Shanghai gauntlet beckons

Gary Koh
info@sleague.com

It will be a whole new world in Shanghai when Singapore Armed Forces take on Chinese giants Shanghai Shenhua in their AFC Champions League Group G opener on Wednesday.

According to Singapore international and Shanghai native Shi Jiayi, the 2008 Chinese Super League (CSL) runners-up are the best supported club in China and have a special place in Shanghainese hearts.

“Shenhua is the iconic club in Shanghai with a very strong fan base,” noted the Home United midfielder. “They have a fanatical following in their official fan club the Blue Devils.”

Both he and Chinese sports portal Titan football correspondent Yan Yiwei acknowledge the difference the passionate partisan support will make as Shenhua’s 12th man at Hongkou Stadium.

In a telephone interview with sleague.com, Yan highlighted figures to further supplement Shi’s view as Shenhua being the best well-supported club.

According to him, Shenhua have an average crowd size of at least 10,000, with the membership with the Blue Devils amounting close to 5,000.

Things used to be worse, according to Shi, who left his homeland in 2003 as part of the pioneering Sinchi FC squad.

At the time he left, the Blue Devils fan club had only a few hundred members. “Chinese football did not get good fan support in the older days, and even though Shenhua is the pride of Shanghai, people had other recreation options.”

The marked improvement in recent years doubtless had to do with the increase in exposure CSL football had gained, thanks in large part to the ACL.

From fan support, Shi and Yan moved on with their observations of the overall technical capabilities of the CSL front-runners.

As an observer of Shanghai football, Shi noted Shenhua tend to put a more general focus on technical ability in their tactics and individual play. 

Yan went further to pinpoint their tactical set-up under coach Jia Xiuquan, who has been at the helm since September last year. 

He said: “They generally like to play a short-passing game with the emphasis and tendency to start building up their attacks from defence to midfield to attack.” 

Going into juggling of domestic and continental commitments, Shi believes that while Chinese clubs will commit their efforts in the ACL, it is the domestic CSL that generally takes a higher priority in their agendas. 

Being at the ground and having tracked Shenhua closely over the last few years, Yan believes the Shanghai club will put continental aspirations ahead of their domestic goals. 

“This year, with the revamp of the ACL, Shenhua are prioritizing the ACL and have set the minimal expectations of progressing into the round of 16,” he observed. 

To ensure their Asian dreams become reality, club owner Zhu Jun has spared no expenses in bringing in high quality local and foreign purchases at the estimated total cost of 15 million USD. 

That included breaking the bank to get their record local signings Chen Tao from fellow CSL club Changsa Ginde in the close season at a fee of one million USD. 

Yan has high hopes the new overseas quartet-Bulgarian defender Yanko Valkanov, Belarusian playmaker Vyacheslav Hleb, Australian midfielder Mark Milligan and Argentinean forward Hernan Barcos-will be able to help Shenhua fulfill their dreams of making their mark in the ACL. 

He observed: “From what I have seen them in their previous friendly matches, they have performed well and are imports of good quality, better than those from last year.” 

Shenhua are keen to make the step up from being just regular participants in Asian club competition to a formidable force at the top. 

Apart from opening up the chequebook, the Chinese football powerhouses also spent one month of pre-season training in Turkey where they took on reputable European clubs as their sparring partners.

Buoyed by impressive wins in their last two tune-up matches, including a 2-1 home win to A-League side Sydney FC, they will be looking to improve from their previous appearances in the ACL, where their best finish so far was at the quarter-final stage in 2006.

They are also keen to erase the embarrassing memories of losing to Southeast Asian teams in the competition, having succumbed to Thai side BEC Tero Sasana (twice) and Indonesian club Persik Kediri in the past.

Thus, it is probably going to be a long night for Richard Bok and his Warriors as Shenhua seek to get the record straight in their first competitive outing of the season.