By Chen Wei
Liu Ruowan van showed his goal scoring talent once again as Chengdu Rongcheng beat Nantong Zhiyun 1-0 on the night of June 9th. After completing the 10th round of the new Chinese League One season, Liu Ruowan returned to the public eye in a unique way by finishing second in the scorer's table.
In fact, Liu Ruofan went through a lot during these two years. Injuries that lasted eight or nine months prevented him from playing, and he even suffered another injury during the National Olympic training period. At one point, Liu Ruofan began to question whether he could still continue his soccer career and whether he could still meet his own expectations. Fortunately, Liu Ruowan has now regained his composure, as evidenced by his 7 goals and 2 assists in 10 rounds of matches. Despite his impressive stats at this stage, Liu Ruowan is only 22 years old and is still in the early stages of his career. Whether or not he can continue to maintain this kind of form will depend on how he adjusts himself.
Injuries had taken him from the top to the bottom.
Let's turn the clock back to the 2017 season's AFC Cup final, when 18-year-old Liu Ruowan van "came out of nowhere". The first round of the game debut, Liu Ruowan assisted Martins goal, the next round of the debut, although no goal or assist data into the account, but for him, can play the game is very good. After all, he relied on the U23 policy to a certain extent to start the game, which Liu Ruofan himself did not deny. Shenhua eventually won the AFC Cup, and Liu Ruofan got his first career title.
At the time, Liu Ruofan was overwhelmed by the victory, "After winning the championship, I felt that I could only be able to, at that time, I was eager for the new season, even though I was relying on the policy of kicking on the ball, but I just hoped that I could rely on my own ability to kick on the ball in the new season." Soon, Liu Ruofan ushered in the 2018 season. Looking back now, Liu Ruowan van's performance in the 2018 season was okay, but there were still traces of policy protection. Fortunately, he collected his first career goal in the away match against Dalian Yifang. "It's not bad to get the first goal of your career, and this season, even though the playing time is not very good, I think the performance is passable."
After his performance in the Chinese Super League, Liu Ruofan got the key attention of the then National Olympic Team Head Coach Hiddink, and he was successfully selected for the National Olympic Team. For Liu Ruowan vanadium, just impacted the World Youth Championships of the loss, selected for the national Olympic Games let him get some comfort. "At that time I hoped that I could represent the National Olympic team to play in the Olympic Games, the Olympic Games is one of the goals I strive for in my career." However, there are unpredictable clouds, in the training in Thailand, Liu Ruofan was injured, this injury for him, the blow is too big, "I was very sad, I practiced for a long time in order to qualify for the Olympic Games, but the injury made me not have a chance to play, I think at that time I was nothing."
What Liu Ruowan van did not expect is that this is only the beginning of the nightmare. After recovering from the injury, Liu Ruowan van on behalf of Shenhua in the league to get the opportunity to play, but then the national Olympic training in Huangshi, he was injured again, and entered a long period of recuperation, "that period of time, really, I'm very sad. Although injuries are something that athletes often encounter, but two big injuries a year, who can stand it." Said this, Liu Ruowan vanadium deep sigh.
However, Liu Ruowan vanadium finally took the last train of the second stage of the Olympic qualifying tournament, but three games down, he only got less than 10 minutes of stage time, against Iran, he also missed a time for the team to equalize the score. "The playing time was a little bit short, when that ball, I hadn't walked away from it, I didn't handle it well on the field, if I was given another chance, I wouldn't have handled it that way."
Within two years, Liu Ruofan experienced the splendor of winning his first career title at the age of 18, the joy of scoring his first career goal at the age of 19, and the embarrassment of recuperating from an injury for almost one year and eight months. Looking back on that period of time, Liu Ruowan felt that his experience can be described as ups and downs, once from the high of winning the Cup to the bottom of the bottom of the ball can not play, which also led to the period of recovery, Liu Ruowan even feel that he just need to have a healthy body in the coming year, he did not want to be injured again.
Going into the 2020 season, Liu Ruofan wanted to stay and try out for Shenhua, and performed well during the winter training period, but ultimately chose to go out on loan and join then Tianjin Teda.
