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Special Contributor / Song Ci
It was almost a replay of the last round of the FA Cup, with Guoan once again enduring 120 minutes of fierce battle and penalty shootouts. Despite another nail-biting victory over Qingdao West Coast, they managed to pull through. Advancing to the FA Cup quarter-finals allowed Guoan to catch a breath, especially crucial after their recent league defeat to Shenhua, boosting the team's morale significantly.
Just three days ago, Guoan suffered a bitter defeat at home against Shenhua, a pain they had to slowly digest. However, the packed schedule left them little time to recover, forcing them to grit their teeth and soldier on. For Guoan, the match against Qingdao West Coast in the FA Cup had only one outcome in mind from every perspective: they had to defeat their opponents, lest they face the embarrassment of losing on both fronts simultaneously.
Before the match, when asked about dealing with the psychological impact of the previous loss, head coach Setien admitted, \"None of us wanted to fail, but since it happened and the result can't be changed, all we can do now is analyze it well, bounce back from the failure, and show our improvements on our own turf.\" Similarly, player Wang Ziming was blunt: \"We have no way back now; we must give it our all. We'll regain our confidence through the game. Every match is crucial now, and we will showcase our best.\"
Due to the critical nature of this match, Setien made minimal changes to the starting lineup, showing utmost trust in the two foreign defenders who were criticized for mistakes in the previous round. However, injuries and fatigue had a significant impact on Guoan; Zhang Yuning exited in the 21st minute due to a muscle strain, which might affect upcoming matches. Additionally, injuries were reported for Spaji?, Li Lei, and Chi Zhongguo. It can be said that Guoan paid a hefty price for victory in this match.
In the end, in this match where there was no room for error, Guoan once again narrowly escaped thanks to the outstanding performance of goalkeeper Hou Sen. Named the best player of the match, Hou Sen prevented the opponents from equalizing after 90 minutes and made a heroic save in the penalty shootout. Reflecting on the win, Hou Sen stated, \"Winning this after losing to Shenhua is a motivation for us all. The team is going through a tough time, and we must unite. Someone had to step up.\"
Before the penalty shootout, there was an interesting detail. Hou Sen specifically told captain Fabio, who was picking sides, to choose the goal closer to Guoan's fans. Hou Sen explained, \"We have more confidence on our expedition side because we believe in the aura of our Guoan fans.\"
Honestly, with Guoan's lineup, facing Qingdao West Coast, even away from home and fresh from a significant defeat, shouldn't have resulted in twice leading only to be pegged back twice by the opponents.
In the past month, except for the away 4-0 victory over Meizhou in the league, every game has been a struggle for Guoan. Even at home against weaker teams, Guoan's performance hasn't shown the strength expected of a title contender. This includes the FA Cup match against Qingdao West Coast, where even within the regular 90 minutes, Guoan appeared very passive in the second half, to the point that some Guoan fans felt that just holding onto extra time was already very difficult.
During extra time, substitute Cao Yongjing scored in the 117th minute and jubilantly took off his jersey to celebrate the goal. Perhaps Cao Yongjing thought at that moment that even if he received a yellow card, \"killing\" the game would be worth it. In fact, this was almost a shared sentiment among Guoan fans; everyone believed that Guoan didn't need to go through another penalty shootout. However, unexpectedly, just two minutes later, Qingdao West Coast scored with a header from a set-piece, breaking Guoan's goal for the 10th time in the last seven matches. Such defensive lapses are unimaginable for a team aiming to win the league title.
After the game, Guoan head coach Setien frankly commented on the match, saying, \"In the first half of this game, both sides were evenly matched, and Guoan created chances but failed to capitalize on them. In the second half, Guoan entered a fatigue period, which led to poor game control.\"
Regarding the performance of the defense, Setien expressed, \"Before entering extra time, the team faced significant difficulties defensively. At that time, three to four players were exhausted and requested substitutions. If I had substitution slots available, I might have replaced them because just three days ago, we had a crucial match, which greatly consumed the players physically and mentally. In the final stages, the opponents continuously attacked our defense; their speed was fast. Although we did well in limiting them and even briefly took the lead again, we didn't handle the final stages well enough.\"
Passing through the FA Cup allows Guoan to catch a breath momentarily, but this respite won't last long. This weekend, they face a strong opponent, Chengdu Rongcheng, away in the league. If Guoan fails to promptly adjust the physical and mental state of their players, they will face even greater challenges ahead.
