According to the official news of the Liaoning Ironman Club of the Chinese League, former international player Fan Zhiyi will officially serve as the head of the Chinese coaching staff and technical director of the Liaoning Ironman Club. Fan Zhiyi, known as General Fan by fans, has long been famous in domestic football, served as the captain of the Chinese national men's football team, won the titles of "Asian Footballer" and "Chinese Footballer", and has been committed to football youth training for a long time after retiring, serving as a coach in the Chongming Island Youth Training Base of his mentor Xu Genbao, and has served as a head coach in many teams. In recent years, in addition to taking root in football youth training, Fan Zhiyi has also crossed the entertainment industry. won wide acclaim for his cameo role in the hit drama Flowers, and also recorded the variety show Wuha, becoming an entertainment expert. But Fan Zhiyi, who is a footballer, did not give up his plan to return to football.
Before Liaoning Iron Man officially announced that Fan Zhiyi joined the team, General Fan said in an interview: "I am willing to use what I have learned and my football resources to help Liaoning Football rebuild its glory. I will also cherish this rare opportunity. And this time, together with Fan Zhiyi, Sun Wei served as the deputy team leader and deputy director, and the first executive coach. Xiao Zhanbo served as an assistant coach. If this personnel change is finally confirmed, it will also be the first time that Fan Zhiyi has returned to the first team after 14 years away from professional football.
According to Pan Weili, a well-known football media person, revealed the news on social media, Fan Zhiyi returned to the front line of football coaching this time, and has a great relationship with the new chairman of the Football Association, Song Kai. Before becoming the chairman of the Football Association, Song Kai served as the director of the Liaoning Provincial Sports Bureau. As early as 2020, Song Kai, then director of the Liaoning Provincial Sports Bureau, held a flag awarding ceremony for the team that was still called Shenyang City, Liaoning Province not long after the dissolution of the old Liaozu and gave him the title of 'New Liaozu'. But neither the Football Association nor many Liaoning fans at that time recognized this inheritance. According to the pictures on the Internet, Fan Zhiyi also accompanied Song Kai to watch the Liaoning Ironman Competition at the Shenyang Olympic Sports recently, and then the news of taking over came out. If there is no such relationship, it is estimated that it will be difficult for Fan Zhiyi to look at the position of a Chinese team when the entertainment industry is booming. Therefore, Fan Zhiyi's joining of Liaoning Iron Man this time is not unrelated to the strong recommendation of Song Kai, chairman of the Football Association.
With the official announcement of Liaoning Iron Man Club, it also means that Fan Zhiyi will temporarily bid farewell to the entertainment industry, return to the front line of Chinese football, and restart his coaching career. So do you think Fan Zhiyi can succeed in the Liaoning Iron Man Club? Can he lead Liaoning, which has made countless brilliant achievements, to rebuild its glory? Welcome to leave your views in the comment area and discuss them together.