Recently, Song Zhenyu, a Dalian player from Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic Team, retired, and 40-year-old Song Zhenyu stepped into a coaching position after retiring as a goalkeeper coach of Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic Team. For Dalian's old fans, Song Zhenyu is not an unfamiliar name, although he only played for Dalian Shide for two seasons, only playing 22 games for the team, but he left a very deep impression on Dalian fans.
In the 1999 season, the 18-year-old Song Zhenyu appeared in the first team roster of Quanxing in Sichuan. In the 2000 season, due to the injury of the main goalkeeper, the 19-year-old Song Zhenyu was given the opportunity to play in the top league. He made 7 appearances that season and had a very good performance. In the 2002 season, Song Zhenyu joined Chongqing Lifan on loan, but still did not get many opportunities. In the 2003 season, Song Zhenyu joined Dalian Shide, and from the age of 14 to the return to his hometown at the age of 22, Song Zhenyu became the team's third goalkeeper. That season, Dalian Shide was invincible in the AFC Champions League venue, all the way to the semi-finals.
In the semi-final against Al Ain, the main goalkeeper of the first leg of the game, An Qi, was sent off with a red card, and in the second leg, Song Zhenyu was appointed as the team's starting goalkeeper. However, the young Song Zhenyu did not accept the test, and after the team struggled to equalize the aggregate score, in the face of a not very threatening shot from the other side, the gate guarded by Song Zhenyu was once again lost. After the game, Song Zhenyu did not leave the field for a long time, and in the post-match interview, Song Zhenyu said, "Before the game, I knew very well that this game was a crossroads for me, and after the game, I either went to heaven or fell into hell, and there was no third way to go." ”
The mistakes in this match were like Karius in the Champions League final, fortunately there was no developed social media at the time, and finally Song Zhenyu came out of the shadow of the loss of this game. After the 2004 season, Song Zhenyu left Dalian and joined Sichuan Guancheng. At the beginning of the 2006 season, Song Zhenyu joined Shenyang Jinde, and during his time playing for Jinde, Song Zhenyu's outstanding performance attracted the favor of the then national team coach Forado, and was selected for the national team for the first time. In the following career, Song Zhenyu has joined Chengdu Sheffield United, Tianjin Teda, Changchun Yatai and Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic, with a total career appearance record of 397 games (data taken from Weibo blogger FM Dalian team investigators).
The 40-year-old Song Zhenyu has ushered in a new journey in his career and hopes that he will have all the best in his future coaching career! Come on!