As preparations for the match continue, Shenhua remain methodical, however, since regrouping on November 15, the shadow of the epidemic has hit the team on multiple levels. Moreno was the first to return to the team due to family factors, while Bassogo is stranded overseas, Wu Xi and Zhu Chenjie are in quarantine, Zhao Mingjian and Wen Jiabao are stuck in Dalian, and numerous players are temporarily unable to return to the team.
After his World Cup group stage duties were completed, Basogo flew straight to France. During his preparations overseas, he relied on a local club to provide a venue and persevered with training on his own. With Christmas approaching and European teams about to enter the holiday season, Basogo is faced with the dilemma of not being able to continue to obtain professional training conditions. Whether it's the Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off in January next year, or the two knockout matches in March where a place in the World Cup is at stake, he urgently needs to earn himself a place in the Cameroon national team through systematic training and competition. As a result, Basogo is in the process of returning to his home country in Paris and will depart as soon as he receives a clean bill of health and a plane ticket. However, the 14-day quarantine cycle makes it uncertain whether he will be fit for all eight second phase matches.
In addition, international players Wu Xi and Zhu Chenjie returned to China with the national football team on November 18, and are currently undergoing a 14-day quarantine at the Taimei Xiangguli Hotel in Suzhou, during which they will adhere to training under the guidance of the national football coaching team until December 2nd. After the end of the isolation period, the whole team of the national football team will be transferred to Shanghai, into the independent monitoring stage. At that time, the club players who are training in Shanghai will join the team. If everything goes well, Wu Xi and Zhu Chenjie will return to Shenhua on December 3rd.
In addition, Zhao Mingjian and Wen Jiabao were stranded in Dalian due to the outbreak.On November 4, Dalian City reported one new confirmed case of indigenous XKP, and then the number of cases quickly climbed to more than 300 cases. After Shenhua finished its AFC Cup semifinal campaign on Nov. 8, Dalian's epidemic prevention department issued an upgraded version of its "Don't leave Dalian unless necessary" announcement. From Nov. 9 onwards, those leaving the city not only need to have a certificate of negative nucleic acid test within 24 hours and the State Council's trip card and Liaozhitong health code green code, but also need to fulfill the approval procedures for leaving the city. Strict procedures have led to Zhao Mingjian and Wen Jiabao have not yet received permission to leave the company, they can only communicate with the coaching team through the network, according to the requirements of their own training.
Shenhua's strength was damaged during the preparation period, and also faced a real problem: it was unable to fully implement the program of training young players in the second phase of the league. During the AFC Cup, two young players, Chen Shenji and Jiang Yongjie, were unable to participate in the league due to rule restrictions, and they, along with a number of ladder players, are currently training with the first team. However, due to the abolition of the reserve team league by the CFA this year, the young players of the reserve team are not eligible to represent the first team in the league at any time due to their inability to register with the CFA.
The only existing U23 players in the team are two goalkeepers Ma Zhen and Xue Qinghao, one defender Wang Yi, and two midfielders Wang Haijian and He Longhai. In view of the actual situation, the Shenhua team will still be the original team mainly to fight in the second stage of the league, the training of young players need to be adjusted according to the actual situation. In the original team, Moreno is confirmed to be absent, Basogo can successfully return to the country is still in doubt, Jonich, Adrian and Dumbya three foreign aid is basically determined to stay in the team to participate in the remaining eight matches.
