18-year-old leads the Super League scorer list! Is Wang Yudong still far from the start of the national football team?

Reporter Zuo Rui reports In the 12th round of the Chinese Super League, in the 2-4 away loss to Shandong Taishan, 18-year-old Wang Yudong took care of two goals for Zhejiang Greentown, and the total number of individual goals this season reached 8, tied for the first place in the Super League scorer list with Tianjin Jinmen Tiger's Kiles and Beijing Guoan's Fabio. In my impression, this is the first time in this century that China's top league has witnessed such a miracle of youth.

Except for missing the first round of the Chinese Super League due to participating in the U20 Asian Cup, the remaining 11 rounds of matches that have ended have all started. The 18-year-old striker has opened a new page in his career since opening his Super League goal account in the 4-0 win away to Wuhan Three Towns in the third round. After piercing this layer of window paper, the world he focused on - the opponent's goal suddenly became clear: he scored one goal each on Shanghai Shenhua, Meizhou Hakka, and Qingdao West Coast, defeated Changchun Yatai 4-2 at home in the 10th round to score two goals for the first time, and scored two more goals in Jinan last night.

It took only 40 days from the first goal of the Chinese Super League on April 1 to 8 goals and 1 assist, but behind it is his accumulation of training in Zhejiang FC since he was 16 years old: in the previous two seasons, he made 15 league appearances and only started twice; He made three appearances in the Cup, nine in the AFC Champions League and only one start. made his Chinese Super League debut against Dalian on August 26, 2023, setting a record for the youngest appearance in team history with 16 years, 9 months and 3 days. It wasn't until six months ago on November 28, 2024, when the AFC Champions League 2 faced the Lion City Mariners, that he scored his first goal and one assist.

It is undeniable that his previous experience of constantly skipping relegations in the national youth, national youth, national Olympic and national football teams, and continuously playing against Asian strong teams of all ages, on the one hand, squeezed the playing time and scoring space of the league, and on the other hand, it was greatly helpful to his personal growth. 'I think if you're already playing well at the Under-17s, you should go up.' In an exclusive interview with this newspaper before, Wang Yudong generously stated, "How can anyone think that the progress is too fast, and if I have the opportunity to skip a grade, my friends, coaches, and family will only congratulate me." ”

"Wang Yudong's technical conditions are top-notch, and he can always maintain a humble, calm and down-to-earth attitude. This is a young man who has the conditions and the ability to influence the outcome of the game, and I will not hesitate to give such a player the opportunity to play during my tenure. "Head coach Kaneda does what he says, and Wang Yudong's rapid progress and fiery state have made Zhejiang Greentown have the most trustworthy forward knife.

The situation of the Chinese Super League dominated by foreign aid has lasted for many years, and Wang Yudong is now emerging on the scorer list, which not only gives him more chips to enter the European League in the future, but also intensifies the internal competition of the national football team. The competitors of the national team are none other than 33-year-old Wu Lei, 30-year-old Wei Shihao, 28-year-old Zhang Yuning, and 27-year-old Lin Liangming.

Wei Shihao has been honed for three seasons after landing in the Portuguese Super League, and only at the age of 21 did he get more 15 appearances in the Portuguese Second Division, scoring 1 goal and 5 assists, and then in his debut season in the 2017 Chinese Super League, he made 14 appearances with 3 goals and 4 assists; Zhang Yuning entered the first team of Zhejiang Greentown at the age of 18, leaving a record of 1 appearance and 1 goal in the cup, and then won 30 appearances and 3 goals in 3 seasons in the Eredivisie, and returned to the Chinese Super League at the age of 22 to join Guoan, with 8 goals and 5 assists in 25 appearances in the first season; Lin Liangming joined Real Madrid U19 at the age of 18 and Alimeria at the age of 20, and made 4 appearances in the Copa del Rey, during which he played for Almeria B for two seasons, scoring 8 goals in 32 appearances in La C, 28 appearances in La B and contributing 4 goals, and made his Super League debut in Dalian at the age of 22, with 8 appearances and 1 goal.

The above data originated from the fact that the Chinese Super League in the "Golden Yuan Era" had almost no local striker foothold, and was also affected by the "export to domestic sales" atmosphere of the "Gilded Age". Relatively speaking, Wu Lei's growth experience in his teenage years is closer to Wang Yudong. The former played in the second division at the age of 14, scored goals in the Chinese league before the age of 17, scored goals in the first league at the age of 19, and scored 15 goals in 27 appearances in the first season of the Chinese Super League at the age of 22.

In other words, the main strikers of the current national football team have never been so dazzling and lucky at Wang Yudong's current age. Wu Lei made his debut in the national football team at the age of 18, competed in La Liga at the age of 27, and won the Chinese Super League scorer list twice in the past ten years, and is still the flagship figure of Chinese players. Wang Yudong has a different starting point, a different way of playing, the future expectations may be far away, on June 5, the national football team will play Indonesia in Jakarta, will he have a more amazing performance?