‘Come on, Wuhan’: Beijing Guoan support virus-hit city in first AFC Champions League win
- Chinese Super League side wear shirts with message for city at centre of coronavirus outbreak against Chiangrai United
- None of the three other teams from China have started their AFC Champions League season because of travel restrictions
Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan made a winning start to their AFC Champions League campaign with a victory over Chiangrai United in Thailand on Tuesday.
A Wang Ziming goal in the 23rd minute proved the difference, with the striker calmly stroking home from a Jonathan Viera through ball.
Viera’s return from injury was one of the positives for Bruno Genesio’s side, who also saw Renato Augusto threaten and Cedric Bakambu hit the woodwork.
Bakambu, who came close to joining Barcelona in the transfer window, should have scored earlier and the hosts continued to look for something until the final whistle. The Chinese team were grateful in the end to goalkeeper Hou Sen as they held on for a first win.
A lack of match sharpness could be explained because this was also their first competitive game of 2020 as the Chinese Super League is on hiatus while the country battles the spread of the coronavirus.
Even though the AFC moved the fixtures around to ensure that the four Chinese teams would play away games on the first three match days, none of them played in the opening round last week because of travel restrictions. Beijing Guoan were the only Chinese team to play this week and several fans cheered them on from the away section despite difficulties travelling.
The real story though was that the team took to the field in jerseys with “Wuhan Jiayou” (“Come on, Wuhan”) written in traditional Chinese characters in the place of a sponsor. The message to support those in the city at the epicentre of the outbreak was hastily arranged.
A Beijing Guoan fan account called “Guoan will always be first” reported the “touching story” on WeChat.
They said that club staff were in contact with staff at the AFC since arriving in Thailand and hoped to do something inspiring for those back in China.
A request was made to replace the normal sponsor with the message of support for Wuhan, which was agreed to by the AFC.
However, the club could not easily find a printer in Chiangrai that could fulfil the order until they were rescued by Zhou Guoquan, a local of Chinese descent.
Zhou helped find a factory the day before the game and they did the work, although it took “12 hours” to get the job done. When the club offered to pay, they were refused.
“The Chinese people here are very concerned about the epidemic situation in China,” said Zhou. “We also want to make some donations, but there is no way to. I don’t want this to cost them today, it is the only contribution I can make.”
Beijing Guoan’s next scheduled game is away to Melbourne Victory on April 8. It is unclear if the Chinese Super League will start before then or they will travel directly to Australia.
That will be the earliest the game is played in a season that is set for further disruption.
