Chapter 20: The Guangzhou Derby
After being disgusted by the referee during the AFC Champions League match, Dai Zhiwei wasn’t much affected. Even with the 2-2 final score, Guangzhou Evergrande had still secured a significant advantage toward advancing. The entire Evergrande squad now focused their strength on the match to come—the Guangzhou Derby!
On May 23rd at 8 p.m., the reigning champions Guangzhou Evergrande would meet their city rivals, Guangzhou R&F, marking the seventh Guangzhou Derby in the Chinese Super League. Yet, despite bearing the name “derby,” the rivalry’s atmosphere was not particularly intense; aside from sharing a city, the two clubs maintained a cordial relationship. This was largely thanks to the close personal friendship between Xu Jiayin, head of the Evergrande Group, and Zhang Li, leader of the R&F Group.
In past derbies, Xu Jiayin and Zhang Li often watched games together. As major entrepreneurs in southern China, both were wealthy and passionate about football. In the latest Forbes China Rich List, both their names appeared, though Xu’s personal fortune far surpassed Zhang’s.
In truth, Guangzhou R&F was not originally a native team of the southern region. Back in 2004, a founding Chinese Super League club called Shenyang Ginde relocated to Changsha, becoming Changsha Ginde. After suffering relegation in 2010, the club moved to Shenzhen and became Shenzhen Phoenix. In 2011, the R&F Group acquired Shenzhen Phoenix, establishing Guangzhou R&F, and that very year, the club achieved promotion to the Super League. Thus, Guangzhou R&F could be called an “outsider” in the city.
Though both are Guangzhou clubs, few local players feature in either squad. Apart from Liao Lisheng, Wang Junhui, and Liang Xueming, all from Guangdong, Evergrande’s players hail from elsewhere—and none of these locals would make the squad for this match. R&F also had only Ye Chugui, Li Jianhua, Lu Lin, and Chen Zepeng as Guangdong natives.
Transfers between the two clubs were rare, as is the case with city rivals worldwide. Yet between Evergrande and R&F, player exchanges had occurred on a significant scale. At the start of 2013, R&F signed Li Jianhua, Wu Pingfeng, Li Yan, and Jiang Ning from Evergrande in a single swoop—a rarity even in global football.
Since Evergrande’s promotion, their record had spoken for itself; R&F’s results since promotion had also been commendable. Both clubs now boasted large, passionate fan bases. Evergrande fans organized into eight major alliances, with coordinated attire, banners, and distinctive chants. R&F’s supporters were fewer, but their enthusiasm was no less intense, their chants more unified.
From 2012 to 2014, fan clashes were frequent, peaking in 2014. In the second derby of that year, supporters fought violently before kickoff, escalating into a mass brawl. Fortunately, police arrived in time to quell the unrest. It was the first time violence had broken out between the two sets of fans, a testament to the fiery nature of the Guangzhou Derby.
...
“To be honest, I’m a bit nervous,” Dai Zhiwei confessed to Gao Lin in front of him.
With Zheng Zhi not in the starting lineup today, Gao Lin was captaining Evergrande for this match.
“You’ve already snatched a starting spot and you’re still nervous?” Gao Lin retorted, half amused, half exasperated.
Dai Zhiwei merely chuckled in response, saying nothing more.
May 23, 2015, 7:00 p.m.
A highlight of the 11th round of the Super League: Guangzhou Evergrande away to R&F. Both teams’ players had taken to the field for their warmups.
The Tianhe Stadium was packed to capacity. Evergrande’s fervent fans, long brimming with testosterone, finally had an outlet. Banners insulting R&F’s players were everywhere; every time an R&F player touched the ball in warmup, the stands erupted in deafening boos.
In his previous life, Dai Zhiwei had only ever been a small-time online writer, weaving fiction from behind a screen—he’d never experienced anything like this. He was genuinely stunned, miscontrolling two passes in a row, the ball bouncing a meter away—an unintentional demonstration of Chinese football’s true technical standards.
Luckily, this was home turf, and the fans’ animosity wasn’t directed at him, so after a moment, Dai Zhiwei recovered his composure.
