is used to Fan Zhiyi in variety shows, when he puts on the jersey again and returns to the coaching position seriously, we are a little unaccustomed to it.
On April 8, Liaoning Ironman Football Club announced that it had hired Fan Zhiyi as the team's coaching staff and technical director.
Although Fan Zhiyi later explained, saying that he "couldn't get to the team all of a sudden", and did not hold any actual position, he could only help the team through some of his resources at home and abroad.
In short, Fan Zhiyi cannot be regarded as a "genuine" coach who has been stationed in the team for a long time.
But even so, as a "variety show" who has broken into the entertainment industry in recent years, the former "General Fan" can return to the football circle, which still brings a lot of surprises to fans.
One of the most successful centre-backs in the history of Chinese football, Fan Zhiyi had a stellar playing career, having been awarded the Chinese Footballer of the Year title in 1995 and 1996 and Crystal Palace Player of the Year in 1998.
In 2001, Fan Zhiyi helped the national football team win the World Cup ticket two rounds ahead of schedule, and he was awarded the title of Asian Footballer of the Year. It is no exaggeration to say that Fan Zhiyi's career is the golden age of the history of the national football team.
In 2006, 36-year-old Fan Zhiyi officially chose to retire. For the vast majority of players, retirement often means stepping away from the spotlight, but for Fan Zhiyi, retirement has only opened up an increasingly colorful off-field life.
From family to career, from variety shows to film and television, the former "General Fan" has gone to a broader world.
The love scene is "open", and the wife is beside him
Fan Zhiyi has had a total of three wives, the first wife is named Li Qian, who is a flight attendant. Li Qian has a good face, a tall figure, and a height of 1.7 meters, both in appearance and figure, she is a leader among flight attendants.
Once Fan Zhiyi suddenly caught a severe cold while taking a plane, and the captain arranged for Li Qian to take care of him. Li Qian's thoughtful care made Fan Zhiyi's heart moved, and the two quickly fell in love and got married in 1995.
In order to fully support her husband's career, Li Qian resolutely quit her job and went to the UK alone to accompany Fan Zhiyi, and the two also gave birth to a daughter.
After getting married, the two lived a very sweet life, but the good times did not last long, and as the problem of incompatible personalities gradually magnified, Fan Zhiyi finally divorced Li Qian. The relationship between the two was not good at the last moment of their married career, and Li Qian once sued Fan Zhiyi, demanding that Fan Zhiyi pay alimony of up to 2 million yuan.
Fan Zhiyi's second wife is called Li Mingyi, a model with outstanding figure, the two met at a charity football match, and quickly fell in love after a short contact, the marriage lasted even longer, and the two divorced after only a year.
In 2011, 42-year-old Fan Zhiyi met Zhang Mengjin, a ballet dancer 17 years younger than him, at a party. When they first met, Zhang Mengjin's elegance fascinated Fan Zhiyi, and then he launched a crazy pursuit.
However, the huge age gap between the two made the families of both sides have to think repeatedly, Zhang Mengjin's parents do not want their daughter to marry a man who is so old and has been divorced twice.
Fortunately, Fan Zhiyi is persistent enough, he often visits Zhang Mengjin's parents with gifts, and over time, his sincerity touched the second elder, until he finally entered the marriage hall with Zhang Mengjin five years later.
Now, Fan Zhiyi and Zhang Mengjin have gone through 8 years of marriage, and the huge age gap has not affected their relationship, and we can often see the love scenes between the two.
Looking at Fan Zhiyi's three marriages, although there are many contradictions entangled, on the whole, "General Fan" can control it freely and like a fish in water.
No matter in terms of figure or appearance, Fan Zhiyi's three wives can be described as colorful and beautiful as flowers, as athletes who train hard and run around on weekdays, Fan Zhiyi can hug the beauty in his spare time, and his personal charm can be imagined.
When the coach repeatedly hit a wall, the angry national football team became a classic
After retiring, being a coach is naturally the first choice for many players, and Fan Zhiyi is no exception.
