Chelsea arrive in China today to kick-off their pre-season Asian tour with Luiz Felipe Scolari keen to assess his squad and the players fighting to impress him.
The Blues are expected to bring a virtually full-strength team, including new signings Deco from Barcelona and Porto’s Jose Bosingwa, as well as Frank Lampard who is still mulling a move to Inter.
They arrive in Guangzhou with speculation rife that Brazilian star Kaka could also move to Stamford Bridge, although AC Milan denied reports on Saturday of a world-record transfer worth £80 million (US$160 million).
If he moves, the FIFA World Player of the Year will be reunited with a manager who handed him a Brazil debut in 2002 and then included him in the squad that went on to win the World Cup that year.
Speaking ahead of the tour to Guangzhou, Macau and Kuala Lumpur, captain John Terry said everyone knew they needed to fight for their place in the team.
“We are all professionals and with the new manager all of the players want to impress him, to make sure we are a part of his plans,” the 27-year-old said. “There’s no way we can take any of the games lightly. We have strong opposition and we need to be in the best condition possible for the start of the Premier League.”
Scolari inherited the current squad from former managers Avram Grant and Jose Mourinho and so far only two players have been offloaded — Hernan Crespo on a free transfer and Steve Sidwell to Aston Villa for £5.5 million.
Shaun Wright-Phillips could follow them out the door, with Harry Redknapp keen to have him at Fratton Park alongside Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe.
Striker Didier Drogba’s future is also unclear, although Scolari has insisted that he wants Drogba and Lampard to stay as he attempts to wrest the Premier League title from Manchester United and win the Champions League.
Chelsea are expected to play in front of sold out stadiums in Asia and Terry said visiting China, in particular, would be a major buzz in an Olympic year and at a time when sport in the sprawling country is on the up.
“I am looking forward to being in China and playing in front of some capacity crowds,” he said. “I have never been to the country before, but I know football is developing quickly there and that the fans really appreciate the sport. There is a real buzz about Asian and Chinese sport in particular with the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it will be nice for Chelsea to be a part of that excitement.”
Chelsea will play Guangzhou Pharmaceutical tomorrow before taking on Chinese Super League team Chengdu Blades in Macau on Saturday, with the focus on raising funds for victims of the earthquake that hit Sichuan Province on May 12.
They round off the Asian leg in Kuala Lumpur on July 29 before traveling to Russia for the Railways Cup, where they will play Locomotive Moscow, with the possibility of then meeting either Sevilla or AC Milan.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set