From league to Asian youth tournament to European stay, Eiffelding Escal is growing fast. The Golden Boy Award is both an affirmation of his past year and an expectation of his future career.
"I always wondered, if it wasn't for that penalty, would it have been us?"
It has been a while since the China-South Korea battle of the U20 Asian Youth Championship, and Eiffelding is still unwilling, "Without that penalty, is it possible for us to get a ticket to the U20 World Cup and stand on the stage of the World Youth Championship?" ”
Yaqing lost
On the evening of March 12, 2023, hundreds of millions of Chinese fans were watching a match: the U20 Asian Youth Championship quarterfinals - China vs South Korea. This is the second time that the Chinese national youth team has successfully broken through from the group stage of the Asian Youth Championship after 9 years, and as long as it crosses the eight strong mountains, the name of the Chinese team will also reappear in the World Youth Championship after 18 years.
Mutalife's small-angle goal 3 minutes after Yibian gave the Chinese team, which insisted on defending and counterattacking, receive a leading package, which once made Antonio's team see that the World Youth Championship was beckoning to them, but the Chinese team's advantage did not last long, and the South Korean team took advantage of a penalty opportunity to equalize the score, and scored two goals in extra time to complete the reversal, ruthlessly shattering the Chinese team's dream of entering the World Youth Championship.
In the locker room of the Chinese team after the game, Antonio, the head coach of the national youth team who returned to the locker room early because he was sent off with a red card, hugged every player, sent encouragement and fully affirmed the performance of the team, "Even if this game is repeated, we will still be the best team in Asia, we will still be the Asian quarterfinals, and possibly the Asian quarterfinals." Antonio stressed that the players should be proud of their performance in this tournament, "We have proved on the Asian stage that we are no worse than any team, and no team can easily take points from us. Regardless of the outcome of this match, we are the strongest contenders in Asian football. ”
The night of the broken dream of the national youth is destined to be a sleepless night, and as the captain of the team, Eiffelding's mind has always been haunted by the image of the UAE referee's decision to award the South Korean team the equalizing penalty, and it is difficult to sleep. "After that loss, I went back and opened my phone and saw many people leaving me messages, including the first one was a message of comfort from my parents. Video with them for a while, and then... In fact, it is difficult to digest, I haven't slept much all night, and I have been thinking about that picture, can we do better? Already so close, just one step away, in the end it is still ... Can I get back to reality after a night's sleep? ”
The defeat is a reality, counting the 2017 U16 Asian Junior Qualifiers and the 2019 U19 Asian Youth Qualifiers, this is the third time that Eiffelding has played South Korea in a national shirt, and although it did not change the fate of losing, he gained confidence from this loss.
"South Korea is a very strong opponent, both in Asia and in the world, but this time is different from the previous two times. The first two times to be honest, we were defeated easily, but there was nothing we could do with them. This time is different, the Korean team played us very, very hard. At one point it was we who took the lead in the game, and they almost went home. The third time I met, compared to the previous two, I grew a lot personally. ”
Impressions of Dongying
The young Eiffelding took an unusual path of football. The 2015 "Who is the Ball King" Chinese Football Folk Championship National Finals Doll Group Championship was not only his football career debut battle, but also his fame battle.
He has not participated in any youth level competitions, nor has he appeared in domestic U-series events, but it does not affect the fact that this kid from Kashgar, Xinjiang, has been selected for the national team many times. In the past few years, there has always been a name in the list of U16 juniors, U17 juniors, U19 juniors, and U20 juniors: Eiffeldin Eskar.
What is even more rare is that Eiffelding realized his dream of staying in the ocean in 2017. The U18 team inspired by J-League side Shimizu was the first stop of his overseas career. A year later, he became a member of the Kashima Antlers U18 team, a traditional giant of the Japanese league, and participated in the 2018 Evergrande U17 International Champions Cup. It was his goal that helped Kashima Antlers win by a small goal over the hosts and finish fifth in the tournament.
During his stay in the ocean, Eiffelding got a lot of opportunities to compete. Although he could not play in the J-League for Shimizu Agitation or Kashima Antlers because he did not have a formal professional contract, he could still represent the U18 team in various cups, and he was given nearly 100 games a year, which he could not have imagined when playing at home.
