Shanghai looking to deliver at last

Features
By published

As journeys go, itâÂÂs faster and smoother than the Piccadilly line from Heathrow to central London but not quite as convenient.

The celebrated Maglev train may take you from ShanghaiâÂÂs Pudong airport at 270 miles per hour, a speed that makes cars driving alongside on the motorway look to be going backwards, but it terminates on the edge of downtown at Longyang Park, ShanghaiâÂÂs answer to Acton.

Still, it guarantees an exciting start to any Shanghai sojourn. 

With the 2009 Chinese Super League season about to kick off, local club Shanghai Shenhua donâÂÂt really care about excitement.

They just want to become champions for the first time since 2003. It should have happened last season â and would have if former Middlesbrough striker Hamilton Ricard hasnâÂÂt missed a penalty in the final game of the season.

ItâÂÂs harsh to put too much blame on the Colombian - although the club have since released him. Shanghai only won one of their last five games and were, as the Chinese say, a dragon at home and a worm away.


Kylie live, you say? Certainly, sir

He wasnâÂÂt afraid to spend big and wild rumours emerged of bags of cash being handed out to players in the dressing room before and after matches. Then, in 2007, he bought a majority stake in the cityâÂÂs top team Shenhua and merged the two clubs.

ShenhuaâÂÂs fans, the Blue Devils, were already upset at the fact that local rivals Shanghai Inter had relocated to XiâÂÂan and deprived them of their derbies. (This was no 60-mile Wimbledon-to-Milton-Keynes move â at almost 1,000 miles apart it would even take the Maglev nearly four hours.)

With a playing staff approaching 60, chaos reigned â not helped by the hiring and subsequent firing of coach Wu Jingui, a real gentleman and scholar of the game.


"Shirt seller! Over here!"

Despite the economic downturn, Zhu has invested around ã4m in the team as he aims to fight off the expected challenge from rivals Beijing Guoan, as well as big-spending Tianjin Teda and defending champions Shandong.

Among the signings are Vyacheslav Hleb (the brother of a certain Barcelona star), Bulgarian defender Yanko Valkanov, Argentine striker Hernan Barcos and AustraliaâÂÂs Olympic skipper Mark Milligan.

While the coach is now Jia Xiuguan âÂÂWu was âÂÂreleased due to health groundsâ halfway through last season - these are very much ZhuâÂÂs signings.


Barcos bewails another miss

"I am angry with these comments,â Zhu told local media. âÂÂBarcos scored twice so how could we ask for more on his debut? Drogba at Chelsea wastes much more but he scores when you really need a goal. That is enough. We should treat all our players with forgiveness and patience."

Like many rich owners, ZhuâÂÂs personal fortune is shrinking: in 2008, he was listed by Forbes as ChinaâÂÂs 328th richest man, down from 112th in 2004, and he is reported to have suffered like most others in the recent economic downturn.

It remains to be seen how much patience he has. This could be ShanghaiâÂÂs year â and perhaps it needs to be.

Last week's view: Why India is football's new frontier
View from Asia home
Blogs home 
Latest Rest of the World news
News home
Interviews home
Forums home
FourFourTwo.com home