It is certainly a joy to be able to win the first Chinese Super League match in the club's history.
But Flashing Star has already forgotten this victory, which was enough to make the fans happy for a week.
Fans don't need to think too much and just enjoy the game.
Be happy when you win, and curse when you lose.
But players and coaches can't.
Just after the game against Yunyang Phoenix, Flash Stars entered the AFC Champions League preparation mode.
As the champions of the Chinese Football Association Cup last season, they were able to directly qualify for the AFC Champions League, instead of having to play a qualifying round like the third-place finishers in the Chinese Super League.
In the AFC Champions League group stage draw ceremony, Flash Star, who was participating in the AFC Champions League for the first time, was drawn into a group that was not considered good.
Because Asia is a vast country, and the Australian and New Zealand Football Associations have also joined the AFC, teams participating in the AFC Champions League often face the embarrassing situation of having to fly almost a third of the way around the earth to play away games.
This is no different from a Western European team going to Vladivostok to play the Europa League away game - but this has not happened yet because the Vladivostok team has never participated in the Europa League.
But in Asia, a similar situation is real. If a West Asian team goes to Australia to play in the AFC Champions League, the flight distance is not close at all.
In order to solve this problem of increasing the burden on teams, the AFC divided the AFC Champions League into two halves, the east and west.
The Western Half is made up of clubs from West Asia, Central Asia and South Asia. All teams in this region will be automatically classified into the Western Division and drawn together in the group draw.
The East Division is composed of teams from East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, competing against each other.
Until the finals, teams from the eastern and western halves will never meet.
This is a bit like the NBA's competition system, where champions are determined in the eastern and western halves. The Eastern Conference champion and the Western Conference champion finally come together to determine the champion of the entire Asia.
As long as they can win their respective half-district championships, they will qualify for the Club World Cup.
Unlike before, you have to be the championship to participate in the Club World Cup.
The AFC followed UEFA's lead and also developed European War Points - in the AFC, they are called Asian War Points.
The ranking of participating teams will be determined based on points, thus facilitating group drawings.
Because Shining Star has never had points in the Asian Cup, they were naturally assigned to the lowest level and became a fourth-tier team.
This level is very unfavorable for Flash Star, as it will easily be paired with a group of strong teams.
So this time they were assigned to Group H, which was in the same group as teams from South Korea, Japan and Australia.
They are Seoul LG, the third runner-up in the Korean K1 League last season, Osaka Victory, the runner-up in the Japanese J1 League last season, and Sydney Coast, the runner-up in the Australian Super League last season.
Not only are the opponents strong, but they also face the hardship of traveling to Australia to play the game.
As Anton Shining Star participates in the AFC Champions League for the first time, many people are not optimistic about their prospects in the AFC Champions League. Some people are even worried that after Shining Star plays in the AFC Champions League, it will affect their performance in the league, resulting in
The team was eventually relegated - this was definitely not a deliberate attempt to look down on the Stars, but was based on lessons learned from past experiences.
In European football, where professional football is more developed, this situation is not uncommon.
There are some teams that were originally ranked in the middle and lower reaches. After hard work and a little luck, they finally made it to the European competition next season.
At the end of the season, the image of the fans celebrating this great achievement is still vivid in my mind.
The team's performance plummeted in the new season? In the end, there was no outstanding performance in the European war? It also disrupted the rhythm of the league? As a result, the team ranked bottom in the league.
Those teams with some strength can still go all out in the league after being eliminated from the European competition, and finally successfully avoid relegation.
And some teams can no longer stop the downward trend and fall into the second-tier league at the end of the season.
The stadium that was full of joy a season ago has become like a morgue at this time.
It was not easy for the Flash Stars to be promoted to the Chinese Super League? Anton fans have just tasted a little sweetness. No one hopes that they will return to the Chinese Super League after playing only one season.
If they had a choice, I'm afraid many Flash Star fans would rather the team not participate in the AFC Champions League? But they can participate in the Chinese Super League every year.
Competitions like the AFC Champions League are all games for the rich. Anyone who can participate in this competition and achieve good results is a club that is willing to spend money on the team.
Shining Star is obviously not such a wealthy club, and the sponsors behind them will never adopt more radical financial methods in order to improve the team's performance. Otherwise, they would not have stayed in the Second Division and the First Division for so many years.
Already.
A big part of the reason why everyone was so happy last season was because the team won the FA Cup? It wasn't because it reached the AFC Champions League...
As if to prove the fans' concerns, in the first round of the AFC Champions League group stage, Shining Star gave Osaka a 0:3 victory in the away game.
The score of 0:3 clearly shows the gap between the Chinese League champions and the Japanese J1 League runners-up - the former was completely defeated by the latter.
