I was once young and dreamy.
Battling it out again on the green.
Yesterday (November 13), the 2023 "China Heritage Football Stars League" ended in Sanshui District, Foshan, Guangdong. Former A-star players such as Fan Zhiyi, Peng Weiguo, Hu Zhijun, Wei Qun and Li Bing once again attracted the attention of many fans. This "emotional" game was so hot that it was both unexpected and reasonable. Although the old international players have passed away, they are still missed so much. After all, they were the highlights of Chinese soccer.
new system
At the beginning of 2012, former Guangzhou Sun God team star Peng Weiguo took the initiative to organize AA retired players for the tournament, which received positive responses from Fan Zhiyi, Gao Feng, Wei Qun, Jiang Feng and others. The first AA Star Football Invitational Tournament was held in Guangzhou, and 8 successful editions have been held in different cities in China by 2019. Over the past 8 years, the A-League has gradually expanded from the initial 6 teams to 12 teams, expanding its scale and influence. 2018, the A-League was included in the "People's Football" series by the CFA, becoming China's most famous amateur soccer competition platform.
After a three-year hiatus due to the epidemic, the 2023 A-League was renamed the "China Heritage Soccer Stars League" and is an upgraded version of the previous tournament. Compared with the previous eight editions, the biggest change is that the teams are divided into Super Group and Champion Group, and the promotion mechanism is introduced. The Super Group includes six teams from Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Liaoning, Hubei and Sichuan, while the Champion Group includes six teams from Shandong, Shaanxi, Qingdao, Tianjin, Shenzhen and Guangxi.
The new format adopts the "one up, one down" system, where the last score of the Super Group is lowered to the Championship Group, and the top of the Championship Group is qualified for the "Super League". In this way, the game has become more competitive from the previous "self-indulgence", and the game is more real, more intense and better to watch. Under the pressure of "lifting", the players' commitment also increased significantly, no longer just play a few "friendly games" on the end.
At the end of the day, Beijing Old Boys and Liaoning Soccer Stars got 10 points, with the former winning two clean sheets to become the first to inherit the Soccer Stars League title; Tianjin Old A's were very strong and finished first with an undefeated record of four wins and one draw, qualifying them for next year's Super Division.
old face
Today's Chinese soccer is star-studded, with only a few stars such as Wu Lei. Compared with neighboring Japan and South Korea, famous players such as Sun Xing, San and Jiubao Jianying have blossomed in Europe's top five leagues, and even serve as cores and starters. Chinese soccer has been abandoned, do not know how many streets. However, in the old A era, the Chinese players represented by Fan Zhiyi, Sun Jihai and Yang Chen are not inferior in strength and fame.
"China Succession Soccer Stars League has gathered more than 500 former stars, including nearly 100 former international players, basically each team has a "big brand". Peng Weiguo, Shanghai Fan Zhiyi, Sichuan Wei Qun, Beijing Gao Feng, Tianjin Yu Genwei, etc. are all representatives of local soccer.
In the first match on November 8, "Yangcheng Youth Coach" Zhou Guangan led Guangzhou Inheritance Stars to face Liaoning Football Stars coached by "Northeast Coach" Li Yingfa. This fierce battle was called the "North-South Tiger" duel by the fans. The lineups of these two teams are attractive enough. In addition to famous players such as Peng Weiguo, Hu Zhijun and Peng Weijun, Guangzhou also added Gao Lin, Lu Lin and Wu Wei'an in the "post-80s". The Liaoning team, aiming to be the defending champions, includes teammates from the Jianlibao youth team such as Li Jinyu and Zhang Yonghai.
The Shanghai Old A Stars also had a strong lineup of former international players such as Xi Zhikang, Fan Zhiyi, Hu Yunfeng, Xiao Zhanbo, Zhu Qi, and Cheng Liang, as well as adding relatively young blood such as Sun Ji, Mao Jianqing, Wu Weichao, Rong Hao, Hu Zhaoyun, Huo Zhiyu, Zheng Kewei, and Zhao Zuoyun. If they hadn't lost in the final round to a fast-horse Summit-leading Beijing team, they probably would have won the title.
Shortly after his 54th birthday, Fan Zhiyi is still a treasure on the pitch. Speaking of the game, his words struck a chord. "The charm and vigor of soccer lies in the inheritance. Although we are just retired players participating in amateur matches, amateur matches are also an important part of Chinese soccer. If more people can participate in soccer, we may be able to look at many problems of Chinese soccer more objectively and rationally. Ultimately, soccer needs a cultural legacy. Why is there a village super in Guizhou? Why does Sanshui have a local 'La Liga' league? Regardless of the current state of Chinese soccer, more people still need to promote grassroots and grassroots soccer."
On the pitch, the stars are shining; outside the pitch, the fans are in tears. Some fans said that although all the stars on the field were past their best competitive age, watching them run and fight on the field up close and personal revisited their youthful passion for soccer. "What I felt was an unchanging love."
Memories are full of memories and feelings remain the same. 30 years of snapping fingers, the sideburns of the wind-chasing boys have declined, but the fervor, youth, dreams and glory have never changed. Perhaps, this is the reason why people still pursue and miss it.
