Zheng Zhi (right) and Sun Jihai staged the "China Derby" in the Premier League Photo/Visual China
Wu Lei is not alone in the European League, Tan Kaiyuan and Wang Shuang are about to embark on the European arena, and a new round of Chinese football's "staying in the ocean tide" has begun——
Text/Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Chai Zhi
In the just-concluded 2021-2022 Europa League, Son Heung-min won the Premier League Golden Boot with 23 goals, becoming the first top scorer in the history of Asian football in europe's five major leagues, Kamada Helped Frankfurt to crown the Europa League champions, Endo Hang scored the "deadly" header as captain, allowing Stuttgart to survive in the Bundesliga... Japanese and South Korean players shine in European football, in stark contrast to the fact that Wu Lei, who is "alone" in the five major leagues, almost sat on the bench in Espanyol, handing over only 1 goal in 18 games.
However, Wu Lei is not a "lone brave". After the Chinese Football Association introduced a new policy for staying abroad in 2019, calling for learning the development path of Japanese football and encouraging more young and outstanding players in China to go out. Since 2021, Li Lei, Liu Shaoziyang, Guo Tianyu have successively traveled to Europe, Tan Kaiyuan and other young players will soon appear in the European League, women's football internationals Tang Jiali, Shen Mengyu and Shen Monroe have realized their dreams of staying in the Ocean, the core Wang Shuang has also determined to embark on the Premier League in July and August, and a new round of Chinese football's "staying in the Ocean" has begun.
Unlike the previous famous stars joining well-known European clubs, more young Chinese players born after 2000 choose to start in european low-level leagues, and China's strategy of staying in the West has been adjusted to take Europe's third- and fourth-rate clubs as a "springboard", stand firm and step by step, and then move closer to the mainstream league. The spark of Chinese football has been ignited in all corners of Europe, like a glimmer in the long night, so that the Chinese fans who are struggling to watch can see hope. We firmly believe that every glimmer of light will eventually converge to break through the temporary darkness of Chinese football.
Wu Lei has been gradually marginalized in Espanyol Photo/Visual China
History The glory of the past is vividly remembered
Staying in the west is the best way to "learn from" the developed countries in the world football world, and the number of players staying in the world reflects the overall level of football in this country to a certain extent. In the previous Qatar World Cup qualifiers, when facing Australia and Japan, which were almost all European internationals, the Chinese men's national team was completely crushed, and this suppression was a huge gap in rhythm, physical confrontation and understanding of football. If it is not made up, the gap will become wider and wider, and Chinese football will continue to fall into the abyss.
Once upon a time, we also had the envy of the foreign legion, the "China Derby" was passionately staged in the Premier League, the shouts of "China Yang" resounded throughout Frankfurt, Fan Zhiyi put on the captain's armband of the Crystal Palace and became the owner of the Selhurst Park Stadium, and the picture of the confrontation between "China Sun" and C Ronaldo is still vividly remembered...
On August 14, 1998, a historic moment for Chinese football, Yang Chen made his debut in frankfurt's away match against Duisburg, and for the first time, Chinese players appeared in the five major leagues in Europe. During his four seasons at Eintracht Frankfurt, Yang Chen scored 16 goals in the Bundesliga, and the German affectionately called the Frankfurt star "China Yang".
Sun Jihai, who played for Manchester City for 7 seasons, became the first Chinese player to appear in the Premier League, and also the Chinese player who scored the first Premier League goal and the most times in the Premier League, and the "China Sun" who was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame became an iconic figure in China.' In addition, Fan Zhiyi is one of the few foreign captains in the history of Crystal Palace, Zheng Zhi contributed 9 goals and 6 assists to Charlton in 2007 to become the absolute core, Sun Xiang was the first Chinese player to appear in the Champions League, and Xie Hui became the top scorer in the 2000-2001 Bundesliga with 14 goals. The highlight moments of the European international team are like yesterday, which is lamentable!
Sun Jihai was one of Asia's top stars and was able to hold high the banner of Chinese football, on the one hand, thanks to the dividends after the national football team advanced to the final round of the World Cup in South Korea and Japan; on the other hand, it was a strong competitive standard. But after all, the players who returned from the European union with honors are a minority, and the successors such as Dewey, Ma Mingyu, Li Weifeng, Li Jinyu, Zhang Xizhe, Zhou Haibin, Dong Fangzhuo and other successors in the European arena are more hurried to come and go, to go in a hurry, to be short-lived, and to leave in a daze!
The reason for this is that the early days of staying in the ocean generally had a high starting point and faced unprecedented competition. For example, the Dutch giants Eindhoven joined by Zhou Haibin, the most important thing is the midfielder, who is difficult to have a head start in the competition within the team. The same is true of Dewey's failure at the Celtics, in the Su Chao, known for his fierce physical confrontation, he simply could not hold the ball; the second was poor communication, and the language barrier was the key to understanding the manager's intentions and communicating with his teammates. Yang Chen once had a disagreement with then-coach Magath due to language barriers. Ha Joon Min also made repeated mistakes in defense due to his inability to communicate with his teammates on the field; the third was the lack of football IQ and late efforts, and he was eliminated by the Europa League. The most typical example is Dong Fangzhuo, Ferguson once commented that he is "world-class below the head", although his physical fitness is outstanding, he does not play football with his brain, which is precisely the common disease of Chinese players.
Wang Shuang, who previously played for the Paris women's football team, will usher in his second trip to Europe/Visual China
Status Quo: Using Europe's third- and fourth-rate teams as a "springboard"
Former foreign players, in the domestic league or national team are well-deserved leaders, under the operation of the management team to land in the mainstream European league, there is a certain transfer fee blessing, but also there is a "gilded" component. Today, with the deteriorating status of the Chinese men's football team in Asian football, the past two decades have repeatedly been in contact with the World Cup final circle, Chinese players have long been ignored in the international transfer market, and the way and path of staying in the West have undergone earth-shaking changes.
According to statistics, in the current world football, a total of 54 male footballers and 4 female footballers (the list only includes the adult team's registered players in the first team, and does not include youth echelon players, trial players, etc.; excluding reserve team leagues, friendly matches, invitational tournaments) play overseas, scoring a total of 33 goals in the just-concluded season. Among them, only Wu Lei of espanyol and Tang Jiali of tottenham Women's Team played in the five major leagues, Wu Lei scored 1 goal in 18 appearances, and Tang Jiali handed over 1 goal in 9 games.
In addition to Wu Lei and Tang Jiali, there are also 6 people who play in the mainstream leagues in Europe, namely Guo Tianyu who plays for Vizzella in the Portuguese Super League, Liu Shaoziyang in the Austrian League Klagenfu and Li Lei in the Swiss Super Grasshopper, but the three of them do not play many times. In addition, Shen Mengyu of the women's football team plays for the Su Super Celtics, Yang Shuhui plays for The Charen de Suvao in the Ligue 1, and Shen Monroe plays for The Portuguese Premier League's Oren Athletic.
Most of the players in this list play in the lower leagues, as many as 32 play in the Spanish ninth division, the Portuguese fifth division, the Korean fourth division and the Japanese third division, and the players are all young players born after 2000. Obviously, the distribution, age stratification and league output direction of Chinese foreign players have undergone fundamental changes. More young European players need to take root in the lower leagues for a long time overseas, step by step, in order to use this as a "springboard" to move closer to the mainstream leagues.
A role model The inspiration of the take-off of Japanese football
In the past two decades, Chinese football has studied in Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, italy, and in the end, it has become a tiger not an anti-dog, and the level of football has not advanced or retreated, watching the neighboring Japanese team gradually step into the ranks of strong football teams. In 2019, the Chinese Football Association proposed to learn from the Japanese team. In this regard, Guo Huiyi, associate professor of Guangzhou Institute of Physical Education, agreed, "We don't need to study any european country now, we just need to carefully study how Japanese football takes off." ”
The take-off of Japanese football came from the rapid growth of the football population driven by the dual track of the campus system and the youth training system, and then a batch of young players were sent to Europe to be trained. In addition to the fruitful results of decades of youth training, the Japanese Football Association has also provided auxiliary services for players staying in foreign countries. For example, the acquisition of the First Division team San Turden as a "springboard" to enter Europe, during which the successful operation of Endo Hang, Fuan Kenyo and Kamada Daichi was promoted to five major league teams. As more and more young players travel to Europe, how to ensure the psychological state of players has become an important issue, and the Commissioner of the Japanese Football Association conducts psychological counseling for players in Europe. In addition, the Japan Football Association plans to establish a permanent training base in Germany to provide more help for Japanese players in Europe.
In fact, Sun Jihai, Yang Chen, Li Tie and other players in Europe have expressed to the outside world more than once the difficulties of their careers in Europe, especially the need to re-integrate into a completely unfamiliar social environment, accept a completely different culture and daily life, and adapt to more intense training and competition than in the past.
According to statistics, the number of Japanese players in Europe in 2021 has reached 451, of which 250 are Japanese players at all levels in German leagues, and if you add players in the Korean K League, the Australian Super League and the Mexican League, the number of overseas players has exceeded 500. In the face of the huge base, under the influence of the high-level and fast-paced atmosphere of the European League for a long time, the overall strength of Japanese football will be improved, and the formation of two or even three national teams of players in Europe is naturally not a problem.
