In the past few years, everyone has said that Chinese soccer talent is broken, and we do see that the national football team is seriously aging. The starting XI is now in its 30s. Especially in the recent national soccer warm-up matches, we drew with Malaysia and lost to Syria. It can be said that the results of these two games are enough to prove that our old players really can't play anymore, so don't involve them and use the youngsters in the future.
With the end of the golden era, our young players are starting to get a chance in the league and some are even being forced to carry the load. It is because of the increasing number of matches and responsibilities that our young players are growing up fast. Some of them are doing well and that makes us very happy. For example, Efirdin, a striker for the U20 national soccer team.
Efirdin spent his early years studying in Japan and was later tapped by Guangzhou Evergrande to become the mainstay of the team's second youth storm. At first everyone saw Efirdin's style and thought he was more like Wei Shihao, with outstanding ability but no small temper. Just last season in the Chinese Super League, he also got two red cards, both clashes with opponents.
However, at the U20 Asian Cup earlier this year, it was realized that Efirdin was really unusual. Our U20 national soccer team performed miracles to break into the top eight of the Asian Cup, and almost all of the goals were created by Efirdin. Efirdin showed no fear, whether he was facing Japan, Saudi Arabia or South Korea. He could always create kills for his team through his runs and breakthroughs. He was almost the only weapon in the front line of the U20 national soccer team. Like a lone brave man, he fought his best at the front line.
At the time many were thinking that if only we had more players like Efirdine. More recently, we have seen another brave striker. He's the Asian Games' local gun Tao Qianglong. 2001's Tao Qianglong has been famous for a long time, having been selected for all levels of the national brand across the board, and scoring goals in the Chinese Super League at the age of 18. This season, he's also doing well at Wuhan Sanzhen. Of course, good players are naturally favored by national brands at all levels. Before coming to the Asian Games, Tao Qianglong was selected for the Olympics and scored his first goal of the Olympics against India, which emboldened many Chinese players.
Right after the Olympic games, Tao Qianglong kept rushing to the Asian Games to lead the way. In the first group match of the Asian Games, Tao Qianglong once again faced India, and this time he still performed well. In the second half, he grabbed two breakaways in front of the goal to help the Asian Games beat India 5-1 in a great performance.
In the absence of a goal, Tao Qianglong was the most active one. Whenever there is a chance, he will try to shoot and find a breakthrough for his team. Some say he is a prodigal shooter, but in fact, he is more daring than many domestic strikers! Whether it was in the Olympics or the Asian Games, he was also like a lone brave man, always trying to use his ability to help his team score goals. It's this common sense that allows him to score goals and gives the team confidence at the same time.
