Chapter 493 The gap between reality and dreams
It is certainly gratifying to win the first Chinese Super League match in the club's history.
But Flashing Star has already forgotten this victory which was enough to make the fans happy for a week.
Fans don't need to think too much and just enjoy the game.
Be happy when you win, curse when you lose.
But not the players and coaches.
Just after the game against Yunyang Phoenix, the Stars entered the AFC Champions League preparation mode.
As the champions of the Chinese Football Association Cup last season, they were qualified to directly participate in the AFC Champions League, without having to play a qualifying round like the third place in the Chinese Super League.
In the AFC Champions League group stage draw ceremony, Flash Star, who was participating in the AFC Champions League for the first time, was drawn into a group that was not considered good.
Because of the vast territory of Asia, and the fact that the Australian and New Zealand Football Associations have also joined the AFC, teams participating in the AFC Champions League often face the embarrassing situation of having to fly almost a third of the way around the earth to play away games.
This is no different from a Western European team going to Vladivostok to play the Europa League away game - but this has not happened yet, because the Vladivostok team has not participated in the Europa League at all.
But in Asia, a similar situation is real. If a West Asian team goes to Australia to play in the AFC Champions League, the flight distance is not close at all.
In order to solve this problem of increasing the burden on the team, the AFC divided the AFC Champions League into two halves, the east and west.
The western half is made up of clubs from West, Central and South Asia. All teams in this area will automatically be classified into the West Division and will be drawn together in the group draw.
The East Division is composed of teams from East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, competing against each other.
Until the finals, teams from the eastern and western halves will never meet.
This is a bit like the NBA's competition system. The Eastern and Western Conference champions are determined in the Eastern and Western halves, and then the Eastern Conference champion and the Western Conference champion finally come together to determine the champion of the entire Asia.
As long as they can win their respective half-district championships, they will qualify for the Club World Cup.
Unlike before, you have to be a championship to participate in the Club World Cup.
The AFC learned from UEFA and also started "European War Points" - in the AFC, it is called "Asian War Points".
The ranking of participating teams will be determined based on points, thus facilitating group drawings.
Because Flash Star has never had points in the Asian Championship, they were naturally assigned to the lowest level and became a fourth-level team.
This level is very unfavorable for Flash Star, as it will easily be paired with a group of strong teams.
So this time they were assigned to Group H, in the same group as teams from South Korea, Japan and Australia.
They are Seoul LG, the third runner-up in the Korean K1 League last season, Osaka Victory, the runner-up in the Japanese J1 League last season, and Sydney Coast, the runner-up in the Australian Super League last season.
Not only are the opponents strong, but they also face the hardship of traveling to Australia to play the game.
As Anton Shining Star participates in the AFC Champions League for the first time, many people are not optimistic about their prospects in the AFC Champions League. Some people are even worried that after Shining Star plays in the AFC Champions League, it will affect their performance in the league, resulting in The team was eventually relegated - this was definitely not meant to look down on the Stars, but there were many lessons learned from the past.
In European football, where professional football is more developed, this situation is not uncommon.
There are some teams that were originally ranked in the middle and lower reaches. After hard work and a little luck, they finally made it to the European competition next season.
At the end of the season, the image of the fans celebrating this great achievement is still vivid in my mind.
The team's performance plummeted in the new season. In the end, there was no outstanding performance in the European war, and it also disrupted the rhythm of the league, causing the team to rank at the bottom of the league.
Those teams that have some strength can still go all out in the league after being eliminated from the European competition, and ultimately successfully avoid relegation.
And some teams can no longer stop the downward trend and fall into the second-tier league at the end of the season.
The stadium that was full of joy a season ago has become like a morgue at this time.
Shining Star finally got promoted to the Chinese Super League, and Anton fans have just had a taste of the sweetness. No one wants them to return to the Chinese Super League after just one season.
If they had a choice, I'm afraid many Flash Star fans would rather not participate in the AFC Champions League, but they could participate in the Chinese Super League every year.
Competitions like the AFC Champions League are games for the rich. Anyone who can participate in this competition and achieve good results is a club that is willing to spend money on the team.
Flash Star is obviously not such a wealthy club, and the sponsors behind them will never use more radical financial methods in order to improve the team's performance. Otherwise they wouldn't have stayed in the Second Division and the First Division for so many years.
A large part of the reason why everyone was so happy last season was that the team won the FA Cup, not because it reached the AFC Champions League...
As if to prove the fans' concerns, in the first round of the AFC Champions League group stage, Flash Stars lost 0:3 away to Osaka Victory.
The score of 0:3 well reflects the gap between the Chinese League champions and the Japanese J1 League runners-up - the former was completely defeated by the latter.
