At 12:20pm, Shanghai Seaports boarded China Eastern Airlines flight MU8533 and embarked on a journey to Bangkok, Thailand to prepare for the upcoming AFC Champions League play-offs.
Next Wednesday (June 23), they will face Filipino side Kaya FC in a contest at the Pathum Thani Lions Stadium north of Bangkok, with kickoff set for 10 p.m. BST.
Despite having 26 players on the AFC Champions League entry list, only 20 ended up traveling to Thailand due to the quarantine policy for returning to their home countries and the fact that the first phase of the Chinese Super League will restart in mid-July.
In the first team, Nie Meng and Lei Wenjie will be involved in the AFC Champions League, while Chen Wei, Du Jia, Zhang Wei, Zhang Yi and Chen Chunxin will stay in Shanghai to prepare for the Chinese Super League.
Four players - Fu Huan, Hu Jinghang, Lei Wenjie and Yu Hao - have had experience of playing in the AFC Champions League, while the rest of the squad have mainly played in the AFC Cup for Seaport in last year's AFC Champions League tournament in Doha.
Sun Xiang, Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Harbor Salon, communicated with the young players one by one, reminding them to pay attention to the discipline of the game, abide by the epidemic prevention regulations, fight with all their might, and seize the opportunity to show themselves.
Takayuki Kaneko, a youth training consultant with AFC coaching qualifications, is the acting head coach of Shanghai Harbor, with local coach Wu Bing on the coaching team.
Going abroad to compete during the epidemic, Shanghai Harbour Salon attaches great importance to epidemic prevention. The whole team has been vaccinated and carries sufficient protective clothing, masks, eye masks and other epidemic prevention supplies.
If successful in the play-offs, the Seaports will stay in Thailand to compete in Group F of the AFC East Asian Champions League. Opponents in the same group include South Korea's Ulsan Hyundai, Vietnam Telecom and hosts Thai champions Pathum United.The Group F matches will be played from June 26th to July 11th. (Harbour Team News)
