Will this be the last time professional Messi comes to China?
This is Messi's 7th trip to China. Seven years have passed since he last came to China.
Text | Wang Zhongyun
The "Argentina men's football trip to China", which has been building momentum online for more than a month, is finally coming to a climax - tonight (June 15), Argentina's international friendly match against Australia will be held at the Beijing Workers' Stadium.
The Argentine men's football team came to China to play friendly matches this time, in addition to the top traffic brought by the king Messi himself, there are also the following highlights:
Since winning the Hercules Cup at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, this is Argentina's overseas debut as a new champion.
This is also the first trip of "Samsung" Argentina to China. To this end, coach Scaloni has called up 27 players, including most of the World Cup winners such as Messi, Di Maria, Alvarez and Martinez, as well as future star Ghana Jo, who has been selected for the national team for the first time.
Of course, this is Messi's 7th trip to China. Seven years have passed since he last came to China.
These highlights, or "gimmicks", coupled with the organizer's confusing operation from beginning to end, have produced all kinds of joke-style news (including but not limited to: tickets issued near the game, sky-high tickets, 300,000 rumors that Messi toasted you...). ), so that the trip of the Argentine men's football team continues to attract attention on social media.
Tonight, this "big show" is about to be staged. Will this be the last time Messi will meet fans in China as a member of the Argentine national team? We'll see.
June 10, 2023, Beijing, 2023 Argentina China Tour preview, Messi is about to arrive at the hotel, a large number of fans gathered in front of the hotel to wait.
Before and after the game, there was chaos
Regarding the Argentine team's visit to China, the organizers have exposed too many chaotic operations.
From the sale of tickets before the game, to the reception of Messi after his arrival in Beijing, to the organization of commercial activities, in the eyes of the majority of fans, the organizer is simply "playing good cards rarely".
Take Messi's live broadcast on June 14 as an example. In the afternoon of the same day, Messi appeared in the Taobao live broadcast room, and in just over ten minutes, the cumulative number of viewers in the live broadcast room reached 2.89 million. Despite intensive publicity in advance, the timing of his live broadcast has changed repeatedly due to changes in Messi's own schedule.
Judging from the teaser poster released on June 10, its live broadcast time has changed several times, and it is set at 17:00, 19:00 and 18:00 on June 14. It was not until the afternoon of June 14 that Yaowang Technology announced that the live broadcast time was set at 14 o'clock.
After Messi appeared, he only appeared in the live broadcast for more than 10 minutes, and then hurriedly ended the live broadcast without any direct behavior.
Many fans said it felt like a cry came out and then ended abruptly.
Looking further, due to safety concerns, relevant departments and organizers cancelled all offline communication activities of Messi's trip, including the long-awaited meeting of fans. Since Messi arrived in Beijing on the 10th, in addition to taking a bus to the training venue with his teammates, he had to "stay" in the hotel most of the time. This can also understand why fans are so looking forward to the online live broadcast on the 14th.
As for ticketing, the organizers did not officially launch the first round of ticket sales until June 5, less than two weeks before the start of the competition, which is also rare in the planning of sports events, and usually tickets are launched 30 to 45 days in advance. After the ticket was issued, the high ticket price made fans complain.
According to the official ticket purchase information, the tickets for this event are divided into six levels: 580 yuan, 1380 yuan, 2800 yuan, 3200 yuan, 3800 yuan, and 4800 yuan, and the lowest price is only set in two areas. Many fans posted tickets showing that if you want to see Messi at a slightly better angle, the ticket price is more than 2800 yuan.
Referring to the previous average ticket price of 286 pounds (about 2430 yuan) for the Qatar World Cup, the ticket price of a friendly match is so expensive, it is inevitable that some fans are dissatisfied with this. After the trip to China, the Argentine team will also travel to Indonesia for friendly matches. There, the most expensive ticket price is about 2,000 yuan.
According to industry media sources, Jian Mangen, president of the Dragon Team Fan Association, also said that the organizer promised to provide 1,600 tickets to the fan club, resulting in fans who had booked tickets and hotels not being able to watch the game.
Despite this, Messi's top effect is too strong, and there are still a large number of fans who choose to pay for love. After the two batches of ticket sales opened on June 5 and 8, tickets on various platforms were basically sold out within 10 minutes.
