My Iranian Wonder
Younes Delfi's 5 goals
Please note that you can find the latest standings and selected statistics on this splash page.
My Iranian Wonder
Delfi dominated this match.
I was worried that we’d suffer a letdown after that frustrating 1-0 defeat. As it turns out, we didn’t suffer any letdown at all.
We beat Dandong by a 7-2 margin that was absolutely ridiculous. And Delfi scored 5 goals all on his own.
Those 5 goals included two crosses that Delfi tapped in while standing right in front of the keeper. He also scored a penalty, and a bizarre fluke goal that looks like the goalkeeper tipped it into his own net.
Now, this wasn’t a great defensive performance for us. Liu Shaoziyang gave up 2 goals, which isn’t characteristic for him, and looked particularly bad for both of them.
We’ve had to do a lot of rotating defensively to accomodate our crazy schedule. That’s been part of our defensive problem. Things will calm down as the season progresses.
Meanwhile, Delfi’s 5 goals are a new league record. And we’re just getting started.
More New Faces
Yep, I’ve got a few more new players to introduce again today.
First is Ding Yuchi, a 17-year-old Chinese defensive midfielder who has a lot of potential.
We picked up Ding Yuchi from the Tormenta FC Academy in the United States, of all places. I’m not sure what he was doing there. He came in for free, which is the best price, and he spent quite a bit of time in our under-19 squad last year.
He’s consistent, he’s got a normal personality, and he should be good enough to play at this level now. He’s not going to really bother Wade and Lavia for game time, but he’ll likely see some action off the bench, and is a good kid to have on hand for when others are injured.
And then we have Yan Dawei, a 16-year-old centerback who is probably one of the reasons why we gave up two goals.
Yan Dawei came from Jiangxi Beidamen, and cost us a cool 1.2 million RMB. He didn’t play particularly well for Jiangxi last season, but that’s perfectly fine. We’re buying potential, not current ability.
He’s not tall and doesn’t have a stellar personality, but he still seems to be a good option in the back. Might as well give him a chance.
Huge Chinese FA Cup Challenge
We might not make it out of the first round of the Chinese FA Cup this year.
We’re playing away against Shandong. That’s the same Shandong team that we barely beat in the Chinese Super Cup a few games ago.
We’ll see how this one goes. They are favorites, but only by a slight margin. Meanwhile, I’ve saved up our best players for this moment. I just hope they decide to show up.
Please note that you can find the latest standings and selected statistics on this splash page.