Shanghai Harbor withdraws from AFC Champions League news
Late yesterday afternoon Beijing time, an explosive news came: the Chinese Super League powerhouse
Shanghai harbor
It was officially announced that the team regretfully bid farewell to the 2022 season of the AFC Champions League due to the impact of the epidemic.
The official announcement of Seaport reveals that despite the preparations since the beginning of the year, but in the face of many difficulties and force majeure, the team has always been unremitting efforts, until the eve of the departure is still many mediation, but in the end could not be made. In the face of this situation, the harbor team had to regret to inform the fans, the team will not be involved in this season's AFC Champions League.
Since stepping onto the AFC Champions League stage in 2016, Seaport has successfully advanced to the group stage for five consecutive years. As last season's league runners-up, the team has long formulated a season strategy of playing on two fronts. According to the original plan, Seaport was supposed to leave for Buriram, Thailand on April 10th to prepare for the AFC Champions League group stage opener on April 16th. However, half of the players were quarantined at home due to the epidemic, and the return trip was delayed again and again, Harbour finally had no choice but to withdraw from the match, and the young players also missed the opportunity to train.
The AFC declared that only three teams remain in Group J, namely Chiang Rai United of Thailand, Jiezhi of Hong Kong, China, and Kobe Victory of Japan. In accordance with the rules of the competition and the AFC Competition Manual, the results of the matches between the second and fourth ranked teams in Groups F, G, H, I and J will not be taken into account when the East Asian Region produces the second best team in each of the three groups, and the remainder of the Group J matches will be played in accordance with the original fixtures.
Despite withdrawing from the AFC Champions League, Seaport has not stopped strengthening its squad. Yesterday afternoon, the transfer rumors finally settled: Zhang Linpeng, the main defender of the Guangzhou team, transferred to join Seaport. For Zhang Linpeng, who came from the Shanghai Genbao soccer academy, the transfer was a big deal.
Joining the harbor is also a return to his career. After 11 seasons with Guangzhou, 33-year-old Zhang Linpeng has chosen to return to his roots.