Purely commercial conduct
Why did Argentina choose China for its overseas debut after winning the World Cup? Also, why is the match in China, but the opponent is not the Chinese men's team?
To answer these two questions, it is necessary to understand that the Argentine team's visit to China is a "purely commercial act".
According to the New York Times, the Argentine Football Federation received more than a dozen invitational offers after the World Cup. Beijing Youth Daily previously reported that the Argentine team's appearance fee for this trip to China reached at least 5 million US dollars, and it will also receive a share of tickets, broadcasts and sponsorship revenues.
As early as March this year, a letter of request for "request for coordination of friendly matches between the Chinese national football team and the Argentine national team" circulated on the Internet, and the organizer of the payment, China Hongqiao International Investment Co., Ltd., said that it had asked the Chinese Football Association to coordinate the friendly match between the national football team and the Argentine national team. The news that the Argentine team is coming to China has whetted the appetite of fans.
According to surging news reports, the organizers communicated with the Argentine Football Association many times, and finally obtained the approval of the Argentine Football Association with a "very sincere offer" and obtained the authorization to operate the Argentine team's competition in China in June.
According to public information, the organizer of the event, China Hongqiao International Investment Co., Ltd., is headquartered in Beijing, and the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese is its controlling shareholder. The company's main business covers international investment, international trade, international logistics, etc., the business sector involves infrastructure materials, education and medical care and other fields, and has maintained friendly exchanges with Argentina and other South American countries for many years, and has a lot of interaction in business and cultural exchanges.
As early as last August, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Argentina, Argentine Ambassador to China Niu Wangdao proposed the idea of inviting the Argentine national team to participate in the competition in China when inspecting the local international football center project in Xi'an. At that time, Li Dacan, chairman of China Hongqiao International Investment Co., Ltd., was present.
However, this company is not a dedicated sports event company and lacks experience in organizing relevant events. It was not until May this year that the company's business scope of industrial and commercial information increased the organization of sports competitions, planning of sports events, and organizing sports performance activities.
This also explains the lack of professionalism in the organizers, from the organization of the event to the ticketing arrangements.
On May 26, after a liquor brand officially announced that it became a sponsor of the friendly match, it soon launched a commemorative edition of the wine promotion, and the three specifications of the product gave away a ticket worth 680 yuan, 1880 yuan and 3880 yuan respectively.
On the other hand, the Chinese men's team itself seems to have little interest in playing Argentina.
According to a report by Ma Dexing, a football reporter of Sports Weekly, "Messi will lead the Argentine team to visit China" is completely operated by brokerage companies and middlemen, hoping to create momentum through fans who do not know the truth and put pressure on the Chinese Football Association and relevant parties. In fact, it has not formally contacted the Chinese Football Association, nor has it been formally sent to the Chinese Football Association.
The unit that finally agreed to the Argentine team to come to China was also the Beijing Municipal Football Association, not the Chinese Football Association.
From a competitive point of view, with Jankovic taking office at the end of February, the most urgent task of the newly formed national football team is to prepare for the Asian Cup and the World Qualifiers.
The last time the national football team won was "retroactively" to beating Vietnam in October 2021. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that the Chinese Football Association's strategy for selecting warm-up matches is from easy to difficult.
Professional player Messi, the last time he came to China?
Just before leaving for China, "the king" Messi has just announced his next home: he will leave Paris Saint-Germain, who played for two years, to join the American Miami Internacional.
In the live broadcast on the 14th, Messi was asked by host He Wei whether he would participate in the next World Cup. Messi's answer is: there are still many years before the 2026 World Cup, and the current goal is to maintain a high level and maintain consistency every day and every year.
Although Messi still maintains a high level of competitive condition, it is not surprising that Messi, who has touched the ceiling of the football world at the level of honor, obviously chooses to retire.
So will this be the last time Messi comes to China as a professional footballer? This question has also whetted the appetite of fans.
Judging from Messi's trip to Beijing, he seems to show a trace of regret. "The whole Argentina team felt the enthusiasm of the Chinese people and was waiting for us during training. And then he followed us and stayed close to us, and we were very grateful. When we came here, we didn't really know much about China, mainly in hotels and venues to get to know China and Beijing, and almost every time we stayed in hotels. ”
If there is a next time, I hope that Messi can also walk the streets of the city like his national team teammates and coaches and feel a different China.