Special correspondent Shen Jun reports On March 15, the 2025 season of the Chinese League opened, and the Liaoning Ironmen, who are regarded as the first favorites to surpass this season, defeated Guangxi Pingguo Guojing 3-0 away, making a good start as they wished and taking a solid first step towards this season's surpassing. Li Jinyu, the general manager and head coach of the club, admitted that he was also anxious and nervous before the game, and he was relieved in this game.

The top three reinforcements took turns to score

In this preparation period, Liaoning Iron Man has joined hands with a number of companies to become one of the few teams in the Chinese League with title sponsorship, and they are the most valuable team in the Chinese League this season with continuous introduction, and they are also the biggest favorites to surpass. With sufficient logistical support, Liaoning fans naturally have higher expectations for the team's results, however, the Ironmen team has played in the Chinese League for 5 seasons before, and has not tasted victory in the first round, and has never even scored a goal: 0-2 Meizhou Hakka in the 2020 season, 0-1 Guizhou in the 2021 season, 0-1 Shanghai Jiading Huilong in the 2022 season, 0-0 Guangzhou in the 2023 season, and 0-1 Chongqing Tonglianglong in the 2024 season. Whether they can break this curse this year will be a serious test for the Ironmen.

The starting lineup of the team in this campaign is: the newly introduced Congo (Brazzaville) international Mbenza as a center forward; Japan's foreign aid Yoshihiro Kunimoto, Brazilian defender Felipe, Ivorian player An Yien, Shenyang player Tian Yinong, and Zang Yifeng served as five defenders; Zheng Zhiyun, Li Peng, Gao Jiarun, and Xu Dong are four local players as defenders; The goalkeeper will be Liu Weiguo.

Liaoning Iron Man, who has the "first luxury" lineup in the Chinese League, although its strength is higher than that of its opponent, is under great pressure in the first game. In just 15 minutes of the opening game, Zang Yifeng, an internal aid who joined from Yunnan Yukun this season, shook off the defenders to take the lead, which reduced the pressure on the team a lot. In the ensuing game, although Pingguo Guojing won a lot of possession and created several equalizing opportunities, the Ironmen's defense was very solid. In the 79th minute, An Yien scored a single goal, 2-0. It is worth mentioning that An Yien and Zang Yifeng performed very well throughout the winter training period, and the goals scored were rewarded by heaven.

In the 88th minute, Mbenza, who is worth as much as 2 million euros, used his body to squeeze through the opponent's defender and scored to lock the score at 3-0. To be fair, as the most valuable foreign player in the history of the Ironmen, Mbenza didn't have much of a bright performance in his first official game for the team, but scoring in the first game of the league meant a lot to Mbenza's confidence and quickly integrate into the team.

It is worth mentioning that the three goals of the Liaoning Ironmen in this campaign all came from cooperation. In the first goal, left-back Zheng Zhiyun skillfully knocked the ball to the middle, winning space for Zang Yifeng to shoot; In the second goal, Bangmoto Yiyu sent a long ball as precise as a scalpel for An Yien near the penalty area; The third goal, the connection between Anyien and Mbenza was also just right. Last season, head coach Li Jinyu repeatedly said that he wanted to convince his players that there was better football waiting for them. Judging from this game, Liaoning Ironmen did play better football.

Li Jinyu: I was also very anxious and nervous before the game

In order to go all out this season, Liaoning Iron Man Club increased investment, and gave head coach Li Jinyu the greatest authority, promoted him to the general manager of the club, and was fully responsible for the club's work, but this also brought huge pressure to Dayu. In the first game, many parties paid attention, and the process of the game was not as easy as the score of 3-0, and the Pingguo Guojing team gave the Liaoning Ironmen several huge threats throughout the game, and even took the initiative for most of the second half. Li Jinyu's face was solemn for most of the game, Zang Yifeng did not get up to celebrate when he scored the first goal, but sat on the bench and did not change his color, and the same was true for the second goal, until Mbenza scored the third goal, Li Jinyu got up from the chair and smiled and gave the foreign aid a thumbs up.

After the game, Li Jinyu said: "The first game of the new season was very intense, both teams were well prepared, dared to take risks, played very openly, and gave a wonderful game. I want to thank the players, the fans, and we will continue to work hard to get fit and play well for the next games. ”

Talking about the pressure before the game, Li Jinyu said bluntly: "The annual league is similar to the feeling of everyone before marriage, both nervous and expectant. As a professional coach like me, I also face anxiety and nervousness before the game, but I firmly believe that the players put in a lot during the winter training and that they have the confidence and motivation on the pitch to win. Today's performance is relatively solid, after all, many players have experienced the baptism of the Chinese Super League. ”

In this game, the core of the Irons midfield, Yoshihiro Kunimoto, performed well, he said, "Everyone played well throughout the game, but there is still room for improvement in running and running-in." Football is a team sport, and it is difficult for one player to achieve the goal without hard work, so the whole team still has to work together to achieve the goal of surpassing. ”

The Liaoning Ironmen team is happy to mention the "good start", which is inseparable from the support of fans. Dozens of fans went to Pingguo, Guangxi, to become the strong backing of the Ironman team, Liaoshen Fan Association President He Dapeng said excitedly: "The result of the three-goal victory is indeed a surprise that we did not expect, everyone is really not in vain this trip, I wish the Ironman team is getting better and better!" In a shopping mall in Shenyang, the base camp, the Ironman Club organized a "second scene" to watch the game, and more than 600 fans cheered in the air, and the slogans of "Fight, Liaoning Team" and "Ironman Team, Victory" ran through the whole stadium. The moment the final whistle blew, the second scene also became a sea of joy. The relevant person in charge of Liaoning Ironman Club said: "We organized the second scene, mainly to provide a place for fans and friends who did not go to the away game to watch the game. As the first second live event of the 2025 season, the excitement of the day exceeded our expectations. It is hoped that the Liaoning Iron Man team will be able to realize its dream of the Chinese Super League in 2025, revive Liaoning football, and contribute to the revitalization of Liaoning's 'three balls'. ”