Throughout the history of Chinese football, there has never been a lack of tragic figures. In addition to Li Huajun, Zhang Xiaorui, Chen Tao, and other recognized tragic figures, some seemingly unlimited and well-respected national football players have also tragic careers. For example, the deeds of Su Maozhen are very representative:
Su Maozhen was born on September 1, 1972 in Qingdao, Shandong Province, to an intellectual family. His father was an engineer and his mother was a technician, and they were all learned figures at that time, and they naturally had great expectations for Su Maozhen's study.
What is quite surprising is that such a child from a family has a special love for football and wants to embark on the road of football, which will naturally cause parents to oppose. Fortunately, Su Maozhen's parents are quite enlightened, and after determining their children's passion for football, they finally chose to support.
With superior talent and tenacious character, Su Maozhen's football path in his youth was quite smooth, he not only became a member of the Shandong Provincial Junior Team, but also knocked on the door of the national junior team, got the opportunity to play with the team in the United Kingdom, and played a wonderful performance during this period, which got the attention of the legendary superstar Bobby Charlton.
Bobby Charlton is known to have a deep relationship with Manchester United. So after the meeting, Bobby Charlton quickly recommended the new football star to his old club. In this way, Su Maozhen got the opportunity to try out in the Manchester United youth team, training with the giggs who were still very young at the time.
Although the Manchester United youth team at that time did not lack talented people, these teammates of similar age did not hide the light of Su Maozhen. The then 16-year-old Chinese rising star kicked his head and scored a number of brilliant goals that impressed the well-informed United executives. More than one source has conclusively claimed that United had taken a fancy to Su Maozhen at the time and intended to sign a contract with the 16-year-old Chinese rising star. However, at this critical juncture, Su Maozhen was unfortunately seriously injured in the game, which completely ruined this signing opportunity.
Seeing this, some friends may ask, since Manchester United has taken a fancy to Su Maozhen's potential, why not sign him first and wait patiently for him to recover?
The key factor in this is that Su Maozhen's injury is really too serious. A crushing fracture of the fibula in the right ankle is enough to bury a player's career. No one was sure how far Su Maozhen could recover after being seriously injured. As a result, there is a tragic scene of Su Maozhen being favored by Manchester United at the age of 16 but not having a chance.
In fact, Manchester United have not forgotten Su Maozhen. After Su Maozhen returned from injury, the veteran England giants once again issued a trial invitation to Su Maozhen, looking forward to his wonderful performance. Unfortunately, at this time, Su Maozhen had just recovered from serious injuries and had not yet found his peak state. As a result, his performance during this training session was far from the previous one and did not impress Manchester United...
Su Maozhen, who returned frustrated, was not discouraged, but instead made more efforts to hone his football skills. Tall and tall, he has trained excellent head-kick skills, so he won the resounding nickname of "Golden Head Lao Mao", and gradually became the flagship figure of Shandong football, with outstanding performances in the A-League, not only breaking the myth of "undefeated workers" but also helping Shandong team to succeed.
As for the national team level, Su Maozhen is also an important member of the team. No matter who is in charge of the national team coaching whip, Su Maozhen is a regular visitor to the national team, showing the style of a real man in the international arena, and penetrating the Goal of the Korean team is a proof of his strength. During the coaching of Milutinovic, Su Maozhen contributed to the unprecedented entry of the national football team into the World Cup.
As we all know, the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan has great significance for Chinese football, and I don't know how many players want to take this ride and leave their names in the history of the World Cup. Against this backdrop, the competition for the World Cup roster is bound to be extremely fierce, even fierce.
Fortunately, Su Maozhen was still at his peak at that time, and scoring double-digit goals in the A-League was a testament to his state. The national football star was almost unsurprisingly selected for the World Cup.
However, such a famous player of national football, who is still at the peak, announced his decision to retire without warning in December 2002, that is, when he was 30 years old, and broke his glasses. According to Su Maozhen's own words: "I was as surprised as you were when I said these words. ”
Su Maozhen's statement is really meaningful. It is not difficult to imagine that at the age of 30, he is still at the peak, and the depth of his sudden retirement is deep.
Regarding the reason for Su Maozhen's decision to retire, one of the most popular explanations is that the Shandong team made the decision to abandon Su Maozhen in order to speed up the process of replacing the old and the new. Su Maozhen is loyal to the Shandong team and is not willing to play for other teams, so he can only make the decision to retire. In other words, Su Maozhen was forced to retire.
Throughout Su Maozhen's career, he was favored by Manchester United at the age of 16 but did not have the opportunity, and at the age of 30, he was still at his peak but was forced to retire, and the beginning and end of his career were extremely sad. This directly led to the fact that he was as strong as Su Maozhen and did not fully realize his talent. If it weren't for the unfortunate serious injury at the age of 16, the achievements of his career could have been higher; if it were not for being forced to retire at the age of 30, he could have created more glory.
Unfortunately, the green world has never believed if...