Under pressure, Zhejiang footballers were two goals behind three times in the match, but launched a thrilling comeback in the second half, eventually reversing the score to 5:4 to beat Meizhou Hakka, a victory that can be called the "Battle of Heavenly King Mountain" the pinnacle of the work.
In the last round of China League One, Zhejiang unexpectedly lost to Sichuan Jiuniu with a score of 0:1, a result that shocked the whole season, and even Zhejiang themselves did not expect their first loss to come to Sichuan Jiuniu. In two meetings with Sichuan JiuNiu this season, Zhejiang only scored one point, which also made them in this round of the league against Meizhou Hakka, and the opponent's points gap widened to four points. However, Zhejiang fell behind 2:4 in the first half, and the team went into the halftime break with huge pressure on their backs.
During the halftime break, Zhejiang head coach Qiao Di analyzed the characteristics of Meizhou Hakka's backline in the first half and conveyed his confidence to the players that the team could turn the situation around in the second half. Wu Shao Koon, deputy general manager of Zhejiang Work Football Club, also said that Zhejiang's team was able to recover from a two-goal deficit against the Chinese Super League team in the play-offs last season, and that the team must not give up this time either.
After adjustments, a determined and confident Zhejiang team scored three goals in the second half to make a stunning comeback. "Meizhou Hakka played quite fluently in the first half, and they set out to play against us right from the start. The first goal conceded was really something I didn't handle well, and we fell into the opponent's pre-set tactics before the game." Zhejiang goalkeeper Gu Chao was one of the most frustrated players of the game, as in the first seven rounds of the league, Zhejiang conceded a total of only three goals, while this time they conceded four goals in the half.
Gu Chao said, "But these did not affect us, after losing to Sichuan Jiuniu in the last round of the league, the whole team is summarizing the experience, the key game must adjust the mentality, put down the burden, even in the first half we conceded four goals, no one gave up the game. I think the spirit of not giving up in this game is an important reason for the final equalization, which is also a classic battle in the history of Zhejiang."
Gu Chao, who did not concede another goal in the second half, recalled, "Because I have experienced all kinds of situations, both good and bad, I can quickly adjust myself. It was really unexpected to concede so many goals in the first half today, but I never panicked and calmed myself down as quickly as possible during the halftime break and told my teammates that we must not panic at this time. In fact, at halftime, I felt that our morale was high, there was a kind of tenacity to put ourselves in a position of death, and never give in to the situation of falling behind, we just wanted to win back, and eventually we did!"
The victory was crucial to Zhejiang's road to the Super League, as they also achieved a double over Meizhou Hakka this season. After the game, the whole team formed a circle on the sidelines and cheered for their perseverance. Jordy, who is always calm, also showed his passionate side this time, first hugging Wu Shao Koon and then captain Cheng Jin, enjoying the joy brought by this exciting reversal. (Xu Yi)
