On January 17th in Beijing, a piece of good news spread all over the football world: Guoan U23 player Gao Tianyi, with his brilliant performance this season, was selected for the first time in the national football team. The newly promoted international footballer recently accepted an exclusive interview with Soccer News, talking about his feelings about joining Guoan and his outlook on life in the national team.
Talking about being selected for the national team, Gao Tianyi was overwhelmed with emotion: "First of all, I would like to thank Coach Li Xiaopeng for his trust in me. It has always been my dream to be selected for the national team, but I have never set a clear timetable. I think as long as I stay competitive in the league, the national team coaching staff will naturally give me a chance."
"Being selected for the training list this time is kind of a small goal, and it also means that I need to be stricter with myself in training and matches to be able to stand up to the title of international footballer." As a newcomer to the national team, Gao Tianyi said he wants to focus on learning and integrate into the team as soon as possible. After all, this is his first time being selected, and he needs to familiarize himself with his seniors on the field as soon as possible and create a tacit understanding.
Talking about the performance of this season in the national security team, Gao Tianyi is most satisfied with the game against Shenzhen, he said: "It should be the first round of the Guangzhou tournament against Shenzhen. After the game I looked at the running data, the high intensity of that game running, sprinting distance should be to reach my personal a new high. The high intensity reached more than 800 close to 900 meters, sprinting run also has almost 400 meters, for me personally, that game is relatively high. By the way, plus that game to Yu Ning (Zhang Yuning) gave an assist." As for the most regrettable game, Gao Tianyi said: "Also in the Guangzhou tournament, against Shandong Taishan in the first round, and finally extra time was killed by the opponent. We are a single foreign aid, in fact, the kick is not bad."
Earlier, Guoan officially announced the news of Bilic's departure. Talking about the former manager, Gao Tianyi said: "Mr. Bilic's influence on me is huge. First of all, he brought me to Guoan and gave me a lot of self-confidence, and then gave me patient guidance on and off the field. The vast majority of the reason I've been able to perform the way I have this year is actually due to him, so that also means I sincerely wish him all the best for the future."
Talking about Bilic's use of people, Gao Tianyi said: "He is definitely not the kind of coach who is not willing to use young players, but he will be more thoughtful in the use of the appropriate time, the appropriate orientation to go to give young players the opportunity, rather than that blindly enabled." Gao Tianyi said he often communicates with Bilic, he said: "more said around the problems that occur in each game, some of my personal need to improve the place, he can always give me the right guidance, the right advice, and the next game immediately see the effect, which proves that he is an excellent coaching staff."
"I also sent him a text message after getting the news that he was leaving to thank him and wish him all the best for the future. He also gave me a few words of advice, he said you did play well in 2021 but in the world of soccer, yesterday doesn't count and he said you must look backwards and carry on with this form of yours and keep improving."
Talking about his own technical characteristics, Gao Tianyi said: "I previously preferred the Spanish golden age of the midfield, such as Xavi. Recently, I appreciate the three Croatian midfielders: first of all, Modric, so old, still maintains a very high level of attack, our head coach Bilic also mentioned him to us, saying that he is a very professional player; and then there is Rakitic, our team's assistant coach once told me that my style of play is in fact quite similar to him, so that I can usually look at the video of his matches! Then there is Kovačić, he is also very comprehensive, technical, physical confrontation ability is very strong, now in Chelsea is also playing very well."
Finally, talking about the topic of staying in the ocean, Gao Tianyi responded that: "stay in the ocean this matter for me, the heart has always had the idea, because I was 17 years old with some regrets back to the domestic, I think in the future must choose the appropriate time to go to stay in the ocean, and now I still hope to all-round to strengthen their own ability, play more high-level matches, and then go to Europe after standing firm. After standing firmly, then go to Europe, so that after going, the coach let you play because your ability can really help the team, rather than that may be just because you are a Chinese player."
"In the future I will certainly not give up any opportunity to stay in the ocean, there is a suitable time I will be brave to challenge, do not give myself regrets. In fact, when I was a teenager learning soccer in Spain, my wish was to play in La Liga one day in the future, and I will fight for it in the future." (DD)
