After a 2-0 victory over Qatar’s U17 team that secured China’s spot in the U17 World Cup, Chinese U17 player Zhang Bolin spoke exclusively with CCTV and Sports Weekly reporter Ma Dexing.
On his header goal: “Over the past two years, I’ve been doing extra training every single day. When the ball came off my head, I just felt it was going in. The angle was tricky and the pace was quite fast.”
On kissing the team badge: “China hasn’t been to a world tournament for 20 years. I wanted to help Chinese football shine a bit brighter. I’m very proud – wearing the national team jersey and scoring in the Asian Cup is a huge joy.”
On the match and the team’s mentality: “We were full of confidence before this game. It was the most important match, and we knew we needed to win and then rely on Japan’s result. We kept encouraging each other.”
On the group stage’s two consecutive losses: “In the first match against Indonesia, we were probably too eager to get the win. I didn’t defend well enough and made a mistake that led to a goal, and we couldn’t adjust our mentality properly. Against Japan, we gave it our all, but there was a clear gap – we lost narrowly. After those two losses, we just focused on showing our own game in the third match.”
On qualifying for the U17 World Cup: “Now that we’ve made it, we’ve already qualified. We’ll put the World Cup aside for now. Our focus is on the rest of this Asian Cup – we want to achieve a higher position.”
On personal growth: “First of all, confidence. Competing against Asia’s top teams has boosted my belief and helped me see where I still need to improve back home.”
On the group stage experience: “From despair to seeing hope again – it’s been a huge mental help. Having gone through that, I know how to stay calm in any future game.”
On the loss to Indonesia: “It wasn’t complete despair. After losing the first match, we thought if we could beat both Japan and Qatar, we’d still have a chance to qualify for the World Cup.”
On being dropped from the starting lineup: “Last year, right after recovering from injury, my form wasn’t good. I worked hard and gradually got some playing time. This year, being a substitute doesn’t bother me. There are only starters and rotation players – no such thing as a ‘substitute.’ When you come off the bench, you adjust your mind, give what you have, and go all out.”
On the knockout match against Saudi Arabia: “We’ve played them before, so we know each other a bit. First, we need to defend well, show our spirit, keep a low profile, and go all out against them.”
