Shanghai Seaport's journey to the championship was full of twists and turns, from once leading the Chinese Super League by 14 points to eventually losing by only 5 points. 29, the "Battle of Heavenly Kings" with Shandong Taishan was shattered due to on-site conflicts. However, for the seaport generals, 1-1 draw has been enough to let them rejoice - five years later, once again holding the Chinese Super League trophy Wu Lei tears, emotionally: "this victory makes me happier!"
In fact, Harbor's preparation for the championship quietly began in the final round against Beijing Guoan. Despite knowing that the opponent was not easy to deal with, the team was confident of a home victory. The club's staff secretly developed a series of strategies against Guoan and communicated instructions to the team's media for interviews after the championship. However, the loss against Guoan brought all expectations to naught.
A five-point gap should have put the Super League title within reach for Seaport, but this season Seaport has always been a surprise. No one dared to expect too much before this crucial clash with Taishan. "Before the game, we don't pay attention to outside predictions and comments, nor do we look back on the loss of the last game, all of which we block out." A core defense player confessed, "Although we are close to the championship, it's natural to have a different mindset after missing opportunities before. But before this game, we remained determined to get the win and not drag the fight to the final round."
However, the match was far more chaotic than expected. In the first 30 minutes, Seaport and Taishan engaged in a fierce confrontation with exciting scenes. Zhang Linpeng's breakthrough created a shooting opportunity for Lu Wenjun, giving Harbour a 1-0 lead at home. The goal also brought the field to a boil, as Seaport could win the title early if they kept the tie. However, after Harbour's goal, the smell of gunpowder on the field intensified. Four minutes before the end of the half, the referee showed four consecutive red cards and the field was in chaos. Harbour's 9 men were unhappy with Taishan's 10 men, and head coach Harvey also expressed his dissatisfaction with the referee's punishment.
In the second half, the strategies of the two teams were clearly different. Taishan intensified their attack, while Harbor held on to their half of the field with one less player. Throughout the first 20 minutes of the second half, Taishan concentrated all their efforts in Harbor's half, with goalkeeper Wang Dalei standing almost "alone" near the center circle. It was a battle of champions, and the smell of gunpowder permeated the entire game. 74 minutes, Li Shuai shoveled the ball from behind, and Fernando retaliated in front of the referee by fouling him and sending him flying, and also received a straight red. 9 to 9 is extremely rare in the Chinese Super League. Throughout the game, referee Mai Mai Tijiang showed 5 red cards and 10 yellow cards.
The fans' stands were ready to celebrate after 89 minutes, but Taishan still didn't give up on the attack. The 1-1 scoreline was made even more suspenseful in the last seven minutes of extra time after Shi Ke's cross was parried by Xie Wenke. However, his luck was finally on the side of the bumpy harbor with the help of Yan Junling's excellent performance and the goalpost.
Javier, who had been penalized for sitting in the stands, kept frowning and kept talking to the field on his phone. Finally, the whistle blew, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief, excitedly waving his fist at the highest point of the stands before rushing all the way down to high-five people. It was his first Chinese Super League title amidst all the skepticism, and the first of his coaching career.
Back in the lounge, Javier enthusiastically expressed his feelings to the players. "Today was the perfect ending. We overcame all the difficulties. We showed everyone that we do our best. We are all fighters! I hope everyone enjoys this championship and the title will come back to Shanghai." He also sent his congratulations to the Chinese and foreign coaching staff and the on-site media in an excited voice. There was no champagne prepared in the lounge and the players grabbed sports drinks and sprayed them on him. Javier kept taking it all in with a smile.
Wu Lei was also emotional. The championship after five years made him emotional. "I feel happier about winning the title this time than last time. We players are much older than five years ago. We really wanted to win this title because the chances were getting fewer and fewer. The fact is that the first half of the season seemed to go well this year, but there were some difficulties in the middle or the second half of the season. In fact, the outside world may not know about a lot of difficulties, so we came out on top in the last key games." Vulet cried on his knees.
