After defeating Hebei Huaxia Happiness 2-0, Shandong Taishan won the 2021 Chinese Super League championship in the 2021 season three rounds in advance, and once again reached the top of the Chinese Super League after 11 years, Taishan and Shandong fans have been looking forward to it for a long time.
What has not changed for 11 years is the word "Taishan", but the soldiers who play iron in the camp, the number of Taishan players in the past 11 years is also extremely large, but there are 3 players who have always been in this team, they are Zheng Zheng, Zhang Chi, Wang Tong, and the only 3 lucky people who have witnessed history as players in the last two championships of the Taishan team.
In 2010, Zheng Zheng's third season with the Taishan team, then head coach Ivankovic changed Yuan Weiwei from left back to right back, so the 21-year-old Zheng Zheng became the main candidate for the Taishan team's left guard. This season, Zheng Zheng made 24 appearances, scored 3 goals and assisted 5 times, becoming a rising star in the Chinese Super League, and after the season, Zheng Zheng was also elected as the best newcomer in the Chinese Super League. It is worth mentioning that because Zheng Zheng trained with the national Olympic team, Wang Tong received the award for the best newcomer instead of Zheng Zheng.
Zheng Zheng, who has become one of the captains of the team, is now 32 years old, although he can no longer open the left road as he did at the beginning of his debut, but whether he plays full-back or center-back, Zheng Zheng is still an insurmountable iron gate.
In 2010, the 17-year-old "demon boy" Wang Tong was appreciated by head coach Ivankovic for his excellent speed, and after entering the first team, Wang Tong had 2 substitute appearances, the Chinese Super League debut faced Changsha Jinde as a substitute and an assist, and the other appearance was the last round of the season.
This season, the 28-year-old Wang Tong is also a veteran of the team, the number of appearances in the Chinese Super League has exceeded 200 games, although the number of appearances due to injury factors is not much, but the overall performance is not bad, the previous 8 rounds of games sent 2 assists.
Zhang Chi is another player who played in the Taishan team in 2010, this year is already the fourth season for Zhang Chi to enter the Taishan team, but the first 3 seasons Zhang Chi has not been able to get opportunities under Tubakovic, Ivankovic gradually abandoned the team captain Jiao Zhe in the right-back position, Zhang Chi got 13 appearances, and the overall performance was also very good.
It's hard to imagine Zhang Chi's career being so tortuous, and this season the 34-year-old Zhang Chi once again suffered a serious fracture injury and made only two appearances on the bench. However, the fighter is still an indispensable part of the Tarzan team, and his story has inspired many young players to grow and improve.
11 years ago they took their first steps in the Chinese Super League, 11 years later they are still the main players in this team, I hope that this love and persistence from the bottom of their hearts can make them go further.