In the early morning of July 30th, Hebei Football Club's first-team launched a lively open training session on the green field in Langfang, where the two head coaches, Jin Jongfu and Cui Lin, came face-to-face with media journalists from Shijiazhuang, Beijing, and Langfang, while enthusiastic representatives of the two hundred fans from the province were present in person and interacted with the team.
Hebei's team has taken on a youthful look this year, with 13 young players standing out, all from the youth training system, such as Gao Yu-Nan, Zhao Zi-Ye, Sun Hong-Wei, and Liu Run-Nan, who have already made their debut in the first phase of the Chinese Super League. The average age of the team has also dropped to 22.6 from 26 last year.
The first phase of this year's Chinese Super League still utilizes a closed conference system, with Hebei being assigned to the Dalian division. After 10 rounds of fierce battles, this young team has grown up in the competition, and the new young players have experienced the cruelty of the Chinese Super League. However, due to the closed session system, the games in Dalian could not be opened to the fans, so the fans have not been able to witness the team's style for more than a year.
In the open training on July 30, Jin Jongfu led the team to debut at Langfang Stadium, with main players such as Pan Ximing, Ding Haifeng, Cui Lin, Bao Yaxiong, and Zhang Wei all participating, and the addition of young players has injected new vitality into the team.
In the interview, Jin Jongfu said, "This year our team went through reorganization and many players left, now we are facing how to develop new players. Zhang Wei was originally a defender, but due to the shortage of manpower in the striker position, I decided to let him try out as a striker, and it worked out well. Recently I am also paying attention to the performance of young players."
Talking about reinforcements, Kim Jong-woo said, "Of course I want to bring in new players, both foreign and domestic, but the club is facing some difficulties at the moment. We will try our best to solve this problem by focusing on domestic and young players, and I will try my best to develop them."
In an interview, Cui Lin said, "The team is young this year, and the young players have been given a lot of opportunities, and they need to improve with the help of the veterans to better gel the lineup."
Cui Lin, as a player who grew up from a young player, gave advice to the juniors, "Be positive in attitude, train hard, even extra training in private, listen more to the teaching of the older players, learn from experience, and follow through on the requirements of the head coach, which will help to improve yourself."
Facing the pressure of relegation in the league, Cui Lin said, "The relegation game is very difficult for us, but we can only focus on the next game and give our best. The coaches and leaders have helped us a lot in our mentality, the team has a good atmosphere, and everyone encourages each other to go one step at a time."
Zhang Yadong from Langfang Xiangyun Fan Club said excitedly, "I am very excited to see the players again after three years. Although the team is facing difficulties, but see the youth training players become the main force, the team performance is getting better and better, we see hope. I hope the players are fearless and fight to the end!"
After the training, media and fan representatives gathered with the team for lunch at Nanmen Shabu Shabu (Bajie Street Store). Zhang Shengjun, Chairman of Langfang Football Association, Li Jun, General Manager of Hebei Football Club and other leaders were present and thanked the media and fans for their support and hoped that they could join hands to tide over the difficulties and work hard for the development of Hebei soccer.
On the same day, the Chinese Super League (CSL) officially announced the remaining 24 rounds of fixtures, Hebei will face Chengdu Rongcheng in Haikou on Aug. 5, and the team will also move into Haikou next week to prepare for the upcoming matches.
