What happened in world football in the last Year of the Dragon?

Twelve years ago in world football

Wen 丨 Ye Gong is a good ball

Editor丨White Horse

Life is a circular circle, and no one can escape it. Just like the twelve zodiac signs for twelve years, this is a cycle, during which wind, rain, thunder and lightning, spring, summer, autumn and winter, joy, anger and sorrow, love and hatred, bitter and sweet alternate.

After bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, the Year of the Dragon has arrived. The accelerated pace of life makes it difficult to stop and reflect on what has happened in the past year. When it comes to the last year of the dragon, 2012, many people always have the illusion that it was nothing more than what happened a few years ago. In fact, he's been a long, long time.

Time goes back quickly, look at what wonderful memories they gave us 12 years ago.

Mourinho's final peak

Overturned Barcelona and won the championship by 100 points

At the beginning of 2024, Mourinho left class in Rome and left in a car, with white hair and a sad face, and the 61-year-old magic bird looked more like a physically and mentally exhausted old man. And 12 years ago, at the Bernabeu, he was the madman at the top.

2011-2012 is Mourinho's second season in charge of Real Madrid, facing the Cosmos team Barcelona, Mourinho was full of confidence before the season: Only Real Madrid, which I coach, can overturn Barcelona, please follow my team with your cameras, don't miss this history.

The madman did not break his promise, and the Galaxy Battleship, which only invested 50 million before this season, rushed forward after the start of the game. The Mad Men abandoned the defensive and quick-counter-attacking style of play at Chelsea and Inter Milan in favour of unreasonable attacking football, winning 10 in a row and 11 in a row throughout the season.

In April 2012, Jose Mourinho led Real Madrid to a 2-1 win over Barcelona at the Camp Nou, and Cristiano Ronaldo's stunning 73rd-minute goal ended an 11-game winning streak and a 53-game unbeaten run at home. In the face of Barcelona's crazy counterattack at the last moment, Mourinho was calm and directing the team's defense. After winning this game, Real Madrid is 7 points ahead of their opponents and is one step away from the championship.

After the game, the madman looked down on Camp Nou like a king with his head held high, and he made history in his own way. Real Madrid won the league title with a record 100 points this season, scoring 121 goals and breaking Pep Guardiola and Barcelona's dominance of the league. It was also after this season that Pep Guardiola left Barcelona.

Years later, Mourinho looked back on the year and said proudly: "We ended Barca's reign in the best possible way. We used a lot of explosive, fast, direct passes, and that coordination was almost unstoppable.

At the celebration of the league title, Mourinho got down on his knees with red eyes and thanked his players for their efforts. This is one of the most moving images in the memory of many Real Madrid fans.

Jose Mourinho's biggest regret this season has been in the Champions League. The team reached the semi-finals, and returned to home after losing 1-2 to Bayern in the first leg, Real Madrid came out like a tiger, with Cristiano Ronaldo's brace to take a two-goal lead, Robben scored a goal, and the two sides fought to a penalty shootout.

At this time, Mourinho knelt down on his knees and prayed, and the scene was moving. However, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Ramos unexpectedly missed penalties, leaving Real Madrid out of the tenth Champions League trophy in the team's history that season. Mourinho was in tears after the game, the only time the Portuguese has been in charge since he lost a game.

The Magic Bird, who returned to the locker room, did not lose his temper and did not blame the players, he said a lot of words of thanks.

Some media asked: Did Ronaldo lose a penalty because he was nervous and scared? The madman immediately shot back: This is football, there is no doubt that Ronaldo, Kaka, and Ramos are beast-like beings on the football field, but they are also people, if you are a person with a normal mind, you will never change the law to find trouble after the game.

After Mourinho and assistant coach Eto drove home, they hugged and cried in the car. Jose Mourinho still regrets when he recalls it: Real Madrid were the best team in the world that season, there was no one, and if we reached the final, I would have found a way to win against Chelsea.

This highlight season has become a watershed moment for Mourinho's coaching. After going to Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham, although Mu Shuai won the Premier League and Europa League, he never seemed to be on top of the world again.

Now I have to admit that the most special one, the best Mourinho, is getting farther and farther away from us.

Mei-hsien

There were joys and sorrows in those years

Some people can only understand their preciousness and irreplaceability when they leave. Many of the coaches who were still coaching 12 years ago have now said goodbye to coaching.

In the summer of 2012, after watching Manchester City win the league title, Ferguson followed his wife's advice and decided to fight for another year, he bought Arsenal's goalscorer Robin van Persie, and led the team to set sail in adversity, and the lifelong Ferguson Freudson was determined not to admit defeat and let the Red Devils regain the title in the 2012-2013 season.

