In the midst of the heated battle of the Village Super Finals in Rongjiang, Guizhou, a village in Chejiang won the glory of the championship and took home the trophy with a penalty shootout victory. At the award ceremony, the village to which the honor belonged took home a silly little yellow cow as a prize. Although Loyal Village came in second place, it gained a black hairy pig as a simple and close-to-nature gift.
However, Loyal Village was expected to secure the win without the need for a penalty shootout. They took a 2-1 lead in the second half, only to be equalized by Che Giang at the last minute, forcing the match to a penalty shootout with a score of 2-2. Loyal Village missed the first two penalty kicks and eventually lost 3-4 to Cheoge Ichimura, seeing their rivals accomplish the feat of winning the championship against all odds.
After the battle, the players of Loyal Village had a heavy heart and many of them couldn't hold back their tears as the honor of the championship slipped away from their fingertips. The fans at the stadium also felt the same way and wept together for Loyal Village's unfortunate defeat.
He Wei, the commentator of the finals, inspired Loyalty Village with a famous quote, "The most valuable thing in life is not the glory of victory, but the process of fighting."
Even though it was an amateur tournament, all 20 country teams saw it as a crucial game, full of honor. Even though they failed to win the championship, the tears were more genuine than those of the international players of the national team.
Looking back to the night of the first day of the Lunar New Year last year, China's men's soccer team in the World Preliminary League away from home against Vietnam, the international players after the game expression of indifference, and no one because of the loss of the stadium in tears. Even when preparing to return home, there are players gleefully taking selfies, the sense of honor is gone.
Nowadays, fans across the country prefer watching amateur leagues like the Village Super League to the more professional Chinese Super League. Disappointment with the national team players is more than evident.
