As the 30th approaches, the Chinese national team's journey to the Top 40 is about to begin. The first match against Guam is about to take place, and the Li Tie-coached team is preparing for it in Shanghai. It is worth mentioning that Wu Lei, the only player who has stayed in China, has returned to the country and will represent the national team in this 40-team tournament.
On the 18th, Chinese soccer superstars Fan Zhiyi and Li Weifeng, who had participated in the 2002 World Cup, visited Shanghai, but the purpose of their trip was very different. Their trip was to jointly endorse the arcade classic War of the Three Kingdoms 2 hand game produced by Cheerful Games. At the event, our reporter conducted an exclusive interview with Li Wei Feng.
In the interview, Li Wei Feng shared his life situation, recalled the experience of coaching in Tianhai, talked about the current situation of the old owner Shenhua team, more importantly, he expressed insight into the Top 40: "group stage out of the question still need to ask? To become the strongest in Asia, this level must be passed, otherwise talk about how to progress?"
The soccer reporter asked, "Currently not leading the team anymore, how do you usually spend your time?" Li Wei Feng replied, "Picking up and dropping off children, running, working out, occasionally playing golf with friends, and watching and learning about the game when the league starts." The reporter asked, "Do you still play soccer?" Li Wei Feng replied: "Basically do not play, may be too long as a player when playing soccer, after the transition to play soccer has no special desire." The reporter also asked: "I heard that your son is now learning to play soccer, how is he playing?" Li Wei Feng said: "son is still small, more than 7 years old, can not talk about how to play, I want him to try to see if he likes this sport, did not want to let him play how good. Every time after kicking the ball, I will talk to him and tell him to kick the ball seriously, on the field to have momentum, energy, don't be lazy, wobbly." The reporter then asked, "Does your son have a talent for soccer?" Li Wei Feng replied: "sports cells or have, but 8 years old is not yet, the ability to understand is lacking, because some things you say too much, he does not necessarily understand." The reporter continued to ask: "As a father, you hope that his son will play soccer or mainly study?" Li Wei Feng said: "I think learning and playing soccer are not in conflict, first of all, you need to have good knowledge and understanding, the process of playing soccer, your comprehension will improve, and understanding will become better." The reporter asked, "Does he know that you have a great playing career?" Li Wei Feng replied: "more or less understand, but should not be very familiar, unlike his sister, has seen me play soccer. After my son was born, I took him to see the game, but he was too young." The reporter then asked: "Your daughter is now studying?" Li Wei Feng replied: "The boss is reading, the girl should learn a little more qin, chess, calligraphy and painting, quiet a little good." Reporter asked: "Where do you live now?" Li Wei Feng replied: "Temporarily in Tianjin, two children in school there. Now I'll give more time to my family, spend more time with my family."
Question by soccer reporter: "In the 2019 season, when you were coaching at Tianhai, you said to the players: 'Playing loose life loose, it's so easy to concede a goal, how hard is it for you to score a goal.' Can you still recall the context in which you said this at the time?" Li Wei Feng replied, "At that time, we were in the critical period of relegation. Before the end of the league, we played a warm-up match with TEDA, at that time we were ahead and the players played well, but it might have something to do with the team's usual training, everyone was more tired, so later on the attention on the field dropped, and the players were slack, and as a result, we lost that match." Li Wei Feng continued, "In fact, I think a lot of times, a good team, the technical and tactical level is very good, the attention on the field, including the team's execution, must be highly nervous, because a lot of mistakes start from a little bit of laxity, a moment of slack, the other team scored a goal, and in the end, may lose the game. This is very much related to the usual life, you have developed such bad habits in your life, you will make mistakes in the game." The reporter asked, "What you mean is that when a person has a strong sense of time, he will naturally be attentive to everything he does and be able to do things well; and if every individual on a team is like that, then it's a good team. Is that right?" Li Wei Feng replied, "Yes. A team of any one player is very important, on the field everyone plays very well, but in a certain period of time, a certain position of the player even just a moment of distraction, attention drop, may lead to the team to lose points and lose the game. When two teams of similar level play each other, it depends on who makes more mistakes, and if you catch the other team making mistakes, you may win the game. The reasoning is actually a lot of people understand, but still make mistakes, it has to do with his habits in his normal life, so you have to instill them constantly, so that their brains are taut." The reporter asked, "What kind of team is a good team? What kind of team can win the championship?" Li Wei Feng replied: "and your level of the team game to get points, can not lose, face the level is not as good as you, you must get three points, the team to win the championship is basically like this. 2018 season on the Hong Kong why can win the championship? It's because they got all the points they should have gotten, and made fewer mistakes when playing against strong teams, and that's how they were able to win the title. Why didn't SIPG win the title in the 2019 season? In fact, Hong Kong also had a chance in that season, but lost too many points on weak teams. That year, Evergrande was actually about the same level as Shanghai Harbor, but they made fewer mistakes and took all the points they needed. This is the league, is a long process, not the FA Cup, a winners and losers, there is a certain degree of chance, you can win that game in good shape." Li Wei Feng continued, "So back to say, what kind of team is a good team? Including the European leagues we watch, good teams are very stable. How it is at the beginning is how it is, it's all very smooth, especially in the middle and late stages of the league, the more stable you are, the greater the probability of winning the title. As I said earlier, the league is long, every team will have injuries in the middle and late stages, this time it depends on the stability of the team, the thickness of the bench, and will even determine the direction of the team. I see that this season, the league just started a lot of broken bones injury situation appeared, this may be the preparation period has a problem, or else practice tired. Of course, the age structure of the team is also important."
