China Super League (soccer league)
The field although many foreign superstars, however, the goalkeeper position is rarely seen foreign figures. Behind this, actually with Shandong
Luneng (city in Shandong)
The team's past history is relevant? How was the birth of the FA ban triggered? Let's go back to 1999 and find out.
1999, Shandong
Luneng (city in Shandong)
Tarzan decided to change the manager, and finally chose Slobodan Santellacci, who was honored with the title of "Ten Most Successful Coaches in the World".
Santracic coached the Yugoslav national team and in 1998
World Cup
He led his team to the Round of 16 in the Yugoslavian national team. With the Yugoslavian national team, he led the team to an undefeated season in the play-offs, losing to Spain on the road for the only time.
About to set foot on Chinese soil, Santellacci told the
Luneng (city in Shandong)
The team recommended its favorite player - Sasha Petrovic. (Goalkeeper)
At the time, it was rare to bring in a goalkeeper foreigner in the Central League, but given the recommendation of the new head coach, the
Luneng (city in Shandong)
The team took a chance and brought in Sasha as well.
At the time, Sasha had not made a name for himself in world soccer, and the 32-year-old had bounced around the Yugoslavian domestic league, the South Korean league, and the Liga B, with an overall mediocre performance.
In the Yugoslavian national team, Sasha is only the third goalkeeper, a marginal figure. However, it is such a seemingly ordinary foreign goalkeeper, in the first season of the first league has become a "goal god".
In 26 games, 13 goals have been conceded for an average of just 0.5.
Although Sasha did not make a name for himself in world soccer, he officially represented Shandong in the 1999 season on the recommendation of Santellacci
Luneng (city in Shandong)
Out of the Central League.
Then the goalie descended on the Central League.
Throughout the season, Shandong
Luneng (city in Shandong)
In total, 26 games were played and the goal guarded by Sasha was only breached 13 times, with many of the goals conceded due to errors at the back.
26 games, 13 goals allowed, and an average of just 0.5 goals allowed per game.
Perhaps the concept of 0.5 goals allowed per game is not clear to some, here are a few examples for reference.
China Super League (soccer league)
Guangzhou, the seven-time champion
Evergrande (name)
In its best season, it conceded an average of 0.8 goals per game, which was also bolstered by the league's top backline at the time.
Last year, Transfermarkt released a ranking of the average goals conceded by the top teams in Europe, which was topped by
Juventus, Italian football team
, conceding an average of 0.83 goals per game. (
Bayern
0.84 is in second place,
Manchester United Football Club
和
Chelsea
(third place with 0.9)
It's not possible to direct the Central League though,
China Super League (soccer league)
The league is compared to the top European giants, but by the number of goals conceded per game, we can side-by-side corroborate Sasha's position in the Central League at the time.
Breaking the balance of the league, affecting the development of local goalkeepers, the Football Association can only introduce a ban helplessly
Sasha's presence has upset the balance of the league to a certain extent, causing other teams to be "jealous", and after the 1999 Central League season, Tianjin's head coach said bluntly, "If we had Sasha, we would have won the championship."
As more teams started to bring in foreign goalkeepers, the FA realized that if the league was flooded with foreign goalkeepers, it would impose serious constraints on the development of local goalkeepers. So, at the end of 2000, the FA officially introduced a ban: from the 2001 season onwards, the league prohibited any team from introducing foreign goalkeepers.
Shortly after the ban, Sasha left Shandong
Luneng (city in Shandong)
, then announced his retirement. Sasha was said to have wanted to stay in
Luneng (city in Shandong)
He worked as a goalkeeping coach, but due to the conflict between his mentor Santellacci and the team management, as well as other factors, he was not able to stay in our country to start his coaching career.
Today, Sasha, 54, works as an assistant coach for a team in Serbia's domestic league.
concluding remarks
Through the above story, it is not difficult to understand why it is said that the Chinese Super League banned the introduction of foreign goalkeepers with Shandong
Luneng (city in Shandong)
Team related.
Although Sasha's goal line skills were not outstanding at the time, he left the domestic local goalkeepers far behind with his solid goal line fundamentals.
For our men's soccer team, it is solid fundamentals that seem to be missing.