On August 3, 2006, Fan Zhiyi returned to the mountain and served as the technical director of the second-division team Suzhou Tops team. But perhaps even he couldn't have imagined that the situation of the Suzhou Tops team had become so bad:
The food level of the team members is extremely low, they can't even eat eggs, they can't drink bottled pure water, and they have to face difficult situations such as three people crammed into a room and a set of team uniforms for a year.
Fan Zhiyi felt sorry for the team members, bought hundreds of catties of eggs out of his own pocket and sent them to the canteen, and occasionally got two soft-shelled turtles. Later, through personal relationships, he solved the problem of not being able to drink ice water during training, and actively communicated with the club, equipped with a brand new "Mizuno" genuine jersey, and at the same time distributed two sets of casual T-shirts to each person.
In addition to the technical director and head coach, Fan Zhiyi actually has another role, that is, the general manager of the team. Eating, drinking, and Lazar, no matter how big or small, he has to personally inquire about it.
In order to solve the problems of the player's life training, he has to talk to the above about the requirements, and in order to maximize the savings, he has to think about how to spend the money wisely.
"Sometimes I really feel like a housekeeper, and this housekeeper is really not good. Although Fan Zhiyi said this sentence jokingly, it was actually more of his helpless sigh, although he was full of enthusiasm, but it was difficult to maintain the survival of the team by relying on one person, only five months later, because of salary disputes, Fan Zhiyi chose to resign.
The failure of his first coaching effort did not erode Fan Zhiyi's confidence, and he did not rush to find his next home, but silently accumulated experience.
It was not until 2009 that the Shanghai Municipal Sports Bureau decided to appoint Fan Zhiyi as the executive coach of the Shanghai men's football team (Group B) of the National Games, responsible for all the affairs of the Shanghai men's football team (Group B) of the National Games. Under the leadership of Fan Zhiyi, the Shanghai U16 National Games men's football team successfully reached the quarterfinals.
In 2010, after the end of the 11th National Games, Fan Zhiyi followed his mentor Xu Genbao as the head coach of the Shanghai East Asian team.
At this time, Shanghai East Asia was aiming to surpass, and Fan Zhiyi, who was brilliant in his playing days, naturally had high hopes, but a season's adjustment did not bring about a reborn change for the team.
Fan Zhiyi, who has a strong sense of responsibility, was very frustrated and decided to resign as head coach: "I can't lead this team to surpass, I don't have this ability, I should learn." ”
On November 22 of the same year, Fan Zhiyi went to Kunming to participate in the coach training course, and completed his studies at the end of January of the following year in the second domestic professional coach training course.
Surprisingly, although Fan Zhiyi stressed when he resigned as head coach of Shanghai East Asia that football would be the first choice in whatever he did in the future, his experience since then has become more and more distant from football.
After that, Fan Zhiyi did not serve as the head coach again, but was mainly responsible for the training of the national youth team, and his tough and straightforward personality will also make him often break out some surprising remarks, and Fan Zhiyi will be blunt about the corruption of referees in the football circle such as favoritism, match-fixing, and bribery of players and coaches.
On June 15, 2013, in an international friendly match in Hefei, the national football team lost 1:5 to the Thai team with a semi-main lineup.
After the game, former international player Fan Zhiyi angrily criticized the national football team in an interview, which has now become a classic, with a high number of views on major websites, and has won the title of "Football Bible".
At that time, Fan Zhiyi was extremely emotional, and made a sharp comment on the lack of ability of the national football team: "Has it changed? Camacho also has a reason to say, what team am I leading, the Spanish team I am leading, what kind of people are you, you asked me to bring it.
What is the current level of Chinese football? Just a few people, you Zhao Peng or something are playing as central defender, can he play? Can't play, don't you know if you don't have this ability? If you go down, you're going to lose to Vietnam, and then you're going to lose to Myanmar, and then no one loses!"