This season in Tianjin, Liu Ruowan Vanadium now says, is a season of recovery. In Tianjin, both Strikers and Wang Baoshan, both head coaches appreciated him, and he played 17 times in a season, 14 starts and 3 substitutions. Although he didn't score any goals, Liu Ruowan gained self-confidence and felt that he could still stand on the platform of the Chinese Super League. In addition, the cruel relegation battle, Liu Ruofan have scored experience, for him, at this age have such a test, very valuable.
With 7 goals and 2 assists, getting back to a familiar position is key
After playing a season in Tianjin, Liu Ruofan was recalled to Shenhua to play in the AFC Champions League. Liu Ruowan van said that after his return, he obviously felt different and more confident on the field.
After the end of the 2020 season, Liu Ruofan initially wanted to stay at Shenhua to try, but the new season Shenhua's reinforcement is very strong, from the team's configuration, he felt that if he continued to stay in the team, in Shenhua's more luxurious mid-field personnel configuration, he may not have many chances to play, so he decided to continue to loan out.
At that time, there were four Chinese Super League salons and three Chinese First Division salons looking for Liu Ruowanadium, and eventually, Chengdu Rongcheng recruited him. As for the reason, Liu Ruofan's explanation is: firstly, at that time, the chairman of the Chengdu Football Association and the vice chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Football Association, Mr. Koo Jianming, called him and hoped that he could join Chengdu Rongcheng, and Mr. Koo was the coach of Liu Ruofan's father, and Liu's father also accepted the suggestion; secondly, the general manager of Shenhua Salon, Mr. Zhou Jun, and Liu Ruofan comprehensively analyzed the situation of all the salons and felt that it was more suitable for him to go to Chengdu Rongcheng to play soccer; thirdly, and most importantly, Liu Ruofan is a Sichuan citizen. Thirdly, and most importantly, Liu Ruofan is from Sichuan, and he hopes to return to Chengdu to contribute to his hometown team. Liu Ruowan is a native of Nanchong, Sichuan Province, and his home is only about a two-hour drive from Chengdu, so he always chooses to go home to see his mom and dad when he's on vacation.
Before Liu Ruowan van despite the playing time is not a lot, but in the end is in the Chinese Super League, came to the Chinese A, Liu Ruowan van does not have any extra idea, is that I hope their confidence can continue to improve, but also hope that their own characteristics can be fully played, "In fact, from the Chinese Super League to the Chinese A, I don't have any psychological gap. I've been playing in the Chinese Super League for a few years, but I haven't been able to bring my own characteristics into play, and when I come to Chengdu Rongcheng, I hope I can bring my own characteristics into play and help the team."
After the start of the new season, Liu Ruowan vanadium soon ushered in the outbreak. In the first round of the league, against Jiangxi Beidamen, Liu Ruowan scored a goal in the second half, opening the new season's goal account; the second round of the league against Nanjing City, Liu Ruowan in the opening 10th minute for the team's first record, harvesting the second goal of the new season; the fourth round of the league against the North University of Physical Education, and Liu Ruowan in the game for the team's first record to assist the team to get the good situation; the league's fifth round, Chengdu Rongcheng In the fifth round of the league, Chengdu Rongcheng ushered in a crucial top-of-the-table battle, and in the end, Chengdu Rongcheng reversed Nantong Jiyun 2-1 after conceding a goal shortly after the start of the game. In the 66th minute of the game, Leonardo passed a wonderful pass from the left side of the road, and Liu Ruowan didn't waste the time, and he passed into the penalty box from between the two defenders and then calmly pushed a shot through the goal to get a lead for Chengdu Rongcheng 2-1; in the eighth round of the league, Liu Ruowan got the goal for his team in the game against Kunshan to get a 2-0 lead for his team. In the 9th round of the league, Liu Ruowan scored again, opening the scoring against North Sporting University, and in the 10th round, Liu Ruowan continued to score unsurprisingly against Nantong Zhiyun. 7 goals in 10 matches made Liu Ruowan Chengdu Rongcheng's top scorer and the second in the Central League Scorers' Chart.
In the first 10 rounds of the Central League, Liu Ruofan finally showed his value. Despite scoring 7 goals, Liu Ruofan is not proud of himself, he thinks it's all because he is more lucky, in addition, he feels that his teammates also have a lot of credit, if there are no teammates' assists, maybe he also has no chance to score goals.
