their homes at night.
The entire club is connected by three bungalows that are connected to each other, two of which are used as dressing rooms for the home and away teams, and one near the stadium for the offices. Walking into the club office, it is about 30 square meters of office area, in addition to a conference table, the display and furnishings in the office are quite simple, the TV is almost 20 years ago more popular in China, now basically eliminated kind of color TV, and even an old-fashioned typewriter, in addition to a desktop computer that has long been eliminated in China. Still, a bunch of trophies caught the eye of journalists. Moreover, there are trophies not only in the office, but also in the home team's dressing room.
It is said that in the 75-year history of the Zagora club, the team has won the Šibenik-Knin County Cup 10 times, and the team that won the cup can participate in the Croatian FA Cup. The team's best result so far in the FA Cup was reaching the national quarter-finals in 2007-08, when they fought Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb over two legs in the quarter-finals of that season, and despite a 2-7 defeat, they were able to break the goal of Croatia's strongest team twice, which is something that the club and the people in the region are proud of, which is similar to last year's loss by Beijing Guoan to the unknown county club Jingchuan Wenhui in the second round of the domestic FA Cup. Therefore, it is not surprising that the club has so many trophies, not to mention the various trophies achieved by the series of competitions in which the youth team participates.
What makes the reporter more emotional is that behind the trophy is a washing machine, and the clothes changed after the team's training or game are turned on and cleaned by an old staff member of the club. When the Chinese Olympic team and the Zagora team played on the field, the reporter walked into the office at halftime and saw an old man cleaning up. And above the washing machine, used goalkeeper gloves are placed. When the Olympic team had just arrived and visited the club, when the two goalkeepers saw the used goalkeeper gloves, they sighed while looking at them: "It's all so shabby, you can't bear to throw it away?" ”
Indeed, the conditions of the Zagora club are indeed mediocre. Walking into the team's locker room, the reporter saw that many of the numbers on the uniforms were glued with adhesive tape, and when you looked at the wrinkles on the clothes, you could know that the clothes had not been used for many years, but they were quite neatly arranged. Although the match against the Olympic team was only a warm-up match, the whole management was no less than that of the European giants that the reporter had visited before. From the home team's locker room to the national Olympic team will use the locker room, it is also very simple, and the area is not too large, but it is also neatly tidy, and the shower, toilet and other related supporting facilities are relatively complete.
Walking out of the dressing room, opposite a small bar opened by the club. The reporter noticed that although it was a friendly match, the other party specially drew a propaganda poster. In the bar, there is also a special fan shop, although there are not many goods, just jerseys and scarves, but it is part of the construction of the club's culture. Among them, the number 77 shirt worn by former Croatia international Drago Gabridge, who currently plays for the team, and the number 88 shirt worn by Bodzic, who joined from Haduk Split two years ago, are hung on the wall as representatives of the club. Both men started against the Olympic team.
What surprised the reporter even more was that the club also specially printed tickets for this warm-up match, the ticket price was 3 euros, and the reporter saw a local fan pay for tickets in the bar. As kick-off time approached, club staff set up a ticket point at the entrance of the stands. Every fan who went to the stands was automatic, paying for tickets.
Ties to Chinese football
The concept of "big" in traditional Chinese culture is deeply rooted. So, for European football always like the so-called giants; Watching the game is also to watch the game of the big team; Going to Europe to stay in the ocean and play football is also a non-giant. Even small and medium-sized clubs in Europe are dismissive, "too dirty" and "price drop" are the common reactions and evaluations. Moreover, the construction of football fields in China is also necessary to pursue luxury, the appearance must be "good-looking" and "exquisite", and for the most core of the football field - lawn, it is basically able to deal with it, "Isn't it just laying grass and playing a ball?" What's so much attention? Therefore, most of the funds for the construction of a football stadium are used to pursue "good looks", so it is not surprising that China often hears the term "vegetable field".
But as a small club, like many small and medium-sized clubs in Europe, the construction of the stadium is very simple, except for a standard football field, the stands on both sides belong to the most basic. Moreover, even the so-called "rostrum" is extremely simple, far from the deep-rooted "class concept" in China, there is no so-called rostrum and VIP stand, even if the leaders of the autonomous regional government personally go to the scene to watch the match, they are sitting with ordinary fans.
However, when the match between the Olympic team and the Zagora team began, the reporter noticed that on the stand on the side of the rostrum, there were also people who set up a single-camera camera. Upon inquiry, it turned out that the local television network set up with the help of YouTube sent two people to record the game live, and it was said that they were going to broadcast the video of the game afterwards. Moreover, because the Chinese Olympic team is the first Chinese team to participate here since the club's establishment 75 years ago, even all members of the national Olympic team are the first Chinese to arrive here, not only the club, but even the local autonomous region government attaches great importance to it. Therefore, the president of the club will personally come to the gate to greet the Olympic team.
