I'm sure many fans have followed one of the key battles in tonight's AFC Cup, which is the match between Beijing Guoan and Shandong Taishan. Both teams are veterans of Chinese professional soccer and have never been relegated. And today both teams are still strong teams, Shandong Taishan is ranked second in the league, Beijing Guoan is ranked fourth in the league, and there is only a 3-point difference between the two sides.
The AFC Cup is not very important for many teams. But both teams are important because everyone deserves to qualify for the AFC Champions League. The winner of the AFC Cup qualifies for direct promotion to the competition. So the winner of the AFC Cup is a good thing for Taishan and Guoan who want to show themselves in the Asian competition. Therefore, this Beijing-Lu battle is destined to be exciting and intense.
It was also the fact that it was a strong conversation that caught the attention of current national soccer team coach Jankovic. He watched the game from the stands. The reason was simple. Both teams have a lot of international players. Shandong Taishan had Chen Pu, Sun Guowen and Wang Dalei, while Beijing Guoan had Li Ke, Li Lei and Wang Ziming. He wanted to observe the state of the international players again.
In this game, Taishan's Chen Pu had a great performance as he scored a goal in the opening 10 minutes. And it wasn't one of these selected international players who had the best performance on Beijing Guoan's side. It was a failed international player and former No. 10 of the national soccer team, Zhang Xizhe. In the match, he had a great performance.
It was the 19th minute of the game. Guoan counterattacked and Zhang Xizhe sent a beautiful long pass to break through the Taishan defense. Kang Xiangyou took the opportunity to break through Wang Dalei's wicket with a foot on the floor oil, and Guoan equalized 1-1. This goal shows how accurate Zhang Xizhe's vision and footwork are in his passing. This is the core function of the midfield and the ability of the No. 10 player.
It's worth noting that Zhang Xizhe didn't rise to the occasion in this match. In his previous three midfield games, Zhang Xizhe had two assists, a goal, an oval, and four goals in three games, with the previous goals being shutouts. The goal in this AFC Cup was an absolute equalizer. Although Beijing Guoan team finally lost to Shandong Taishan in the penalty shootout. But I have to say, Zhang Xizhe's performance was really great.
I wonder if Jankovic, who was watching the game from the stands, has any regrets. Such a good midfielder, such a good No. 10, why didn't he write his name down when he designated the list? Then again, Zhang Xizhe did go through a period of lows before.
Towards the end of the Golden Era, he had to take on more responsibility for organizing the attack, as he was originally responsible for the midfield tandem. While he has the ability to do that, he's really been unfamiliar with it for too long. Both for club and national team, he's looked a bit weak and hasn't lived up to everyone's expectations of a central midfielder.
However, after nearly two seasons of training, Zhang Xizhe has found himself and one of the four little swans of the national football team. So now that Zhang Xizhe has gotten stronger, can he still be the No. 10 of the national soccer team? Can he still help the national soccer team? No one is better than him, at least for now.
