CFA President Song Kai Encourages U-National Team Players: Look at Son Heung-min and Ronaldo’s Autobiographies, If You Want to Stand Out, You Have to Work Harder Than Others!

Recently, CFA President Song Kai visited the Chinese U16 men’s national team who are playing in the Four-Nation Tournament in Shenyang. He encouraged the players, using the example of football stars like Son Heung-min and Ronaldo, that if they want to stand out, they have to work harder than others.

Song Kai’s speech is as follows (text source: Liaoning Provincial Sports Bureau website):

I’m here on behalf of the CFA to visit everyone. I used to work here, the office building is right next door, and this field also belongs to the Liaoning Provincial Sports Bureau. I watched yesterday’s game (against Vietnam U16 national team), you played well, first of all, I commend you and give you recognition. Our national team once lost to Vietnam 1:3. Yesterday’s match, especially the second half, was very good. I came to visit you today mainly to encourage you and hope you all unite and work together. Our ultimate goal is to play well in Asian competitions, we will be playing the Asian Cup group stage in Dalian in October, and we strive to top our group and qualify.

For this Four-Nation Tournament, we invited some strong teams – Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Japan. Because we played a series of matches, and the results were pretty good. Many Asian opponents now actively seek us out, hoping to play against us. This is a good sign. Previously, the U19 men’s team won against South Korea 2:0 and drew with Uzbekistan, and this also caused a stir in Asia. This shows that we are still competitive in Asia at all age groups. You need to understand this. Also, you must set your goals high, our physique, technical ability and coaching team are all top-notch in Asia. You must have confidence and contribute to the revitalization of Chinese football.

Tomorrow we will be playing against Japan. Now it’s interesting that the Japanese coach is leading us against the Japanese team. On October 26, 1987, the Chinese national football team defeated Japan 2:0 at the Tokyo National Stadium in the men’s football Olympic qualifiers, marking our first entry into the Olympics. You were not born yet then. Chinese football has a glorious history, I hope you will remember this history. Now, the country is paying great attention to football in all aspects, and everyone is paying attention to your matches. You must put in 120% effort, train well every day. Especially when you are at the club, you should be even more demanding of yourselves. I heard some players gained weight and their physical fitness declined after coming back, which shows that the requirements are not strict enough during normal times.

I just came back from Serbia. We have 2 young players there, one named Jiang Yixiang and one named Wan Xiang. Besides, there are nearly 20 people training in Serbia, everyone is working hard. You will face a lot of competitors. So, if you want to become a star, you have to work harder than others. I hope you read Son Heung-min’s autobiography, read Ronaldo’s autobiography, see how they demand themselves, they all have their own requirements besides normal training, they all practice extra. If you want to stand out, you need to work harder than others. I see that our team’s number 10, his technique is good, he definitely trained hard to achieve that, it’s not something he dreamed of. A Chinese entrepreneur bought a Dutch football club, there is a Chinese kid training there, he trains every day, just for an hour and a half, then he’s done, and then he goes to find a class to practice extra. And then you see, the local Dutch kids all practice extra, none of them don’t practice extra. After training, either find the coach or find a teammate, you practice by yourself, remember that.

Tomorrow against Japan, I have one requirement, called “Five Daring”: Dare to grab, dare to break through, dare to shoot, dare to fight, dare to win! I’ll be at the game tomorrow. Someone told me that yesterday after the game between Japan and Uzbekistan, all the players from both teams were lying on the field, exhausted, I hope you will be the same tomorrow. Treat tomorrow’s game as the Asian Cup final, the Japanese team is a touchstone, whether you can do it or not, what’s the gap, try it tomorrow. I hope you will remember “Five Daring” and I hope you and the Japanese team will present an exciting match together.

Thank you.