Unexpectedly, a little-known team quietly rose to prominence as champions on the afternoon of November 17th, leaving a deep footprint on the Chinese professional soccer landscape. They defeated former soccer powerhouse Guoan with a penalty kick in their journey to the last 16 of the 32nd round of the FA Cup.
When the draw for the FA Cup was announced, Guoan and Seaport were placed in the same bottom half of the table, and the two teams were seen as strong rivals in the bottom half of the table. Guoan's first round opponent was the champion team Jingchuan Wenhui. However, this non-professional league team brought an unprecedented challenge to Guoan.
Jingchuan Wenhui is playing in the Champions League for the first time in 2021 since its inception in 2013. Despite finishing second from bottom in the Group B finals this year, scoring just five goals while conceding 14, this team made waves against Guoan.
In the final round of the Chinese Super League, Guoan defeated Cheung Kong 3-1, showing strong offensive firepower in the second half. After the match, the team gave a short break to its key players, and the coaching staff plans to use young players and substitutes in the FA Cup.
"This is a game where I will give the young players a chance to show their talent." Head Coach Stanley made his stance clear before the game, but he also said that he will treat his opponents with the respect they deserve.
However, judging from the result and the process of the game, Guoan didn't seem to take their opponents seriously.
Stanley has a glorious past in the FA Cup. in 2020, he led Guoan's reserve team to beat Chengdu in the FA Cup, creating a youth storm. Now, when Stanley becomes first-team coach, Guoan is the cold shoulder.
Guoan made drastic changes to their lineup and formation, including the debut of U23 players such as Tian Yuda and Liu Guobo, who were partnered with powerhouse players such as Cao Yongjing and Kim Tae-yeon. However, the start of the game went against Stanley's expectations.
"I originally arranged a 343 formation in the hope of putting pressure on the opponent, but unfortunately, my tactical deployment did not work." Stanley said after the game that Guoan's strong attack strategy failed to get tacit cooperation between players and lack of familiarity with the formation.
In contrast, Jingchuan Wenhui was the first to break through with a free kick. After the game, Stanley believed that this was the trigger for the game's failure, "Due to the opening tactics and lineup arrangement mistakes, I will go back and re-watch the video to summarize." He sincerely apologized to the audience.
Despite a quick equalizer after conceding a goal, Guoan ended up drawing 2-2 with Jingchuan Wenhui and went to a penalty shootout. Guoan was defeated 1-4 in the brutal penalty shootout.
The F.A.C. Cup is a hotbed of cold goals, and the penalty shootout amplified this feature. In this match, Jingchuan Wenhui goalkeeper Cui Tonghui was the first to hit a penalty kick, while Guoan's youngster Kim Taeyan missed the penalty. In the end, Ma Nangang scored the penalty to end the suspense of the match.
The referee ruled that the goal was valid, despite the fact that the Kokan players thought that the penalty was illegal by Madang. Kim Tae-Yeon missed the penalty, but he was not the only one to lose. Guoan became the laughing stock of the world when they lost the penalty shootout.
"I would like to congratulate my opponents Jingchuan Wenhui, who won a great game. We encountered this problem when we played against a low level team. The opponents were very committed and we had to give it our all." Stanley said it is not uncommon in soccer for "lower league teams to knock out higher level teams."
Last year in the AFC Cup, Guoan also lost in a penalty shootout, but the opponent at that time was still a Central League team. This time around, Guoan can't find any excuses for facing a Chinese Championship team.
This season, Guoan did not have a clear goal in the FA Cup, and the in-and-out mentality led to an accident. However, no matter what, Guoan lost in this match.
