Qatar 2022 qualifiers: Wei hopes to inspire China to final tournament

China forward Wei Shihao go into Thursday’s opener against Australia in Asia’s second qualifying round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup aiming to make up for his absence during the June round campaign due to an unexpected hamstring injury during pre-match training. After the Australians, China will play Japan.

Three months back, the on-song Guangzhou striker was called up to Li Tie’s new-look squad who were desperately seeking to progress from Group A as one of the best runners-up. Having impressed in the Chinese Super League over the past two seasons, Wei was considered to shoulder the goal-scoring tasks.

“It was disappointing missing those matches,” the 26-year-old said.

“I am a player who always gives my all in training and playing and this perhaps makes me injury-prone. Two years ago, I also missed our Asian Cup campaign due to physical reasons. And after all this, I have thought of how to avoid getting unnecessarily injured.

“I am a bit thin and Coach Li Tie asked me to get physically strong through weight training. Now I have learned that as a professional player, it is as important to protect yourself on the pitch so to perform well.”

Chinese CR7 

A product of Shandong Luneng FC’s youth academy, Wei joined Boavista in 2013 for a season, with the stint in Portugal a perfect match for the fervent Cristiano Ronaldo fan.

“I started playing football as a little boy and my dad is a football fan. We both became Ronaldo fans after watching UEFA Euro 2004. I began watching his matches, I watched nearly all the videos of his matches which I could find.”

Wei excelled in the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship, notably striking a brace, including a sublimely taken free-kick as China downed Japan 2-1 in a group game.

After that campaign, he earned the nickname ‘Chinese CR7’.

Emergence under Cannavaro

Wei returned home in 2017 to join Shanghai SIPG before leaving for Beijing Guoan the following year. Guangzhou manager Fabio Cannavaro then signed him in 2019.

“I scored more goals with Guangzhou because coach Cannavaro placed a lot of faith in me and gave me plenty of chances.

“Added to that, we have top-quality team-mates who have provided me with great support. In recent seasons, Paulinho attracted much attention from the opposition leaving me with chances to score. Captain Zheng Zhi also helped me a lot through his accurate passes.

“I am usually mentally strong but I was reckless in the past. I will try to straighten that and not get unnecessary yellow or red cards.

“I think our group is not bad. Both Australia and Japan are strong but we will have our chances as long as we perform well. We do our work well, play to our level and the opportunities will come naturally. It is every footballer’s dream to play in the World Cup and we will definitely do our best to make that happen.”

PHOTO/COURTESY