That night, 50,000 people sang "Sea and Sky" in Tianhe, and Xu Jiayin spent more than 2 billion yuan for the championship for 4 years
On November 27, 2012, Guangzhou Evergrande Club held a "Double Championship Celebration" meeting, after the dinner, Xu Jiayin participated in the Q&A from reporters, and the reporter of "CCTV" asked:
"Since the beginning of the year, Evergrande has won the Super Cup, the Chinese Super League, and the FA Cup.
Xu Jiayin smiled and said:
"The happiness index reaches 60%, and if the AFC Champions League is lucky, it may go up to 80%-90%. ”
In May of that year, Evergrande fired the championship coach Li Zhangzhu under pressure and invited the world-famous coach Lippi, although Lippi led the team to win the Chinese Super League and the FA Cup, but the AFC Champions League stopped in the quarterfinals.
"People's Daily" asked: "Mr. Xu Jiayin, Evergrande has reached the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League this year, will it win the championship next year?"
At that time, Xu Jiayin was in high spirits, he said:
"I've always wanted to win the championship. ”
①
On March 1, 2010, Evergrande Group held a press conference to announce that it would invest 100 million yuan to become the Guangzhou football team that was relegated to the Chinese League.
At the press conference, Xu Jiayin said: "Football is the most popular sport among the three major balls, with a lot of fans and great influence, and Guangdong is one of the regions with the best mass base for Chinese football, and it is also the earliest promoter of China's professionalization process." We have always been very concerned about the development of football in Guangzhou, and we hope to play a role in promoting the development of football in Guangzhou. At a time when Guangzhou football is currently facing a trough, we hope to play a key role in the healthy development and early recovery of Guangzhou football, so Evergrande became the owner of Guangzhou Football this time and established Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club. ”
"We hope that through a large-scale operation, we can help Guangzhou football return to its peak, make the Guangzhou football market hot again, rebuild a trump card team for Guangzhou fans, cultivate more talents for the national team, contribute to the new level of Chinese football, and also hope to make a contribution to the development of Chinese football. ”
On April 26, 2010, Evergrande held a symposium, at which Xu Jiayin clearly put forward Evergrande's goals for the first time.
"The establishment of Evergrande Football Club, our purpose is very clear, that is, to break out of Asia, win glory for the country, and win the AFC Champions League in 3-5 years, that is the real glory for the country. ”
As for how to achieve this goal, Xu Jiayin only said four words:
"At any cost. ”
On September 25, 2010, Evergrande overtook three rounds ahead of schedule, less than 7 months before the team was relegated to the Central League, and that year Lee Jang-so led the team to win the championship with an undefeated record.
In March 2011, Evergrande's new season plenary meeting put forward the "513" bonus policy, with a bonus of 5 million for a win, 1 million for a draw, and 3 million for a loss.
Xie Hui, who had not yet "pressed and beaten" at that time, posted a Weibo to ridicule Evergrande:
"If you don't take him as a joke, then your brain must be in water!"
That year, Evergrande won the Chinese Super League championship four rounds ahead of schedule, creating the "Kaiser Myth" of the promoted horse winning the top league championship of Chinese football, and Guangzhou football entered the AFC Champions League for the first time in history.
At the championship celebration dinner in November, Xu Jiayin put forward the goal of Evergrande's 2012 AFC Champions League:
"Strife Four Ho Eight".
②
Before the 2012 AFC Champions League, Evergrande held a plenary meeting for the new season, and after the meeting, Xu Jiayin talked a lot.
"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. ”
Xu Jiayin, who is a doctoral supervisor in management, personally took the lead in researching Evergrande's "Bonus Distribution Method" for 7 hours from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., and later revised it four or five times before it was finally finalized.
Xu Jiayin was quite proud, he said:
"A team depends on management. ”
On March 8, in the first game of the AFC Champions League group stage, Evergrande played Jeonbuk away, and Xu Jiayin, who was participating in the "two sessions" in Beijing, specially called the team before the game to ask for "glory for the country", and set a heavy reward for this, with an additional bonus of 2 million yuan for each goal win.
In that game, with Conca, Cleo's double brace and Muric's icing on the cake, Evergrande finally slaughtered Jeonbuk 5-1, creating a record for the largest win by a Chinese team against South Korea.
After the game, then Evergrande coach Lee Jang-so thanked Xu Jiayin, saying: "The concern of the boss (Xu Jiayin) is the greatest encouragement to us, and he personally called before the game to tell us that he not only represents Guangzhou, but also represents China, and I am very grateful to him." ”
In that game, Evergrande gave out a bonus of 14 million, setting a record for a single win award in Chinese football at that time.
Lee Jang-su received more than 1.1 million in that game, and the starting 11 players received nearly 1 million bonuses each.
At the "Two Sessions" that year, Xu Jiayin became a "red man", and he called Liu Jianhong and said:
"A lot of delegates chased me to discuss the game and asked where I could watch the game footage. ”
In May, after beating Buriram 2-1 away and leading the team to the top of the group, Lee Jang-so was told to "leave class" at Bangkok Airport.
