Old fans who are familiar with Chinese football will definitely not be unfamiliar with the name An Qi. This handsome goalkeeper in the history of Chinese men's football once helped the Chinese men's football score in 2002 with his outstanding performance. In the final stage of the Korea-Japan World Cup in 2016, the national football goalkeeper failed to continue to engage in football-related work after retiring. Instead, he planted big cherries and started selling cherries. The choice also made the fans sigh, but in fact the current situation is not so
Born in June 1981, An Qi, he is 192 cm tall. As a goalkeeper, he has a positive coverage of saves on the court. For a wide range of reasons, in 1999, the 18-year-old An Qi made his debut from Guangzhou Songri Men’s Football Team. After that, relying on his outstanding performance, he joined Dalian Shide, the dominant Chinese football player at the time, in 2000. Just passed his 20th birthday, but the young An Qi has already secured his position as the main goalkeeper in Dalian Shide by virtue of his outstanding performance. Relying on his outstanding performance, An Qi has also been successfully selected as the coach of Milu at the time. After the national team’s main goalkeeper Jiang Jin was absent due to injury, An Qi temporarily became the starting goalkeeper of the Chinese team in the top 10 matches. Relying on his outstanding performance, An Qi was one of the best players in the national football match with Oman. China performed well and eventually helped the Chinese men's football team reach the World Cup finals for the first time in its history.
However, An Qi, who was 23 years old in 2004, was supposed to be at his personal peak. However, a "zipper door" involved him in right and wrong. At that time, Dalian Shide sent An Qi down. Arrived in the reserve team, An Qi was beaten up, although he moved to Xiamen Blue Lions, Changchun Yatai and other teams one after another, but unfortunately An Qi experienced the ups and downs, his heart has been beaten, and finally in 2010 At the age of 29, An Qi chose to retire. After leaving professional football, An Qi did not engage in football-related work. Instead, he planted cherries in partnership with a few friends. Previously, the captain of the National Olympic team and An Qi’s good brother Dewey used to act for An on the Internet. Qi’s Cherry Orchard carried out a publicity, and only then did many people know that the former main goalkeeper of the national football team was mistaken by fans at the time that he had become a cherries vendor.
In an interview with reporters, An Qi was not concerned about his current career. He didn't think so, he said that he now sells cherries to make money with peace of mind, and earns more than he earned when he played football. He didn't feel any wrong with this profession, and in an interview at that time, An Qi said a particularly touching sentence: " If hard work can make my family live better, I can do more! "
But An Qi did not really give up football in his heart. In January 2019, Dalian Gigabit Football Club extended an olive branch to An Qi and invited An Qi to serve as the goalkeeper coach of the team’s youth training. An Qi also readily agreed. He returned to his favorite football circle and continued to work hard on his favorite stadium.
Contributing Editor: Su Daqiang
