Interview with Zheng Haoqian: I have a lot of fate with Wuhan, and the opportunity comes from "running a few more steps" every time

Reporter Lu Mi reports This season, local striker Zheng Haoqian joined Wuhan Three Towns from Nantong Zhiyun. After the initial struggles of the relegation zone and the pain of a change of manager, the 26-year-old striker gradually found his place in the new tactical system with his all-out scramble for every ball.

From "Mr. Key", who came off the bench to rewrite the game, to his deep understanding of professional football after injury, he interpreted the survival rules of local strikers with the persistence of "running a few more steps".

◆Football: During the transfer period at the beginning of this year, other Chinese Super League teams also invited you, why did you choose Wuhan Three Towns?

Zheng Haoqian: The intersection between me and the three towns of Wuhan actually stemmed from the news after the government took over. I still have a lot of ties to the city of Wuhan – it's not only a place where my wife and I got married, but also a professional place where I won results in the SIPG U23 League in my early years. Before joining Three Towns, my family and I discussed that we believed that the situation in Three Towns would stabilize after the government takeover, and that there would be more opportunities for me from the perspective of personal career planning.

◆Was it difficult for you to make that choice, you've been with Nantong for a long time?

Yes, after staying in Nantong for so long, I have long regarded it as a second home, and it is not easy to make this decision, but people always have to challenge themselves to see where they can go. After discussing with my family, especially my wife, for a long time, I finally wanted to break through and see how high I could fly.

◆After coming to this team, as a local striker, how to cultivate a tacit understanding with the new foreign striker?

The time for new foreign players to join is short, and the run-in during our winter training period is relatively hasty, and it does take time to establish tacit understanding and cooperation, which also caused the team's results in the first few rounds of the league to be affected.

◆At the start of the season, the strikers couldn't score goals, what did you think of to change that?

At that time, every player was struggling and wanted to change the situation. The start fell to the relegation zone and everyone's confidence was affected. But it's true that everyone refuses to mess up, they are all trying to figure it out, and we always think that as long as everyone is united enough, as the league goes on, the difficulties will be solved.

◆With the league going on and the team and you scoring goals, when do you think you're at your best?

At the beginning of the game, I played too little time, and it's hard to say whether I'm in good shape or not. My personal feeling is that after I played a lot, I obviously felt that I was in good shape. Deng Zhuoxiang gave me a lot of playing time, let me play my own characteristics on the field, with the arrival of goals, the results rebounded, the team as a whole began to enter a benign state.

◆Against Tianjin Jinmen Tigers and Dalian InBev, you came off the bench to change the game, how did you capture those scoring opportunities?

Every player who comes off the bench wants to score goals and contribute to the team. Opportunity comes from every scramble on the court, and the opportunity is often hidden in a momentary scramble, maybe ten scrambles can only be exchanged for one chance, but as long as you go all out every time, it is possible to create this opportunity; If you only fight once in ten, the probability of fighting a chance is even slimmer. Therefore, the opportunities on the pitch depend on continuous competition and grabbing.

◆From the disadvantage at the beginning of the league to the improvement in results after Deng Zhuoxiang took over, what moments in the process made you feel that you have truly integrated into the team?

I feel like it started with the two games from winning Yunnan to Ping Guoan. The first win against Yunnan gave us confidence, and we knew that the quality of the team should not be the current ranking, and this victory was a boost to the team. I think the draw against Guoan shows the resilience of the team to stay the course and never give up, and this spirit is imperceptibly integrated into the team. The most memorable moment for me was the moment when I equalized Guoan, which completely ignited the passion of every player. The charm of football lies in the variability of the 90 minutes, until the final whistle, anything is possible, and we actually enjoy the enthusiasm and anticipation of the unknown.

◆Football: Did you expect the team to start badly and stay in the relegation zone?

Zheng Haoqian: I really didn't expect during the winter training that in terms of the club's recruitment situation and everyone's overall strength, the league should never start so sluggishly. But now that the facts are in place, we have to make a change, not just because we are stuck in the relegation zone, but to face the situation positively and take every training session and every game that remains. I believe that as long as we persevere, our form and confidence will gradually improve.

◆There were only two training sessions between the acting head coach and the first game, what did you experience in those two days?

At that time, everyone's mental state was really not good, because of the unknown brought by the change of coach, and because the results have been sluggish. Director Deng has only been in office for two days until the competition, and he really can't make too many changes. He is more about motivating us and making us prove ourselves. On the one hand, he helped us regain our confidence, and on the other hand, he also encouraged us to dare to fight and not be afraid of losing. I think that's important.

