The dream of being a professional player is only one step away
When he was in the third grade, Lai was influenced by his neighbors and children for playing soccer. From there, he began to enjoy school soccer at Nanzha Experimental Primary School in Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province. Two years later, he was favored by the coach of the Jiangyin Sports School for his outstanding on-field awareness, and transferred to the school to receive semi-professional training.In July 2018, a friend from the first step's sports school sent a phone call to try out for Genbao's soccer base - the captain of today's national team is only five years old.
With the gradual improvement in the level of training in schools, sports schools and soccer schools, the direction of soccer has become more and more firm in the minds of young people. It is now clear to him that he is no longer considering any other option in life than becoming a professional player. "With this experience and training, we have a better chance of becoming professional players than other people our age.
Eight years ago, the whole family could not imagine such a life plan. Lai's parents had nothing to do with soccer until their son played at a certain level and they began to try to watch soccer "Fortunately, my parents have always supported my hobby and ideas, so it's possible for me to play professional soccer." When the 2006 ladder of the Genbao Soccer School was bought out in a one-off deal, the students, including Lai, added another identity - that of a ladder player for Shanghai Port FC.
Every student knows what is in front of the "ladder", but not everyone can discipline themselves. The Li family is from Loudi, Hunan province. After his son went to Shanghai, his parents had no reason to continue to live in Jiangyin to make a living, so they settled back in their hometown. Whenever he goes home to visit his family on vacation, Li always remembers that "professional footballer" is what he wants to be, so he often goes to the nearby park to do ball-less training.
Like most of his teammates in the national youth team, Lai is in a training agreement with the club and must know within two years if they can become professional players. He also captained the club's ladder and saw where the older ladders ended up:either promoted to the first team, transferred or eliminated. "The national youth experience will help us a lot in the future. I want to go all out along the path of national youth, national Olympics, and national team, and move up in the national brand one step at a time.
Asia Cup winning machine in training
As one of the first Junior National players this year, Dawn is used to the competitive atmosphere of the team and the comings and goings of many players. Take the field positions, for example. There are seven or eight midfielders who have participated in National Junior training, "Each of them cherishes the opportunity to train, and every player who comes here is actively competing for every position.
He knows the national youth jersey he wears is hard won.A month before the first training session in May 2021 at the Xianghe soccer base in Hebei, a large group of 13- and 14-year-olds are divided into four teams, led by four coaches, and the final decision is made to stay with the team for games and regular training performances. "No matter how long I've been selected, everyone I've seen cherishes the opportunity and takes a positive attitude towards learning.
He is more than aware that the captain's armband means a "heavier burden" and a "bigger mission" for the whole team. He said that no matter what, regardless of the captain's armband, and no matter who the opponents are in the U-Asia Cup draw, "as long as we can show what we usually do in training, we will have a hope of winning." As for Yang Chen's goal of "entering the World Youth Championships," he responded with words and deeds, "The World Youth Championships is the biggest stage for our team and the best chance to win honor for our country.
In the No.1 field of Yuxi Highland Soccer Training Base, Yang Chen's advocacy of "Attitude, Discipline and Execution" can be seen everywhere, always reminding the 40 new and old players. In this regard, captain Li Ming shared his understanding: "Attitude is to maintain a brave and tenacious style of play on and off the pitch, and the confidence to win; discipline is to do what you are told to do, and not to have other ideas; execution is to do your best to meet the usual training requirements and tactical requirements of the game.
