The night was low, and the Haikou Stadium on June 24th witnessed the fierce battle in the 6th round of the 2022 Chinese Super League season. In the marquee match, Henan Songshan Dragons had the last laugh with a score of 2-0, despite the numerical disadvantage faced by Dalian People. After the match, the head coaches of the two teams appeared at the press conference to share their insights on the field.
Facing the physical challenge in the match, Dalian Ren head coach Xie Hui said bluntly: "To cope with the physical crisis, we adopted a large-scale rotation, in which five U23 and three U21 players were all on the field. They did their best on the field, but there was still a gap between them and Henan, which was missing one player. In the second half, we replaced the main players, but some players lacked experience in the Chinese Super League, and their mentality affected their performance. As a coach, I have to take all the responsibility and look forward to a breakthrough in the tactical layout, congratulations to Henan for the victory."
Talking about the team's low scoring rate on goal, Xie Hui said, "Looking back at last season's scorer's list, the top ten domestic players were less likely to be selected, which is a major feature of the league. Although we created a lot of chances, the mentality problem when we fell behind affected the conversion rate. This is not the case for us in day-to-day training and the situation is understandable."
Commenting on the match, Havel, Head Coach of Henan Songshan Dragons, said, "Our pre-match plan differed greatly from the actual match, and the originally expected attacking line-up was challenged by Ma Xingyu's sending off. We quickly adjusted our tactics and adapted to the shortage of players, showing our spirit of hard work and love of soccer, as well as team spirit. This win means a lot to us."
Javier continued, "Although we discussed the technical and tactical changes, the DNA of Henan soccer lies in the fighting spirit and the struggle not to give up. We showed this spirit on the field and no difficulty could break us. We have grown through adversity and hopefully this spirit will make our fans and supporters proud."
Speaking about Karanga's performance, Javier believes, "Karanga's outstanding performance is due to a number of reasons. He stayed in China after last season, actively participated in training and showed professionalism. His efforts were rewarded, but today's game should not be discussed too much about the individual but about the team's victory."
