In October, the morning sun was shining, and the Shanghai Harbour Football Team opened its gates at Century Park to welcome the media and fans. New signing Paulinho was dressed as the Peking Opera God of Guan, a unique look that instantly ignited the enthusiasm of the crowd with applause and cheers.
Dating back to 2019, it has become a tradition for the Harbour soccer team to welcome new members to the team. However, the change to a centralized fixture system for this season's Premier League due to the epidemic resulted in Paulinho missing out on his first meeting with the fans after joining the team in the middle of the season. And this regret was finally remedied on the team's open day during the National Day Golden Week.
Paulinho joined the team just a month ago and played five times, starting four games, and delivered a stat sheet of two goals and two assists. Fans are eagerly awaiting to see the new star in action.
The Seaport Football Team has been looking forward to the arrival of Paulinho with great anticipation and has been preparing for the welcome ceremony since August. After thorough consideration, the team finally chose the team's open day during the National Day Golden Week to host a belated meet-and-greet for the newcomer.
This is the 6th time for the Harbour Football Team to hold the New Arrivals Meet & Greet, and this time the event was a unique one with players in drag on stage, aiming to add fun and bring the new arrivals closer to the fans. Guan Gong, a symbol of loyalty and righteousness, became the inspiration for the cross-dressing session. Considering Paulinho's image, he almost looks like the God of Guan after the costume.
Guan Gong is not only a historical figure, but also the embodiment of Chinese loyalty and righteousness. The team hopes that Paulinho will take this opportunity to learn more about Chinese culture and become a great general of the Harbour. During the meet and greet, the jersey presentation session went ahead as usual, and despite Paulinho having already played five matches in a Harbour shirt, this session was still an exclusive courtesy for the new member of the team. In the end, Salon chairman Zhang Min personally awarded Paulinho the No. 9 jersey.
