Southeast Asian teams advanced to the AFC Champions League by emulating Evergrande.
Recently, the Japanese media "Asian Football Tribe" wrote an article about two Southeast Asian teams advancing to the round of 16 of the AFC Champions League, pointing out that the secret of their successful promotion to the AFC Champions League is perfectly in line with the impression of "Golden Dollar Football" in our cognition.
Talking about the achievements of Southeast Asian teams in this AFC Champions League, the article said that last year was the first year of the expansion of the AFC Champions League, and Southeast Asian teams were hit hard from the beginning: United City FC 0-8 Kawasaki Forward, Tampines Rovers 0-9 Jeonbuk Hyundai. Of course, there are also good performances, such as Baton United almost qualified for the promotion last year.
In contrast, the performance of Southeast Asian teams in the 2022 AFC Champions League is not the same. Not only did Baton United and Johor Bahru reach the round of 16, but other teams that did not qualify also performed well, such as the Singapore Lions Mariners.
The performance of Southeast Asian teams in this AFC Champions League is impressive. Baton United and Johor Bahru not only advanced to the first place in the group, but Johor also pushed forward Kawasaki, who is currently second in the J-League table, and Ulsan Hyundai, the top team in the K League.
For the qualification of Baton United and Johor Bahru, the article pointed out several major elements of their success: one is ambition; the other is to gather domestic good hands and good foreign aid; and the third is professional management.
The success of Baton United and Johor is built on "ambitions and dreams of one day surpassing their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea and beyond," the article said. ”
The two teams are no different from their east Asian counterparts, and are made up of the best local players in their respective countries, as well as tried and tested foreign players, and their club management is also in the lead.
The author points to a point that the Johor team boss once said: "The vision without execution is just an illusion", arguing that it is precisely with such ambition, coupled with the hard work done to achieve this goal, that has brought the team to where it is now.
The article said that whether it is Baton United or Johor, their success was not achieved overnight. Johor has been in the previous 3 seasons to qualify for the AFC Champions League, and after relegation, Baton United also started from the Thai second tier, facing difficulties, their "time and money are well used, ensuring their current place in the AFC Champions League." ”
Some people believe that the Guangzhou team sent a youth army to reduce the promotion content of the Johor team. There's also the idea that they're all playing at home. Regarding these points, the article said that in any case, Baton United and Johor team won the promotion ticket.
Finally, the article argues that the excellent performance of Southeast Asian teams in this year's AFC Champions League proves that the level of football in the region is on the rise, and soon, they will see themselves as equal competitors who can compete with the strong Asian teams.
Many people are dismissive of the so-called "Golden Dollar Football", but we see the rise of Guangzhou Evergrande in the past from the Johor team and Baton United. How similar are their trajectories!
They all use money to collect domestic football elites, supplemented by high-quality foreign aid, and use professional management methods to pinch these players into a whole. Finally, it takes time to precipitate the results. For example, Evergrande shouted that it would take 5 years to win the AFC Champions League (it actually took only 3 years to complete the goal).
It can be seen that the rise of johor and Baton United, two Southeast Asian teams, does not rely on the "golden dollar football" that we criticize and despise?!
The most typical is the Johor team, which has won 8 consecutive championships in domestic leagues, which is more Evergrande than Evergrande. The Malaysian Football Association does not come out to take care of it: what is the use of you Johor to win 9 consecutive championships and 10 consecutive championships? Is Malaysian football up? Have you advanced to the round of 16 in the AFC Champions League and the national team in the round of 12? The national team's performance is not good, you just won the AFC Champions League and there is no point!
Once again, a truth has been verified: if you want to improve your performance in professional football, you cannot do without the "golden dollar", and if you deny the "golden dollar", you actually deny the professional football itself.