In the most critical game for the national football team to advance to the top 18, head coach Ivan sent 29-year-old Yang Zexiang as the starter at the right back position. He faced South Korean star Son Heung-min in the game and performed well throughout the game. It is worth mentioning that this is also the first time Yang Zexiang has played on behalf of the national team. He is also nicknamed by fans: the inspirational brother of the national football team.
After the game, the well-known football reporter Zhao Zhen lamented on social media: 29-year-old Yang Zexiang reminds me of Pei Shuai, Wang Tong, Liu Binbin, Wu Xinghan, Zhao Yuhao, Feng Gang, Zhang Xiaobin, Luo Senwen and Xu of the same age group. Xin, Mi Haolun... There were still many good players in the 1993 group. The U23 policy and the Jinyuan era ruined many of them. In the end, I was able to hold on and wait until I reached the national team.
In fact, many players of the 1993 generation have entered the national team in the past two years. Such as Wang Qiuming, Li Yuanyi and Yang Zexiang. This group of people is indeed greatly affected by the u23 policy. Because the u23 policy was introduced in 2017, when the 1993 generation happened to be over 23 years old. The 1994 generation, represented by Xu Xin, was the first group of people to take advantage of the situation, but was quickly replaced by the 1995 generation. Therefore, this generation has been working hard in the league for many years, and it is not until they are over 30 that they gradually start playing for the national team.
Yang Zexiang’s career has been quite bumpy. He came from the football school founded by Sichuan football legend Ma Mingyu, but with the dissolution of Sichuan Guancheng, Yang Zexiang went to the Tianjin TEDA Youth Team. After playing for Tianjin for three seasons, Yang Zexiang only got one FA Cup appearance. In 2017, Yang Zexiang was loaned to Baoding Rongda in the Chinese League One. At this time, the Chinese Football Association introduced the u23 policy. After Yang Zexiang worked hard in Baoding Rong for a year, he was abandoned by Tianjin TEDA in the 2018 season. After that, 24-year-old Yang Zexiang transferred to Dalian Chaoyue in the Chinese League One.
It was not until the age of 28 that Yang Zexiang joined Shanghai Shenhua on a free transfer. In his first game with Shenhua, he was sent off for a flagrant foul within 2 minutes of his appearance. After the game, the team's social media was inundated with angry Shenhua fans. The most liked comment was "fire Yang Zexiang"! However, Yang Zexiang did not give up. He was appreciated by Wu Jingui in the 2023 season and gradually became the team's main force. This year, he has turned 29 years old. Yang Zexiang may not have expected that he would be able to make his debut for the national team at the age of nearly 30, and the opponent would be the South Korean team, a strong Asian team.
Weak people only complain about the environment, while strong people challenge themselves. It is true that Jinyuan Football and the U23 policy have had a certain impact on the growth of some young players, but if they want to become talents, they still need to rely on the players' own strong internal drive. Yang Zexiang has been dormant in the Chinese Super League for many years and completed a counterattack in the Chinese Super League and was selected for the national team. This is really a touching story of a Chinese Super League star.
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