Yuxi "Hong Kong Foot" Xu Hongjie: I was moved by the enthusiasm of Yunnan fans who came to play football in the mainland for progress

Reporter Zuo Rui reports In Yuxi, Xu Hongjie is no different from most of his teammates at the Yunnan Yukun Club, and it's hard to even hear that his Mandarin has a slight local accent. But among the nine Hong Kong, Chinese players in the Chinese Super League, the full-back has unexpectedly become the brightest "Hong Kong star" in the league - eight appearances in the first 11 rounds, three goals and one assist - a dazzling statistic that even he himself could not have imagined in advance.

The second time he participated in the mainland league, the first time he stepped on the stage of the Chinese Super League, a left-footed low shot, a header critique, and a right-footed shot, all three goals were "winners and losers", allowing Yukun to score 3 points from Shenzhen Xinpeng City, Qingdao Manatee, and Shandong Taishan. Now, he's hoping to reach double figures for goals + assists this season. "It's a new challenge for me." 'I can't necessarily do it because the full-backs can't score every game, but I'm going to work hard for that.' ”

In 2018, Xu Hongjie joined the mainland league for the first time and played two seasons in the Chinese League for Meizhou Hakka. That year, at the age of 21, he left Hong Kong and came with the mentality of "wanting to learn and progress". Now he is 28 years old and promoted to the Chinese Super League with Yukun, of course, he also wants to continue to learn and improve, "but I now have more responsibilities, I want to help the team win and get good results." ”

Although he was injured shortly after joining Yukun last year and hasn't played much in half a year, when he came face to face with Football, he agreed that he was at the peak of his career. "As long as I'm not injured, 28 feels like I'm in my prime, because I'm at my best with experience, mentality and ability to handle the ball."

Not only Xu Hongjie, but more Hong Kong players are also ushering in a good time in the mainland league. According to statistics, a total of 12 teams in the Chinese Super League this season have used the quota of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan players, 9 players from Hong Kong, China have competed in the Chinese Super League, and 3 have played in the Chinese Super League; Last season, Hong Kong had a total of 10 players working hard in the mainland (6 in the Chinese Super League and 4 in the Chinese First Division).

"The mainland league is a dream for many Hong Kong players, and it is also a place where we can continue to improve. We all cherish this stage. Xu Hongjie said, "After all, the league here is higher than Hong Kong's, the pace is faster, and the supporting facilities are more professional." So this platform is important for us to continue to challenge ourselves in football. ”

The experience of representing the Hong Kong, China team has given them more confidence and a clearer understanding of the Chinese Super League. "During the FIFA break, we played against some very strong opponents, like Iran, Japan, South Korea, and that experience helped us in the Super League, and after playing against them, you know where you are." Xu Hongjie said.

Ru Zinan, Chen Jinyi, An Yongjia, Liang Nuoheng...... These Hong Kong players, who have gone to the mainland and are seeking development in other places, have been making progress together and encouraging each other. Xu Hongjie said that every time he sees the outstanding performance of his teammates in the Hong Kong team, he feels so happy. Sometimes it happens that both he and Ru Zinan have scored, and they will encourage each other in a joking way in WeChat: "Don't you be so crazy, score so many goals and perform so well, what do you let me do?" ”

Luckier than those fellow countrymen, Xu Hongjie is more familiar with his head coach and trusts each other more. Jon Anderson spent two and a half years coaching in Hong Kong, China, before taking charge of Yunnan Yukun. After the Norwegians swung into the Chinese Super League, this Chinese Super League newcomer has been injected with a "can't beat the mentality", the first 11 rounds have been behind the score 6 times to catch up, of which 3 times to change the score, 2 times to draw and 1 time to win.

