Chapter 491: Twenty-One Years of Waiting
One week after the Super Cup, the 2024 Chinese Super League officially kicked off.
The opening game is last season's second-place Dashun Golden Arrow vs. newly promoted Lingnan Nanhai at home.
Wang Xianke is still sitting as the head coach of Dashun Golden Arrow.
Golden Arrow Club did not fire Wang Xianke in the end. Obviously they feel that his dark history is not enough to affect his coaching position, but they can use this matter to blackmail Wang Xianke. I just didn't expect that Wang Xianke was also very tough and didn't follow the rules of the Golden Arrow Club.
It was so deadlocked.
In the end, the contract renewal was not negotiated, and Wang Xianke did not leave.
The reason why Golden Arrow is unwilling to fire Wang Xianke is that in addition to feeling that the dark history has nothing to do with the club, it may also be that they do not want to pay liquidated damages - if the club terminates the contract with Wang Xianke before the contract expires, then they will have to pay the remainder of Wang Xianke's contract. Full salary for the next term as liquidated damages.
Obviously, in the eyes of the Golden Arrow Club, neither Wang Xianke's dark history nor Hu Lai's warning is as big as the liquidated damages.
Although they lost the league championship and FA Cup last season, they ended up empty-handed.
But the strength of Dashun Golden Arrow is still there, and there was no gossip before the game that Wang Xianke lost control of the team.
In this opening game, Dashun Golden Arrow played at home and defeated the newly promoted Lingnan Nanhai Team 2:0.
In an interview after the game, Wang Xianke told the media that Dashun Golden Arrow has one and only one goal this season, and that is to win the championship.
"We'll get back to where we should be - champions."
At the same time, he refused to answer any questions about Hu Lai.
The reason for his refusal is also very good. After all, if Dashun Golden Arrow wants to meet Flash Star in the league, it will have to wait until the thirteenth round of the league at the end of May, which is still very early.
Since he is not the opponent in front of him, what else is there to say?
※※※
After the opening match between Dashun Golden Arrow and Lingnan Nanhai, there were two league matches on the same day, with Shanhai Mariners playing against Huanghai Jade Bird at home. As a result, the two teams tied with 1:1.
In another game, Shangdu Shenwei lost 0:3 at home to the defending champion Lingnan South China Tigers.
The next day, Saturday, March 2, the Chinese Super League started in full swing, with kick-offs for many games from the afternoon to the evening.
The match between Flash Star and Yunyang Phoenix at home is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 pm.
For TV broadcasts of the Chinese Super League, this is considered prime time.
The reason why this game is scheduled at this time may be because the Flash Stars have just defeated the Chinese Super League champion Lingnan South China Tigers in the Super Cup, and there are many talented young people in the team who have attracted much attention, and the broadcasters of the event are aware of it. Everyone will definitely pay more attention to the Flash Star game, and of course it must be arranged in a time period that is more friendly to television broadcasts.
When Yan Yan and his classmates boarded the stands, they found that half of the stands in the Provincial Sports Center were already filled, and the remaining half of the empty seats were rapidly shrinking and occupied by many people wearing red clothes. Figure fills.
"Spectacular!" he exclaimed as he watched this scene.
"This is the first time a Chinese Super League match has been held since the Provincial Sports Center was built." said the middle-aged uncle next to him. "I read on the Internet that several fan organizations came over to rehearse last night. How to hang banners, how to display TIFO, how to sing and cheer...all were directed by professional people."
"The last time Anton Football appeared in the Chinese Super League was twenty-one years ago...Twenty-one years ago, I was just born. Let me go, saying this, it feels like a long, long time has passed..." Yan Yan was shocked shouted.
"Twenty-one years ago, Hu Lai and Xia Xiaoyu were not born yet." The middle-aged uncle said.
"It's terrible..." Yan Yan shook his head, "I just said this number before and I didn't feel anything. When uncle, you said this, I really realized how much time has passed."
"Twenty-one years ago, I was still a college student like you. In the last Chinese Super League game when Xingcheng was relegated, I was at the Provincial Sports Center... Oh, it's not this one, it's the one that hasn't been demolished yet." Middle-aged The uncle looked at the scene in front of him and fell into memories of the past.
"Let me tell you, when the final whistle sounded and Xingcheng was confirmed to be relegated, in such a big stadium, it was as quiet as a morgue... Really, it's not an exaggeration at all. The visiting team fans didn't dare to cheer - for fear of being beaten by us Beat them. But they think too much, how can we beat them? It’s too late to cry... I saw a bald guy next to me crying loudly. The oil paints are all wet with tears..."
"Uncle, didn't you go to comfort him?" Yan Yan's classmate next to him asked curiously.
"Comfort? Of course he comforted me... But the other person hugged me, and then all my clothes were covered with paint on his face..." At this point, the uncle smiled, as if it was really funny. One scene.
But Yan Yan knew that it was the darkest day for Anton football.
"I haven't been to Xingcheng's games since then, and I didn't even watch them until they disbanded. I really didn't expect that I would come back here to watch the Chinese Super League..." At this point, the uncle let out a sigh of relief. , did not continue talking, just looked at the Provincial Sports Center stand in front of him, which was quickly filling up, and was lost in thought.
