[Sports News]La Liga legend Fernando Morientes, who once played for Real Madrid and Liverpool, visited the Jockey Club Hong Kong Football Association Football Training Center (FTC) today to host the “Legendary Classroom” for the Hong Kong La Liga Football School. In 2003, former Hong Kong Footballer Fan Junye, who played for the Hong Kong United in the half-time of the Real Madrid exhibition match, also made a surprise appearance as a guest, and unexpectedly became the target of stamp collecting for many Real Madrid fans!
Due to obstacles encountered at the time of entry, Morindis, who arrived in Hong Kong in the morning, arrived at the stadium about an hour later than the scheduled time, but the enthusiasm of nearly 100 students and fans at the scene was not damaged. Morindis, who showed kindness, first went to various training venues to greet the students, taking photos and signing autographs. During the period, he even made an appearance and played a team match with a group of U12 and below students. Then it was arranged to meet with other guests and host the kick-off ceremony together.
Fan Junye, who is now the goalkeeper coach of the Hong Kong team and Guanzhong South District, played one of the masterpieces of his player era in the 2003 Real Madrid exhibition match at the stadium. At that time, he checked in the second half for the Hong Kong United, which was behind by 2:4. Facing world-class stars with “6 A’s” such as Ronaldo, he unexpectedly kept his innocence. Nicknamed “Piggy” when he made his debut today, Real Madrid fans rushed to ask for a group photo. He later told “Tilu” that Morientes also remembered the battle in 2003: “At that time, he played for about 30 minutes in the second half! I remember one kick, one head, and two goals, and I rescued them. In fact, these episodes have been forgotten, but now I recall them vividly!” Inviting Morindis and “Piggie” to decide the winner again with 12 yards, Morindis suggested that Chen Zhikang also join the battle team. As a result, the two shot three goals each. Morindis’s first two goals were caught by “Piggie” and saved by the right way. In the last round, he showed his true skills and slammed into the top of the net. “CowSir” also pointed out that this event cost about 6 figures, and the response from all parties was enthusiastic. Next time, we will consider inviting another famous player, Paol, who is also the ambassador of La Liga, to visit Hong Kong.
Fan Junye (left) and Morindis played against each other in their player days.
Merlindis was rescued by “Piggy” in the first two shots.
Merlindis blasted the top of the net with his last shot, and “Piggy” surrendered!
Real Madrid fans rushed to find “Piggy” to take a photo, which shocked him.
After the event, Morientes was interviewed by the media and said that he still remembered coming to Hong Kong for matches in 2003: “This is my fourth visit to Hong Kong, two of which were private. I didn’t come to Asia many times in my playing career, so I still have an impression of the games that year.” Morientes is 47 years old and his body is not too out of shape. When it comes to the Saudi Arabian League Club’s huge sums of money in recent years to hire well-known stars such as C Lang and Bin Shima, Meridian admits that he can accept it: “They have contributed the peak of their careers to La Liga, and it is reasonable to pursue other things now, not to mention the salary is really attractive, but I believe that top players will still choose to stay in the top league.”
Morientes came to Hong Kong this time in a hurry. Before leaving Hong Kong in the evening, he was also invited to attend the launch ceremony of the “Dreams Come True” event. He walked twice a day. “Foot Dreams Come True” is a long-term player training program that trains grassroots children who aspire to become professional players to receive professional football training, and to improve the scale of Hong Kong’s football skills and connect with the world. The goal is to have players trained in Hong Kong enter the Spanish youth army within one year, and within three years players enter La Liga or La Liga to start their careers and leave the game.
The charity program of the event is divided into three stages. After the first stage kick-off ceremony, the second stage is a charity football match. The goal is to raise HK$1.5 million, which will be used as the cost of training 40 children for two years of professional football training. The third stage is the player training program. 40 selected children will receive free professional training provided by the La Liga football school. The outstanding students will go to Spain for training and try their feet, and move towards the goal of entering La Liga.
Photo and text: Vincent
This article was sponsored by “Sportsroad“Originally published on “[Football]Morindis whirlwind visit to Hong Kong」
2023-07-23 12:48:45
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