When it comes to the Chinese men's football team, many fans have shown the word "disappointment" on their faces.
In 2023, at the Shanghai Youth Football League, a familiar back appeared in people's field of vision.
At that time, many people were taken aback, and some even whispered: "I didn't expect to meet Qi Hong in the competition, this should be his first public appearance since he was released from prison, right?" ”
Some people are also curious why the match-fixing incident of that year allowed him to become a football coach and successfully appear in the public eye?
In fact, Qi Hong is no stranger, born in Shanghai on June 3, 1976, former Chinese professional footballer, former Chinese national team player.
He loves football and has achieved many successes in China's football industry.
Once he was an "idol" in the hearts of many fans.
However, life is never smooth sailing, and there are ups and downs when there are successes...
First, the hope of Chinese football, a dark horse in football
Qi Hong has loved football since he was a child, and began to contact football as early as the age of four.
What is the concept of four years old, maybe some people are still playing games and eating lollipops every day at the age of four, and he has already begun to participate in various football games!
Since he was a child, Qi Hong has shown amazing talent in football.
At the age of 6, he won the "Nine-year-old Child" and "Miao Miao Cup" and other championships.
The match laid the foundation for the rest of his football career.
He then went further into football, working day and night.
With rich experience in football competitions, he has won the "Lei Feng Cup" championship in Putuo District Football School, and then won the national amateur sports school championship for two consecutive times in Shanghai Junior Sports School!
It was with these achievements that he successfully entered the Shanghai Shenhua team at the age of 18.
With his football dreams, he continued to achieve excellent results, and his reputation in the team continued to grow, and later he was called the "Three Musketeers" together with Xie Hui and Fan Zhiyi in the team.
In 1995, Qi Hong's Shenhua team played against a South Korean club.
The 19-year-old Qi Hong did not get a chance to play at the time, and could only watch other players play.
But seeing that the game became more and more anxious, Qi Hong kept casting his eyes on the coach, hoping to get a chance to play.
Finally, at a critical moment, the coach met his urgent eyes, and just like that, towards the end of the game, he came on the field.
Perhaps because it was his first home game, Qi Hong showed 100% form and did not fright against the experienced South Korean team.
Several times approaching the opponent's penalty area with the ball, such a spectacular scene made the audience marvel, all wondering who this player they had never met before was.
With the cheers of the fans, Qi Hong was about to bring the ball into the goal, suddenly the South Korean player fouled, Qi Hong failed to score.
Even so, Qi Hong got a free kick and finally won the game 1-0.
In the semifinals of the 2000 Asian Cup, Qi Hong played as a member of the team, and Qi Hong at this time can be said to be at his peak.
Every game brings out its own strengths, good sense of rhythm, solid basic skills, every time can allow Qi Hong to win the game at key moments, and this time is no exception.
On the field, the Chinese team played against the Japanese team, who would have thought that this Japanese team had a lot of origins, it was a team sent by the J United Football Association in advance for the World Cup two years later!
Although they are a brand new team, the strength of this team cannot be underestimated.
At the beginning of the game, the Japanese team took the lead in attacking and scoring the first goal, fully showing the super strength to everyone present and giving the Chinese team a blow.
But the Chinese team was not afraid, but even rose to the occasion, seizing every opportunity to fight against the Japanese team.
The game was exciting, every goal counted, and towards the end of the game the score was still 2-3.
The Chinese team did not want to lose to the Japanese team, they also knew that they would not lose, in order to win the final victory, the Chinese team chose a difficult high goal to score.
Seeing that the Japanese team players were wrong, they immediately went all out to prevent the Chinese team from scoring goals, Qi Hong also tried his best to stop the opposing players after seeing it, and Qi Hong stopped the other party at the critical moment, but he himself fainted and fell into a coma due to lack of energy.
Qi Hong was taken to the hospital, and the first thing he said when he woke up was to ask if the match had been won, and if nothing else, they did, and they also managed to enter the 2002 World Cup.
Being able to represent the national team in the "World Cup" shows Qi Hong's strong strength
However, Qi Hong, who was in the limelight, did not cherish this opportunity and personally ruined his future...
Second, he was deeply caught in the "kick-fixing" turmoil, and Qi Hong was imprisoned in embarrassment
In 2002, Qi Hong represented the "Shenhua Team" in the World Cup.
