Being made captain at 18 and stepping into the national team at 21 is certainly the prelude to a dream for a soccer player.
Suffering a serious injury at 14, two years off; facing a ban at 16, another two years gap. Four years went by like an arrow, and it was a nightmare start.
If these two chapters of life belonged to the same athlete, how would you describe her story?
Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know if the next bite will be bitter or sweet or ......
After running tirelessly, alone, through the long corridors, she looked up and realized that the
fig. the dawn of a new era
Just ahead.
The pain of a broken leg
With a crunch, the right leg broke.
Fourteen-year-old Wanjayo was momentarily blinded, thinking:
"Will this be a penalty kick?"
The referee did not call a penalty.
A one-two-thirds ball in the box, a back-heel grab, a goalkeeper save, a rush of the two, and tragedy is born.
After a few seconds, Wan Jiayao realized that she could not stand. The pain quickly spread from her legs to her brain, and every nerve was stimulated.
Teammates gathered around, took one look, and immediately covered their faces. "I'm going to be scared to tears." Teammate Wan Li did not dare to look directly at the blood-soaked wounds, the supporting leg had been broken.
When Wan Jiayao looked down at her leg, the skin and flesh were turned out, blood was flowing, and the tibial fibula was openly fractured, "The calf is bent."
Wan Jiayao broke down emotionally and cried out in pain, shouting at the top of her voice:
"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.
Faced with such a serious injury, no one can empathize. Emotionally devastated, in excruciating pain, and confused about the future, 14-year-old Wan Jiayao must endure the next 600 days alone at this very moment.
"The leg was super sore, kind of swollen and bloated to the point of exploding." Tears filled her eyes and became the only comfort for her on the stretcher.
With the ambulance on the other side of the field, it took several minutes for Wanjayo to arrive after he got off the field.
The game resumed and the chants from the arena were deafening. She struggled to get up and
"Wanted to see if someone scored, if Sichuan scored."
It turned out that soccer could also be a painkiller, instantly making Wan Jiayao forget about the pain.
At this point, the parents, 2000 kilometers away, know nothing.
third degree operation
"Afraid they'll worry."
Wan Jiayao, whose right leg is wrapped in bandages, lies on the hospital bed, eyes closed tightly, fists clenched, breathing gradually steady, waiting for the doctor's initial diagnosis.
At this moment, she chose to block the news and face it alone. She knew her family well, and if she learned of a serious injury, she would definitely travel day and night, even if they were thousands of miles apart. "Coming here in the middle of the night, I'm worried something will happen to them."
That night, Wan Jiayao returned to Chengdu from Fuzhou. The next day, her parents learned of her daughter's injuries and wept bitterly. After some hasty packing, Wan's father and mother immediately rushed to Chengdu, a hundred kilometers away.
When the long-lost reunion turned into a meeting in the hospital room, the parents' tears came out again. Next, there are countless difficulties waiting for this family of three.
Sterilizing, scraping flesh, and conducting laboratory tests, Wan Jiayao endured pain that no one her age had ever experienced, enduring the excruciating pain of gauze, pliers, spatulas, and scouring spoons repeatedly rubbing between flesh and bone.
"Every day the doctor has to look at my meat, whether it's good or bad." Wanjayao cried red eyes from time to time. "It hurts, it hurts." Crying whenever it hurts has become her most common emotional outlet.
After daily medical care, Wan Jiayao began a life with a hospital bed. She didn't have to do anything, she didn't have to care about anything, and everything was taken care of by her parents, just like a baby.
What used to be a communal life has become a solitary one, staring at the ceiling and looking out the window every day, wanting to do something but unable to do anything about it.
The good news is that, based on the pre-recovery and two surgeries, Wanjayo will be able to return in a year.
However, accidents happen.
"Got an unfortunate infection halfway through."
The recovery period is extended indefinitely and everything starts over. Three months, six months, a year, or longer? No one can give an answer.
"Girl child family, why such a serious injury, it is better not to play soccer in the future." Grandparents are 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 and know that I like to play soccer, much less give up because of this one injury." Although not expressed in person, privately Wan's father would complain to the coach, "The girl child should not play soccer." The father, who practiced basketball, knows the twists and turns of the career path, and better understands the value of perseverance.
In the end, my daughter's determination overcame my family's hesitation. 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 Jiayao was pushed onto the operating table again.
internal and external difficulties
2017 saw the return of Wanjayo after a 2-year absence.
"Too excited." In the face of this familiar and unfamiliar venue, Wan Jiayao's excitement is still accompanied by a hidden fear. "Whether my right leg is still the same, whether my scrambling will still bring injuries."
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 asks me 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 put in a room by herself.
Stretching alone, jogging alone, training alone, anxiety, restlessness, and loneliness fill the mind.
"Am I a wreck?"
Whenever I saw my teammates practicing or out competing, inner panic would run through my head, constantly self-denying and self-encouraging.
"A lot of times I have to face it alone because my friends around me don't want to receive too much negativity either, and I have to learn to self-digest myself." Music became Wan Jiayao's best friend when she was depressed.
