Becoming captain at the age of just 18 and being selected for the national team at the age of 21 is certainly a fantastic starting point for a player.
However, at the age of 14, she suffered a serious injury that sidelined her for two years, and at the age of 16, she faced penalties and was banned for two years. Four years faded like a dream, and it was the beginning of a nightmare for her.
If both of these experiences happened to one person, what lines would you use to describe them?
Life is like a box of chocolates, never knowing what the next one will taste like. Is it bitter? Is it sweet? Or something else?
After running tirelessly forward through a long tunnel in solitude, she looked up and realized that the
solar
Just ahead.
seriously injured and broken
There was a crunch, and the right leg was broken.
Fourteen-year-old Wan Chia-Yao was oblivious for the first time.
"Will a penalty kick be awarded?"
She thought silently to herself.
The referee didn't call a penalty.
A one-two-thirds ball in the penalty area, the back post is advanced, the goalkeeper comes out, and between the rushes, tragedy strikes.
A few seconds later, Wan Jiayao realized that she was unable to get up. The pain quickly spread from the leg to the cerebral cortex, stimulating every nerve under the skin.
The whole team gathered around, took a closer look, and immediately covered their faces. "I'm going to cry." Teammate Wanli was afraid to look, it was an open wound, the supporting leg had been broken.
When Wan Jiayao looked down at her leg, the skin and flesh were exposed, blood was pouring out, and the tibial fibula was openly fractured, "The calf is folded up."
Wan Jia Yao's demeanor suddenly changed, bawling and shouting at the top of her lungs:
"I can't kick the ball, I can't kick the ball ......"
The air seemed to freeze and sadness filled the stadium.
"No, you'll be able to play soccer again." Coach reassured.
In the face of such a serious injury, no one can empathize. Emotional devastation, intense pain, and uncertainty about the future, 14-year-old Wan Jiayao will have to suffer in silence, both now and for the next 600 days.
"The leg is super sore, it's one of those swollen pains, very swollen, very swollen, so swollen that it's going to explode." Tears filled her eyes and became the only relief for her on the stretcher.
Since the ambulance was on the other side of the injury site, it took several minutes to arrive when Wanjayo got off the field.
The game resumed with loud chants coming from the field. She braced herself and
"Trying to see if it's who scored, if it's Szechuan who scored."
It turned out that soccer could also be a painkiller, and for a moment Wanjayao forgot about the pain.
At this point, the parents 2,000 kilometers away were completely unaware.
3 surgeries
"Afraid they'll worry."
The right leg has been wrapped with bandages Wan Jiayao lying on the hospital bed, eyes closed, clenched fists, breathing gradually stabilized, waiting for the doctor's initial diagnosis.
At this point, she chose to block the news and face it alone. With her understanding of her family, if they knew that they had been seriously injured, they would have traveled overnight, even though Fuzhou, where the competition was held, is thousands of miles away from her hometown of Jiangyou. "Coming here at night, I'm worried that something will happen to them."
That night, Wan Jiayao returned to Chengdu from Fuzhou. On the next day, her parents learned of her daughter's injuries, and choking became the most straightforward expression. After some anxious and panicked packing, Wan's father and mother immediately rushed to Chengdu, a hundred kilometers away.
When the long time reunion turned into a meeting in the hospital room, the parents' tears came out again. There are countless difficulties awaiting the family.
Sterilizing, scraping flesh, and conducting laboratory tests, Wan Jiayao experienced injuries that many of her peers had never experienced before, enduring the sting of gauze, pliers, spatulas, and scouring spoons repeatedly rubbing between flesh and bone over and over again.
"Every day the doctor comes to see if my meat is good or bad." Wanjayao cried her eyes out from time to time. "It hurts, it hurts." Crying whenever it hurts is her most frequent emotional catharsis.
After the daily medical care, Wan Jiayao began to be attached to the hospital bed. She didn't have to do anything, she didn't have to care about anything, and she was taken care of by her parents as if she were a baby. The group life of the past has now become a lonely battle, staring at the ceiling and looking out the window, wanting to do something, but unable to do anything.
The good news is that according to the preliminary recovery and two surgeries, Wanjayao will be able to return in a year. However, accidents happen.
"Got an unfortunate infection halfway through."
The recovery period is stretched out indefinitely and everything starts over. Three months, six months, a year or longer? No one can say for sure.
"The girl child family, received a serious injury, in the future or claw ball." Grandparents heartbroken, more than once to persuade their granddaughter to change her profession.
Wanjayo doesn't listen, and her mom and dad don't say a word. "They know me better, know that I like to play soccer, and more than that, they will not fall or even give up because of this one injury." Although not expressed in person, privately Wan's father would still nag the coach, "The girl child or mo claw ball." The father who has practiced basketball knows the twists and turns of the professional road, and understands more about the preciousness of persistence.
