Within just five days, two former national team players have spoken out in support of Li Tie, referring to him as "my eternal Iron Brother" and emphasizing his uprightness and good treatment of others.
Introduction
Everyone thinks that the sentence for Li Tie is light, yet he has actually appealed. On December 13th, the former "pride of the national football team," Li Tie, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for bribery and corruption. Fans were delighted and applauded the decision. However, ten days later, on the last day of the appeal period, he filed a lawsuit with the court, requesting a retrial of the case. Perhaps he believes that although he was found guilty of embezzling 120 million yuan, having returned most of the stolen funds, the 20-year sentence is too harsh and should be mitigated. This has sparked intense debate and mixed opinions among the public. But amidst the collective attack and condemnation against him, within just a few days, two former national team players have come forward to speak out and counterattack on his behalf. While many mock him as "Tiezi," these two refer to him as "Ge Tie" (Brother Tie), showing their respect. Who are they? Why are they unwavering in their support? And why did Li Tie get into trouble in the first place? It turns out that head coach Xie Hui had foreseen this earlier.
I. Former National Team Players Do Not Take Advantage of Li Tie's Misfortune, Instead Voice Support
One emphatically states, "Li Tie is upright, treats people well, and will always be my Iron Brother." The other claims that Li Tie's essence is not bad, but he has been corrupted by the environment. These statements seem to absolve Li Tie of all blame. Despite his fall from grace, the former national team players have not taken advantage of his misfortune but instead strongly support him. This shows that the camaraderie within the national football team is unquestionable. So, who are the two former national team players who are standing up for him under such pressure? What kind of relationship and friendship could enable them to go to such lengths?
01 Xu Liang
For Xu Liang, Li Tie is not only a senior and coach but also a fellow townsman and a close friend. Both hail from Liaoning Shenyang and have trained together at Liaoning Team. Despite a four-year age difference, Li Tie took special care of the young Xu Liang, imparting his football skills and providing sincere advice for Xu Liang's future career planning. At that time, Li Tie, who was still fully committed to his football career, had a commendable character and was not as bad as he is now. Moreover, Li Tie possesses real talent and genuine skills, which is why whenever Li Tie proposed new strategies for the national team that were questioned by outsiders, Xu Liang firmly stood by him, genuinely admiring him. During Li Tie's tenure as the national team coach, China faced Oman in the World Cup qualifiers, leading for 75 minutes before being disappointingly tied. It was Li Tie who proposed a substitution strategy. Similarly, in the match against Australia, he insisted on replacing the naturalized players on the field in the second half of the game, including the main player Wu Lei, who had cramps from exertion. Although Li Tie repeatedly explained that the naturalized players were older and could not keep up with physical exertion, needing proper rotation, this action was considered one of the reasons for the national team's equalized score by the opponent. Many players, fans, and coaches opposed this move, even CCTV's famous football commentator He Wei came out to question it. However, only Xu Liang respected his lineup arrangement. In the live broadcast, Xu Liang repeatedly emphasized that as the head coach, only Li Tie truly understands the team and player conditions; his deployment is not problematic. And during the sentencing of Li Tie to a 20-year term, it was Xu Liang who affectionately called him "Ge Tie," showing more intimacy than anyone else. "Is there a problem with me calling him Ge Tie? Even if he gets into trouble, he is still my Ge Tie. He has always been nice to me since I was young; I can't start calling him Tiezi when he gets into trouble; it's the least respect I can show." It is said that when the wall falls, everyone pushes, but Xu Liang seems very righteous. It seems that in his eyes, Li Tie is not the villain that everyone describes him to be. Before Xu Liang, former national team player Zhao Peng also expressed his respect for Li Tie.
