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.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored