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In 1993, international football ushered in the annual "World Footballer of the Year" selection. This award, which represents the highest honour in football, has always been the domain of European and South American players.
However, in this year, an unexpected name quietly appeared on the shortlist - Gong Lei from China.
In that era when Chinese football had not yet entered the world stage, a Chinese player was able to win a vote for the "World Footballer of the Year" selection, which was tantamount to a thunderclap on the ground and shocked the entire football world.
How did this little-known Oriental face stand out in the world-class competition? What kind of legend has his football career experienced? A little-known football story unfolds here.
In 1965, Gong Lei was born in Beijing, a hot land for football. At the age of seven, while other children were still enjoying a carefree childhood, Komiya had already started his football journey.
Every day after school, he always can't wait to run to the nearby open space, playing a simple cloth ball with his friends, and his eyes are shining with pure love for football.
The turning point of fate came when Gong Lei was 15 years old. Zhang Zhicheng, who was the head coach of the Beijing youth team at the time, had a discerning eye and discovered this new football star. Under the careful guidance of Coach Zhang, Gong Lei's talent has been fully developed and honed.
In 1982, 17-year-old Gong Lei was successfully selected for the Chinese national youth team and started his brilliant football career.
In 1985, Gong Lei led the Chinese national youth team to the Asian Youth Championships as the captain. In this crucial match, Gong Lei showed extraordinary leadership and technical skills, and ultimately helped the team win the championship.
This is not only the first Asian championship trophy in the history of Chinese football, but also a milestone victory. In the same year, at the World Youth Championships, Gong Lei once again led the team to create a miracle, and finally achieved an excellent result of 7th place, creating the best record of the Chinese men's football team in the official tournament held by FIFA.
In the World Youth Championships, Gong Lei's performance was particularly outstanding. Against the mighty Mexico and England teams, he showed amazing strength, scoring two spectacular goals and becoming one of the biggest contributors to the team's promotion.
These wonderful performances not only made domestic fans excited, but also made the international football world start to pay attention to this football rookie from the East.
In 1984, 19-year-old Gong Lei was exceptionally promoted to the first team of the Beijing team. Here, he formed a tacit partnership with Gao Hongbo, who later became a famous coach in Chinese football.
Facing the strong pressure of the Liaoning team, the football hegemon at that time, Gong Lei and Gao Hongbo led the Beijing team to fight back, and finally snatched 1 league championship and 1 FA Cup championship trophy from the "Ten Champions" Liaoning team.
This achievement not only shows Gong Lei's personal strength, but also demonstrates his team spirit and leadership as an excellent player.
However, just as Gong Lei's career was booming, fate played a cruel joke on him. A serious injury in 1988 pushed him to the low point of his career.
In that era when professionalism was not yet implemented, this injury almost announced the end of Gong Lei's domestic football career. Faced with this sudden blow, 23-year-old Gong Lei fell into confusion and frustration for a while.
But just like his never-say-die spirit on the field, Gong Lei did not give up on his football dream. He decided to take a different path and started a new chapter in his football career.
In 1989, with confusion about the future and reluctance to football, Gong Lei embarked on the road to study in Canada alone. This decision stemmed both from his thirst for knowledge and from his search for an opportunity to return to football.
In a foreign country, the language barrier and cultural differences have brought great challenges to Gong Lei, but he has never given up his love for football.
Fate always favors those who are prepared. Just six months after Gong Lei struggled for the language test, an unexpected news came into his life like a ray of light - the Tahitian league was recruiting "foreign aid".
For the 24-year-old Gong Lei, this is undoubtedly a great opportunity to regain his football dream.
With his outstanding performance in Tahiti in 1988, Gong Lei quickly won the favor of many local teams. At the end of 1989, he successfully signed for A-League side AS Pillay, which began his football career in Tahiti.
Despite being a semi-professional contract, the Tahitian league has a better system and more advanced stadium facilities and training methods than the domestic environment. What's more, as a foreign player, Gong Lei can enjoy a generous treatment of nearly $6,000 per month, which is in stark contrast to the situation he was in when he played in China.
In seven seasons with AS Pillay, Gong Lei has shown amazing strength and leadership. He helped the team win three league trophies and four cup titles, propelling the otherwise mediocre AS Pillay team to the top of the Tahitian league.
Personally, Gong Lei has won the title of the league's top scorer many times and won the league's best player crown twice.
Gong Lei's outstanding performance not only won the love of fans, but his humble and low-key personality also allowed him to establish a deep relationship with local fans. Gradually, the player from China became a well-deserved "king of the ball" in the hearts of Tahitian fans.
The year 1990 was of great significance for both Gong Lei and Tahitian football. This was the year Tahiti officially became a member of the FIFA family, and Gong Lei also made his debut for AS Pillay in the Tahitian First Division.
In the first two seasons of joining the team, Gong Lei helped the team win one league championship and one cup championship as a main player, and at the end of the second season, he became the first and only Chinese captain in the team's history.
Gong Lei's success in Tahiti is not only a major breakthrough in his career, but also a model for Chinese players to emerge in overseas leagues. He used his strength to prove that even in the face of adversity, as long as he sticks to his dreams and never gives up, he can eventually shine on the green field of football.
Gong Lei's trip to Tahiti is not only a legendary experience, but also an inspirational story about dreams, perseverance and breakthroughs.
Gong Lei's football career was booming in the Tahiti league, but his influence didn't stop there. Thanks to the unique format of the France Cup, AS Pillay, as a team from an overseas French territory, has a valuable opportunity to participate in this top domestic cup competition in France.
