The towering Minpu Bridge spans the meandering Huangpu River, and under the bridge sits the Pujiang Country Park, which exudes a secluded rural atmosphere. On June 27, the Houpaner Sports Park in the area was filled with cheers and shouts – the 2021 Shanghai City Amateur League Minhang District Football Carnival was in full swing, attracting 100 groups of families to experience the charm of football.
"In the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, the Chinese national team qualified for the first time, and these two are not the ace full-backs of the national football team!" Sharp-eyed fans recognized Sun Jihai and Wu Chengying wearing black T-shirts. Why did the former strongest "two wings" full-backs now appear at the same time as the shanghai training center of the national football team? In an exclusive interview with Liberation Daily and Shangguan News, Sun Jihaidao was the reason.
Speaking of the status quo: to give a strength to the youth training
Reporter: You made your debut in Dalian, stayed in London, played football in Guizhou, and created a career in Beijing... Now in Shanghai, have you found a new career direction?
Sun Jihai: Whether I was a player or retired, I never thought about leaving this industry. At present, the whole atmosphere of Chinese football, many people only pursue the aura and achievements of the pyramid tip, and few people go to do the popularization of the special grassroots in a down-to-earth manner.
Originally, I also felt that I might not have so much energy to do football popularization in the first line, but after working during this time, I felt that it was these basic work that was conducive to the structural stability of the Chinese football talent pyramid and was more conducive to providing a strong guarantee for the national team.
Our club has been running in Shanghai for more than 50 days, and I am with nearly 40 young players every day, watching them improve and improve, and the mood is very happy. Compared to professional football, there is less pressure and more happiness here.
Reporter: At the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, the Chinese national team entered the final stage for the first time in its history, and you and Wu Chengying were the starting full-backs of the national football team. Wu Chengying usually does not show her face, this time you appear together, do you plan to join hands in Shanghai to do youth training?
Sun Jihai: Although the two of us have different skin tones, he black spots and white spots (laughs), we are like half-brothers. From the beginning of being a player, because of the similar age, whether in the club or the national team, even if there is a position competition, we are also particularly good brothers, good friends who talk about everything.
Wu Chengying has always been very low-key, rarely appearing in the public eye. This time, we hope to use the influence of his professional players to boost the youth and grassroots football atmosphere in the Minhang area of Shanghai, after all, he is an excellent player cultivated in Shanghai football. He also gladly accepted, "Your business is my business", and our feelings have not changed for so many years. In fact, our ideas and philosophies are the same: although we are retired now, we still want to make a modest contribution to the youth training level!
Talk about the concept: to create a new type of youth training system
Reporter: You joined the youth training in Shanghai, and also jointly established a football club with Houpaner Sports Park to provide professional training. What role will you play?
Sun Jihai: Even if I am tired, I can only take one team a day, that is, 20 children. Any coach, if everything is personally carried by hand, it is difficult to radiate a wider area. My idea is to lead the formation of an excellent team, with the help of the good hardware facilities here, the introduction of European club training methods, combined with the experience characteristics of Chinese coaches, etc., to create an intelligent youth training system.
Reporter: Just read the introduction of the club's summer camp, this coaching team can coach the Chinese Super League and the Chinese First Division, right? You are the sports director, Qiu Zhiyin is the youth training director, the goalkeeper head coach Zhang Lie is the international, and the youth head coach Liu Yintao has a lot of experience in coaching...
Sun Jihai: Our youth training base is the training ground for the national team to prepare for the World Preliminary Round 40 in Shanghai, and it is expected to be placed here in the future preparation for the top 12. Relying on excellent hardware, we also have to build a professional-level coaching team, and even have a "dimensionality reduction" thinking. With the advantages of hardware and software, we can bring strong support and guarantee to children, parents and football lovers.
Reporter: You were the first player in Asia to be inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame and have achieved a lot of honors as a player. Now engaged in popular youth training, will you feel that there is some gap?
