Last Thursday night, at the windy soccer field in front of the Wanhua Sports Center in Taipei City, we played a game of soccer with Xavier, the noble son of soccer!
That's right, Xavier is back, as he declared on National Day, October 10, 2017, after playing his final Asian Cup qualifying match for the Republic of China against Bahrain
demobilize
If it's on the field, people haven't seen Xavier play in almost two years.
I was fortunate enough to participate in this private event with Xavier's ball party. Since Xavier didn't have any public itinerary on his return to Taiwan this time, he purely came back to meet his old friends, so the whole trip was very low-key, and it was supposed to be just a dinner party, but Xavier suddenly mentioned to the organizer that he would like to play soccer with his friends, and thus this ball party was formed.
Last Thursday night, it was raining heavily in Taipei, we were very frustrated when we arrived at the venue, thinking that we would not be able to play the game and we didn't want Xavier to be drenched, but when the organizer and Xavier arrived at the venue, Xavier insisted that he wanted to play the game with everyone and that the rain didn't matter, and the game was played in the torrential downpour.
It's not really a game, so I don't call it a game, it's 12 players on each side, 5 goals, breaks to reorganize, and then everyone wants to be on the same team as Xavier, it's like a kid's game of soccer.
Because of the rain, the field was partially waterlogged, which did affect everyone, but Xavier remained unaffected and kept pressing forward, his movements and hands remained the same as in his representative days, and he seemed to be having a great time.
Xavier later said that he had been in the same position since
demobilize
After enjoying the family life and love his daughter, as well as his work as a football commentator, although there are sports and training, but rarely have the opportunity to play football, today is a rare opportunity, but also with friends in Taiwan to play football, he is very happy, so even if it is raining hard, he must play!
I've known Xavier for so many years, and I've watched him dedicate himself to Taiwan, flying nearly 10,000 miles every time to come back and participate.
the national team
At a time when no one cared about soccer in Taiwan and few people went to the stadium to watch the game, this soccer nobleman suddenly came to the scene, and he brought a high degree of attention, and many people began to watch the game and go to the stadium to support him.
the national team
Without Xavier's presence, who would know what players are in our team? What's the record? Who is traveling abroad? Today, you and I are concerned about Taiwan's soccer, in fact, we have to go back to 7 years ago when Xavier joined the Chinese team at the moment of the beginning, even now on the Internet soccer news, and even sports vision of the soccer area, in fact, must have been affected by the influence of Xavier, otherwise 7 years ago, we are just a group of minorities, just a comprehensive sports in the news section only!
As a first-class professional player in Europe, Xavier brought many advanced and correct concepts, whether it is tactics and concepts in the game, or the treatment of players and training outside the game, Taiwan soccer is from the emergence of Xavier, began to be noticed by the people, and many of the long years of bad habits because of Xavier's voice, arousing the support of the people and the report, the authorities have been forced to change (the accumulation of air tickets to make the chills of Chen Chang-yuan refused). Chan Chan Yuen refused to participate in the competition)
But over the years, have the authorities really treated Xavier well? Have they ever treated him as a phenomenal player, a role model who could lead the development of Taiwan's soccer culture and progress, and respected his opinion? Honestly, I don't think so, never!
The next night, we had dinner with Xavier, this night will have the opportunity to chat with him, from 7:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m., after dinner to go to drink a couple of cups, during which Xavier said a lot, talked about his recent situation, as well as his concern for Taiwan's soccer, Xavier is still concerned about Taiwan!
Because I asked him specifically, Xavier also mentioned that he thinks Wen Zhihao is a great player, he's like a No.10 holding the ball back, always going forward to make superb attacking passes, whether it's long passes or crossing the ball is very sharp, agile, Xavier said "he's like Pirlo" (Go Wen Zhihao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Xavier's speech is actually very humorous, in private is a funny person, speech sharp but funny, really is the word pearl machine, these are ordinary people can not see Xavier!
Xavier chose to represent the Republic of China in 2011, when he refused the invitation of the People's Republic of China across the border, chose to be the representative of Taiwan, the reason is very clear to everyone, because his grandfather is in Taiwan, he has a deep affection for this piece of land, from the first step of Taiwan's home game against Malaysia in the World Cup on July 3, 2001, the first step of the World Cup qualifier, the performance of Xavier's skills shocked the audience, Xavier was only on his own to completely defend the right side of the Chinese team (otherwise we could only concede 2 goals), the game ended with a 3:2 penalty 12-yard goal. Vieux was able to defend the right side of the Chinese team (otherwise we would not have conceded only 2 goals), and in the end, he scored a 12-yard penalty, winning the game 3-2, with an attendance of more than 15,000, making him one of the most popular players in the Chinese folklore.
national soccer team
Highest attendance on record in the world.
