Qingdao Manatee Salon: A Football Legend of Persistence and Enthusiasm
Qiao Weiguang, the investment tycoon behind the Qingdao Manatee Saloon, is a good friend of Hu Baoshen, the head of Jianye FC, and has an obsessive passion for national soccer. They have always generously funded the team, and this persistence has my deepest respect. I think this spirit coincides with my perseverance over the years, and I have been able to persevere to this day because of that tenacity and perseverance deep down.
Even as a substitute in Henan Jianye and the national team, I was able to show my light whenever I was given the chance. A person who is professional and consistent in a certain field is the most impressive. Qingdao Manatee Salon has been established for nearly 30 years, and Mr. Qiao and the Zhongneng Group have invested 17 years of hard work. This persistence and tenacity deserves the respect of the whole industry, especially at a time when the national soccer team is experiencing a cold winter.
▲ Did you have a good time with Jiangning?
We have two veterans in the team, Jiang Ning and I have played alongside each other in the national team, and head coach Yin Tiesheng has a great reputation in the national soccer world. Although we haven't worked together before, many of our teammates are his disciples and Yin has an excellent reputation. Before I joined Qingdao Hainiu this season, I had exchanged ideas with Yin, and I was impressed by his professionalism and tactical concepts, and he always stays on the front line.
▲Football: At the beginning of this year, you played for another China B team, Hebei Zhuoao, before making a second transfer to Qingdao Hainiu. This transfer allowed you to experience an upgrade, what kind of experience was it for you?
Xiao Zhi: In fact, at the beginning of the year, Qingdao Hainiu talked to me about joining the club, and I think the club has always had the ambition to reach the senior league, as the investor said, the first division is not our ultimate goal, back to the top league is the ultimate goal. What he said really touched me. Qingdao is a beautiful city, Qingdao Hainiu is a veteran team, and the investor has put in so many years of hard work, so Qingdao Hainiu deserves to return to the Chinese Super League, and there should be a place for Qingdao Hainiu in the top league of China.
▲What do you think are the strengths of the team to reach the first division as expected?
First of all, the structure of the players is very reasonable, with a mix of young and old. The older players in the team want to play an exemplary role, whether it's in training, life, or games, Jiang Ning and I want to play an exemplary role. The young players are all very motivated and have great potential, they need a good platform. In addition, the atmosphere of our team is particularly good, the young players respect the old players, the old players respect the coaches, the team is very harmonious. Under the leadership of Coach Yin Tiesheng, no matter in the technical and tactical aspects, or the life management of the players, every detail has been done very well, and the internal unity has brought the team a strong fighting force.
Our teammate Changsha Yibo has been playing for this team for ten years, and young players can also go to a higher stage from here, which is a kind of inheritance, I think. Every city has its own soccer talent, whether it's veterans or young players, and if these talents are gathered, then there will be unlimited room for the development of soccer in the city, and the national soccer team will have more hope.
▲This Qingdao Manatee team has several players from Guangzhou, did you notice?
Jiang Ning and I both played for Guangzhou R&F, Xu Jiajun is also from Guangzhou, and Chen Jiaqi, who played for R&F back then, is now with Qingdao Hainiu. This seems like a real coincidence, but it actually reflects the attractiveness of Qingdao Hainiu.
▲Soccer: You've kept your body in good shape for your age, how do you practice?
Xiao Zhi: The coaches of many teams I met this season said that it was not easy for me to maintain such a good condition at my age and still have my abs. In fact, I follow the team training, sometimes also go to the gym to train, adhere to self-discipline, is to hope that people will not say that I am "white chicken".
▲There are others who are as disciplined and persistent as you are, aren't there Wang Song?
Wang Song, Jiang Ning and I, we have always insisted on high level training, if the level of competition declined particularly fast, we would have been eliminated. We also hope that this persistence can play a positive effect for the national football team, such as Zheng Zhi, also exemplary power. In fact, Qingdao Hainiu today's success in the first division, but also a kind of perseverance victory, if more such persistence, the national football team will be more a ray of light.
▲ The exemplary power of veteran players, can you elaborate on that?
I've been involved in youth training, young people will imitate the style of the model in the process of growing up, at the same time, the power of the model will also encourage young people to grow up, so the model demonstration effect will play an important role in guiding the development of young people. For example, Wu Lei is a very good model, many children will learn to play soccer and imitate him in the process of learning to play soccer. If the children who learn to play soccer today can surpass him in the future, there will be many Wu Lei in the future national soccer team, and the future of the national soccer team will be very bright.
▲ I've heard many ex-CPL players who played in China B say that China B is not good.
China B is different from Chinese Super League and China A. There are no foreign players in China B. The matches in China B are considered to be the matches of our players. Jiang Ning and I have also exchanged this topic, all the players who play in China B are domestic players, therefore, China B League shows the most substantial things of the national soccer team.
▲ What are your goals for this year? What changes have been brought to the team by veterans like a few of yours?
Our goal is to do our best to win the China B Championship. Jiang Ning and I usually talk a lot, and we have an idea to help the team do a good job on the offensive side. Now we have a lot of people who can score goals on the offensive side, Jiang Ning is mobilizing in the midfield, and I'm pulling in the front line, including goals and assists. We both hope to play a role in this team to carry on the effect of the beginning and end, and I hope to help the team to move forward with our actions and efforts, and to drive the growth of our young teammates to be better.
