The first goal is a perfect draw for Guoan! Zhang Zhenyang, a teenager from the three towns: Growing up is to face difficulties, and in the face of adversity, we must strive to master our destiny

Reporter Lu Mi reports Back on April 15, 2025, when the 21-year-old Zhang Zhenyang smashed the Guoan goal with a header in the 9th minute of stoppage time, he used the first Chinese Super League goal of his career to help Three Towns chase three goals in a row and force Guoan to draw. Zhang Zhenyang's body not only has the aura of "becoming famous with one goal", but also the iron-blooded spirit of Jiangcheng Football "not accepting the week", and fate will not disappoint every light chaser who tramples on the difficulties under his feet.

It was 1-3 at half-time, and at the beginning of the second half, Guoan scored another one. In this case, everyone thought that the three towns were running for another rout, the first home loss to Zhejiang 0-4, and finally won Yukun, is it going to be again?

Deng Zhuoxiang was not in a hurry to change people, and even on his face, there was no change. After Guoan adjusted 4 people, he played the cards in his hand, and the turning point of the game came.

In the 81st minute, Deng Zhuoxiang changed 3 people, in addition to Long Wei, Liu Yiming, and U21 player Zhang Zhenyang, which was an adjustment for the midfield. But no one expected that 19 minutes later, 1.92 meters of midfielder Zhang Zhenyang changed the trend of the game.

"At that time, Zhuo Ge told me that the first task of going up was to limit the opposing defenders, not to let them easily play long passes, and fight for more grabs. Predicting a three-goal lead, the backline may be slack in the final stages, so let me fight and create chances. Zhang Zhenyang was a little nervous at first, he knew that he was not because the team gave up the game to feel the Super League, but to strive for change!

With a big score behind, coupled with the urgency of time, Zhang Zhenyang kicked the ball for the first time. Feeling embarrassed as he watched the ball roll out of bounds, he swallowed and waved his hand – he was afraid of affecting his team-mates, but instead of complaining, they quickly returned to position.

From the 84th minute, the three towns continued to press in the Guoan penalty area for nearly two minutes, and Zhong Jinbao suddenly made a cold arrow to rewrite the score to 2-4. But this ball, the outside world mostly thinks it is a saving ball.

The time came to the 3rd minute of stoppage time, Guoan wanted to control the ball in the midfield and slow down the rhythm, but Three Towns continued to press, quickly counterattacked after getting the ball, Guoan fouled, and Three Towns won a penalty.

'Sauer was under a lot of pressure, but he calmly scored. Zhang Zhenyang said that this is an incredible scene, scoring two goals in 7 minutes, the gap is only one goal, and there are still a few minutes left in the game, and the hearts of the players in the three towns are lit with a fire.

"I saw that Park Ji-so had cramps, but he didn't waste time, just pulled a shallow pull and immediately went into the game. At that time, there was not much to emphasize, and actions spoke for themselves. Zhang Zhenyang said.

In the 9th minute of stoppage time, Sauer's free kick caused a corner kick, Zhang Zhenyang rushed up, 1.92 meters he brought his height advantage to the extreme, rubbed his head slightly, Guoan goalkeeper Hou Sen didn't have time to react, 4 to 4, drawn!

"At that time, the goalkeeper Shao Ge ran up, right in front of me, I saw that the opposing defenders were attracted to him, and I had a premonition that Sauer would send the ball to me, and I was ready from the beginning." After the ball was scored, Zhang Zhenyang frantically ran to the sidelines and knelt to celebrate, and all his teammates rushed up to congratulate him, which was Zhang Zhenyang's first goal in the Chinese Super League, which was enough to remember for life.

Many Wuhan fans were red-eyed at that moment, and scored three goals in a row in the final period to draw Guoan, which is what they want to see Wuhan football look like. When the team is in difficulty, there are always people who come forward, it is Deng Zhuoxiang, who was acting for a short time, it is foreign aid Shaoer, it is Zhong Jinbao who returned to Wuhan, and Zhang Zhenyang, a local youth seedling.

To work hard to reverse the situation, this is the spirit of Wuhan football's "disobedience week".

Zhang Zhenyang is a product of the Three Towns Youth Training, born in 2004, he is a native of Wuhan.

After scoring the equalizing goal, many people used "one goal to become famous" to describe Zhang Zhenyang, but he didn't "care" - compared to an instantaneous outburst, he was more willing to grow little by little, just like his previous football road.

Zhang Zhenyang only began to contact systematic training when he was in elementary school, but before that, influenced by his parents, he had a special feeling for football. His uncle Zhang Bin played for the second team of Wuhan Iron and Steel, and his father also wanted to play football.

"My dad often takes me to Xinhua Road to watch Zall games, and before representing the school, I played a warm-up game at halftime in Zall games, and I scored a goal at that time." Zhang Zhenyang said: "The cheers of the fans in the stadium were deafening, and it felt very good. I just want to grow up in the future, and I must represent Wuhan football on the top stage. ”

Zhang Zhenyang learned football at Wansongyuan Road Primary School, a famous football school, and his daily life is hard and happy. Every morning at six or seven o'clock to the school for morning exercises, go to school normally, and participate in training after school. "It's already nine or ten o'clock when I get home at night, and I still have to do my homework, and sometimes I fall asleep while writing, but I don't feel tired, and I really like it at that time."