The reporter tried to make up for it from other angles: "On the other hand, the Chinese team is the earliest team to prepare for the 2018 World Cup......" But before the words fell, Fan Zhiyi, who was full of anger, shouted:
"Oh oh, thank goodness, you don't have a good foundation in a game like this, can you promise me that he will win a crucial game like '17 or '16?
Xiao Gao (Gao Hongbo) brought it very well, you went to change him, what are you doing, tell me. You lost 1:5 in Hefei, but you told me how to explain it? ”
The last sentence "I don't want my face anymore" is the finishing touch, and it has become synonymous with Fan Zhiyi for a long time.
Although the words were sharp and did not leave face for the national football team, everyone must be able to understand Fan Zhiyi's anxiety, as a veteran who once wore the national team jersey, no one is more distressed by the decline of the national football team than Fan Zhiyi. He also hopes to use this way to "wake up" the sinking national football team.
Cross-border entertainment industry, variety TV grasps both
Compared with other retired players, Fan Zhiyi's football elements are actually not much, but what is more eye-catching is his wonderful performance in the entertainment industry.
There are not a few cases of athletes participating in variety shows, but most people don't have any outstanding program effects, and the broadcast perception is really average.
However, Fan Zhiyi is definitely an "alternative" among athletes, he quickly showed a good variety show effect after entering the entertainment industry, just like the interview mentioned above that criticized the national football team, Fan Zhiyi can always make people laugh in a serious book.
As early as 2002, Fan Zhiyi participated in Tang Jili's "Ambition". After retiring, Fan Zhiyi paid more and more attention to opening up a new territory, and Fan Zhiyi was featured in this year's hit TV series "Flowers".
Directed and produced by Wong Kar-wai and with the participation of Hu Ge, Tang Yan and other movie stars, "Flowers" tells the story of the little people represented by Po who take advantage of the opportunities of the times and their personal talents, bravely face difficulties in the challenging social wave, and gradually change their destiny and achieve personal growth through perseverance and determination.
As a native of Shanghai, Fan Zhiyi also accepted the invitation and played the role of "Director Fan" in it, and staged a wonderful rivalry with "Miss Wang" played by Tang Yan.
In this scene, Fan Zhiyi started from multiple angles such as accent, body movements, and expressions, and carefully restored a factory director in the 90s of the last century, allowing the audience to feel the atmosphere of a specific era.
In the play, although Fan Zhiyi does not appear many times, every picture can impress the audience.
In addition to the wonderful rivalry with Tang Yan, Fan Zhiyi also had a quarrel with "Tao Tao" played by Chen Long, and the scene where Fan Zhiyi pointed at the other party at close range made fans seem to see the "General Fan" who stood out for his teammates on the field again.
According to Fan Zhiyi's recollection, he personally hesitated about the role of "Director Fan", on the one hand, a director of Wong Kar-wai's level is willing to invite him personally, the opportunity is already rare, and it is a film and television that reflects the changes of the times in Shanghai, Fan Zhiyi, who is a Shanghainese, is naturally eager to try.
But on the other hand, he is not an actor, although he has made sporadic cameo appearances in TV series before, but most of them are related to football, if he wants to challenge a role that has nothing to do with football, is his ability competent?
In the end, with the encouragement of his wife and Wong Kar-wai's repeated invitations, Fan Zhiyi finally accepted the invitation. came to the set with apprehension, and the "layman" Fan Zhiyi was naturally very nervous.
On his social media, we can see that during a shoot, Fan Zhiyi was reciting his lines repeatedly and carefully, but he still reshot several times.
Fortunately, the hard work pays off, Fan Zhiyi's is both serious and angry, but also has a witty personal characteristic, which is cleverly integrated with the role of "Director Fan", showing unexpected results, and even rushed to the hot search for a time.
Speaking of Fan Zhiyi's development after retiring, the most successful is still in variety shows. In 2021, Fan Zhiyi participated in a variety show called "Tucao Conference".
