Xiao Zhi's "top" laid the foundation for the victory of the national football team. Figure/osports
In the Quarter-Finals of the Asian Cup, 33-year-old Xiao Zhi made fans across the country remember his name with a goal and a salute. Many people think that he is a newcomer, in fact, he is a veteran, but he entered the national team a little later, and the 1.86-meter-tall player was quite appreciated by the Dui Guo'ao coaching staff.
veteran? He's still a newcomer
Xiao Zhi was born in 1985, and in terms of age, he is a veteran on the football field. But the outside world likes to use the term "late success" on him, because Xiao Zhi was only recruited to the national team by Lippi in 2017. On June 7 of the same year, Xiao Zhi scored a goal for the national football team in a warm-up match against the Philippines, completing his debut goal for the national team. Just 10 days ago, he celebrated his 32nd birthday and became the oldest player on the team to score the first goal of the national team. For a center forward, this is not a praiseworthy achievement, but it becomes the beginning of his "big instrument late".
As a local centre forward, Xiao Zhi started his career in Nanjing youyou before moving to Henan Jianye in 2007. In the last three rounds of the 2009 season, Xiao Zhi scored 5 goals for the team, and with his highlight performance, Henan Jianye won the third place in the Chinese Super League in the season and qualified for the AFC Champions League. In the 2016 season, Xiao Zhi joined Guangzhou R&F from Henan Jianye and started a new journey of his career.
In fact, the Chinese Super League giants will not doubt his goal-scoring ability: in the 2014 season, Henan Jianye won beijing Guoan and Guangzhou Evergrande with his goals; in the 2015 season, his one-foot world wave once again helped Henan Jianye beat Evergrande 2-1. After changing the court to R&F, Xiao Zhi continued the reputation of "Evergrande nemesis", and in the semi-final of the 2016 FA Cup, Evergrande drew 2-2 at home to R&F, and Xiao Zhi still scored for R&F.
It's just that Xiao Zhi did enter the national team a little late, and when Lippi recruited him in 2017, perhaps few people remember that the 1.86-meter-tall player was quite appreciated by the Dui Guo'ao coaching staff.
Raiders? He was also wounded
Just as Xiao Zhi was selected for the national team a little late, he also made his first appearance at this Asian Cup a little late. National football coach Lippi had planned to let him play in the first round of the group stage against Kyrgyzstan, but Xiao Zhi had a muscle strain and had to push back and forth.
Trailing Thailand 0-1 in the 1/8 knockout round, Xiao Zhi later described his mood off the field: "That's really anxious. Lippi, who was also anxious to face red, replaced Yu Dabao and Liu Yang with him and Jin Jingdao, played 3 minutes, the second foot shot, Xiao Zhi helped the national football team equalize. The high school striker's words in an interview after the game were as "hard" as his performance on the court: "To go up is to fight, we are to win!" No matter who the opponent is, we will not give up, and if we fall behind, we will pull back! ”
Desperately, Xiao Zhicai found that his leg was still painful, his injured leg had not yet fully healed, and he had to go to the medical team every night for more than an hour of massage and treatment. It's just that when he was playing, he didn't think about his legs, and he was full of thoughts about how to contribute to the team, because "always be ready to play.".
Injury stop? He's going to keep fighting
At 0:00 Beijing time on January 25, the Chinese team will play the quarterfinals of this Asian Cup with Iran. The opponent is the "bitter lord" of the Chinese men's football team for so many years, and what awaits Lippi and the international footballers will be an unquestionable bitter battle - Iran is currently ranked 29th in the world, ahead of the Asian powers. In the 4 games of the Asian Cup, the "Persian Iron Horse" scored a total of 9 goals, conceded 0 goals, and the defense was extremely stable. In recent years, a big problem that has plagued the Chinese team is that it is difficult to score goals, and it is really difficult to pass the Iranian level.
However, Xiao Zhi's emphasis is still "not to give up", just like the strength of the soldiers of the Seventh Company in "Soldier Assault" with their necks. Just as he celebrated with a salute after scoring a goal, he said it was an admiration for Chinese soldiers.
Xiao Zhi said in an interview with the media that he felt a little lucky to be able to catch the 1/8 final, after all, he was stubborn in this injury and the recovery speed was not as fast as expected. But standing on the field, "I will not consider whether I can do it, that is, I am responsible for the team, and each of us is responsible for the team, because we are playing for the country", so in the next game, if Xiao Zhi can play, he will definitely be like himself, "I have to fight again, I want to compete with Iran." ”
Beijing News reporter Zhou Xiao Editor Han Shuangming Proofreader Lu Aiying