With the fourth round of this season's Chinese Super League in the books, four teams have yet to taste the sweetness of victory: Group A's Chongqing Two Rivers Athletic, whose financial chain is broken, and Henan, who are in a slump after a name change; Group B's Jinmen Tigers, who are struggling to keep their team's lifeblood alive, and Wuhan, who are in a bit of turmoil after a change of manager. In the upcoming fifth round, the Jinmen Tigers will face Wuhan in a straight fight. Though the match has been described by some as a "chicken-and-duck game" even before the match starts, it seems to have been colored by tragedy in advance, given the special relationship between the two teams' managers.
Li Xiaopeng, the winner of the Chinese Super League's Best Coach for two consecutive years, has had an uneven coaching journey in Wuhan. With two draws and two losses in four matches, and only two points, their performance seems to be only slightly better than that of the Jinmen Tigers.
Yu Genwei, the legendary player who helped China's men's soccer team go from Asia to the world with a single goal, is now trying his best to save the faltering team of Jinmen Tigers.
Not only were they teammates when they were on the national team, but they also served as double captains together. in late 2002, when Shen Xiangfu was the interim head coach of the national football team, he announced Yu Genwei and Li Xiaopeng as the team captains. This was the first time in the history of the national team that there was a double captain.
At the time, double captaincy almost meant not appearing in the same game at the same time. This delicate and complex relationship seems to have set the stage for the league nearly 20 years later.
Despite the good relationship, the two have to compete in the game after all. Just like the current Zhuoer and Jinmen Tigers, they both desperately need three points, because those three points could mean life or death.
Li Xiaopeng has been under a lot of pressure recently, after all, the local coach has heard some of the voices of dismissal. Despite the public backing of the senior management, the pressure is obvious - the first four rounds of Shenhua and Guoan face such a strong opponent, Li Xiaopeng's two losses is quite passable. This time against the Jinmen Tigers, Li Xiaopeng has no reason not to take this seemingly hand-to-hand game.
Things are not looking good for Yu Genwei either, with only one point from four games, the fewest goals scored in the league, and the second fewest goals conceded by a team. These predicaments are difficult to solve in a short period of time, as the team's personnel reserves and level of preparation are limited. While other teams have been training all winter, they have only had three weeks to prepare for the game in a hurry. This puts the Jinmen Tigers in a position where they are extremely vulnerable to defeat.
In this case, the "chicken and duck" game has not yet begun, Li Xiaopeng seems to have the advantage. Moreover, he knows the Jinmen Tiger center back "Yida combination" of Li Songyi and Kadar like the back of his hand.
