In the Village Premier League summit match held in the hotbed of Rongjiang, Guizhou Province, Chejiang Yicun was crowned the champion after a tense penalty shootout. At the award ceremony, the honorable village took a dexterous calf as a testimony of victory. As for the loyal village, the simplicity of a black hairy pig as the prize for the runner-up makes people feel the closeness of nature.
Interestingly, Loyal Village would have been expected to win the title easily without the need for a penalty shootout.
In the second half, they held a 2-1 lead until the end of the match, only to be equalized by Cheju Ichimura in a flash, making the score 2-2. The match then went to penalty kicks, where Loyal Village missed the first two shots and lost 3-4, watching Cheju Ichimura pull off a stunning comeback.
The game came to an end with heavy hearts and many tears among the Loyal Village players as the glory of the championship instantly fizzled out. Tears of sympathy also flowed amongst the Loyal Village fans.
He Wei, the commentator of the finals, inspired the Asian team with a classic quote, "The value of life is not in the victory, but in the battle".
The Village Premier League, albeit an amateur tournament. Twenty teams from the villages participated, but the players regarded it as a crucial showdown and were filled with a sense of honor. Even if they don't win the championship, tears are shed, and this emotion is better than the performance of the national team players in the international arena.
Looking back to the night of the first day of the Lunar New Year last year, the Chinese men's soccer team was defeated by the Vietnamese men's soccer team on the road in the World Qualification Tournament. After the match, the players' expressions were bland, and some even took selfies on the way back to their home country, with no sense of honor to speak of.
Today, fans across the country favor watching the vibrant Village Super League over the professional-heavy Chinese Super League. Disappointment with the national team players is overflowing.
