Wen | Ah Hui
On the second day of the Year of the Rabbit, Genbao Football Base on Chongming Island was very lively, and the coffee bar in the lobby of the base hotel was full. Many Chongming disciples came to the Genbao base of Chongming Island early in the morning and got together to celebrate the eightieth birthday of their teacher Xu Genbao.
Xu Genbao's disciples celebrated his 80th birthday. Source: Oriental Sports News Weibo
Xu Genbao 1944 was born in Shanghai, and the second day of the first month is his lunar birthday. This Shanghainese, who has experienced ups and downs in China football for many years, founded Genbao Football Base in 2000, and put forward the concept of "grinding a sword in ten years". He has trained many players with national names, such as Zhang Lin, Yan, Wang Chao, and countless disciples, and is known as the "godfather of football" in China.
Going to Chongming Island to celebrate the teacher's birthday on the second day of the Lunar New Year has long been a fixed activity for the team members trained by Genbao Base every Spring Festival. Unless there are winter training or competition tasks outside, many disciples who play football in clubs such as Shanghai Harbour and Shanghai Shenhua will definitely come.
Time flies, the "godfather" who has been rooted in football youth training for more than 20 years is 80 years old. Looking at these plums, Xu Genbao, as the "birthday girl", was filled with joy, and his disciples were particularly excited and happy.
Xu Genbao cuts the 80th birthday cake. Source: Oriental Sports News Weibo
In the eyes of ordinary people, the "godfather of football" is a legend in China football. It is successful to train so many excellent players, and Chongming Football Base is a successful model. However, Xu Genbao said to his disciples yesterday: "Our football in China did not enter the World Cup, so the base is not a success. At best, a hard-working coach. You are hard-working players. China football should have the spirit of Gong Yuyishan. "
This is also a familiar root treasure, that is, "mold." Over the years, with the changes of football in China, Xu Genbao's obsession with cultivating football stars has never changed, and he wants to turn the base into "the cradle of football stars and the hope of going to the world", which he said and did.
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1966- 1975 Xu Genbao is the captain of the national football team and the left-back on the court. He was received by Premier Zhou Enlai at 1972. This photo is placed in the most conspicuous position on the photo wall of Chongming base, which is the pride of Xu Genbao's life. After retiring, Xu Genbao worked as a coach in several professional teams, and became Ceng Xuelin's assistant in 1983, and entered the national team coaching group.
199 1 year, Xu Genbao was elected head coach of China national team through a speech contest, and took office after leading his team to the Olympic qualifiers. What happened later was written into the "black" history of China football-the Olympic team scored three goals in nine minutes by South Korea, and the West Asian teams joined hands to play the game, and China finally missed the Barcelona Olympic Games.
At that time, Xu Genbao shouted a sentence before the Olympic qualifiers: "Settle down and try your best to qualify", which became a laughing stock. But this Shanghai man has a stubbornness in his bones. Although he fell, he didn't give up. Soon, he showed his value in the China Football League after the professional reform.
1At the end of 993, Xu Genbao became the head coach of the newly established Shanghai Shenhua Football Club. Relying on the tactics of running the army with an iron fist and "grabbing encirclement", it only took Xu Genbao two years to bring Shenhua into the ranks of giants and win the championship trophy of the top league. Xu Genbao and his boys won the cheers of the fans with one victory after another.
Xu Genbao became the head coach of Shenhua. Information picture
Faced with the phenomenon that players' self-awareness is enhanced but their professional quality is generally low, Xu Genbao, who emphasizes strict management, said in the winter training in Haigeng: "A coach who is not scolded by players is not a good coach." Later, in Chongming, the football base under his personal rule, Xu Genbao's style was almost the whole style of the base. The players who grew up here have a deep understanding of Xu Genbao's severity.
Xu Genbao also had introspection. But as a team sport, in the collective environment, the persistence of team discipline and order is the principle of sharpening players. Xu Genbao insisted on running the army with an iron fist for decades, which is very similar to Ferguson's style at Manchester United. There are praises and denials. Only by becoming a wrist player under his rule can we appreciate his painstaking efforts and profound meaning.
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Xu Genbao's obsession with youth training originated from the Lebanese Asian Cup in 2000. At that time, although the China team reached the semi-finals, it was reversed by the Japanese team 3-2. When Xu Genbao saw the performance of the Japanese team, he could not help sighing that the gap had gradually widened.
"Can't go on like this. China must cultivate its own stars. " Coupled with the worsening football environment and the prevalence of fake gambling, he finally decided to take root in youth training because he didn't want to fit in. With this idea, he searched many places, but they were not ideal, and finally he made a fate with Chongming Island.
