Cao Yongjing was born in an ordinary working family, except for his father's occasional hobby of basketball, he seldom had anything to do with sports. When he was four years old, he was selected by the coach for a "trial", his first contact with soccer, and by chance he embarked on a soccer journey.
During his elementary school years, Cao Yongjing attended Mawang Township Primary School, which is known in Chongqing's school soccer circles alongside another famous school, Datianwan Primary School. Despite being small, Cao Yongjing was nimble on his feet and became a star player at Mawang Primary School, while Datianwan Primary School had Yang Liyu and Liu Ruowan vanadium as their benchmarks.
Lin Lin, the current coach of Chongqing Tongliang Dragons, was Cao Yongjing's mentor in his soccer career. Seeing Cao Yongjing's skinny figure, Linlin taught him to play soccer with all his heart and to use his footwork to gain a foothold in the game.
When he was young, Cao Yongjing watched soccer matches on TV, and his favorites were Brazil, Real Madrid and Barcelona, as well as Big Luo and Little Luo. After entering the professional world, influenced by the geographical relationship, he regarded Ozil as his idol.
At Renhe, Cao Yongjing has always been a leader among his peers, wearing the No. 9 jersey and shouldering the scoring load.In 2015, at the age of 18, Cao moved up to Renhe's first team to play in the Chinese Super League.
Zhu Jiong, the then Renhe manager, emphasized on footwork and ground coordination. Cao Yongjing's technical characteristics were favored by Zhu Jiong, and he included him in the 18-player list in the first round of the league. Cao Yongjing made his professional debut in the match between Guizhou Renhe and Jiangsu Suntian, becoming the first player of the 1997 age group to appear in the Chinese Super League.
Back then, Cao Yongjing was selected for the National Youth Football Team. The head coach of that team was Li Ming, who is now the general manager of Guoan. Before the Asian Youth Championship qualifier, the national youth team brought 24 players to prepare for the game, and Cao Yongjing was unfortunately the only one who failed to be selected.
In 2016, Cao Yongjing experienced an onslaught of ups and downs. In the middle of the season, Renhe was de-enrolled and relegated to the reserve team. As a starter, he played in the Bahrain Asian Youth Championship, and the national youth team exited the group with 1 draw and 2 losses. After returning home to represent Shaanxi to participate in the National Games, as the third place in the Youth Games, he and his partners who played together for seven years did not even pass the preliminaries.
In the 2017 season, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) made a start to implement the U23 policy. Under Wang Baoshan, Cao Yongjing, along with Zhang Yufeng, Liu Boyang, Xiang Hantian, Gan Chao and other players of the right age are available for deployment, Renhe has never worried about the U23 players, of which Cao Yongjing is Wang Baoshan's most trusted junior.
Wang Baoshan's dismissal ushered in an important turnaround in Cao Yongjing's career. Spaniard Luis Garcia, who also focuses on technique, placed Cao Yongjing in the forward position, which is unique among Super League China A teams in that a 20-year-old local player occupies the center of the attack.
In the four games since Garcia took over the team, Cao Yongjing has shone with two goals and four assists. His ghostly runs up front complemented Ivo's, constantly feeding striker Ayovi and activating winger Masika. Renhe then paved the way to the Super League with a winning streak.
This season's training has allowed Cao Yongjing to gain valuable experience. He dares to take the ball in front of the penalty area with composure and confidence.
In the 2018 season, Renhe returned to the first round of the Chinese Super League, away from Chongqing Swai, Cao Yongjing returned to his hometown. At the Chongqing Olympic Sports Center, Cao Yongjing's family came to the scene to watch the game. In the second round and Tianjin Quanjian, he collected his first goal in the Chinese Super League.
From 2017 to 2020, two years in the Chinese Super League and two years in the Chinese League One, Cao Yongjing was an absolute starter and the centerpiece of Renhe's frontcourt. He also went all the way from the national youth team to the national Olympic team. After Renhe was disbanded, Guoan recruited Cao Yongjing. At Guoan, Cao was reunited with his old Renhe teammate Wang Gang and National Olympic teammate Zhang Yuning.
