Zhejiang, ranked fifth in the Chinese Super League, miraculously made it to the AFC Champions League, while Shanghai Seaport, on the other hand, made an unexpected exit in the qualifying round. Both teams hosted Thai Premier League teams, but why did the higher-ranked Shanghai Seaport get eliminated while the lower-ranked Zhejiang team made it through? Some have speculated that it may be because Shanghai Seaport's opponents, Batang United, were better than Zhejiang's opponents, Thai Harbor.
Is this really the case? A few days later, Shanghai Harbor's "cover-up" has been lifted once again. Recently, the Thai national team announced the training list for the 49th King's Cup (below). Pathum United and Thai Harbour each have 4 players on the roster, but their performances seem to be indistinguishable from each other.
As you can see from this list, both Baton Rouge and Thai Harbor have three midfielders and one defender, while Baton Rouge has an extra striker. In terms of staffing, Baton Rouge United has a more balanced distribution of strength in the midfield and backfield, while Thai Port seems to be stronger in the midfield, but Baton Rouge United's defenders are slightly underpowered.
With a comparable number of international players, what are the actual strengths of these two teams? Let's take a look at the latest Thai Premier League rankings (above). Currently, Thai Port is ranked second while Pathum United is ranked fifth. Looking at last season's rankings, Thai Port seems to be slightly better.
Shanghai Harbour are key members of the national team, with Wu Lei, Yan Junling, Jiang Guangtai, Wang Shenchao, Zhang Linmiao and Xu Xin all regulars. In addition, Baitijiang and Li Shuai are also international players. It is indeed puzzling that the number of international players even exceeds that of Baton Rouge United, yet their strength is not outstanding.
Looking at the Zhejiang team, there are almost no active international players on the team, and the only one selected for the national team, Zhang Jiaqi, is years in the past. The number of active international players was 0-4, but Zhejiang beat Taikang 1-0. With fewer players, a much stronger Thai-Hong Kong team had to feel sorry for themselves.
As it turns out, Zhejiang's opponents are stronger, not Baton Rouge United over Thai Harbour. At present, Shanghai Harbour Team has not yet come out from the loss, while Zhejiang, Shandong Taishan, Wuhan Sanzhen and other Chinese Super League Big4 but only lack of Hong Kong team, which is really embarrassing.
Stronger than the opponent, but lost. Is it a matter of mentality, or is it just not paying enough attention to the AFC Champions League? After being eliminated in the qualifying round, Shanghai Harbour's first match was against Henan. Javier made adjustments to the AFC Champions League foreign aid starting lineup and suddenly dished out the fourth foreign aid starting lineup in the game. The fifth place in the Chinese Super League surprisingly beat the second place in the Thai Super League. Why did the first place in the Chinese Super League dare to lose to the fifth place in the Thai Super League? After the match, Shanghai Harbour's Cai Huikang was busy apologizing without mentioning the AFC Champions League loss. It was a qualifying match that put the Chinese Super League to shame. Not mentioning it and pretending not to see it is not why fans forget.
