Wu Lei beats Shinji Kagawa to join Son Heung-min in IFFHS Asian team of decade

China forward’s selection as midfielder over former Manchester United player and Ki Sung-yueng is met with raised eyebrows

Espanyol player marks two years in Spain as only Chinese on men’s team, Li Ying only Steel Roses choice on women’s list

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Espanyol's Wu Lei celebrates scoring his side’s second goal as Barcelona's Jordi Alba looks dejected. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:24am, 31 Jan 2021Updated: 11:25am, 31 Jan 2021

The inclusion of China’s Wu Lei ahead of some of the biggest names in Asian football on the International Federation for Football History and Statistics AFC Team of the Decade has raised eyebrows when it was announced on Saturday.

Wu joined South Korea’s Son Heung-min and Japan’s Keisuke Honda on the Asian team for 2011 to 2020 named by the Zurich-based football record keepers, with several Chinese media outlets praising their star forward’s feat.

However, social media users questioned why China’s star forward was included in midfield ahead of stars such as former Manchester United midfielder Shinji Kagawa of Japan.

Kagawa, who shot to stardom at Borussia Dortmund in Germany and now plays at PAOK in Greece or South Korea’s Ki Sung-yueng – who played for Celtic in Scotland and Swansea City, Newcastle United and Sunderland in the English Premier League – missed out despite careers spent in Europe.

In contrast, Wu marks his second anniversary in Spain with Espanyol this weekend with the Barcelona-based team dropping off the top of the second division standings after rivals Mallorca beat Girona.