From Asian Glory to Decline: The Rise and Fall of Evergrande Football

From Asian glory to decline: the football dream built through massive investment, and who still remembers that night in Tianhe?

The article says Xu Jiayin, who once celebrated victory at Tianhe Stadium, later faced punishment following legal proceedings. The AFC Champions League trophy became a symbol of that era.

The football journey from early success to a difficult period lasted more than a decade.

On November 9, 2013, Guangzhou Evergrande defeated Seoul FC in the AFC Champions League final through the away-goals advantage and won the title.

The song 'Boundless Oceans Vast Skies' echoed around the stadium.

Xu Jiayin celebrated on the podium, while fans were excited by China's first Asian club triumph in years.

It also became one of the brightest moments of his football involvement.

The article looks back at how a real-estate businessman took football to such heights and why it later declined.

The story returns to March 1, 2010.

After relegation, Guangzhou was struggling. Xu Jiayin acquired the club and cleared historical wage issues.

He once set the goal of winning the AFC Champions League within five years.

The target was questioned by many at the time.

The team signed several domestic and overseas players, including Conca, and won the Chinese top-flight title in its first season after promotion.

In May 2012, World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi joined Guangzhou.

Lippi's arrival and the large spending attracted major attention in Chinese football.

He brought a coaching staff that helped establish a stronger system.

Under Lippi, the team integrated its foreign players and achieved important AFC Champions League victories.

The match left a deep impression on many fans.

In the 2013 season, Evergrande strengthened its squad and reached the top of Asia, beginning a dominant domestic period.

Large numbers of expensive foreign players later moved to the Chinese league, raising its profile.

However, some warned that the model relying on real-estate funding carried risks.

Those concerns gradually became reality.

In 2021, players began experiencing delayed wages as financial pressure increased.

That year the team lost the league title for the first time after years of investment.

Meanwhile, the parent company's debt crisis continued to grow.

Investors, suppliers and others sought solutions to financial problems.

Football operations were also affected.

Financial difficulties forced the club to lose several naturalized players and made high salaries unsustainable.

Lippi had already left the club earlier.

In 2022, Guangzhou built a younger squad, with many players from its youth academy and no foreign players.

The change contrasted sharply with previous plans.

The planned all-Chinese squad appeared in a different and unexpected way.

The team was later relegated from the top division.

The article says Evergrande invested heavily in football and its academy, but commercial returns were limited.

Finding a management solution or buyer was also extremely difficult.

The article then reviews related court proceedings.

It says courts issued rulings involving Evergrande Group, Evergrande Real Estate and related individuals.

Public images showed Xu Jiayin with a very different appearance from the past.

From acquiring Guangzhou to later difficulties, the decade brought both championships and controversy.

After Lippi's departure, players gradually moved to other clubs.

Many fans can now only revisit the glory through old footage.

The article asks whether Xu's football investment came from passion or branding strategy.

It argues that he did bring Chinese football to an Asian peak and increased league attention.

But prosperity funded by real estate was difficult to sustain.

The investment brought trophies but also left the club facing relegation struggles.

Industry figures had warned that the model carried financial risks.

Those warnings were not sufficiently considered at the time.

Evergrande supporters experienced both glory and disappointment.

People may still remember that night at Tianhe Stadium in 2013.

The celebration was brilliant, but the aftermath produced complicated consequences.

Today Guangzhou continues developing with young players.

The Evergrande dynasty that once attracted Asia's attention is unlikely to return.

The club, coaches and players moved in different directions, and the era of heavy spending came to an end.

Whether Chinese football can reach the Asian summit again remains unanswered.

A model based on one investor's massive spending is difficult to repeat.

The story of Xu Jiayin, the trophies and that period may ultimately remain in the memory of the 2013 Tianhe night.

The memories of that place remain vivid.

The lights of that night became a symbol of this football history.