On July 7, Beijing time, the Chinese Football Association announced the 2021 elite youth player training camp training notice, and the list released included 80 players in the 2007-2008 age group. Compared with the list of players, the list of coaches is very luxurious, including not only former national football coach Fu Bo, but also Xie Feng, Hou Zhiqiang, Lu Jun and other famous coaches. In addition, a long-lost name has reappeared in the public eye, he is the former international anqi who represented the Chinese team in the 2002 World Cup.
The training camp will be held in Shanghai from July 12 to July 18, and there are three coaching team leaders, namely: Fu Bo, Lu Jun and Wang Lei. Most of the coaching team members are familiar with it, not only the head coaches who are active in the front line such as Xie Feng and Hou Zhiqiang, but also former internationals such as Cao Yang, Zong Lei and Zhang Xiaofei. The most eye-catching thing is that "Angel" An Qi also appeared in the coaching staff list, which is also his second football-related work after retiring.
In fact, in recent years, the Chinese Football Association has always attached great importance to the training of young coaches, especially for retired international footballers, there are a series of training programs. In 2018, the Chinese Football Association once set up a "national training team" for a short time, which was led by the veteran coach Shen Xiangfu, and he was assisted by Hu Zhaojun, Xu Liang and other disciples of the former "super platinum generation". Since then, the coaching team of the U18 national youth team has been quite luxurious, and former international players such as Shao Jiayi, Dewey, Han Peng, and Yang Zhi are willing to be the "sparring" of the young players.
As a representative of the "super platinum generation", An Qi's career is high and low, which is a pity. He represented the Chinese national youth team at the 2001 World Youth Championships in Argentina as the main goalkeeper, and his outstanding performance also allowed him to be selected for the Chinese national team coached by Milu. After returning to the club, he naturally served as the main force of the league overlord Dalian Shide team, and helped Dalian win many domestic championships.
During the 2001 Top Ten Competition, due to the accidental injury of the main goalkeeper Jiang Jin, Milu boldly promoted An Qi as the main force, and An Qi, who was in danger, also lived up to expectations and helped the Chinese team reach the World Cup for the first time. In 2002, An Qi was named to China's 23-man roster for the World Cup, which also brought his career to the peak. After leaving Dalian Shide, An Qi has played for Dalian Changbo, Xiamen Blue Lions, Changchun Yatai and other teams, and in 2010, An Qi, who was not yet 30 years old, chose to retire due to injury.
After retiring, Anqi's name disappeared from public view, and for a long time fans did not know what Anqi was doing. Until 2018, a photo of An Qi selling cherries on the street was circulated on the Internet, which also made him hot. In an interview, An Qi also humorously laughed that he was actually not so miserable, and introduced that he had actually been working with friends to grow cherries after retiring from the army, and An Qi was mainly responsible for sales.
In 2019, the Dalian Gigabit Club hired Wang Peng as the head of youth training, and Wang Peng also brought his old friend An Qi to the Gigabit Club as a youth goalkeeper coach, which is also the first time an An Qi has stepped into a coaching position after retiring. After the dissolution of the Gigabit Club's unpaid wages, An Qi did not leave the football circle and continued to devote himself to youth training. This time joining the national coaching team, I also hope that An Qi can cultivate a few more future national doors.