※※※
When the stands of the Provincial Sports Center were quickly filled with enthusiastic Anton Flash fans, in the home team's locker room below the stands, assistant coach Chen Mo was speaking to the players changing clothes: "I'll say it again: Forget about Super League. Cup champion! Forget the Super Bowl champion! Don't think you can beat it in the Super Bowl! The Chinese Super League champion is really more powerful than the champion... The so-called "King of Kings" is just a concept hyped by the media. Whoever believes it is out of their minds! Remember, we are a newly promoted team and our goal is to avoid relegation! …And our road to relegation begins with today’s game!”
After Chen Mo finished speaking, Zhao Kangming stood up: "Because of our performance in the Super Cup, it is obvious that our opponents will not underestimate us, so every game must be played with the mentality of relegation. If we lose, In any game, we will slip a little further towards the Chinese League ”
The reason why the two coaches spoke so harshly and described the situation as very bad is because after the start of the league, the situation for the Flash Stars was indeed not much better.
After the Super Cup on February 25, the first league game came on March 3, with a week's rest in between. This is a rare respite for Shining Star.
Starting today in the next two weeks, Flash Stars will play a total of five games, including three league games and two AFC Champions League group matches.
All are double matches a week, with a dense schedule.
This is the disadvantage of participating in the AFC Champions League - such a frequent schedule is a great test for the physical fitness of all the team's players, and will also affect the players' condition.
If the league does not play well at the beginning, it will damage the confidence and morale of the players, and also disrupt the coaching staff's season plan.
In the case of double matches in a week, the room for maneuver for Flash Star is much smaller and the error tolerance is much lower.
If they do not participate in the AFC Champions League, Flash Stars will have to play one game a week until the end of April before the FA Cup is added.
This rhythm is the most comfortable for professional teams.
Of course, this is also a worry for "strong teams". After all, if the Flash Stars were a normal newly promoted team, how could they be qualified to participate in the AFC Champions League?
You must know that many Chinese Super League teams hope that they can participate in the AFC Champions League...
※※※
Wearing Yunyang Phoenix's white away jersey and black away shorts, Wang Zijian looked at Hu Lai and Chen Xingyi standing in front of him, smiled and extended his hand to them: "Welcome to the Chinese Super League!"
This is the handshake ceremony between players from both sides before the game.
But when Wang Zijian saw Hu Lai suddenly reaching out to him with two hands, he had a very strong bad feeling.
He wanted to take his hand back, but it was too late and was firmly grasped by Hu Lai's hands.
He looked down at Hu Lai's hands, then looked up at the owner of these hands, who was grinning at him: "Welcome to Jincheng, a city that you can't escape from once you come here!"
At the same time, a pain of squeezing the finger joints came from the hand held by Hu Lai.
Wang Zijian:? ? ?
※※※
The fans in the stands of the Jincheng Provincial Sports Center stood up from their seats. From a distance, it looked like a storm had set off on the red ocean, causing the waves to surge.
In the commentary box at the scene, the commentator from Anton TV was screaming amidst the tsunami-like shouts: "Beautiful turn! Zhang Qinghuan!!"
In front of Yunyang Phoenix's penalty area, Zhang Qinghuan had just turned around to get rid of Yunyang Phoenix's defensive players. At this time, he was already facing Yunyang Phoenix's back line.
When Yunyang Phoenix's defense shrank towards the center where he was, a gap appeared on the wing. Zhang Qinghuan pushed the football diagonally to Chen Xingyi in the ribs.
The latter took advantage of the situation and put the football into the penalty area.
Yunyang Phoenix's defenders immediately turned to Chen Xingyi.
Chen Xingyi passed the football back to the center.
Hu Lai, who followed up in the middle, accelerated forward, stretched his foot on the line of the small penalty area and poked the football into the goal!
"Hu Lai!!!" Anton Satellite TV's commentator shouted excitedly, "Hu Lai!!! Good goal! Beautiful!! This is the first Chinese Super League goal in the history of Anton Shining Star Club! It is also Anton Football’s first Chinese Super League goal after 21 years! Made history! ! He did not disappoint! ! The attack from the center to the wing was very smooth! The front three are connected for the first time in the Super League, perfect! ”
"After the goal, Hu Lai ran to the corner flag area and made his signature celebration! We really hope to see Hu Lai's celebrations like this often in the Chinese Super League this season!" Commentator Lu Guanlin smiled happily.
In the stands, Yan Yan's classmates raised their arms and shouted, but he glanced at the middle-aged uncle and found that the uncle put his hand in his mouth and blew a loud whistle. He also laughed,
I wonder if my uncle whistled in the stands like this when he was a college student...
Now the uncle has returned to the stadium stands, and Anton Football has returned to the Chinese Super League.
His high school classmates and teammates also made a good start for this new journey.
He looked into the stadium. In the corner flag area in the distance, Hu Lai had just finished celebrating. Chen Xingyi, Zhang Qinghuan, Xia Xiaoyu and other Star players ran towards him and hugged each other.
Seeing this scene, Yan Yan thought that in a few years, when he is as old as his uncle, he will be able to brag to young fans in the stands.
Tell them that the scene that guy made that day at the Provincial Sports Center was quite big!
It was really: noisy gongs and drums, blasting firecrackers, waving red flags, and huge crowds of people!
It’s lively like celebrating the New Year!
※※※
Note 1: Chaoge means "gangster" in dialect, and can also refer to "cool man". (End of chapter)