Fan Zhiyi's wonderful performance in "Spitting Conference" once again brought the former first person in Chinese football back to the public eye.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" > was born into a sports family, and Fan Da's first appearance</h1>
Fan Zhiyi was born into a sports family, and his parents were engaged in the sports industry. As a youth coach in Shanghai football, his father Fan Jiulin did not want to train his son to become a football player at first, after all, in the era of his playing, Chinese football was far from completing the professional transformation.
However, in the end, Fan Zhiyi still embarked on the road of football, and his high physical fitness made him rise rapidly among players of the same age. Equally famous for his physical qualities is his "violent temper" on the pitch. In this regard, Fan Zhiyi never shyed away from it, and his own explanation was: "Everything is to win." ”
In 1994, as Chinese football began to complete the professionalization reform, Fan Zhiyi began to emerge in domestic football. Although he plays a central defender on the pitch, under the tutelage of his mentor Xu Genbao, Fan Zhiyi is often pushed into the team's front line.
A year later, Fan Zhiyi helped Shanghai Shenhua win that year's A-League championship with 14 goals, and he was named the top scorer of the year and the Chinese Footballer of the Year. Since then, the reputation of General Fan has resounded throughout Chinese football.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > dream of Europe, China's first Asian footballer</h1>
In 1998, Fan Zhiyi finally realized his dream of Europe and joined the Crystal Palace Club in England. Although Crystal Palace was only in England's second division at the time, with world-class stars like Lombardo, they were also regarded as the seeded team that broke into the Premier League that year.
When he first arrived abroad, Fan Zhiyi's flamboyant personality greatly helped him integrate into the local environment. A few years ago, Crystal Palace Club also sent a special reporter to China to conduct an exclusive interview with him, in which he recalled his experience in the Crystal Palace team wearing the No. 8 shirt and thanked the local fans.
For Chinese fans, Fan Zhiyi's "I'm faster than Owen" seems like a joke. Later, they found out that General Fan was serious when he said this, and he was not blindly arrogant, and his confrontation with Owen was also well documented.
In an FA Cup knockout match in 2001, Crystal Palace met traditional powerhouse Liverpool. At that time, Owen and Husky were a combination of big kills in the Premier League, but Fan Zhiyi almost single-handedly carried the attack of this England national team-level front.
In that year, Fan Zhiyi was elected Asian Footballer of the Year for his outstanding performance in crystal palace, and he was also the first Chinese player to receive this honor.
Zhang Yang's personality made Fan Zhiyi also set an example of a big brother in the Crystal Palace, and even for a while he became the captain of the Crystal Palace. The England club handed over the captain's armband to an Asian player, which is definitely an unprecedented deed.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="14" > rejects Premier League powerhouses for the benefit of the national team</h1>
Subsequently, Fan Zhiyi received the attention of Premier League clubs Newcastle United and Liverpool, and Newcastle United has even handed over an offer to Crystal Palace. However, the Contract of the Premier League club has clauses that "restrict" Fan Zhiyi from playing for the national team, and he resolutely refused the contract of the Premier League club after trying to help the national football team rush into the 2002 World Cup.
In the end, under the leadership of the magical coach Milu, the Chinese team successfully broke into the World Cup, and Fan Zhiyi also realized his dream of the World Cup! Although the performance of the Chinese team in the World Cup that year was not satisfactory, this World Cup trip allowed more Chinese players to be seen by the world.
After leaving the Crystal Palace, Fan Zhiyi's career in the West also began to decline. Whether at Dundee or Cardiff City, he was unable to return to his form at Crystal Palace due to injuries and age. Eventually he returned to the Chinese League and chose to retire at the age of 36.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="18" > Fan Zhiyi: I take football seriously</h1>
After retiring, Fan Dajun still loves football deeply, and he spares no effort to play his residual heat for Shanghai football and Chinese football.
'Probably the biggest difference between us compared to some of the players we have now is that I really love football and take it seriously.
In 2008, he returned to his mentor Xu Genbao as the technical director of the East Asian team, helping him contribute to the youth training of Chinese football together. Under his training, Wu Lei, Zhang Linpeng, Cao Yunding and other players produced by "Chongming Youth Training" began to become the backbone of Chinese football.
For them, Fan Zhiyi repeatedly emphasized that one point is - don't forget the original! In the nearly 30 years of ups and downs in football, he has seen too many talented players finally lose themselves and fade out of the field, which is the last thing he wants to see. The famous "face is gone" remark is not so much a complaint about Chinese football as it is a helplessness for Chinese football.
Fan Zhiyi is still the technical director of Genbao Football Base, and he is still relatively strict with players. After he became a coach, his father once told him that it was important to teach young players, patience, and to teach people first, and then to teach playing football.
Once on the training ground, two young players broke out into a physical conflict, for which Fan Zhiyi sternly pulled them to the sidelines and strictly educated them. In his view, although ball skills are an essential element for professional players, character is the foundation of their roots on the pitch.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="25" > losing to Vietnam is just angry talk, and strive to break through the top 12</h1>
Today, the Chinese team has successfully passed the top 40 and is about to embark on the journey of the top 12 competition. A few years ago, Fan Zhiyi said that "if you continue to lose, you can only lose Vietnam", a saying, the national football team is really in a group with Vietnam. For the angry words of that year, Fan Zhiyi also made his own explanation in the major media:
"The youth training of Vietnamese football does seem to be doing a good job at present, but if it is really necessary to defeat China in the round of 12, they can't do it yet."
For Li Tie, the coach of the Chinese team who also has experience in the West, Fan Zhiyi also praised:
From the competition in the round of forty, it can be seen that Li Tie has been using his brain. After the game, I will also communicate with him frequently, summarize the game and do my best to help the national team. ”
For Fan Zhiyi's generation of Chinese footballers, they have experienced a World Cup and clearly know the gap between Chinese football and world football.
Many people, including Fan Zhiyi, have also slowly begun to devote themselves to youth training, and they still hope to cultivate more talents for Chinese football through their influence, so that Chinese football can once again stand on the stage of the World Cup.