As the 2022 Chinese soccer season comes to an end, and the champion team is born, an event opens in parallel - the 6th China Golden Ball Awards, with the theme "Setting an example for Chinese soccer", officially kicks off. This marks a new chapter in the history of Chinese soccer, and the city of Wuhan has become the center of attention due to the aura of "one city, two championships", with many players on the list of candidates. Ma Wanyong, a senior soccer reporter of Changjiang Daily, has been a judge of the "China Golden Ball Award" for six consecutive years, witnessing this event.
The awards follow the tradition of being divided into several categories, including the China Golden Ball Award, China Women's Football Golden Ball Award, China Golden Marshal Award, China Golden Boy Award (U17, U21) and China Futsal Golden Ball Award. Among the many candidates, Liu Dianzha, Deng Hanwen and Xie Pengfei of newly crowned Chinese Super League champions Wuhan Sanzhen stood out, with Xie Pengfei's 8 goals and 9 assists in the league standing out. Shandong Taishan and Shanghai Port followed in the top four. It is worth mentioning that Wuhan's Zhang Xizhe, who plays for Beijing Guoan, ranked first in key passing stats, making it a highlight.
For the China Women's Golden Ball Award, the brilliant record of the 2022 Chinese women's soccer team in winning the Asian Cup was an important backdrop for the selection. Wang Shuang of Wuhan Chegu Jiangda FC was in the spotlight with her five goals in four matches, and she was a key player in China's run to the final. In addition, she had won four of the previous five selections. Meanwhile, Zhang Linyan and Wang Xiaoxue of the Wuhan Chegu Jiang women's soccer team, who are on loan to the Swiss Grasshoppers, also managed to make the cut.
In the 2022 season, Wuhan Chegu Jiangda Women's Football Team not only realized "three consecutive championships" in the Women's Super League, but also won the FA Cup, becoming the biggest winner. As a result, Wuhan Women's Football Head Coach Chang Weiwei was also successfully selected for the China Golden Marshal Award, competing with other famous coaches such as Shui Qingxia, Hao Wei and Wu Jingui for the honor of Coach of the Year.
Hubei youth player Wang Dingkun, as the first "05" goal scorer in China's third-tier professional league, became one of the candidates for the Golden Boy Award in the U17 category.
The deadline for voting for the Ballon d'Or is January 18th, and ballot details will be published in Football Weekly. The award ceremony is expected to be held in March this year, when it will again witness the new glory of Chinese soccer.
