In the morning sunshine on Friday, the Zhejiang team beat the newly formed Zhejiang U21 Youth Army strongly with a 2:0 victory in their final preparation before the play-offs. Goals from Gaudi and Shao Renzhe energized the Zhejiang team. It is worth mentioning that Shao Renzhe's header was like a shooting star across the sky, highlighting his current excellent form. However, in a penalty shootout, Aisha Jiang's penalty kick failed to break the opponent's defense.
How to pick the opponents for the warm-up matches before the play-offs has become a problem for the coaching team of Zhejiang. As the Chinese League A came to an end, most of the teams were on vacation, while the Chinese Super League teams still had to continue to fight, which made it extremely difficult for the Zhejiang team to find suitable opponents for the warm-up matches. The coaching staff knew that it would be difficult to maintain the team's form by simply relying on training, so they chose to play a warm-up match against Zhejiang U21s. This team, which is based on the National Games champion Zhejiang U20 team, will simulate the play-off opponents and provide the Zhejiang team with practical drills.
"Our task is to be a good accompaniment to help them adapt to the atmosphere of the play-offs so that they can quickly find solutions when they encounter difficulties." Xu Lei, head coach of Zhejiang U21 team, said, "Even though our players are not as good as Chinese Super League players individually, we will still do our best to simulate the play-off scenarios and help the first team prepare for the match."
Cheng Jin missed the warm-up match due to injury, but said he is recovering well from his injury and will give his best for the play-offs. "We are cohesive as a team, everyone is focused on how to play well in the play-offs and we are ready for it."
It is worth mentioning that two foreigners, Mu Xiekui and Frank, failed to participate in the warm-up match due to injuries. Mushiqui was injured before the final round of the league, while Frank strained in the final round of the league. Mu Xiekui watched the game from the sidelines, while Frank failed to show up. A team staffer revealed, "The two are in serious condition and Jordy was unable to fit them in. They are in a race against time and it is still unknown whether they can make a comeback in the play-offs." Zhejiang team is counting on Mu Xiekui and Frank to recover as soon as possible and appear in the play-offs in their best condition.