Soccer reporter asked: "Championship teams are like this, relegation teams are also like this?" Li Wei Feng replied, "I think the championship and relegation nothing else, in addition to the stability of the team as a whole, it is the blood of the players, on the field is the bayonet. I have always emphasized with the players is that must maintain the hunger, really, it is very important." Reporter asked, "How do you let the players to keep the hunger?" Li Wei Feng replied, "You have to give him a lot of pressure. There are times when you say don't put pressure on the players, but when it comes to that time, at the critical time of relegation, you have to give, you should instill that thought in them." The reporter asked again, "The fixture system of the Chinese Super League this season is different from last year's, this season is five or six days a game, compared to last season, the schedule is not so tight. From your past experience, is this easier for players to recover?" Li Wei Feng replied, "Yes. This season, although it is still a tournament system, it is different from last season in that the interval is one or two days longer. If it is a 6-day interval, I think this preparation period is very good, completely enough, the team can basically follow the previous home and away arrangements." The reporter asked, "What will you do about the psychological problems caused by the closure?" Li Wei Feng replied: "I think long-term closed games will definitely appear psychological problems, but all teams are closed, not that I closed, the opponent is not closed, so, closed will bring me problems, the opponent also has problems ah. In fact, the closed game also has a good side, that is, there is no outside noise and the resulting distraction, therefore, I do not think there is a need to rotate players." The reporter pressed: "There is no need to rotate?" Li Wei Feng replied: "For a player and a team, confidence is the most important. You see now Shenhua, before not so many cards, this year so many cards, or so play, it is a bit interesting. Of course, each coach has his ideas, so each coach will do things differently."
Soccer reporter asked, "Shenhua is your old boss, you will keep an eye on it too, right?" Li Wei Feng replied, "Yes, I always pay attention to Shenhua. In fact, I think Shenhua's several young players on loan are very good, including Jiang Shenglong, Liu Ruowan and Zhou Junchen. Instead of using older players, I'd rather give them, the youngsters, a chance. Of course, this is my idea, does not represent the ideas of others." The reporter asked, "Will you pay attention to the young players in the Chinese Super League?" Li Wei Feng replied, "A few days ago I watched Zhou Junchen play soccer carefully, and I think his characteristics are very similar to Cao Yunding. Qingdao against Chongqing, I watched a ball to the side in the second half, he went straight in and caused a foul on the other team, and later he asked the referee why he didn't give a penalty kick. I think his performance is very good, in fact, Shenhua of these children really good, Jiang Shenglong, I saw him last year in the TEDA team's game, kicked quite good, quite hard, the key is that he is good at this age." Reporter pressed: "Shenhua put them all out on loan, do you think it's a pity?" Li Wei Feng replied: "Shenhua put them on loan out, may be the management team feel that they have more opportunities to play in other teams, which is not a problem, but in fact the team needs this type of player, you must not say that their age is still small, in 1998 when I entered the national mixed team, only 20 years old. By now, we don't want to fixed thinking, say what U23, U21, in fact, U19 can, look at Europe, 23 years old this age is not small, should play on the ball." Li Weifeng continued: "Now on the Hong Kong understand, he knows rely on the previous class slowly can not, with the increase in the age of the main players, they have to slowly attract reinforcements, and gradually renew the generation, which in the past will not be, because before his domestic player strength is second only to the Evergrande, but the situation will change, and now see the problem, he needs to enhance the individual position. "
Soccer reporter asked, "The national team is about to compete in the remaining matches of the Asian Zone Top 40, what do you think about the national team's prospects for the group stage?" Li Wei Feng replied, "Do we still need to ask about the group stage? To become the best team in all of Asia, the Top 40 this level must be passed, if the Top 40 are not passed, what to talk about down the road?" Reporter asked: "Wu Lei has returned to China, you think in Spain to stay in the ocean he will play what role in the national team to fight for the Top 40?" Li Wei Feng replied: "La Liga is about technology and tactics, and Wu Lei's style of play on the field is still similar to the West B, the league is a level lower, the team's style of play will be different, because the team's goal is to go back to La Liga right away, so my little advice to Wu Lei is that it is best to stick with it, because this is his dream, and also the dream of all the young domestic players! --What do you want when you go to stay in the ocean? You go to stay in the ocean do not be satisfied with the status quo, do not be satisfied with how much salary you get now." The reporter asked, "What is the specific help to the growth of a player to stay in the ocean?" Li Wei Feng replied, "From the player's point of view, perhaps the experience of staying in the ocean is not wonderful, or even very difficult, but it must be very helpful to you later." Li Wei Feng continued, "From a higher level, why is Japanese and South Korean soccer getting closer and closer to the level of European soccer since the 2018 World Cup? Because 80% or 90% of their players on the field have stayed in Europe and received the baptism of European soccer. We need more players like Li Tie, Zheng Zhi, Yang Chen, Jihai, and Xie Hui to go out back then, but how many of our kids are really willing to stay abroad now? Maybe they think that now there is a U23 policy to protect, can play on the ball, but the age is not small, our batch, at the age of 20 years old this age have played the game." Li Wei Feng emphasized: "Therefore, all willing to go out to stay in the ocean, are a higher pursuit, are for the good of Chinese soccer, there are more young players to go out, is really helpful to Chinese soccer, the national team. If this aspect is done well, in the future we will have fewer and fewer naturalized players, because the ones that are naturalized now are in our weak positions on the field. Our young players with potential and plasticity should go to stay in the ocean, not necessarily the Bundesliga, La Liga or whatever, it's very good to be able to play in the second or third-rate European leagues." Reporter asked: "Today (May 18) is Li Tie's 44th birthday, do you have anything to say to him and the national team?" Li Wei Feng replied, "To say the most, should still give him, give this new national team strong support. Lift less worries and less burdens on him. All of us hope that this team can become the best, can find the form of 2001, so that this team can really become the strongest team within Asia."