Junpei Morikawa started the game in this game, but his running failed to help the team win the game, or even keep a tie.
Jun Morikawa was very frustrated after losing the game, and then met the Olympic team coach Koichi Sato after the game.
Obviously, Coach Sato came specifically to see his performance.
He plays football in China, and Japan does not broadcast Chinese league games. If Coach Sato wants to pay attention to his game status, of course he has to watch the AFC Champions League games.
This also shows that Coach Sato really did not give up on himself as he said.
Thinking of this, Morikawa Junpei felt much better.
But when he thought that he had just lost, his expression fell again.
How could Sato Koichi not understand what was going on in this middle school boy's mind?
Seeing this, he smiled and patted Morikawa Junpei on the shoulder: "It doesn't matter. The failure of this game has nothing to do with you. It's because the overall strength of the Flash Star team is too far apart... You have already done what the head coach arranged for you. Mission, in terms of personal performance, you can leave with your head held high.”
Junpei Morikawa did not leave with his head held high in the end, because he still cared about the outcome of this game.
For many people, it is not surprising that Shining Star lost this game. Judging from the comparison of the strength of the two teams, the loss was natural, and no one would use the failure of this game to criticize Shining Star's poor performance.
But many Shining Star players, including Junpei Morikawa, still seemed very silent on the plane returning to China.
Except for Qin Lin, everyone else in the Flash Star team participated in an Asian-level club competition for the first time. They were like people from the mountains coming to a big city for the first time.
Before coming, they always had all kinds of longings and fantasies about the feasting world.
I fantasize about being able to stand out and become famous in this new world where opportunities are everywhere and people can walk and pick up gold.
But after arriving, they discovered that the gap between fantasy and reality was so huge, like a natural chasm, lying in front of them.
The ground is full of gold? That's right, he was beaten all over his head!
Dong Wen, who was traveling with the team, felt the team's low mood. The plane was still in the sky before it landed, so he couldn't wait to go to the team's head coach Zhao Kangming and expressed his concerns to him.
After listening to Dong Wen's words, Zhao Kangming comforted him: "Actually, don't worry too much, Old Dong. This is the characteristic of young people. When we decide to play the young people card, we should know that young people are prone to getting emotional. It’s easy to get depressed too. It goes away as quickly as it comes.”
"Then do nothing?" Dong Wen asked.
"It depends on why they are depressed. Is it because they are negative because of losing? On the surface it seems like this, but the deeper reason comes from the huge gap between their previous fantasies and reality. They previously thought about the AFC Champions League. It's too simple. Maybe it's because they won the South China Tigers in the Super Cup and got off to a good start in the first round of the Chinese Super League, which brought many people to them. The illusion made them think that even the AFC Champions League was no big deal,” Zhao Kangming explained patiently, “Under such circumstances, losing the game and seeing the real difficulty of the AFC Champions League caused me to feel depressed. None. It will be fine after a while, and it will cool them down and make them more pragmatic.”
After listening to Zhao Kangming's explanation, Dong Wen thought thoughtfully, and then asked: "Old Zhao, aren't you worried that young people will be hit too hard and be unable to recover, and the confidence they finally built up will be lost?"
Zhao Kangming smiled and kept waving his hands: "I'm serious, old Dong. We just lost a game like this, how can we be so devastated? Let me not talk about other things, but where does the confidence of our team come from? It's because of lackeys. Did it come from bad luck? Of course not, we won the FA Cup as a Chinese League One team and the Super Cup as a newly promoted team. The championship is built step by step. Our foundation is very solid, and our confidence will not fall down like a castle in the air. Although playing in this AFC Champions League will bring some troubles to our league, it does not mean that we are. We were lucky enough to participate in the AFC Champions League.”
Speaking of this, Zhao Kangming's tone became proud. This was his performance in coaching the team. As a head coach, he naturally has some confidence.
When he was proud of his team, assistant coach Chen Mo interrupted: "Besides, Old Dong, have you overlooked a very important factor?"
"What factors?" Dong Wen was confused.
"Hu Lai!" Chen Mo patted his thigh and said, "With Hu Lai here, do you still have to worry that the atmosphere within the team will collapse and become negative and depressed?"
Dong Wen suddenly realized, his eyes lit up: "Oh, look at my memory, I forgot about him... Yes, yes, yes, Lao Chen, you are right, Hu Lai is here, I am worried!"
Zhao Kangming laughed when he saw him like this: "This is the 'other' reason I didn't mention just now. When have you ever seen Hu Lai appear in front of us with a dead face every day?"
"That's not the case." Dong Wen shook his head repeatedly, and then he was completely relieved.
As the announcement came from the cabin that the plane would land in half an hour, the stone in his heart fell to the ground.
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PS, sorry, I forgot to update automatically... (End of this chapter)