The Dragon Boat Festival has come to an end.
China Super League (soccer league)
The tournament is about to restart, and on the evening of June 28th, the Henan Division will travel to Cangzhou to start a fierce battle with the Cangzhou Lions, marking the official opening of the "summer campaign". As the schedule becomes more intensive and brutal, the team's previous injury-ridden situation has improved significantly, and the players are returning to the tournament with more substantial preparations.
China Super League (soccer league)
Arena.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, Henan won two consecutive games on the 22nd and 23rd.
In the third round of the F.A.C. Cup, Henan won the away match against China B team Hunan Xiangtao with a score of 1-0 to advance to the round of 16. In an internal warm-up match, they beat the U21 ladder team with a score of 2-0. Despite facing an equal or slightly weaker opponent, Henan did not show an overwhelming advantage in the match. Head coach Sarko also paid more attention to his team's deficiencies after the AFC Cup match. It is gratifying to see that the players have generally recovered from their injuries during the nearly three-week break, which has effectively alleviated the team's personnel crisis after the re-launch of the Chinese Super League.
In the AFC Cup match against Hunan Xiangtao, Salko opted for a full Chinese squad due to the rule that restricts foreign aiders from playing, and did not field any starters in an effort to provide more opportunities for the substitutes to perform. In this game, goalkeeper Peng Peng ushered in his "debut" on behalf of the Henan team and performed well, striker Song Runtong scored the winning goal, Zhao Yuhao and Dili Mulati, who had been suffering from injuries for a long time, made their debuts, and substitutes such as Liu Jiahui, Han Dong and Liu Yixin also entered the starting lineup. Niu Ziyi, who missed the first 12 rounds of the league due to injury, also came on as a substitute in the game, showing good recovery.
On the second day of the AFC Cup match, Henan returned to Zhengzhou from Loudi and then played an open warm-up match with the U21 ladder team at the Aviation Sports Center, attracting more than 500 fans to watch the match. From this match, it can be seen that Salko intends to further sharpen the main lineup, with goalkeeper Wang Guoming, defenders Shunyiqi, Gu Cao, Luo Xin and Ke Zhao forming the main backline, and Feng Bo Yuan and Kovic partnering up front. In the midfield, the much-anticipated new foreigner Berto and trialist domestic player Lai Tenglong appeared on the left and center respectively, while Adrian and Du Zhixuan were the other two players. Wang Shangyuan came on as a substitute in the latter part of the second half, while Huang Zichang, who was previously injured, also came on in the second half.
Perhaps due to the hot weather, the pace of this game was slow and the transition between offense and defense was not smooth enough. Facing the young brothers, the first team did not show a clear advantage, and was countered by the U21s with several threatening counterattacks. While Berto and Lai Tenglong were moderate, Feng Boyuan and Huang Zichang, two players who have not appeared in the F.A.C.A. Cup, had excellent shooting senses. Feng Boyuan's first-half header and Huang Zichang's late goal sealed the win. Huang, in particular, has maintained his quick and sharp style since recovering from injury, and his arrival on the pitch has clearly raised the tempo of the team's offense. Before the summer campaign, the timely comeback of the two will be in the attack line to reduce the pressure of Kovic.
Karanga's future is a mystery.
As the league entered the break, Karanga posted a video of his return to Zhengzhou on social media, sparking the attention of fans. Henan fans are expecting the striker to return to the field after the start of the second phase of the league. However, judging from the current situation, that hope doesn't seem to be high.
On the one hand, despite the fact that Karanga has returned to Zhengzhou, there has been no official statement from the club so far, and he himself has not participated in the team's regular training. He also did not show up at the Aviation Sports during the warm-up match with U21, which is obviously not normal in the preparation for the league. On the other hand, Sarko's old man, Portuguese Berto has been training with the team for some time and made his debut in the warm-up. Karanga has been enrolled before, together with Berto, Henan's foreigners have been as many as six. According to the policy of enrolling 5 people to play 4 people, reducing the number of foreign aiders is an inevitable choice. In this case, Berto, who is trusted by Sarko, is obviously more likely to stay.
However, things are not without turnaround. As the second transfer window draws near, rumors are swirling about the player's stay and departure. There are rumors that Sichuan Rongcheng is interested in signing Adrian on loan to replace Romulo, who is out for the season in the center of the midfield. Although it is still a rumor, it seems logical. In the warm-up match on the 23rd, foreigner Pina also did not show up. Which of the foreigners will finally leave will not be revealed until the transfer window opens on July 1st.
In addition, in addition to Lai Tenglong, another domestic player Zhang Yuhao, who is on trial, also played in the match with the U21 team. Zhang Yuhao, 26 years old, from Shenhua's youth training program, has had previous experience of staying in the ocean, having played in the Spanish lower league. The final destination of the two, also have to wait until July to have a clear answer. (Zheng Guan News reporter Guo Taoliu / text Bai Tao / picture)
