After two games off the bench, Sanchez finally got a starting chance in the final round of the group stage. Facts have proved that Sanchez did not live up to the expectations of the old coach Santos, delicate foot technology with excellent combination of human ball, coupled with more and more reasonable handling of the ball, the seemingly thin body contains a strong confrontation ability, facing Kante + Pogba's World Cup champion partner full of presence, once "invisible" Golden Boy seems to be announcing a strong return.
Unlike the young players who rely on the big game to shine, Sanchez, who is only 23 years old, has long been famous. But with the world's huge expectations, it is the confusion after the rapid fall, Sanchez once changed from the focus of national attention to the marginal people who no one cares, and the "injury Zhongyong" that is often seen in football seems to be staged again.
When his career entered a trough, the young Sanchez made the right response in the crisis, the long trip to Lille became a turning point, and Euro 2020 may become a milestone to set sail again.
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Sanchez was born on 18 August 1997 in Lisbon, Portugal, to a father from the African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe, and to a mother from Cape Verde. Growing up in the impoverished areas of Lisbon due to his poor family, Sanchez's parents broke up five months after his birth and his father left For France.
Sanchez grew up in a neighborhood known for being liars, and his mother didn't take custody of Sanchez until he was 5 years old and registered Sanchez. In 2002, Sanchez's father returned to Portugal from France, but even so, the poor family conditions have not changed, the family has no way to provide Sanchez with formal football training, he and his peers can only play street football in the smokey streets and alleys.
Despite the dire conditions, Sanchez was not assimilated by the chaotic community environment. A football dream has taken root in my heart early. When he was 8 years old, his parents finally agreed to send him to Águias da Musgueira for basic football training. Unexpectedly, a fortuitous attempt would change Sanchez's personal destiny.
Due to his talent, Sanchez quickly gained the approval of the academy manager. Just a year later, the academy system of Portuguese giants Benfica took a fancy to the young man's potential and recruited him. It is worth mentioning that in order to sign Sanchez, Benfica only spent 750 euros and 25 footballs. From today's perspective, this is indeed a good deal.
Benfica's huge domestic influence provided Sanchez with a shining stage, he received more advanced youth training concepts, and a group of professional coaches to coach. The years at Benfica Academy were a key part of Sanchez's honing of his foundations, where he determined his position and developed a fundamental understanding of football.
In the 14th and 15th seasons, Sanchez made his professional debut with Benfica B in Portugal's 2nd Division (5 October 2014, 2–2 away to Ferenc). With a good performance in team B, Sanchez was promoted to the first team a year later.
Initially the manager simply wanted to build on his strength by having him practice with the first team, but Sanchez quickly conquered the manager with a stunning performance – he scored his first career goal on 30 August 2015, scored twice in the tournament 17 days later, and scored in a 11–1 win over Galatasaray's UEFA Youth League on 21 October of the same year.
The all-around performance of attack and defense brought Sanchez's first-team debut ahead of schedule, and the team quickly extended his contract until 2021, adding a termination clause of up to 45 million euros.
In the 15th and 16th seasons, Sanchez quickly became Benfica's main force, making 35 appearances for the first team in all competitions, and scoring two goals, helping Benfica win the Portuguese Premier League and reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Such a high-profile performance allowed Sanchez to quickly gain the favor of world-class giants, and Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich became the one at the forefront. On 10 May 2016, Bayern Munich officially announced the signing of a contract with Alexis Sanchez for a transfer of up to 35 million euros, effective 1 July 2016.
With the title of "Portuguese Star of Hope", Sanchez ushered in a long-awaited national team career. On the eve of Euro 2016, coach Santos announced the big list of the Portuguese national team to participate in the European Championship, and the 18-year-old Sanchez was on the list, and he also broke the record held by Cristiano Ronaldo for 12 years, becoming the youngest player in the history of the Portuguese national team to be selected for the international competition list.
It turns out that despite his young age, Sanchez has a "big heart" that is different from ordinary people. In several knockout games where Portugal were too cautious to score goals, Sanchez's performance in midfield, which was an all-round attack and defense, became a key link in the team's smooth progression. In the knockout rounds against Croatia and Poland, Sanchez won a single MVP each.
Facing a powerful French team in the final, Sanchez, who was only 18 years and 326 days old, started again, breaking the record for the youngest appearance held by Cristiano Ronaldo and making a contribution to the final 1:0 sinking of France to win the championship.
After the European Championship, Sanchez, who has performed well in both clubs and national teams, overtook Manchester United star Marcus Rashford and Milan goalkeeper Donarumma to win the 2016 European Golden Boy Award.
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With the glory of the European Golden Boy Award, Sanchez began his Bayern career with great anticipation.
No one expected that a deal that seemed to have the best of both worlds would end up in a lose-lose situation. Due to the fierce competition and dissatisfaction with the Bundesliga, Sanchez has difficulty gaining the upper hand in the competition, and he has only obtained 9 starting opportunities in bayern's debut season, and the performance on both ends of the attack and defense can only be described as lackluster.
