Giant-killers savor upset for the ages

Amateur team from Gansu province stuns Beijing Guo'an in encouraging sign for China's grassroots game

Fourth-tier Jingchuan Wenhui shot from obscurity last week by sending Chinese Super League giant Beijing Guo'an crashing out of the CFA Cup.

The amateur club from a small county in Gansu province produced one of the competition's biggest-ever upsets when it emerged victorious in the second-round tie after a penalty shootout on Thursday.

The shock win has been hailed as a promising sign for grassroots soccer in China, and on the flip side, as being symptomatic of the struggles of the top-tier CSL.

Holding Guo'an to a 2-2 draw after 90 minutes was in itself a huge achievement for Wenhui. But four-time CFA Cup winner Guo'an was then sent packing from the competition as Wenhui players held their nerve to win the shootout 7-5 and progress to the third round.

"We were under pressure of course, as our opponent is a CSL giant. But we managed to turn the pressure into motivation. This was the first time we'd played against a CSL team, which only made us even more excited," said 21-year-old Wenhui midfielder Liu Jianxin, who netted once in regulation and once in the shootout.

"We were so united today, and this is definitely the best game we ever played."

Guo'an's Dutch head coach Stanley Menzo said it was not uncommon for lower-level clubs to shock bigger teams in soccer. He congratulated Wenhui on what he described as a deserved victory, and lamented Guo'an's tactical failures.

Wenhui's stunning triumph ranks alongside two of the biggest CFA Cup giant-killings of the past — amateur side Wuhan Hongxing's defeat of Shanghai Dongya (now Shanghai Port), and another amateur club Suzhou Jinfu's victory over the now-disbanded Liaoning Hongyun, both in 2014.

"Actually our performance in the finals of the fourth-tier league was not good, so we have been looking for another chance to prove ourselves. So when we found out we were going to play Beijing Guo'an in the CFA Cup, we just wanted to show our skills and believe in our chances of beating them," said Wenhui's team leader Yao Jun.

"When we arrived at the hotel, we saw there were many elements and decorations relating to Guo'an at the hotel. We encountered the Guo'an squad in the hotel actually, but we could see their players and coaches actually thought little of us. And we were quite happy to know this, because the less attention we attracted from them meant the better chance we had of beating them.

"I think if they had studied video of our matches before, the result might have been different. In the past two years, we reached the fourth-tier finals through penalty shootout wins. So in a way, this is our strong suit.

"For instance, our last goal by Ma Dongnan — he has used such skills many times before. But unfortunately, I don't think Guo'an ever watched our match videos."