In the end, her daughter's determination overcame her family's wavering. Just as a brave soldier will not be deterred by gunfire, how can a youth who loves the green be easily defeated by injury?
Soon after, Wan Jia Yao was pushed onto the operating table for the third time.
beset by both internal and external difficulties
In 2017, Wanjayo returned after a 2-year absence.
"Too excited." Facing this familiar and unfamiliar venue, Wan Jiayao is happy, but the PTSD is still hidden inside. "Whether my right leg remains the same, whether my scrambling will still bring about injuries."
Wan Chia-Yao (second from right, first row)
All the worries were unnecessary. The moment she stepped on the field, Wan Jiayao turned into a kaleidoscope, capable of attacking and defending. In her debut, as a center back, she announced her return with a goal. The world kisses me with pain, and I have to sing in return. The past is like smoke in the snap of a finger.
But when looking back on the past two years, from the hospital bed to the court, from individual recovery to team training, it's all too much to look back on.
As soon as she started back on the team, the first thing Wan Jiayao had to do was to build up her psyche.
Since she was not yet able to train for the game with the team, Wan Jiayao was separated into a room by herself. Stretching alone, jogging alone, training alone, anxiety, uneasiness and loneliness filled her heart.
"Am I an invalid? "
Whenever I see my teammates practicing or going out for a game, the honest fear inside of me races around in my head, constantly denying and encouraging myself.
"A lot of times I have to face it alone, because friends around me don't want to receive too much negativity either, and the self must learn to self-digest." Music has become Wan Jiayao's best friend when she is depressed.
To close the gap and make up for two lost years, Wanjayao tried to step onto the training field.
"Ouch!"
The first training session, faced with the sudden amount of exercise, the atrophied muscle groups, the slender calves, collectively resisted Wan Jiayao's orders. "That pain as soon as you hit the ground, from your feet to your brain, the pain of stress."
This is just a small part of the rehabilitation program, which will be followed by even more rigorous physical training. Starting all over again, from zero to one, this is a brand new topic for her.
Which rose does not have thorns, the most beautiful bloom is to fight back. When all the ups and downs were in front of her, Wan Jiayao gritted her teeth, crushed the bumps and bruises on the road ahead, scored a goal on her debut, and made a perfect return.
Unfortunately, a few months later, the writers of fate played their joke again and her career hit the skids.
Captain's Way
"From a professional standpoint, men's soccer, if you get banned for 2 years at 16, the player is a goner."
Yang Zhe takes charge of Sichuan in 2019
women's soccer
Wan Chia-Yao has just come back from his ban.
The race clash 2 years ago was a dark moment for the 16-year-old. A ticket, a two-year ban. Like a climber on a craggy mountain, halfway up, a mudslide was enough to send her plummeting to the bottom. All the stoicism and sweat are gone in an instant.
Stick it out or give it up? Play soccer or go to school? Confused, perplexed and tormented, she was at a crossroads. As far as the eye could see, it was all gray. Everywhere she looked, there were walls. Banned from competitions, not allowed to train with the team, all the work she had put in became irrelevant.
During that time, Wanjayao watched the movie Unwrapped.
"It's not hard to give up, but it must be cool to hold on."
The line on screen became a reflection of her later life.
"Wan Jiayao earned this breath, no matter what, she wants to kick it down".
Only by understanding the past can we understand the present. Seeing the infectious energy and hustle shown by her 18-year-old disciple in training and on the field, Yang Zhe decided to deliver the captain's armband to her.
Physical quality is good, elementary school 800 meters can run first place, confrontation does not suffer; furthermore, there is strength and temperament. Regarding the latter, Yang Zhe gave an example.
In the third round of the 2019 Women's League, Wanjayo was out injured. In the pre-match training, the injury was caused by a solid body jamming defense. "The training is a very serious one, Wan just as the official game in the scramble." Yang Zhe recalled. "The average girl is not like this."
"She's really super serious, and what you see at the competition is exactly how Wanjayao is in training, exactly the same, treating every training session 100 percent."
Wanli has been friends with Wanjayao for 10 years, and full commitment and meticulousness are the best ways to describe her old friend.
Wanjayao with Wanli (center)
There are countless cases like this, and Wanjayo's injury in the 2020 Super League run was also caused in training. Using a number of provincial
soccer league
Personnel's mantra: "Wanjayo, you're hurt again, huh?!"
So when the coach made the news of the new captain's choice public, everyone answered in agreement. "The big sisters all quite like her. And Xiaowan is quite delicate in her mind, once she realizes that her teammates are not in good shape or are experiencing heartbreaks, she will always take the initiative to communicate with the coach and think of ways to help the team move forward in a better way."