Back in Guangzhou, Xu Jiayin invited Li Zhangzhu to a banquet, and the two drank "a glass of wine", and Xu Jiayin loved to drink a cup.
Because he was "dismissed", Li Zhangzhu got more than 5 million liquidated damages, and Xu Jiayin also gave him a large bonus alone, plus the AFC Champions League bonus, Li Zhangzhu left with more than 10 million.
On the afternoon of the second day after drinking a glass of wine with Lee Jang-so, Xu Jiayin appeared with Lippi, and he said:
"Please Mr. Lippi, we hope that Evergrande football will get better and better, break out of Asia and go to the world. ”
That year, Li Belt Evergrande defended the Chinese Super League championship in one round ahead of schedule, becoming the first team in the Chinese Super League to defend the title; at the same time, he led the team to win the FA Cup for the first time, becoming the third "double champion" in the history of the Chinese professional league;
However, after completing Xu Jiayin's goal of "striving for four guarantees and eight guarantees", in October of that year, Evergrande also held a special "celebration symposium to achieve the goal of the AFC Champions League", at which Xu Jiayin said on the results of the AFC Champions League:
"Very satisfied. ”
He is not satisfied, it is people.
At the celebration dinner in December, Xu Jiayin said: "I told Coach Lippi that I will do my best to help with any domestic and foreign aid, and whether I can win the championship next year. ”
③
New year, new atmosphere. A few days after the New Year in 2013, Xu Jiayin convened a symposium with Evergrande players, and the first New Year's meeting did not talk about Evergrande.
The international players are about to go to Saudi Arabia to participate in the Asian preliminaries, Xu Jiayin made a magnificent trip for them, and at the same time sent them a sentence:
"Train hard, fight hard, and win glory for the country. ”。
He went on to speak:
"Afraid of hardship, tiredness, fear of injury, don't be a football player, since you have chosen this profession, you must not be afraid of hardship, tiredness, and more importantly, not afraid of injury and death, because not only for the honor of the national team, but also because you also represent Evergrande, to completely change the prejudice and misunderstanding that fans think that you play hard in Evergrande and do not work hard in the national team. ”
In that game, Camacho led the national football team to lose 1-2 to Saudi Arabia away, and Evergrande international player Zhao Xuri scored 1 goal and once equalized for the national football team.
The national football team is in the doldrums, Evergrande is making great progress, and Xu Jiayin's "stamina" of changing coach Lippi finally broke out.
"Evergrande in the second half can't afford to provoke" and "Tianhe's minimum consumption" have become Evergrande's labels.
Evergrande that year can even be described as terrifying.
Evergrande has won all opponents in a single season, 24 wins, 5 draws and 1 loss in 30 rounds of league games, 14 wins and 1 draw in 15 home games, 77 points in the season, 41 points in the halfway, 18 points ahead of the second place to win the championship, unbeaten in 22 consecutive games, scored 78 goals, and won 59 goals, all of which have created a Chinese Super League record, and finally achieved three consecutive Super League championships in four games ahead of schedule.
In the AFC Champions League, in the first round of the group stage, the home team swept Urawa 3-0, Xu Jiayin watched the game on the spot, Evergrande completed the Tianhe low elimination, and then drew 1-1 away with the old rival Jeonbuk, back-to-back 4-0, 4-1 double kill Mengtong United, although the away 2-3 loss to Urawa, but after the home 0-0 draw with Jeonbuk, Evergrande still successfully qualified for the first place in the group.
Then, it withers and decays.
In the 1/8 finals, Evergrande defeated the Central Coast Mariners home and away, with a total score of 5-1;
In the 1/4 finals, Evergrande defeated Lekhvia home and away, with a total score of 6-1;
In the semifinals, Evergrande defeated Bai Sun God home and away, with a total score of 8-1.
In the AFC Champions League knockout round, he was kicked by Evergrande as "chopping melons and vegetables".
④
That year, Xu Jiayin did not hold many meetings for Evergrande, in addition to the big trip to the national players at the beginning of the year, he also held a "Eight Regulations for Evergrande National Football" in July, and then he did not meet the team again until the away game of the AFC Champions League semifinals with Bai Sun God in September.
Before that game, Xu Jiayin flew to Japan to cheer on the team, and at the same time put forward three hopes:
"The first is to attach great importance to it and concentrate on it, the second is to be full of wolf spirit and fight for the opponent, and the third is to hope that everyone will always pursue another goal on the court. ”
As soon as the "Psychological Massage Master" spoke, the players went completely crazy, and Evergrande defeated Bai Sun God 4-1 away.
Advancing to the AFC Champions League final with their heads held high, Evergrande's opponent is only one left--- Seoul FC.
At that time, the AFC Champions League final was still a two-legged system of home and away, and on October 26, Evergrande played Seoul FC away, and the Seoul World Cup stadium was filled with 55,000 fans.