Sadly, this was Ferguson's last title in charge and United's last league title to date.

After the retirement of Alex Ferguson, Manchester United changed managers from David Moyes, Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Rangnick and Ten Hag, not to mention regaining the title, and the team was about to lose the prefix of the giants.

Arsene Wenger, who was in charge of Arsenal at the time, was ridiculed by Mourinho as an expert on failure. Due to the construction of new stadiums and financial constraints, the team is forced to sell its captain and core players every year to maintain its financial health and operation.

From 2005 to 2012, Arsenal did not win a single tournament for seven consecutive years, and the team formed an indissoluble bond with the "4". No one can understand Wenger's difficulties, there are just endless ridicule, attacks and sarcasm, and the French can only suffer in silence.

Many people forget that under financial constraints, Arsene Wenger has led Arsenal to the Champions League for 19 consecutive seasons, the Champions League round of 16 for 17 consecutive years, and the FA Cup 7 times.

Idealist Arsene Wenger is keen to push back his critics with a worthy title, and he is adamant that his technique and pass-and-play style can create more possibilities.

Until Arsene Wenger's farewell in the summer of 2018, his wish was not fulfilled. It is also the departure of Arsene Wenger that has shown Arsenal fans how bad a team can be without him.

At Euro 2012, Spain comfortably defeated Italy 4-0 in the final to win the title, and while the Matadors became the first team to defend their European Championship titles, coach Bosque became the first Grand Slam coach in world football to win the World Cup, European Championship and Champions League.

At that time, Spain was able to firmly control the football under its feet, no matter whether the opponent was crazy to press or block, and still could grasp the initiative. Dynasties are always upside down, and after the 2014 World Cup fiasco, Spain lost to Italy at Euro 2016.

In the summer of 2012, Pep Guardiola said goodbye to Barcelona and an era, and he decided to take a half-year break before looking for a home. Eventually, he came to the Bundesliga to take charge of Bayern Munich and gave German football a brainstorm.

Klopp was still full of blond hair at that time, he led Dortmund to kill all sides, reversed Bayern to win the league championship after falling behind halfway, defeated Bayern 5-2 in the German Cup, and completed five consecutive kills against sworn enemies in two consecutive seasons. Jurgen Klopp, who admires attacking football and beautiful style of play, is rising like a pearl.

Now, after moving to Liverpool, the self-proclaimed "depleted energy" German needs to rest for a while before he can go back on the road.

That year

The peerless twins are chasing me with you

Before the Chinese New Year, a warm-up match attracted the attention of fans around the world, and the match was between Riyadh Victory and Miami International. There is no other reason to attract the global spotlight, because this is the team of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. This match is also seen as the last head-to-head matchup of Melo's career.

It's a pity that Mero decided to be a no-roll, Ronaldo didn't play because of injury, and Messi only came on as a substitute in the 83rd minute, at which time the team was already 0-6 behind, and the friendly match became a friendly match.

Going back 12 years, Inter Miami was not yet a team, and not many people knew about the Riyadh victory.

Messi was at the peak of his 27-year-old at this time, and in this year he won the 2011 and 2012 Ballon d'Or without controversy for scoring 73 goals and 29 assists in the 2011-2012 season. Become the first player to win the Golden Ball four years in a row.

Although Messi did not help Barcelona win the Champions League and La Liga in 2012, he has achieved many milestones personally, becoming Barca's all-time top scorer, and surpassing Muller and Pele to become the player with the most goals in a single season.

One of the most terrifying records is that in the whole year of 2012, Messi scored 91 goals in the games he participated in, which is not only unprecedented, but also difficult to follow.

In 2012, the peerless duo contributed a number of classic matches, and Ronaldo's Real Madrid won Barcelona in the league. In the 2011-2012 season of La Liga, Ronaldo scored 46 goals, only 3 goals less than Messi, and missed the La Liga Golden Boot, but still set a new high in his career. In the Champions League, Ronaldo's free kick kung fu went to the next level, hitting the "elevator ball" of his own sign many times.

The saddest thing for Ronaldo this year was the defeat in the European Cup, in the group stage, Ronaldo did everything he could, winning 2-1 in the Netherlands, he scored twice to lead the team out of the encirclement, all the way to the semifinals.

Against the future champion Spain, Ronaldo played the full 120 minutes and ran 13,240 meters, such a crazy running range is enough to prove that he did his best. In the 90th minute, he had a chance to finish the game, but unfortunately the shot from inside the box was too hasty and went straight away.