Chongming Island at that time was desolate and lonely. The bridge was not built and the road was not repaired, so we had to go back and forth by boat. Fan Zhiyi, one of Xu Genbao's favorite students, once described the remoteness here as "shooting wildly with machine guns and never hurting anyone". In this desolate place, Xu Genbao chose the most important stop in his life, perhaps the last stop, and planted a seed about the future of football in China.
With an area of 65,438+000 mu, all staff members need money everywhere for their daily expenses, such as laying foundations, paving turf, building facilities, equipping equipment, hiring coaches, and even utilities. Because there is nothing to mortgage, the bank can't lend him money. Later, he gritted his teeth and gambled on all his 8 million net worth, bought the land and got a mortgage loan of about 23 million, which only propped up the inheritance a little.
Genbao Football Base will build Manchester United in China. Photography: Hong
In order to reduce the investment pressure and repay the loan as soon as possible, Xu Genbao has tried its best. A man of the hour who has dominated football for decades, for the sake of this base and these children, he is willing to put down all his gestures and do anything with only one purpose, that is, to make money and support the base.
Xu Genbao wants to make money and save money, but he never plays tricks on children. Children come to play football for a symbolic 600 yuan a month, and the rest is out of their own pockets. Later, the base invested in the club invested by Shanghai East Asia Group, and he was relieved by the additional investment of the group. He turned around without hesitation, and Genbao directly took out 500,000 to hire a French coach. On children, Xu Genbao is willing to spend money.
Lei Wu and the young players in the base. Information picture
Perhaps Xu Genbao never imagined that the wasteland he bought on Chongming Island could be sold for several hundred million dollars as soon as he changed hands. However, in the minds of old people, they never make money for utilitarian purposes, but only for sustainable development. Everything is to make the base survive better.
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On the court, Genbao has a tough personality and a hot temper, but off the court, he is not a father, but he is better than his father.
It is under such strict training management and meticulous care that Genbao Base has produced a batch of outstanding players who are well-known in China football, including the Shanghai Harbour Club team, which won the league championship on 20 18, and the "Chongming Phase I" including Leo, and a group of outstanding young talents who almost gave it to Shenhua Club later.
Xu Genbao's Made in Chongming has won many championships. Photography: Hong
The topic of "Made in Chongming" has always been a hot topic in China football. Some people say that Genbao's style is out of date, but he only insists on what will never change when others are constantly pursuing change.
"The gap between China football and others is getting bigger and bigger this time. We should find out why. " In August last year, when Xu Genbao talked with the media about the performance of the national football team, he thought that the national football team should be successful, and there were not so many flowers and plants, just three words: "making stars". He said: "If there are no stars, football in China will be very difficult."
Xu Genbao said, "I spent 22 years in Chongming Island, training stars. Although there are some international players such as Lei Wu, they still have not completed the task of rushing out of Asia, indicating that the quality is still not good. " "People call Lei Wu a star. I don't think he is a star. He is just a player with characteristics. Of course, if China can have more football, there is hope for Lei Wu. We hope to contribute some core players to the national team through youth training and these competitions, such as defensive core, midfield core and scorer. "
Lei Wu highly appreciates Xu Genbao's evaluation of it. Photography: Lin Shen
A year ago, on the first night of the Year of the Tiger, the national football team added difficulties to the Chinese people and lost to the Vietnamese team away from home. When Genbao stayed up all night for his birthday the next day, he said frankly: "I am definitely not happy that the national football team lost. It's still the first day of the Year of the Tiger! "
Depressed, Xu Genbao also specially designated relevant players to comfort his teammates after playing the national football match. "In the end, it depends on hard work, not just prediction and criticism."
Xu Genbao invested countless money and efforts in Chongming, creating a legend in the history of youth football training in China. However, a person's energy is limited after all. If you want to improve football in China qualitatively, you need to change the whole football field from top to bottom. In Genbao's view, if China football wants to make progress, we must first understand the concept of youth training.
Yesterday afternoon, Genbao Base also held a special competition, in which Sun Xiang, Cai Huikang, Li Shenglong, Fu Huan, Zhou Junchen, Zhu, Jiang Shenglong and other disciples competed with the echelon of the base in 2006-2008. According to Xu Genbao, the main purpose is to let the young players feel the aura of the big bosses.
In today's Genbao base, Xu Genbao still personally participates in every training class every day, and his trademark loud voice still rings on the court. Every time his disciples come back to celebrate their birthday, he will invite them to watch the game of the base echelon together and instill some experience in youth training.
Xu Genbao wrote Linjiang Fairy, rolling the Yangtze River and crossing Water East. Source: Morning News Shanghai Meeting Room Weibo
The "godfather of football" has educated countless people and his calligraphy is also very good. In May, 2020, Genbao once wrote a painting "Linjiang Fairy Rolling across the Yangtze River over Water East", which may be a true portrayal of Xu Genbao's mood after seeing the big waves in China football.
Source: The Paper, Oriental Sports Daily, Observer Network, etc.