After a tough draw between Shanghai Harbor and Shandong Taishan, it was finally 5 years later that our team won the Chinese Super League for the second time in our history. Several of the veterans in the team belong to the "Xu Genbao family", and they finally seized what might be their last chance to win the title in the later years of their careers.
The "Six Tigers" remained the pillars of the port and made a remarkable contribution to the championship.
Currently, there are 6 players from the "Genbao family" in the Harbour team, namely Wu Lei, Yan Junling, Zhang Linpeng, Cai Huikang, Wang Shenchao and Lu Wenjun. As outstanding players trained by Xu Genbao's football school, they used to play for Shanghai Dongya, the predecessor of Seaport, and gradually promoted to the Chinese Super League from the Second and First Division. Apart from Zhang Linpeng, who left to join Guangzhou, the other five have been with Seaport ever since, and in the 2018 season they broke Guangzhou Evergrande's long-standing monopoly on the Chinese Super League title, enabling Seaport to win the title for the first time.
Despite the fact that five years have passed, these six are still core members of the Shanghai Harbour team and have even been selected for the national team. Apart from Wu Lei and Yan Jun Ling, Lu Wenjun has also scored 6 goals for the Harbour this season and stepped up to break the deadlock in the title race against Taishan. As an attacking defender, Stanley Wong now also plays an important role in Javier's tactical system. In addition, despite being over 34 years old, back-rower Cai Huikang is still an absolute mainstay of Harbour's team this season.
In Seaport, the young players are not yet capable of taking the lead, and for most of the season, Seaport mainly relies on the six veterans, who are known as the "Genbao family", to hold up the game. Despite Wu Lei's serious decline in form and Yan Jun Ling's frequent mistakes, Seaport is still reluctant to use newcomers, and I don't know whether this is Seaport's luck or their sorrow.
After winning the Chinese Super League, the "Six Tigers" are about to help the national soccer team for the last time to help them reach the World Cup.
After successfully helping the Harbour Team win the Chinese Super League title for the second time, the club career of the "Genbao 6 Tigers" has been perfect and without regrets. Their next goal is to play in the World Cup for the national soccer team. Currently, Yan Junling, Zhang Linpeng, Wu Lei and Wang Shenchao of the "Genbao 6 Tigers" are already core members of the national team, and are even regarded by Jankovic as important and absolute main force.
However, the Seaport stalwarts have sparked strong questions from fans due to their unexpected 2-3 loss to Thai Premier League mid-table side Pathum United in the AFC Champions League play-offs. After all, the Chinese men's soccer team will face Thailand in their first match in the upcoming 36-team tournament. As the opening match of the onslaught of the 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign, it will undoubtedly be a very difficult choice whether Jankovic should continue to trust these Harbour players, who have already been defeated by the Thai players, in the match against Thailand.
There is no doubt that Harbor's men of honor Wu Lei and Yan Jun Ling firmly believe in fighting for their country. After all, they are all over 30 years old and this may be their last chance to hit the World Cup.
In any case, I hope that Wu Lei, Yan Junling and Zhang Linpeng, veterans who have fought for their country for many years, will also be able to end their national team careers successfully after their club careers and realize their dreams of playing in the World Cup.
