Cocoa Karma players celebrate their victory
The final match of the third round of this season's AFC Cup, held on the afternoon of June 25, erupted again. Nantong Haimen Bao Yuan drew 1-1 with Shenzhen in the 90th minute, then eliminated their Super League rivals 6-5 on penalties to advance to the top 16, while Chongqing Tongliang Dragons, also in the second round, drew temporarily third-ranked Chengdu Rongcheng (0-0) in regulation time and had the last laugh 4-2 on penalties in the round of matches on June 23rd. In addition, Qingdao West Coast beat Chinese Super League representative Cangzhou Lions 2-1 to become the only Chinese League One team to advance to the top 16.
Shenzhen's exit from the tournament was actually evident from before the match. The team sent out a starting lineup of mostly substitutes, including young players who represented the club in the U21 League, such as Hu Jiajin and Lv Jiaqiang. While the main players such as Yuan Min Cheng, Jiang Zhipeng, Zhang Yuan and Xu Yue did not go out with the team. Shenzhen brought only four substitutes, including Ji Jiabao, who was also a goalkeeper just promoted from the U21 League. This arrangement from the beginning shows the Shenzhen team's attitude of "let it be".
The Cangzhou Lions were in the exact same situation. Facing Qingdao West Coast, who are currently in first place, Cangzhou only fielded two local starters, Wang Peng and Liu Yang, in their starting lineup, with only Owusu as a foreigner. Foreigners in good form in the league, such as Locadia, Oscar, Zhukov and Školjic, were not selected for the match at all. This also shows that Cangzhou Lions do not have a strong will to advance to the next round of the FA Cup.
To be fair, what Shenzhen and Cangzhou Lions did is not uncommon in the history of the FA Cup. Currently, these two teams are ranked 12th and 10th in the Chinese Super League respectively. The more realistic task is to maintain as much league strength as possible to avoid falling into the relegation loop. For the relegation teams in the Chinese Super League, which do not have thick lineups, every round of cup games is a kind of consumption and torture.
In contrast, Chengdu Rongcheng's loss to Chongqing Tongliang Dragons was more memorable. According to the rules, Chinese Super League (CSL) teams are not allowed to use foreign players when facing Chinese B opponents, which meant that Rongcheng, led by five foreign players, had its spine taken away from it in this year's Cup. This, coupled with the pressure of playing away from home in the "Sichuan-Chongqing Derby", has left the team, which has performed well in the Chinese Super League, at a loss for words. Currently, Chongqing Tongliang Dragons are ranked first in the Southern Region of the Chinese B League, with good strength. Most of the players in the team have been trained by head coach Lin Lin since they were young and have a good understanding of each other. In addition, they have recruited Chongqingers such as Huang Xiyang and Zhao Hejing.
Single-game tiebreakers for all rounds; home field advantage for lower-ranked or lower-ranked low-level teams from the previous season; no extra time before the last eight, and 90-minute draws going straight to penalties - it's clear from the rules that have been changed for this season that the FA wants to inject more serendipity into the AFC Cup. As things stand, although the level of chances is not as bad as Beijing Guoan's loss to Chinese champions Jingchuan Wenhui in 2022, it is not easy for three low-level teams to eliminate their Super League rivals and advance to the top 16 in a season that has seen a full return to normalcy in Chinese soccer. Smaller teams running as dark horses is one of the great charms of the Cup.