As for Wan Jiayao herself, it is a miracle in itself to come out of the darkest four years and into the adult field. As for the captain, she has never been a captain, has never thought about it, but already has a strong enough heart to bear it.
"There's no resistance, the coaches give the responsibility and I just go out and do it well because a lot of things not everyone is born knowing."
At the moment, player Wan Jiayao became captain Wan Jiayao.
2022 Youngest Captain in Women's Super League
In the 2022 Women's Super League, the girl who is quiet and shy off the field is as elegant and calm as a warrior on the field. When the team loses the ball, she is always the first to shout to encourage the whole team: "It's okay, again, come on!" When the team is playing defense, she will also shout: "Good ball, don't move her."
Fourth round of league match against Beijing
women's soccer
She was able to both single-defend Wang Shanshan three times in a row, grabbing the
women's soccer
The captain's possession; it can also lead to out of position and loss of points due to an adventurous uptake. It's a lesson in being young and promising, and even more so in growing up.
"More responsible than I was, more daring to shout out to my teammates. Before I was captain, I crossed my arms when I was tired, now less. Overall there's still a gap from what I expected."
Although he has stepped down as the head coach, Yang Zhe still cares about Wan Jiayao's progress, and his words show his strict love and expectation for his disciple.
Idols on the same stage
December 8, 2021
women's soccer
The announcement of the preparation of the
Asian cup (e.g. soccer)
The roster is the first national team training session since Shui Qingxia took over. 34-member roster features an unfamiliar name - Wan Jiayao.
This is the Sichuan captain's first trip to the national team, after she never made it to the National Junior League or National Youth League. From being ball-less to captain of the Women's Super League, and then to a member of the national team, in two years' time, Wan Jiayao has rewritten an otherwise bleak career with her feet.
"Nervous." From the moment Yang Zhe informed her, such thoughts had been lingering in Wan Jia Yao's mind.
The first day of the national team assembly, the face of women's Super League on the field of international teammates, despite the familiarity, but after changing the red dress, she felt an unprecedented pressure, because the chest of Sichuan has become China.
Wanjayao adjusted her breathing, but her limbs remained stiff and her legs shook incessantly. Seeing this, the sisters on the side took the initiative to talk to her, "Wan Wan, relax, all of them are good players to be here, believe in yourself."
Shui Qingxia centralized the team and gave encouragement to the 00s juniors such as Wan Jiayao, Zhang Linyan and Wang Linlin. "Young kids don't be afraid, play boldly and go try to catch up with the big sisters."
At the Oriental Oasis base, Wan Jiayao wore the same team uniform as her idol Zhang Xin for the first time.
"It's kind of a successful stargazer because I'm so afraid of interrupting people, so it's kind of nice to just be quiet and get along."
Keeping her restraint, she didn't initiate conversation, even though she was in a state of bliss at the moment.
In the interview, whenever she talked about Zhang Xin, Wan Jiayao always showed a bright and shy smile.
"She's got the essence, the ball skills and the looks that I like."
As she said this, she couldn't help but cover her face and laugh again.
For the latecomer, Zhang Xin gave her advice: "Learn to protect yourself and get hurt less; strive to go outside when you have the chance in the future and stay in the ocean early."
As for his mentor, Yang Zhe, he hopes his disciple will follow the example of Wang Shanshan and Yao Wei and learn from these two international players. He envisions seeing the Sichuan waif on a bigger stage before 2025.
"I hope to become a regular on the national team." Wan Jiayao set goals for herself. When she's strong enough, she'll go abroad. She doesn't have a standard for the definition of "strong".
May 14, China
women's soccer
Announced the second phase of the 2022 training list was released, and the Sichuan captain was once again on the list.
At 21 years old, this is the freedom to flaunt, but has a heavy responsibility. 21 years old, this is the prelude to Shaohua, but has been through the storm.
For Wan Jiayao, she could have turned her back on the game after all the bitterness, and wandered around the campus with her former teammates. There was no day-to-day sun exposure, no recurring injuries, no tense fights, just the pure, spontaneous joy of soccer.
But she swam upstream against the current, stepped through those unknown ruggedness against the wind and frost, and went to explore the possibility of her perseverance again and again. How far can a soccer-loving teenager go?
Like many girls in many Women's Super League matches, Wan Jiayao was the soccer girl who was discovered by a chance encounter, only to be engrossed in it, and then climbed all the way up and over the mountains, gradually seeing unforeseen landscapes.
Even though the road ahead is full of thorns and thistles, I will walk alone with my sword without fear. The roses on the other side of the river will bloom for you, for you all.
