Chinese teams fail to make the grade in ACL
Print Edition
Chinese teams have frequently been in the hunt for the Asian Champions League title over the last decade but none of the country鈥檚 biggest clubs have made it as far as the Round of 16 for this year鈥檚 competition.
Two-time winner Guangzhou FC and last season鈥檚 quarterfinalist Beijing Guo鈥檃n crashed out in the group phase, with only one point earned between them over 12 matches.
Shanghai Port, semifinalists in 2017 and Chinese champion a year later, never even made it to the group phase, eliminated in the playoff rounds by Kaya-Iloilo of the Philippines.
Last year鈥檚 Chinese Super League winner Jiangsu Suning was disbanded earlier in the year and Chinese FA Cup winner Shandong Taishan was excluded from the competition due to licensing issues.
Travel restrictions placed on teams traveling in and out of China amid the COVID-19 pandemic meant the clubs were not at full-strength for ACL matches.
Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai all sent inexperienced squads to biosecure hubs in Thailand and Uzbekistan where the competition was being played following concerns over potential clashes with the Chinese Super League schedule.
Guangzhou鈥檚 owner, property developer Evergrande, has invested heavily in its academy but the results in the Thai city of Buriram suggest the club is a long way from producing a stream of a talent capable of graduating to the first team.
Six defeats in games against Japan鈥檚 Cerezo Osaka, Port FC from Thailand and Hong Kong champion Kitchee left Guangzhou bottom of its group with no points and only one goal 鈥 scored by Port鈥檚 Thitawee Aksornsri 鈥 to its credit.
鈥淲e never lack the hunger for victory, but it鈥檚 also very difficult for the young players to compete against such experienced opponents,鈥 said Guangzhou coach Liu Zhiyu during the tournament.
鈥淏ut I keep telling them this experience is invaluable for their future career, so just take it as a lesson and don鈥檛 think too much about it.鈥
Beijing fared marginally better, picking up one point from its six games, which included a 2-3 loss to United City FC from the Philippines after taking an early two-goal lead.
A challenging schedule that saw teams play more experienced opponents six times in less than three weeks was difficult for squads where the majority of players were 21 or under.
Despite the losses, some lessons have been learned.
鈥淚n the beginning we had a lot of burdens in our minds and we were thinking a lot about how the games might go,鈥 said Guangzhou midfielder Ruan Sai. 鈥淏ut in the end we鈥檝e tried to focus on the matches themselves and nothing else. We鈥檝e learned a lot of things in this tournament and this is definitely one of the most important.鈥
Teams from South Korea and Japan took seven of the eight places on offer in the second round that is scheduled to start in September. Defending champion Ulsan Hyundai from South Korea as well as Japan鈥檚 Kawasaki Frontale were dominant, winning six out of six games.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
