A superstitious top-tier Chinese team repainted their entire stadium gold to bring better luck following a dismal run — and this week duly celebrated a fifth big home win on the bounce.
Guangzhou R&F last month took the drastic action believing that gold made for better feng shui than blue, the color of the Chinese Super League (CSL) team’s strip, badge and originally its home ground, too.
It followed a rotten sequence of just one home win in four months.
Photo: AFP
However, since painstakingly repainting their 20,000-capacity Yuexiushan Stadium in the middle of last month, the team in southern China have seen their fortunes dramatically reverse.
On Wednesday, they beat Fabio Capello’s big-spending Jiangsu Suning 4-2 at home to climb to third in the CSL and make it four home wins on the trot in the CSL, scoring 18 goals in the process.
They also beat city rivals Guangzhou Evergrande in a home cup game.
“After we changed the color of our home stadium, we got five wins and a high goal-scoring rate as well,” R&F coach Dragan Stojkovic said on the team’s Web site.
“I think this is what the fans want to see — beautiful offensive [soccer],” Stojkovic added.
“The gold color of our home stadium is pretty nice, no need to change it now,” the Serbian former international added.
The philosophy of feng shui — literally meaning “wind water” — is influential in many parts of Asia, where people carefully position items in offices and homes to maximize luck and wealth.
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