To close the gap and make up for two lost years, Wanjayao tried to step onto the training field.
"Ouch!"
In the first training session, faced with the sudden amount of exercise, the atrophied muscle groups and slim calves collectively resisted Wan Jiayao's orders.
"That pain as soon as you hit the ground, from the ball of your foot to your brain, stress pain." That's just a small part of the rehab, which is followed by even harsher physical training.
Starting over and going from zero to one is a whole new subject for her.
What rose doesn't have thorns, and the best bloom is a counterattack.
When all the bad times were in front of him, Wanjayao gritted his teeth and crushed the bumps and bruises on the road ahead, scoring a goal on his debut and making a perfect return.
Unfortunately, a few months later, the writers of fate played another joke and her career hit rock bottom.
Captain's Way
"From a professional standpoint, men's soccer, if you get banned for 2 years at 16, the player is a goner."
In 2019, Yang Zhe is in charge of the Sichuan women's soccer team, and Wan Jiayao has just returned from suspension.
The race clash 2 years ago was a dark moment for the 16-year-old.
One ticket, two-year ban.
Like a climber on a crag, halfway up a mountain, one mudslide is enough to plunge to the bottom.
All the stoicism and sweat were gone in an instant.
Stick it out or give it up? Play soccer or go to school? Confused, lost, and tormented, she wanders at the crossroads.
It was gray as far as the eye could see.
It is fenced in on all sides.
Banned from competitions, not allowed to train with the team, all the effort becomes optional.
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 fitness, elementary school 800 meters can run first place, against no loss.
Again, there is strength and grace.
Regarding the latter, Younger gave an example.
Wanjayo is out injured in the third round of the 2019 Women's League.
The pre-game practice resulted in an injury due to a solid body jamming defense.
"The training was a very serious one, and Wanda was scrambling as if it were an official game." Yang Zhe recalled.
"The average girl doesn't."
"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.
There are countless cases like this.
Wanjayo's injury during the 2020 Super League run was similarly caused in training.
To use the mantra of many provincial soccer personnel, "Wanjayo, you're hurt again, huh?!"
So when the coach made the news of the new captain's choice public, everyone answered yes.
"The big sisters are quite fond of her.
And Xiaowan is quite delicate, once she finds that her teammates are not in good shape or encountering heart problems, she will always take the initiative to communicate with the coach, thinking about how to help the team move forward better."
As for Wanjayao himself, coming out of the darkest four years and into adulthood is a miracle in itself.
About the captain, she hadn't been one, hadn't thought about it, but already had a strong enough heart to take it on.
"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.
In the 2022 Women's Super League, the quiet and shy girls off the field are as graceful and composed warriors on the field.
When the team lost the ball, she was always the first to shout and encourage the whole team, "It's okay, come again, come on!"
When working together on defense, she also yells, "Good shot, don't move her."
In the fourth round of the league against the Beijing Women's Football Team, she was able to both single-defend Wang Shanshan three times in a row to steal the ball from the women's soccer captain; and also lost points because of her adventurous uptake, which resulted in a loss of position.
It's a lesson in being young and productive, and even more so in growing up.
"There's more responsibility than there was, more courage to shout out to your teammates.
Before I was captain, I crossed my arms when I was tired, but less now.
Overall it's still short of 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
On December 8, 2021, the Chinese women's football team announced its list of players preparing for the Asian Cup, the first national team training session after Shui Qingxia took office.
An unfamiliar name appeared in the list of 34 people - Wan Jiayao.
This is the Sichuan captain's first trip to the national team, after she never made it to the National Junior and National Youth.
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 rewrote 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, facing the Women's Super League on the international teammates, despite the familiarity, but after changing the red suit, she felt unprecedented pressure, because the chest of Sichuan has become China.
Wan Jiayao adjusted her breathing, but her limbs stayed stiff and her legs shook incessantly.
Seeing this, the sisters on the sidelines took the initiative to chime in, "Wannabe, relax, they are all good players to be here, believe in yourself."
Shui Qingxia centralized the team and gave encouragement to Wan Jiayao, Zhang Linyan, Wang Linlin and other 00s juniors.
"Young kids should not be afraid to play boldly and go try to catch up with their 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 that 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 by 2025.
"I hope to become a regular on the national team." Wan Jiayao set herself the goal.
Wait until you're strong enough to stay in the ocean.
She did not give a standard definition of "strong".
May 14, China's women's football team announced the second phase of the 2022 training list announced, Sichuan captain again shortlisted.
At 21 years of age, I was free and flamboyant, but I was already burdened with heavy responsibilities.
21 years old, this is the prelude to Shaohua, but has been through the storm.
For Wan Chia-Yao, she could have turned around and quit after a taste of bitterness, and wandered through her school days like her former teammates.
There is no day-to-day exposure to the sun, no capricious injuries, no sword-fighting, just pure, spontaneous enjoyment of the joy that soccer gives.
But she swam upstream against the current, weathered the rough terrain, and explored the possibility of her own perseverance over and over again.
Just 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 will also bloom for you and for you all.
