Situated on the banks of the Beilun River, Guangxi's Dongxing City, with its 216,000 permanent residents, quietly tells the story of its proximity to Vietnam's Mangjie City. Last year, the Chinese men's soccer team's 3-1 loss during the Spring Festival left countless fans disheartened. And this year's Lantern Festival, the small Dongxing City once again injected a shot in the arm for Chinese soccer.
Dongxing and Manggai have been linked in soccer since 1942, and in 1993 the two regions formalized the "Dongxing Vietnam Manggai Lantern Festival Football Friendship Match" on the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar. Although the tournament was suspended for special reasons between 2020 and 2022, the 28th edition of the tournament will be held again this year.
The tournament is held at the Dongxing City Stadium, which has a capacity of 12,000 spectators and is free of charge. Muang Cai, with a population of 125,000, is the richest city in Vietnam, with a per capita income of more than 20,000 dollars. Soccer still plays an important role in the city. Yang Minh Kee, minister of the Dongxing soccer team, revealed that Mang Street has cooperated with the English Premier League's Arsenal team, and the level of soccer has skyrocketed in recent years.
Dongxing is a strong team with international students trained in Spain and players playing in the Chinese Super League. Player Kevin Lui (from Evergrande Soccer School) said that the team will rely on its height advantage to fight against the "smallness, speed and spirit" of the Manggai team, and will conduct targeted training.
As expected, Dongxing's tactics paid off. In the first half, they broke through with a single goal; in the second half, they extended the score with a penalty kick, and finally sealed the win with 3-0. Bui Kim Ha, the coach of the Mangsta team, said after the game, "Although we didn't score any goals, I am very happy. We value the cultural exchange and the friendship between the two peoples."
Bui Jinhe's words speak the true meaning of soccer. Soccer is not only about scoring goals and winning, but also about spiritual and cultural exchanges, so that participants can get happiness from it. Chinese soccer focuses too much on results, and the Football Association is too utilitarian, ignoring the value and meaning of soccer itself. Without a good foundation, Chinese soccer is like a building in the air, which will only lead to the national team's inability to score goals and win.
Dongxing City, despite its small population, attracted nearly 10,000 people who flocked to the stadium to watch the Lantern Festival Cup. The billboards on the sidelines featured numerous sponsors, showing the deep mass base of Dongxing soccer. The rise of Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic Team is a further sign of hope. If the nation's passion for soccer can be galvanized like Dongxing and Shaanxi, the victory of Chinese soccer may be just around the corner.
