Live on June 12, China's first division battled for nine rounds, with Guangxi Pingguo leading the standings with seven wins and two draws. The team's 20-year-old striker Liu Baiyang scored five goals, second only to teammate An Yongjia, and ranked second on the scorer list. In an interview with Soccer News, Liu Baiyang said he learned a lot from Wu Lei last year.
Congratulations on being voted April/May Central League Player of the Month, how do you feel?
I am very happy to be chosen as the best player in China's first division. My skills and style have been recognized by everyone. Through hard work, all these years of effort have not been in vain. Thanks to every coach and teammate I met on the soccer road, they helped me a lot. Thanks to Harbor and Harbin Club, who gave me the opportunity to play in the China First Division.
You had a great season at Harbour last year, scoring twice against Meizhou, how does it feel to be in this Chinese Super League experience?
First of all, I want to thank a team head coach for trusting me last year and letting me experience the rhythm and atmosphere of the Chinese Super League. Usually the team's big brothers tell me: "Don't be nervous when you play, it's okay to let go." The biggest feeling that the Chinese Super League has brought to me is to handle every ball well and choose the right position when the pace is fast.
In that game, you surpassed teammate Liu Zhurun to become the youngest Chinese Super League goalscorer in Port's history at the age of 19 years and 201 days. What special significance does that have for you?
At that time I had gained the trust of my coach through training. When I was outscoring my opponents, I was given these two goals to give back to my coach for trusting me and to my family for supporting me.
How did it help you to train and play with Wu Lei and the foreigners when he returned to the harbor last year? What did you learn?
It helped me a lot. I learned a lot from Ray. His running, reading space, shooting parts, shooting technique, headers are all worth learning, the most important of which is the understanding of space - how to appear in the right place, how to choose the time to shoot, including the angle and so on. I learned a lot from those aspects.
How do I rent a Ha Rung?
At that time, the first team told me that because there is no U23 policy, for us players, if we can't get a firm foothold in the first team, the situation will be very embarrassing and there will be no time to play. But at our age, if we want to grow, the most important thing is to play more games and gain experience. Later on, Sun Xiang, the vice president of the club, guided me and chatted with me, hoping that I would play more matches and gain some experience in the game, and then come back to work next year.
Are there any stars that you particularly admire?
I prefer Benzema. Benzema plays soccer very intelligently. Although he is in the center forward position, he retreats a lot in the game. Every goal he scores, the timing and the way he chooses to shoot makes him a very powerful star. On the pitch, he always brings more to the team.
What are your soccer dreams and goals?
My dream is to be selected for the national team and play for my country; secondly, I would like to play soccer abroad to get a feel of the concept and atmosphere of foreign soccer. At the moment I want to score 10 goals on behalf of Ha Chung in the Central League this year; my future goal is to stand firm in the Hong Kong team and play soccer for the Hong Kong team.
