Mountain coach gives wings to soccer dreams

His parents knew little about soccer but quietly supported their son's dream. His father even gave up 0.1 hectare of cornfield and hired an excavator to level the sloping land into a dirt soccer pitch — a significant sacrifice for a farming family that depended on every piece of arable land.

"They didn't say much," Jifu said. "But they did a lot."

In September 2022, FIFA featured Jifu's story on its social media platforms as an example of grassroots soccer.

The moment in the spotlight brought a flood of interview requests, TV appearances, and, most crucially, invitations from clubs and amateur teams.

In May 2023, he represented Jingchuan Wenhui Football Club in the Chinese Football Association Member Association Champions League, the fourth tier of China's men's soccer league.

Walking into the International Football Center of Rizhao in Shandong province for his first official match felt surreal.

"The pitch was perfect. There were fans in the stands," he recalled.

But once the game began, reality quickly set in. "I felt comfortable on the grass, but my body became stiff because I was so nervous. "For a long time afterward, he avoided watching recordings of the match.

Those 45 minutes fundamentally changed his understanding of the game. Training alone in the mountains had helped him improve his individual skills, but competitive soccer demanded much more: tactical awareness, positioning, teamwork, decision-making under pressure, and proper coaching.

"Before, I thought the game was about improving myself," Jifu said. "Then I realized soccer is played by 11 people. I had always trained alone, so the difference was enormous."

Gradually, he accepted that becoming a professional soccer player was unlikely. "I was not ready for the professional level, either technically or physically," he said.