The 2022 Chinese Super League will end on December 31st. However, with the official abandonment of the Tianjin Jinmen Tigers, Wuhan Sanzhen did not overcome and eventually overwhelmed Shandong Taishan to win the title early by virtue of goal difference, the first men's top flight soccer title in the history of Wuhan, Hubei Province.
A dramatic grand finale
Last round of the "Lay-ups".
Since the professionalization of Chinese soccer in 1994, including the first divisiona, the Chinese Super League has posted 27 titles, with Dalian Shide and Guangzhou Evergrande winning eight apiece, but never has there been such a dramatic scenario for a title win as this year. Because Beijing Guoan and Tianjin Jinmen Tiger both forfeited the game, Wuhan Sanzhen team barely beat, barely beat. "Laying down" and winning the title.
In the first round, when they played against Shandong Taishan
Before this round, Wuhan Sanzhen and Shandong Taishan had 75 points with 24 wins, 3 draws and 6 losses. Due to the 5 goal difference advantage, Wuhan Sanzhen took the initiative in this championship match. However, in the final round of matches, the championship is still in doubt.
According to the schedule, the last round, that is, on the afternoon of December 31st, Wuhan Sanzhen will play against Tianjin Jinmen Tiger and Shandong Taishan will play against Beijing Guoan. Affected by the epidemic, Beijing Guoan and Tianjin Jinmen Tiger have been widely infected. In the last round, the two teams chose to forfeit the game. In this round, the two teams are still unable to put together the basic lineup. After careful consideration, the two teams finally chose to forfeit the match, and the Chinese Super League officials confirmed the forfeit application.
With that, Wuhan Sanzhen and Shandong Taishan won 3:0 each in the final round without a fight. The score between the two teams also improved to 78 points, with Wuhan Sanzhen winning the title early on goal difference.
Three consecutive promotions
Writing the Kaiserslautern myth
Established in 2014, Wuhan Sanzhen Football Club, an emerging force in Chinese football, started with the 2018 Chinese Championship. After the efforts of the Central B and Central A, it successfully surpassed in 2021, four years. "Jumping" to the third level, its leaping speed has already amazed the outside world.
What's even more unbelievable is that since 2020, Wuhan Three Town has won three consecutive league titles in different divisions, winning the China B title in 2020, the China A title in 2021, and the China Super League title in 2022. In particular, winning the Chinese Super League title this season as a promoted team has written another Chinese-style Kaiserslautern myth.
Celebrating Victory
In the junior Chinese Super League, Wuhan Three Town delivered a perfect answer sheet. Even if it wasn't for the 3:0 in the final round, Wuhan Three Town still scored a staggering 88 goals, topping the 18 teams in the Chinese Super League, with an average of nearly 2.7 goals per game. Although the 28 goals conceded is not the least, it is still tied with Zhejiang and Chengdu Rongcheng for second last.
Had it not been for scheduling reasons, Wuhan Three Town would have almost set a new record for the longest 13-game winning streak in the history of the Chinese Super League, jointly maintained by Shandong Taishan and Guangzhou Evergrande. However, as a newly promoted horse, being able to win 12 in a row is enough to make Jingchu fans proud.
The struggles of a group of soccer players
Next year's AFC Championship will embark on a new journey
"In my opinion, this championship is the result of everyone's joint efforts." Yu Chen, deputy general manager and captain of Wuhan Three Town Football Club, told reporters that this season, Wuhan Three Town did have excellent internal and external reinforcements such as Malcolm, Stanchu, Davidson, Ren Hang, Xie Pengfei and Liu Dangzuo, but there was also the silent perseverance and dedication of Wuhan's local players in Hubei province, such as Deng Zhuoxiang, Wu Fei, Xiong Fei and so on.
Fans of the three towns of Wuhan
Also behind this championship was the combined support of a large coaching staff, medical and logistical support team. "Many players and team members have been with the team since its inception. Not only are they growing, but they have also witnessed the team come to the Super League step by step and eventually win the championship. The history of the team is also the history of their struggle." Yu Chen said that the glory of this championship belongs to all the people in this team and really thank them for their contribution.
Despite winning the championship, Yu Chen said the team still has some deficiencies and some games were not as good as they could have been. "After the season, we will do a good summary and try to make the team perform better on offense and defense to live up to the fans' expectations."
Next season, Wuhan Three Town will face a two-front war, and in addition to starting their title defense journey in the Chinese Super League, they will also represent a Chinese Super League team in the AFC Champions League for the first time. "We hope the team can achieve good results on both fronts, especially as the representative of the Chinese Super League team in the AFC Champions League, which is a special honor. We will utilize this opportunity to learn from high-level Asian powerhouses and try to show the style of Wuhan Three Town!"
