Recently, the candidate lineup for the 2023 Chinese Football Golden Ball Award has been freshly released, in which Wu Lei, Wei Shihao, Tan Long, Wang Dalei and other famous soccer players are listed. If there is no accident, Wu Lei is undoubtedly a strong contender for this year's Golden Ball Award. The selection mechanism of the Chinese Golden Ball Award combines personal honor and data performance, and Wu Lei's achievement on the personal level is undoubtedly a key factor to stand out.
Firstly, in terms of honors, Wu Lei led Shanghai to the 2023 Chinese Super League title, a brilliant achievement that adds to his credentials as a Ballon d'Or candidate.
Furthermore, Wu Lei has played a key role in Hong Kong's journey to the Chinese Super League title this season. Whenever the game was in a stalemate, he was always quick to step up and save the day. With his outstanding performance, Wu Lei was honored as the local Golden Boot of the Chinese Super League and topped the scorer's list. It can be said that without Wu Lei's heroic performance, it is difficult for the team to break the silence of the Chinese Super League champion.
On balance, Wu Lei winning the 2023 China Golden Ball Award is a foregone conclusion. It is worth mentioning that since the establishment of the Golden Ball Award, Wu Lei has won the award three times, respectively in 2018, 2019 and 2021.In 2018, he was honored with the Golden Ball Award by virtue of leading the Hong Kong team to win the Chinese Super League title and the honor of the individual golden boot. In the same year, Shanghai broke Evergrande's long-standing monopoly on the league title and Wu Lei's personal monopoly on the Golden Boot.In 2019, Wu Lei's outstanding performance in La Liga study abroad led to him winning the Golden Ball Award once again.In 2021, his goal scoring record with the national team crowned the Golden Ball Award.
Now, Wu Lei is expected to win the Ballon d'Or for the fourth time, which undoubtedly makes him the leading active player in China. At the same time, this also reflects the shortage of talent in Chinese soccer. In contrast, the highly regarded Wei Shihao's performance in the league and the national team is not bad, but it is always difficult to be compared with Wu Lei, and it seems that he is destined to play the role of a learner in the selection of the Ballon d'Or. Hopefully, Wei Shihao will be able to show more in the Chinese Super League and national team games next season, and strive to surpass Wu Lei in the 2024 Ballon d'Or competition, winning the first Ballon d'Or of his career.
