On July 13th, the Central League winds down and reveals its Man of the Month for June, with Yonka Ahn joining forces with Mercier-Paoli to take home the honors.
On a hot summer day in 2023, Guangxi Pingguo Ha Loud and Clear Soccer Club led the table in the Chinese League 1 with 3 wins and 1 draw. 26-year-old An Yongjia became the backbone of the team with three goals in four matches. In the ninth round, he skillfully directed two goals in a 2-0 win over Heilongjiang Bingcheng, and in the 11th round, he set a new record for the team in a 2-1 win over Yanbian Longding. After 11 rounds of the June League One matches, An Yongjia leads the scorers' table with 8 goals.
Meanwhile, Nanjing City FC also performed well in June in the Central League, finishing second in the table with two wins and two draws. 31-year-old striker Lionel Messi scored three goals in four matches, including two in a 2-0 win over Shijiazhuang and one in a 1-0 victory over Dandong Tengjiaoping, showing his killer instincts. After 11 rounds of fixtures, Messi is right behind him in the second place of the top scorer list with 7 goals.
In the June edition of the Central League Player of the Year, the judges were divided, with more than half of the pundits casting their first-place votes for Lionel Messi. Surprisingly, however, An Yongjia's second and third-place votes outnumbered Messi's. The two tied for the top spot with a total of 86 points. In the end, the two tied for the best player of June in the Central League with a total of 86 points.
