BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The iffhs (International Federation of Football History and Statistics) has selected the best team in Asia for 2022, including four Japanese players. No one was selected after Wu Lei returned to the Chinese Super League.
Japan has the highest number of selections
The International Federation of Football History and Statistics was founded in 1984 (iffhs) it is a civil organization that conducts statistics on soccer data and historical records with some authority. A total of four Japanese players were selected out of the eleven chosen as the best Asian XI for the most countries in Asia, including Kamata, Minamino, Yoshida and Gonta.
Sun Xing (former)
South Korea had three players selected, including Sun Sung, Hwang Hee Chan and Kim Min Ja. Saudi Arabia had two players selected, Salem Dawasari and Salman Faraj. Iran and Australia selected Taremi and Biech respectively.
It's worth noting that these candidates performed well at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In this World Cup, the largest number of six teams in the history of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competed, with Japan, South Korea and Australia all reaching the round of 16. While Saudi Arabia and Iran did not make it out of the group stage, Saudi Arabia beat Argentina 2:1 and Iran beat Wales 2:0.
Wu Lei's return to the Chinese Super League leaves regrets
One of the most competitive players on the national soccer team, Wu Lei was named to the best team in Asia for two consecutive years in 2020 and 2021. For the past two years, Wu Lei has studied in Spain and delivered better answers. (iffhs) Wu Lei also released a list of the best Asian players in 10 years (2011-2020) in 2021, and he became the only Chinese player to make this list.
Wu Lei (top)
On August 11 last year, Wu Lei announced the end of his three and a half years of study abroad and returned to Shanghai Port to play with the team in the Chinese Super League. Although Wu Lei performed well, scoring 11 goals, he ended up finishing fourth due to Shanghai Port's poor start. In the semi-final of the FA Cup, Shanghai Port lost to Zhejiang on penalties and missed out on the title.
Throughout the season, Shanghai Port struggled to win the title. In addition, the national soccer team made an early exit in the Asian Top 12 Preliminary Round, which left Wu Lei lacking a convincing record to make his third appearance in the Asian Best XI. It is reasonable that he left regrets.