Junpei Morikawa started the game in this game, but his running failed to help the team win the game, or even keep a tie.
Jun Morikawa was very frustrated after losing the game? Then he met the Olympic team coach Koichi Sato after the game.
Obviously, Coach Sato came here specifically to see his performance.
He plays football in China, and Japan does not broadcast Chinese league games. If Coach Sato wants to pay attention to his own game status, of course he has to watch the AFC Champions League games.
This also shows that Coach Sato really did not give up on himself as he said.
Thinking of this, Morikawa Junpei felt much better.
But when he thought that he had just lost, his expression fell again.
How could Koichi Sato not understand what was going on in the mind of this middle school boy?
Seeing this, he smiled and patted Morikawa Junpei on the shoulder: It doesn't matter. The failure of this game has nothing to do with you. It's because the overall strength of the Flash Star team is too far apart... You have done what the head coach arranged for you.
Tasks, in terms of personal performance, you can leave with your head held high.
Junpei Morikawa did not leave with his head held high in the end because he still cared about the outcome of this game.
For many people, it is not surprising that Shining Star lost this game. Judging from the comparison of the strength of the two teams, the loss was natural, and no one would use the failure of this game to criticize Shining Star's poor performance.
But many Shining Star players, including Junpei Morikawa, still seemed very silent on the plane back to China.
Except for Qin Lin, everyone else in the Flash Star team participated in an Asian-level club competition for the first time. They were like people from the mountains coming to a big city for the first time.
Before coming here, they always had all kinds of longings and fantasies about the feasting world.
I fantasize about being able to stand out in this new world where opportunities are everywhere and where you can walk and pick up gold.
But after arriving, they discovered that the gap between fantasy and reality was so huge, like a natural chasm, standing in front of them.
The ground is full of gold? It’s only because he was beaten all over his head!
Dong Wen, who was traveling with the team, felt the team's low mood. The plane was still in the sky and had not yet landed, so he couldn't wait to go to the team's head coach Zhao Kangming and expressed his concerns to him.
After Zhao Kangming listened to Dong Wen's words, he comforted him: Actually, don't worry too much, Old Dong. This is the characteristic of young people. When we decide to play the young people card, we should know that young people are prone to getting emotional, and
It’s easy to feel depressed. It goes away as quickly as it comes.
Then do nothing? Dong Wen asked.
It depends on why they are depressed. Is it because they are negative because of losing? On the surface it seems like this, but the deeper reason comes from the huge gap between their previous fantasies and reality. They previously thought that the AFC Champions League would be the best.
It's too simple. Maybe it's because they won the South China Tigers in the Super Cup and got off to a good start in the first round of the Chinese Super League, which gave many of them the illusion that even the AFC Champions League is no big deal. Zhao Kangming
Patiently explained, under such circumstances, I lost the game and saw the real difficulty of the AFC Champions League, and the depression caused by it, I don’t think there is any problem at all. It will be fine after a while, and it can also cool them down, so that
They are more pragmatic.
After listening to Zhao Kangming's explanation, Dong Wen thought thoughtfully, and then asked: Lao Zhao, aren't you worried that the young people will be hit too hard and will be unable to recover, and the confidence they finally built up will be lost?
Zhao Kangming smiled and kept waving his hands: I'm serious, old Dong. You just lost a game like this and you can't recover from it? Let me not talk about other things, but where does the confidence of our team come from? It's all about walking shit.
Is it earned through luck? Of course not, it was built step by step by winning the FA Cup as a Chinese League One team and the Super Cup as a newly promoted team. Our foundation is very solid and our confidence will not
It's like a castle in the air, falling down at the first touch. Although playing in this AFC Champions League will bring some troubles to our league, it doesn't mean that we got lucky enough to participate in the AFC Champions League. We also have AFC Champions League strength.
Speaking of this, Zhao Kangming's tone became proud. This was his performance in coaching the team. As a head coach, he naturally has some confidence.
When he was proud of his team, assistant coach Chen Mo interrupted: Besides, Old Dong, did you ignore a very important factor?
What factors? Dong Wen was confused.
Hu Lai! Chen Mo patted his thigh and said: With Hu Lai here, do you still have to worry that the atmosphere within the team will collapse and become negative?
Dong Wen suddenly realized, his eyes lit up: Ouch, look at my memory, I forgot about him... Yes, yes, yes, Lao Chen, you are right, Hu Lai is here, I am worried!
Zhao Kangming laughed when he saw him like this: This is the other reason I didn't mention just now. When have you ever seen Hu Lai appear in front of us with a dead face every day?
No. Dong Wen shook his head repeatedly and then felt completely relieved.
As the announcement came from the cabin that the plane would land in half an hour, the stone in his heart also fell to the ground.