In his last six matches, Liu Zhurun contributed three goals for Shanghai Harbour, two of which came in a fierce derby against city rivals Shenhua, and was awarded Player of the Match.
The 20-year-old youngster became the shining star of Shanghai Harbour's forward line at the AFC Cup tournament in Dalian, and his performance was undoubtedly a big gain for the team.
Before leaving for the Dalian tournament, the young star was accompanied by the press officer of the Harbour Saloon for an interview with the media.
"I was able to contribute to the team."
Liu Zhurun made his Derby debut and scored his first Derby goal in the first leg of the semi-final. Although he scored again in the second leg, Liu Zhurun was still a bit surprised by his first Derby goal.
"It was very confusing and I ran a bit after the goal before I remembered to do the celebration. Then I reacted and was also very happy that I could score in such an important game." Liu Zhurun said, "As a striker, of course I thought about scoring, but I didn't expect it to come so soon. After scoring the goal is actually quite confused."
Talking about this F.A.C.A. Cup trip, Liu Zhurun revealed that he initially came to Dalian with a learning attitude, "Of course I also hoped that I could play, and I also wanted to be able to fight for more playing time. Luckily, I scored a header in the third game, and that's when my confidence rose, thinking that maybe I have the ability to help the team."
Remembering the master's teachings
Liu Zhurun expressed his gratitude to head coach Leko, "I am very grateful that he is willing to give us young players a chance. I will take every tournament and every training session seriously in future matches and training. There is a saying from the head coach that I remember very well, which is 'how much love we have for soccer, how much love soccer will give back to us'. I was very impressed with this quote and the head coach was right in saying that how much you give is how much you get back. Going forward in training, I will work harder to do my best, meet the head coach's demands and execute his tactics."
Harbor team this time vigorously use young players, Liu Zhurun said it is also a kind of encouragement to him, "Chen Xu Huang and Zhang Hui Yu is two years younger than me, they are on the game. I feel the pressure, I'm not the youngest in the team. They are also growing step by step, so I have to work harder to improve myself and then go and help the team."
Wu Lei (1979-), Chinese footballer
It's my goal.
After scoring in the first leg of the semi-final with Shenhua, Liu Zhurun broke Wu Lei's record as the youngest player to score in a derby. Liu Zhurun kept a clear head about this, "Actually I have seen these comments. But I'm still too far away from Lei, is a full range, such as holding the ball, forward, and experience is far less than him. Lei is my goal, I first want to look like Lei."
After Oscar assisted Liu Zhurun's goal, the two had an exchange on the field. Liu Zhurun revealed: "It was due to a ball matching error before, he passed to me, but I ran away. At that time, he was discussing this ball with me, I should go to receive. Oscar usually gives me a lot of guidance, teaching me how to play the center forward position well, how to pull and how to receive. I'm very grateful to him for that goal. He had a lot of options, he could have shot himself, and there was also a chance on Baitijiang's side, and he chose to pass to me in the end."
When we return to Shanghai, we'll work on our strength.
Summarize this AFC Cup competition, Liu Zhurun think the biggest gain is to improve in the psychological, "before playing the game will still be nervous, these two derby is also the first time to play, feel the atmosphere on the field. The important thing is to enhance the self-confidence, technical dare to do action. In fact, I'm still very nervous when I come up, I don't dare to hold the ball. I belong to the kind of person who can't let go of himself until he's familiar with the game. These two derbies, these two goals, are good training for me."
Derby and Feng Xiaoting, Jonić such a good center back over, also let Liu Zhurun see their own shortcomings, "and their confrontation is really difficult, these seniors are very old, basically can not grab the ball at their feet, this is also a kind of experience for me to improve. In the confrontation and physical, I still need to strengthen, go back to practice, strengthen their confrontation ability."
Said practice, Liu Zhu Run said back to Shanghai after a few days of rest and recuperation, began to practice strength and physical confrontation, "go back to rest first, and then add their own strength. This is the first thing I thought of, really and old players compared to confrontation is a little worse."
