2065438+June 20th, 2004 16:52 Arsenal Chinese official website.
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Granny Liu's 75-year-old Retired Teacher's "Arsenal Dream"
From a teacher to a die-hard football club, the experience of a grandmother who traveled to ancient China tells the story of her youth.
When Ramsey scored the winning goal for Arsenal in the FA Cup (Weibo) final overtime last month (according to the official Weibo official website data), 75-year-old Grandma Liu Hongwen stood in the stands at Wembley Stadium and held back her tears of excitement in the sea of fans who forgot to celebrate. She said nervously, "My heart almost stopped beating before the final whistle sounded."
The retired teacher from Beijing is a die-hard Arsenal fan. She went to London to watch the final alone.
This victory is the first time that Arsenal has won a major football match in England since 2005, and Grandma Liu has been paying attention to Arsenal Club since 2005.
In 2002, it was the World Cup that inspired Grandma Liu's enthusiasm for sports. Later, as a fan, she began an experience that never lacked legends. At that time, her idol was German goalkeeper Kahn, and his posters have been collected by Grandma Liu. Unfortunately, in the final of that World Cup, Germany was defeated by Brazil by two goals.
"I won't forget Kahn's languid figure. His eyes are blank," said Grandma Liu.
This memory starts at 1993. After 30 years of teaching, Grandma Liu began to live after retirement. She enriches her leisure time by joining a choir and dancing with friends. At that time, football was not the center of her life.
Granny Liu's 75-year-old Retired Teacher's "Arsenal Dream"
Many years later, one of her sons immigrated to Canada with his family, including her grandson. Although the husband has retired, he was still busy with the work of Beijing People's Hospital before retirement, leaving Grandma Liu alone. At this time, football became her savior.
She became depressed after the 2002 World Cup because she couldn't accept waiting for the next World Cup for four years, she said bitterly.
In recent years, Grandma Liu's curiosity about football drove her to plunge into the library in Beijing, where she spent a lot of time learning football knowledge.
In 2006, when Arsenal lost to the Spanish team Barcelona in the Champions League final (according to official Weibo data), Grandma Liu said that she felt sorry for this team, which was called "gunner" by fans, because they showed "beautiful technical style". At that moment, Grandma Liu found a home in her heart and decided to become an Arsenal fan.
She watches every Arsenal game on TV and writes down her feelings about it in her diary.
When Arsenal striker Eduardo was seriously injured in 2008, Grandma Liu wrote a letter encouraging the team and sent it to manager Arsene Wenger. The letter was translated into English by one of her sons. She said: "This is the first time she has cried for Arsenal."
Granny Liu's 75-year-old Retired Teacher's "Arsenal Dream"
She said that her husband is not a fan, but supports her "football addiction". He often said not to cheer for Arsenal's goals, especially when watching the game at night.
Grandma Liu's other hobby is watching plays, especially those performed by her favorite actor Chen. In the theater, she once saw an audience wearing a T-shirt with the Arsenal logo on it.
"I just like them, but I am not a real Arsenal fan," the stranger explained to her, and she said. This answer prompted her to leave the theater and hurry home to wait for the kick-off of the Arsenal game.
Last year, Granny Liu's eldest son helped her set up an account on Sina Weibo, named "Granny Liu the Gunner", which made her have more than 1000 fans at once.
In May this year, her eldest son gave her a ticket to London to watch the Arsenal FA Cup final. Tom Fox, the chief commercial officer of Arsenal, gave her a warm welcome at Emirates Stadium, the home of the Gunners.
After returning to China, she posted photos of this trip to Weibo, and her account increased by 3,000 fans, among whom many young Arsenal fans in China adored her deeds.
Zhan Jun, a famous Premier League (Weibo) football commentator, commented: "Grandma Liu's story reminds me of a slogan at Emirates Stadium: grades can't be bought!"