Reporter Wang Wei reported that on November 14, as the referee blew the final whistle, Qingdao Manatee won 2-0 against Xiamen Ludao with the goals of Sun Xu and Xiao Zhi, successfully rushing the first two rounds in advance. As a goal hero in the key battle, Xiao Zhi said that the club's investor Qiao Weiguang and Zhongneng Group's unrepentant dedication to football, these 17 years of persistence are touching, "The success of chong jia is the return of this persistence, and the strength of this persistence is a ray of light in the cold winter of Chinese football." Xiao Zhi said.
◆ "Football": Congratulations on the success of you and Qingdao Manatee Chong Jia. In the match against Xiamen Ludao, after you scored a goal, a teammate saluted you, what happened at that time?
Xiao Zhi: The teammate who saluted me was our team, Changsha Yibo. Several of his teammates in this team have played from the Zhongneng era to the present, and after playing for ten years, Sha Yibo has experienced everything in the team and is full of feelings for the team. At that time, after I scored, Sha Yibo came to salute me, he said that I used to be a national team player, and it was touching to come to the Second Division to rush the first division with Qingdao Manatee. Sha Yibo has been playing for this team, has been playing in Qingdao for ten years, and he is like Zhao Junzhe, who has only played for one team in his life, which makes me very admirable.
◆ After rushing with Qingdao Manatee, what are your feelings?
It is now the cold winter of Chinese football, although it is cold, but as long as it is still there, it is enough! I think this sentence is particularly meaningful for us practitioners. Although I have not been in Qingdao Manatee for a long time, I have a special relationship with Qingdao, when I was a child, the first city I went to by green train was Qingdao, that is, when I was in the fifth grade of primary school, I played an invitational tournament in Qingdao on behalf of a team from Luoyang. My fate with Qingdao is like that of Guangzhou, when I spent my youth training in Guangzhou.
Qiao Weiguang, an investor at Qingdao Manatee Club, and Hu Baosen, the owner of Jianye, have always had a persistent passion for Chinese football and have always invested in the team, which makes me respect. I think this spirit is particularly consistent with my persistence over the years, I have insisted on playing until now, and I have always had a persistent and tenacious heart.
Including I was a substitute in Henan Jianye and a substitute in the national team, but as long as I played, I could play my glory. A person who is very professional in an industry and has always insisted on it is a person who can especially move people. Qingdao Manatee Club has been established for nearly 30 years now, Qiao Zong and Zhongneng Group have invested for 17 years, and I think this persistence and tenacity are worthy of the admiration of everyone in the industry, especially in the current situation that Chinese football is in a cold winter.
◆ It's also very pleasant to get along with Jiang Ning, right?
There are two veterans in our team, Jiang Ning and I have played in the national team at the same time, head coach Yin Tiesheng has a high reputation in Chinese football, although we have not worked together before, but many of the teammates around him are his disciples, and Yin's reputation is particularly good. Before I joined Qingdao Manatee this season, I communicated with Yin Dao, and his professionalism and tactical concept were particularly good, and he has always been on the front line.
◆ "Football": At the beginning of this year, you played in another Chinese Second Division team, Hebei Zhuo'ao, and only arrived at Qingdao Manatee on the second transfer, this transfer also let you experience an upgrade process, what kind of experience is it for you?
Xiao Zhi: In fact, at the beginning of the year, Qingdao Manatee talked to me about joining, I think this club has an ambition to rush to the high-level league, just like the investors said, rushing to the top league is not our ultimate goal, returning to the top league is the ultimate goal, he said these words really touched me. Qingdao is a beautiful city, Qingdao Manatee is an old team, investors have invested so many years of hard work, so Qingdao Manatee is worth returning to the Chinese Super League, China's top league should have a piece of the world that belongs to Qingdao Manatee.
◆ If you want to rush the first division, what advantages do you think the team has?
The first is that the player structure is very reasonable, and the old, middle and young people are matched. The veteran members of the team all hope to play an exemplary and leading role, whether in training, life, and competition, Jiang Ning and I hope to play a role model. The young players are very motivated and have a lot of potential, and they need a good platform. In addition, the atmosphere of our team is particularly good, the young players respect the old players, the old players respect the coaches, and the team is very harmonious. Under the guidance of Yin Tiesheng, whether in terms of technology and tactics, or in the life management of the players, every detail is done well, and the internal unity has also brought strong combat effectiveness to the team.
Our team Changsha Yibo has been playing in this team for ten years, and young players can also go to a higher stage from here, I think this is a kind of inheritance. Every city has its own football talents, whether it is veterans or young players, if these talents are put together, then this city football will have unlimited room for development, and Chinese football will be more promising.
◆ This Qingdao Manatee team has several members from Guangzhou, have you noticed?
Jiang Ning and I have both played in Guangzhou R&F, Xu Jiajun is also from Guangzhou, and Chen Jiaqi, who also played at R&F at that time, is now in Qingdao Manatee. This seems to be a real coincidence, but in fact, it also reflects the attractiveness of Qingdao manatee.
◆ "Football": Your body is maintained well at this age, how to practice?
Xiao Zhi: This season, many coaches of the team have said that I can maintain such a good state at this age, and there are abs, which is particularly difficult, in fact, I just train with the team, sometimes go to the gym to practice, adhere to self-discipline, is to hope that people do not say that I am a "white chicken".
◆ Self-discipline and persistence like you, and Wang Song, right?
Wang Song, Jiang Ning and I, we have always insisted on maintaining a high level of training, if the level of competition had fallen particularly fast, we would have been eliminated a long time ago. We also hope that this persistence can play a positive role in Chinese football, such as Zheng Zhi, which is also the power of example. In fact, Qingdao Manatee's success in today's chong jia is also a victory of persistence, if there is more such persistence, Chinese football will have more dawn.
◆ Can you elaborate on the exemplary power of the old team members?
I have participated in youth training, teenagers will imitate the style of role models in the process of growing up, at the same time, the power of role models will also motivate teenagers to grow, so the role model role of role models will play an important guiding significance for the growth of teenagers. For example, Wu Lei, he is a good example, many children in the process of learning to play football will learn from him, imitate him, if today's children who learn to play football can surpass him in the future, then the future of Chinese football will have a lot of Wu Lei, the future of Chinese football will be very beautiful.
◆ I have heard many former Chinese Super League players who play in China B say that China B is not easy to play, what do you think is the reason for this?
The Chinese Second Division is different from the Chinese Super League and the Chinese First Division, the Chinese Second Division has no foreign aid, and the game in the Chinese Second Division is regarded as a contest of Chinese players. Jiang Ning and I have also exchanged this topic, playing in the Chinese Second Division are all domestic players, so the Chinese Second League reflects the most essential thing of Chinese football.
◆ What is the goal for this year? How many veterans like you have changed the team?
Our goal is to go all out to win the Chinese Second Division. Usually I talk more with Jiang Ning, we have an idea is to help the team to do a good job in the offensive end, now we have a lot of people who can score goals on the offensive end, Jiang Ning moves in midfield, I am involved in the front, including goals, assists, the two of us in this team hope to play a role in the succession, but also hope to use action and efforts to help the team move forward, to drive young teammates to grow better.