In the fierce battle of the last 32 of the 2021 AFC Cup, Guangzhou, the representative of the youth army of our national soccer team, suffered an unexpected challenge against Qingdao Fanghua Island, a strong team of the Central B League, and ended up with a regrettable 0-1 loss, and had no choice but to exit the competition. This result was quite a surprise to the fans, however, it seems to be a relief to the Guangzhou team, which is facing a lot of difficulties, and it is always a tough test.
Guangzhou team "invited" out of the game
In the 84th minute of the match, Guangzhou's substitute goalkeeper Guo Jiayu was warming up on the sidelines, seemingly about to replace starting goalkeeper Zhang Jianzhi. There was a lot of speculation, but we didn't realize that it was defender Chen Rijin who was being replaced. Suddenly, there were two goalkeepers on the pitch. A surprising scene followed, as starting goalkeeper Zhang Jianzhi was urgently recalled to the bench by the coach, and his No. 48 jersey instantly changed from green to red, and then quickly returned to the field, changing his position from goalkeeper to center forward.
What's going on here? It turns out that Guangzhou carried only 15 players, including two goalkeepers, in this AFC Cup match. After the starting eleven took the field, there were only four players left on the bench. Guangzhou conceded a goal in the 37th minute and has been trailing ever since. In the last five minutes, the coaching staff tried to change the formation, but there was a lack of suitable high center forward candidates. With no other choice, Zhang Jianzhi, who is 1.96 meters tall, had to temporarily play as a high center. This scene can not help but make people laugh.
In fact, this is also the coaching team helpless move. The FA Cup, Guangzhou team only carry 15 players, the number of coaching staff less than half of the usual number of members, logistics support is only two or three people, the main reason for doing so is to save money. Since the club's parent company suffered a crisis, the Guangzhou team has fallen into a shortage of funds. It is reported that the AFC Cup, the other Super League teams almost all sent an exclusive bus to the tournament area, such as Shenzhen team's bus traveled up to 3,000 kilometers, arriving in Changchun ahead of time in order to better provide services for the team. The Guangzhou team's bus only took the team from their base to the Guangzhou airport two days before the match and then returned to their base. During the three days in Jinan, Guangzhou could only rent a local bus to transport the team.