What's even more helpless is that because Moutinho and Bruno Alves missed penalties one after another, Ronaldo, who was supposed to play in the fifth, didn't even make a penalty and was eliminated from the team.

Ronaldo sighed helplessly after the game, and after coming to the players' tunnel, he couldn't hold on anymore, crying like a child, and after coming to the locker room, although coach Bento and his teammates were comforting him, Ronaldo's sadness was still difficult to hide.

This year, Ronaldo was 28 years old, he never believed that any butterfly could not fly in the sea, only believed that he could create miracles. Four years later, Cristiano Ronaldo won the European Championship with Portugal.

12 years ago, it was the era of Messi and Ronaldo, and it was the strong and fierce competition of each other that inspired me to be more focused and hardworking. Now that the Mero era is coming to an end, their greatness can only be remembered in memory.

Before the Spring Festival, Messi played 0 minutes in Hong Kong, China, 0 apologizes and 0 responses, causing an uproar, for the majority of Chinese fans, it seems that what they miss more is the former Messi.

The Blues and the Red Devils are in contention for the Terrier Champion

From inspirational to joyful

From an ordinary person to a legend, it takes the right time and place, as well as non-stop running and hard work. But some teams and coaches only need a few years to change from inspirational models to funny jokes.

In the Champions League final 12 years ago, Chelsea, represented by old boys such as John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, turned the tide and won Bayern Munich after being pushed to the edge of the cliff several times in 120 minutes and penalty shootouts.

Compare that nightmarish rainy night in Moscow in 2008 when Chelsea tears were flying, but this time it was tears of happiness. For the Champions League trophy, the owner Abu and his soldiers waited a full nine years.

It was a Chelsea team that was iron-blooded, with players who may not have the best players and squads, but they were always able to strike hard in the face of adversity.

John Terry could fly out to block goal, Frank Lampard was still strong on the pitch after his mother's death, and Drogba was like a beast on the pitch, never backing down.

Sometimes, it's not difficult to buy a team, it's the temperament of a strong man that is difficult. Abu is perfect at this point, running Chelsea like his own child.

In March 2022, the British government used trickery to get rid of Abu, and the American Boehly bought the club and started his own football manager and NBA management model.

In addition to the rapid decline in results, Chelsea no longer have the slightest shadow of the team of the past, the players on the field are lazy, and the coaches on the sidelines are always full of helplessness. Not only are they not good at fighting against strong teams, but they have also become points machines for weak teams.

It's no secret that Jacquesson is posing as a professional up front, and he alone is responsible for more than half of the missed opportunities in the Premier League's top 10 this season.

James in defence is the world's number one full-back if not injured, but for the most part he struggles to be fit. What is even more incomprehensible is that he is unwilling to follow the advice of professional doctors to undergo surgery, and chooses to carry it himself.

Before the season, the agents of the 29-year-old Prowse and the 27-year-old Maddison had contacted Chelsea, but they were rejected due to their age.

The only ones who can steal the title of Chelsea's joke king in Europe's top five leagues are Manchester United and Ten Hag.

Twelve years ago, the Dutchman had just finished his assistant career at PSV Eindhoven to move to the Eredivisie Eagles as head coach and led the team to promotion to the first division in just one season.

He then moved to Germany to take charge of Bayern Munich's second team, where he won the championship and runner-up in the fourth tier in two years, and was dubbed Mini Pep by German fans, and he did show many similar qualities to Guardiola in his subsequent coaching career.

But in his second season at Manchester United, people discovered that Ten Hag's characteristics were actually reflected in the post-match press conference. When Antony and Onana were bought at a high price, they not only failed to save Manchester United, but instead formed a "funny trio" with their mentors, and the traffic arrived.

Chinese football

Back to square one? Worse than the original!

For many Chinese footballers, 12 years is like going around in a big circle, and they are kicked back to the starting point. In 2012, Chinese football had just experienced a round of anti-gambling and anti-crime storms, and people thought that everything was developing in a good direction.

At that time, Evergrande had already begun to wave banknotes to attract international players. Before the 2012 AFC Champions League, Evergrande held a plenary meeting.

Xu Jiayin talked eloquently: The treatment level of Chinese athletes will be pulled up, when will the annual salary of Chinese athletes be pulled to 1 billion yuan, and Chinese football will reach the European level, it must be like this.

According to media reports, Xu Jiayin, who is a doctoral supervisor in management, personally took the lead in studying Evergrande's "Bonus Distribution Method" for 7 hours from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., and later revised it four or five times, and finally made the decision himself.

