This winter transfer window has been particularly challenging for Guangzhou football fans. The Guangzhou team they have supported for many years failed to pass the FA's entry requirements and has now disbanded. Another team in the Guangzhou area, Guangzhou Leopard, after winning the second-tier league championship last season, successfully promoted to the first-tier league this season. Although this Guangzhou Leopard team cannot receive support from all Guangzhou fans, some fans have already switched their allegiance and decided to support this new first-tier team in the new season.
However, just as Guangzhou fans were eagerly looking forward to the start of the new season, Guangzhou Leopard suddenly became embroiled in a scandal. Late last night, a social media account named "Tang Tianyi's Girlfriend" publicly accused Guangzhou Leopard's top rising star, Tang Tianyi, of cheating on her during her pregnancy and exposed chat records of Tang Tianyi and his teammate Zhang Jinliang gambling.
At the same time, the netizen also mentioned that Tang Tianyi gambled with Yzp in Changsha and borrowed money from teammate Zjl to cover his losses. According to netizen analysis, Yzp is Guangzhou Leopard youth player Yang Zhanpeng, while Zjl is likely teammate Zhang Jinliang as shown in the chat records. Last November, Tang Tianyi and Yang Zhanpeng represented Guangdong men's football at the Three-Ball Games held in Changsha.
As of now, neither Guangzhou Leopard Club nor Tang Tianyi himself have responded to this incident. Tang Tianyi is currently training with the U-20 national team in Thailand, while Guangzhou Leopard just played a friendly match against Brazilian Sports and won 2-0, giving their opponents their only defeat during their training visit to China. It should be said that Guangzhou Leopard's preparations during the winter transfer window have been solid, and they are full of expectations for the new season. Now, however, the team's top rising star, Tang Tianyi, is embroiled in a gambling scandal, and teammates Yang Zhanpeng and Zhang Jinliang have also been implicated.
Tang Tianyi is not only the hope of Guangzhou Leopard but also the future of Chinese football. Last season, the 17-year-old Tang Tianyi made his professional debut, representing Guangzhou Leopard in the second-tier league. In the second-tier league matches, he scored 9 goals and provided 5 assists, not only ranking as the second top scorer in the team but also third on the second-tier league's scoring list.
With his outstanding performance, Tang Tianyi was selected as a candidate for the China Golden Boy Award U17 and will compete for the award with Aibibula from Chengdu Rongcheng. At the same time, the 18-year-old Tang Tianyi was promoted to the U20 national youth team and is currently training in Thailand with the team, preparing for the upcoming U20 Asian Cup. On the German Transfer Market website, the 18-year-old Tang Tianyi's value has reached 300,000 euros, even surpassing many national team players such as Wang Dalei, Wang Ziming, Li Lei, and Han Pengfei. Such a promising star of Chinese football is now caught up in scandals of infidelity and gambling. Is there still hope for the future of Chinese football?
