China's U20 team beat defending champions Saudi Arabia in the second group stage of the U20 Asia Cup thanks to a shot and a pass in seven minutes from substitute Mutalifu. Mutalifu, who made the pass, was of course the hero of China's victory, but there was another player who did very well for the Chinese U20s, and that was Guangzhou's Efirdin, who wore the captain's armband.
At this year's U20 Asian Cup, China scored three goals in two matches. Although Efirdin had only one assist, it was Efirdin who started all three attacks.
In Japan's first match, China had a chance in the first five minutes off a corner kick when center back Liu Haofan scrambled for a header on the goal, forcing the opposing defender to set up his own goal. The cross for the corner came from Efirdin, and the chance to get a corner was also caused by Efirdin's forcing in front of the goal.
In this match against Saudi Arabia, Efirdin completed two counterattacks. He directly assisted Mutalifu on the first goal, and on the second he sent a straight forward pass before Mutalifu crossed the ball on the outside of his foot, and finally Xu Bin replicated the goal.
In the words of Dong Lu, Efirdin is the breakout star of this U20 national team.
And so it was. Whether they were facing Japan or Saudi Arabia, China's U20s were in a slump, with the few threatening counter-attacking chances coming almost exclusively from Efirdin.
Last season, Efirdin represented Guangzhou for the first time in the Chinese Super League, and his sharp breakthroughs on the wing were impressive. Many people even called him "Wei Shihao II" due to the similarity of his technical characteristics with Guangzhou's big brother Wei Shihao, who even has a short temper.
In his first season in the CFL, in addition to his impressive breakout on the wing, Efirdin earned four yellows and two reds. Two of those reds came in the first ten rounds of the Chinese Super League. Against Hebei, Efirdin was given a straight red card for elbowing Ren Wei and was suspended for three games after the match. That's a little Wei Shihao.
Subsequently called up by the U20 national team, Efirdin has been training overseas and has quickly become the centerpiece of the attack. At the U20 Asian Cup, Efirdin wore the captain's armband.
Maybe it's age, maybe it's the responsibility of captaincy, but Efirdin of the U20 national team is really getting mature.
As an attacking player, Efirdin did his job brilliantly and continued to pose a threat to the opponent's defense. At the same time, his relentless running and mugging up front caused problems for the opposing offense.
In the 88th minute against Saudi Arabia, Efirdin was still running upfield to complete a half chase that eventually led to a mistake.
Joking aside, if Anthony and B Faye had defensive momentum, there's no way United would have dunked seven eggs on Liverpool.
More commendably, Efirdin did a good job of managing his emotions as well. This time, the Saudi Arabian player first failed to break the ball and then a cross-court shot pushed Efirdin to the ground. The referee didn't say anything.
After getting up, Efirdine spread his hands and put a little pressure on the referee. In addition, there were no other extra moves or any altercations with opposing players. If it had been six months ago, there would have been no need to get up and flip the opponent to the ground.
That was the answer that 19-year-old Efirdin delivered at the U20 Asian Cup, doing his best in defense, managing his emotions and giving his all to the game. His performance was worthy of the captain's armband.
If Efirdin can continue like this, he will surely become the sharp knife in the front line of the Chinese men's national team in the future, and even become the best candidate for the captain of the national football team.