This has become an excellent stage for Gong Lei to show his strength.
In the 1991/92 France Cup, AS Pillay with Gong Lei as the core created a remarkable miracle. The team from the far South Pacific shocked France football by making it all the way to the round of 16.
As the soul of the team, Gong Lei's outstanding performance has not only won praise from France media, but also attracted the attention of many Ligue 1 giants.
Gong Lei, who stood out in this "dark horse" team, soon won the favor of the French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain. At the end of 1992, the Chinese player received an exciting offer to go to Paris Saint-Germain for a tryout.
For Gong Lei, this is undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he is expected to become another Chinese player who landed in Ligue 1 after Li Jinyu.
In the following six months, Gong Lei received high-intensity training and assessment in the Paris Saint-Germain second team. Although he failed to represent the team in official competitions, this experience is still precious to Gong Lei.
He had the opportunity to observe and learn from the training methods and tactical systems of Europe's top leagues up close, and these valuable experiences were of great help to him later in his career.
It is worth mentioning that Gong Lei's failure to stay at Paris Saint-Germain was not due to lack of strength, but due to the strict restrictions on the number of foreign players in Ligue 1.
Despite this, this six-month trip to Paris is still a strong part of Gong Lei's career.
After the trial at Paris Saint-Germain, Gong Lei returned to the Tahiti league with a more mature technical and tactical level. His performance can be described as a "dimensionality reduction blow", and in the following season, Gong Lei helped AS Pillay win the "double" of the league and cup with an astonishing 36 goals.
At the same time, he also won the league best player and top scorer award for the first time, completely establishing his status as the "king of the ball" in Tahiti football.
Gong Lei's stunning performance in the France Cup and Paris Saint-Germain's trial experience are not only the highlight of his career, but also an important step for Chinese players to emerge on the world's top football stage.
This experience won him more recognition in international football, and also laid the groundwork for him to be nominated for World Footballer of the Year.
In 1993, international football ushered in the annual "World Footballer of the Year" selection. This year, an unexpected name appeared on the shortlist - Gong Lei from China.
The head coach of the Tahiti national team did not hesitate to write the name of this oriental face on his ballot, making Gong Lei the only Chinese player to be nominated for World Footballer of the Year so far.
This nomination is like a bombshell and has caused a huge sensation in the Chinese football world. In that era when Chinese football has not really gone global, a Chinese player can get a vote for the "World Footballer of the Year" selection, which is tantamount to a thunderclap on the ground.
This is not only an affirmation of Gong Lei's personal strength, but also an important milestone in the development of Chinese football.
In the final ranking, Gong Lei ranked 22nd. Although he is still some way short of the top three - Roberto · Baggio, Romario and Bergkamp, he is only one point behind famous stars such as "Flower Butterfly" Campos and "Golden Bomber" Klinsmann.
This achievement fully proves that Gong Lei's strength has been recognized by the international football community.
What's even more surprising is that the list of players recommended by the national team coach with Gong Lei also included many superstars of international football at that time. For example, Sweden star Brolin, Bolivia legend "The Devil" Echeverri, Germany defender Jürgen · Coral and the inaugural World Footballer of the Year winner in 1991 Mateus.
Gong Lei's ability to be tied with these world-class stars is undoubtedly the best proof of his strength.
It is worth mentioning that Gong Lei has even surpassed some of the football legends that are now widely recognized in the rankings. For example, Batistuta in the Italy league, Ryan Giggs in the Premier League, Haji, the symbol of Romania football, and Papan, the giant of France football.
This fact further highlights Gong Lei's outstanding performance in that era.
Gong Lei's achievement of being nominated for World Footballer of the Year is not only the pinnacle of his personal career, but also the highest benchmark for Chinese players in the international football world. This record has not been broken for more than 20 years since then, and has become an important milestone in the history of Chinese football.
It not only proves that Chinese players have the ability to make a name for themselves on the world stage, but also sets a goal for future Chinese footballers to pursue.
Gong Lei's achievement has opened a window to the world for Chinese football and let the world see the potential of Chinese football. It inspired later Chinese players to pursue higher goals, and also injected a strong impetus into the international development of Chinese football.
After retiring, Gong Lei did not say goodbye to his beloved football career. He chose to become a coach and pass on his vast experience on the pitch to a new generation of players.
In 2013, Gong Lei ushered in the highlight moment of his coaching career. He led the Guizhou Renhe team to create a miracle in the FA Cup, defeating the then prosperous Guangzhou Evergrande team with an aggregate score of 3:2 to win the first championship trophy of his coaching career.
This achievement not only proves Gong Lei's strength as a coach, but also injects new vitality into Chinese football.
However, Gong Lei's contribution does not stop there. He has become an AFC certified senior football instructor and is committed to training more excellent coaches. In this role, Gong Lei combines his player and coaching experience to nurture talent for the future of Chinese football.
At the same time, Gong Lei is also a star guest in the football commentary. With his unique perspective and rich experience, he brings in-depth football analysis to the audience, promoting the dissemination and development of Chinese football culture.
Today's Gong Lei is still actively promoting the progress of Chinese football in his own way. His experience and contributions have undoubtedly injected a breath of fresh air into Chinese football and inspired more people to work hard for the future of Chinese football.
Gong Lei's football life, from player to coach to lecturer and commentator, shows the dedication and love of a true football person to the sport, and also points out the direction for the development of Chinese football.
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