The summit clash between Shanghai Seaport and Wuhan Sanzhen will undoubtedly take center stage in the upcoming finale. Despite Shanghai Seaport's unexpected defeat to city rivals Shanghai Shenhua in the Super League, fans are still confident of a victory in their opening match. After all, Shanghai Seaport, with its many foreign stars and strong local players, should not be underestimated, such as Wu Lei and other members of the national team, who won the Golden Ball Award for the 2023 season for their outstanding performance. On the other hand, Wuhan Sanzhen, the recent management turmoil, dissolution rumors, fortunately, the official timely clarification, stressed that the team reform is underway, but the payroll problem is still plagued. The future of Wuhan Sanzhen in the new season is uncertain, and all the uncertainties make their chances of beating Shanghai Seaport in the opening match much lower.
Li Tie has triggered an anti-corruption storm in soccer that has swept across the world, and the CFA leadership has not been spared, with a change of leadership on the horizon. Song Kai, the former president of the Liaoning Provincial Sports Bureau, took over the reins of the CFA, but during his tenure both the men's and women's soccer teams performed poorly at the international level. Women's World Cup defeats, Olympic qualification losses, and even missing out on the Paris Olympics sent the Chinese women's soccer team into a downward spiral. The men's soccer team's performance has been equally disappointing, drawing widespread criticism from fans for failing to win the Asian Cup group stage.
It is worth mentioning that Wu Lei was recently honored with the Golden Ball Award. In an interview, he said that today's national soccer team has shed the label of second-rate Asian players. What do you think about this statement?
