Soccer reporter Liu Xiangyu reported that the new national team list was unveiled, Guangzhou team nine will be selected, Yan Dinghao is listed. The rising star, who has won national honors at all levels and captained the national Olympic team, was selected for the national team for the first time.
In this season's Chinese Super League, Yan Dinghao's performance has been outstanding, and at the end of the first phase of the league, he has contributed six assists, becoming the king of local players' assists. Despite his high reputation, the national team has not given him a chance as a 23-year-old young midfielder.
Yan Dinghao has made 20 appearances this season, starting 19 times and averaging 79 minutes. Guangzhou's lineup has changed drastically, with the return of naturalized players such as Paulinho and Talisca, and mid-generation players such as Yan Dinghao, Yang Liyu, and Wei Shihao stepping up to the plate. Yan Dinghao has gradually become a midfield commander, with a more mature style of play, and has shown his talent in the attacking end of the field.
After the season, the reporter interviewed Yan Dinghao to summarize the experience of the season. He believes that despite the twists and turns, this is a season of harvest. Being selected to the national team list is another milestone in his career, and he will play a characteristic role in the future to strive to stay in the national team and climb to the top again.
FOOTBALL: If you were given a grade out of 100 for the 2021 season that just ended, what would it be?
Yan Dinghao: I think I can score about 75 or 80 points. The team experienced ups and downs at the beginning of the season, with the departure of Paulinho and Talisca and the adjustment of the tactical system, and finally ended the first stage in second place in the league. Although the group produced changes in the later stages, the overall performance was good. Personally, I have adapted to various situations and maintained good form, so I think I deserve such a score.
FOOTBALL: You finished the season with six assists, ranking third on the assist list, with Oscar and Quintero in front of you, making you the local assist leader. Did you ever think you would have such a statistic in assists before?
I am more good at passing a player, this year a lot of time in the back position, in fact, assists for me is good at something, unfortunately, this year there are a lot of scoring opportunities did not take advantage of, because the team's front line in the stage of the group of the championship is short of people, Zhi organized me to the more forward position, but also created some scoring opportunities.
FOOTBALL: What was the most impressive game of the season?
It was the first game with Shandong, when the game was very close, and my assist helped Yang Liyu score near the end of the first half, and it was a game in Tianhe.
FOOTBALL: What about the more regrettable games?
Relatively regrettable is the last round to play the harbor. Because we took the initiative on the field, and got more chances to score than the other team, but it is true that because of the young players in the front line, there is some lack of experience and ability, and the chances were not grasped, in fact, until the last minute we still had the chance to score, but in the end, we still lost, and maybe this is soccer, after this game, we fell from the second place to the third place.
FOOTBALL: I thought your most impressive game would be the one against Henan, where you finished with two great assists.
Yeah, despite the two assists, it's definitely still a little more valuable against Shandong by the intensity of the game, including the importance of the game.
FOOTBALL: Your six assists were essentially done in the first phase, what were the main reasons for not going any further statistically in the second phase of the Championship bracket?
We can see that in the group of title contenders we did the best is the defense, of course, we also created a lot of opportunities in the offense, but the front-line players are very young, especially in the late stage, only Tan Kaiyuan, Ling Jie two young players, many times their ability to grasp the opportunity will be really poor, such as we passed to the ball but the ball can not be scored, the assists naturally no, which is very normal, the young players need to grow up the process. To the last stage, our mentality is certainly to the team first as a condition, we do not think to brush what data or other, fans can see that we play very selfless, everyone is dedication to their own all to run, in order to let the team win, can pass the ball will not be able to go to the single work.
FOOTBALL: Was it one of the most difficult phases for Canton that you experienced before the start of the Contender's Division race?
That's definitely true, it's still quite difficult to train with just a few people in an empty base, sometimes, especially at the beginning, and without a coach to bring you along, and to keep it completely spontaneous. But the fact that we were able to be in such a situation in the later stages also shows that we are all very demanding and professional players.
FOOTBALL: Do you feel tired from playing this year?
The intensive journey can be coped with, after all, it's the same for every team, so there's not much to say. My own body recovery is relatively fast, I'm also relatively lucky, there is no injury, if there is an injury, the journey is so intensive, you have to rest at least two games, it would be a pity, because every game is the accumulation of experience. The interval is too long, often need to adjust the state from the beginning, this will be more difficult compared to the intensive journey.
FOOTBALL: In the new season, it won't be U23, ready for such a change?
Yan Dinghao: In fact, I have not been looking at myself as a U23 player, I played abroad for so many years, foreign players seventeen or eighteen years old can be in the first team to play the main force, so I have not been thinking of myself as a U23 player, this policy is a kind of protection, but I think it is not a reason for us to stop, I have always been to a higher standard to ask for themselves.
Football：Zhang Yuning is also no longer a U23 player in the 2021 season, he is doing very well, you have grown up together and have a good personal relationship, has his performance touched you in any way?
We were both at Greentown before and he (Zhang Yuning) is definitely a player I have a lot of respect for in my heart and I'm comfortable playing with him as a striker and I would love to have a teammate like that in. I've seen some of his highlights in the league and I've applauded him internally. Every time we meet