This is Evergrande's "League 303" and "AFC Champions League 6306" incentive system that season. That is, in the league, the Evergrande team will be rewarded with 3 million yuan for winning a game, no reward will be deducted for a draw, and 3 million yuan will be deducted for losing. The AFC Champions League will be rewarded with 6 million yuan for winning, 3 million yuan for a draw, no deduction for losing, 6 million yuan for promotion, and a bonus for goal difference.

In the first game of the AFC Champions League that year, Evergrande defeated Jeonbuk 5-1 away, and the team's bonus reached an astonishing 14 million yuan, and coach Li Zhangzhu alone got 1.5 million.

Li Guangyi, general manager of Tianjin TEDA, and Luo Ning, chairman of Guoan, and many other Chinese Super League bosses talked to the leaders of the Football Association, hoping that they could pay attention to Guangzhou Evergrande, and the development of Chinese football should follow the objective laws of the industry. But the Football Association did not respond.

Li Guangyi said bluntly in an interview with the media: Football in the Chinese Super League should be independent, and should not be overly attached to the success or failure of another industry.

12 years later, his prediction came true, and what is even more ironic is that the manager, who is full of benevolence and morality and advocates public welfare football, was also taken away for investigation at the end of 2021.

In 2011, the Wanda Group funded and the Football Association spent a lot of money to bring in Camacho, but the team was eliminated early in the World Cup qualifiers.

In 2012, the Spaniards proposed a training plan to wrestle with European and American teams, so the national football team came to Europe to play against Sweden and Spain, and then came to Brazil to play against each other, and was beaten 8-0.

In 2012, Li Tie's fate changed with Evergrande, he was originally a player and coach in Liaozu, assisting coach Marin to analyze the game, although it was very hard and busy, although the annual salary was less than 500,000 yuan, Li Tie still worked hard and dreamed of tomorrow.

In mid-2012, Evergrande laid off Lee Jang-so and brought in World Cup-winning coach Lippi. The Italians hope that there will be a young domestic coach in the coaching staff to coordinate and cooperate, because of the experience of studying abroad, Evergrande invited Li Tie with a high salary.

In the summer of 2015, Li Tie accepted the invitation of Hebei Huaxia Happiness and embarked on the road of no return.

Chen Xuyuan, who is now in prison, was still the party secretary and chairman of Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd. 12 years ago, and was not involved in football.

At that time, the team was called Shanghai East Asia, composed of players from Xu Genbao Chongming Island, after 2014, Shanghai SIPG acquired East Asia, and then Chen Xuyuan was transferred to SIPG Club, ushering in a turning point.

Looking back at the standings of the Chinese Super League 12 years ago, you will find that nearly half of the teams have disappeared, when the Chinese Super League runner-up Jiangsu Shuntian, which almost overturned Evergrande, was acquired by Suning, and withdrew after winning the championship in 2020, and the fourth-ranked Guizhou Ren, the famous Rangers team, they moved 3 times, changed hands 5 times, changed team names 12 times, and disbanded before the 2021 season.

Dalian Albin, ranked fifth, and Guangzhou R&F, ranked seventh, have all disappeared, and Liaoning Hongyun in the lower half of the district will be disbanded in 2020 after years of selling blood and arrears of wages for many years, and the players have not yet received their salaries. Dalian Shide was disbanded at the end of the season, and Shanghai Shenxin said goodbye in 2020.

After being transferred to the chairman of the Football Association, Chen Xuyuan once said with a serious expression in an interview: Football cannot go far by money, and only by faith can football be more pure and noble.

This is true, but most people in the Chinese football circle have no faith at all, and some are just actors with good acting skills.

The next 12 years

There will be a new history coming

After 12 years, world football in 2024 has long since changed. The Mero era is close to the end of the curtain, but the two have not stopped moving forward and are still making a final effort. In the new year, they will also represent Argentina and Portugal in the Copa America and European Championships.

Now, the new duo of Haaland and Mbappe are taking over the former dynasty of Melo. If Mbappe can join Real Madrid in the summer, a new round of drama is about to begin.

For Chinese football in 2024, the most important game is the World Preliminaries, although everyone understands that with the current strength and lineup, the national football team is a bit wishful thinking to enter the World Cup, but every Chinese fan still hopes that they can go back to the United States, Canada and Mexico, even if they can't go to the United States, Canada and Mexico, they can leave with their heads held high.

Life is a wonderful adventure and a difficult cycle, you never know what will happen in the next second, and the only thing you can do may be to grasp the moment. Before the next Year of the Dragon, no matter how sluggish and decadent you are now, there is still time to change everything, and you can change your own world by running with all your might.

In the new year, let's cheer together!