At the end of the season, Sanchez's poor performance attracted a lot of criticism from the German football community. Torben Hoffmann, a reporter for Germany's Sky TV, said bluntly: "Sanchez does not understand the language, it is difficult to integrate into Bayern Munich, and he is also at a disadvantage in the competition of Bayern Munich. Bayern star Mateus listed him as one of the three worst players of the season.
Due to few opportunities to play, Sanchez was loaned to Swansea, who was still in the Premier League at the time, in the 17th and 18th seasons.
Unfortunately, the change of stage did not become the beginning of Sanchez's self-help, he made his debut in the team's 0-1 defeat to Newcastle, but there were many passing mistakes, BBC reporter Dafid Pritchard publicly expressed his criticism of the Portuguese youngster, after which Swansea boss Carlos Carvajal also said bluntly: "Sanchez still has excellent talent, but he still has a lot to learn. Unfortunately, when he left Benfica, he stopped studying. ”
After returning to Bayern, Sanchez's poor situation has not changed. Despite Bayern boss Covac's pre-season appreciation for Sanchez, the Portuguese teenager is still struggling to reuse the Bundesliga giants, having only made six starts in the 18-19 season.
Sanchez has gradually been discouraged by sitting on the bench for a long time, and he has publicly expressed his desire to leave Bayern after Bayern's 2-2 draw with Hertha Berlin on 16 August 2019 to get more opportunities to play.
Just a week later, Sanchez travelled to Ligue 1 Lille for a transfer fee of 25 million euros, ending his three-year relationship with Bayern Munich.
On the whole, Sanchez also struggled for the main position in Bayern Munich, but due to personal positioning errors, coupled with the superstar-studded team environment, it was difficult for him to have a stable playing time, which eventually led to a regret.
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At this time, Sanchez was going through the most difficult period of his career, and after leaving Benfica, his upward trend has not met expectations. Joining Lille seemed to be a self-help for his career, but at the time it was understood as the beginning of "obscuring everyone".
Facts have proved that when Sanchez overcomes his impetuousness, returns his attention to the origin of football, and uses his personal advantages to do his job in a down-to-earth manner, the talent potential belonging to the golden boy still exists.
After coming to Lille, Sanchez gradually let go of the "core dream" that had plagued him for many years, and the former Golden Boy winner was more pragmatic, fully playing the characteristics of his excellent confrontation ability, excellent combination of human ball and speed and explosiveness.
It is worth mentioning that despite his "black and hard" attributes, Sanchez's foot skills are also trustworthy, and he has averaged an astonishing 2.6 times per game in the 19-20 season, not only ranking first in the lille team, but also ranking second among all players in the same position. At the same time, Sanchez also created 5 excellent opportunities on the offensive end, averaged 1.8 key passes per game, 47 passes per game, and was able to regain the ball 6.4 times per game, playing well on both offensive and defensive ends.
In the 20-21 season, Sanchez's playing time was not stable due to injury problems. From the data alone, his performances have declined, but when it comes to the actual contribution on the field, I believe that Lille fans will still give him full affirmation. In the end, Sanchez also helped Lille to win the Ligue 1 title in Paris, achieving a good story in French football.
From the perspective of latecomers, Sanchez's strong rise in Lille is not surprising. In a way, the talent of the Portuguese rising star has never disappeared, perhaps the young high-priced joining Bayern has made him a little arrogant, eager to develop a full range of personal skills to slow down his progress, but it makes him difficult to move forward in the star-studded Bayern.
Swansea on loan was originally a joint effort between Bayern and Sanchez to turn things around, but unfortunately it still ended in failure. After the new coach Kovac took office, the situation was unstable, and Sanchez, who had not been able to fully integrate into the team, was even more difficult to play well, coupled with the gradual contradictions with the club due to the desire for playing time in the future, and the final unhappiness dissipated.
Perhaps because of years of "social beatings" that made him begin to reflect on himself, Sanchez finally retracted the proud light of belonging to the golden boy and found his true characteristics in a more low-key and pragmatic way in Lille.
Today's Sanchez is no longer the "one king" who only wants to become the core, and five years of hard hibernation has allowed him to complete his self-transformation, and the re-recruitment of the national team has followed.
At this year's European Championship, Sanchez continued the highlight performance similar to the Lille period, facing France's all-round performance to defend Portugal's "bottom line", "can't attack, defend or not" The past is gone.
The 2016 European Championship was the beginning of Sanchez's fame, but various factors prevented him from fully realizing his talents; after five years, returning to the familiar European Championship stage, Sanchez officially announced his return to the world.
Unlike those golden boys who "fell in the middle", Sanchez experienced confusion, but also completed his self-redemption in confusion. The tortuous career has tormented him, but it has also given him a deeper understanding of football. For Sanchez, the dark years have passed, and the road of light is slowly unfolding in front of him.