In the late afternoon of April 16th, Zhejiang's soccer team had their last pre-season warm-up match against Gusu Dongwu, a team that came all the way from Jiangsu Province, at the Zhejiang Zhongtai Base. The result of this warm-up match was surprising, as Gusu Dongwu beat Zhejiang 1-0 with a goal from former Jiangsu midfielder Zhang Lingfeng, making the Zhejiang team, which is about to embark on a journey to Meizhou, more or less unhappy.
The friendly atmosphere between the players of the two teams was evident before the match. The Shanghai team's goalkeepers Gu Chao and Sun Le, as well as Wuhan hometown favorites Yue Xin and Guo Jing, and Jordy and Gary White, who met in 2016, all exchanged warm words. Fan Xiaodong, who is well known to fans, has moved to Gusu Dongwu, but did not come with the team this time.
Since Jordy was released from isolation and returned to coaching, the Zhejiang team has played about ten warm-up matches, and with the previous matches, the team has played almost fifteen matches since the New Year. There was no shortage of matches against strong Chinese Super League teams such as Guoan, Shanghai Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Through this series of matches, the main lineup and the substitute list gradually became clear. Gu Chao, Liang Nuoheng, Yao Junsheng and Gao Di have been fully integrated into Qiaodi's tactical system and become the team's main force. The U23 player Aisha Jiang Kurban, who transferred from Evergrande, has been outstanding in the offensive end and is expected to have an advantage in the competition for the U23 starting spot. The last-minute whistle to join the Jurjić, but also need to show the strength of foreign aid should be in the game, in order to prove their own value.
Other players such as Dong Yu, Yue Xin, Cheng Jin, Gu Bin, Zhong Haoran, Long Wei, Sun Zheng Ao, Wang Zhen, etc. are also maintaining good competitive status and they are the main candidates for the team's starting lineup. Talking about the rotation, the recovery of the injured Tan Yang and Cui Ren is good, together with the young players such as Wang Dongsheng and Shao Renzhe, Zhejiang team has enough choices on the depth of the domestic players' lineup.
After failing to make up for the Chinese Super League quota, Zhejiang team's attraction work has been seriously affected. Especially in the introduction of foreign aid, despite contacting no less than ten foreign aid, but ultimately failed to make the trip due to the failure of the replacement. Matthews and Dino were also unable to enter the country due to the epidemic prevention policy. Although the deadline for registration in the Chinese League of Nations is still on April 19, but Zhejiang team can only rely on Mu Xiekui and Jiujiqi two foreign aid before the summer window to fight has become a foregone conclusion.
Fortunately, the team is currently only using two of its foreign aid registration slots, and retains room to tweak two more, which leaves room for adjustments in the summer window.
Next Monday, the team will hold a ceremony for the new season and depart for Meizhou on April 21.On April 24, in the first round of the league, Zhejiang will face Zibo Cuju, a newcomer to the Central League.
