As I deliberated on this title, I thought long and hard about trying to capture the essence of a deep-seated tradition in Chinese soccer locker rooms. This tradition implies that in a team, one big brother player has all the power, and even other senior players have to take a back seat. However, such an order needs to be based on one player being in complete control of the situation, otherwise harmony in the locker room will be challenged.
Some people think that Evergrande's brilliance comes from its golden dollar policy, but let's not comment on that for the time being. It is because of the sufficient inputs that Evergrande has been able to recruit many elite players, and thus achieved amazing achievements. 2010, Zheng Zhi and Sun Xiang joined Evergrande. Zheng Zhi and Sun Xiang joined Evergrande in 2010, when the Guangzhou team was still in the Central League, and they were fully recognized by the team. Two national teams with experience in European leagues chose to join China's first division, starting from zero and giving it their all.
Their pasts are quite similar. Zheng Zhi is already the captain of the national team and Sun Xiang is a core defender for the national team. Zheng Zhi was a starter for Charlton in the English Premier League, while Sun Xiang was the first Chinese player to play in a Champions League final. Zheng Zhi was undoubtedly more prominent in the team.
Therefore, when all the players are to Zheng Zhi cast admiration, Sun Xiang's attitude is very different. Coupled with the fact that the two do not have a deep personal relationship, when they are in the same team, conflicts are naturally unavoidable.
In the 14th round of the 2014 Chinese Super League (CSL), Guangzhou Evergrande challenged Beijing Guoan away from home, and the clash between the two reached its peak: Zheng Zhi nearly lost the ball at the back of the defense because he didn't keep a close eye on his opponent. Fortunately, left back Sun Xiang remedied the situation in time, but when Sun Xiang got up, he rebuked Zheng Zhi loudly. As captain, Zheng Zhi was naturally offended, and the two then engaged in a war of words on the field.
Fortunately, teammates intervened in time to stop the conflict. But careful observation of this disagreement, it is not difficult to find, teammates obviously more inclined to support Zheng Zhi, Sun Xiang seems to have become a lone warrior.
The following year, Sun Xiang received an olive branch from Shanghai SIPG. So he returned to Shanghai without hesitation. It's not that Zheng Zhi and Sun Xiang eventually fell out with each other, it's just that their relationship wasn't close enough to make it difficult to play together in the same team. The root of the problem is that Chinese soccer has a long tradition of having only one heavyweight player in the locker room, which is the only way to maintain harmony and unity within the team.
