China Super League
CORONAVIRUS: TEAMS IN CHINA’S TOP FOOTBALL LEAGUE RETURN TO TRAINING
BY DANIEL ETCHELLS
Teams in the highest tier of professional football in China have resumed training this week as the coronavirus outbreak in the country eases.
As reported by Reuters, Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs began returning to training on Monday (March 23), just over two months after the league’s originally scheduled start date of February 22.
It is not yet known when the new season will be able to begin, however.
The middle of April was previously touted as a potential date for the CSL’s return, but that may be pushed back after it was confirmed earlier this week that Belgium’s Marouane Fellaini, who plays for Shandong Luneng Taishan, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Fellaini is reportedly the only CSL player to have contracted the illness.
“We trained at a modest level, mainly focusing on strength and conditioning,” Shanghai SIPG defender Yu Hai told Shanghai TVafter his club’s opening session on Monday.
“It’s the first day that we are back to training, and the intensity will be gradually increased for sure.”
He added: “We are professional players, we should be able to overcome whatever obstacles lie in front of us.
“I believe with effort from everyone at the club we can stick together and overcome this difficult period together.”
The coronavirus outbreak appears to be under control in China, with less than 5,000 patients still undergoing treatment and new cases confirmed only among people returning from overseas.
Officials recently said the lockdown in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak started, will be partially lifted on April 8.
Travel restrictions in the rest of Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, were lifted from midnight on Tuesday (March 24), for residents who are healthy.
Elsewhere in Asian football, Japan’s J-League is set to restart on May 9, having first been postponed on February 25 and then again on Tuesday.
This is despite the announcement earlier this week that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games have been postponed until next year.
-insidethegames
Paris St Germain manager Luis Enrique will hope to count on striker Ousmane Dembele for Sunday’s Club World Cup finale against Chelsea, after a stunning 4-0 thrashing over Real Madrid in the tournament’s penultimate stage.
The Ballon d’Or frontrunner rested the entire group stage after sustaining a thigh injury and was limited to substitute appearances in earlier knockout rounds, getting his first start of the tournament on Wednesday against the LaLiga titans.
He made an immediate impact, aiding Fabian Ruiz in the opening goal in the sixth minute before sending one into the net three minutes later at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Luis Enrique previously told reporters that he believed Dembele is deserving of the Ballon d’Or, and on Wednesday said there was no doubt that the Frenchman had once again shown himself worthy of soccer’s top individual honour.
“I’d like to highlight that this is the first game that I had my best player, Dembele, at his best,” he told reporters. “We’d seen him very little throughout this tournament, this is a critical player, a unique player, a player that every fan wants to see… hopefully we can have him for the final.”
The trophy on Sunday against Chelsea would mark a glittering end to a terrific season, as Luis Enrique steered the team to the continental treble, with a 5-0 defeat of Milan in the Champions League final in his second year with the team.
“We are one game away to not just make history but to build to history of Paris, of a French club that might get every cup, every tournament,” Luis Enrique told reporters. “This is very significant for us, for our fans.”
The Club World Cup final is set for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET (1900 GMT).
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Chinese authorities have banned footballers from getting tattoos and instructed national team players who have been inked to remove or cover them up to set a “good example for society”.
A growing number of high-profile Chinese players have been sporting tattoos, including international defender Zhang Linpeng, who has previously been told to cover up while appearing for both the national team and club side Guangzhou FC.
The General Administration of Sport of China (GAS) said in a statement headed, “Suggestions for strengthening the management of football players” that the Chinese Football Association would set out disciplinary requirements for national team players.
“National teams at all levels will strictly implement the relevant requirements of the management measures … (and) fully demonstrate the positive spirit of Chinese football players and set a good example for society,” it said.
It also said that for teams at Under 20 level and below the recruitment of players with tattoos was “strictly prohibited”.
The GAS added that national teams should organise “ideological and political education activities” that would “strengthen the patriotic education” of players.
Doing so would “enhance the sense of mission, responsibility and honour, and create a national team capable of conquering and fighting well and with excellent style of play”, it added.
China’s national team have failed to qualify for the World Cup finals since making their debut appearance in 2002 and look set to miss out on Qatar 2022.
-Reuters
Former Super Eagles’ hit man, Odion Ighalo is having his last days at his dream club, Manchester United as the extension granted by his Chinese club side, Shanghai Shenhua is nearing an end.
The extension lapses in January 2021. Even though Ighalo made instant impact when he initially joined the North England side, his influence has waned considerably to the extent that he had just nine minute of action in the current season of the Premier League.
Attention of Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is more on how to maximize the signing of Uruguayan striker, Edinson Cavani.
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