On April 13, Chinese football star Zuo Shusheng ushered in his 64th birthday, and the AFC also sent him birthday wishes on social media, with the topic of "national glory, passion"...
As the official website of the AFC said, from the age of 21 to the national team, to now usher in the 64th birthday, more than 40 years of time like water passed, the body of the left finger gradually aged, the years have carved a mark on his face, but what can not be taken away is his still surging football passion. In the player era, he said the rhetoric that "if it is a man who should play football", in the coaching era, he said that "it is better to let people die than to be scared to death" is also loud. The long years are enough to change some people and some things, but some things can never be changed, such as the memory of Zuo Shusheng's "Tsumen Tough Guy" engraved in the hearts of fans, and the faces of that generation of footballers...
Mention the left tree sound, Jinmen fans and even fans across the country will not be strangers, the captain of the national team, the captain of the Tianjin team, plus the eldest brother Zuo Shuqi and the third brother Zuo Shufa, the "Zuo Shi Sanxiong" on the green field is a good story in Tianjin football, and it is also the Tianjin voice that is loud in Chinese football. Zuo Shusheng was born in Tianjin on April 13, 1958, because he was the second oldest in his family, and people used to call him "second left".
Zuo Shusheng, who is 1 meter 76 tall, plays as a midfielder in the player era and was once the double captain of Tianjin and The Chinese men's football team. In elementary school, Zuo Shusheng attended Tucheng Primary School, a famous football school in Tianjin. In 1973, at the age of 15, Zuo Shusheng was selected for the Tianjin Youth Football Team and participated in the National Youth Football League with the team, eventually finishing 13th in the league.
In 1976, at the age of 18, Zuo Shusheng began his journey to the national team, and he was selected for the Chinese U20 men's national team coached by Sin Dixiong and accompanied the team to Albania and Yugoslavia. In 1980, Su Yongshun became the new head coach of the Chinese men's national football team, and Zuo Shusheng was also selected for the Chinese adult men's national football team for the first time. In 1981, Zuo Shusheng completed his famous battle in the national team. At that time, in the 12th World Cup peripheral Asian regional final, in the key competition with saudi arabia, the Chinese team just opened two consecutive losses, in the second half, Su Yongshun replaced Shen Xiangfu and Liu Lifu from Beijing with The Second General Zuo Shusheng and Chen Jingang of Tianjin, sounding the clarion call of a classic reversal battle in the history of Chinese football. Zuo Shusheng and Chen Jingang scored consecutive goals to help the team equalize, and then Gu Guangming and Huang Xiangdong scored another goal each, and finally the Chinese team achieved a stunning reversal 4-2.
In that game, Zuo Shusheng scored a goal that sounded the counterattack horn to fully reflect his football style, brave and tenacious, wide open, full of passion, and his crazy running, jumping high, and waving his arms after scoring the goal has also become a true portrayal of the spirit of Chinese football and Tianjin football in that era, which is Zuo Shusheng's iconic action and the best interpretation of the concept of manhood.
In his national football career, Zuo Shusheng served as the captain of the national team, won the top scorer in the Nehru Gold Cup, and scored 23 goals for the national team in international A-level competitions for the national team. However, there are always ambitions in the chest of boys, and in 1985, the national team with Zuo Shusheng as the captain hated "5.19", leaving a message that "men should play football", Zuo Shusheng ended his national football career.
In 1988, Zuo Shusheng joined the Dutch First Division team Zruva, and a year later, after completing his trip to the West, he officially retired. Soon after retiring, Zuo Shusheng began his coaching career. In 1989, Zuo Shusheng became the assistant coach of the Tianjin Second Team and in 1991 he became the head coach. In 1995, Zuo Shusheng became the assistant coach of the Tianjin Samsung team at that time. In 1996, Tianjin did not perform well for the first half of the season, and after the departure of coach Lin Xinjiang, Zuo Shusheng became the team manager. In the second half of that season, Tianjin took on a new look, completed the relegation task ahead of schedule, and finally finished 8th in the A League. Zuo Shusheng's statement that "it is better to let people die than to be scared to death" was also enjoyed by Tianjin fans.
Zuo Shusheng's second appearance as tianjin coach was in 2008. Since 2007, Zuo Shusheng has become the head coach of the Tianjin reserve team, and with the dismissal of Czech coach Yarabinsky, Zuo Shusheng has become the head of the Chinese coaching team. History is always strikingly similar, just like 12 years ago, when Zuo Shusheng helped Tianjin regain its strength and the team eventually finished fourth in the league, making a historic break into the AFC Champions League in the 2009 season. In 2009, Tianjin achieved 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in the AFC Champions League, and finally ranked third in the group and did not qualify. In the league, Zuo Shusheng team ranked sixth in the league, and at the end of the season, Zuo Shusheng handed over a good team to Ali Han.
In the player era, Zuo Shusheng was an indispensable midfield pillar for tianjin and the national team at that time, he was fierce in defense, tough in attack, full of physical fitness, and was a powerful barrier in front of the defenders; more importantly, Zuo Shusheng had excellent will quality, tenacious style, never said defeat, and had a strong spiritual appeal. After becoming a coach, Zuo Shusheng instilled a tough style into the team, twice creating an iron-blooded style for the Tianjin team. Today, Zuo Zhiyi is active in the field of football in Tianjin and can be seen in many youth football activities.
It can be said that the left finger has dedicated his life to Chinese football and to Tianjin football. When the left finger is no longer young, the memories of the past are more evocative and should be cherished by us. Because, when you read Zuo Shusheng's football story, you can naturally see his heart of a football child who has no regrets in this life, and you can better understand what kind of spirit Chinese football needs at present...