02 Zhao Peng
Zhao Peng played for Guangzhou Evergrande for two years, which is how the two became acquainted. At that time, Li Tie was serving as an assistant coach at Evergrande, and Zhao Peng received a lot of care and help from Li Tie. According to Zhao Peng's recollection, during that period, he spent almost all his time with Brother Tie, except for rest time, training, and matches. Honestly speaking, Brother Tie is quite upright, and his essence is good. With great power comes the likelihood of making mistakes, which is only natural. Brother Tie's behavior does indeed have problems, but his character is low-key. As fans and supporters, although we know that their friendship is unquestionable, such remarks still shock the conscience. Many netizens suspect that Zhao Peng may also have been deceived by Li Tie. Perhaps he was intimidated by the current one-sided trend. Later, Zhao Peng stated: Of course, this is only based on my impression of him during his time at Evergrande. After he went to Huaxia Happiness and Zall, his power became too great for him to control. His words are vague, unclearly expressed, and ambiguous in opinion. Some say that Zhao Peng cannot see the situation clearly and is confused. Others say that his response is correct. At this moment, one should either remain silent or avoid taking a clear stance. From the incident where these two former national team players supported Li Tie and were criticized by everyone, it can be seen that the former football pride has fallen from the pedestal to the bottom. Why did Li Tie get into trouble? Coach Xie Hui of the Chinese Super League, who was once in high demand, had already foreshadowed this earlier.
II. Li Tie's Trouble - Xie Hui Had Foreseen It, Piercing to the Core
"Being a coach means being down-to-earth; don't think about becoming an agent." Li Tie held multiple positions, not only grasping the coaching position in the football world but also successively serving as general managers and directors of various clubs. This did not satisfy Li Tie's ambition; he also extended his reach into the commercial sector. He is associated with nine companies, holding shares in six and serving in various capacities in the other three. Moreover, it is known that there are regulations in the national football circle stating that national-level coaches are not allowed to hold part-time jobs in clubs. However, Li Tie ignored the rules and insisted on going against them. Regarding this issue, Xie Hui once shared his views in a public setting. He specifically pointed out the problem of holding multiple positions, believing that it is not conducive to focus. Dividing one's attention will inevitably lead to distraction and be detrimental to one's primary work. He repeatedly stressed that coaches should earnestly do their duties. One must have a clean mind to do things well. Fortunately, this is happening domestically; such a situation would absolutely not be allowed abroad. After reading Xie Hui's remarks, it becomes clear that Li Tie's downfall from national team coach to prisoner is entirely self-inflicted and the result of his own actions.
01 Suppressing Planned Players, Paying to Become Head Coach, Sinking into Fake Matches, Li Tie Takes a Wrong Step Leading to More
At the age of 16, Li Tie was selected for the youth team, went abroad for further studies, and began his career as a national team player. He was selected multiple times for the best football lineup and the Chinese men's football "Team of Dragons," winning titles such as the Football Golden Coach Award and Mr. Football of China. In 2011, he retired after achieving success and became a coach, continuing to contribute to the football cause. However, driven by profit and ambition, he became可怕. Taking advantage of his position, he accepted bribes and even manipulated matches, turning football into a tool for personal gain and illegal income. On one hand, he shamelessly declared, "When I was a player, I hated match-fixing the most." On the other hand, he began engaging in shady activities, promoting match-fixing. It is claimed that in 2019, after he became the head coach of the national team, he made a deal worth 60 million yuan with Wuhan Zall Club. In reality, this was just a cover for power-money transactions. It can be seen how astonishing the huge figures behind this are. Subsequently, the procuratorate charged him with bribing non-state personnel with more than 39 million yuan. Each of these actions severely damaged the image of the national team and crossed moral boundaries. Therefore, he who committed such evil will eventually face legal punishment. Justice may be late, but it will never be absent! On December 13th, Li Tie's ugly face was exposed. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for multiple charges of bribery and corruption. Since then, he has been eloquent, dissatisfied with the judgment, and sought to exonerate himself for the ugly deeds he has done. He delusionally hoped for a retrial and filed another lawsuit on December 23rd.
Conclusion
There is no denying that Li Tie's contributions to the national