10 rounds of competition scored 7 goals, 2 assists, Liu Ruofan said, he did not expect the new season will have such a performance. Before the start of the new season, Liu Ruofan set himself the policy of scoring 10 goals in a season, now less than one-third of the way, the policy has completed 70%.
Talking about the reason for the outbreak in the Central League, Liu Ruofan said: "I feel that the level of the Central League is slightly worse than that of the Chinese Super League. In the Chinese Super League, when you get the ball, it may give you only 0.5 seconds to react, but in the Central League, there may be 1 second to think about it, which is 0.5 seconds is very important. In addition, I played a season in Tianjin last year, I feel that this year is very important for my training, and after the season played the AFC Champions League, I feel that it is obviously different again. Another important thing is my position. I played in Chengdu Rongcheng as a second striker, a shadow striker and a front man, and I think this position suits me better. In front, Leonardo helps me to attract the defense, he is strong and fights, and I will be the one who cuts, cuts forward and carries the ball, which is an explosive point."
Liu Ruowan Van has been playing in this position since his debut, while before that he appeared more on the side in Shenhua and Taida. In the first division, Liu Ruowan could practice shooting four times a week, but in the Premier League, he first spent time practicing defense with his teammates on the same side of the field, and how to successfully freeze the opponents' side attacks, with more focus on the defensive side of the field in practice and matches. In Chengdu Rongcheng, head coach Xu Zhengyuan told Liu Ruowan to put more physical energy into the attacking third, which is near the penalty area, without having to pull back too much to receive the ball, and just as soon as a player on the side of the ball is in possession of the ball, Liu Ruowan rushes towards the penalty area. Xu Zhengyuan repeatedly urged to do things, exactly Liu Ruowan van's favorite thing to do.
In Xu Zhengyuan's eyes, Liu Ruowan is a young man who is very fast, has good skills and has his own characteristics, but Xu Zhengyuan also said that young people will have the habit of being lazy easily and also have the disadvantage of lack of concentration, so every time he is on the field, Xu Zhengyuan will always advise Liu Ruowan, pointing to his head and comparing the drawings, requesting that his concentration on the field should be maintained, which is a great assistance to Liu Ruowan.
Although the start of the new season, Liu Ruowan van obtained good data, but due to the previous experience of too many bad, Liu Ruowan van can now mind very calmly face such achievements and external praise, "really did not expect to be able to score so many goals, but I truly feel that the reason why I can score is not the credit of me alone, it is the result of the team's efforts, and will not put these goals I don't see these goals as my personal credit and float up. I now have a very calm mindset, that is, I hope that through the continuous game gradually improve self-confidence, the idea of each game is also very simple, that is, I hope to help the team, I expect to be able to fight for Sichuan, for Sichuan fans to fight for a little bit!"
Such a calm state of mind and calm idea, Liu Ruowan vanadium is not only to himself, to the team is also so see. After 10 rounds of matches, Liu Ruowan vanadium on this year's super situation has a general viewpoint, he felt that the Rongcheng team want to super, the difficulty is not small, because the test will not be less, "now the middle A touch every team is not good to play. Our first 5 rounds of 4 wins and 1 draw, the situation is very smooth, then feel very relaxed, but then followed by 2 draws and 1 loss, those 3 games are as bad as cold water poured over, especially our loss to the North Gate of Jiangxi Province, the ball, we accumulated 13 points, the other side only 3 points, so the outside world said that the ball exploded a big cold door. I feel that we should not take every opponent lightly. A lot of teams in the Middle League are playing with a big bus when they meet us, seven or eight people are piled up in the backfield, so we can't open up our offense and we have to guard against their fast counterattacks, so we have to be really focused." The 9th round against the North Sports University, the first half of the Rongcheng team has not scored, Liu Ruowan van also a little anxious, fortunately, the second half has just started not long, Liu Ruowan van scored a goal, "in fact, after a goal, the other side's heart may not be the same. The game is like this, facing the dead defense can not be anxious, to have patience."
In Chengdu Rongcheng's group, both Kunshan and Nantong Zhiyun produced great difficulties for Chengdu Rongcheng. Chengdu Rongcheng and Kunshan team played twice, twice were forced to draw, especially the second round of the meeting, Rongcheng team in the case of 2-0 lead was equalized by the other side, then Rongcheng more than one person, but the opponent scored a goal, Rongcheng the final time before the equalization of the 3 than the level, to take a point. Liu Ruowan vanadium showed that these two teams are very energetic, "in fact, all the competition should be played carefully, can not take the enemy lightly."
