The 2022 Qatar World Cup is about to kick off.
This year's World Cup is the first time to be held in autumn and winter in the northern hemisphere, but it does not hinder the fiery atmosphere around the world.
In Hong Kong, with the gradual relaxation of social distancing measures, it is believed that the scene of fans gathering to watch the waves happily will reappear.
"Hong Kong 01" has contacted many local political celebrities in the past month to find out which teams they support in this year's World Cup.
It turned out that the members of the current Legislative Council also have many senior fans, and many of them support the South American duo - Brazil and Argentina.
Some councilors said frankly that they really wanted to "die" to support the Chinese national football team, but the national team's performance was not good, and they couldn't even make it to the group stage.
Some people also said with a smile, "In terms of disappointment, the national football team has never been disappointing."
2022 World Cup - one of three in the local political series
▼The 2022 Qatar World Cup will be a look at the Legislative Council member support team (Part 1)▼
+8
Many congressmen support Metz's final tango Chen Xuefeng: The football world owes him a World Cup
A number of MPs expressed their support for the German team to reporters, including Chen Hackin and Li Shirong from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, Deng Jiapiu from the Federation of Trade Unions, and Yang Yongjie "A4".
Chen Keqin pointed out that the characteristic of German football is "steadiness", and achieved good results by playing steadily and steadily; Li Shirong pointed out that he also played football (as a goalkeeper), and he admired the 2002 World Cup Golden Globe winner and famous goalkeeper Jane Ni.
South American football became popular all over the world in the 1980s and 1990s, affecting a whole generation of fans, and Hong Kong's political circles are no exception.
Many congressmen are supporters of South American duo Brazil and Argentina.
The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) Ho Chun-hsien and Chiu Dak-gan from the technological innovation community are obviously veteran fans, and they talked about "waves" with reporters, and they both support Argentina.
He Junxian said that this World Cup is likely to be the "last tango" of Argentina's top star Metz, and he really wants him to win a World Cup championship before the national team retires; He has supported Argentina since he was a child, and has supported Argentina since the age of Maldonna until today.
▼The 2022 Qatar World Cup will be a look at the support team of Legislative Council Members (below)▼
+6
'Samba' football has no shortage of supporters
In Brazil, "Hong Kong New Direction" Zhang Xinyu, the election committee Wu Jiezhuang and others all support Brazil. They believe that even though the style of "Samba football" in recent years has not been as gorgeous as before, there are still quality players. , I hope that Neymar can reach the peak of his football career at the age of 30.
Wu Jiezhuang added: "I advise all citizens not to indulge in gambling during the World Cup! Football is like business, the situation is often full of variables, and gambling must be controlled."
DAB Chen Hengbin said with a smile that his age group usually grew up watching South American football, and he himself "eats Brazilian football milk", so he naturally supports Brazil.
He also pointed out: "Everyone has been tossing for so long because of the epidemic, I hope we can watch a few more good shows this year!"
Lu Songxiong of the Federation of Trade Unions pointed out that Brazilian football will "resurrect" every 20 years. After winning the World Cup in 2002, it has not won the championship. It hopes that it can be achieved this time, and it will win the unprecedented sixth World Cup championship.
Chairman of the Finance Committee and member of the financial industry Chen Zhenying said that he has no specific preferences, but this year he is also optimistic about Brazil, because their players are scattered in different national leagues and perform well. Nima still maintains a high level. Others like Richard Lichen, Casmelo and others are all stars in the Premier League.
Cai Ziqiang has watched waves for 40 years: he has supported Germany all the way
The reporter also asked several political scholars who have the habit of watching the news to find out their preferences.
Cai Ziqiang, a senior lecturer in the Department of Politics and Administration of the Chinese University, has loved watching football since 1982. He has been "Bo Ling" for 40 years. He supports Germany this year, not because of his strength, but because he has supported him since he was a student. The strength of the German team has not particularly improved.
Talking about other popular teams, he thinks that Wei Huang's French team's midfield and backcourt lineup is "skin and bone". Many of the previous heroes were not selected due to injuries or status problems; .
"There really isn't any team that has won the championship. The overall strength of each team has declined compared to last year. I don't know if it's luck or misfortune. I have never supported the Brazilian team, but now Brazil is considered to be relatively equal in the front, middle and back. The chances are higher on the platoon.”
Current affairs commentator Yuan Michang has no specific preferences, but hopes that the Dutch team will perform well this year, because some traditional strong teams such as Germany and France are sluggish, and hope that some new styles, new styles of play, and new team types will emerge. Let the audience shine.
