BEIJING, May 19 -- An unusually warm hearted match-up in the 2008 Chinese Football Super League (CSL) between the Chengdu Blades and the Changsha Jinde ended in a one-one tie on Saturday. More than 10,000 spectators simultaneously cheered in Sichuan dialect "Sichuan, Xiongqi (Keep Going)" at the Helong Stadium in Changsha the capital of central China's Hunan Province, web site hnol.net reports.
Football fans from Changsha, the capital of central China's Hunan Province, hold signs proclaiming "Unity is Strength" to express their support for the earthquake victims, on Saturday, May 17, 2008
Disaster relief became the goal of the game, not victory, on the heels of Monday's earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Before the match began, the players and spectators sang the national anthem followed by a minute of silence for the earthquake victims.
After the game, Zhao Lei, the team leader for the Chengdu Blades, said that he was deeply moved when all the spectators shouted "Sichuan, Xiongqi (Keep Going)" as if they had forgotten that the Chengdu Blades were the opposing team.