In the long history of Chinese football, if one were to ask who is the most talented player, many fans might not immediately think of Huang Yong - a player from the 93 generation of Jianlibao who went abroad to Brazil and is known as the "Golden Left Foot."
Born in 1978 in Jilin, Changchun, Huang Yong can play as a left-back or left midfielder. At the age of 10, he began his training journey at the amateur sports school of the Changchun Bus Factory and was later selected by the Shenyang military unit, thus embarking on his professional career.
At that time, Chinese football selection often favored tall and strong players, but Huang Yong, standing only 1.70 meters tall and with a slender physique, stood out among many players with his natural talent and was selected into the Jianlibao youth team. It's no exaggeration to say that he had extraordinary talent.
During his time in Brazil, Huang Yong was the hardest-working and longest-training member of the team. Initially just a fringe player, he became an absolute mainstay under coach Horton for the national Olympic team, with even Zheng Zhi having to play as his substitute at left-back.
Upon returning from Brazil, Huang Yong joined the relatively unknown and unmarketable Bayi team. Due to his military status and straightforward personality, despite the high salary temptations from outside, he never left even when the Bayi team was relegated to the second-tier league.
During his six seasons with the Bayi team, his income may not have matched half a year's salary of his Jianlibao teammates like Li Jinyu and Zhang Yuning. When his teammates were driving million-yuan luxury cars, Huang Yong could only buy a Bora on installment.
In 2003, after the Bayi team disbanded due to military downsizing, Huang Yong chose the Shanghai International team, which had the best chance of helping him win the top-flight championship among the many clubs pursuing him. However, with the likes of Qi Hong and Shen Si in prison for match-fixing within the team, Huang Yong faced ostracism in such an environment.
During matches, he often stormed off the field in anger due to his inability to understand his teammates' mistakes and the team's abnormal performance, with even the head coach's attempts to dissuade him proving futile. For him, such games were undoubtedly a torment.
Despite his skills, Huang Yong found it difficult to survive in the complex football environment due to his character. After being sidelined by the club for a period, he joined the second-tier team Tianjin Songjiang and was ultimately forced to retire.
In the context of Chinese football at the time, he was undoubtedly an "oddity": lacking outstanding physical qualities but possessing remarkable technical ability; lacking brilliant achievements but with an intriguing experience. From Brazil to Bayi, from Bayi to the international scene, from Horton to Milutinovic, although Huang Yong did not achieve great fame, he was never overlooked.
Looking back at his national team career, Huang Yong missed out on the World Cup due to offending Milutinovic. With his abilities, he might not have been able to compete with Wu Chengying and Ma Mingyu for the starting left position, but his level was certainly above Yang Pu and Shao Jiayi, and he should have been the first choice for the left substitute.
After Milutinovic, the door to the national team closed for Huang Yong, but this was not due to a lack of ability. In 2012, while serving as an assistant coach for Shenyang North in Shenyang, then-head coach Arie Haan jokingly said, "With your technical awareness, you were fully capable of making the national team back then."
Huang Yong retorted, "Then why didn't you pick me when you were the national team coach?" Arie Haan helplessly responded, "The big list given to me by the Football Association at that time didn't include you, so how could I choose?"
Huang Yong understood that at that time, making the national team actually required money, and he was not alone in being expelled from the national team for not paying up. Huang Yong's football life is a regrettable chapter in Chinese football that deserves our deep reflection.