China forward Wu Lei enjoyed less support at the Chinese national team than he boasted at his club Shanghai Port, says Meizhou Hakka FC defender Wang Wei.
Wu is the leading scorer with 28 goals, nine more than his teammate Gustavo, in the Chinese Super League so far this season, but his performances were less impressive with the Chinese side when taking on strong opposition like Japan and South Korea, reports Xinhua.
According to Wang, lack of support from teammates accounted for Wu’s underperformance at the Chinese team.
“Wu Lei belongs to his own league as a poacher in China, but when facing strong sides with the national team, he could hardly play his way as no teammate can provide assists for him,” Wang said.
“When confronting the strong rivals, he often had to get the ball, try to beat the opposition defending without the backup of teammates. That is not his strength,” Wang said.
“So sometimes you would see him struggling when playing with the national side. It is not because he did not work hard, or he was simply incapable, it’s because of his playing style,” Wang added.
Wu is expected to start in China’s World Cup qualifier against Japan on Thursday. According to media analysis, the China head coach Branko Ivankovic will probably field a defensive-minded lineup for that game.