When it comes to the current state of Chinese soccer, I'm afraid that many fans have long been accustomed to, and even feel disheartened by the performance of the national team. After all, we used to be the top force in Asian soccer, but now we have been reduced to third-rate, losing to Vietnam on the road, drawing with the Philippines, and India was not spared, and these unfavorable results have left indelible scars in the hearts of fans. Coupled with the neglect of young players training in recent years, the national football team is not only a shortage of talent, the problem of youth shortage is becoming more and more serious. It seems that the future is worrying, and many fans no longer have expectations for the national team.
However, underneath all this gloom, we still have a surprise this year, and that is the local player, the 27-year-old striker Barton, who plays for Tianjin Jinmen Tigers. When it comes to Barton, his name may not have carried much weight in people's ears in the past. When he was at Beijing Guoan, he was promoted by coach Xie Feng to be a starter in the U23s, which was a surprise for a while. However, after Xie Feng's departure, Barton was relegated to the bench and gradually faded out of sight.
At the end of the 2021 season, Barton moved to Tianjin Jinmen Tigers. Surprisingly, Barton quickly became a starter and a key player on the offensive line for the Jinmen Tigers. His aggressive activities were successful in checking the opposing team's defense and creating scoring opportunities for his teammates. Although he only contributed two goals and three assists that season, his tactical role had already caught the attention of national team coach Li Tie, and when Barton was called up to the national team, it sparked a lot of controversy. In the World Qualifying 12, Barton scored a controversial goal against Australia, but he showed leadership by running aggressively and daring to seek breakthroughs in the opposing team's tight defense.
This was just a good start to Barton's career. After returning to China, his performance with the Tianjin Jinmen Tigers got better and better. in the 2022 season, he made 24 appearances, including 21 starts, scoring 7 goals and 2 assists, becoming the backbone of the team's offense. It was this outstanding performance that made the new coach Jankovic fall in love with him. In the second match of this year's national football team against New Zealand, Barton came on as a substitute and scored a goal in just a few minutes after receiving a pass from Sun Guowen, which was not only the only goal of the national football team at that time, but also Yankovic's first goal in coaching the national football team, helping the team to get out of the predicament.
Barton's performance in the Asian Games team was equally outstanding. Loaned to the Asian Games team as an overage player, it was his inverted triangle assist that helped Sun Qinhan win the game against the South Korean U24s, earning the Asian Games team the honor.
In the recent Chinese Super League (CSL) matches, Barton had an impressive performance. In the 20th round of the Chinese Super League, Tianjin Jinmen Tigers played away against the leader Shanghai Port. In the 13th minute of the match, Barton took the ball at the top of the penalty area and chose to shoot from long range without hesitation. Goalkeeper Yan Junling made a save but was unable to prevent the ball from entering the net, giving Tianjin Jinmen Tigers a 1-0 lead. Although it was Beric who scored the goal, Barton's contribution should not be overlooked. A few days ago, Barton was out of action due to fever and was not in good shape. However, even under such circumstances, he was able to burst with amazing energy, which showed his mental strength. He is a reliable player and no difficulty can break him. Isn't this the kind of player our national soccer team needs?