Wu Lei had a "direct conversation" with fans on social media, summarizing those imperfect memories. "The fans gave us a lot of support, but there were some misunderstandings and conflicts between us, but we are a family, and a family will have such and such problems, but our hearts will always be together." As the team leader, Xi Zhikang shouted "Long live the fans" at the post-match conference.
After the game, the Harbor players strolled around the stadium with their relatives. Captain Oscar made a point of running under the fans' stands and asking for a fan's flag to wave in the center of the field. Although he did not talk about my next arrangement, but as the hero of Seaport's championship again, Oscar also had a lot of emotions tonight. "I've been through so much over the years. I'm glad I stuck it out. I stayed in Shanghai and won another title for the team. I love the team, I love the city."
Tonight, when the song "The First Dream" plays on the field again, "winning the championship" is as exciting as it was five years ago. It's just a season of ups and downs, and there are so many stories, whether it's the ups and downs or the questions, that are worth pondering over in the harbor.
The tears on the night of the championship were a mixture of the joy of winning the title for the second time and the depression caused by the many ups and downs of the second half of the league.
Based on Shanghai Seaport's record before August, their title win should not have been delayed until the penultimate round. At their peak, they were 14 points ahead of Shanghai Shenhua in second place. No one would have suspected then that they would get the title early, the suspense was only a few rounds ahead. However, since losing 3-4 at home to Zhejiang on August 12, Hong Kong have inexplicably put on a strange brake. They were first held to a 1-1 draw at home by Meizhou Hakka, then eliminated 2-3 in the AFC Champions League play-offs with Thai Premier League side Pathum United.
Two wins and three losses in the next five rounds of the league allowed Shandong Taishan to catch up to just five points off the points. They kept putting the brakes on, sending themselves to the penultimate round for Shandong Taishan. Pingtai Shan's win was welcome, but the four league games they lost at the start of August, especially the home match with Beijing Guoan, raised concerns about whether there were problems within this team.
When the team's performance fluctuated, there were also conflicts between player Choi Wai Hong and fans. Cai posted a friend circle of Hong Kong fans turning their backs to "check which light bulb is broken", which greatly hurt the feelings of Hong Kong fans. The incident ended with the club fining Cai Huikang. Head coach Javier is not only known for his results, but also for his frequent extreme behavior on the pitch due to his inability to control his emotions. For example, during the match with Shandong Taishan, Mai Tijiang actually knelt down after being shown a red card after entering the field in protest.
Wu Lei said "the outside world may not know a lot of difficulties" will naturally cause the outside world association. The reason for all this is that the Shanghai Group is also undergoing a change: at the beginning of August, Yan Jun, the president of the Shanghai Group, suddenly resigned from all his positions, and on August 14th, he was officially declared to be "suspected of a serious violation of discipline and the law". Since then, Port's record, the team's performance, and even the referee's attitude towards the club have all been in stark contrast to the past.
Another factor that should affect the port's record is the indictment of Chen Xuyuan, the former chairman of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), at the end of September. The prosecutor's indictment allegation clearly states: "Chen Xuyuan utilized the position of deputy secretary of the Party committee of Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd., president, secretary of the Party committee, chairman of the board of directors, head of the preparatory group for the replacement of the Chinese Football Association, deputy secretary of the Party committee of the Chinese Football Association, chairman, and other positions, as well as position of authority and position of formation of the facilitating conditions, to seek benefits for others, and unlawfully accept the property of others.
Two leaders of the Shanghai Group are suspected of corruption, and whether the incidents in question are related to soccer and the club will require a final answer from the public security authorities. However, this situation of the group will undoubtedly cast a shadow on the future of the Hong Kong club. As we all know, since 2014, the Shanghai Group has invested in soccer spending a huge amount of money. Previously there was talk of a 12 billion dollar championship. In these years of the collapse of golden dollar soccer, the high investment in Hong Kong continues due to Oscar's high salary.
The outside world is also trying to figure out if there has been a change in Shanghai Group's future soccer investments after the accidents of Yan Jun and Chen Xuyuan. Shanghai Group has assigned a new party secretary and general manager Sha Changliang to the club. What is the specific strategy for future investment in soccer? The word inside Shanghai Group is that it depends on the attitude of the municipal government.
