In 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, and he actually appealed. The former "pride of the national football team," Li Tie, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for bribery and corruption. In response, fans were delighted and applauded. 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 to have embezzled 120 million yuan, he has returned most of the stolen funds, and the 20-year sentence is too harsh; it should be lenient. This immediately sparked angry discussions from all sectors of society, with netizens having different opinions. But just as everyone was attacking and condemning him, within a few short days, two former national team players came forward to speak out and counterattack on his behalf. When the crowd mocked him as "Tiezi," these two respectfully referred to him as "Ge Tie." Who are they? Why are they unwavering in their support for him? 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 Throw Stones at a Fallen Well, They Speak Out to Support Li Tie
One emphatically states, "Li Tie is upright and treats people well; he will always be my Iron Brother." Another claims that Li Tie is not inherently bad, but has been corrupted by the environment. Now, they have completely absolved Li Tie of responsibility. Even though he has fallen to such a state, the former national team players have not only refrained from throwing stones at a fallen well but have instead strongly supported him. It seems that the friendship among the national football team is unquestionable. So, who exactly 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 hailing from Liaoning Shenyang, they once 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 offering sincere advice on Xu Liang's future career planning. Perhaps, 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. This is why, whenever Li Tie proposed new strategies for the national football team that were questioned by outsiders, Xu Liang always firmly stood by him, genuinely admiring him. During Li Tie's tenure as the national football team coach, coinciding with the World Cup qualifier's top 12 matches, the Chinese national team, leading for 75 minutes, was unfortunately tied by Oman, which was very regrettable. It was at this moment that Li Tie proposed a strategy to make substitutions. 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 their physical endurance did not keep up, necessitating a reasonable rotation, this behavior was considered one of the possible reasons for the national team's equalization by the opponent. At that time, many players, fans, and coaches opposed his decision. Even the famous CCTV football commentator He Wei came out to question it. However, only Xu Liang respected his lineup arrangement. During the live broadcast, Xu Liang repeatedly emphasized that, as the head coach, only Li Tie truly understood the team and player conditions, and his deployment was correct. And during the sentencing of Li Tie to a 20-year prison term, it was Xu Liang who affectionately called him "Brother Tie" more than anyone else. "Is there a problem with me calling him Brother Tie? Even if he gets into trouble, he is still my Brother Tie. He has always been nice to me since I was young; I can't start calling him 'Tiezi' when he gets into trouble; at the very least, show some respect." 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, I spent time with Brother Tie. Almost all training and matches were together, except for rest time. To be honest, Brother Tie is relatively upright, and his essence is good. With great power comes the possibility of making mistakes, which is quite normal. 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 my 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 his opinions are ambiguous. Some say that Zhao Peng cannot see the situation clearly and is confused. Others say that his answer is correct. At this moment, either remain silent or avoid taking a clear stance. From the incident where these two former national team players were criticized for supporting Li Tie, we can see that the former football pride has fallen from the pedestal to the bottom. Why did Li Tie get into trouble? The former hot coach of the Chinese Super League, Xie Hui, had already foreshadowed this earlier.
II. Li Tie Gets into Trouble; Xie Hui Had Foreseen It; He Pierces to the Core with One Word
"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; moreover, he extended his reach into the commercial field. He is associated with nine companies, holding shares in six and serving in various capacities in the other three. It is known that there are regulations in the national football circle stating that national-level coaches are not allowed to hold part-time positions in clubs. However, Li Tie ignored the rules and insisted on going against them. Regarding this, Xie Hui once mentioned 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 attention will inevitably lead to distraction and be detrimental to one's primary job. He repeatedly stressed that coaches should earnestly do their duties. Having a clean mind is the way to do things well. Fortunately, this is happening domestically; if it were abroad, such a situation would absolutely not be allowed. After reading Xie Hui's remarks, we realize 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 Makes One Mistake After Another
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 as a coach after achieving success, continuing to contribute to the football cause. However, driven by profit and ambition, he became terrifyingly greedy. 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-for-money transactions. It can be seen how astonishing the huge figures behind this are. Subsequently, the procuratorate charged him with bribing non-state personnel for more than 39 million yuan. Each of these actions severely damaged the image of the national football team and crossed moral boundaries. Therefore, he who committed such evil deeds will ultimately face legal punishment. Justice may be late, but it will never be absent! Recently, Li Tie's ugly face has been exposed. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for multiple crimes of bribery and corruption. Since then, he has been eloquent, dissatisfied with the judgment, and sought to exonerate himself for the ugly deeds