The Shenhua team, which was given high expectations, not only did not achieve success in the game, but Qi Hong suffered a serious knee injury after the game.
For their athletes, injuries are inevitable and also very important, athletes are very taboo about injuries, and Qi Hong announced his retirement because of this injury.
Although he could not play again, Qi Hong began another journey in his life.
In order to continue his football dream, he opened a football club and worked as a coach.
In 2010, she was appointed coach of the national women's football team.
One day, when Qi Hong was busy preparing for the students' competition, the police suddenly came to the club, provided Qi Hong with a summons, and said that he would take Qi Hong for review.
After seeing this scene, Qi Hong was stunned, which couldn't help but remind him of the game many years ago.
In 2003, Shenhua team played against Tianjin team, Tianjin TEDA club boss Zhang Yifeng in order to achieve good results and relegation, spent 8 million yuan to buy four players of Shanghai International Club.
These four team members are Qi Hong, Shen Si, Jiang Jin, and Xiao Liming.
In the face of such a huge amount, they were moved, and finally they deliberately released water during the game, losing to Tianjin TEDA 1:2, successfully relegating TEDA, and the four divided the huge amount evenly after the game.
Looking back on this, Qi Hong must have regretted that if he hadn't been blinded by money, he wouldn't have had such trouble now, and he didn't expect that he would do something harmful to the football career for money.
The news that Qi Hong was taken away by the police spread instantly, and many fans shouted: "I didn't expect you to be such a person!" ”
Even once waited for Qi Hong to give them an explanation.
Among them, there are also some fans who insist on believing in Qi Hong and feel that he is unlikely to do such a thing.
After waiting for three months, on January 10, 2011, Qi Hong was released on bail and temporarily returned to China.
After getting the news, various media interviewed him, hoping that he could come forward to clarify, but Qi Hong shouted "everyone is out, what is there to clarify."
As expected, after this incident, Qi Hong lost his position as assistant coach of the women's football team and did not choose to continue to serve at the club.
Qi Hong said that he will retire from football and live a peaceful life with his family.
On June 13, 2012, the case also reached its final conclusion, when Qi Hong was sentenced to five years and six months in prison for bribery of non-state officials, fined 500,000 yuan, and confiscated 8 million yuan.
Then Qi Hong's beautiful image in the hearts of fans disappeared without a trace in an instant.
But what many people didn't expect was that Qi Hong appeared in the audience's field of vision soon after...
Third, Qi Hong insisted on engaging in the football industry after being released from prison
On September 2, 2016, Qi Hong slowly walked out of Shanghai Qingpu Prison.
The years are not spared, and now Qi Hong is 40 years old, and the more than 4 years of prison has changed him a lot, from the successful man who was full of spirit before to the man who is now spiritless and ordinary can no longer be ordinary.
Match-fixing had a huge impact on him and made his reputation plummet.
After being released from prison, he had to adapt to both work and daily life, and in his opinion, the football career was no longer available to him, and for the sake of his family, he had to try a variety of industries that he had never been exposed to before and start living again.
Although he is unwilling to give up his football career, Qi Hong has been hit hard by many encounters, but he still likes football as always.
Finally, with the help of several friends, he worked at a youth football training school, although it was very different from all aspects of his previous career, but Qi Hong was very grateful and content.
As long as he can pursue a career in football, no matter how hard and tired it is, he feels that it is very worthwhile.
He wants to do his best to make up for the mistakes he has made, hoping to contribute to the future of Chinese football, cultivate outstanding football players, stick to his dreams, and do what he wants to do.
Qi Hong once said when he retired: "I will always be connected with the vast number of fans with a beating heart, cheer for Chinese football, and bless the future of Chinese football."
In February 2023, the 47-year-old Qi Hong appeared in the Shanghai Youth Football League as an interim coach.
This is his first public appearance since his release from prison, and although he does not have the spirit and vigor of the year, it can be seen from his eyes that he is still full of love for football.
He never left and never gave up on football.
Recalling Qi Hong's various deeds, it always reflects his love for Chinese football.
In his opinion, the greatest value in life is to engage in football.
Although he made mistakes, he was doing his best to make amends.
Qi Hong has had glory, glory, of course, underestimation, and darkness in this life, but he not only did not give up, but also stuck to the cause he loved in his field.
I hope we can learn from him his good qualities and realize the greatest value in our lives.