China against China. The almanac states its case, the crowd votes, you decide.
China · 1979–87 · CAM
They called him the Weatherfish, for the way he wriggled out of corners where there was no room left, and in 1987 he carried that to Darmstadt 98 and 107 league games across five seasons in the 2. Bundesliga. Runner-up at the 1984 Asian Cup and third in 1980, AFC All-Star in 1985, a Chinese league title with Guangdong in 1979, and 50 caps with 12 goals. Career record: 7 caps for China; club career at Guangdong Hongyuan, TuS Koblenz, SV Darmstadt 98.
China · 1976–2013 · CAM
In 1979 a journalist named Qiu Zhenqi gave Chinese football a phrase of its own, the Zhixing style, coined for a man who went a whole career without a yellow or red card and never argued a referee's decision. Third at the 1976 Asian Cup, bronze at the 1978 Asian Games, a national league title with Guangdong in 1979, three straight years among China's top ten athletes, and the AFC's Golden Star Award in 2013.
The almanac puts Gu Guangming ahead by 1 rating point, 82 against 81.
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