Around the football field, there are basketball courts, futsal fields (artificial turf) and other supporting facilities. Since there is only one venue for the entire club, in addition to participating in official matches in this venue, the daily training of the first team is also in this venue. To the reporter's surprise, although NK Zagora is only a club that participates in the fourth division this season, in addition to the first team, there are also three echelons of U19, U17 and U15, and the three echelons also train and play on this field on a daily basis. According to the club's president, Paić, the club already has an expansion plan, plans to build another standard football stadium, and the local government has approved it, and it is estimated that the construction will start fully within this year.
However, what makes the reporter more emotional is that according to Pajci, it is such a fourth-level league club, in addition to its own three-level youth echelon, it has also opened a football school, from kindergarten to junior high school graduation, that is, about 15 years old, recruiting young players of all ages. However, because the geographical location of Unesic is relatively remote and the population base is relatively small, this football school is not located in the autonomous region of Uneseic, but in the nearby city of Split, and participates in the youth league organized by the local county football association, so the source of young players is basically local children, or the original people born in Uneseic, but currently living and working in Split. Since it is not in the autonomous region of Unesic, the reporter did not have the opportunity to visit the football school.
It's also interesting to say. Just the day before the Zagora team, when the Olympic team had played against Croatian team Dugplje in Solin, Cheng Yaodong, the head coach of the Olympic team, rushed to the scene to watch the national Olympic team match when he was the head coach of Shanghai COSCO International in 2003. Ivan is currently the director of football for Croatian Premier League club Šibenik, having previously worked for the Zagora club. When the club's president Pajć learned that Ivan Blatter had been a player under Cheng Yaodong, he picked up his mobile phone and immediately called Ivan, who told Pajć that he was on his way to Bucharest, Romania, and could not be accompanied by the club. According to Pajć, the bald centre-forward Zeliko Sabrić, who retired almost half a year ago, played for professional clubs in China before returning to Croatia to join Zagora, "However, I don't know the name of the Chinese club. ”
The annual cost is 300,000 euros
How much does it cost to run such a professional club for a season? This is obviously what journalists are more concerned about. The president of the club, Paic, made it clear that it would not exceed 300,000 euros (equivalent to 2.28 million yuan), although this season is to participate in the fourth division, but the club's goal is to return to the third division, and previously during the third division, the club's operating expenses for a season were basically within 200,000 and 300,000 euros. As soon as the figures came out, both the members of the coaching staff and management team of the National Olympic Team, as well as the reporters who listened to the introduction, were surprised, because everyone was very clear: Kunshan FC Club, which has announced its withdrawal from the ranks of the Chinese Super League this season, burned more than 100 million yuan in one season when it participated in the China Second League, which is equivalent to the total operating cost of Croatian clubs of the same level for nearly 50 years, and the madness of the "Golden Yuan Era" of Chinese football can be seen! Therefore, it is conceivable that Chinese professional football will not be sustainable.
According to Pajci, the biggest expense of the club's first team is still the salary of the players, but the highest salary in the team is 2,000 euros (equivalent to 15,000 yuan) a month, and such players are only a few players, more are 1,000 euros or 800 euros, and the lowest is only 500 euros a month, and it is mainly young players who have just entered the first team. Although the club specifically employs football directors, technical directors, head coaches, etc., the salaries of these professionals are not high, basically ranging from 800 to 1,000 euros. In addition to salaries, although there are also bonuses, they generally range from a few hundred euros per game, as little as two or three hundred, as much as three or four hundred euros, and they are shared by the whole team. For example, the prize money starting at 5.6 million yuan (equivalent to 65,000 to 78,000 euros) in a domestic China B match is completely unimaginable in Paich's opinion. In addition, the expenses of the club are the daily transportation expenses, etc.
