20 | Tuesday, June 22, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY SPORTS China spikes back SOCCER Wu urges more talents to forge foreign careers By SHI FUTIAN might struggle to gel with the
[email protected] squad upon his return. Over the last three weeks, however, he has Wu Lei silenced the doubters by emphatically dispelled those playing a key role in Team China’s doubts. progression to the next phase of “During my two and half years of World Cup qualifying, and the playing in Spain, I have grown a lot Espanyol striker believes the in many aspects — on and off the nation can aim even higher on the pitch. I’ve also been able to observe global stage if more young Chinese how foreign clubs operate. Differ- talents follow his example by play- ent levels of clubs have different ing abroad. methods of surviving,” Wu “After playing in a foreign explained. league, I finally understand why “So, for me, it’s been a compre- we cannot beat Japanese or South hensive learning experience, Korean teams. We are all Asian which can help Chinese soccer in teams, but why we are not at the the future. More importantly, we same level? The answer is clear for can see the pace of European me: Playing in a high-quality and matches are much quicker than fast-paced foreign league certainly the CSL. makes the difference,” the 29-year- “Before I arrived in Spain, I was old told Oriental Sports Daily in a prepared for all kinds of challen- Chinese captain Zhu Ting unleashes a spike during her team’s 3-0 victory over the United States at the Volleyball Nations League in Rimini, recent interview.