Chinese Nat'l Team washes out Rapids
Colorado loses 2-1 as exhibition soccer brings out big Asian presence to Commerce City
Ashton Do and Lynn Tran, staff writers
June 13, 2007
1 | Photo Gallery

Photo by Joe Nguyen From left, Yanjie Zhao, Yuan Yang, He Yan, Haoxin Zhang and Yijiang Zhou cheers on the Chinese National Team's entrance onto the field June 10 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. [Photo Gallery]

COMMERCE CITY– Chinese National Team member Dong Fangzhuo scored a victory against the Colorado Rapids when he pummeled a second goal for his team June 10 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

This was the final game of a three-part exhibition tour for the Chinese National Team in the United States. Last week, they played against Real Salt Lake in Utah, also a Major League Soccer team, and the U.S. National Team in California.

“The Rapids were approached by Mr. Peter Chen, who was the person in charge of the Chinese National Team tour to the United States, back in the month of March of 2007 to gauge our interest for a friendly match,” Rapids representative Jurgen Mainka said.

Shaolin Hung Mei Kung Fu, a group based out of Boulder, performed at the halftime show. The ensemble made strides along the soccer field with a 75-foot long dragon dance. Red flags and signs could be seen in the stands, a mark of Asian-American support for the Chinese team.

“This is (the) largest audience we (have) ever had,” said Shane Wang, one of the dragon dance performers.

The Colorado Rapids cheerleaders also performed at halftime, gliding along to popular music.

The game started slow with neither team able to get a scoring chance in the first 10 minutes. China came away with an opportunity in the 12th minute when midfielder Hao Junmin broke into the box, but Rapids goalkeeper Zach Thornton came away with an easy save.

The Rapids scored first in the 22nd minute when captain and forward Jovan Kirovski scored off of assists from midfielder Terry Cooke and forward Nicolas Hernandez.

In the second half, China responded in the 53rd minute when forward Wang Dong scored off of a corner kick that wasn’t cleared by Rapids defenders. Four minutes later, China took the lead when forward Dong Fangzhuo knocked in a Wang assist.

Fans screamed in the last few seconds of the game as the Colorado Rapids fought to fend off their Chinese opponents. Season-ticket holder Lee Stanley, a self-proclaimed soccer fanatic, player and coach, came to see a good game regardless of who won.

“It’s wide open, but the score doesn’t show it – I’d like to see a 5-4 game,” Stanley said, smiling. “It’d be nice.”

The Pacheco family, otherwise avid Rapids fans, found this game to be particularly meaningful. They rooted for China.

“Usually, I would go for the Rapids,” said young Zachary Pacheco, wearing a Rapids shirt. “But then China and Rapids are playing.”

Zachary will travel to China for 18 days, according to his father, Talon.

“It’s real special to me because my son is here in attendance tonight, and he’s going to China (on) Tuesday,” Talon said. “He’s studying Wu Shu.”

The Chinese put together the most competitive team available for this U.S. tour in preparation for a larger tournament, according to a press statement by team Manager Wei Shao Hui. They will scuffle for the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup title next month.

Joe Nguyen contributed to this article.

Ashton Do is a staff writer for AsiaXpress.com. Ashton can be contacted via e-mail at Ashton.Do@asiaxpress.com.

Lynn Tran is a staff writer for AsiaXpress.com. Lynn can be contacted via e-mail at Lynn.Tran@asiaxpress.com.