In the 120th minute, the score was fixed at 6:5! Shandong Luneng, a veteran of the FA Cup, drew 1:1 with Beijing Guoan, then emerged victorious in the penalty shootout after many twists and turns. Lady Luck seems to have lent a helping hand to Shandong Luneng once again. Though Beijing Guoan may have been resigned to the result, elimination came reluctantly.
This victory, Shandong Luneng laughed until the end, in addition to luck, but also thanks to the precise decision-making of coach Cui Kangxi, whose strategy almost reversed the direction of the game.
When the penalty shootout came, Choi Kang-hee picked five penalty kick executives, and attentive fans will find that almost all of these five are "foreigners": Cressan, Pato, Moises, Fernando and Fellaini. Although Fernando is a naturalized player, he is regarded as a foreigner because of his Brazilian origin. He is as good as a foreigner, even if he is now a Chinese player.
Why did Choi Kang-hee choose five "foreigners" instead of local players to execute the penalty kicks? The answer is for stability and to minimize mistakes. In his opinion, foreigners not only perform better on the field, but also have better psychological quality. Penalty kicks are cruel and merciless, which is the biggest test for players' psychology. Therefore, he decisively sent five psychological quality "foreign aid", rather than local players.
The result proved that Choi Kang-hee's choice is correct. Five "foreign aid" calm and collected, one by one hit, the critical moment, the South Korean player Kang Xiangyu's error, but also let Cui Kangxi's strategy of stability harvested sweet.
There is no substitute for experience, and the 64-year-old Choi Kang-hee showed great command of the field in this match, completely overpowering the 48-year-old Suarez. Especially in the penalty kicks, his calmness and rich experience were obvious.
