This is because Shanghai Seaport has been dropping the ball in recent league games, which has given Shandong Taishan, who have been struggling to catch up behind the scenes, renewed hope of winning the Chinese Super League.
In the last round of the league, Seaport lost again, 1-2 away to Chengdu Rongcheng. This result is definitely good news for Taishan. If they can beat Dalian Ren on the road, the point gap between them and Seaport will be narrowed down to 6 points with 4 rounds left in the league. With Taishan and Seaports facing each other directly, the probability of Shandong Taishan overtaking Shanghai Seaports to win the title has increased a lot.
However, Taishan failed to capitalize on this opportunity. They drew 0-0 away to Dalian Ren and remain eight points behind the seaport, making their hopes of winning the Chinese Super League title this season increasingly slim.
Tarzan's draw against Dalian Ren was unpopular but has surprised many fans. Prior to this match, many predicted that Taishan would zoom past Dalian Ren and help them gain valuable relegation points. In next week's F.A.C. Cup semifinal, Dalian Ren will also return the favor by forfeiting the match to allow Shandong Taishan Bing to enter the F.A.C. Cup final.
After the home draw with Shandong Taishan, Dalian head coach Xie Hui's attitude is also very intriguing. In an interview with reporters, Xie Hui said: "This point is both precious and vital for us. Next, we will try our best to win every game. Next, we will rotate at least half of our players in the AFC Cup. Although we are in first place in the league, we still have to fight for promotion in the FA Cup."
Although Xie Hui's speech expressed that Dalian people still want to reach the final of the FA Cup, everyone should be very clear that he has given up on the FA Cup early. As we all know, Dalian Ren is one of the weakest teams in the Chinese Super League. In the past two years, the club's financial situation has been very bad. Most of the team's main players have been transferred to other teams, and the strength of several foreigners is also very limited. It can be said that today's Dalian Ren can only rely on veterans to pick up the slack.
In addition, two of Dalian Ren's starters, He Yupeng and Wang Zhenao, are currently playing in the Asian Games with the National Asian Football Team. If half of the starters are rotated in the FA Cup semi-final, how can Dalian people play against Shandong Taishan? Therefore, what Xie Hui said in the interview has clearly told everyone that Dalian people will not set any obstacles for Shandong Taishan team in the FA Cup match.
As a character coach, Xie Hui has been known as fierce in the domestic soccer world. Xie Hui has offended many people in the past few years because he won't cater to others. One of the most typical examples is when Xie Hui was coaching Nantong Zhiyun, he drunkenly spat out the truth that his old owner Shanghai Port spent 12 billion yuan to win the championship. As a result, he offended Chen Xuyuan, who was still in office at the time as the chairman of the Harbour Club and the Football Association, and had to resign voluntarily to take refuge in Germany.
It's been two years since the "12 billion incident", and now Xie Hui seems to have become smoother and more aware of the world. I have to say, no matter whether you are black or white, when you enter the big dyestuff of Chinese soccer, you will end up being dyed in the same color...
