"Guangzhou team veteran" Liao Jintao: I am still far away from the national team, and I still have to be down-to-earth at this stage

Reporter Wang Wei and intern reporter Huang Hao report In the 2024 season of the Chinese League, the Guangzhou team has created a storm of youth, the team has achieved the third place in the Central League, and the players in the team have also risen in value due to their outstanding performance, and Liao Jintao is one of the representative players. As a midfielder, Liao Jintao covers both offensive and defensive ends and is the core of the Guangzhou team's operation on the field. In terms of the number of starts and playing time throughout the year, Liao Jintao ranks first in the team, and he also has 4 goals and 2 assists.

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Recently, Liao Jintao, who is the core of the midfield of the Guangzhou team, made a special trip to this newspaper as a guest. Regarding the success and individual performance of the Guangzhou team this season, the 24-year-old "veteran" opened his heart, told the truth, and also responded to the fans' call for him to impact the national team.

◆Football: You are one of several local players from Guangdong in the Guangzhou team, can you tell us about your upbringing?

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Liao Jintao: I am from Chaoshan and grew up in Shenzhen. At the beginning, I participated in the school's football training class, when I played football with a group of big brothers in the community, and I didn't know what professional football was, only knew that playing football could bring me happiness, and then transferred to Dongguan, and then entered Evergrande Football School to receive professional football training, and entered the professional football system after being promoted to the first team in Guangzhou.

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◆You've traveled a few places to learn football, so you should be very adaptable, right?

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My parents have 4 children, I am the youngest, but I am the only one who went to Dongguan at a very young age to start a boarding life abroad. I think when I was a child, I was more adaptable, I didn't pick on the environment, and I was able to integrate into the new environment quickly, but now that I'm older, my adaptability has decreased a bit, and this aspect needs to be improved.

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◆From last year's relegation of the all-Chinese class to this year's continuation of the suspense of the league to the last round of the league, in what aspects do you think the Guangzhou team has undergone qualitative changes?

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First of all, the addition of three foreign aids, so that our overall strength has been significantly improved, and secondly, after last year's experience, we have gained a lot of experience, and also learned lessons, becoming more mature in terms of ability and mentality, and most importantly, more confident, because only self-confidence can better show our ability.

◆As the player with the most minutes played in the team for two consecutive seasons, how do you maintain consistent form?

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Like we always say, how you train, how you play. I think the most important thing to maintain a stable competitive state is to devote 100% to daily training, after all, training and competition are inseparable, and a good training condition will lead to a good competition condition. In addition, all of us in the team work hard in training and games, and the coach will motivate the younger players to catch up with us.

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◆You've scored four goals this season, three more than last year, is that because of your improved form, or is it because the coaching staff has given you more attacking tasks?

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It should be that I have a special position on the court this year, and I have to cover both offensive and defensive ends, so I will have more opportunities in the attack. Last year I had one goal and one assist, and at the beginning of the season I set myself two goals and two assists, and in the end I achieved and even exceeded that goal.

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◆Which of the four goals of the season has been the most memorable for you?

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In the 1-1 draw away to Yunnan Yukun, when the ball fell from the sky, I wanted to take the initiative to go up and try a kick, but I didn't expect it to score so beautifully.

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◆This season, the Guangzhou team has not fallen behind in the face of strong teams, and there are many games that are behind first and then back, for you, which game is the most memorable this season?

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All the races this season are memorable because every game is fought back. If I talk about the most memorable game, it was the first leg away to Dalian InBev, it was the first time I played in such a professional stadium and I enjoyed the atmosphere, it made the players more excited and focused. It's like a big stage, everybody is watching us perform, we just have to show our stuff.

◆"Football": This season, another group of young talents in the Guangzhou team have emerged, Zhang Zhixiong, Bai Yutao, Wu Zitong, Waili Kurban and others have made their professional debuts, and the average age of the team is 20.3 years old. For these "back waves" in the Guangzhou team, as a senior, how do you see their growth?

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Liao Jintao: It is very valuable for them to be able to gain a foothold in the professional arena at this age, and I hope that they can maintain this momentum, and at the same time, I also hope that more young players can emerge in the professional arena, and more young players can participate, so that we will be more competitive.

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◆You're only 24 years old, but you're already one of the big brothers on the team, so how do you help them when you're with younger teammates?

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Yes, I'm just a bit older in the team. I think what young players need is encouragement and tolerance, and all I need to do is to mingle with them and integrate with them to drive them, give them more encouragement, and let them perform better.

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◆You just said "mingle with them and blend in with them", what do you think is the difference between the young players today and you were back then?

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In the past, the big brother in the team was much older than me, they are all very high-level players, and they also have a lot of experience in the Chinese Super League, so there may be a little difference in thinking and understanding, although the team is also a combination of new and old, but our team is basically a post-00 generation, there is no generational difference, so everyone's way of getting along is very simple, everyone can play together, the atmosphere in the team is very pleasant, the most important thing is that I have not achieved as much as the big brothers back then, and I will make mistakes on the field, So I'm not qualified to coach my younger teammates too much.

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◆For example, captain Hou Yu, he is not only your good partner on the field, but also a good friend off the field, he is also a "veteran" in the team, right?

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Sort of, but he's only 23 years old. I have known Hou Yu for a long time, we used to be competitive, but now we have become partners, and we often play games together in addition to training and competitions, and sometimes the loser has to invite him to dinner.

◆Football: After two seasons of tempering, the outside world thinks that you are a rare technical midfielder in the league, and think that you have the ability to try it out in the national team, what do you think of this evaluation?

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Liao Jintao: Thank you very much for your recognition of me, which is already a high evaluation for me. In my opinion, I am just saying that I can gain a foothold in the Chinese League, I have not played in the Chinese Super League, and I have not yet gone to a higher platform to test and prove myself, so I am still very far away from entering the national team. I think at this stage I still have to be down-to-earth and prove myself with time.

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◆In fact, in 2019 you were selected for Jankovic's Under-20 squad and played in a friendly against Palestine.

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It was an honor to be able to play for the national team back then, which was a great encouragement for a young player. This experience has given me a lot of confidence and strengthened my goal of continuing to play for the national team or the national team in the future, which motivates me to keep training hard.

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◆What do you think you can continue to improve in the future?

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First of all, I need to improve on the stats of long passes, and I want to make more penetrating balls that can pass through the opponent's defence, and in terms of physical confrontation, I need to improve.

◆Guangzhou team still has a chance to overtake in the last round, but in the end failed to achieve this goal, what do you think the team needs to further improve?

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I think there is still room for improvement in terms of mentality, there are a few games that should have been won in the eyes of everyone, and they all lost points in the end, which is actually affected by the instability of mentality. The more we want to win, the more we want to do well, the more we want to speed up, the more mistakes we make, and the mistakes of one person lead to the mistakes of others, and we lack someone who can stand up and turn the situation around.

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◆Were there any international stars in the same position that you learned from or even imitated when you were growing up?

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Manchester City's Rodri, his understanding of attack and defence is worth learning from, and as a midfielder he can score a lot of goals. There's another player in the same position, Jorginho, and I like his style of play.

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◆What goals have you set for your future?

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The long-term goal is definitely to impact the national team. Being selected for the national brand that year can only show that you have performed well in the same age group, but to be selected for the senior national team, you must perform very well in all aspects, and you must also perform well on the top platform. I have another goal, which is not to get hurt, to maintain my strength, to maintain my physical condition, and not to let the injury affect me.