On February 26, the winners of the 2023 China Golden Ball Award were announced, with Shanghai Seaport FC striker Wu Lei receiving the honor for the fourth time.
In the 2018 season, Wu Lei helped his team win the Chinese Super League title for the first time and won the Chinese Golden Ball Award for the first time. After three and a half years of "studying" in Spain, Wu Lei returned to the port of Shanghai and led the team to win the CSL title again in the 2023 season. He also won the China Golden Ball Award for the fourth time with 18 goals in the Chinese Super League.
In the selection, Wu Lei received 62 first-place votes and 510 total points, surpassing Han Chao's second-place score of 231 and Wei Shihao's third-place score of 187.
In an interview with Xinhua News Agency, Wu Lei said, "The soccer environment is not particularly good in these two years. I am very grateful to the organizers, judges and fans for continuing to pay attention to and support Chinese soccer in this situation. Although the environment and overall performance of Chinese soccer has not been particularly good in recent years, the organizers have always insisted on setting a good example for Chinese soccer."
He said: "The harder it is, the more you have to persevere and not give up. If the staff don't have such confidence, Chinese soccer may get worse and worse. Although our players are under a lot of pressure, we should show our best side and try to bring greater expectations to our fans."
Wu Lei also admitted, "We have to admit that at this stage our level can no longer be ranked in the second rate in Asia."
The day before (25th), Wu Lei had a poor performance in Shanghai Seaport's Super Cup match against Shanghai Shenhua, missing a great one-two chance. Shanghai Seaport ended up losing 0-1.
Attending the awards ceremony on the 26th, Wu Lei said in his acceptance speech, "I am ashamed of this. The results of the Chinese national team in these years are not particularly ideal." After the Super Cup loss, Wu Lei had hesitated to receive the award on the spot.
In addition to Wu Lei, Tian Jinmen Tigers head coach Yu Genwei won the Chinese Golden Marshal Award, and the Chinese Women's Golden Ball Award went to Zhang Linyan. Guizhou "village super" and Qatar Asian Cup Chinese referee team won the special award of the organizing committee. Among them, the Chinese soccer referees Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Zhou Fei and Zhang Miao referee team law enforcement Qatar Men's Asian Cup final, which is the first time in the history of China's referee team in charge of the game final.
Attachment: List of 2023 Chinese Golden Ball winners
Wu Lei, China Golden Ball Award
China Women's Golden Ball Award: Zhang Linyan
Yu Genwei, China Golden Marshal Award
China U17 Golden Boy Award: Wang Yudong
China U21 Golden Boy Award: Baihelamu Abdouweli
China Futsal Golden Ball Award: Ding Shunjie
Soccer Gaming Club of the Year: Manchester City Gaming Club
Mr. Football Online of the Year (FC ONLINE): Yu Yue
Mr. Football Gaming of the Year (FC Football World): Yang Zichu
Special Award of the Organizing Committee: Qatar Asian Cup China Referee Team
Special Award of the Organizing Committee: Rongjiang (Sanbao Dong Village) and Beautiful Country Football Super League
