As night fell on July 6, Guangzhou Evergrande ushered in the sixth round of the AFC Champions League group stage with a fierce showdown against Sakura Osaka. In the end, Osaka Sakura completed the sweep of Evergrande with a score of 5-0, thanks to the goals of Kato Lujioki, Gomez and the shutout of Matsumoto Taishi. With this loss, Evergrande suffered five consecutive defeats in their AFC Champions League campaign.
Although Guangzhou Evergrande sent a youth army to play this time, such a tragic loss still makes the fans heavy hearted. In this duel, although Osaka Sakura is only the second lineup, but the age of the players and Evergrande players are not comparable, however, Evergrande is in a comprehensive disadvantage.
Although the score was set at 0-5, such a result was far from reflecting Evergrande's passivity on the field. For example, Evergrande didn't get its first corner kick until the 60th minute of the game! Throughout the game, Evergrande's shot count was only one-eighth of Osaka's, and its possession rate was less than 40%, which is heartbreaking.
Before the AFC Champions League, fans did not have high expectations for Evergrande's youth army, just hoping that they could "score a goal" or "get a point" would already be satisfied. However, the group stage has been carried out to the fifth round, Evergrande not only particles, and even a goal has not been scored, in the face of any opponent, the players can only hunker down on defense, can not start a threatening attack.
It wasn't until the score was down by four goals that Evergrande woke up like a dream and stepped up their offense, even coming close to breaking through Osaka's goal in the 80th minute. However, the waste of the best scoring chance put paid to all this effort.
Even with full defense, Evergrande's "sea of men tactics" couldn't stop Osaka's goals, and mistakes were made one after another. For example, Osaka's first two goals, Evergrande in the side defense has been in place, and even formed a defense of two advantages, but the players still let the other side incredibly pass the ball into the; and the third goal, Gomez header attack goal, not even a player around the Evergrande players to intercept.
Such mistakes undoubtedly exposed the lack of individual player ability. It can be said that in this Evergrande youth team, for the time being, we can't see players with high level strength.
After the game, social media was filled with disappointment from Chinese fans. Some fans commented, "The spirit has been beaten out of them." "I know it's U21, but it's really not right to lose so badly every game ......" "Is this the future of Chinese soccer?"
There are also disappointed fans said, "Evergrande's youth training in the country is considered good, young players if this is the level, what will be the future of Chinese soccer?"
