In the last round of Chinese Super League, Guoan drew 1-1 away to Shanghai Shenhua. Because many of the main players were unable to play due to injuries, many fans thought before the match that Guoan would not exit the Baiyu Bowl Stadium.
However, in this match, Guoan not only drew with Shenhua, but also controlled the field in the second half and got many chances to break through. If it wasn't for the outstanding performance of Shenhua goalkeeper Ma Zhen, Guoan might even have gotten 3 points on the road.
Guoan were said to be unlucky as they missed two chances to break through in the second half. One was a near post shot by Kang Xiangyu that went wide of the post after Shenhua defender Yan Xinli made a serious mistake.
The other was substitute striker Yu Dabao, an unexpected long range shot that hit the crossbar for the Shenhua fans. Yu Dabao's stunning shot showed the awareness, reaction and shooting skills of a top striker. It has to be said that striker rather than center back is the most suitable for Dabao in Guoan.
It is also worth noting that the match against Shenhua was Yu Dabao's 199th Chinese Super League match for Guoan. The next round of Guoan is away to Cangzhou Lions. If Yu Dabao can play, he will create a new milestone in Guoan - the record of playing 200 Chinese Super League games for Guoan.
And it would make Yu Dabao the team's active player, playing his third Chinese Super League game for Guoan, with the other two players being Park Sung and Zhang Xizhe.
In the match against Shenhua, Zhang Xizhe was playing his 300th Chinese Super League match for Guoan. Zhang Xizhe has been in the Guoan team since he was 18 years old and has excelled in the Chinese Super League. Therefore, even though Zhang Heizhe is not the oldest player in the current Guoan team, he was the first to complete the record of 300 Chinese Super League matches for Guoan.
Yu Dabao didn't join Guoan until the 2015 season, and was often injured playing as a striker, and couldn't be at full strength every season, so his 200-game Chinese Super League record at Guoan will only be completed this season.
In the 2019 season, Yu Yang, Lei Tenglong and three center backs in the team were unavailable due to injuries during the crucial period of Guoan's championship run. German coach Schmidt converted Yu Dabao, who hadn't played for a long time, into a center back for a temporary cameo. However, unexpectedly, Yu Dabao officially started to play as a center back instead of a striker from then on.
Because Dabao is not a linebacker, he often makes amateurish mistakes during games. But even so, over the past few seasons he has occupied the starting center back position at national safety and pushed Yu Yang, a true center back, to the bench.
At the beginning of the season, Guoan head coach Menzo continued to make Yu Dabao and Ngaardew the team's main center backs, and Guoan's back line was full of holes. This made the Beijing fans very unhappy and called for Yu Dabao to stop playing center back. Menzo complied with the fans' wishes and allowed Yu Dabao to play his best striker again.
Although 35-year-old Yu Dabao is not strong enough to sustain a 90-minute game, he is qualified enough as a substitute striker. Obviously, putting Yu Dabao up front is more threatening than him playing as a defender. Here's to hoping that Yu Dabao, back up front, can find his shooting boots and score his first goal of the season in his 200th Super League match for Guoan!
