As the 2022 season of the Chinese Super League came to an end on January 8, Wuhan Three Town managed to reach the top by virtue of goal difference. In an interview on Football Night, Three Town head coach Pedro shared his journey to the title.
--Reflecting on the moment of winning the championship
Pedro said: "It would be wonderful to win the title if we can win the last round at home. If Tianjin Jinmen Tigers and Beijing Guoan keep playing as normal and we have the security of our starting lineup, then we are not afraid of the final round and will do our best to win the championship. This season, we have encountered many unforeseen challenges and it is really tough."
--Sharing a coaching career in China
Pedro admits, "Perhaps you know me in a limited way. Initially, I was invited to join Wuhan Sanzhen FC as an independent U18 and U15 consultant as Youth Training Director. During my time in the Central League, I had the honor of temporarily acting for the team and helping them to successfully promote to the Chinese Super League. This season's achievements have exceeded my expectations and I would rate myself 8-9 out of 10. We have achieved excellent results but are well aware that there is still room for growth."
--Tells of the toughest moments of the season
Pedro recalled: "There are two of the toughest periods of the whole season. The first was the break at the beginning of October, when many foreign players needed to return home, during which they needed to be isolated and suffered a wave of injuries, such as the match with Changchun Yatai and Cangzhou Lions, which we failed to equalize or reverse at the last minute, even though we wanted to do so. When there were 10-12 rounds left in the league, the fight for the third and fourth place became extremely fierce. Our direct rivals were Shandong Taishan, who, as a veteran team, were eyeing the championship. At that time, I realized that as long as we worked hard, the championship was not out of reach. The second difficult stage was the end of the season. In the last three rounds of the tournament, most of our players were unfortunately sick, and the away match against Dalian was particularly tough. We had to face Chengdu again when our players had not yet fully recovered. The opponents were not bad and brought us a lot of challenges. But that game turned out to be our best performance of the season. The tactics were executed quite well, and it was a wonderful thing that we finally won."
