Zhejiang team, under pressure, suffered three times two goals down in the adversity, the second half launched an amazing counterattack, three consecutive goals back, and ultimately to 5:4 the score reversed to beat the Meizhou Hakka, won the crucial "heavenly king mountain battle".
Looking back at the last round of the Central League, Zhejiang unexpectedly lost to Sichuan Jiuniu by 0:1, which was a big cold blow in this season's Central League. The whole team seemed to have never expected that the first defeat of the season would come to the Sichuan Jiuniu opponent. In the two times they faced Sichuan Jiuniu this season, Zhejiang only gained 1 point, which also made the team in this round of the league and Meizhou Hakka before the showdown with the opponent's points gap reached 4 points. However, Zhejiang fell behind 2:4 in the first half, and the team was under tremendous pressure at halftime.
During the halftime break, Zhejiang head coach Qiao Di first analyzed Meizhou Hakka's backline in the first half and conveyed to his players the confidence that the team could turn things around in the second half. Wu Shao Koon, deputy general manager of Zhejiang Work Football Club, also said that Zhejiang's team was able to tie the game even after falling behind by two goals when they faced the Chinese Super League team in the play-offs last season, and that they would never give up lightly this time.
After adjustments, the Zhejiang team, who did not give up, scored three goals in a row to make a stunning comeback. "Meizhou Hakka played quite well in the first half, and they set out to go on the offensive with us since the start. The first goal we conceded was really something I didn't handle well, and we got caught up in the tactics set by the other team before the game." Zhejiang goalkeeper Gu Chao was one of the most frustrated players in the match, as Zhejiang conceded a total of only three goals in the first seven rounds of the league, whereas they conceded four goals only halfway through the match.
Gu Chao said: "But these did not affect us, after the last round of the league lost to Sichuan Jiuniu, the whole team is summarizing, the key competition must adjust the mentality, put down the burden, even in the first half of the game we conceded four goals, no one gave up the game. I think the spirit of not giving up in this competition is an important reason for the final equalization, which is also a very classic battle for Zhejiang."
Gu Chao did not concede any more goals in the second half, he recalled: "Because I have experienced various situations, no matter whether it is a tailwind or a headwind, I can quickly adjust myself. It was really unexpected to concede so many goals in the first half today, but I never panicked, and I calmed myself down quickly during the halftime break and told my teammates that we must not panic at this moment. In fact, at halftime, I think our morale is still very high, there is a kind of death of the tenacity of the situation is very unconvincing, we just want to win back, and eventually we did!"
The three points were crucial for Zhejiang's road to the Chinese Super League, and Zhejiang also realized a double kill against Meizhou Hakka this season. After the game, the whole team formed a circle on the sidelines and cheered for not giving up. Jordy, who is always calm, also showed his passionate side this time, hugging Wu Shao Koon and then captain Cheng Jin, enjoying the joy after this exciting reversal. (Xu Yi)
