In the first leg of the FA Cup quarterfinals, Shandong Taishan defeated Wuhan 2-0. In this game, naturalized player Delgado became the focus of the field. He became the most active player on the offensive line in the whole game, and both goals in the second half had a lot to do with him. No wonder some people say that the waste firewood under Li Xiaopeng has been turned into treasure under Hao Wei. In the 2026 World Preliminary Tournament, Delgado will be the main force of the national football team. After all, he's only 24 years old now, and there's still room for improvement.
In the second half of the game, coach Hao Wei's tactical adjustment against Delgado changed the lack of offensive strength in the first half and became the winner. In the second half, Delgado, who was not good at headers, came to the wing and played his power, and directly participated in two goals, sending a direct assist, and Tian Xin, who was topped to the front, scored a goal that broke the deadlock.
In the 61st minute, Shandong developed the ball to the left side, and it was Delgado who crossed with his feet to help Tian Xin break the deadlock with a hammer in front of the goal. In this battle, Delgado and Tian Xin activated the attack in the front court through a swap.
In the 73rd minute, it was Delgado's free kick that accurately connected Moises who grabbed the point in front of the goal, the latter volley was blocked, Song Long was astute to make up for the goal, and the iron tree blossomed.
In the 83rd minute, Delgado was replaced.
As a naturalized player, Delgado is currently a native of Jinan, Shandong Province. In June 2019, Shandong Taishan announced that player Delgado had completed all the formalities and qualified for the game. This means that Delgado, who is originally from Portugal, has obtained Chinese citizenship and can participate in the Chinese Super League as an internal supporter. In addition, Delgado can perform the association conversion through the conversion principle of category B after 2024, representing the Chinese men's football team.
As we all know, in the era when Li Xiaopeng coached the Shandong team, Delgado, a U22 player who had high hopes for Luneng, once completely disappeared from the Luneng first team, from the Main Player of Luneng U23 to the 18-man roster, and was taken down by Li Xiaopeng in the first team and mixed with the reserve team.
And now, through tactical adjustments, Hao Wei has made Delgado a game winner through position changes, which can be called a waste into a treasure. I don't know how Wuhan coach Li Xiaopeng, who suffered the bitter fruit of the defeat on the sideline side, will feel in the face of Delgado's key performance?