Wu Lei, the captain of the Chinese men's national team and the port's top scorer, was recently interviewed by Soccer Night to reflect on this season's championship run.
Talk about winning the league this season
Because I decided to win the title at home, some of the fans were excited to be with us. In Dalian, I saw the actual trophy, picked it up, took a photo and celebrated the equivalent of twice. Personally, I feel happier and more excited about winning the title this time than I did in '18. Maybe it's more emotional when you get older. It was also my first full season back. I found it very rewarding to be with the team, the staff or any of us.
Individual goal scoring record
In the middle and late stages of the league, I never thought about it because I wanted to win the championship. The team encountered some difficulties in the middle and late stages and the results dropped. The whole team was under some pressure at that time. Personally, I didn't think too much about it, and I didn't think about it in the last round, but looking back, only one goal turned out to be the Golden Boot, and the result was a bit unfortunate.
Fans pick up the plane overnight
I was very touched. after 12 o'clock, it was already 1 o'clock when I came out of the airport. There were so many fans with us.After coming back from Guangzhou in '18, a lot of fans came to greet us. They've never won a championship in the last few years, but the fans have watched us grow along the way, and they've been under a lot of outside pressure, and it's a release for everyone.
Loss to Guoan
Everyone wants to win the title and the fans' expectations are high, but we're not playing well and we're frustrated. When we arrived in Shandong, everyone had a good mindset. There wasn't as much pressure as at Guoan and everyone was fully committed to the game. I don't think everyone has probably seen a Hong Kong team like this for so many years, everyone was fighting for every goal.
Visiting Xu Genbao after winning the championship
The idea didn't just come to us that day. We agreed to it a month or two ago. We thought the time would come sooner because we were once a dozen points ahead, so we wanted to go see him. Every year we go back on New Year's Day, mainly to care for his health and celebrate his birthday. This championship was a feedback to wish him more happiness.
Xu's guidance has always been strict with us, ever since we were young. Every time we went to the base, he would give us some new requirements. We've gotten used to his demands on us.
League's all-time leading scorer
I think it's a gradual process, I'm happy to keep my feet on the ground every day, fulfill what I should do, train hard and build up little by little. From the first time I played in the Chinese Super League in 2013 to now, I'm happy to keep my form, including going to Spain in the middle. Not only the goal is here, I have more goals.
