In an exclusive interview with Fox Sports, Brazilian player Renato Augusto talked about his goal of helping Beijing Guoan regain its glory.
This season's Chinese Super League has only been played for six rounds, and one of the most feasible changes in the first month of the season was that capital team Beijing Guoan has regained its form.
With huge investments pouring into the Chinese Super League, teams such as Shanghai SIPG, Hebei Huaxia Happiness, Tianjin Quanjian and Jiangsu Suning have risen rapidly, while Beijing Guoan, an established club in Chinese football, has fallen into a trough in recent years.
Since finishing runners-up in 2014, Beijing Guoan has been falling lower in the standings year by year, finishing 4th and 5th in 2015 and 2016 respectively, while slipping to 9th last season, the worst ranking the club has achieved since the inception of the Chinese Super League.
But with three wins in five games at the start of the season, including a 2-1 win over Jiangsu Suning and a 4-0 win over Beijing Renhe in the Beijing derby, Guoan is now in fourth place in the table, behind Shanghai SIPG, seven-time-time defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande and Shandong Luneng, the club's best start since 2015.
Brazilian Augusto, one of the capital's best performers over the past few seasons, told Fox Sports that the club is struggling to return to the top of the table.
"We're working on that, but we're also aware of the challenges that other clubs are putting at us and the high stakes they've put in," he said.
"Guangzhou Evergrande's seven champions are not a waste of time. They have a lot of national players in their squad. ”
'Shanghai SIPG has built into a strong team with players like Oscar, Hulk and Elkeson who have been playing hard against Evergrande last season.
"But it's certain that we're going to do everything we can to get to the top of the list."
Although the increased investment of Chinese Super League teams in recent seasons has put Beijing Guoan in a trough, Ao Bone said that high investment is a good thing for Chinese football, and it will make the Chinese Super League stronger and more challenging.
"It's only good for the champion." He said.
"As the strength of the team increases, the technical level of the Chinese Super League will increase, and the quality of the game will also improve."
"In some countries' leagues, there are usually only two or three or four teams competing for the title, which is not good. With the large investment in the last transfer window, the strength of the teams this season looks more balanced, and there will be more teams to challenge Evergrande's supremacy. ”
"There is no other way to develop football, you need to invest in the whole range. This is similar to the leagues of Japan and some countries in the Middle East many years ago, and their national teams are now able to regularly enter the World Cup stage. ”
This year's World Cup is a key focus for Augusto, who has been an important player under Brazilian coach Tite over the past few years. After being humiliated 1-7 by Germany on his doorstep in 2014, the Samba Legion is looking to redeem themselves in Russia, which will be Augusto's first time in a World Cup.
"People expect a lot from us," he admitted.
"We did a great job in the qualifiers, there are a lot of good players in the team and coach Tite has a very high level. It was a moment I've been dreaming of all along, and I hope to be able to help Brazil win their 6th World Cup. ”
Previously, it was widely believed that Augusto's arrival in China meant the end of his national team career, but the opposite was true. He thrived on the national team and proved that it is possible for high-level players to join leagues outside of the traditional powerhouses of football and still have a successful national team career.
"No matter where I play, I keep myself at a high level of physical and technical level," he said.
"When I played in Germany, I did the same. I also brought my physical training coach to China so that I could have a more detailed follow-up plan. It complements my training at the club and is more specific. ”
Everything he did worked. This season is the third season of the 30-year-old's proud bone joining Guoan, and the Brazilian says he enjoys his time here. Last year he signed a four-year contract extension with the club and will play for Guoan until 2021.
"I'm happy here," said the former Corinthian star.
"It was difficult to get away from family and friends at first. It's a whole new country, new and different cultures, complex languages. But it's easy to adapt to these because I don't lack anything here. I live in the capital of China, a wonderful city where I can find everything I want. ”
"It's a big city, everything is great, I can find everything here. I love going out for dinner with my wife. In my free time between training and competition, I always go to discover something new because there is a rich culture here. ”
Reference: Fox Sports
Compilation: Brother Saint