An explosive piece of news circulated in Chinese Super League circles at dusk yesterday - Shenzhen's foreign midfielder centerpiece Juan Quintero has taken a return flight and is expected to arrive in Hangzhou today, followed by a 21-day quarantine. The decision is designed to help the team hit the second phase of the season in December, and to that end, Quintero has gone out of his way to give up two World Cup qualifiers in mid-November. According to Colombian media, Shenzhen's move is intended to lock up the Chinese Super League crown early.
Colombia's future uncertain after three straight draws in World Qualifiers
In October's World Qualifiers, Colombia ended with three consecutive 0:0 draws. After this streak of draws, the team was overtaken by Ecuador in the South American standings and is currently in fourth place. With seven rounds of matches remaining, Colombia's road to qualification is still full of unknowns.
The national team's next match will be played in mid-November. The players will return to their respective clubs within the next 20 days. According to the Colombian media's information bank, Quintero has left the national team on Tuesday, local time. The Shenzhen team also confirmed yesterday that Quintero will arrive in Hangzhou on Friday afternoon and begin isolation immediately.
The return of Quintero means that he will miss the World Cup in November. In other words, he will not be able to participate in the "life and death" match with Brazil and Paraguay next month. The Colombian media understand this choice and see it as a sacrifice for the Shenzhen team to compete for the Chinese Super League title. The Colombian weekly newspaper noted that Quintero gave up his participation in the November World Cup because of an agreement with Shenzhen in exchange for qualifying for the last five World Cup matches from January to March of the following year.
In fact, in the Colombian team, despite wearing the No. 10 jersey, Quintero is not an absolute starter. In the recent six World Cup matches, Quintero has never played a full game.
Shamrocks seek cup breakthrough amid league difficulties
Even though Jintero's return is close at hand, the Shenzhen team still needs to focus on the AFC Cup for now. After all, the second phase of the AFC Cup has just begun. Yesterday, the Shenzhen team took the high-speed train from Changchun arrived in Dalian, preparing for the upcoming quarter-finals. The CFA has not yet announced the specific time for the two rounds of the quarterfinals, but the time left for the Shenzhen team to prepare for the game is not abundant. Before the second phase of the season begins, the Shenzhen team's primary goal is to seek a breakthrough in the cup.
Shenzhen team can only rely on two foreigners, Caldecott and Achimpen. From the last round of 3:1 victory over Cangzhou Lions, Caldecott was in good shape, not only scored a goal, but also showed an excellent pivot role; while Achim Pang obviously failed to return to the best state, the combination of people and the ball is still not the right feeling, many attempts to break through the end of the failure. Obviously, Achimpen still needs to find his form through the game.
Shenhua's desire to win the AFC Cup may be even greater. Although in the age structure, Shenzhen team occupies a certain advantage, but Shenhua's bench depth is sufficient, the players are also more experienced in the game, Shenzhen team can not underestimate the strength of Shenhua.
The primary problem facing the Shenzhen team is defense, especially at the center back position, where only Yuan Mincheng is relatively stable. Facing Shenhua's foreign attackers, whether Shenzhen can do without conceding a goal in the first round will be the key to advancing to the quarterfinals.
