In the chilly winds of January 8, the smoke cleared from the 2022 Chinese Super League season, and Wuhan Tri-Town held the championship trophy by a narrow margin. Coach Pedro, the mainstay of Three Town, shared the excitement and relief in an interview on Football Night.
--Looking Back at the Night of Champions
Pedro was passionate: "It would be the ultimate joy, an incredible journey to win the title, if we can do it at home in the last round. If we play as we expect in the final round, we will be confident that even Tianjin Jinmen Tigers and Beijing Guoan will be able to cope with it and fight for the title. This season, with all the unforeseen challenges, has made it a particularly tough year."
--Tracing the career of a Chinese head coach
Pedro humbly recalls, "Perhaps you don't know me very well. When I first set foot on Chinese soil, I was just an obscure U18 and U15 consultant, but I was accidentally picked up by Wuhan Sanzhen FC as their youth training director. In the First Division, I was appointed to help the team jump up to the Super League. This season's achievement is beyond imagination. I think I deserve 8-9 points. We have achieved remarkable results, but we also know that the road to growth never ends."
--Reflecting on season lows
Pedro confessed: "Throughout the season, there are two stages that are particularly difficult. The first was the break at the beginning of October, when many foreign aiders suffered from isolation on their way home, and then suffered from a wave of injuries when they returned to the team. In the match between Changchun Yatai and Cangzhou Lions, we were eager to equalize or even overtake in the last minute, but we failed to do so. When the league entered the last 10-12 rounds, it was extremely difficult for the third and fourth ranked teams to catch up, and Shandong Taishan, a veteran powerhouse, was watching. I realized that as long as I worked hard, the championship was not out of reach. The second difficult stage was at the end of the season. In the last three rounds of matches, most of our players were sick in the away match in Dalian, and the road to recovery was long. This was followed by the match against Chengdu, where the players were still recovering. Against Zhejiang, we faced a tough opponent and encountered a lot of difficulties on the pitch, but in that game, we played our best game of the season, executed our tactics well and finally won, which was wonderful."
