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.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS