This year is the sixth year of Qingdao Manatee fullback Zhang Wei Feidong Campus Football Charity Tour. During Zhang Wei's participation in the event, Chen Yong, a reporter from Football Daily, interviewed the player who played for Qingdao Manatee last season.
Zhang Weifeidong's campus football charity tour has reached its 6th season, for you, what is the meaning of persistence?
To be honest, when I first started doing charity in 2018, I wanted to be able to keep doing it. The purpose of the charity trip is to let more children get in touch with football, especially school football. I came out of school football, so I have a lot of affection for school football, and every time I come to school and see the children who are not afraid of the cold and insist on training, I seem to see what I was like when I was a child. This is my sixth year in Feidong, time flies, and what impresses me the most in the past six years is that I see a lot of children who have been playing football, and I have seen a lot of familiar faces, and they are also slowly growing, which is really gratifying.
Feidong Campus Football Charity Tour can persist until the sixth year, I would like to thank the leaders of Feidong County Education and Sports Bureau, Feidong Football Association and the school for their support, without their support, I want to rely on my own strength can not be done, so I want to say that we must not see hope to persevere, but because of persistence will see hope. Next year, I plan to take my teammates to do the campus football charity activities, one person's power is limited, everyone collects firewood and the flame is high, I want to do my best to help the children, do not forget the original intention, and do this activity with a grateful heart.
This season, you went on loan to Qingdao Manatee, scored 3 goals and 2 assists, are you satisfied with your performance this season?
To be honest, I didn't expect to play like this in this season, I've been playing outside for the past few years, and it's not very smooth, but this season in Qingdao, I've played very well, so I feel like I still have to settle down and go with the flow. I'm not a novice after all, and although I've been playing on and off before, I still keep training when I'm not playing, and I've always maintained my form, so when I arrived in Qingdao, I had this kind of performance. As a player, it's about continuity, and I'm integrated into the manager's tactical system, so I naturally played.
You played well individually, and the team has completed the task of relegation, what do you think is the key to relegation?
This year is the 30th anniversary of Manatee, and at this important juncture, we have completed the relegation, which is of great significance. To complete the relegation, we would like to thank Mr. Qiao and Mr. Zhang, the senior management of the group and the club for their attention to us, so that we have no worries. In the first half of this year's league, we didn't perform very well, because we didn't know each other very well, and at the beginning of the season, there were more than a dozen people in the team, including myself, and the coach had just come to the team, so everyone was in the run-in stage. As time went on, the players began to get acquainted with each other and became familiar with the manager's tactics. Three points are destined, seven points rely on hard work, we all want to pay for the team, and strive to twist into a rope, the central idea is to relegation, although everyone has a different division of labor, but they are all paying, and finally completed the relegation. Zheng Long, Jiang Ning and Liu Zhenli, the big brothers of the team, played a very important role, they may not play a lot of minutes, but they are the spiritual leaders of the team.
What is the team's most memorable season for you?
The most profound thing I think is that during our five-game losing streak, everyone worked together and didn't give up, and everyone was very stressed during that time. I came on loan, but I didn't want to give the impression that I was on loan, I didn't feel like I belonged, so I thought I had to give my all in every game. The club leaders are decompressing us, they believe in us, they tell us that the difficulties are only temporary, and that we will be able to get out of the relegation quagmire.
What do you think is the key point of the team's relegation?
In the second half of the league, we won 3 consecutive games at home, especially the home victory over Nantong Zhiyun, which was a relegation battle worth 6 points. I think the team is still very tenacious, from the first half of the relegation to the final relegation, all of this comes from not giving up, not abandoning, if we don't have confidence ourselves, how can we complete the relegation.
What was the biggest feeling at Manatee this season?
For me personally, the biggest feeling is that the fans don't leave us, and I think they are very good. Qingdao Manatee returned to the Chinese Super League after ten years, and the results in the first half were not satisfactory, but they did not give up or abandon, whether it was home or away, they were rain or shine, fighting with us, and cheering us on the sidelines, we had the confidence. To be honest, the fans don't give up, so why should we as players give up? The second is the tenacity of our team, during the five-game losing streak, everyone did not give up, and in the second half of the game, we completed the Jedi counterattack and completed the task of relegation.
In the end, I think the club is very humane, there is no mess when everyone is together except to concentrate on playing, and the protection of the players is also very good. I would like to thank Qingdao Manatee for giving me this opportunity to re-express myself, and then I would like to thank Mr. Qiao and Mr. Zhang for their unconditional support and trust in me, and of course I would like to thank the port for their full support to my loan. I would also like to say congratulations to Harbour for winning the second top-flight title in our history this season and to my team-mates.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Manatee's founding, and the club held a celebration, for you, how do you understand the spirit of Manatee?
To be honest, there are not many clubs that can persist for 30 years in Chinese football, Mr. Qiao has been sticking to it, I admire him, as a private entrepreneur, his love for football is really unimaginable. The team has gone back and forth, up and down, and even fell to the second division at one point, but now it is still active in the top league, and this tenacity and perseverance are worthy of admiration.
I'm 30 years old this year, and I'm also working for Manatee, so I'm kind of fated with Manatee. I think the spirit of Manatee should be inherited, the team's big brother has passed on the help, and their perseverance has led to Manatee's return to the top league, and I should pay tribute to them. To be honest, this is my first time in Qingdao, I feel that the city is very energetic and a city full of happiness, Qingdao has a strong football atmosphere, next season there will be two Chinese Super League teams, their youth training is doing very well, let me really feel what a strong football atmosphere is.
What game of the season has impressed you personally, and if you were asked to rate yourself, how much would you rate this season?
For me, every game is impressive because I cherish the opportunity to play and once I play, I have to give it my all, as long as I don't have any regrets. At the end of the season, I give myself a 75 and I personally feel that I still need to improve in some areas, and I need to work hard in the upcoming winter training.
Speaking of this season, "Zhang Wei Moves Legs" is popular all over the Internet, can you talk about it?
Hahaha, I know, this picture is very hot, in fact, as far as I am concerned, I didn't have so many ideas at the time, we were behind the score, and there was not much time, I just wanted to hurry up, my action was subconscious, do it in one go, and then the ball went out of bounds, I hurried to serve, just thinking about getting the ball back quickly. Now there are many friends who post videos to tease me, and I joke, "The arm must be able to twist the thigh", but, you see, Cressan's thighs are really thick, he is really powerful.
"Zhang Wei moves legs" that is popular all over the Internet
The new season is coming soon, what are your plans?
I'm still in Nanjing, focusing on keeping my body in shape. I'm a free agent now, and I haven't decided on my next home yet, but it won't be long because the winter training of the teams is about to start, and I have to keep up with the team's winter training plans.
In 2014, you were a fledgling and stepped onto the top flight, if you were to sum up the last ten years, how would you sum up?
Ten years, very soon, the scene of my first professional league play is still vivid, I feel that I am a person who does not admit defeat, I have been in the harbor before, I have never come out, but in the past two years I have played in order to have a ball, I chose to come out and try. Even if I don't have a kick, I want to be able to stay in shape in training, because opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared, and you can only seize them when you are ready and when they come. Fitness is my strength, but now that I'm 30 years old, I'm going to have to allocate my energy in the next races. It's the first decade of my career, I've played 100 games in the top flight, and I'm going to work for 200, 300 games.