From the perspective of the rise of Japanese football, the same experience was initially led by top domestic stars such as Nakata Hidetoshi, Miura Chiryo, Shunsuke Nakamura, etc., to the trajectory of young players blossoming everywhere in European leagues at all levels, which coincides with the current "polishing" of young Chinese players in European low-level leagues, which is not a channel to improve the overall level of football.
Experts 13-16 years old is the golden period of staying in the ocean
Speaking of the widening gap between the Chinese men's football team and the Japanese team, Guo Huiyi, who has been engaged in football for nearly 50 years, felt sad and helpless, "It is no exaggeration to say that in the 1980s, I played a game with the Japanese team on behalf of the Guangdong team, so that they could easily win both goals. In the final analysis, the development of football still has to start from the doll, and we must act in accordance with the laws of football and do a good job in youth training."
Wu Lei and Sun Xingyu are the flagship figures of Chinese and Korean football at present, with similar starting points, but the subsequent development is different from cloud and mud. In this regard, Guo Huiyi believes that "in the end, the skills are not as good as people, the starting point of the two seems to be the same, but in terms of basic football skills, understanding of football and football IQ, Sun Xingyu is close to the world's top level." In Guo Huiyi's view, the biggest problem of the current Chinese men's football team is that the players have no characteristics, "just like a group of old stars in Guangdong, Gu Guangming is an old 'loach', fast, strong breakthrough, good at playing football with his brain; Zhao Dayu, although short, but the body is super good, and the technology is comprehensive." If you look at the current international footballers, there are very few players with distinctive characteristics. The reason why Wu Lei can gain a foothold in the five major leagues is not only because he has excellent running ability, but also has a similar sense of smell in front of the goal as Inzaghi, and his sense of grabbing points in the penalty area is a big advantage. ”
Guo Huiyi told the Yangcheng Evening News reporter very affirmatively that the players with distinctive characteristics are the "passes" based on the European League, and the premise of all this must be that the basic skills of the youth period must first meet the standards. "Judging from the growth trajectory of a football player, the level of football and cultivation at the age of twenty have been basically determined, and more in Europe is the maturity of the mentality after the accumulation of experience in the competition, which is also the main reason for the improvement of Wu Lei's self-confidence and shooting efficiency after returning to the national team."
For the growth of young players, Guo Huiyi believes that 13-16 years old is the golden period for staying in the ocean. "Before the age of 13, it is the polishing of the basic skills of football, there is no need to instill skills and tactics, and 13-16 years old is the key period for the growth of players, at this time to go to the 'big dye house' of the European League to experience, the advanced concept of European football, the mechanism of rising competition and football culture, will subtly change the player's understanding of football." Guo Huiyi repeatedly stressed to reporters, "This kind of travel in Europe is not the 'Jianlibao' model of the year, which is almost no different from the domestic 'captivity' practice, and it is necessary to let a single young player truly integrate into the club system of the European League, eat, sleep, practice and play with European players, so that it can be regarded as a real tour of Europe." For example, Zhang Yuning has followed the echelon training competition of The Dutch Vitesse at the age of 16, which is also the main reason for its rapid growth. Seeing so many children now going to the lower leagues in Europe to hone little by little, I think this way is at least in line with the laws of football, but also in line with the growth of players, worth encouraging and insisting on, of course, all this still needs to be tested by time. ”
In the future, it is better to retreat to the net
It is undeniable that seeing Son Heung-min lift the Premier League Golden Boot, seeing Takushi Minamino win the English League Cup and FA Cup with Liverpool, and seeing Furuhashi Hengwu, Maeda Dairan, flag bearerSo Yang and Yosuke Inouchi win the Soviet Super League title in Celtics, Chinese fans are only sad in addition to envy. For Chinese football, linyuan envy fish, it is better to retreat to the net. The success story of Japanese football in Europe has proven that it is wise to let young players be honed in the Europa League.
When explaining the reasons for his enduring success in the entertainment industry, Zhou Xingchi once said: "If you want to become the king of heaven, you must start from running a dragon set." This rule also applies to staying in the ocean.
Although it seems that the growth cycle is long, but the process of becoming a talent is full of gold, only in the European league big waves of sand, a hundred steel, foreign players can truly integrate into the European league, long-term, stable survival in the European league, shine. This is definitely beneficial and harmless for Chinese football in the face of adversity. Only by acting in accordance with the laws of football in a down-to-earth manner, unswervingly implementing the "Overall Plan for the Reform and Development of Chinese Football", and making preparations for continuing to sit on the cold bench in the short and medium term, can Chinese football be able to come to the extreme, and the quantitative change will lead to qualitative change and completely usher in a new life.
Editor: Nie Yue
Source: Golden Sheep Network