Chinese President Xi Jinping has never hidden his passion for soccer and the Super League has duly risen to prominence since he took office in 2013, becoming an ever increasing attraction for South American players in particular.
Of the 84 foreign players plying their trade in China, 32 are South American — 22 of them Brazilian — as China looks to hoist itself up the rankings by investing heavily in Brazilian players, data from the Transfermarkt specialist Web site showed.
Striker Ricardo Goulart, aged just 23 and not seeking a final lucrative move in the twilight of his career, was voted the best player in the Brazilian league last season by Placar magazine.
His 15 goals for Cruzeiro earned him a debut for the national team — and also a nearly US$18 million move to Guangzhou Evergrande.
Brazilian clubs are taking the money, about US$34 million to date from Chinese buyers, as they try to extricate themselves from a collated debt burden of about 4 billion reais (US$1.2 billion), according to Transfermarkt.
“Chinese football has moved into a new phase with the injection of capital from large enterprises and even local government in clubs. It is difficult for a Brazilian team to compete with an offer from China,” said Marcos Motta, a lawyer with experience of involvement in major transfers, including that of Neymar, and also of the Asian market.
Three of the top five scorers in Brazil last season have now joined the exodus to China. Bolivian Marcelo Moreno has joined Changchun Yatai after netting 15 times for Cruzeiro last year, while Argentine Hernan Barcos has left Gremio for Tianjin Teda as they follow the trail first blazed by Goulart.
Argentine star Darmo Conca has also made the move, leaving Fluminense for Shanghai SIPG, while Brazilian international striker Diego Tardelli joined Shandong Luneng in January from Atletico Mineiro.
“Asia is signing up players with experience and China has transformed itself into a new El Dorado,” Brazil coach Dunga said. “This is the way things are today with football and we must adapt.”
In heading for Shandong Luneng, Tardelli teamed up again with Brazilian coach Cuca, who led Mineiro to the Copa Libertadores in 2013.
Shandong boast further Brazilians in Junior Urso and Aloisio, and an Argentine in the shape of Walter Montillo.
“The name Brazil resonates in China and this makes the signing of any Brazilian player, or someone who has played there such as Conca, more popular,” said Motta, who helped to draw up Conca’s contract.
Conca, who played for Guangzhou Evergrande between 2011 and 2013, was an early South American pioneer in China and has earned himself a top drawer salary of about US$7 million a season.
For Erich Beting, director of the Maquina do Esporte Web portal, the exodus to Asia is a result of the South American clubs not having the structures in place to keep a hold of their talented players.
“Sometimes the club will only think of the on-field situation and forget about creating a project whereby the player will not want to move on,” Beting said.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS