Starting with playing defensive midfield for Evergrande

Chapter 74: A Bloody Brand Battle, Plus a Super Luxurious First Endorsement (Seeking First Subscription)

Tianhe Stadium.

The already tense atmosphere between the two teams completely erupted after Su Hao's elbow strike, which was like a battle cry.

Moreover, after the group rankings were determined, clearing yellow cards became the only thing the players from both teams needed to do in the next twenty minutes.

Ever since!
There's no intention to hold back anymore.

The all-out brawl between Evergrande and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors has officially begun.

73th minute of the match!

In retaliation against Guangzhou Evergrande, Jeonbuk captain Lee Dong-gook delivered a vicious elbow to Feng Xiaoting inside Evergrande's penalty area.

Old Feng collapsed to the ground with a thud!

Lee Dong-guk won with a Ruby card and went to rest.

Seeing that Lao Feng had been dealt with like that, Zhang Linpeng, who had also received a yellow card in the second round of the group stage, naturally seized the opportunity and, in the 78th minute of the match, made a brutal tackle on Jeonbuk Hyundai's defensive midfielder Jung Hyuk, who had not yet had time to fulfill his duties as head coach!

However, what frustrated Zhang Linpeng was that while other players would only get a yellow card for a tackle, he suddenly received a red card!
Of course, Zhang Linpeng, who doesn't like to be taken advantage of, took advantage of the chaos to slap Jin Zhengyou, who had come over and was barking at him, before leaving the field.

After that slap, Old Zhang finally felt that his red card wasn't such a bad deal after all!

5: 1!

This is the final score of the match.

It wasn't too tragic, but this score was the hardest for Jeonbuk fans to accept.

Yes!

A year ago, they watched Guangzhou Evergrande slaughter them with this score at their home stadium.

A year later, the same Evergrande handed them their most lopsided defeat of the season so far.

This is truly the most painful outcome!
Of course, the worst one was that damned Evergrande number 28, who used an extremely malicious elbow to give their rising star winger Lee Seung-ki a mild concussion.

If that elbow hadn't happened on a football field, Li Chengqi could have gone to the police station to report it!
"Hey! Xiao Hao, look at you! It's the fifth round of the AFC Champions League, and you've only played two games, and you've got two red cards!"

Inside the Evergrande locker room.

With a resounding victory and securing first place in the group, the entire Guangzhou Evergrande team naturally relaxed and started joking around.

Su Hao, the MVP who hasn't even played a single full AFC Champions League match, naturally became the focus of everyone's ridicule.

"Haha, but Xiao Hao's elbow really felt good! Damn it, that Li Chengqi is really solid; I couldn't even knock him down with my kick!"

"You don't understand South Korean youth training. Those who make it to the top are the ones who were used to being beaten badly when they were young. To be honest, the football atmosphere in South Korea isn't much better than ours!"

"Enough of that, who's treating tonight? Elkeson? You scored two goals, you have to treat us!"

A group of people were joking and laughing in the locker room, while the post-match press conference was being held.

Lippi was besieged by a group of angry South Korean reporters.

Do not!
It wasn't just South Korean journalists; some Japanese journalists were also among them.

Two AFC Champions League matches, one flying kick, one elbow strike—regardless of Su Hao's performance, these two fouls alone are enough for these reporters to make a fuss about.

"Mr. Lippi, how do you evaluate Su Hao's elbowing incident in your team? Is this the style of your team? Such a lack of sportsmanship is an insult to football!"

Park Dan-doo, a reporter from the Chosun Ilbo who was the first to ask a question, angrily questioned him.

However, he was facing the South Koreans whom Lippi looked down on from the bottom of his heart.

The old man didn't even glance at Park Duan-diao before completely ignoring the question.

"Mr. Lippi, according to our latest news, Lee Seung-ki, who was taken away by ambulance, has been diagnosed with a mild concussion. What would you like to say about this?"

The old man declined Park Dan-tak's question, but another Japanese reporter persisted and brought it up again.

Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, Lippi could only sleepily pull over the microphone.

"I'm sorry to hear this news, but I want to say that our Conca has also been confirmed to have a sprained ligament in his left ankle, and he will need at least a month to recover. Everyone knows why Conca was injured. Moreover, I have just spoken with Su, and it wasn't an elbow strike. Su just habitually uses his arm swing to generate power when challenging for headers. It was a misunderstanding. We will appeal to the AFC later. Su's action was just a normal arm swing, not an intentional elbow strike. It's a pity that Lee Seung-ki is at a height disadvantage, so..."

On the podium, Marcello Lippi, without batting an eye, answered the Japanese reporter's questions in Italian.

Hearing his grandfather's "no" reply, the translator could only grit his teeth and translate it.

As for the result...
Naturally, those South Korean reporters were so angry they almost stormed out!
At his own press conference, the old man tried to smooth things over for Su Hao.

Meanwhile, at the away team's press conference.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors head coach Choi Kang-hee, in a fit of grief and indignation, denounced Su Ho at the press conference.

"That guy is a disgrace to football, he is an enemy of Korean football! He stole Jeonbuk Hyundai's victory in the dirtiest way, he fouled them both times in aerial duels!"

"We have filed a complaint with the AFC. A player like that number 28 doesn't deserve to be in a football match!"

"He should be banned permanently!"

Guangzhou Evergrande thrashed Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 5-1 again, securing first place in their group with 4 wins and 1 draw!

Guangzhou Evergrande's young star Su Hao dominated the match with two goals and two assists, but was sent off with a red card in the 70th minute for elbowing an opponent!

Two red cards in two AFC Champions League matches; foreign media have dubbed Su Hao "China's bad boy"!

Lippi has filed a complaint with the AFC, demanding severe punishment for Lee Seung-ki and asserting that Su Hao's elbow strike was merely a habitual action!

Juventus' general manager spotted at Tianhe Stadium, possibly scouting Su Hao?

This night is destined to be another sleepless one for Evergrande fans.

On the Guangzhou Evergrande forum.

A poster featuring Su Hao receiving a red card but being wildly worshipped by tens of thousands of fans was forwarded hundreds of thousands of times and appeared on countless Weibo and WeChat Moments within just 2 hours.

The top trending topic on Weibo was "Kicking the Japanese and elbowing the Koreans!"

Unsurprisingly, Su Hao once again became the two most talked-about names of the night.

However, what the real fans were really concerned about wasn't Su Hao's red card or anything like that; what they cared about most was whether the Juventus general manager's visit to Tianhe Stadium was truly to scout Su Hao.

After all, compared to Bayern Munich and others, Italian giants Juventus have the largest fan base in China.

11 o'clock in the evening.

After receiving post-match physiotherapy at Tianhe Stadium, Zheng Zhi drove Su Hao home.

As soon as he got home, Su Hao went straight to his room and lay down on the bed.

With the AFC Champions League title secured, Su Hao can finally get some rest.

However, Su Hao had just lain down when...

Gao Qi's phone rang suddenly.

Gao Qi immediately inquired about the widely circulated news online regarding Su Hao and the Juventus general manager.

After hearing Gao Qi's words, Su Hao was completely dumbfounded!
David Lippi did talk to him about a lot of things a while ago, but David didn't say anything about Juventus.

How could this be Gao Qi?
Upon further reflection, Su Hao understood.

It's likely that Gao Qi thinks she's already hooked up with David Lippi and is planning to kick him out.

Thinking of this, Su Hao felt helpless for a long time!
After exchanging a few perfunctory words, Su Hao hung up the phone.

However, it was Gao Qi's probing that made Su Hao make up his mind completely.

I really should change my agent.

He really doesn't have time to play any scheming games with his agent or anything like that.

Su Hao confessed to Gao Qi that he knew nothing about Juventus.

What Su Hao didn't know was...

Inside the most luxurious private room at the Guangzhou Evergrande Hotel at this moment.

David Lippi, however, was accompanied by his elderly father, who had just finished a match, and Juventus general manager Giuseppe Marotta, who had already begun their evening banquet.

Lippi's collection of top-quality cigars, and Giuseppe Marotta's finest wines brought from Italy.

The three of them sat together with smiles on their faces.

A head coach, a football agent, and the general manager of a top club.

The only topic these three talked about was naturally the players.

That night, the name that came up most often among the three was, of course, Su Hao, the Guangzhou Evergrande heir who had just given Giuseppe Marotta such a stellar performance on the pitch. However, Lippi's attitude was firm: he didn't mind his son colluding with Giuseppe Marotta to orchestrate a plan for Su Hao to go to Juventus.

However, the prerequisite is that Su Hao must stay until the end of this season's AFC Champions League.

As for Giuseppe Marotta!

This person can't wait that long.

Manchester United also has a player named Pogba who looks very similar to Su Hao. If Guangzhou Evergrande doesn't release him, he will naturally have to bring Pogba to Juventus at the very least.

They defeated the strongest opponent in the AFC Champions League group stage.

Guangzhou Evergrande has naturally started another very comfortable winning streak.

4 month 27 day.

The seventh round of the Chinese Super League has begun!
Guangzhou Evergrande will play away against their city rivals, Guangzhou R&F.

Although it was an important match hailed by the media as the Guangzhou Derby.

Even without Conca and Muriqui, Guangzhou Evergrande still easily defeated Guangzhou R&F 2-0 at R&F's home ground. This newly promoted Chinese Super League team also had a large amount of investment.

Su Hao delivered a perfect performance with one goal and one assist.

5 Month 5 Day!
The eighth round of the Chinese Super League.

Guangzhou Evergrande will host Tianjin Kangshifu, a team currently ranked in the middle of the league table.

Because of the extremely dense schedule during this period, Su Hao was directly excluded from the roster by Lippi for this match.

The old man originally thought that Guangzhou Evergrande, whose tactics and techniques were now almost mature, could easily defeat this ordinary team with few star players, even with a half-substitute lineup.

Surprisingly, this all-ordinary team, Tianjin Kangshifu, put on a thrilling defensive battle at Tianhe Stadium that moved everyone present.

Throughout the entire 92 minutes of the match, the Tianjin Kangshifu team only managed one long-range counter-attack shot.

For the rest of the time, the entire team stayed in their own half of the field.

It was this strategy of completely abandoning the attack and parking the bus that led to Guangzhou Evergrande unexpectedly only managing to get 1 point in this match.

After a draw, Guangzhou Evergrande faced the final round of the AFC Champions League group stage.

Home team vs. Urawa Red Diamonds!
After consecutive losses to Guangzhou Evergrande and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Urawa Red Diamonds have already been eliminated.

However, in order to win back the fans' forgiveness, Urawa Red Diamonds are playing this match as a battle for dignity.

Furthermore, Evergrande's last match against Jeonbuk resulted in a large number of red card suspensions.

so
Guangzhou Evergrande, who fielded a completely reserve team, initially thought they would likely lose the match.

However, unexpectedly, Liao Lisheng and others, who had finally earned a starting spot, put on a textbook defensive counter-attacking performance at Tianhe Stadium.

With only three shots on goal throughout the match, Urawa Red Diamonds managed a hard-fought 1-1 draw thanks to Zhao Xuri's header.
Since then!

The AFC Champions League group stage has concluded.

Guangzhou Evergrande secured first place in their group with 4 wins and 2 draws, accumulating 14 points and advancing to the next round!

In the other groups, Beijing Guoan won 2 and drew 3, and squeezed out Hiroshima Sanfrecce with a better goal difference, thus winning the second place in the group and successfully advancing to the next round.

Jiangsu Sainty finished third in their group with a record of 2 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw, accumulating 7 points and thus being eliminated.

Another Chinese team, Guizhou Renhe, fared even worse, managing only one victory throughout the entire series and finishing last in their group, effectively ending their run.

Having advanced from the group stage, according to the rules of the AFC Champions League, East Asia and West Asia will play each other internally, and Guangzhou Evergrande's opponent has been determined.

Central Coast Mariners, one of the famous founding teams of the A-League from Australia!

2013 5 Month 9 Day.

With less than 7 days to go before the AFC Champions League Round of 16.

After countless discussions, Su Hao's first endorsement deal is finally showing some progress.

Yili!

Under Mengniu's relentless pressure, Yili was finally forced to reveal its last trump card.

A super-heavyweight contract of 2500 million RMB over 3 years, plus an additional 150 million RMB per advertisement.

With Yili offering such an outrageously expensive contract, Mengniu really can't afford to pay for it now.

There's nothing we can do about it. You have to understand that in China today, the most expensive endorsement deal is only 2000 million yuan per year for Fan Bingbing.

As for those ranked after her, Jackie Chan earns 1500-2000 million RMB per year, Zhang Ziyi earns 1200-1800 million RMB per year, and even Jay Chou's salary is capped at 1000 million RMB.

These are all established superstars.

Even if Su Hao, this 16-year-old football star, is perfectly suited for dairy products, his endorsement fee is definitely not worth more than eight million yuan per year.

Mengniu withdrew, and although Yili was extremely distressed, they still gritted their teeth and discussed the final details of the contract with Gao Qi.

11 a.m. that day.

With Gao Qi, Su Hao's father, and Su Hao as witnesses.

Yili officially held a press conference to announce that Su Hao has become Yili's brand ambassador for the next three years.

Moreover, because it was indeed a huge financial loss, less than an hour after the signing, the person in charge from Yili brought Su Hao to the photography studio that had been set up in advance.

As soon as I entered the photography studio, a middle-aged man wearing a baseball cap greeted me.

After the person in charge of Yili gave an introduction, the middle-aged man smiled and extended his hand to Su Hao.

Hello! You must be Teacher Su!

Occupational hazards in the entertainment industry!
Even if they are very young, as long as they have enough achievements, they will always have to bring a teacher or something when they meet.

Of course, what Su Hao disliked most was this "teacher" thing.

"Hello, just call me Xiao Su!"

"Haha, okay! Xiao Su! I heard from over there that you still have training, so let's get straight to the point and start."

"This advertisement is very simple. The gist of it is that you're wearing a special Yili jersey, juggling a ball in front of a green screen, and then shooting it, accidentally hitting a female classmate who's running on the track."

Oh shit!

After listening to the director's explanation, it was clear that advertisements always use these incredibly cheesy and vulgar plot devices.

Despite feeling incredibly nauseous, Su Hao listened attentively to the director's explanation, considering the extra 1.5 million yuan per advertisement.

then
Something unexpected happened to Su Hao.

"Oh, right, I forgot to introduce you to the actress you're filming with, Nana! Come over here!"

Ok?
Just hearing the name Nana made Su Hao's heart leap.
Shouldn't it be.
When Nana, the person the director had mentioned, actually stood next to him, Su Hao immediately recognized her.

Isn't this the same Ouyang Nana who will be used as a negative example by a certain place in the future because of her patriotic remarks?

This was in 2013, considering this girl's age.

This guy must be an even younger minor!
"Hello, Brother Su Hao, my name is Ouyang Nana, I'm from Taiwan, and I'm 14 years old."

"Oh! Hello, hello, little Nana, I'm Su Hao, it's a pleasure to work with you on this commercial!"

"."

One is 16 years old, and the other is 14 years old!
It's still an advertisement for Yili dairy products!

It didn't take long to film this major endorsement advertisement for Yili, which cost tens of millions of yuan.

Since they had been colleagues before, Su Hao naturally exchanged phone numbers with Ouyang Nana and added her on WeChat as well.

Yili's efficiency is acceptable.

At four o'clock that afternoon, the first batch of endorsement fees from Yili appeared on Lao Su's card.

However, this time, Lao Su did not withhold the money as usual.

Not a penny less, the entire ten million yuan was transferred from Lao Su to Su Hao's account.

Seeing Lao Su suddenly become so generous, Su Hao didn't even hesitate and secretly transferred another 10 yuan back to Lao Su's other card.

Ah!
Yes, Old Su has learned his lesson. Although he had all of Su Hao's assets before, those were public funds that were meticulously investigated penny by penny.

Things are different now. After giving his mother a stern lecture about not letting her son think his parents were greedy, Old Su has now amassed nearly 400,000 yuan in private savings by handing over all his money to Su Hao and stealing kickbacks.

This money was Old Su's very personal savings!
(End of this chapter)