The entire operating expenses include not only the first team, but also the three echelons of U19, U17 and U15, and the young players of these echelons also train and compete normally in accordance with the regulations formulated by the club, and the club also bears the relevant costs. When asked if there was a fee, the answer was: only symbolic, that is, twenty or thirty euros a month. Pajć said that not only Zagora, but all the clubs that participate in the fourth division and even lower levels such as the county league (equivalent to the highest provincial league organized by the provinces in the country), and all clubs have echelons. [According to this preliminary calculation, participation in the fourth division of Croatia is divided into five groups according to geographical location, a total of 74 clubs, assuming that each club has only three echelons such as U19, U17 and U15, and there are already 74 teams in each of the three age groups. If you add the same third-tier echelons of 40 clubs such as 12 Grammar Super League, 12 Gram A and 16 Gram B, there are 114 U19 echelons in the fourth division alone. Thus, the foundation and popularity of Croatian football can be seen from this. Looking back at the basic situation of the same age group in China, why is it difficult for the Chinese U22 Olympic team to win during Croatia? The answer seems self-evident. 】
Of course, journalists are more interested in the club's source of income. Pajci said the main source of revenue is sponsors. Like the chest advertisement "MAPA-3" It is understood that it is an electrical store located in the city of Šibenik, but the amount of sponsorship does not exceed 80,000 euros a year, but the specific figure is not disclosed. In addition, there are many small sponsors, some with a contribution of 10,000 euros a year, some thousands of euros, etc., and there are many billboards around the venue. "Of course, the local government also invests part of the money every year, but the funding is not much, more symbolic." Paiki introduced. This is actually similar to the situation in other European countries that the reporter has visited before, especially many small and medium-sized clubs, the annual operating expenses are also more than 100,000 euros or more than 200,000 euros, the government where the club is located will give various support, and there will be a small amount of funds every year, because these funds are the local government as the club's support funds for youth training, included in the scope of cultural and sports education. In addition, the government will allow clubs to open cafes or open a small gas station, and the income will also be used to finance the club's operating expenses. This is a completely different concept from the domestic demand for millions or tens of millions of funds, or large-scale projects, or various so-called preferential policies.
According to Pajć, in addition to the club's current fundraising, the local government will also fund the construction of a stadium currently planned, and the Croatian Football Association will also provide part of the funds to support the club's site construction. After the completion of the stadium, it will be completely handed over to the club to be responsible for operation and management, which is also a kind of support and support from the government to the club.
What made the reporter curious was that after the game, the reporter came to the club's office and saw two staff members settling accounts, one counting money and the other bookkeeping. The reporter casually asked: "What kind of money is this?" Ticket revenue? The staff did not hide and showed the reporter the list of income and expenditure for the day, and told the reporter: A total of 80 tickets were sold for this game, and the income was 240 euros. In addition, there were also member donations, a total of 4 people donated on the day, totaling 307 euros. A staff member explained to the reporter that although the Zagora club is located in Unesic, which is not large and has a small population, the club has so far more than 400 members (that is, equivalent to 1 in 4 local people is a member of the club), and these members often take out change to fund the club free of charge in addition to paying annual membership fees, because they feel that the club is their home.
This made the reporter quite emotional, these money is not a big money, even in China, may be the vast majority of clubs simply do not look at, but club members similar to in this warm-up game to take out tens of euros or more than 100 euros, the next game to take out some, for the club, accumulation over time, may also be a small income, can maintain the club's daily expenses. In the case of this match with the Chinese Olympic team, the ticket revenue plus membership or fan donations accumulated 547 euros, which is already enough to cover a young player's salary for one month. After the game, the fans who attended the game directly spent money at the bar, which belongs to the club itself, and the income is also used to subsidize the daily expenses of the club. This is the real meaning of raising the ball with the ball and feeding the club with the fans! Small and medium-sized clubs in Europe depend on fans to survive, and at home it is probably impossible to imagine. Taking the Chinese Super League club as an example, many clubs are actually "upside down" to raise so-called "fans".
As a result, a Croatian club can basically last for a year for 2 million yuan a season, and it seems easy to understand that a club like Zagora can survive for 75 years. And China's professional football relies on "burning money", based on whether individuals or companies (enterprises) have money, and it is normal that they cannot form a century-old club in the true sense, because China's professional football clubs are not based on the community at all.
During his stay at Zagora Club, De Verd, the assistant coach of the Olympic team, was also full of emotion after visiting the club, although Belgian football is also very popular, but there is no football club built in a ravine like Zagora. Hou Zhiqiang, assistant coach of the National Olympic Team, also joked with him: "You now know why Belgium's results in the World Cup are not as good as Croatia's, right? DeVelde, on the other hand, was speechless.
The reporter is thinking about this question: for Chinese football to develop, it is not for the national team to enter the World Cup or fight for an Asian championship. That is the evaluation standard of administrative officials under the current thinking of the concept of performance and political performance. However, if according to the administrative division of China, under the four-level administrative system of "provincial, prefecture-level, county-level and township-level", if the county-level unit is the unit, each of the 2,844 county-level administrative districts in the country can build a football club similar to NK Zagora in the Unified Sić Autonomous Region, there are more than 2,800 clubs in China, and a club's operating costs can be maintained at about 2 million yuan a year. The popularity of football in China will reach an unimaginable level. [Croatia currently has seven leagues, and the total number of clubs is about 1,000. Perhaps by that time, Chinese football will really rise, and it will have its own place in Asian football, and entering the World Cup is a matter of course! Instead of the past seven or eight years, campus football and professional football have "burned money" countless times, desperately pursuing immediate achievements and political achievements, when the money is gone, now all that remains is a chicken feather in Chinese football today.