chinese football player

This article is about the football player. For the actor named Leo Wu Lei, see Leo Wu. For diachronic Xiongnu chanyu named Wulei, see Wulei
Wu Lei ( chinese : 武磊 ; pinyin : Wǔ Lěi ; born 19 November 1991 ) is a chinese professional football player who plays as a forward for La Liga club Espanyol and the China home team.

Wu is the all-time acme goalscorer for Shanghai SIPG with 169 goals. He is the second all-time top goalscorer in chinese Super League history with 102 goals. Wu besides holds the record for being the youngest player to have appeared in a chinese professional league match aged 14 years and 287 days .

early life [edit ]

Wu was born in Nanjing and developed a mania for football at an early long time. Turned down by Jiangsu Sainty ‘s youth academy for being excessively small, Wu took a recommendation letter from former Chinese football player Li Hongbing and went to Shanghai to apply for the Genbao Football Base in 2003. After watching a single train school term of Wu, Xu Genbao, the founder and owner of Genbao Football Base, decided to recruit Wu. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] late in 2005, Wu and his teammates joined Shanghai East Asia, which was jointly founded by Xu Genbao. [ 5 ]

Club career [edit ]

Shanghai SIPG [edit ]

Wu started his football career playing for third-tier side Shanghai SIPG, making his introduction for the club on 2 September 2006 in a 5–3 loss against Yunnan Lijiang Dongba, making him the youngest ever player to play professional Chinese football aged 14 years and 287 days. [ 6 ] He helped the club win the third gear tier title and forwarding to the second tier at the end of the 2007 league season. He scored his first goal for the club on 30 August 2008 in a 2–0 acquire against Qingdao Hailifeng. This made him the second youngest goalscorer in Chinese football aged 16 years and 289 days, precisely 47 days behind Cao Yunding ‘s read. [ 7 ] Wu scored a hat-trick on 2 June 2013 in a 6–1 win against Shanghai Shenxin, becoming the second youngest player to score a hat-trick in the top grade. [ 8 ] He scored his second hat-trick of the season on 18 August 2013 in a 3–2 win against Tianjin Teda. He scored his third gear hat-trick of the season on 27 September 2013 in a 6–1 succeed against Qingdao Jonoon. On 31 July 2016, Wu became the first taiwanese football player in over two years to score a hat-trick in the chinese Super League in a 3–3 draw against Guangzhou R & F. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] On 18 March 2018, he scored four goals in a 5–2 succeed against Guangzhou R & F, becoming the second Chinese football player to score four goals in a league match after Li Jinyu. [ 11 ] In the 2018 season, Wu became the top goalscorer in chinese Super League history with 102 goals. [ 12 ] He besides won the Golden Boot award with 27 goals, becoming the inaugural taiwanese football player to win the prize since Li Jinyu. [ 13 ] Wu was besides named as the Chinese Football Association Footballer of the year at the end of the season, becoming the chinese football player to win the award since 2007. [ 14 ]

RCD Espanyol [edit ]