Xu Hongjie said that when he worked with Anderson in the Hong Kong team before, his position in the team was not so important, and the starting substitutes accounted for half of the total, but after entering the Chinese Super League this year, with the full recovery of his body, coupled with the confidence and experience accumulated in the game, "He now gives me a higher degree of freedom, in addition to defense, I also have to participate more in attack." ”

In Xu's view, although their place of work has changed from Hong Kong to Yuxi, Anderson has not changed anything. "He's a very dedicated guy and the most professional coach I've ever met. He's going to take every game, every training session and basically never rest. I think he's still the same person he is. ”

Anderson recruited a lot of new players in the new season, Xu Hongjie thinks that the performance of the newcomers is very good, if you have to say who is more prominent, he thinks it may be Oscar. 'He's a big player, he's got the physicality, he's got the quick, he's got a lot of help in attacking. He said that in fact, Hou Yongyong, Ye Chugui and others also performed very well, "They not only scored some important goals, but also worked the court." ”

It is understood that Xu Hongjie's habitual foot is the right foot, and before the left fullback in the Chinese Super League, he also played as a midfielder, a central defender, and a right fullback. "Different positions have different ways of playing. I can play in different positions and I want to be the best I can be in whatever position I play. At the moment, an attacking full-back is already his label, but he prefers to be a full-back with a balance between attack and defence, "It's really not good to only attack, a good full-back must be balanced between attack and defense. ”

Physical fitness has always been his strong point, is it more beneficial for him to fight on the plateau? "You can't say that. Sometimes I may not be as tired at home as everyone else, but sometimes it feels a bit hard to come back and play at home, including at home against Shandong, I played harder in the first half and then slowly eased up in the second half. However, he now has a feeling that his fitness is "a little bit easier" when he travels from the plateau to the plains.

As a native of Hong Kong, Tsui's preference for pop music is more popular, and he resonates with many Cantonese fans in the mainland — he sings a lot of Eason Chan's songs, and his favorite band is Beyond. "Their songs are classic, the music is inspiring, and the lyrics are meaningful." And his current Super Life is like a lyric in Beyond's famous work "No More Hesitation": "Who can determine whether I go or stay, determine the universe in my heart." I just want to rely on my two hands and wave to my ideal......"

In Yuxi, the most morale-boosting and touching voice is the tireless shouts of the home fans. Xu Hongjie said that when he played in the Hong Kong Super League before, the average audience per game may be less than 1,000, and the fans of the Hong Kong team will be more, about 10,000. "I just came here last June and I saw more than 20,000 fans cheering us on every game, which is something I haven't seen before, and as a player, to be honest, it's very touching and satisfying."

Every home match day, the Yuxi Plateau Sports Center reverberates with the passion of the fans, who will also use the Yunnan dialect to cheer for their home team. In this regard, Xu Hongjie cheered for the team with a Cantonese sentence with a similar meaning: "Yukun is so strong!" He explained that it means "amazing".

In every home stadium of Yukun, nearly forty percent of Yunnan fans come from other places through high-speed rail, self-driving, and fan buses. Xu Hongjie, who has worked and lived in Yuxi for nearly a year, although he has not been to many places, he also has some small recommendations as a "half host": "The food in Yuxi is good. I like the small pot of rice noodles more, I also tried the sour soup chicken hot pot, I was very impressed, I really like the taste, you can also taste it. ”

After starting a family in Hong Kong at the end of last year, he returned to Yuxi to live mainly single, living in a club, with a gym, restaurant, conference room downstairs, and it is also very convenient to go to the training ground. "My wife stays in Hong Kong to take care of my family and our puppy, and she comes over once or two a month to accompany me and watch the game." He said that after entering the Chinese Super League, the club has become more and more professional, and in addition to the obvious changes in the personnel of the players, "there are more staff members joining the club, including training and medical aspects are also being strengthened." So when I was alone in Yuxi, it was good to live in a single dormitory. ”

This season, he only took one day off during the Meizhou training camp before the third round away to Shenzhen, and returned to Hong Kong for a meal with his family. After that, he didn't go home even when the team was on holiday, "There have been too many games in recent months, so I'm going to focus on the team and the game, and I'll go back when I have a little more time later." ”

A brilliant goal against Shandong Taishan saw the full-back and striker Enrique joint top scorer with three goals, but he didn't think his performance put any pressure on the forward line, because Yukun's defenders had to be involved in the attack and the forwards had to be involved in the defense, "As a team, it's nothing special who scores, we all have to advance and retreat together." ”

If the challenging goal of "assists + total goals double" is achieved this season, there is no doubt that there will be contract renewals and external invitations within the team, so how does Xu Hongjie choose? 'That's just my personal goal, as a member of the team, personal thoughts can be put aside, and the first goal for all of us is for the team. This year's goal is to stay relegated and I hope that on that basis, we can win more games and try for the best results. ”