"In fact, this year in the Central League, the effect of our domestic players are great, because many teams of many foreign aid have not been able to smoothly rush back, also caused the overall level of this year's Central League is slightly lower than before, our team's foreign aid has not been rushed back, if they come back, a midfielder and a striker, we're really very strong, and now they do not come back, we must play well in front of the Every game, when they come back and then sprint." Liu Ruofanadium said.
Playing soccer in your hometown is good for your mind and body.
Now Liu Ruofan, the state of mind is great, in fact, is playing in the homeland, and now the team is also the super big favorites, and their own kicking is also good.
Liu Ruowan vanadium and Rongcheng team are very good relations, usually in the team can speak Sichuan language, and teammates without barriers to communication, found a long-lost feeling of home.
In 2008, Liu Ruowan van went to Chongqing alone to receive training, and then moved to Shanghai's Genbao base, and after some twists and turns, returned to Sichuan at the age of 22. It is worth mentioning that there are now two Chinese assistant coaches in the Rongcheng team who are Liu Ruowanadium's dad's teammates, "They often give me a small stove, teach me a reasonable way of playing soccer, so that I can grow up faster, so I play here, whether it is mentally, or physically, are more pleasant."
Liu Ruowan vanadium and his father also often have exchanges, his father was also a player, played the National City Games, but the reputation is not as big as Liu Ruowan vanadium. Although their father and son exchanges between more, but the technical and tactical aspects of things, Liu father never say more to him, he felt that this aspect of the coach to teach, they are completely at ease, he and Liu Ruowan van exchanges more is still outside of the field of play, he expects Liu Ruowan van can maintain the state, low humility, positive integration into the collective, to focus on the game.
Shenhua complex: "be pitched" 7 times the red envelope
Now Shenhua has a lot of loanee players, Liu Ruowan, Xu Hao Yang, Zhou Jun Chen, Xu Lei, etc. These loanee players have a very good performance in their respective teams, basically all of them have stabilized their footing. These loanee players have a small group where the youngsters talk freely about who is winning, who is losing, who is doing well and who is doing poorly, and they mock each other. Last season, Liu Ruowan van and Zhou Junchen, who is on loan at Qingdao, exchanged a lot of ideas. Both of them play in the Chinese Super League and play on the side, so they have a lot of common language.
Of course, Liu Ruofan also keep in touch with Shenhua's big brother, only every time after the goal, Liu Ruofan will be big brother play, such as Qin Sheng, every time before the game will encourage Liu Ruofan, hope he can score, and then after the goal, Liu Ruofan will have to send them a red packet, up to now, Liu Ruofan has sent a red packet for 7 times, "Sheng a little bit of pit me money feeling, every time! Before the match will encourage me, after the completion of the goal to me to send red packets. Haha."
Rong Hao, Peng Xinli and Liu Ruowan Van have a good relationship during their time at Shenhua. Rong Hao and Liu Ruowan communicated very frequently, he would tell Liu Ruowan how to handle the ball in what situation is more appropriate. Peng Xinli will send encouragement to Liu Ruowan every time he scores a goal. Both of them are Sichuanese, during the communication, Liu Ruowan said he is a little brother, just blowing the horn for the Sichuanese army, and he said Peng Xinli is the king of the Sichuanese army now. After Peng Xinli was injured, Liu Ruofan also sent a message to send his condolences. Liu Ruowan van said, Peng Xinli injury himself is very sad, because the big brother this time the injury is more serious, and he also had a deep injury trouble, feel the same.
Now Liu Ruowan Vanadium, has not used social media like Weibo and Jieyin for a long time. Before Liu Ruowan van is still very active on the microblogging, because it sends a lot of replies, he will also see a lot of comments, positive or negative, will read, but this will affect the training again, so he simply deleted the software. "In fact, I really don't care about the outside world's views, I just want to play soccer well now."
Now that he is doing so well in the Central League, will he try to return to Shenhua next season? Such a question is naturally often mentioned, Liu Ruofan said that now does not think so much, he is hoping to play a good season in Chengdu Rongcheng, to help his hometown team successfully to the Super League, if Shenhua want him to go back, he will still go back, but now is not the time to think about this issue.
