Reporters Chen Yong and Su Yang reported that after 666 days of waiting, Wu Lei finally scored a goal in La Liga again! After 89 minutes of explosive shooting, followed by a wild run and roar, the 30-year-old man, known as "hope in the whole village", vented his long-standing emotions.
"To the whimpering and roaring of the night, who says that those who stand in the light are heroes." The last lyrics of "The Lone Brave" seem to be tailor-made for him at this moment.
Compared with the luxury of expecting a radiant superhero to fall from the sky, Chinese football in the dark needs Wu Lei, Guo Tianyu, Li Lei and other "lonely brave people" to break through the long night...
Listen to the fans on the scene, guided by the DJ, shout out the "Wu! Lei！ You may not think that at this moment, Wu Lei waited for a full 666 days.
Last weekend in the 31st round of La Liga, espanyol took on Celta at home. In the 66th minute, Wu Lei came off the bench, and the playing time of more than 20 minutes was absolutely precious to the Chinese international who had few opportunities recently. In the 89th minute of the game, Dadel received the ball at the top of the arc of the penalty area, and he saw Wu Lei, who was inserted on the right side, stretch out his hands to actively ask for the ball, and immediately sent a foot just right. Wu Lei made a slight adjustment, and his right foot burst sent the ball into the net!
This is Wu Lei's first la Liga goal of the season and his 10th goal in La Liga, and his last La Liga goal dates back to the 2019/2020 season: on June 13, 2020, Espanyol played Alaves.
When Wu Lei roared and rushed to the side of the field, his teammates flocked to hug the hero of the game. The celebrations after the goal were warm and joyful, and the fans shouted in unison even gave the illusion that they had long been accustomed to this scene. But the reality is as Wu Lei said after the game, "sadness and joy cross.".
After his honeymoon in La Liga debut, Wu Lei's goal stats have slipped from 3 goals in 16 games and 4 goals in 33 games in the past two seasons to 2 goals in 31 games in La Liga, and the playing time has also decreased. After the team was promoted to the first division, the situation did not improve, before this battle, Wu Lei had already made a full 20 starts.
In this period of "sadness and joy and self-crossing", Wu Lei was not unshakable, but in the end, he did not choose to turn around.
You can certainly say that this goal proves nothing, even if it directly brings 3 points to the Parrots, even if these 3 points are likely to help the team finally complete the relegation; you can certainly say that Wu Lei should not choose to continue to insist, even if he has been fighting alone for four years, even if he did not leave when the team was relegated.
But there are also people who use the lyrics of "Lone Brave" to praise this foreign flag of Chinese football today, "Love you walk alone in the dark alley, love the way you don't kneel, love you have faced each other in despair..." Indeed, maybe this goal is not enough to change his situation in the team, maybe his road to staying in the ocean is still full of thorns - but who said that smooth sailing is the brave, who said that the dark alley flash is not a hero?
Thankfully, compared with four years ago, our "lone brave" who stayed in the ocean is still brave, but it is no longer a single shadow. A few hours after Wu Lei scored, in the 29th round of the Portuguese Super League, Vizzella played against Braga, and Guo Tianyu came off the bench in the 68th minute to make his Portuguese Premier League debut.
Guo Tianyu came off the bench in the 68th minute, and in the 77th minute, Guo Tianyu ushered in a good opportunity, but his goal failed to adjust the rhythm, and the ball was deflected out of the goal; and in the 85th minute of the game, Guo Tianyu staged a defensive performance of 80 meters of recovery, when he fell to the ground at the top of the opponent's arc, the referee did not award the opponent a foul, Braga launched a counterattack, Guo Tianyu immediately desperately chased back - in the final defense, he even became the last defensive player besides the goalkeeper.
Similar to Wu Lei Liuyang's several twists and turns, Guo Tianyu's Liuyang play was a good thing from the beginning: Shandong Taishan announced Guo Tianyu Liuyang as early as January 27, but because of the visa processing, Guo Tianyu did not leave for Portugal until March 25, the last round of Vizzella against Estoril, Guo Tianyu entered the big list but did not play, this game because Vizzella has been 0-1 behind, Guo Tianyu also got the opportunity to play.
There is no systematic competition for a long time, Guo Tianyu's competitive state obviously cannot reach a relatively high level, and it must be explained that Guo Tianyu's physical quality in the Chinese Super League does not reflect a special advantage in the Grape League, especially in terms of confrontation. Therefore, in the current situation, Guo Tianyu's advantage is mainly reflected in the height level, but this still requires the team to give some support in terms of technology and tactics. After this match, there are only 5 games left in the Portuguese Premier League, and Vizzella currently has 29 points, 4 points ahead of 16th place (the penultimate place, to participate in the playoffs) Tondra, Vizzella's matches are both away to the leader Porto and away to two relegation teams Morellence and Bilanises, of which the 30th round and the final 34th round are away to the relegation team, so Vizzella's relegation is still at risk.
For Chinese football, staying in The Yang is one of the most important means to improve the level of the national football team, during the Round of 40 and the Round of 12, Wu Lei is the team's top scorer, another very stable forward Zhang Yuning has also stayed in the Yang for a long time, and the "new midfield force" of the national football team, Dai Weijun, is also from the European youth training system. If more players can stay in the ocean, the national football team can not only improve at the level of strength, but more importantly, the ability to adapt to the rhythm of the game and the intensity of the game will be greatly improved. The defeat of the national football team in the round of 12 is the key to not adapting to the rhythm and intensity of the game in terms of technical and tactical aspects.
On the one hand, the current ability of Chinese players is generally not high, so there will not be too many opportunities in high-level leagues and high-level teams, in this case, choosing sub-leagues, such as the second division of the five major leagues, or other leagues outside the five major leagues is a good choice, like Li Lei chose the Swiss League. But on the other hand, staying in foreign countries is hindered by visas and other levels.
But even if there are many difficulties, the road to staying in the ocean cannot be abandoned halfway. For individuals like Wu Lei, Guo Tianyu, including Li Lei, their future direction cannot be easily predicted: for example, will Wu Lei's first goal in La Liga completely change Wu Lei's status? It is difficult to say that Guo Tianyu's stay in Yang is only on loan, but on the other hand, Wu Lei has insisted on it from 2018 to the present, insisting on it for 4 years, which is actually the persistence and pursuit of football, Guo Tianyu has overcome many difficulties and is still very firm to go out.
Carrying a "humble dream" and fighting to the end may be the greatest wealth that these "lonely brave people who stay in the ocean" have brought to Chinese football.