Despite being only 18 years old, he plays for the Gamba Osaka youth team and he is about to be promoted to the Gamba Osaka first team. However, we can't ignore the fact that there have been people in the history of Chinese soccer who have played for Gamba Osaka, such as women's soccer boss Jia Xiuquan, and that hasn't stopped him from playing for his country. For him to achieve this goal would be the second person in Chinese soccer history, meaning he would be following in the footsteps of his predecessors.
However, what makes Zhang Orin different this time around is that he is set to play for the Japanese national team, not the Chinese one. Standing at 1 meter 94 and weighing 81 kilograms, he fits the type of large goalkeeper that is currently being heavily promoted in Japanese soccer. But he chose to forego playing for the Chinese national team and instead resolved to play for Japan.
Currently, netizens have different opinions on this issue, divided into two camps. Some of them support his view that Japan is the real soccer mecca in Asia and if you want to improve yourself and play high level soccer, you should choose to go to Japan. Others say that the level of the Chinese national team is so poor that it is understandable that the only way to have a chance to play in the World Cup is to join the Japanese team.
However, there were also those who objected to what he did: "Now that you've done it, don't complain later that we don't give you face." Some other fans angrily criticized, "We don't need a player like Zhang Olin, I'm sure there are many goalkeepers in his age group who are better than him," and "He'll never understand that it's an honor to play for your country!"
