This afternoon, the fourth round of the Chinese FA Cup will kick off in full swing. Guangzhou R&F will travel to Wuhan to face Wuhan Chufeng United, a team from the Chinese Third Division. Although the opponent was only a fourth-tier team, R&F still brought almost all of its main players. Guangzhou R&F assistant coach Govidarica said, "We need to avoid dragging it to a penalty shootout and strive to win the game in regular time."

  R&f is preparing for the Chinese FA Cup

  In the last round, Wuhan team eliminated Shijiazhuang Yongchang, a team from the Chinese League One, at home. According to the draw order before the season, Wuhan team's opponent in the fourth round is Guangzhou R&F. As head coach Stojkovic still hasn't returned to Guangzhou, assistant coach Govidarica will still be acting in charge of this match.

  Yesterday, under the leadership of assistant coach Govidarica, the first team of R&F flew to Wuhan. As the opponent was an amateur team, R&F was unable to use foreign players in the game, and thus the foreign players did not travel with the team. In terms of domestic players, most of the main players were fielded, with only the starting right-back Tang Miao absent due to injury. Govidarica said, "Tang Miao has a problem with his knee. He won't participate in this game." It is learned that although Tang Miao's injury is not serious, he does need to rest for a period of time.

  According to the rules, even if R&F fields an all-Chinese squad, they still need to start with a U23 player. Judging from the field training yesterday afternoon, Huang Zhengyu, who has been in poor form recently, has a good chance of making it into the starting lineup. Among other players, Zhang Jiaqi and Zhang Gong are both likely to make their debut this season. Wang Jianan, the substitute right-back who has been out for two years due to injury, is also expected to return to the field.

  According to the rules, even if R&F fields an all-Chinese squad, they still need to start with a U23 player. Judging from the field training yesterday afternoon, Huang Zhengyu, who has been in poor form recently, has a good chance of making it into the starting lineup. Among other players, Zhang Jiaqi and Zhang Gong are both likely to make their debut this season. Wang Jianan, the substitute right-back who has been out for two years due to injury, is also expected to return to the field.

  In the last round of the match, Wuhan team defeated Yongchang in a penalty shootout at home. Goalkeeper Zhang Xunwei saved two penalties from Yongchang. In yesterday's pre-match training, Wuhan team practiced penalty kicks on a large scale again. It is obvious that Wuhan team is likely to continue to adopt a strategy of strict defense until the game is forced into a penalty shootout. In the past two years of the Chinese FA Cup, Guangzhou R&F was twice forced into penalty shootouts, but fortunately, they managed to get through both times. However, R&F does not want to repeat the same mistake. Govidarica said, "We need to avoid dragging it to a penalty shootout because the score in a penalty shootout is 50% to 50%. We should strive to win the game in regular time."

  The predecessor of Wuhan Chufeng Heli was Wuhan Hongxing. This team is well-known as a dark horse in the Chinese Football Association Cup. In the 2014 Chinese FA Cup, Wuhan team won the "Yanjing Beer 2014 Chinese FA Cup Dark Horse Award" because it was the first amateur team to defeat a Chinese Super League team (Shanghai SIPG). However, in the 2016 Chinese Football Association Cup, the team was disqualified from registration by the Chinese Football Association for beating up players of Jiangsu Suning after losing 0-1. Subsequently, the club was dissolved and reorganized, and was renamed Wuhan Chufeng Heli.