Football: An Immortal Legend on the Pitch

At the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, the U-19 team made up of Chen Tao, Feng Xiaoting, Zhao Xuri, Zhou Haibin, Dong Fangzhuo, Zhu Ting, Gao Lin, and Hao Junmin was hailed as the "Super Platinum Generation."

They beat European runners-up Turkey 2-1 in the group stage, defeated Ukraine, led by Shevchenko, 3-2, and crushed Panama 4-1 to top their group. In the knockout rounds, they went toe-to-toe with Germany in an attacking game, but narrowly lost 3-2.

Before they headed to the tournament, though, the team lost an absolutely vital player to injury: Shen Bin, who played for Ajax. What might have happened if he'd been there?

A year later, a fan studying in Rotterdam spotted Shen Bin again.

He was still playing football, but not professionally. He was playing... amateur football.

Someone posted a photo of him on Weibo. Shen Bin was wearing a jersey with the name of a company printed on the back. It didn't fit him very well; it was a little too big... It was a group photo, and standing beside him was a middle-aged, heavyset white foreigner. He looked like he might be the owner of the company sponsoring the team...

In front of the camera, Shen Bin flashed a peace sign and smiled brightly. But for some reason, when I saw that photo, I felt a little sad...