Zhang Zhenyang is lucky, his parents support him, although both of them have to go to work, but they will make breakfast before the children go out. "Actually, they can let me go out too early, but they are afraid that I will not eat well, so they prepare a lunch box for me every day, and I have to get up before dawn to get busy."

In 2013, Wuhan Football Association and Shangwen Sports jointly launched a new youth training model, in which outstanding football seedlings were selected from Wuhan to enter the municipal youth training camp, and then elite seedlings were selected to go to Barcelona, Spain to study abroad. Zhang Zhenyang was among them, and at that time, he had just graduated from elementary school.

For the first time, Zhang Zhenyang stood at a crossroads in his life - either continue to go to school or play football. If you choose the latter, going to Europe at such a young age is full of unknowns and adventures. He discussed it with his family for a long time and finally chose football. "The biggest difficulty is the language, before going abroad, the club did language training, I didn't study it seriously, and I regretted it when I went out. The rest of my teammates were in the same class, but I was alone, surrounded by Spanish kids. ”

Zhang Zhenyang's parents told him that he must go out and take the initiative to communicate with the people around him, so that he will get better and better. He tried, he overcame the language problem, in Spain he felt the high level of training, he also went to see Messi play, and he began to dream of the moment when he returned home and landed in the professional league.

After returning to China, playing in the youth league, Zhang Zhenyang soon suffered a major blow and almost gave up football. "At that time in 2021, Jiang Kun guided us, and in a competition, I broke my ribs." He rested for more than two months due to injury, but after the first return to training, he relapsed again. "The relapse meant that I had to take a break again, and I was reimbursed for most of the year, and I was really mentally broken, and I even wondered if I wanted to persevere." Zhang Zhenyang said.

Jiang Kun found Zhang Zhenyang and asked him to recall his persistence for so many years, and give up, willingly? It's a soul torture.

"yes, I'm only a teenager, what's the point of giving up at this time? Do you have any regrets? "Patiently recuperated from the injury, worked harder after recovery, and Jiang Kun also tried his best to help him, and later he made his appearance in the second division and the FA Cup. My career is finally on the right track. At this time, he remembered what his mother had said to him, "There are always bumps in the road of life, and you should be grateful to meet you, especially people who are not related by blood are good to you, and you must be doubly grateful." ”

In 2023, Zhang Zhenyang will be loaned to Hainan Stars to play in the second division, which is his first time playing in the professional league. At that time, the team's results were not satisfactory, Takahata Mian went to Three Towns as the head coach, Jiang Kun took over, 4 games in a row, the team did not win, and there was a danger of relegation in the relegation group.

In the first game, Zhang Zhenyang got the chance to start, and made a lot of mistakes, "There are a lot of doubts from the outside world, the coach has carried all the pressure, and he always tells us with a smile, don't be in the voice of the accident world, and focus on yourself." Later, the team was undefeated in 6 rounds and successfully relegated, and Zhang Zhenyang contributed 1 goal and 2 assists.

Last year, Zhang Zhenyang played in the U21 league with Three Towns, which was the most memorable year of his career so far. The Three Towns Club has been suffering from financial problems for a whole year, and has not followed up on its search for share reform. In this situation, every player in the first team and the Under-21 team is holding on and, of course, there are sacrifices.

"We didn't qualify in 2023, so our goal is to qualify in this qualifier. The process was bumpy, but fortunately, the goal was accomplished, and after entering the main match, the first round was barely tied 3-3 with the relatively weak Shenzu, and I didn't expect to win the championship at that time. Zhang Zhenyang recalled, "The coach asked us to treat every game as the last game, and to work harder every day than the first day. ”

In the crucial game for the title, Three Towns lost to the Jinmen Tigers, "The atmosphere in the team is tense because we are likely to miss out on the championship. At that time, the coach said, 'Don't leave the choice to others, take your destiny into your own hands'. With this momentum, Three Towns U21 finally won the championship, and the words Jiang Kun said became Zhang Zhenyang's motto.

Zhang Zhenyang remembered that after winning the championship, all the players, including the coach, were in tears, and this was the second time he saw Jiang Kun crying. "On the one hand, the pressure is released, and on the other hand, everyone wants to do something for the club with this title. Although we didn't know what the future would hold at the time, it was all we could do. ”

The three towns have survived, and this year they have survived with a new attitude. Although they had a poor start, winning the promoted Ma Yukun and then tying Guoan showed their desire to get rid of their bad luck.

This year, Zhang Zhenyang is facing a double-line battle, mainly in the B team to participate in the second team, and sometimes to the first team to play in the Chinese Super League. He will use his commuting time to review the second game, or understand the preparation ideas for the new round of the Chinese Super League. Just like when he was at Wan Song Yuan Road Primary School, he was busy and fulfilling.

In the past 3 years, I have been going back and forth between China B to the U21 League, and then to China B and the Chinese Super League, experiencing professional football in a busy way. After experiencing the risk of relegation, they also won the Under-21 league title under very difficult circumstances.

"I should feel very lucky to have so many games to play, to get more training in the second division, and to win the time to play in the Super League, many people don't have such opportunities, I cherish it." Zhang Zhenyang said. He also said that he believes in a saying: even in the face of adversity, you must strive to control your own destiny.