Ma Yue, associate professor of the Department of Politics and Administration of CUHK, and Lu Dale, chair professor of the University of Education, revealed earlier in an event that they are Italian fans. It is a pity that Italy is absent from the World Cup final week this year.
The reporter tried to find out which team to support this year's finals week from the two, but failed to contact them.
The 2018 World Cup was won by France.
(Getty Images)
Gayon in the same field: Everyone has the same reaction to the national football team
During the period when the reporter asked everyone's opinions, if there were members of parliament who knew more about football, they would leave one last question: what do you think of the Chinese national football team.
Since the Chinese national football team was shortlisted for the group stage for the first time in 2002, it has not broken through the qualifying stage so far.
Most of the MPs' answers have one thing in common: they "hate iron but not steel" towards the national football team. Two MPs directly said to the reporter, "Oh!" They refused to respond, shook their heads and left.
Ma Fengguo, the election committee, said with a smile: "I don't have much expectation (for the national football team), because I don't want to be disappointed in the end!" A member of the council heard it from behind and said with a smile: "In terms of disappointment, (the national football team) has never been disappointing. .” But the reporter is not allowed to reveal his identity.
Yang Yongjie told reporters that in principle he would definitely support his Chinese national team, but then he smiled bitterly and said, "Well, the national football team can't make it to the finals, otherwise I will definitely "die" to support the national team, no matter how much I lose."
The performance of the Chinese national football team continues to slump.
(Getty Images)
Chen Hengbin: For the next 20 years, I want to play football and contribute to the country
DAB Chen Hengbin pointed out that China is a populous country and people like to watch football, but the performance of the national football team is so poor. "It's really sad. I have played football in my later life. If I was born 20 years later, I would like to return to football." There are many ways to contribute to the motherland by playing football in the mainland!" He hopes that the national football team will learn from the pain and achieve results in the future.
Qiu Dagen hopes that the national team can start with youth training and send young people with potential to train in Europe to learn and compete with top-level players. Japanese and South Korean football have been improving in recent years, and I believe it has something to do with it.
"(The player) has learned that you are old, so you won't be surprised if you fall into a match in the future."
Cai Ziqiang pointed out that football is an important medium for non-democratic governments to enhance their governance legitimacy.
(profile picture)
Cai Ziqiang: Football is an important medium to unite national identity
Cai Ziqiang pointed out that in many non-democratic regimes, the government wants the people to support the country unreservedly and strengthen the legitimacy of governance. War, but after World War II, the cost of war was huge, and sports competition became the main means.
As the most popular sport in the world, football has naturally become the most important medium.
Therefore, many governments will promote the cause of football and create an atmosphere of "the rise of great powers and the prosperity of nations". The most typical example is the Spanish dictator Franco, who supported the star-studded Real Madrid and used football as a means of diplomacy; South America Brazil, Argentina The military dictatorship of China will also use its team to win the World Cup to enhance national pride and stabilize the regime.
When it comes to China, Cai Ziqiang pointed out that to demonstrate the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation", football must be an important medium. Even President Xi Jinping himself loves football. "I believe he very much hopes to add glory to the nation through football." He was so competitive that he couldn’t even qualify for the World Cup group stage. “I believe the leaders have the feeling of ‘hating iron but not steel’. Don’t say that Hong Kong people will laugh at it. Even mainland netizens are merciless in their criticism of the national football team. So why? Gathering everyone to support the team? How to share national pride?"
He mentioned that regardless of the level of the club or the national team, Chinese football always makes people feel that there is no improvement. A few years ago, Guangzhou Evergrande used a lot of money to win the AFC Champions League in a flash, which made the fans look forward to it. , but it is unsustainable. Now Evergrande has exploded and even lost the right to name the club.
"Manchester United and Liverpool rely on the accumulation of decades of great achievements and history; even Chelsea and Manchester City, which have emerged in recent years, have more than ten years. Chinese football lacks long-term and stable results, and there are many scandals. The team has no results, so naturally it cannot attract the attention of fans.”
Which team was the last champion of the World Cup?
The 2018 World Cup champions are France.
How many World Cups has Max played in?
Metz has participated in the World Cup in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 respectively, and this is his fifth time participating.
Political scholars gather to talk about the World Cup and ridicule high-ranking officials to catch up with the craze: The old-fashioned response seems to have not seen the World Cup 2022 in 20 years｜Group D overview: France and Denmark have outstanding strengths