On July 6, China time, Guangzhou Evergrande ("Evergrande") met Sakura Osaka in the sixth round of the group stage of the AFC Champions League. As a result, Sakura Osaka defeated Evergrande with a score of 5-0 by virtue of the goals scored by Michiyuki Kato, Gomez and Yasushi Matsumoto, making Evergrande suffer five consecutive losses in the AFC Champions League.
Although Evergrande sent out a youthful lineup in this game, such a painful defeat still makes fans feel frustrated. Although Osaka Sakura only sent the second lineup, and many players and Evergrande players similar age, but Evergrande in the field performance is at an overall disadvantage.
Even though the final score was 0-5, that doesn't fully reflect Evergrande's passivity on the field. For example, Evergrande didn't get its first corner kick until 60 minutes into the game! Throughout the game, Evergrande's shots on goal were only one-eighth of Osaka's, and their possession rate was less than 40%, making for dismal statistics.
In the AFC Champions League before the trip, the fans of the Evergrande youth army's expectations are not high, just hope that they can "score a goal" or "get a point". However, in the fifth round of the group stage, Evergrande has not only failed to score a single goal, but even failed to get a single point. Facing any opponent, Evergrande players can only cower in defense, unable to start a threatening attack cooperation.
It wasn't until the game was down by four goals that Evergrande woke up and stepped up their offense, even coming close to the Sakura Osaka goal on a rare occasion in the 80th minute. However, the best scoring chance was wasted and a goal was out of reach.
Even with full defense, Evergrande's "sea of men tactics" failed to stop Osaka's goals, and mistakes were frequent. For example, Osaka's first two goals, the side defense has been in place, and even formed a one to two advantage, but Evergrande players still let the other side incredibly successful pass; and the third goal, Gomez header attack goal, there is not even a Evergrande players around the defense.
Such mistakes can only be attributed to the players' lack of individual ability. It can be said that in this Evergrande youth team, high level players are not seen for the time being.
After the match, social media was flooded with disappointment from Chinese fans. Some fans commented, "The spirit is gone." "I know it's U21, but it's not right to lose every game like this ......" "Is this the future of Chinese soccer?"
There are also disappointed fans said, "Evergrande's youth training in the country is considered good, young players if this is the case, the future of Chinese soccer will be what?"