The starting lineups:
Evergrande:
Goalkeeper: Zeng Cheng
Defenders: Mei Fang, Yi Yi, Zhou Zheng, Li Xuepeng
Midfielders: Zhang Jiaqi, Zhao Xuyang, Liu Jian
Forwards: Zheng Long, Gao Lin, Dai Zhiwei
R&F:
Goalkeeper: Liu Dianzuo
Defenders: Zhang Yaokun, Jiang Zhipeng, Jang Hyun-soo, Tang Miao
Midfielders: Wang Song, Jiang Ning, Park Jong-woo, Michel, Chang Feiya
Forward: Aaron
The Evergrande lineup shocked everyone—not only did Cannavaro not start a single foreign player, but among the regulars, only Zeng Cheng, Dai Zhiwei, and a few others appeared.
Was this a sign of utter disregard for R&F? Or did Cannavaro have some secret confidence?
At eight o’clock sharp, Gao Lin won the coin toss for Evergrande, choosing to kick off. With a sharp whistle, the derby was underway: Guangzhou Evergrande versus R&F.
Dai Zhiwei was about to experience his first career derby!
The Tianhe Stadium roared with a different kind of chaos: whistles, curses, raised middle fingers, and wild cheers all mingled together. Even the commentators had been repeatedly warned by their superiors to watch their language—a testament to the derby’s fever pitch.
Time raced by, and twenty minutes into the first half, the deadlock remained unbroken.
In the opening twenty minutes, both teams played with reckless aggression—fouls and yellow cards flew as wildly as the tackles and shoves. The referee’s whistle barely paused, and yellow cards were handed out like candy.
After twenty minutes, each side had collected three yellows.
As the fouls mounted, both teams’ attacks grew more chaotic. Players, repeatedly knocked to the ground, began to lose their tempers.
After one deliberate foul by an R&F defender, Dai Zhiwei nearly lost his cool—if not for veteran Gao Lin holding him back, he might have let his “fist of justice” land squarely on the opponent’s face!
As the clock ticked toward the thirtieth minute, the match suddenly changed.
Once again, R&F’s foreign signing Michel picked up the ball. His pace began to build. Wang Song’s pass had found him in stride, allowing him to breeze past Liu Jian’s challenge and charge toward the Evergrande defense.
Michel faced off against Mei Fang, who lowered his center of gravity and fixed his icy gaze on the onrushing attacker.
Michel feinted with a stepover—pricey as his transfer had been, he obviously looked down on this unknown defender.
But Mei Fang saw through it instantly, stretching out a foot for a clean tackle.
Thud!
Michel stumbled, the ball vanishing from beneath his feet as Mei Fang surged forward with it at a sprint.
“A mistake... Michel’s run is cut out by Mei Fang—Evergrande’s chance to counter!”
Mei Fang pushed the ball forward twice, then lofted a diagonal pass down the right to Liu Jian.
The ball sailed over the head of R&F’s defensive midfielder. Zheng Long received it on the wing and burst forward; seeing danger, R&F’s defenders scrambled to get back.
Zhang Yaokun, the nearest fullback, rushed at Zheng Long, determined to stop him at any cost.
Wary of a rash challenge, Zheng Long chose to pass, sliding the ball inside and immediately continuing his run down the sideline.
Zhao Xuyang collected it in the middle—clearly a rehearsed routine—and sent it right back, a textbook one-two.
The move worked perfectly; Zheng Long slipped past Zhang Yaokun with ease.
The stadium exploded—Evergrande fans were delirious, sensing a goal in the air.
Zheng Long calmly drove the ball to the right edge of the box, shaping to cross. Zhang Yaokun lunged in, but Zheng Long merely feinted, cut inside, and with no one marking him, curled a cross in from his favored right foot.
The intended target: Dai Zhiwei, who was being manhandled by R&F’s Jang Hyun-soo, arms wrapped around his waist in what looked more like a judo hold than a football duel.
Jang Hyun-soo figured that if he could delay Dai Zhiwei for just a moment, his teammates would recover, and Evergrande’s quick attack would fizzle out.
But Jang had badly misjudged Dai Zhiwei.
Despite his upright appearance, Dai Zhiwei was anything but conventional underneath!