Sun Jihai: There is no gap, youth training is what I am willing to do. It's not that I'm coaching a Chinese Super League team is more honorable than doing universal training now. After I retired, there were many professional clubs that issued invitations, but for various reasons, I still chose the football projects that I preferred to do in my heart, and chose the content that would see results and bring about change.
Many people are willing to devote themselves to professional football, after all, fame and fortune. However, the players of professional football are basically formed, like a water cup, you can only add a lid and handle to the water cup, or draw some new patterns. For the shape and function of the cup itself, it is difficult for you to have your own new design and modification.
Football education and youth cultivation are different. We grab from the dolls, their plasticity is stronger, just like mud, we can according to the child's wishes, their own experience, kneaded into a round, square or even oval cup. In this way, we can see the results we want, and from the perspective of talent education and training, this is more rewarding than being a coach.
Tan Wulei: He risked breaking his leg
Reporter: According to statistics, the number of Japanese players in Europe in 2021 has reached 451, while Only Wu Lei in China is a person who stays in the five major leagues in Europe. More than ten years ago, british players who stayed in the west included You, Li Tie, Fan Zhiyi and Zhang Enhua, and Chinese players who stayed in Germany included Xie Hui and Shao Jiayi, including Sun Xiang, who also stayed in Austria. Is it that the strength of Chinese players is not good now, or the high income of the Chinese Super League makes them lose their morale?
Sun Jihai: The most fundamental reason is that there is a problem with China's youth training, so we have to start from the basics now. Just as how tall a big tree can grow, it does not depend on how tall the leaves are, but on how strong its roots and trunk are, so that it can grow taller.
The decrease in the number of Chinese players staying abroad is only a symptom. The comprehensive aspects of the league, the national team's record, and the atmosphere of amateur football are only the appearance of Chinese football. The fundamental change in the status quo is the registered population of football, the foundation of youth football, and youth training. So, I'm also doing it with action, and as for how well it is done, it will take time to answer. It's like playing a game, you don't know how good you're going to play today, but you have to be mindful and well prepared, and that's what you can do.
Reporter: Do you still watch the national football game, and do you often communicate with coach Li Tie?
Sun Jihai: Absolutely. The national football team broadcast the match on Guam, and the ratings of CCTV were very high, second only to the weather forecast. This shows that although fans across the country hate iron and steel, they are still very concerned about the national football team.
Li Tie and I are small and are the same international team. When Li Tie was more difficult in Chinese football, he had the courage and courage to take over the burden and task of the national team, which really deserved the applause of Chinese footballers, praised him, and wished him good results. Although the road ahead is long and difficult, I believe that as long as there are more Li Tie in Chinese football, it is sooner or later that success will happen.
Reporter: Wu Lei's stay in Yangyang has caused some controversy in the media and fans, especially when he played as a substitute, many people thought that he was better off returning to the Chinese Super League. What do you think?
Sun Jihai: Everyone's personality and even luck are different, which will also have an impact on Liuyang. I don't know much about Wu Lei's situation, but he is indeed the hope of the whole village. Before we organized a youth competition at Houpaner Football Club, I asked all the young players, which Chinese football player is my favorite? They all speak in unison as "Wu Lei".
I think that at least Wu Lei's insistence on staying in Spain was affirmed in the children's answers. These children know that Wu Lei is winning glory for the country and is a hero in the hearts of the children. Including the national football team in the top 40 matches, he scored 8 goals in 8 games, broke deadlocks many times, and his outstanding performance was obvious to all. Even, he risked a possible leg break on several occasions to fight for the national football team. We have to see such a shining point in him.
Reporter: Is our goal of doing youth training to train more Wu Lei?
Sun Jihai: Including the next summer camp, the first thing we consider when we do youth training is not income, but hope that more children can get relatively professional training, and what we do is grass-roots football education. Our goal is not to cultivate professional players, but to play the educational value of football and let children enjoy the joy of football. Of course, once such a football popularization is formed on a scale, I believe that good seedlings like Wu Lei will emerge. The premise of all this is patience, and we must not pull up seedlings to promote growth.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Chen Hua Text Editor: Chen Hua
Source: Author: Chen Hua