When it comes to Japanese football, Eiffelding uses the word rigor to describe his personal feelings, especially the lifestyle habits and pace of the Japanese players, as well as their attitude towards training. "When I first arrived in Japan, my personality, this indifferent mentality, didn't fit in with the rigor of the Japanese. Their day is so orderly," Eiffelding lamented. Slowly, imperceptibly, the atmosphere of Japanese football made a change for Eiffelding. "Japanese people train in the morning and school in the evening, and they do it themselves after training. But their extra practice is very strange - they don't practice shooting, but find a wall to pass the ball there all the time. I was more casual for the first few months, and then I slowly became like them. ”
It is not too long to stay in Japan, but Eiffelding still feels the difference between Japanese football and Chinese football at the youth level, "The success of Japanese football must have their own reasons, I just see part of it." However, in terms of youth training, I think players should be allowed to maximize their talents and let children accept modern football. If we have not been able to succeed through the previous youth training methods, we may as well try something new and integrate with the world's high-level football concepts as soon as possible, including Japan and Europe. ”
Captain's armband
This past year, Eiffelding finally fulfilled his long-time dream - to make his Chinese Super League debut. It is a little regrettable that he has never been able to leave his name in the Chinese Super League goalscorers, "In fact, I have a strong ability to seize opportunities, I don't know how I failed to score a goal last year, but fortunately I won in the FA Cup. "That's why he gave his debut season in the Chinese Super League a qualifying score: 7 out of 10." There is still 3 points of room for improvement, and I hope to do better in the future. ”
The future will soon come. In the recently concluded U20 Asian Youth Championship, Eiffelding led the team as captain to complete the long-awaited breakthrough of the Chinese team in this competition, losing to Japan in the first match, and then defeating Saudi Arabia and drawing Kyrgyzstan in two battles, advancing to the quarterfinals as the second in the group. Wearing the captain's armband and playing an important counter-attacking point in the tactical system of national youth manager Antonio, Eiffelding won unanimous recognition for his performance.
"Because I'm playing as a striker in the team, leading the team. The manager kept saying to me, 'You have to set an example for the team'. Including Shao Ling (Shao Jiayi), he said that when you give everything for the team, the team will also repay you with the same thing. ”
In the four Asian Youth Tournaments, Eiffelding clearly felt the magic of the captain's armband on his arm, "Wearing it is both a responsibility and a sense of honor. I'm very, very happy that the coaching staff, including the manager, can give me this captain's armband and feel a heavier responsibility on my shoulders. When the score was behind, I always reminded myself that I couldn't panic, I had to stand up in time. ”
Eiffelding's idol is Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo, but the captain he has most contact with is his head coach Zheng Zhi in Guangzhou, "He used to be the captain of the national team and the captain of the club, so I felt that he had a real leadership temperament. Eiffelding said, "I may not be as calm as Brother Zhi, I used to be more free, and I didn't have so many ideas." But after becoming the captain, I slowly realized that this was not the case, and gradually felt that that kind of leadership temperament was worthy of admiration. ”
Dream of staying in the ocean
Eiffelding is very grateful for the great help he has brought to him during his stay in Japan, and it is because of that experience that he has been able to grow step by step in the past three years. "I played in the Chinese Super League last year, but I don't think I have fully established myself in the Chinese Super League, and I position myself that I don't have enough strength to stay in the ocean at this stage." Eiffelding said that instead of going to stay in the ocean when the ability is insufficient, it is better to improve his strength in the Chinese Super League first, "If I play well in the Chinese Super League for two or three seasons, if I can score 10 goals every season, I will go out to stay in the ocean." If I can play better in the future, of course I want to go to a league like the Premier League, but these are too far away for me. "When will you stay in the ocean again?" In the view of the national youth captain at the time, this should be a long-term goal of his own.
Plans don't always keep up with change. No one, including Eiffelding himself, could have imagined that his second stay would become a reality so quickly. On March 29, Eiffelding joined Swedish Super League side Mijerbi on loan, officially starting his European career. Eiffelding, who has arrived in Hellevik, Sweden, is training with Mijerbi and Sweden is ahead of the third round of the new season, and he has not been given the opportunity to play due to his work visa. (Editor's note: The Mierby Club officially announced on April 20 that Eiffelding had obtained a work permit.) )
When he learned that he had won the "China U21 Golden Boy Award" at the 2022 China Golden Globe Awards, Eiffelding felt very happy, because this award can be described as an affirmation and reward for his efforts in the past year, "I am very happy to receive this award, and I am very grateful to everyone who recognized me and helped me." ”
On the day of the award, Eiffelding also revealed his wishes for 2023: to get consistent playing time at the club and hand over a satisfactory report card, such as scoring 5 or 6 goals or even 10 goals and 7 or 8 assists in a season.
While striving to gain a foothold in Europe, Eiffelding has not forgotten his most important task for 2023: the first phase of the men's qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which will begin in September. Only by qualifying from the first stage of the group will the Chinese team qualify for the final stage (U23 Asian Cup) in Qatar next April. If nothing else, Eiffelding will definitely become a member of the national Olympic team, and the goal that has been hidden in his heart for many years has never changed: "Get good results for the national Olympic team and qualify with the team!" Enter the Paris Olympics! ”