If there is a Chinese Super League team that aspires to play in the AFC Champions League, it is deep enough! But unfortunately, in the 20th round of the latest chinese Super League, due to the 0-1 defeat to the fourth opponent Changchun Yatai, Shenzu missed the top four in the first two rounds of this season, and next year's AFC Champions League dream was also shattered.
Before this round of matches, Changchun Yatai, who is temporarily in fourth place in the standings, is 6 points behind, and if he wants to surpass his opponent's preset minimum goal of fourth place this season, he must personally defeat Yatai in this game and narrow the score to 3 points. With this foundation, it is possible to complete the counter-overtaking in the last 2 rounds.
Yet, again, deep foot disappointed the fans!
Yes, The deep foot sent veterans to play the starting lineup: 35-year-old Gao Lin, 34-year-old Wang Yongpo, 32-year-old Jiang Zhipeng and 32-year-old Sun Ke, the four former internationals, all played. Also included are 34-year-old goalkeeper Zhang Lu and 32-year-old foreign aid Kaldek. Of the 11 starters, as many as 6 are over 30 years old.
Obviously, the deep-footed manager hopes to use the experience of the veteran to tear apart the Yatai team's defense in the first half, and if he can advance the ball, he will replace the veteran in the second half to keep the victory.
But the game didn't go as planned! In the first half, both sides achieved nothing, but in the second half, Yatai took the lead in scoring. Former Evergrande striker Yang Chao's header hit the goalpost, and the ball bounced back into the deep football goal by Sun Jie.
After losing the ball, Shenzu changed three people in just 3 minutes: Achimpen replaced Gao Lin, Zheng Dalun replaced Sun Ke, and Quintro replaced Zhang Yuan. After the substitution, the deep foot offensive posture was more fierce, but only listened to the thunder and did not see the rain, although once pressed Yatai to kick, but did not score.
Delay knocking on the opponent's goal! In a hurry, Quintero kicked a powerful kick at the goal more than ten meters outside the penalty area, directly kicking the ball high above the bottom line. Can't fight for a long time! Obviously, there is something wrong with the mentality of the deep footballer.
In the end, despite up to five minutes of injury time, the score was still 0-1, and the deep foot lost in a crucial game.
After the loss of the deep foot, the points remained at 29 points, 9 points less than the fourth place Changchun Yatai, and with only 2 rounds left in the league, it was declared that it was not in the top four of the league in advance. This loss is something that deep footballers don't want to see. Because not only did they lose the possible AFC Champions League qualification, but they also led to the loss of the 15 million prize money.
It is reported that in order to motivate the team to play well, Shenzhen city auctioned prize money: 50 million yuan for the league champion, 35 million yuan for the league runner-up, 25 million yuan for the third place in the league, and 15 million yuan for the fourth place in the league.
At this point, The Deep Foot can only finish fifth in the league at most. Originally, if Shandong Taishan won the double this season, the fourth in the league could also participate in the play-offs, thus getting a ticket to the AFC Champions League. But now it seems that the AFC Champions League qualification can only be fought for next year.
At the beginning of the season, Shenzu introduced strong reinforcements continuously, and was considered a "luxury division" that could win the Chinese Super League championship.
But after a season of playing, the team's performance fluctuated, up and down, did not show the temperament and strength of the Super League team, and had a strong paper strength. Why? This has to do with the cohesion of the team and the integration of playing styles. Perhaps, a more capable head coach should be replaced.
To be honest, the deep foot configuration, which has not reached the top four for 2 consecutive seasons, is a bit disappointing. I hope this will change next year!