Before joining Guoan, Cao Yongjing was the centerpiece of Renhe's frontcourt. After coming to Guoan, he had to re-adapt to the team's style and system. This change made Cao Yongjing a bit uncertain for a long time. The lack of clarity in his position and style of play left Cao Yongjing's skill set undeveloped. Despite occasional glimpses of greatness, most of the time his performance was mediocre, and his shortest shortcoming, shooting, was revealed to be spotless.
In the last few rounds of the league last season, Guoan has no desire to be in the situation, Cao Yongjing only kicked on the starting lineup, and in the final round of the competition and Shenzhen scored his first Chinese Super League goal after joining Guoan.
Despite the departure of super foreigners one after another, since the beginning of this season, Guoan has continued to be dominated by veterans, and Cao Yongjing has become the most unpopular mid-generation. In the first seven rounds, he only played one minute as a substitute. In the eighth round of the league, Guoan and Tianjin Jinmen Tiger competition, Guoan finally began to test the rotation, Cao Yongjing only got the opportunity to start for the first time. Starting from that game, Cao Yongjing was on stage for six consecutive games, three starts and three substitutions.
The thirty minutes of substitution in the second half of the game with Wuhan Changjiang is the best game Cao Yongjing has played since joining Guoan. In these thirty minutes, he gave full play to his characteristics. Tireless cross running, sensitive running, many times and teammates to make exquisite cooperation, the final time of the game also received Zhang Yuning assist to complete the goal.
Cao Yongjing's entry into the game changed the course of the contest and reinvigorated Guoan's frontcourt. A light first touch in front of the penalty area led to an assist for Zhang Yuning, fully demonstrating his dexterity and imagination in the defensive space.
In the match with Wuhan Changjiang, Cao Yongjing's cooperation with Zhang Yuning and Jiang Xiangyou in the midfield is a replica of his cooperation with foreigners in Renhe a few years ago. At Renhe, Cao Yongjing creates moments for his teammates through deft running. Whether it's a two-man partnership with center forward Ayovi, or a smaller partnership with Masika, Ivo, and many others, Cao Yongjing's ability to get the ball out of his feet, and his skill in making the final pass, is superb.
In the 2017 season, Renhe played Shenxin away in the competition, Renhe broke through the opponent's defense after continuous passing in front of the penalty area. In the process of this goal, Cao Yongjing's running position disrupted Shenxin's defensive formation, and his calm handling after receiving the ball helped the team penetrate the opponent's defense.
If you've watched Renhe competitions over the past few years, you won't be surprised by Cao Yongjing's 30-minute burst of brilliance last night. It was a burst of energy from playing the right character in the right system.
Zhang Xizhe has grown rapidly after being nudged by many good foreigners such as Kanoute and Batalla. The previous seasons and Augusto, Bieira, Bakambu formed a dream front field combination, the tacit understanding between them, but also make the Guoan front field cooperation is exceptionally rich.
Similarly, Cao Yongjing, at the age of the fastest rising goals, and foreigners such as Ivo, Masika, Ayovi, and Moukanjo formed the offensive duo of Renhe's frontcourt. The character's sense of involvement has allowed Cao Yongjing to improve rapidly.
In the match with Wuhan Changjiang, Zhang Xizhe broke the deadlock with his first goal. This is Zhang Xizhe's 14th season with Guoan, and 13th season of consecutive goals. This season, the commander of the midfield of Guoan in the past ten years has had a rocky situation. The high density of competition makes it difficult for Zhang Xizhe to maintain a high level of athleticism.
Zhang Xizhe's working career has now entered the twilight, a more cruel reality is that before the expiration of this contract, this year may still be his best season. Zhang Xizhe looking for a successor, for Guoan, is now a more urgent matter.
Now, Cao Yongjing is the ideal successor in Guoan's team. Although Cao Yongjing and Zhang Xizhe's type and playing style are not the same, but both belong to rely on the brain to play, have the spirit of the player, and Cao Yongjing still has a lot of space to rise.
Zhang Xizhe is from the river city of Wuhan, Cao Yongjing is from the mountain city of Chongqing, two cities like a furnace. The two are not people with flamboyant temperaments, and both have the necessary calmness and composure of a good arranger.
Chongqing is a hot pot city, Cao Yongjing "tripe" nickname from the people and has been called to the national security. This bowl of cooked tripe, also almost to the time of the pot.
