Lack of high-level attention, lack of grand ceremonies before the opening match, no luxury chartered flights, no generous victory bonus, not to mention the luxury of a five-star hotel. Yet it was a national soccer team marked as the most understated and weakest in the annals of soccer history that turned the lions of Southeast Asia into papier-mâché tigers with a 2-1 comeback against Thailand, regarded as the strongest team of all time. Wang Shangyuan, a substitute at the age of 30, scored the first goal of his national team career. He had suffered a lot of cold eyes and ridicule, as Evergrande's outcast, his pride finally bloomed in this moment. Looking back on Wang Shangyuan's soccer career, two key turning points of courage stand out.
Born in June 1993, Wang Shangyuan is 30 years old and like Gao Lin, he began his soccer career at the famous Zheng Shanglu Primary School in Henan Province. At that time, Wang's awareness and skills already surpassed those of his peers, and he soon made a name for himself in the prestigious Locomotive Association. The moment he chose to join the locomotive association, it meant that Wang Shangyuan had a relationship with soccer from then on, and with the support of his family, he bravely took that step. 2008, the locomotive association was disbanded, and Wang Shangyuan and his mates became vagabonds. Fortunately, the People's Congress Affiliated High School reached out to him, allowing him to return to school and continue to pursue his soccer dream.
At NPC Central, Wang continued to show his soccer talent, and in 2011, he became the only non-professional player on the national youth team, making a splash at the Weifang Cup. He then played for Beijing Sanco in the China B League, scoring 10 goals in 21 matches and attracting the attention of many clubs. But Wang Shangyuan chose the path of challenging himself and traveled to Europe for a trial.
Wang Shangyuan, at the time, was not a soccer genius at the age of 93. Luneng and Zhejiang both had a multitude of dazzling talents. According to conventional thinking, Wang Shangyuan would have been lucky to play in the reserve team of the Chinese Super League. If he can be among the first team, it is even more thankful. However, he chose to take a brave step forward, handing in his resume and accepting trials on the green fields of Europe. In the end, the Belgian giants Bruges signed him. Even Wang Shangyuan himself did not expect such a result.
However, the challenges of the Europa League are no child's play. 2013/14 saw Wang score just 1 goal in 9 games for Brugge, including 1 goal in 7 games, and 2 goals in 2 games in the Europa League, and he didn't even get a chance to play in the 2014/15 season. But these experiences added a golden edge to the success of Wang's soccer career, and at the beginning of 2015, he terminated his contract with Brugge and moved to Chinese Super League giants Guangzhou Evergrande on a free transfer.
At Evergrande, Wang Shangyuan saw what it meant to be a true footballing giant. he was severely reprimanded by Evergrande goalkeeper Zeng Cheng by the throat after a defensive error nearly led to a goal conceded against Zhejiang Greentown in the 2015 season. The poor performance and obvious size also caused Evergrande fans to ridicule him, even rising to the level of personal attacks. Unable to bear it, Wang fought back, but his counterattacks appeared feeble.In June 2018, Wang once again made the brave decision to leave the well-paid Evergrande and join his hometown team Henan Jianye on loan.
Here, Wang Shangyuan found the joy of soccer and helped the team successfully get relegated as a starter.After the 2018 season, he officially signed with Henan. In the next few seasons, despite several changes of management at Henan, Wang's position as a starter was solid. When Javier took over, he took over the captain's armband from veteran captain Gu Cao. In that year, he had already washed his hands of all the lead and became the leader of the team, earning the title of "General Wang".
His outstanding performances at club level brought Wang Shangyuan back into the spotlight of the national team.In October 2019, he made his debut for the national football team.In 2021, he played with the national football team in the Top 12 of the Asian World Qualifiers. Although he did not have the opportunity to play, he easily said that this experience is not for everyone. This time, at the age of 30, Wang Shangyuan finally scored the first goal of the national football team, helping the national football team to win the world preliminaries, and interpreted his fairy tale.
At the age of 20, he went abroad to try out for Europe, giving up the lucrative Evergrande deal to join his hometown's relegated team. Any one of Wang's two brave choices would have been enough of a mistake to destroy his career, but he succeeded in both. This kind of courage is what young Chinese players lack. I hope Wang's success will inspire and encourage them.