Escudero took the lead for Seoul, Huang Bowen assisted Elkeson to equalize with a header, and Gao Lin grabbed a point-toe poke in the second half to overtake, but then Dejan equalized for Seoul, and finally 2-2, this result is not bad for Evergrande.
On November 9, the decisive battle in Guangzhou, a ticket was hard to find, and more than 50,000 fans from all over the country rushed to turn Tianhe Stadium into a sea of red.
After Evergrande warmed up, the scene played "Believe in Yourself" by the Zero Point Band, and soon after Li Keqin's "Red Sun" began to play, Xu Jiayin liked this song very much, and every day the river played this song, it means that he has arrived at the scene.
In addition to the host Xu Jiayin, the owners and general managers of many clubs were also invited to watch the game, and officials from the AFC and the Chinese Football Association also appeared.
That night's "News Network" not only used the competition as a summary of the content, but also connected with Liu Jianhong, who was at the scene of Tianhe, during the broadcast, which was a very unusual first time.
Compared with the first leg, Lippi adjusted the formation, removed Gao Lin from the starter, changed the formation to 433, goalkeeper Zeng Cheng, defender Sun Xiang, Jin Yingquan, Feng Xiaoting, Zhang Linpeng, midfielders Zhao Xuri, Zheng Zhi, Huang Bowen, and forwards Muric, Conca, and Elkeson.
The contest has few famous games. Both teams created chances in the first half, but the scoring was lacking, 0-0. In the 58th minute of the second half, Muric made a diagonal pass in the midfield, Elkeson understood, broke through to form a single knife, calmly scored, 1-0, Evergrande took the lead, and Lippi off the field was very excited and kept waving his arms.
But the good times didn't last long, and four minutes later, Seoul seized on Evergrande's mistake and Dejan equalized with a low shot to make it 1-1. After that, the game was more than intense, but there were no goals. In the 90th minute, Qin Sheng replaced Muric on the field, and it didn't take long to create chaos, the Seoul assistant coach received a red card, and the referee blew the end whistle of the game in the 93rd minute, with a total score of 3-3 over the two legs, Evergrande won the AFC Champions League with the advantage of more away goals.
⑤
As soon as the game ended, the big screen of Tianhe Stadium played the subtitle "I wish South Korea's Seoul FC Club to win the AFC Champions League and runner-up".
The entire stadium has long been turned into a sea of joy, some people sing, some dance, some cry, and some laugh.
The Evergrande bench hugged each other, Elkeson raised his arms and cheered, Conca hugged the game ball tightly, Lippi smiled and walked onto the court to hug his disciples, and Huang Bowen held the national flag and waved his hands in celebration.
More than 50,000 fans began to sing "Sea and Sky" together.
How many times have you met cold eyes and ridicule
I have never given up on the ideals in my heart
A moment of trance and a feeling of loss
Unconsciously, it has faded
Love in the heart (who understands me)
Forgive me for my uninhibited indulgence and love of freedom in this life
I am also afraid that one day I will fall
Anyone can turn their back on their ideals
How can I be afraid that one day only you and I will be together
This is the first time in the history of Evergrande to win the AFC Champions League, and it is also the first time that a Chinese team has won the championship after the AFC Champions League restructuring, and it is also the first time that Chinese football has stood on the top podium in Asia after 23 years.
For this championship, Zheng Zhi grew a beard for more than half a year and grew a beard and a bright ambition; for this championship, Xu Jiayin, who "spared no cost", spent more than 2 billion yuan and spent four years to achieve the goal he proposed.
In the stands, fans unfurled prepared slogans:
Evergrande, you are the pride of China!
Gayin, you are the god of the fans!
Liu Jianhong, the commentator of the Central Five Series, was also very emotional, he said:
"I hope this is a real opportunity for Chinese football to show us that Chinese can play well." ”
⑥
It's all foam, just a flash of fireworks.
In November 2023, the Guangzhou team held the 10th anniversary celebration of the AFC Champions League, and meritorious players such as Gao Lin, Huang Bowen, and Feng Xiaoting appeared on the field.
Things are people, and everything is resting.
At the training base, Gao Lin, who had been slightly fat, confessed affectionately to the fans and the Guangzhou team:
"We have encountered some difficulties in the past two years, but we have also seen that each of us is working hard to protect our home and protect our team, no matter what changes happen in the future, as long as we are all here, as long as we all love, this team will survive, will live well, will return to our original position, will definitely return to the top of Asia, let us work together!"
Gao Lin said it very well, but the future is too far away and too ethereal.
However, one thing can be certain, that is, no matter what happens to the Guangzhou team, no matter what happens in the future, on November 9, 2013, Guangzhou Tianhe Stadium, that night, that championship, that song "Sea and Sky", will always remain in the memory of Chinese fans, because the good memories left by Chinese football to Chinese fans are too few and too few.