In his speech, it only took more than ten minutes to amuse the audience at the Tucao Conference, and frequently applauded and interacted, and the industry writers, including Li Dan, laughed until they fell down.
Once the show was broadcast, it caused an uproar, Fan Zhiyi did not shy away from criticizing basketball, and his sharp words made the majority of basketball fans angry.
Soon after the opening, Fan Zhiyi said that he was invited by the program team to "scold and wake up" Zhou Qi and Allen: "What can they be?
The opening remarks not only made humorous self-deprecation, but also ridiculed the sluggishness of basketball now, and then said, "The national basketball team played Poland in the 19th World Cup, there are 7 seconds left, and when I win, I want to go to the toilet, and when I come out, I will draw, and then I lose in overtime, I regret what toilet I went to, and I should let Zhou Qi go." ”
Immediately afterwards, Fan Zhiyi made frequent golden sentences, bluntly saying, "Zhou Qi lost, and the reporter interviewed you the next day and laughed, even if you were scolded less, you should be allowed to take the basketball to the football field, how big is the basketball court, let the fans on the football field scold you and try." ”
Under Fan Zhiyi's complaints all the way, the atmosphere was brought to the top, and he also took the opportunity to say the most detonating part of the audience:
"Who is Zhou Qi? What level is the men's basketball team? Just a few people, Zhou Qi is playing center, don't you know if you don't have this ability?", "Just play like this at home, you don't want your face!"
Although the text of the guests at the conference is more or less from the creativity and polish of the screenwriter, and the clips written by myself are actually limited, Fan Zhiyi, as a "layman", plays freely on the spot, and every sentence shows the realism of the heart.
Combined with the exaggerated expression and the ups and downs of the atmosphere, it has a strong appeal. After that episode of the show was broadcast, the rating of the Tucao Conference even rose by 0.1 points overnight, which shows the audience's love for him.
In addition to the Tucao Conference, Fan Zhiyi has also participated in many variety shows, and the other representative is "5 Ha". 5ha is composed of Deng Chao, Chen He, Lu Han and the guests to form the "5ha Travel Group", squeezing out time from the busy and trivial daily life to start a journey from east to west and through China.
Since Fan Zhiyi joined in the third season, he has contributed a lot of wonderful moments, and his straightforward character of being more honest and upright, and daring to laugh at himself without baggage has won the recognition of a large number of audiences, and has gradually become an indispensable and important puzzle piece in the 5 Ha tour group.
At the same time, Fan Zhiyi will also show a rational side in the show, such as when his daughter called him and cried about emotional problems, Fan Zhiyi's calm analysis showed super high emotional intelligence, and even Deng Chao was greatly impressed.
epilogue
After the hit of "Flowers", Fan Zhiyi's wonderful acting skills attracted a lot of praise, but it caused the worry of his mentor Xu Genbao, Xu Genbao said that Fan Zhiyi starred in "Flowers" in his true colors and acted very well, but he still hopes that he will return to football.
This time, Fan Zhiyi re-emerged from the mountain, not only to respond to the expectations of his mentor Xu Genbao, but also to fulfill his promise. Fan Zhiyi is well-known as a footballer, and his thriving career after retiring from football is not unrelated to the accumulation of contacts when he was a player.
At a time when Chinese football is in trouble, such a senior and capable older generation needs to return to their old profession and help Chinese football in their own way.
Fan Zhiyi has briefly coached the Suzhou Fun Pulse team in the second division and the Shanghai East Asia team in the Chinese league, which is his second entry into the professional league after 15 years.
Over the years, Fan Zhiyi has bombarded Chinese football, participated in the Tucao Conference, and had a good performance in "Flowers", gradually embarking on the "Internet celebrity route" and deviating from the football industry.
This time as the head of the Liaoning Iron Man coaching staff and technical director, it seems to be the "declaration" of Fan Zhiyi's return to football, and I hope that he can work hard in the future and contribute to the rise of Chinese football.