◆From winning Yunnan Yukun to constantly drawing or even reversing, what key changes do you think Deng Zhuoxiang has brought to this team?

I think it's self-confidence. Director Deng is more like a big brother who gives us a lot of help on the training ground, such as how to deal with every kick. Perhaps every coach will guide the technical details, but Director Deng cares more about the inner feelings of each player, and this kind of care makes us more confident on the field.

◆When the team is behind or the game is passive, why don't you see anxiety and tension on your face and the coach's face?

Because the game has 90 minutes. Maybe we entered the game at a slower pace before, but no matter what situation we were in or behind, Director Deng's request was to play our own football and follow the instructions of the coaching staff from beginning to end. I think we have the confidence to pull the score back or even overtake, in fact, these equalizers and reversals come from the confidence that Director Deng gave us.

◆How has Deng Zhuoxiang's coaching philosophy and tactical arrangement played a role in your personal performance and that of the team?

For example, away against Henan, after Director Deng replaced me in the second half, Brother Xian (Wang Jinxian) quickly passed the ball with his heel on the bottom line, and then assisted Sauer to equalize. I was so impressed with this ball, everything happened right in front of my eyes, it was incredible. Director Deng immediately inspired the confidence of the whole team.

◆In the next league match, there are strong teams and teams with similar rankings, facing opponents of different strengths, what adjustments do you and the team have to make in this interval?

Fearless in the face of strong opponents, and in the face of teams at the bottom of the rankings, you also need to maintain a calm mindset, neither impatient nor overly thoughtful. If you always want to win and are afraid of losing, you will tie your hands and feet. We need to follow the tactical arrangements of the coaching staff, give it our all to fight for every ball, believe in our team-mates and believe in ourselves, and the result will live up to everyone's efforts.

◆"Football": Since the 1-4 draw with Beijing Guoan, everyone thinks that the backward Wuhan Three Towns can't be provoked, or that you can't be provoked after 80 minutes, how do you understand this evaluation?

Zheng Haoqian: This description is essentially a situation where the team is always in the first place. Actually, the coach also told us to change this phenomenon, no one likes to play against the wind, we all want to start well, and then let the game get into our own rhythm. We've been really slow to get into the game so far this season and hopefully the break will solve that problem.

◆You have a lot of fitness and running ability, do you have any special fitness training methods or tips for staying in shape?

Every player will give it their all. I'm a bit more demanding of myself, and I practice a little bit more after my daily training or warm-up matches. I came to Three Towns to be better, and to achieve this goal, I had to give more than before, run a few more steps than others, and run a few more round-trips.

◆From Nantong to the present, what is the reason why you can stand out?

The main thing is the mentality, people become mature and stable with rich experience, and then the ability to grasp the opportunities in front of the goal is better. When I first went to Nantong, I broke my collarbone in 2021 because of an injury, and then I was hospitalized for more than half a year, and I didn't play much for a whole year. It's really sad in my heart, I just started to develop on a good side, and I experienced a major injury, which is really difficult.

The rest of the team has been in systematic training and maintaining a high-intensity game, and I just came back from injury, and my muscles are almost gone, and my physical fitness is also very poor, which is completely equivalent to chasing the big team from scratch. When other people are resting, I have to practice hard, the team has a morning break and afternoon training, I have to start training in the morning, and I have to practice more in the afternoon, that's how I get through, sometimes it's hard for me to believe all this. So, it's really not a mouth that can get back what you've lost, you have to stick to it.

◆Last year and this year, you played well, how do you see your place in the team?

Because they have to compete with foreign players, the playing time of local strikers must be won by themselves. Playing the main team is the goal of every player, and I went to Three Towns to run for this goal, but now I am not in such a hurry. After experiencing a lot of things, I have a different way of looking at problems. I think this year we will definitely help the team to relegate first, and then we will try to try to get a better ranking on that basis.

◆This year is 26 years old, which belongs to a relatively mature age, what do you want to do in the three towns?

Let's see if we can score more goals this year than last year (five goals), and there are two at the moment, so I think it should be okay to work hard in the future. Many people also ask, have you ever thought about the national team, everyone will think about this, but it's not a matter of thinking, the goal is in my heart, if I don't have me on the list, it means that I have to work harder.