On 28 January 2019, Wu transferred to La Liga side RCD Espanyol for a report tip of €2 million, [ 15 ] signing a three-year contract with an choice for an extra year. [ 16 ] He made his debut for the baseball club on 3 February 2019 in a 2–2 pull back against Villarreal, coming on as a utility for Dídac Vilà in the 77th moment. It was watched by more than 40 million people in China. [ 17 ] He became the second gear Chinese football player to play in La Liga after Zhang Chengdong. On 9 February 2019, he came on as a utility and earned a penalty which produced the equalizer in a 2–1 acquire against Rayo Vallecano. On 17 February 2019, Wu became the first taiwanese football player to start a La Liga pit in a 0–0 hook against Valencia CF. [ 18 ] Wu scored his first goal for the club on 2 March 2019 in a 3–1 win against Real Valladolid, becoming the first chinese football player to score in La Liga. [ 19 ] [ 20 ] On 24 April 2019, Wu scored his irregular goal for the club in a 1–1 draw against Celta. On 18 May 2019, Wu scored his third finish for the baseball club in a 2–0 win against Real Sociedad, securing Espanyol ‘s spot in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League qualifying stages. [ citation needed ] On 25 July 2019, Wu made his UEFA Europa League introduction in the qualifying rounds in a 4–0 winnings against Stjarnan, coming on as a substitute for Esteban Granero. A calendar month late, he scored his first goal in the same contest in a 3–0 gain against Luzern. [ 21 ] His goal, a header in the third gear minute, was the fastest in the baseball club ‘s european history and was besides the first goal scored by a chinese football player in any european continental competition since 2013. [ 22 ] On 3 October 2019, Wu became the first Chinese football player ever to score in european competition, excluding qualifying stages, scoring in a 2–0 acquire against CSKA Moscow. [ citation needed ] On 4 January 2020, Wu became the first Chinese player to score against Barcelona, scoring a 88th-minute counterweight for Espanyol after coming on as a stand-in in a 2–2 draw. [ 23 ]

International career [edit ]

Wu was called up to the chinese under-20 national team in 2009 and scored nine goals in five matches during the 2010 AFC U-19 Championship qualification matches. [ 24 ] His impressive goalscoring performances saw him called up to the chinese national team for the 2010 East asian Football Championship, making his debut on 14 February 2010 in a 2–0 acquire against Hong Kong. [ 25 ] respective months late, Wu returned to the under-20 national team for the 2010 AFC U-19 Championship and he played in four games and score two goals while he aided China to the quarterfinals by the end of the tournament. He scored his first goal for China on 28 July 2013 in a 4–3 win against Australia at the 2013 EAFF East asian Cup .

Player profile [edit ]

dash of bring [edit ]

Wu has been praised for his goalscoring exploits and off-the-ball movements. He is known for his explosive accelerate, particularly on counterattacks. A versatile forward, Wu is capable of playing anywhere across the frontline. Although he has played as a striker and irregular striker, he much plays as a winger and can operate on either flank. [ 26 ]

reception [edit ]

Wu ‘s goalscoring art drew praise from former coach Gao Hongbo, who stated, “ Wu ‘s scoring ability is congenital, making him a gifted player. ” [ 27 ] In 2013, former mentor Xu Genbao, who has been attributed to helping develop Wu, described him as “ China ‘s Maradona “. [ 28 ] Wu ‘s performances during the 2013 Copa del Sol caught the eye of Molde FK ‘s coach Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Solskjær commented on Wu ‘s footballing art, state, “ He is a dear striker ; if he moves to Molde, I think he can improve well enough to play for an english Premiership side in a year. ” [ 29 ]

Read more: Willem Dafoe

Wu ‘s transportation from Shanghai SIPG to La Liga side Espanyol on 28 January 2019 drew widespread attention amongst taiwanese media outlets. According to PPTV, the official broadcaster of La Liga in China, more than 25 million fans in China watched Espanyol win 3–1 against Real Valladolid, in which Wu scored his first base finish for the club. [ 30 ]

personal liveliness [edit ]

Wu is of Hui ethnicity. [ 31 ] He married his girlfriend Zhong Jiabei ( 仲佳蓓 ) in 2014 and has two children, a daughter and a son. [ 32 ] [ 33 ]

career statistics [edit ]

cabaret [edit ]

As of match played 14 December 2021[2][34]

International [edit ]

As of match played 16 November 2021[35][36]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
China 2010 1 0
2011 0 0
2012 0 0
2013 10 2
2014 10 2
2015 11 2
2016 8 1
2017 8 1
2018 11 5
2019 8 5
2020 0 0
2021 10 9
Total 77 27
As of 16 November 2021[35][36]
Scores and results list China’s goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Wu goal.
  1. a b not a FIFA ‘A ‘ international match

Honours [edit ]

Shanghai SIPG
Espanyol
China PR
Individual

References [edit ]

  • Player profile at sports.online.sh.cn