In a match in the ninth round of the Chinese Super League Meizhou division, Beijing Guoan and Meizhou Hakka fought fiercely for 90 minutes and ended up with a goalless draw 0-0.
The scene of the game was not as pale as the score, with a total of 32 shots from both sides. In the last minute of stoppage time, Meizhou Hakka also used a direct free kick to threaten Guoan's goal. The goalkeepers of both sides performed well in this game.
Beijing Guoan’s goalkeeper Hou Sen and Meizhou Hakka’s Hou Yu are both veteran goalkeepers over 30 years old. They both have the same surname Hou, so they are from the same family. Hou Sen is a local player in Beijing, and Hou Yu is a local player in Guangdong. Both have played for their respective teams for more than ten years.
Compared with Hou Sen, who has played in the Chinese Super League since his debut and won the Chinese Super League championship with Guoan, the 31-year-old Hou Yu only played in the Chinese Super League for the first time this year.
Hou Yu was born in Guangzhou in 1990 and came from the Guangdong youth training. Guangdong formed a National Games team in 2004, and Hou Yu was selected together with his current teammates Yin Hongbo . In 2009, the Guangdong National Games team led by Cao Yang made it all the way to the finals at the Shandong National Games, but lost 0-3 in the final to the Shanghai team led by Xu Genbao's Shanghai East Asia and finished second.
In 2007, Rizhiquan Group signed a cooperation agreement with the Guangdong Football Association. The Rizhiquan Club, with the National Games team as its team, was jointly established by Rizhiquan Group and the Guangdong Football Association. The team's winning bonus, home operation and other expenses will be provided by Rizhiquan, and the rest will be covered by the Guangdong Football Association. The Guangdong team's ability to win the silver medal in the National Games in 2009 is inseparable from the strong financial support of Sun Spring.
In 2008, Guangdong Rizhiquan successfully achieved first place. Among players in the 89/90 age group, Shanghai East Asia and Guangdong Rizhiquan are the two strongest teams in the country. However, the subsequent development of the two teams was completely different, and the National Games final became a watershed. In the 2011 season, Guangdong Rizhiquan and Guangzhou R&F fought for the Super League almost to the last moment. In the end, Guangzhou R&F ranked second and Sunspring ranked third.
In the 2011-2012 season, because he could not play in the game, Hou Yu was loaned to the Hong Kong team Sun Spring JC Chenxi, which is the title sponsor of Sun Spring. As Chenxi's main goalkeeper, Hou Yu performed well in Hong Kong and helped Chenxi win the senior silver medal and Community Shield championship.
In the summer of 2012, Hou Yu returned to Guangdong Rizhiquan, but the team was exhausted. In the 2013 season, Meizhou Hakka Club was established, and Hou Yu followed his mentor Cao Yang to join. He also became a veteran player of the team and the only player who has played for it to this day.
In nine years, Hou Yu was promoted from to the Chinese Super League with Meizhou Hakka. In the 16th season, Hou Yu became the main goalkeeper of Meizhou Hakka. In the past few seasons, he played almost all games and rarely missed. In the 2018 season, Hou Yu was also selected as a candidate for the best goalkeeper in the Chinese League One.
Hou Yu, 31, played in the Chinese Super League for the first time this season. He witnessed a series of history with the newly promoted Meizhou Hakka. In today's Meizhou Hakka team, Yin Hongbo and Shi Liang were both teammates of Hou Yu when he participated in the 2009 National Games.
In this game against Guoan, Hou Yu was under tremendous pressure. Guoan shot 21 times in the game, 8 of which were on target. Hou Yugao blocked the shots and kept the goal. In the first half, Hou Yu blocked Park Cheng 's single shot and made the most critical save of the game.
After the game, Hou Yu cheered for himself on social media: "It's a bit of a pity but not a pity! Keep working hard for the next game and hope to end the first stage with a victory."
Meizhou Hakka is a dark horse this season, with the first 9 rounds There were 3 wins, 5 draws and 1 loss in the game, with 14 points, ranking sixth in the Chinese Super League. In nine rounds of games, Meizhou Hakka conceded only 7 goals in total, only more than the top three teams Wuhan Three Towns . At the same time, it is also one of the teams with the fewest losses except the three towns in Wuhan.
In the last 5 rounds of games, Hou Yu has completed three clean sheets. Since the start of the game, he has made a total of 23 saves, ranking fifth in the save list. Hou Yu's stable performance has also become the most trustworthy part of the newly promoted team's defense.
